Read here the homily of the Mass that the Pope celebrated this Sunday

Pope Leo XIV has presided over the Holy Mass on the Basilica Cathedral of San Pancracio Mártir, in the heart of Albanian Laziale, one of the suburbicaries historically linked to the Roman episcopate. Read here the full homily:

Dear brothers and sisters:

I am very happy to find myself here today, celebrating the Sunday Eucharist in this beautiful cathedral. I greet the bishop, the authorities present and all of you.

In this Sunday’s liturgy, the first reading and the Gospel tell us about hospitality, service and listening (cf. Gen 18,1-10; Lc 10,38-42).

In the first case, God visits Abraham in the person of “three men” who arrive at his store “at the hottest hour” (cf. Gen 18,1-2). We can imagine the scene: the scorching sun, the immutable calm of the desert, the intense heat and the three strangers looking for shelter.

Abraham, sitting “At the entrance of his tent”, is in the position of the homeowner, and it is very beautiful to see how he exercises his role: having recognized in the visitors the presence of God, he stands up, runs to meet him, leans to the ground and begs them to stop.

This is how the whole scene is encouraged. The immobility of the afternoon is filled with gestures of love that involve not only the patriarch, but also Sara, his wife, and the servants. Abraham is no longer sitting, but “standing next to them, under the tree” (Gen 18,8), and there God communicates the most beautiful news he could expect: “Sara, your wife, will have a child” (cf. Gen 18,9-10).

The dynamics of this encounter can make us reflect: God chooses the hospitality way to meet Sara and Abraham and give them the announcement of the gift of fertility, which they had desired so much and who had already stopped waiting.

After so many moments of grace in which he had visited them, he calls back to his door, asking for reception and confidence. And the two elderly people respond positively, without knowing what was going to happen. They recognize in mysterious visitors their blessing, their same presence. They offer them what they have: food, company, service, shadow of a tree; and receive the promise of a new life and an offspring.

Although in different circumstances, the Gospel also speaks to us in the same way of acting of God. Also here, in effect, Jesus presents himself as a guest in the house of Marta and Mary. He is not a stranger; He is at friends and the weather is partying.

One of the sisters welcomes him with countless attention, while the other listens to him sitting at his feet, with the typical attitude of the disciple towards the teacher. As we know, before the complaints of the first, that I would like to receive some help in domestic tasks, Jesus responds by inviting her to appreciate the value of listening (cf. Lk 10,41-42).

But it would be wrong to see these two attitudes as opposite, as well as make comparisons of merits between the two women. The service and listening, in fact, are two twin dimensions of the reception.

First, in our relationship with God. While it is important that we live our faith in concrete actions and in fidelity to our duties, according to the State and the vocation of each one, it is also essential that we do it starting from the meditation of the Word of God and of the attention to what the Spirit suggests to our heart, reserving, for this purpose, moments of silence and prayer, times in which, silenced noise and distractions, we put ourselves before him.

This is a dimension of the Christian life that we need to recover particularly, as much as personal and community value, which as a prophetic sign for our times: give space to silence, to the listening of the father who speaks and “see in secret” (Mt 6,6).

For this, summer days can be a providential moment to experience how beautiful and important intimacy with God, and how much can also help us to be more open and welcoming each other.

These are days in which we have more free time, both for recollection and meditation, and for the encounter with others, travel and visits. Let’s take advantage of all that to enjoy – spreading the whirlwind of commitments and concerns – of some moment of tranquility and recollection, as well as to share, going somewhere, the joy of seeing us – as it is for me to be here today.

Let’s promote the occasions to take care of each other, to exchange experiences and ideas, to offer us understanding and advice mutually; This makes us love, and we all need it.

Let’s do it with courage. Thus, being supportive and sharing faith and life, we will promote a culture of peace, also helping those around us to overcome ruptures and hostilities, and to build communion between people, between peoples and between religions.

Pope Francis said that “if we want to enjoy life with joy, we must combine these two attitudes: on the one hand,” being at the foot “of Jesus, to listen to him while reveals the secret of everything; On the other, being diligent and being ready for hospitality, when he passes and knocks on our door, with the face of a friend who needs a moment of rest and fraternity ”(Ángelus, July 21, 2019).

By the way, he said these words shortly before the pandemic began, and how much has taught us, in this sense, that long and hard experience, which we still remember. Certainly, all this costs effort. Neither service nor listening are always easy; They require tenacity and renunciation capacity.

It costs an effort, for example, in listening and service, faithfulness and love with which a father and a mother carry out his family; As the determination with which children, at home and at school costs effort, they correspond to their sacrifices; It costs effort to be understood when you have different opinions, forgive when you are wrong, help when you are sick, hold when you are sad.

But it is only like that, with these efforts, as it is possible to build something good in life; Only in this way can authentic and strong relationships grow among persons, and, from below, from everyday life, the kingdom of God can grow, spread and experience (cf. Lc 7,18-22).

San Agustín, in one of his speeches, reflecting on the episode of Marta and María, commented: «In these two women two lives, the present and the future are figured; a laborious and another rested; a calamitous and a happy one; a temporal and an eternal one ”(Sermon 104, 4). And thinking about Marta’s work, “who is free of the service to help others? Who breathes free of these care? Let’s do it holy, let’s do it with charity (…). Fatigue will pass and rest will arrive; But the break is only reached through fatigue. The ship passes and it reaches the homeland, but the country is not reached if it is not with the ship ”(Ibid., 6-7).

Abraham, Marta and María today remind us of this: that listening and service are two complementary attitudes that help us, in our lives, to be open to the provident presence of the Lord.

His example invites us to reconcile, in our days, contemplation and action, rest and fatigue, silence and industriousness, with wisdom and balance, always having as measure the charity of Jesus, as light his word and as a source of strength his grace, which sustains us beyond our possibilities (cf. Flp 4,13).