{"id":61895,"date":"2018-03-31T07:03:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T07:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61895"},"modified":"2018-03-31T07:03:28","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T07:03:28","slug":"facing-sins-fallen-world-pope-francis-prays-holy-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/facing-sins-fallen-world-pope-francis-prays-holy-shame.html","title":{"rendered":"Facing sins of a fallen world, Pope Francis prays for ‘holy shame’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facing sins of a fallen world, Pope Francis prays for ‘holy shame’<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Against the backdrop of Rome\u2019s Colosseum, perhaps the most iconic scene associated with Christian persecution anywhere in the world, Pope Francis led the traditional Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, recalling the path of Christ\u2019s passion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the group of pilgrims who carried the cross through the 14 stations was a family from Syria and a nun from Iraq, both countries marred by war and religious fundamentalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to Christ in the form of prayer, Francis expressed \u201cshame\u201d for \u201cour generations that are leaving the young a world fractured by division and wars; a word devoured by selfishness where young people, children, the infirm, the elderly are marginalized.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He spoke of the shame caused by many people, \u201cincluding some of your ministers, who allowed themselves to be deceived by ambition and vainglory, losing their dignity and their first love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And he spoke of hope, including that which comes from Christ\u2019s cross, \u201cfruit of the greed and cowardice of so many doctors of the Law and hypocrites,\u201d since the Resurrection sprang from it, \u201cturning the darkness of the tomb into the splendor of the dawn of Sunday without sunset, teaching us that your love is our hope.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning shortly after 9:00 p.m. Rome time, Francis presided over the traditional Via Crucis, with what the Vatican estimated to be 20,000 pilgrims gathered to participate. In addition to the pilgrims from the Middle East, the young women and men- aged between 16 and 27- who were tasked by Francis with writing the meditations, were among those who carried the cross from one station to the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Syrian Riad Sargi and his family carried the cross in the seventh station, \u201cJesus falls for the second time.\u201d Speaking with Vatican News, he said, \u201cwe will bear the difficulties and difficult situations on the cross.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will feel the cross very heavy for us to hold on to, because we hold all the suffering for all the Syrian people, from children, families, fathers and mothers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for Syria to, like Jesus, to be resurrected from the death, the difficulties, and to live again a normal life, hopefully very soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The pope closed the meditations with a prayer, divided in three sections. In the first one, he spoke of the shame humanity has to have today, including for the fact that it has \u201clost its shame.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shame, Francis said, that has to prevail \u201cfor having left you alone to suffer for our sins,\u201d such as \u201chaving chosen Barabbas and not you, power and not you, appearances and not you God, money and not you, mundanity and not eternity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barabbas is described in the Gospel of Matthew, that details Jesus\u2019 passion, as a \u201cnotorious prisoner,\u201d and when the governor Pontius Pilate asked the crowd, \u201cWhich one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?\u201d the crowd chanted \u201cBarabbas,\u201d and for Christ to be crucified.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLord Jesus, give us always the grace of holy shame!\u201d Francis said, closing the first section of his prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pope then said that \u201cour gaze is also full of repentance,\u201d begging for mercy before Christ\u2019s \u201celoquent silence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRepentance that sprouts from the certainty that only you can save us from evil, only you can heal us from our leprosy of hatred, of selfishness, of pride, of greed, of vengeance, of avarice, of idolatry, only you can re-embrace us giving us back our filial dignity and rejoice in our return to home, to life,\u201d Francis prayed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Repentance, he continued, that \u201csprings from feeling our smallness, our nothingness, our vanity;\u201d that is born from \u201cour shame, of the certainty that our heart will remain always restless until it finds you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe repentance of Peter who, when he met your eyes, wept bitterly for having denied you before men,\u201d he said, before closing the section on repentance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, he spoke about the \u201chope,\u201d that comes from knowing that God\u2019s only \u201cmeasure\u201d when loving is \u201cto love us without measure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There is hope, Francis said, in the fact that there are so many missionaries who continue to challenge the \u201csleeping consciousness\u201d of humanity risking their lives to serve Jesus in the \u201cpoor, the rejected, the immigrants, in the unseen, in the exploited, in the hungry and in prisoners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope lies also, he said, in the fact that despite efforts to \u201cdiscredit\u201d it, His Church, holy yet made of sinners, continues to be a light that bears witness to Christ\u2019s \u201cunlimited love for humanity,\u201d and an \u201cark of salvation and a source of certainty and truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Way of the Cross, according to young people<\/span><\/p>\n

The tradition of the pope heading the meditation of the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum dates back to the pontificate of Benedict XIV, who died in 1758. He\u2019s the pope who initiated this reflection at the Colosseum, in what\u2019s left of a building that is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome where the blood of many martyred Christians was shed, either being crucified or thrown to the wild beasts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the modern tradition goes back to Pope Paul VI, who revived it in 1964, and it has been a yearly appointment since then, attracting thousands of pilgrims. St. John Paul II used to carry the Cross himself, and it rapidly became a worldwide television event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each year, popes choose the person who writes the meditations for the fourteen stations. This year, a group of 14 young women and men, including several who are still in high school, were tapped for the job, joining a list that includes world-renowned Catholics such as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – today Pope emeritus Benedict XVI – and St. John Paul II, but also people of all walks of life, including a group of Lebanese young people; religious sisters, a female theologian and prelates from around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally, the Way of the Cross procession recalls the path of Christ to his crucifixion, including passages from the Bible, a short meditation and prayer, and this time was no exception.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each station was written by a different person. For instance, in the sixth station the Way of the Cross reflects on Veronica wiping the face of Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cecilia Nardini, who carried the cross in the fifth station, wrote: \u201cI see you, Jesus, wretched and barely recognizable, treated like the least of men. You walk, faltering, to your death, your face bleeding and disfigured, yet, as always, meek and humble, looking up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know nothing about that woman, Veronica, or her story,\u201d Nardini wrote. \u201cShe earns heaven with a simple gesture of charity. She approaches you, sees your suffering face and loves it even more than before. Veronica does not stop at appearances, which today are so important in our image-conscious society. She loves, unconditionally, a face that is unsightly, marred, unlovely and imperfect. That face, your face, Jesus, in its very imperfection, shows the perfection of your love for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of them are very much grounded in today\u2019s world, mirroring the concerns many young people have.<\/span><\/p>\n

One such case was the 11th station, Jesus nailed to the cross, written by Greta Sandri, who begins by asking Jesus \u201cwhat would I have done in your place?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou had the strength to bear the weight of the cross, to meet with disbelief, to be condemned for your provocative words,\u201d she wrote. \u201cToday we can barely swallow a critical comment, as if every word was meant to hurt us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, she continued, in the world of the internet, people are conditioned by what circulates online, yet Christ\u2019s words are \u201cdifferent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have forgiven us, you held no grudge, you taught us to offer the other cheek and you kept going, even to the total sacrifice of yourself,\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Sandri wrote, people have their eyes glued to their phones and troll others on social networks to \u201cnail others for their every mistake, with no possibility of forgiveness. People ruled by anger, screaming their hatred of one another for the most futile reasons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI look at your wounds and I realize, now, that I would not have had your strength,\u201d the young woman acknowledges. \u201cBut I am seated here at your feet, and I strip myself of all hesitation. I get up in order to be closer to you, even if by a fraction of an inch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Francis\u2019s decision to have young people write the meditations of the cross is in keeping with this year\u2019s motto from the Vatican, focused on the youth ahead of the upcoming meeting of Catholic bishops to take place in Rome. The synod of bishops, scheduled for October, will focus on young people and their vocation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Holy Week is the most solemn period of the year for Christians around the world. It began with Palm Sunday, which Francis celebrated in St. Peter\u2019s Square. On Saturday, the pope will preside over the Easter Vigil Mass, and on Sunday he\u2019ll celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/cruxnow.com\/vatican\/2018\/03\/30\/facing-sins-of-a-fallen-world-pope-francis-prays-for-holy-shame\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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