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In the homily for the mass on this holy Saturday, Francis motivated us to be pilgrims in search of the hope of God, who even took life from the grave. Encouraging us to turn away from death and open our hearts to the life of the risen Jesus, the Pope made a strong call for disarmament and for the end of wars: “Let’s stop the screams of death: of wars, stop it! Stop production and the arms trade, because we need bread, not machine guns. “
Andressa Collet – Vatican City
The Basilica of Saint Peter received the Mass on this Holy Saturday (11) without the presence of the faithful or the celebration of baptisms, but with a sober and favorable atmosphere to celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and death. The changes in the Department of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff are related to the restriction measures imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The initial ceremony with the Blessing of the Fire took place behind the Confession altar, with no lights for those present, which were only lit during the procession to the Silla altar, with the interpretation of the singing of the three invocations of “Lumen Christi. “
Holy Saturday: a day of great silence.
Pope Francis began the homily by commenting on the anxiety, described in the Gospel (Mt 28, 1) of the Easter Vigil, of going “from the cross on Friday to the hallelujah on Sunday”. This year, said the pontiff, more than ever, Holy Saturday is of great silence and reflection, like the women who went to the grave:
“Like us, they had in their eyes the drama of suffering, of an unexpected tragedy, which happened very quickly. They saw death and they had death in their hearts. In addition to bitterness, fear was added: would they also end up like the Master? And then fears for the future, all of which needed to be rebuilt. The wounded memory, the suffocated hope. It was the darkest hour for them, as it is for us today. “
Rather than give in to regret and pessimism, the Pope explained that the women faced the situation and accomplished “something simple and extraordinary” while preparing perfumes for the body of Jesus, and also preparing “the day that would change history”: they “do not renounce love: in the darkness of the heart, they kindle mercy.”
The right to hope
At dawn, the women went to the grave and, through the angel and before the grave, they heard words of life. Then when they found Jesus, they also found the announcement of hope, the Pope said. And the pontiff added:
“Tonight, we win a fundamental right, which will not be taken away: the right to hope. It is a new living hope that comes from God. It is not a mere optimism, it is not a pat on the back or an encouragement of circumstances. It is a godsend that we were unable to obtain for ourselves. Everything will be fine: we have repeated it tenaciously in these weeks, clinging to the beauty of our humanity and generating words of encouragement from the heart. But as days go by and fears grow, even the most daring hope can fade away. Jesus’ hope is different. It puts in the heart the certainty that God knows how to transform everything into good, because even the grave brings life out. “
The tomb, recalled the Pope, a place from which “whoever enters does not leave. But Jesus left for us, he rose for us, to bring life where there was death. ” A story of hope that should help us not give in to “resignation”: “let’s not lay a stone on hope,” said Francisco.
The reboot: through Galilee or after crises
Pope Francis spoke of the importance of that courage, always motivated by Jesus in the Gospels, and that we find it when we open our hearts. It is, then, the moment to send to Galilee, the announcement of Easter and hope, of “certainty in our uncertainties, of the Word in our silences”:
“To return to Galilee is to remember having been loved and called by God. We need to return to normality, remembering that we were born and reborn from a free call of love. This is the point from which to start again, especially in crisis, in times of trial. “
Call to disarmament
Returning to Galilee, a region geographically distant from Jerusalem and inhabited “by different peoples, who practiced various cults”, also has another meaning for us. The Pope tried to show that the “song of life” and the “proclamation of hope” should not be limited “in our sacred precincts”, but should be carried to all, through true “announcers of life in time of death “!
At the end of the homily, the Pope made a strong call for disarmament, the end of wars and abortions. As “pilgrims in search of hope”, Francis encouraged us to move away from death and open our hearts to life, which is the risen Jesus:
