Pope to celebrate Mass for JPII
centenary on 18 May, cease live-broadcast of daily Mass
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| Pope Francis arrives for Mass in the Casa Santa Marta |
On Monday, 18 May, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at the
tomb of Pope St. John Paul II for the 100th anniversary of his birth. As of
that date, the Pope will no longer live-stream his daily Mass in the Casa Santa
Marta.
By Andrea Tornielli
Pope Francis’s morning Mass on Monday, 18 May, will be the
last in a series that has daily accompanied millions of people around the world
for more than two months.
Public Masses in Italy are being allowed to resume that same
day. On that occasion, the Pope has decided to interrupt the live broadcast of
his morning Mass.
The last Mass will be a special one, because 18 May also
marks the 100th anniversary of Karol Wojtyla’s birth. Pope Francis will
celebrate Mass at the altar over the tomb of his predecessor.
Pope St. John Paul II was born in 1920, elected Bishop of
Rome in 1978, died in 2005, and canonized in 2014.
Final live-streamed Mass
The live video, radio and streaming transmission of the
celebration of morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta during this period of
quarantine was an unexpected and beautiful gift.
Many people – even those far away from the Church – felt
accompanied and supported by the Pope, who quietly knocked on the doors of
their homes at the beginning of each day.
Many discovered the importance and comfort of the daily
encounter with the Gospel. Many had never before followed the weekday liturgy
on TV, one proposed without commentary and with a few minutes of silent
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
The beauty and simplicity of the Pope’s off-the-cuff
homilies allowed us all to enter the pages of the Gospel, as if we were present
when those events took place. During the emergency that has confined us within
the walls of our homes, the importance of the Pope's daily teaching was
confirmed, and made even more decisive in these moments filled with
uncertainty, suffering, anguish, and many questions about the future.
Papal magisterium and service
The homilies given at Santa Marta represent a significant
aspect of Pope Francis’s service as Bishop of Rome. Many people were already
accustomed to following them through the summaries offered by Vatican Media and
the volumes of the Vatican Publishing House, which collects them in an annual
edition.
Over the last two months, however, the experience has been
different, because the live broadcast has offered the possibility of
participating – albeit at a distance – in these daily celebrations, watching
the Pope as he preached and reflected on the Scriptures.
Millions participated
Several million people have come into contact with these
Masses every day. Many have written to give thanks. Now, as celebrations in
Italian churches resume with a congregation, a new phase begins.
People around the world – one can be sure – will miss this
daily appointment. But, as Pope Francis himself once said, we need to return to
communal familiarity with the Lord that can be found in the Sacraments, as we
participate personally in the liturgy.
And let us not forget another of Pope Francis’s invitations:
that we “visit” the pages of the Gospel every day, with the same fervour and
closeness with which we have grown accustomed in the televised Masses from the
Casa Santa Marta.
Click here to download “Strong in the Face of Tribulation”:
the digital volume of the LEV which collects most of the homilies preached by
the Pope at Santa Marta during this time of crisis.
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