Pope Francis Washes the Feet of 12 Female Prisoners and Presides at Mass saying "Jesus never tires of forgiving" - VIDEO
.jpeg)
Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 women prisoners at the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Rebibbia prison in Rome.
As per tradition Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a prison, on Holy Thursday afternoon Pope Francis visited the female section of the Rebibbia correctional facility in Rome, where he presided over Mass and the ritual of the washing of the feet for dozens of inmates, guards, chaplains and officials gathered in an outdoor area of the prison.
The pope gave a brief homily without a prepared text:
At this moment of dinner, two episodes catch our attention. The washing of Jesus' feet: Jesus humbles himself, and with this gesture he makes us understand what he had said: "I did not come to be served, but to serve" (see Mark 10:45). He teaches us the path of service.
The other – sad – episode is the betrayal of Judas who is not capable of carrying on love, and then money, selfishness lead him to this bad thing. But Jesus forgives everything. Jesus always forgives. He alone asks that we ask for forgiveness.
Once, I heard a wise old lady, an old grandmother, from the people... he said this: "Jesus never tires of forgiving: we are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness." Today we ask the Lord for the grace not to tire us.
Always, we all have small failures, big failures: everyone has their own story. But the Lord always awaits us, with open arms, and he never tires of forgiving.
Now we will do the same gesture that Jesus did: wash our feet. It is a gesture that draws attention to the vocation of service. We ask the Lord to make us grow, all of us, in the vocation of service.
Thank you.***Following the homily, Pope Francis washed the feet of twelve women prisoners of Rebibbia of different nationalities.
At the conclusion of the Mass, he met with the inmates and staff of the penitentiary and was greeted with farm products produced in the facility, along with a rainbow-colored rosary made with crochet and pearls, and two stoles with the image of two welcoming hands, and a sunflower, made by the inmates working in the necklace and sewing workshops in the prison.
The Pope gave them, the director and staff of Rebibbia a painting of the Madonna he had received as gift.
Pope Francis has celebrated Holy Thursday Mass at a prison, care facility or refugee centre since becoming Pope in 2013, while his recent predecessors customarily washed the feet of priests in St. Peter's Basilica or the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This was his second visit to the Rebibbia complex on this occasion. He first went there in 2015 meeting male and female prisoners and washing the feet of 12 inmates and a toddler.
At the conclusion of the Mass, he met with the inmates and staff of the penitentiary and was greeted with farm products produced in the facility, along with a rainbow-colored rosary made with crochet and pearls, and two stoles with the image of two welcoming hands, and a sunflower, made by the inmates working in the necklace and sewing workshops in the prison.
The Pope gave them, the director and staff of Rebibbia a painting of the Madonna he had received as gift.
Pope Francis has celebrated Holy Thursday Mass at a prison, care facility or refugee centre since becoming Pope in 2013, while his recent predecessors customarily washed the feet of priests in St. Peter's Basilica or the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This was his second visit to the Rebibbia complex on this occasion. He first went there in 2015 meeting male and female prisoners and washing the feet of 12 inmates and a toddler.
Comments