Pope Francis Opens 2nd Holy Door at a Prison saying it is “a sign of the door of our heart.” FULL TEXT + Video
On the Feast of SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR - the OPENING OF THE HOLY DOOR AND HOLY MASS AT THE REBIBBIA PRISON
Full Text HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Rebibbia Prison, Rome on Thursday, December 26, 2024
_____________________________________
Dear sisters and brothers, good morning and Merry Christmas!
I wanted to throw open the Door, today, here. I opened the first one at St. Peter's, the second one is yours. It is a beautiful gesture to throw open, to open: to open the doors. But more important is what it means: it is to open the heart. Open hearts. And this is what brotherhood does. Closed hearts, hard ones, do not help us to live. For this reason, the grace of a Jubilee is to throw open, to open and, above all, to open hearts to hope. Hope does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5), never! Think carefully about this. I think so too, because in bad times one thinks that everything is over, that nothing is resolved. But hope never disappoints.
I like to think of hope as the anchor that is on the shore and we with the rope are there, safe, because our hope is like the anchor on dry land (see Heb 6:17-20). Do not lose hope. This is the message I want to give you; to everyone, to all of us. I am the first. Everyone. Do not lose hope. Hope never disappoints. Never. Sometimes the rope is hard and hurts our hands ... but with the rope, always with the rope in hand, looking at the shore, the anchor takes us forward. There is always something good, there is always something that makes us go forward.
The rope in hand and, secondly, the wide open windows, the wide open doors. Above all the door of the heart. When the heart is closed it becomes hard as a stone; it forgets tenderness. Even in the most difficult situations – each of us has his own, easier, more difficult, I think of you – always the heart is open; the heart, which is precisely what makes us brothers. Open wide the doors of the heart. Everyone knows how to do it. Everyone knows where the door is closed or half-closed. Everyone knows.
I tell you two things. First: the rope in hand, with the anchor of hope. Second: open wide the doors of the heart. We have opened this one, but this is a symbol of the door of our heart.
I wish you a great Jubilee. I wish you much peace, much peace. And every day I pray for you. Truly. It is not a figure of speech. I think of you and I pray for you. And you pray for me. Thank you.
Words off the cuff after the final Blessing
Now let us not forget two things that we must do with our hands. First: hold on to the rope of hope, hold on to the anchor, to the rope. Never let go of it. Second: open wide our hearts. Open hearts. May the Lord help us in all of this. Thank you.
Words off the cuff at the end of the Holy Mass
Before I finish, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. May next year be better than this one. Every year must be better. Then, from here, I want to greet the prisoners who remained in their cells, who could not come. Greetings to each and every one of you.
And do not forget: cling to the anchor. Hands clinging. Do not forget. Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you.
Full Text HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Rebibbia Prison, Rome on Thursday, December 26, 2024
_____________________________________
Dear sisters and brothers, good morning and Merry Christmas!
I wanted to throw open the Door, today, here. I opened the first one at St. Peter's, the second one is yours. It is a beautiful gesture to throw open, to open: to open the doors. But more important is what it means: it is to open the heart. Open hearts. And this is what brotherhood does. Closed hearts, hard ones, do not help us to live. For this reason, the grace of a Jubilee is to throw open, to open and, above all, to open hearts to hope. Hope does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5), never! Think carefully about this. I think so too, because in bad times one thinks that everything is over, that nothing is resolved. But hope never disappoints.
I like to think of hope as the anchor that is on the shore and we with the rope are there, safe, because our hope is like the anchor on dry land (see Heb 6:17-20). Do not lose hope. This is the message I want to give you; to everyone, to all of us. I am the first. Everyone. Do not lose hope. Hope never disappoints. Never. Sometimes the rope is hard and hurts our hands ... but with the rope, always with the rope in hand, looking at the shore, the anchor takes us forward. There is always something good, there is always something that makes us go forward.
The rope in hand and, secondly, the wide open windows, the wide open doors. Above all the door of the heart. When the heart is closed it becomes hard as a stone; it forgets tenderness. Even in the most difficult situations – each of us has his own, easier, more difficult, I think of you – always the heart is open; the heart, which is precisely what makes us brothers. Open wide the doors of the heart. Everyone knows how to do it. Everyone knows where the door is closed or half-closed. Everyone knows.
I tell you two things. First: the rope in hand, with the anchor of hope. Second: open wide the doors of the heart. We have opened this one, but this is a symbol of the door of our heart.
I wish you a great Jubilee. I wish you much peace, much peace. And every day I pray for you. Truly. It is not a figure of speech. I think of you and I pray for you. And you pray for me. Thank you.
Words off the cuff after the final Blessing
Now let us not forget two things that we must do with our hands. First: hold on to the rope of hope, hold on to the anchor, to the rope. Never let go of it. Second: open wide our hearts. Open hearts. May the Lord help us in all of this. Thank you.
Words off the cuff at the end of the Holy Mass
Before I finish, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. May next year be better than this one. Every year must be better. Then, from here, I want to greet the prisoners who remained in their cells, who could not come. Greetings to each and every one of you.
And do not forget: cling to the anchor. Hands clinging. Do not forget. Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you.
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