Pope Francis: "I will not leave you orphans" (John 14:18)

When Jesus takes his leave of the disciples (John 14: 15-21), Jesus gives them tranquillity and peace, with a promise: "I will not leave you orphans" (v. 18). He defends them from that pain, from that painful sense of being orphans. Today in the world there is a great sense of being orphans: many have many things, but the Father is missing. And in the history of humanity this is repeated: when the Father is missing, something is lacking and there is always the desire to meet, to find the Father, even in ancient myths. Let us think of the myths of Oedipus, Telemachus and many others: always looking for the Father who is missing. 

Today we can say that we live in a society where the Father is missing, a sense of being orphans that touches belonging and fraternity. For this reason Jesus promises: "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate" (v. 16). "I am leaving," Jesus says, "but another will come and teach you the way to the Father. He will remind you how to access the Father." The Holy Spirit does not come to make us his clients; he comes to show us the way to the Father, to remind us how to access the Father, which is what Jesus opened to us, what Jesus showed us. There is no spirituality only of the Son, only of the Holy Spirit: the centre is the Father. The Son is sent by the Father and returns to the Father. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father to remind us and teach us how to access the Father.

Only with this awareness of being children who are not orphans can we live in peace among ourselves. Always wars, both small wars or big wars, always have a dimension of being orphans: the Father who makes peace is missing. For this reason, Peter at the first community says "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you why you are Christians, for a reason for your hope"( 1Pt 3: 15-18), "but, do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear" (v. 16), that is the gentleness that the Holy Spirit gives. The Holy Spirit teaches us this meekness, this sweetness of the Father's children. The Holy Spirit does not teach us to insult. And one of the consequences of the sense of orphanage is insult, wars, because if there is no Father there are no brothers and sisters, fraternity is lost. Sweetness, respect, meekness are attitudes of belonging, of belonging to a family that is sure they have a Father.

"I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate"(John 14: 16) who will remind you how to access the Father, he will remind you that we have a Father who is the centre of everything, the origin of everything, the unity of everything, the salvation of everyone because he sent his Son to save us all. And now he sends the Holy Spirt to remind us: how to access  the Father and this fatherhood, this fraternal attitude of meekness, of sweetness, of peace.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to always, always remind us of this access to the Father, that He reminds us that we have a Father, and to this civilization, which has a great sense of being orphaned. may He grant them the grace to find the Father, the Father who gives meaning to all life and makes men and women a family.

On the birth centennial of St. John Paul II

Holy Mass by Pope Francis on the birth centennial of St. John Paul II (here). 

Homily of Pope Francis on the birth centennial of St. John Paul II (here).

The Joy of belonging to our Father in heaven

Today Sunday May 17, 2020, the Mass in the Roman Catholic Church brings to our memory a reading from the first Epistle of St. Peter (see it here) and a reading from the Gospel according to St. John (see it here). In his homily Pope Francis said: Our mission as Christians is to accomplish what St Peter exhorts in the Second Reading. We are to bear witness to the hope that we have when others ask us for an explanation. “Do it with gentleness and respect”, Peter directed, “keeping your conscience clear”. Gentleness and respect are ways of behaving characteristic of those who share a relationship with a common father, the Pope explained. “They are attitudes of belonging, belonging to one family who is certain of having a Father” who is at the centre, who is everyone’s origin, the source of all unity and salvation. And He sent the Holy Spirit to “remind us” of how to access the Father, to teach us these familial attitudes of gentleness, meekness and peace, the Pope said. At the conclusion of his homily the Pope prayed, “Let us ask the Holy Spirit to remind us always, always, how to access the Father, to remind us that we have a Father. And to this civilization that has a huge sense of being orphaned, may He grant the grace of finding the Father once again, the Father who provides everyone with a sense of meaning in life. May He make all men and women one family."

The Nicene Creed that is said every Sunday in Churches starts with an affirmation "I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible." It is clear that Christians believe that the cause without prior cause is God the Father.