Vatican City, 26 May 2014 (VIS) – At
11.45 a.m., after a five-kilometre journey by car, the Holy Father
arrived at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre where he received in
audience the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. An hour
and a half later, the Pontiff was scheduled to lunch with the papal
entourage, but instead he changed his plans and decided to eat in the
refectory of the Convent of San Salvador with the Franciscans. At
2.15 p.m., after blessing the Tabernacle of the chapel in the centre
built by the Legionaries of Christ in Galilee, he left the centre for
the small Greek Orthodox “Viri – Galilaei” church on the Mount
of Olives. From there he paid a brief private visit to the Ecumenical
Patriarch of Constantinople, after which they both blessed a group of
faithful gathered outside the church. The Pope departed for the
Gethsemane church, located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives and
entrusted to the Custodian of the Holy Land. Upon entry, he venerated
the rock upon which Jesus prayed before his arrest, situated at the
foot of the altar. He then entered, where he was awaited by priests,
consecrated persons and seminarians.
“At the hour which God had appointed
to save humanity from its enslavement to sin, Jesus came here, to
Gethsemane, to the foot of the Mount of Olives”, said the Pope. “We
now find ourselves in this holy place, a place sanctified by the
prayer of Jesus, by his agony, by his sweating of blood, and above
all by his 'yes' to the loving will of the Father. We dread in some
sense to approach what Jesus went through at that hour; we tread
softly as we enter that inner space where the destiny of the world
was decided. In that hour, Jesus felt the need to pray and to have
with him his disciples, his friends, those who had followed him and
shared most closely in his mission. But here, at Gethsemane,
following him became difficult and uncertain; they were overcome by
doubt, weariness and fright. As the events of Jesus’ passion
rapidly unfolded, the disciples would adopt different attitudes
before the Master: attitudes of closeness, distance, hesitation.
“Here, in this place, each of us –
bishops, priests, consecrated persons, and seminarians – might do
well to ask: Who am I, before the sufferings of my Lord? Am I among
those who, when Jesus asks them to keep watch with him, fall asleep
instead, and rather than praying, seek to escape, refusing to face
reality? Or do I see myself in those who fled out of fear, who
abandoned the Master at the most tragic hour in his earthly life? Is
there perhaps duplicity in me, like that of the one who sold our Lord
for thirty pieces of silver, who was once called Jesus’ 'friend',
and yet ended up by betraying him? Do I see myself in those who drew
back and denied him, like Peter? Shortly before, he had promised
Jesus that he would follow him even unto death; but then, put to the
test and assailed by fear, he swore he did not know him. Am I like
those who began planning to go about their lives without him, like
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, foolish and slow of heart to
believe the words of the prophets?
“Or, thanks be to God, do I find
myself among those who remained faithful to the end, like the Virgin
Mary and the Apostle John?” he continued. “On Golgotha, when
everything seemed bleak and all hope seemed pointless, only love
proved stronger than death. The love of the Mother and the beloved
disciple made them stay at the foot of the Cross, sharing in the pain
of Jesus, to the very end. Do I recognise myself in those who
imitated their Master to the point of martyrdom, testifying that he
was everything to them, the incomparable strength sustaining their
mission and the ultimate horizon of their lives? Jesus’ friendship
with us, his faithfulness and his mercy, are a priceless gift which
encourages us to follow him trustingly, notwithstanding our failures,
our mistakes, also our betrayals.”
Pope Francis emphasised that “the
Lord’s goodness does not dispense us from the need for vigilance
before the Tempter, before sin, before the evil and the betrayal
which can enter even into the religious and priestly life. We are all
exposed to sin, to evil, to betrayal. We are fully conscious of the
disproportion between the grandeur of God’s call and of own
littleness, between the sublimity of the mission and the reality of
our human weakness. Yet the Lord in his great goodness and his
infinite mercy always takes us by the hand lest we drown in the sea
of our fears and anxieties. He is ever at our side, he never abandons
us. And so, let us not be overwhelmed by fear or disheartened, but
with courage and confidence let us press forward in our journey and
in our mission”.
He reminded those present that they
were called to follow the Lord with joy in this holy land. “It is a
gift and also a responsibility. Your presence here is extremely
important”, and added that the whole Church was grateful for their
work and sustains them with her prayers. He also offered his
greetings to all Christians in Jerusalem: “I would like to assure
them that I remember them affectionately and that I pray for them,
being well aware of the difficulties they experience in this city. I
urge them to be courageous witnesses of the passion of the Lord but
also of his resurrection, with joy and hope”. He concluded, “let
us imitate the Virgin Mary and Saint John, and stand by all those
crosses where Jesus continues to be crucified. This is how the Lord
calls us to follow him: this is the path, there is no other! 'Whoever
serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be
also'”.
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