Pope prays at Mass for those
caring for persons with disabilities
After receiving a letter from a religious sister who is a
Sign Language interpreter, Pope Francis dedicated Mass on Saturday morning to
those who care for with persons with disabilities who have caught Covid-19.
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
“Yesterday, I received a letter from a sister who works as a
Sign Language interpreter for the deaf.” These were the words with which Pope
Francis began the Saturday morning liturgy in the Chapel of the Casa Santa
Marta.
He continued, saying he has come to understand how difficult
it is for health care providers to care for persons with difficulties. “So let
us pray for those who are always at the service of these persons with various
disabilities”.
In his homily, Pope Francis focused on the boldness with
which the Apostles preached the Gospel after Pentecost. His inspiration came
from the first Reading in which the chief priests, elders and scribes were
astonished at the “boldness” of Peter and John (Acts 4:13-21).
Boldness
Peter and John – two “uneducated men” – pushed the chief
priests, the scribes and the elders into a corner specifically because of their
boldness. The religious authorities were so astonished that they could not
respond to the very facts before their eyes. A man had been healed when Peter
and John had called on the name of the Lord.
Pope Francis drew attention to the importance of the Greek
word, parrhesia. It is often translated as boldness, frankness, or
courage. It became “the style of Christian preachers in the Acts of the
Apostles”, the Pope said.
“It is that Christian courage which drives someone to
speak openly…. For example, in the Acts of the Apostles, it says that Paul and
Barnabas sought to explain the mystery of Christ to the Hebrews with boldness
and preached the Gospel boldly”.
Don’t throw your confidence away
Parrhesia is so characteristic of Christians,
said the Pope, that if a Christian does not possess it, “you are not a good
Christian”. Then he quoted a passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, which the
Pope said he “likes a lot”. The author becomes aware that the Christian
community has begun to lose their original boldness. They had become tepid.
“Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a
great contest of suffering… Therefore, do not throw away your confidence” (Heb
10:32, 35).
That boldness, however, meets with the hardened, closed,
corrupt hearts of the chief priests, scribes and elders.
“They do not know what to do…. They remained astonished…
Instead of accepting the truth that they saw before them, their hearts were so
closed that they chose the way of diplomacy, the way of compromise. They had
really been backed into a corner because of their boldness. They did not know
how to get out of the situation. It never entered their mind to say: ‘Could
this be true?’”
What changed cowardly Peter?
Their way out is to threaten Peter and John, and order them
never to speak or teach in Jesus’s name again. The Apostles' response is
incredibly bold given the fact that Peter had cowardly denied Jesus so
recently. “You must judge whether in God's eyes it is right to listen to you
and not to God. We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and
heard” (v. 19). “What happened to the heart of this man?” the Pope asked.
“The gift of the Holy Spirit: frankness, courage, parrhesia,
is a gift, a grace that the Holy Spirit gives to him on the day of Pentecost.
Right after having received the Holy Spirit they went out to preach
courageously, something new for them”.
Mark of a Christian
The Lord rebukes His disciples in the Gospel (Mark 16:9-15)
precisely because of their “unbelief and hardness of heart”, the Pope
continued. They had refused to believe that He had risen based on the word of
those who had seen Him. They receive the courage necessary to “go out to the
whole world to proclaim the good news to all creation” when Jesus gives them
the “strength of the Holy Spirit”, saying to them “Receive the Holy Spirit”.
“The mission begins right here, from this gift that makes
us courageous, bold in proclaiming the Word.
The Pope’s prayer
Pope Francis concluded his homily with a prayer.
“May the Lord help us to always be like that: courageous.
This does not mean imprudent – no, no. Courageous. The Christian’s courage is
always prudent, but courageous”.
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