Pope at Chrism Mass: "The Cross is not negotiable".Silence and emptiness once again dominated the atmosphere in the immense Basilica of St. Peter on the evening of Good Friday. At six o'clock in the evening, Pope Francis presided at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica for the celebration of the Offices of the Passion of the Lord.
After the initial procession, the Pope prostrated himself under the steps of the presbytery, leaving an iconic image, like the one we would see later when he kissed the Cross. The triple unveiling of the Cross preceded the act of adoration, and, after adoring the Cross, the Holy Father presented it to the silent adoration of the small gathered assembly. During the Liturgy of the Word, the account of the Passion according to St. John was read, and the homily was given by the Preacher of the Pontifical Household, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap:
"Last October 3, at the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, the Holy Father signed his encyclical on fraternity "Fratres omnes". In a short time, his writing has awakened in many hearts the aspiration towards this universal value, has highlighted the many wounds against it in today's world, has indicated ways to arrive at a true and just human fraternity and has exhorted everyone - individuals and institutions - to work for it.
The encyclical is ideally addressed to a very broad public, inside and outside the Church: in practice, to all humanity. It covers many areas of life: from the private to the public, from the religious to the social and the political. Given its universal horizon, it rightly avoids restricting the discourse to what is proper and exclusive to Christians. However, towards the end of the encyclical, there is a paragraph where the evangelical foundation of fraternity is summed up in few but vibrant words. It reads:
Others drink from other sources. For us, this source of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From it springs "for Christian thought and for the action of the Church the primacy given to relationship, to the encounter with the sacred mystery of the other, to universal communion with the whole of humanity as the vocation of all" (FO 277).
The mystery of the cross that we are celebrating obliges us to focus precisely on this Christological foundation of fraternity, which was inaugurated precisely in the death of Christ.
In the New Testament, "brother" (adelphos) means, in the primary sense, the person born of the same father and mother. Secondly, members of the same people and nation are called "brethren". Thus, Paul says that he is willing to become anathema, separated from Christ, for the sake of his brothers according to the flesh, who are the Israelites (cf. Rom 9:3). It is clear that in these contexts, as in other cases, "brethren" indicates men and women, brothers and sisters.
In this broadening of the horizon, we come to call every human person a brother, just because he is a brother. Brother is what the Bible calls "neighbor". "Whoever does not love his brother..." (1 Jn 2:9) means: whoever does not love his neighbor. When Jesus says, "Whatever you have done to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done to me" (Mt 25:40), he means every human person in need of help.
But along with all these meanings, in the New Testament the word "brother" indicates more and more clearly a particular category of persons. Brothers among themselves are the disciples of Jesus, those who embrace his teachings. "Who is my mother and who are my brothers? [Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Mt 12:48-50).
In this sense, Easter marks a new and decisive stage. Thanks to it, Christ becomes "the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). The disciples become brothers in a new and very profound sense: they share not only the teaching of Jesus, but also his Spirit, his new life as the Risen One.
It is significant that only after his resurrection, for the first time, Jesus calls his disciples "brothers": "Go to my brothers," he says to Mary Magdalene, "and say to them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'" (Jn 20:17). In the same vein, the Letter to the Hebrews writes: "He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one origin; for this reason [Christ] is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb 2:11).
After Easter, this is the most common use of the term brother; it indicates the brother of faith, a member of the Christian community. Brothers "of blood" also in this case, but of the blood of Christ! This makes the brotherhood of Christ something unique and transcendent, compared to any other kind of brotherhood, and is due to the fact that Christ is also God.
This new fraternity does not replace other types of fraternity based on family, nation or race, but crowns them. All human beings are brothers and sisters as creatures of the same God and Father. To this the Christian faith adds a second decisive reason. We are brothers not only because of creation, but also because of redemption; not only because we all have the same Father, but because we all have the same brother, Christ, "the firstborn among many brothers".
In the light of all this, we must now make some current reflections. Fraternity is built exactly as peace is built, that is to say, starting from up close, for us, not with grand schemes, with ambitious and abstract goals. This means that universal fraternity begins for us with fraternity in the Catholic Church. I also leave aside, for once, the second circle, which is the fraternity among all believers in Christ, that is, ecumenism.
The Catholic fraternity is wounded! The tunic of Christ has been torn by the divisions between the Churches; but - what is worse - each piece of the tunic is often divided, in its turn, into other pieces. I speak naturally of the human element of it, because the true robe of Christ, his mystical body animated by the Holy Spirit, no one will ever be able to wound it. In the eyes of God, the Church is "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" and will remain as such until the end of the world. This, however, does not excuse our divisions, but rather makes them all the more culpable and should impel us all the more strongly to heal them.
What is the most common cause of divisions among Catholics? It is not dogma, it is not the sacraments and ministries: all the things that by the singular grace of God we keep integral and unanimous. It is the political option, when it takes advantage of the religious and ecclesial option and defends an ideology, forgetting completely the sense and duty of obedience in the Church.
This, in many parts of the world, is the real factor of division, even if it is silently or contemptuously denied. This is sin, in the strictest sense of the term. It means that "the kingdom of this world" has become more important, in one's own heart, than the Kingdom of God.
I believe that we are all called to make a serious examination of our consciences on this matter and to convert. This is, par excellence, the work of the one whose name is "diabolos," that is, the divider, the enemy who sows tares, as Jesus defines him in his parable (cf. Mt 13:25).
We must learn from the Gospel and the example of Jesus. There was a strong political polarization around him. There were four parties: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians and the Zealots. Jesus did not align himself with any of them and vigorously resisted the attempt to drag him to one side or the other.
The early Christian community followed him faithfully in this choice. This is an example especially for pastors who must be shepherds of the whole flock, not of just one part of it. For this reason, they are the first to have to make a serious examination of conscience and ask themselves where they are leading their flock: whether to their side, or to Jesus' side.
The Second Vatican Council entrusts in particular to the laity the task of putting into practice, in different historical situations, the social, economic and political teachings of the Gospel. These can be translated into choices that are even different, when they are respectful of others and peaceful.
If there is a special charism or gift that the Catholic Church is called to cultivate for all Christian Churches, it is precisely unity. The Holy Father's recent trip to Iraq has made us feel firsthand what it means for those who are oppressed or who have survived wars and persecutions to feel part of a universal body, with someone who can make the rest of the world hear their cry and revive hope. Once again Christ's command to Peter has been fulfilled: "Confirm your brethren" (Lk 22:32).
To the One who died on the cross "to gather together the scattered children of God" (Jn 11:52) we raise, on this day, "with contrite heart and humbled spirit," the prayer that the Church addresses to him at every Mass before Communion:
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and according to your word grant her peace and unity, you who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
