Pope Francis on Jubilee close: become instruments of
mercy
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday in
St. Peter’s Square, on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the
Universe, and the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.
The liturgy began with the Holy Father closing the Holy Door
in St. Peter’s Basilica, through which pilgrims passed during the course of the
Jubilee as a sign of penance and devotion.
In his homily, Pope Francis said, “[E]ven if the Holy Door closes,
the true door of mercy which is the heart of Christ always remains open wide
for us.”
The kingship of Christ in its cosmic, social, and personal
dimensions was the main focus of the Holy Father’s remarks to the faithful.
“[T]he grandeur of [Christ’s] kingdom is not power as
defined by this world, but the love of God, a love capable of encountering and
healing all things,” said Pope Francis. “Christ lowered himself to us out of
this love, he lived our human misery, he suffered the lowest point of our human
condition: injustice, betrayal, abandonment; he experienced death, the tomb,
hell.”
“And so,” the Pope went on to say, “our King went to the
ends of the universe in order to embrace and save every living being. He
did not condemn us, nor did he conquer us, and he never disregarded our
freedom, but he paved the way with a humble love that forgives all things,
hopes all things, sustains all things (cf. 1 Cor 13:7).”
“This love alone,” Pope Francis said, “overcame and
continues to overcome our worst enemies: sin, death, fear.”
Following the conclusion of the Mass, the Holy Father signed
the Apostolic Letter Misecordia et misera, addressed to the whole
Church, which is to be published Monday as a concluding reflection on the Year
of Mercy.
A note from the Press Office of the Holy See explains that a
small group of individuals representing the whole people of God in every state
of life within the Church, received the letter from the hands of Pope Francis
directly: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila; Archbishop Leo
Cushley of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh; two priests from the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Brazil respectively, who served as Missionaries of Mercy;
a permanent deacon of the diocese of Rome, together with his family; two
religious sisters, respectively coming from Mexico and South Korea; three
generations of a family from the United States of America; a young couple
engaged to be married; two mothers who serve as catechists of a parish in Rome;
a disabled person and a sick person.
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