Pope Francis canonizes 35 new saints
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| Pope Francis' pastoral staff is hit by a ray of sun during the Canonization Mass for 35 new saints in St.Peter's Square.- AP |
(Vatican Radio) Inviting all faithful to practice Christian
love every day, Pope Francis on Sunday canonized 35
new saints, nearly all of them martyrs, holding them up as models who
“point the way”.
To the over 35,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's
Square for the Canonization Mass, he said “They did not
say a fleeting ‘yes’ to love, they said ‘yes’ with their lives and to the very
end”.
Those canonized included thirty martyrs, both priests and
lay persons, who suffered anti-Catholic persecution in 1645 at the hands of
Dutch Calvinists in Brazil, while three indigenous children in 16th century
Mexico were martyred for refusing to renounce their Catholic faith and return
to their ancient traditions. The other two new saints are a 20th-century priest
from Spain and an Italian priest who died in 1739.
Please find below the full text of the Pope’s homily for
the Mass of Canonization:
The parable we have just heard describes the Kingdom of God
as a wedding feast (cf. Mt 22:1-14). The central character is the king’s
son, the bridegroom, in whom we can easily see Jesus. The parable makes
no mention of the bride, but only of the guests who were invited and expected,
and those who wore the wedding garments. We are those guests, because the Lord
wants “to celebrate the wedding” with us. The wedding inaugurates a
lifelong fellowship, the communion God wants to enjoy with all of us. Our
relationship with him, then, has to be more than that of devoted subjects with
their king, faithful servants with their master, or dedicated students with
their teacher. It is above all the relationship of a beloved bride with
her bridegroom. In other words, the Lord wants us, he goes out to seek us
and he invites us. For him, it is not enough that we should do our duty
and obey his laws. He desires a true communion of life with us, a
relationship based on dialogue, trust and forgiveness.
Such is the Christian life, a love story with God. The
Lord freely takes the initiative and no one can claim to be the only one
invited. No one has a better seat than anyone else, for all enjoy God’s
favour. The Christian life is always born and reborn of this tender,
special and privileged love. We can ask ourselves if at least once a day
we tell the Lord that we love him; if we remember, among everything else we
say, to tell him daily, “Lord, I love you; you are my life”. Because once
love is lost, the Christian life becomes empty. It becomes a body without
a soul, an impossible ethic, a collection of rules and laws to obey for no good
reason. The God of life, however, awaits a response of life. The
Lord of love awaits a response of love. Speaking to one of the Churches
in the Book of Revelation, God makes an explicit reproach: “You have abandoned
your first love” (cf. Rev 2:4). This is the danger – a Christian life
that becomes routine, content with “normality”, without drive or enthusiasm,
and with a short memory. Instead, let us fan into flame the memory of our
first love. We are the beloved, the guests at the wedding, and our life
is a gift, because every day is a wonderful opportunity to respond to God’s
invitation.
The Gospel, however, warns us that the invitation can be
refused. Many of the invited guests said no, because they were caught up
in their own affairs. “They made light of it and went off, one to his
farm, another to his business” (Mt 22:5). Each was concerned with his own
affairs; this is the key to understanding why they refused the
invitation. The guests did not think that the wedding feast would be
dreary or boring; they simply “made light of it”. They were caught up in
their own affairs. They were more interested in having something rather
than in risking something, as love demands. This is how love grows cold,
not out of malice but out of a preference for what is our own: our security,
our self-affirmation, our comfort… We settle into the easy chair of
profits, pleasures, or a hobby that brings us some happiness. And we end
up aging badly and quickly, because we grow old inside. When our hearts
do not expand, they become closed in on themselves. When everything
depends on me – on what I like, on what serves me best, on what I want – then I
become harsh and unbending. I lash out at people for no reason, like the
guests in the Gospel, who treated shamefully and ultimately killed (cf. v. 6)
those sent to deliver the invitation, simply because they were bothering them.
The Gospel asks us, then, where we stand: with ourselves or
with God? Because God is the opposite of selfishness, of
self-absorption. The Gospel tells us that, even before constant rejection
and indifference on the part of those whom he invites, God does not cancel the
wedding feast. He does not give up, but continues to invite. When he
hears a “no”, he does not close the door, but broadens the invitation. In
the face of wrongs, he responds with an even greater love. When we are
hurt by the unfair treatment of others or their rejection, we frequently
harbour grudges and resentment. God on the other hand, while hurt by our
“no”, tries again; he keeps doing good even for those who do evil.
Because this is what love does. Because this is the only way that evil is
defeated. Today our God, who never abandons hope, tells us to do what he
does, to live in true love, to overcome resignation and the whims of our
peevish and lazy selves.
There is one last idea that the Gospel emphasizes: the
mandatory garment of the invited guests. It is not enough to respond just
once to the invitation, simply to say “yes” and then do nothing else. Day
by day, we have to put on the wedding garment, the “habit” of practising
love. We cannot say, “Lord, Lord”, without experiencing and putting into
practice God’s will (cf. Mt 7:21). We need to put on God’s love and to
renew our choice for him daily. The Saints who were canonized today, and
especially the many martyrs, point the way. They did not say a fleeting
“yes” to love; they said they “yes” with their lives and to the very end.
The robe they wore daily was the love of Jesus, that “mad” love that loved us
to the end and offered his forgiveness and his robe to those who crucified
him. At baptism we received a white robe, the wedding garment for
God. Let us ask him, through the intercession of the saints, our brothers
and sisters, for the grace to decide daily to put on this garment and to keep
it spotless. How can we do this? Above all, by approaching the Lord
fearlessly in order to receive his forgiveness. This is the one step that
counts, for entering into the wedding hall to celebrate with him the feast of
love.
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