from evil. The evil one is far more astute than we are, and he is able to
demolish in a moment what it took us years of patience to build up. Here we
need
to implore the grace to learn how to 'offset' (and it is an important habit to
acquire): to thwart evil without pulling up the good wheat, or presuming to
protect like supermen what the Lord alone can protect. All this helps us not to
let our guard down before the depths of iniquity, before the mockery of the
wicked. In these situations of weariness, the Lord says to us: 'Have courage! I
have overcome the world!'. The Word of God gives us strength.
 "And finally - I say finally lest you be too wearied by this homily itself! -
there is also 'weariness of ourselves'. This may be the most dangerous
weariness
of all. That is because the other two kinds come from being exposed, from going
out of ourselves to anoint and to do battle (for our job is to care for
others).
But this third kind of weariness is more 'self-referential': it is
dissatisfaction with oneself, but not the dissatisfaction of someone who
directly confronts himself and serenely acknowledges his sinfulness and his
need
for God's mercy, His help; such people ask for help and then move forward. Here
we are speaking of a weariness associated with 'wanting yet not wanting',
having
given up everything but continuing to yearn for the fleshpots of Egypt, toying
with the illusion of being something different. I like to call this kind of
weariness 'flirting with spiritual worldliness'. When we are alone, we realise
how many areas of our life are steeped in this worldliness, so much so that we
may feel that it can never be completely washed away. This can be a dangerous
kind of weariness. The Book of Revelation shows us the reason for this
weariness: 'You have borne up for my sake and you have not grown weary. But I
have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first'. Only
love gives true rest. What is not loved becomes tiresome, and in time, brings
about a harmful weariness.
 "The most profound and mysterious image of how the Lord deals with our
pastoral
tiredness is that, 'having loved his own, he loved them to the end': the scene
of his washing the feet of his disciples. I like to think of this as the
cleansing of discipleship. The Lord purifies the path of discipleship itself.
He
'gets involved' with us, becomes personally responsible for removing every
stain, all that grimy, worldly smog which clings to us from the journey we make
in his name.
 "From our feet, we can tell how the rest of our body is doing. The way we
follow the Lord reveals how our heart is faring. The wounds on our feet, our
sprains and our weariness, are signs of how we have followed Him, of the paths
we have taken in seeking the lost sheep and in leading the flock to green
pastures and still waters. The Lord washes us and cleanses us of all the dirt
our feet have accumulated in following Him. This is something holy. Do not let
your feet remain dirty. Like battle wounds, the Lord kisses them and washes
away
the grime of our labours.
 "Our discipleship itself is cleansed by Jesus, so that we can rightly feel
'joyful', 'fulfilled', 'free of fear and guilt', and impelled to go out 'even
to
the ends of the earth, to every periphery'. In this way we can bring the good
news to the most abandoned, knowing that 'He is with us always, even to the end
of the world'. And please, let us ask for the grace to learn how to be weary,
but weary in the best of ways!".

___________________________________________________________

 The Pope washes the feet of twelve detainees in Rebibbia prison
 Vatican City, 2 April 2015 (VIS) - This afternoon Pope Francis celebrated Holy
Mass "in Coena Domini" in Rome's Rebibbia penitentiary, where he arrived around
5.15 p.m. He greeted the authorities, staff and a group of detainees in the
prison courtyard. Shortly before 6 p.m., in the "Padre Nostro" church in the
New
Complex of Rebibbia, the Pope presided at the Holy Mass that begins the Easter
Triduum, during which he washed the feet of twelve detainees, six men and six
women from the nearby women's penitentiary.
 In his improvised homily, the Pope remarked that on a Thursday like today,
Jesus was at the table with His disciples, celebrating the feast of the
Passover. "The Gospel reading we have just heard contains a phrase which is
precisely at the centre of what Jesus did for all of us: 'having loved his own
who were in the world, he loved them to the end'. Jesus loved us. Jesus loves
us. Without limits, always, to the end. ... And each one of us can say, 'He
gave
His life for me'. ... For everyone, name and surname. This is how His love is:
personal. Jesus' love never disappoints, as He never tires of loving, just as
He
never tires of forgiving, of embracing us. This is the first thing I wanted to
say to you: Jesus loved us, each one of us, unto the end".
 "And then, he does what the disciples did not understand: washing their feet.
In that time, it was a custom, as when people arrived at a house their feet
were
dirty from the dust of the road. ... But the master of the house did not do
this.
It was a task for the slaves. And Jesus, like a slave, washes our feet, the
feet
of His disciples, and therefore says to Peter: 'What I am doing you do not
understand now, but afterwards you will understand'. So great is Jesus' love
that He made Himself into a slave to serve us, to heal us, to cleanse us".
 "And today, in this Mass, the Church wishes for her priest to wash the feet of
twelve people, in memory of the Twelve Apostles. But in our hearts we must be
sure that the Lord, when He washes our feet, washes us entirely, He purifies
us,
He lets us feel His love once more. In the Bible there is a beautiful phrase,
from the prophet Isaiah: 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should
have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will
not
forget you'. This is what God's love for us is like".
 "And today", he concluded, "I will wash the feet of twelve of you, but all of
you, all people, are in these brothers and sisters. You represent them. But I
too need to be washed by the Lord, and therefore pray during this Mass that the
Lord may wash away my impurities, so that I may become more of a slave than
you,
more of a slave in the service of the people, as Jesus was".

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 Good Friday: In Christ abandoned, we see all those abandoned in the world
 Vatican City, 3 April 2015 (VIS) - At 9.15 p.m. today, Good Friday, at Rome's
ancient Colosseum, Pope Francis offered a meditation following the torch-lit
Via
Via Crucis in which thousands of faithful participate every year, accompanying
Christ's journey to the Cross. From the terrace of the Palatine Hill, the Holy
Father listened to the reflections that accompanied each of the fourteen
stations, all of which were united by the constant reference to the gift of
being protected by God's love, and in particular that of the crucified Jesus,
and the task of being, in turn, protectors of the whole of Creation, especially
the poorest and most marginalised. He reflected on the situation of men and
women who are persecuted and martyred for their faith or for working to promote
justice and peace, on the family, on the condition of life for women, on human
trafficking and violence against children in its various forms.
 The cross was carried between the fourteen stations by the cardinal archbishop
of Rome, Agostino Vallini, a large family, another family with adopted
children,
two patients, citizens of Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Egypt and China, women
religious
from secular institutes and of Our Lady of Piety in Latin America, and two
custodians of the Holy Land.
 At the end of the Via Crucis, the Pope recited the following prayer:
 "O Christ crucified and victorious, Your Way of the Cross is the summary of
Your life, the icon of Your obedience to the will of the Father,and the
realisation of Your infinite love for us sinners. It is the proof of Your
mission. It is the final fulfilment of the revelation and the history of
salvation. The weight of Your cross frees us from all of our burdens.
 "In Your obedience to the will of the Father, we become aware of our rebellion
and disobedience. In You, sold, betrayed, crucified by Your own people and
those
dear to You, we see our own betrayals and our own usual infidelity. In Your
innocence, Immaculate Lamb, we see our guilt. In Your face, slapped, spat on
and
disfigured, we see the brutality of our sins. In the cruelty of Your passion,
we
see the cruelty of our heart and of our actions. In Your own feeling of
abandonment, we see those abandoned by their families, by society, by attention
and by solidarity. In Your body, sacrificed, ripped and torn, we see the body
of
our brothers who have been abandoned along the way, disfigured by our
negligence
and our indifference. In Your thirst Lord, we see the thirst of Your merciful
Father, who desired to embrace, forgive and save all of humanity. In You,
Divine
Love, we see even today, before our very eyes, and often with our silence and
complicity, our persecuted brothers and sisters, decapitated, crucified for
their faith in You.
 "Imprint in our heart, Lord, sentiments of faith, hope and charity, of sorrow
for our sins, and lead us to repent for our sins that have crucified You. Lead
us to transform our conversion with words into a conversion of life and works.
Help us to preserve within us a living memory of Your disfigured face, so that
we may never forget the terrible price You paid to free us. Crucified Jesus,
strengthen in us a faith that does not collapse in the face of temptations;
awaken in us the hope that does get lost following the temptations of the
world.
Preserve in us the charity that is not fooled by the corruption of worldliness.
Teach us that the cross is the way to the resurrection. Teach us that Good
Friday is the way to the Easter of light. Teach us that God never forgets any
of
his children, and never tires of forgiving us and embracing us with His
infinite
mercy. But also teach us to never tire of asking Him for forgiveness and
believing in the boundless mercy of the Father".

___________________________________________________________

 Easter Vigil Mass: learn from the women how to enter into the Paschal mystery
 Vatican City, 4 April 2015 (VIS) - The solemn Easter Vigil began this evening
at 8.30 in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Francis presided over the rites which
began in the church atrium with a blessing of the new fire and the preparation
of the Paschal candle. After the procession to the altar with the lighted
candle
the celebration continued with the singing of the "Exsultet", and Liturgy of
the
Word. The Holy Father went on to administer the sacraments of Christian
initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion) to ten people from
Italy,
Portugal, Albania, Kenya and Cambodia.
 Following the Gospel reading, the bishop of Rome pronounced a homily in which
he commented that the women were the first to enter into the empty tomb, and
urged those present to learn from these women, Jesus' disciples, never to lose
faith or hope.
 "Tonight is a night of vigil", he said. "The Lord is not sleeping; the
Watchman
is watching over his people, to bring them out of slavery and to open before
them the way to freedom. The Lord is keeping watch and, by the power of His
love, He is bringing His people through the Red Sea. He is also bringing Jesus
through the abyss of death and the netherworld.
 "This was a night of vigil for the disciples of Jesus, a night of sadness and
fear. The men remained locked in the Upper Room. Yet, the women went to the
tomb
at dawn on Sunday to anoint Jesus' body. Their hearts were overwhelmed and they
were asking themselves: 'How will we enter? Who will roll back the stone of the
tomb?" But here was the first sign of the great event: the large stone was
already rolled back and the tomb was open.
 "'Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed
in
a white robe'. The women were the first to see this great sign, the empty tomb;
and they were the first to enter. 'Entering the tomb'. It is good for us, on
this Vigil night, to reflect on the experience of the women, which also speaks
to us. For that is why we are here: to enter, to enter into the Mystery which
God has accomplished with his vigil of love. We cannot live Easter without
entering into the mystery. It is not something intellectual, something we only
know or read about. It is more, much more!
 "'To enter into the mystery' means the ability to wonder, to contemplate; the
ability to listen to the silence and to hear the tiny whisper amid great
silence
by which God speaks to us. To enter into the mystery demands that we not be
afraid of reality: that we not be locked into ourselves, that we not flee from
what we fail to understand, that we not close our eyes to problems or deny
them,
that we not dismiss our questions. To enter into the mystery means going beyond
our own comfort zone, beyond the laziness and indifference which hold us back,
and going out in search of truth, beauty and love. It is seeking a deeper
meaning, an answer, and not an easy one, to the questions which challenge our
faith, our fidelity and our very existence.
 "To enter into the mystery, we need humility, the lowliness to abase
ourselves,
to come down from the pedestal of our 'I' which is so proud, of our
presumption;
the humility not to take ourselves so seriously, recognising who we really are:

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)