Here
is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave today before
and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s
Square.
* * *
Before the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
At the heart of today’s Gospel is this word of John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29) — a word, accompanied by a look and gesture of the hand that indicates Him, Jesus.
We
imagine the scene. We are on the bank of the river Jordan. John is
baptizing; there are so many people, men and women of different ages,
who have come there, to the river, to receive Baptism from the hands of
that man who reminded many of Elias, the great prophet who nine
centuries before had purified the Israelites of idolatry and led them
back to true faith in the God of the Covenant, the God of Abraham, of
Isaac and of Jacob.
John
preaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is close, that the Messiah is about
to manifest Himself and that it is necessary to prepare oneself, to be
converted and to behave with justice; and he begins to baptize in the
Jordan to give the people a concrete means of penance (cf. Matthew 3:1-6).
These people were coming to repent of their sins, to do penance, to
begin their life again. He knows, John knows that the Messiah, the
Lord’s consecrated, is now close, and the sign to recognize Him will be
that the Holy Spirit will alight on Him; in fact He will bring the true
Baptism, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (cf. John
1:33).
And
behold, the moment arrives: Jesus appears on the bank of the river, in
the midst of the people, of sinners — as all of us –. And His first
public act, the first thing he does when He leaves the house of Nazareth
at thirty years of age: He goes down to Judea, goes to the Jordan and
has John baptize Him. We know what happens — we celebrated it last Sunday –: the Holy Spirit alights on Jesus in the shape of a dove and the voice of the Father proclaims Him beloved Son (cf. Matthew
3:16-17). It is the sign John
was awaiting. It is He! Jesus is the Messiah. John is disconcerted,
because He manifested Himself in an unthinkable way: amid sinners,
baptized like them, rather, by them. However, the Spirit illumines John
and makes him understand that in this way God’s justice is fulfilled,
His plan of salvation is accomplished: Jesus is the Messiah, the King of
Israel, but not with the power of this world, but rather as Lamb of God, who takes upon Himself and takes away the sin of the world.
John
Indicates Him thus to the people and to his disciples, because John had
a numerous circle of disciples, who had chosen him as spiritual guide,
and some of them in fact would become the first disciples of Jesus. We
know well their names: Simon later called Peter, his brother Andrew,
James and his brother John — all fishermen, all Galileans, like Jesus.
Dear
brothers and sisters, why have we paused at length on this scene?
Because it is decisive! It is not an anecdote. It is a decisive
historical fact! This scene is decisive for our faith, and it is also
decisive for the mission of the Church. The Church is called at all
times to do what John the Baptist did, to point out Jesus to the people,
saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
He is the only Savior! He is the Lord, humble, in the midst of sinners,
but it is He, He: there is no other powerful one coming; no, no, it is
He!
And
these are the words that we priests repeat every day during the Mass,
when we present to the people the bread and wine that have become the
Body and Blood of Christ. This liturgical gesture represents the whole
mission of the Church, which does not proclaim herself. Woe betide, woe
betide when the Church proclaims herself; she loses her compass, knows
not where she is going! The Church proclaims Christ; she does not bring
herself, she brings Christ. Because it is He and He alone who saves His
people from sin, who frees them and guides them to the land of true
freedom.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lamb of God, help us to believe in and to follow Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment