Pope at Mass prays for
pharmacists
Pope Francis, at Mass on Thursday at the Casa Santa Marta,
asks us to pray for pharmacists and reflects on joy as a fruit of the Spirit in
his homily.
By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
Beginning his Mass on Thursday at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope
Francis said he had been taken to task because he has forgotten to thank one
group of people.
“I thanked doctors, nurses, volunteers. ‘But you have
forgotten the pharmacists’. They too have been working hard to help the sick
get better. Let us pray for them as well”.
Jesus’ presence stills our fears
In his homily, Pope Francis explained that the days after
the resurrection of Jesus were not very tranquil in Jerusalem. The people were
filled with “fear, amazement, doubt”, he said.
Even the disciples, who knew that the Lord had risen, that
He had appeared to Simon, and had heard the testimony of the disciples who
returned from Emmaus, were afraid. Their fear heightened to fright when Jesus
appeared in their midst and they thought that they were seeing a ghost (cf Lk
24: 37). It’s the same thing that happened when Jesus had come to them walking
on the water (cf Jn 6: 19). That experience, and whatever Jesus had said to
Peter after His resurrection, kept them silence this time.
Jesus’ presence calmed the fears of the disciples when He appeared
to them and said: “Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in
your hearts? Look at my hands! Touch me and see for yourselves! A ghost has no
flesh and bones.”
Fullness of joy
The disciples’ fear then transformed into overflowing joy.
Their joy was so great that it kept them from believing. They were, in a sense,
“paralyzed with joy.” The disciples’ joy was “the experience of the greatest
possible consolation,” said Pope Francis. It is “something different from being
happy, positive or radiant.”
“Joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit,” notes the Pope.
Regarding instances of joy, the Holy Father cited examples of Paul’s jailer in
Philippi (cf Acts 16) and the Ethiopian eunuch after being baptized (cf Acts 8)
who were “filled with joy” and Paul, in his letter to the Romans (15:13), when
Paul asks the “God of hope” to fill his addressees “with all joy”.
“Without the Spirit, we cannot have joy. To receive the joy
of the Spirit is a grace,” the Pope added.
Call to joy
Pope Francis referred to Paul VI’s Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (no. 80) in which he reflected
on Christians and evangelizers who are filled with joy. This joy is similar to
that felt by the people at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah when they discovered
the Book of the Law. Nehemiah’s words to the Israelites as they were weeping
after having heard the Book of the Law, “the joy of the Lord is our strength”,
“will help us today”, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis’s prayer
The Holy Father concluded praying that we might have the
strength to preach the Gospel and be witnesses of the joy of the Lord. “Today,
let us ask Him to grant us this fruit” of the Holy Spirit.
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