Editor’s note: On April 29, 2025, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Arcipreste of the Basilica of San Pedro, pronounced the following homily during the fourth day of novel masses by Pope Francis. The following text is a translation by ACI Press of the original in Italian Posted by the Vatican:
The evangelical passage is well known. A great universalist scene: all peoples, who live together in the only field that is the world, are gathered before the Son of man, sitting on the throne of his glory to judge.
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The message is clear: in everyone’s life, believers and non -believers, there is a moment of distinction: at a certain moment, some begin to share the joy of God, others begin to suffer the tremendous pain of true loneliness, because, expelled from the kingdom, they desperately remain alone in their souls.
In the Italian translation (CEI) there is talk of sheep and goats to distinguish the two groups. The Greek, however, together with the feminine rehearsal -Rebaño, sheep-, use andrlywhich mainly indicates goats, the males of the species. The sheep, who do not rebel, are faithful, meek, take care of the lambs and the weakest of the flock, enter the kingdom prepared for them since the creation of the world; The goats, who want independence, challenge the pastor and others with their horns, jump over the other goats in domain, in the face of danger they think of themselves and not in the rest of the flock, they are destined to the eternal fire. It is natural to ask: on a personal and institutional level, which of the two styles we embody?
Obviously, then, belong or not to the kingdom of God does not depend on explicitly knowing Christ: Lord, when did we see you hungry … thirsty … stranger … naked … sick or in jail …?
In the Greek text, the verb “see” is expressed by Matthew as Òráo, What does it mean to see deeply, perceive, understand. Paraphrasing: Lord, when have we ‘understood’, ‘detected’, ‘qualified’? Jesus’ response suggests that it is not the profession of faith, theological knowledge or sacramental practice that guarantees the participation in the joy of God, but the qualitative and quantitative implication in the human vicissitude of the youngest brothers. And the figure of the human is the royalty of Jesus of Nazareth, which in his earthly life shared, in everything, the weakness of our nature, to the point of being rejected, persecuted and crucified.
In the end, the parable of the final judgment shows the secret on which the world rests: The verb became meatthat is, “God wanted to become sympathetic to humanity to such an extent that whoever touches man touches God, who honors man honors God, who despises man despises God” (Elia Citterio).
Indeed, the parable reveals the supreme dignity of human acts, defined in relation to compassion, solidarity, tenderness and closeness in humanity. I find in the verses with which Edith Bruck wanted to say goodbye to Pope Francis (Osservatore Romano, April 23, 2025), the poetic expression of such humanity:
We have lost a man who lives in me.
A man who loved, got excited, cried, invoked peace, laughed, kissed, hugged, moved and excited, and distributed heat.
The love of people of all colors and everywhere rejuvenated him. The irony and ingenuity made him wise.
His humanity was contagious, he softened to the stones.
What cured him of the disease was his healthy faith rooted in heaven.
The “Christian humanity” makes the church everyone’s house. How opportune are Francisco pronounced in conversation with the Jesuits in Lisbon in 2023: Everyone is called to live in the Church: Never forget it!
As stated in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter had said it clearly: I really realize that God does not make people’s meaning, but welcomes those who fear and practice justice, whether they are.
The passage of the first reading is the conclusion of Pedro’s encounter with the pagans, Cornelius and his family (Acts); An episode that, in a globalized era, secularized and thirsty of truth and love like ours, through Peter’s attitude points to the path of evangelization: the openness to human without reservations, the free interest for others, sharing experiences and deepening to help each man and woman give credit to life, to creatural grace, and, When they see that pleases God –San Francisco de Asís would say (Rnb XVI, 43)—, The announcement of the Gospel, the revelation of Jesus’ divine humanity in history, to call peoples to faith in Christ, “madness of love” for men, as Santa Catalina de Siena teaches, whose party is celebrated today in Italy. Then the value of the profession of faith, of healthy theology and the sacraments that enrich life in the spirit can be deployed for all.
Mary, the humble servant of the Lord who gave the world the Savior, tells us the path of the real discipleship and the announcement.
Cardenal Mauro Gambetti