At Mass, Pope Francis says "Jesus' mission is to illuminate...He himself said: "I am the light of the world" and Prays for those who Work in Media

MORNING CELEBRATION BROADCASTED LIVE
FROM THE CHAPEL OF CASA SANTA MARTA

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

"Have the courage to see our darkness,
so that the light of the Lord may come in and save us"

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Introduction
Let us pray today for men and women who work in the media. In this pandemic time, they risk a lot and work is a lot. May the Lord help them in this work of transmission, always, of the truth.
Homily
This passage from John's Gospel (cf. 12: 44-50) shows us the intimacy that existed between Jesus and the Father. Jesus did what the Father told him to do. And for this reason he says: "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me, but in the One who sent me" (v. 44). Then he specifies his mission: "I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness" (v. 46). It looks like light . Jesus' mission is to illuminate: the light. He himself said: "I am the light of the world" ( Jn8:12). The prophet Isaiah had prophesied this light: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" (9, 1). The promise of light that will illuminate the people. And the mission of the apostles is also to bring light. Paul said it to King Agrippa: "I have been elected to illuminate, to bring this light - which is not mine, it belongs to another - but to bring light" (cf. Acts 26,18). It is the mission of Jesus: to bring light. And the mission of the apostles is to bring the light of Jesus. To illuminate . Because the world was in darkness.
But the drama of the light of Jesus is that it has been rejected. Already at the beginning of the Gospel, John says it clearly: “He came to his family and his family did not welcome him. They loved darkness more than light "(cf. Jn 1,9-11). Getting used to the darkness, living in the darkness: they cannot accept the light, they cannot; they are slaves of darkness. And this will be the struggle of Jesus, he continues: to illuminate, to bring the light that makes us see things as they are, as they are; it shows freedom, it shows the truth, it shows the way to go, with the light of Jesus.
Paul had this experience of the transition from darkness to light when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. He was blinded. Blind. The light of the Lord blinded him. And then, after a few days, with baptism, the light was restored (cf Acts 9 : 1-19). He had this experience of the passage from the darkness, in which he was, to the light. It is also our passage, which we sacramentally received in Baptism: for this reason Baptism was called, in the first centuries, Illumination (cf. San Giustino, Apologia I, 61, 12), because it gave you the light, "made you enter" . For this reason, in the Baptism ceremony we give a lit candle, a candle lit to the father and mother, because the child, the girl is illuminated, is illuminated.
Jesus brings the light. But the people, the people, his people rejected it. He is so accustomed to the darkness that the light dazzles him, he cannot go ... (cf. Jn 1 : 10-11). And this is the drama of our sin: sin blinds us and we cannot tolerate light. We have sick eyes. And Jesus says it clearly, in the Gospel of Matthew: “If your eye is sick, your whole body will be sick. If your eye sees only darkness, how many darkness will there be within you? " (cf Mt 6,22-23). Darkness ... And the conversion is to pass from darkness to light.
But what are the things that sicken the eyes, the eyes of faith? Our eyes are sick: what are the things that "bring them down", that blind them? The vices , the worldly spirit , the pride. The vices that "bring you down" and also, these three things - vices, pride, the worldly spirit - lead you to make society with others to stay safe in the darkness. We often talk about the mafias: this is it. But there are "spiritual mafias", there are "domestic mafias", always, looking for someone else to cover themselves and stay in the darkness. It is not easy to live in the light. The light shows us many bad things within us that we don't want to see: the vices, the sins ... We think of our vices, we think of our pride, we think of our worldly spirit: these things blind us, they distance us from the light of Jesus .
But if we start thinking about these things, we will not find a wall, no, we will find an exit, because Jesus himself says that He is the light, and also: “I came into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world "(Cf. Jn 12 : 46-47). Jesus himself, the light, says: “Have courage: let yourself be illuminated, let yourself be seen for what you have inside, because it is I who will carry you forward, to save you. I don't condemn you. I save you "(cf. v. 47). The Lord saves us from the darkness that we have inside, from the darkness of everyday life, of social life, of political life, of national, international life ... There is so much darkness inside. And the Lord saves us. But he asks us to see them first; have the courage to see our darkness so that the light of the Lord may come in and save us.
We are not afraid of the Lord: he is very good, he is mild, he is close to us. He came to save us. We are not afraid of the light of Jesus.
Prayer to make spiritual communion
People who cannot communicate now make 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 came, I embrace you and I join you all. Don't let me ever separate you from you.

FULL TEXT + Image Source: Vatican.va - Translation from Italian