At Mass, Pope Francis says "The Holy Spirit teaches us this mildness.." and "..does not teach us to insult." Full Text - Video

MORNING CELEBRATION BROADCASTED LIVE
FROM THE SANTA MARTA CHAPEL

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

"The Holy Spirit reminds us of access to the Father"

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Introduction

Today our prayer is for many people who clean the hospitals, the streets, who empty the garbage cans, who go to the houses to take away the garbage: a job that nobody sees, but it is a job that is necessary to survive. May the Lord bless them, help them.

Homily

In the farewell from the disciples (cf. Jn 14 : 15-21), Jesus gives them peace, gives peace, with a promise: "I will not leave you orphans" (v. 18). It defends them from that pain, from that painful sense of orphanness. Today in the world there is a great feeling of orphanage : many have many things, but the Father is missing. And in the history of humanity this is repeated: when the Father is missing, something is missing and there is always the desire to meet, to find the Father, even in ancient myths. We think of the myths of Oedipus, of Telemachus, many others: always looking for the missing Father. Today we can say that we live in a society where the Father is lacking, a sense of orphanness that affects belonging and fraternity.

This is why Jesus promises: "I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete" (v. 16). “I am going - says Jesus - but another will come and teach you access to the Father . It will remind you of access to the Father ”. The Holy Spirit does not come to "make himself his customers"; he comes to signal access to the Father, to remember access to the Father, what Jesus has opened, what Jesus has shown. There is no spirituality of the Son only, of the Holy Spirit only: the center is the Father. The Son is sent by the Father and returns to the Father. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father to remember and teach us how to access to the Father.

Only with this awareness of children who are not orphans can we live in peace among us. Always wars, both small wars and large wars, always have an orphan dimension: the Father who makes peace is missing. For this reason, when Peter in the first community says that they respond to the people because they are Christians (cf. 1Pt 3: 15-18), he says: "However, this must be done with gentleness and respect, with a right conscience" (v. 16), that is, the mildness that the Holy Spirit gives. The Holy Spirit teaches us this mildness, this sweetness of the Father's children. The Holy Spirit does not teach us to insult. And one of the consequences of the sense of orphanage is insult, wars, because if there is no Father there are no brothers, brotherhood is lost. They are - this sweetness, respect, gentleness - they are attitudes of belonging, of belonging to a family that is sure of having a Father.

"I will pray to the Father and he will send you another Paraclete" ( Jn 14:16) who will remind you of access to the Father, will remind you that we have a Father who is the center of everything, the origin of everything, the unity of all, salvation of all because he sent his Son to save us all. And now send the Holy Spirit to remind us of access to him, to the Father and, from this fatherhood, this fraternal attitude of mildness, of sweetness, of peace.

We ask the Holy Spirit to remind us always, always, of this access to the Father, to remind us that we have a Father . And to this civilization, which has a great sense of orphanness, give the grace to find the Father, the Father who gives meaning to all life and makes men be a family.

Prayer for spiritual communion

My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. I love you above all things and I desire you in my soul. Since I cannot receive you sacramentally now, at least spiritually come to my heart. As already come, I embrace you and I join you all. Don't let it ever separate me from you.
FULL TEXT + Image Source: Vatican.va - a Translation from Italian