APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO SRI LANKA AND THE PHILIPPINES
(12-19 JANUARY 2015)
TO SRI LANKA AND THE PHILIPPINES
(12-19 JANUARY 2015)
HOLY MASS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Tacloban International Airport
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Impromptu homily of the Holy Father
In the first reading, we heard that we have a great
priest capable of sympathizing with out weakness, who in every respect
has been tempted as we are… (cf. Heb 4:15). Jesus is like us. Jesus lived as we do.
He is like us in everything. In everything but sin, for
he was not a sinner. But to be even more like us, he took upon himself
our sins. He became sin! This is what Paul tells us, and it was
something that he knew well. Jesus goes before us always; when we
experience any kind of cross, he was already there before us.
If today all of us are gathered here, fourteen months
after the passage of Typhoon Yolanda, it is because we are certain that
we will not be disappointed in our faith, for Jesus has gone before us.
In his passion he took upon himself all of our sorrows, and… Let me tell
you something personal – when I witnessed his disaster from Rome, I
felt that I had to be here. That is when I decided to come here. I
wanted to come to be with you. Maybe you will tell me that I came a
little late; that is true, but here I am!
I am here to tell you that Jesus is Lord; that Jesus
does not disappoint. “Father”, one of you may tell me, “he disappointed
me because I lost my house, I lost my family, I lost everything I had, I
am sick”. What you say is true and I respect your feelings, but I see
him there, nailed to the cross, and from there he does not disappoint
us. He was consecrated Lord on that throne, and there he experienced all
the disasters we experience. Jesus is Lord! And he is Lord from the
cross, from there he reigned. That is why, as we heard in the first
reading, he can understand us: he became like us in every way. So we
have a Lord who is able to weep with us, who can be at our side through
life’s most difficult moments.
So many of you have lost everything. I do not know what
to tell you. But surely he knows what to tell you! So many of you have
lost members of your family. I can only be silent; I accompany you
silently, with my heart…
Many of you looked to Christ and asked: Why, Lord? To
each of you the Lord responds from his heart. I have no other words to
say to you. Let us look to Christ: he is the Lord, and he understands
us, for he experienced all the troubles we experience.
With him, beneath the cross, is his Mother. We are like
that child who stands down there, who, in times of sorrow and pain,
times when we understand nothing, times when we want to rebel, can only
reach out and cling to her skirts and say to her: “Mother!” Like a
little child who is frightened and says: “Mother”. Perhaps that is the
only word which can express all the feelings we have in those dark
moments: Mother!
Let us be still for a moment and look to the Lord. He
can understand us, for he experienced all these things. And let us look
to our Mother, and like that little child, let us reach out, cling to
her skirts and say to her in our hearts: “Mother”. Let us make this
prayer in silence; let everyone say it whatever way he or she feels…
We are not alone; we have a Mother; we have Jesus, our
older brother. We are not alone. And we also have many brothers and
sisters who, when the disaster struck, came to our assistance. We too
feel more like brothers and sisters whenever we help one another,
whenever we help each other.
This is all that I feel I have to say to you. Forgive me
if I have no other words. But be sure that Jesus does not disappoint
us; be sure that the love and tenderness of our Mother does not
disappoint us. Clinging to her as sons and daughters with the strength
which Jesus our brother gives us, let us now move forward. As brothers
and sisters, let us take up our journey. Thank you!
After Communion:
We have just celebrated the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Jesus has gone before us on this journey and he is with us whenever we gather to pray and celebrate.
Thank you, Lord, for being with us here today. Thank
you, Lord, for sharing our sorrows. Thank you, Lord, for giving us hope.
Thank you, Lord, for your great mercy. Thank you, Lord, because you
wanted to be like one of us. Thank you, Lord, because you keep ever
close to us, even when we carry our crosses. Thank you, Lord, for giving
us hope. Lord, may no one rob us of hope! Thank you, Lord, because in
the darkest moment of your own life, on the cross, you thought of us and
you left us a mother, your mother. Thank you Lord for not leaving us
orphans!
Prepared text of the Holy Father's homily
What words of consolation we have just heard! Once
again, we have been told that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our
Savior, our high priest who brings us mercy, grace and help in all our
needs (cf. Heb 4:14-16). He heals our wounds, he forgives our sins, and he calls us, as he did Saint Matthew (cf. Mk 2:14), to be his disciples. Let us praise him for his love, his mercy and his compassion. Let us praise our great God!
I thank the Lord Jesus that we can be together this
morning. I have come to be with you, in this city which was ravaged by
Typhoon Yolanda fourteen months ago. I bring to you the love of a
father, the prayers of the entire Church, the promise that you are not
forgotten as you continue to rebuild. Here, the strongest storm ever
recorded on earth was overcome by the strongest force in the universe:
God’s love. We are here this morning to bear witness to that love, to
its power to transform death and destruction into life and community.
Christ’s resurrection, which we celebrate at this Mass, is our hope and a
reality which we experience even now. We know that the resurrection
comes only after the cross, the cross which you have borne with faith,
dignity and God-given strength.
We come together above all to pray for those who died, those who are still missing
and those who were injured. We lift up to God the souls of the dead,
our mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, family, friends and neighbors.
We can be confident that, in coming into the presence of God, they have
encountered mercy and peace (cf. Heb 4:16). There remains much
sadness because of their absence. For you who knew and loved them – and
love them still – the pain of losing them is real. But let us look with
the eyes of faith to the future. Our sadness is a seed which will one
day bear fruit in the joy which our Lord has promised to those who trust
in his words: “Blessed are you who mourn, for you will be comforted”
(cf. Mt 5:4).
We have also come together this morning to give thanks
to God for his help in time of need. God has been your strength in these
very difficult months. There has been great loss of life, suffering,
and destruction. Yet we are still able to gather and to thank him. We
know that he cares for us, that in Jesus his Son, we have a high priest
who is able to sympathize with us (cf. Heb 4:15), who suffers with us. God’s com-passion,
his suffering with us, gives eternal meaning and value to our
struggles. Your desire to thank him for every grace and blessing, even
when you have lost so much, is not only a triumph of the resilience and
strength of the Filipino people; it is also a sign of God’s goodness,
his closeness, his tenderness, his saving power.
We also give thanks to Almighty God for so much that
has been done to help, to rebuild, to assist in these months of
unprecedented need. I think in the first place of those who welcomed and
housed the great number of displaced families, elderly, and youth. How
hard it is to flee one’s home and livelihood! We thank those who have
taken care of the homeless, the orphaned and the destitute. Priests, and
men and women religious, gave as much as they could. To those of you
who housed and fed people seeking safety, in churches, convents,
rectories, and who continue to assist those still struggling, I thank
you. You are a credit to the Church. You are the pride of your nation. I
personally thank each one of you. For whatever you did for the least of
Christ’s brothers and sisters, you did for him (cf. Mt 25:41).
At this Mass we wish also to thank God for the good men
and women who served as rescue and relief workers. We thank him for the
many people around the world who generously gave of their time, money
and goods. Countries, organizations and individuals across the globe put
the needy first; it is an example that should be followed. I ask
government leaders, international agencies, benefactors and people of
goodwill not to give up. There is much that remains to be done. Though
the headlines have changed, the needs continue.
Today’s first reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews,
urges us to hold fast in our confession, to persevere in our faith, to
draw near with confidence to the throne of God’s grace (cf. Heb
4:16). These words have a special resonance in this place. Amid great
suffering you never ceased to confess the victory of the cross, the
triumph of God’s love. You have seen the power of that love revealed in
the generosity of so many people and in so many small miracles of
goodness. But you have also seen, in the profiteering, the looting and
the failed responses to this great human drama, so many tragic signs of
the evil from which Christ came to save us. Let us pray that this, too,
will lead us to greater trust in the power of God’s grace to overcome
sin and selfishness. Let us pray in particular that it will make
everyone more sensitive to the cry of our brothers and sisters in need.
Let us pray that it will lead to a rejection of all forms of injustice
and corruption which, by stealing from the poor, poison the very roots
of society.
Dear brothers and sisters, throughout this ordeal you
have felt the grace of God in a special way through the presence and
loving care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She
is our Mother. May she help you to persevere in faith and hope, and to
reach out to all in need. And with Saints Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro
Calungsod and all the saints, may she continue to implore God’s mercy
and loving compassion for this country, and for all the beloved Filipino
people. Amen.