Pope Francis has lunch with Rome’s poor who tell him ‘what they expect from the Church’

Pope Francis meeting with Roberto Benigni, Dec. 7, 2022. / Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Dec 7, 2022 / 08:17 am (CNA).
Pope Francis enthusiastically greeted Italian actor and comedian Roberto Benigni at the Vatican on Wednesday morning.Benigni, … […]

Vatican City, Apr 3, 2021 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- At the Vatican’s Easter Vigil Mass, Pope Francis said that Jesus’ love is without limits and always provides the grace to begin anew.

The pope said in his homily on April 3 that “it is always possible to begin anew because there is always a new life that God can awaken in us in spite of all our failures.”

He continued: “From the rubble of our hearts, God can create a work of art; from the ruined remnants of our humanity, God can prepare a new history. He never ceases to go ahead of us: in the cross of suffering, desolation and death, and in the glory of a life that rises again, a history that changes, a hope that is reborn.”

“Jesus, the Risen Lord, loves us without limits and is there at every moment of our lives,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Easter Vigil, which takes place on Holy Saturday night, “is the greatest and most noble of all solemnities and it is to be unique in every single Church,” according to the Roman Missal.

Pope Francis offered the Vigil Mass at the basilica’s Altar of the Chair with about 200 people present.

St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world, is normally packed for the Easter Vigil. This year’s Easter Triduum liturgies were once again scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The preparation of the Paschal candle was omitted and no baptisms took place at the vigil, only a renewal of baptismal promises.

The liturgy began in darkness with the blessing of the new fire. The pope and concelebrating cardinals then processed through the dark church carrying lit candles to signify the light of Christ coming to dispel the darkness.

“If on this night you are experiencing an hour of darkness, a day that has not yet dawned, a light dimmed, or a dream shattered, go open your heart with amazement to the message of Easter: ‘Do not be afraid, he has risen! He awaits you in Galilee,’” Pope Francis said in his homily.

“Your expectations will not remain unfulfilled, your tears will be dried, your fears will be replaced by hope. For the Lord always goes ahead of you, he always walks before you. And, with him, life always begins anew.”

During the liturgy, a cantor sang the Exsultet Easter Proclamation, which tells the story of salvation from the creation, the testing and fall of Adam, the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, and culminates in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and leads us to salvation.

The basilica was lit up gradually until it was fully illuminated at the Gloria, when the bells of St. Peter’s tolled.

In his homily, the pope asked people to reflect on the angel’s message to Mary Magdalene and the others who went to anoint Jesus’ body, but found an empty tomb, as described in the Gospel of Mark:

“Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter,  ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.”

Pope Francis said: “Let us go to Galilee, where the Risen Lord has gone ahead of us. Yet what  does it mean ‘to go to Galilee?’”

The pope then explained that “going to Galilee” can mean setting out on new paths, beginning anew, and going out to the peripheries.

“Galilee was an outpost: the people living in that diverse and disparate region were those farthest from the ritual purity of Jerusalem. Yet that is where Jesus began his mission. There he brought his message to those struggling to live from day to day … the excluded, the vulnerable and the poor,” he said.

“There he brought the face and presence of God, who tirelessly seeks out those who are discouraged or lost, who goes to the very peripheries of existence, since in his eyes no one is least, no one is excluded.”

Pope Francis said that he thinks many people today view the Catholic faith as a thing of the past or “lovely childhood memories” that no longer influence their daily lives.

“God cannot be filed away among our childhood memories, but is alive and filled with surprises. Risen from the dead, Jesus never ceases to amaze us,” he said.

Pope Francis continued: “Jesus is not outdated. He is alive here and now. He walks beside you each day, in every situation you are experiencing, in every trial you have to endure, in your deepest hopes and dreams. … Even if you feel that all is lost, please, let yourself be open to amazement at the newness Jesus brings: He will surely surprise you.”

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Vatican City, Feb 10, 2020 / 11:34 am (CNA).- Pope Francis emphasized unity in a message sent Monday to bishops connected to the Focolare Movement, which is celebrating 100 years since the birth of its founder.

“The charism of unity is one of these graces for our time, which is experiencing a momentous change, and calls for a simple and radical spiritual and pastoral reform which brings the Church back to the ever new and current source of the Gospel of Jesus,” the pope said in the Feb. 10 message.

The pope referenced John 17:21, in which Christ prays, “so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”

“Through the charism of unity, fully attuned to the magisterium of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, the Holy Spirit concretely teaches how to live the grace of unity” according to Christ’s prayer, he said.

The message from Pope Francis was read aloud at the opening of a conference of seven cardinals and 137 Catholic bishops from 50 countries Feb. 10.

The bishops and cardinals are connected to the Focolare Movement and referred to as “friends” of the group. The meeting, titled “a charism at the service of the Church and humanity,” is taking place Feb. 10-12 in Loppiano, Italy.

The Focolare Movement is a Catholic organization focused on the principles of unity and fraternity; it began in northern Italy in 1943.

In 2020, the movement is celebrating the centenary of the birth of its founder, laywoman Chiara Lubich, whose cause for beatification was opened by the Vatican in 2015.   

Lubich was born on Jan. 22, 1920 in Trento and died March 14, 2008 in Rocca di Papa, surrounded by members of the movement. In the days leading up to her death, she was visited by many people, including important political and religious leaders.

Her funeral was celebrated at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome and was attended by nearly 40,000 people.

In his message, the pope also spoke about the Holy Spirit’s invitation to choose Christ Crucified as the “compass of our ministry” and to become “one with everyone, starting from the least, from the excluded, from the discarded, to bring them light, joy, peace.”

“The Spirit opens the dialogue of charity and truth with every man and woman, of all cultures, religious traditions, ideal convictions, to build the new civilization of love in encounter,” he continued. “The Spirit puts us at the school of Mary, where we learn that what is worthy and remains is love.”

The president of the Focolare Movement, Maria Voce, sent a video message to the bishops’ meeting Feb. 10.

Voce said they want to promote “a lifestyle of fellowship and communion with Jesus among Catholic bishops from all over the world… Such a lifestyle contributes to making collegiality ever more effective and affective.”

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