Pope Francis at Mass with 32,000 says ""The Holy Spirit gives us the courage to live the Christian life....Listen to the Spirit, pray to the Spirit, and if it’s Him changing your life, trust the Spirit." in Verona
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Pastoral Visit of the Holy Father Francis to Verona – Holy Mass on the eve of Pentecost at the Bentegodi Stadium, 18.05.2024
In the afternoon, leaving the Montorio prison, the Holy Father Francis went to the Bishopric for a brief visit to the elderly mother of the Bishop of Verona, H.E. Monsignor Domenico Pompili.
Subsequently the Pope moved by car to the Bentegodi Stadium for the celebration of the Holy Mass on the Eve of Pentecost.
After a few tours in the Popemobile among the approximately 32 thousand faithful present, at 4.00 pm the Pope presided over the Eucharistic Celebration. After the proclamation of the Gospel, the Pope delivered the Homily.
At the end of the Holy Mass, before the final blessing, H.E. Monsignor Pompili addressed some words of thanks to the Holy Father.
Then Pope Francis, after taking leave of the authorities who had welcomed him upon his arrival, left by helicopter from the square adjacent to the Bentegodi Stadium to return to the Vatican at 5.42 pm.
The Pope arrived at the Vatican heliport at 7.12 pm and returned to Casa Santa Marta.
FULL TEXT transcript of the Homily that the Pope delivered off the cuff during the Celebration:
_________________________________________Once, the apostle Paul went to a Christian community and asked: “Have you received the Holy Spirit?”. And what did they answer? “What is the Holy Spirit?” (see Acts 19:1-2). They didn't know what the Holy Spirit was. I think that today, if I ask many Christian communities what the Holy Spirit is, they will not know how to answer.
Once, in a children's Mass - a day like this Pentecost, there were two hundred children, more or less - I asked: "Who is the Holy Spirit?", and the children: "Me! I! I!"; everyone wanted to answer. I said: “You” - “It's the paralytic!”. He had heard "Paraclete" and he had said paralytic. And many times, if I were to ask, I don't say that the answer will be "the paralytic", but we don't know who the Holy Spirit is.
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of our lives! It is what takes us forward, what helps us move forward, what makes us develop the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is within us. Be careful: we have all received, with Baptism, the Holy Spirit, and even more with Confirmation! But do I listen to the Holy Spirit who is within me? Do I listen to the Spirit who moves my heart and tells me: “Don't do this, yes do this”? Or does the Holy Spirit not exist for me?
Today we celebrate the feast of the day the Holy Spirit came. But think: the Apostles were all closed in the cenacle. They were afraid, the doors were closed... The Holy Spirit came, changed their hearts, and they went to preach with courage. Courage: The Holy Spirit gives us the courage to live the Christian life. And for this reason, with this courage, our lives change.
Sometimes we go [to Confession] with the same sins: “But father, I would like to change my life, I don't know how to do it…” – “But listen to the Spirit! Pray to the Spirit and He will change your life. Trust the Spirit” – “Well, father, I'm 90 years old, I can't change now…” – “But how many days of life do you have left?” – “Eh, I don't know” – “With just one day, the Spirit can change your life. It can change your heart!”.
The Spirit first of all is the One who changes our lives. Have you understood this? Let us repeat together: “The Spirit changes our lives”. [All: “The Spirit changes our lives”]. And this is beautiful.
Second. The Apostles who were in such fear, when they received the Holy Spirit, courageously went forward to preach the Gospel. The Holy Spirit gives us courage to live Christianly. Sometimes we find Christians who are like warm water: neither hot nor cold. He lacks courage. “And father, where can you take a course to have courage?” – “No, pray to the Spirit. Trust in the Spirit." The Spirit gives us the courage to live Christianly. Have you understood this? All together: “The Spirit gives us courage” [All: “The Spirit gives us courage”]. Here you are! And we ask this: the Spirit to help us move forward.
And then, a very beautiful thing the Spirit did on that day of Pentecost. There were people of all nations, of all languages, of all cultures, and the Spirit, with those people, builds the Church. The Spirit builds the Church. What does it mean? What makes everyone the same? No! All different, but with one heart, with the love that unites us. The Spirit is the One who saves us from the danger of making us all the same. No. We are all redeemed, all loved by the Father, all taught by Jesus Christ. And what does the Spirit do? It does that thing: everyone together. There is a word that explains this well: the Spirit creates harmony! The harmony of the Church. Each one different from the other, but in an atmosphere of harmony. Together we say: the Spirit makes us harmony. [All: “The Spirit makes us harmony”].
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the miracle of today: taking cowardly, fearful men and making them courageous; take men and women of all cultures and make them a unity of all, create the Church. Take these people without making them equal. What does the Spirit do? Harmony. Together: the Spirit creates harmony.
Now each of us think about our own lives. We all need harmony. We all need the Spirit to give us harmony in our soul, in the family, in the city, in society, in the workplace. The opposite of harmony is war, it is fighting against each other. And when war is waged, when one fights against another, does the Spirit do this, yes or no? [All: “No”]. Harder! [All: “No!”]. Ninth. The Spirit creates harmony. And with the Apostles, on the day that came, there was the Madonna, the Virgin Mary. We ask her to give us the grace to receive the Holy Spirit; may she, as a Mother, teach us to receive the Holy Spirit. Thank you.
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