Pope Francis today pronounced the homily on the second eve of the solemnity of the conversion of St. Paul, with which he concluded the 58th week of prayer for the unity of Christians, and assured that the Catholic Church “is willing to accept” a “Common date” with the other Christian churches for the celebration of Easter.
In the ceremony held in the Basilica of San Pablo Extramuros, remembering that in this Jubilee Year of La Esperanza the 1,700 anniversary of the Council of Nicea, “the first great ecumenical council” is fulfilled, the Holy Father said that “in this week of prayer For the unity of Christians we can also live the anniversary of the council of Nicea as a call to persevere on the road to unity. ”
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“Providentially, this year Easter will be held the same day in the Gregorian and Julian calendars,” he said, renewing his call “for this coincidence to serve all Christians as a call to take a determined step towards unity, around a common date, the date of Easter; And the Catholic Church is willing to accept the date they all want: a date of unity. ”
In the council of Nicea, the Pope recalled, “the conciliar parents unanimously approved the creed that many Christians still recite every Sunday during the Eucharist”, and stressed that it is “a profession of common faith, which goes beyond all divisions that have hurt Christ’s body over the centuries. ”
“Do you think this?”
The Pope reflected in his homily on the evangelical passage of the resurrection of Lázaro: “Jesus arrives at the house of his friends, Marta and Mary, when his brother Lázaro already had been dead for four days. All hope seems lost, to the point that Marta’s first words express her pain united to weighing the delay of Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
However, the Pontiff highlighted, “the arrival of Jesus ignites the light of hope in the heart of Marta and takes her to a profession of faith: ‘But also now I know that everything you ask for God, God will grant you’ . It is that attitude of always leaving the door open, never closed! ”
“And Jesus, in fact, announces the resurrection of among the dead not only as an event that will occur at the end of time, but as something that is already happening in the present, because he himself is resurrection and life. And then ask him a question: ‘Do you think this?’ This question is also for us, for you, for me: ‘Do you think this?’ ”
Next, Pope Francis asked to stop to reflect on that question – “Do you think this?” – Highlighting that “it is a short but challenging question.”
“Hope does not disappoint”
The Holy Father said that although “each of us can experience moments of despair or meet people who have lost hope, the Gospel tells us that with Jesus always reborn hope, because of the ashes of death he always resurrects us ”
“Jesus always lifts us, gives us strength to resume the way, to start over,” he said.
After reiterating that “hope does not disappoint! Hope never disappoints! “, The Pope pointed out that” this is also important for the life of Christian communities, our churches and our ecumenical relations. “
“Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by fatigue, we are discouraged by the results of our efforts, it seems to us that even dialogue and collaboration between us are useless, almost destined for death and, all this, makes us experience the same anguish as Marten; But the Lord comes. Do we believe this? Do we believe that he is resurrection and life? Who collects our efforts and always gives us the grace to resume the way together? Do we believe this?
Francisco said that “this message of hope is in the heart of the jubilee that we have initiated,” and stressed that “the apostle Paul, whose conversion to Christ we remember today, told the Christians of Rome: ‘Hope does not disappoint, because The love of God has been shed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that was given to us. ‘”
“Everyone, all! – We have received the same spirit, and this is the foundation of our ecumenical path. There is the spirit that guides us on this path. These are not practical things to understand us better. No, there is the spirit, and we must go under the guidance of this spirit, ”he said.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.