Vatican City, 15 February 2016 (VIS) –
After leaving the apostolic nunciature in Mexico City, the Pope
travelled by helicopter to Ecatepec to celebrate Holy Mass. It is the
first time that this satellite city has received a papal visit.
Ecatepec is located on a hill
approximately 28 kilometres from the capital, and is densely
populated, with more than a million and a half inhabitants who
commute daily to Mexico City to work. It was originally a city-state
governed by a chief closely related to the reigning dynasty of the
Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. Ecatepec was declared the Republic
of Indians in 1560, thus conserving a certain autonomy and
maintaining the succession of the leader. In the seventeenth century
it became a municipality under Spanish administration, and "de
Morelos" was added to its name in honour of the national hero
Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, executed by the Spanish during the first
war of Mexican independence in 1819. In 1980 Ecatepec was declared a
city.
Francis celebrated Mass in the sports
area of the Ecatepec Study Centre, which is able to hold 400,000
people, and following the Gospel reading, which related the
temptations of Christ in the desert, he pronounced a homily in which
he emphasised that Lent is a good moment to recover the joy and hope
that make us feel we are beloved sons and daughters of the Father.
"The Father who waits for us in order to cast off our garments
of exhaustion, of apathy, of mistrust, and so clothe us with the
dignity which only a true father or mother knows how to give their
children, with the garments born of tenderness and love".
He is the Father of a great family, Who
knows that He has a unique love, but "does not know how to bear
or raise an 'only child'. He is the God of the home, of brotherhood,
of bread broken and shared. He is the God who is 'Our Father', not
'my father' or 'your stepfather'. God’s dream makes its home and
lives in each one of us so that at every Easter, in every Eucharist
we celebrate, we may be the children of God. It is a dream which so
many of our brothers and sisters have had through history. A dream
witnessed to by the blood of so many martyrs, both from long ago and
from now".
"Lent is a time of conversion, of
daily experiencing in our lives of how this dream is continually
threatened by the father of lies – and we hear in the Gospel how he
acted towards Jesus – by the one who tries to separate us, making a
divided and confrontational family; a society which is divided and at
loggerheads, a society of the few, and for the few. How often we
experience in our own lives, or in our own families, among our
friends or neighbours, the pain which arises when the dignity we
carry within is not recognised. How many times have we had to cry and
regret on realising that we have not acknowledged this dignity in
others. How often – and it pains me to say it – have we been
blind and impervious in failing to recognise our own and others’
dignity".
Lent, therefore, is also a time for
"reconsidering our feelings, for letting our eyes be opened to
the frequent injustices which stand in direct opposition to the dream
and the plan of God. It is a time to unmask three great temptations
that wear down and fracture the image which God wanted to form in
us".
The Pope went on to explain the meaning
of these three temptations of Christ, which are also "three
temptations for the Christian, which seek to destroy what we have
been called to be; three temptations which try to corrode us and
tear us down".
The first is wealth "seizing hold
of goods destined for all, and using them only for 'my own people'.
That is, taking the 'bread' based on the toil of others, or even at
the expense of their very lives. That wealth which tastes of pain,
bitterness and suffering. That is the bread that a corrupt family or
society gives its own children. The second temptation, vanity: the
pursuit of prestige based on continuous, relentless exclusion of
those who 'are not like me'. The futile chasing of those five minutes
of fame which do not forgive the 'reputation' of others. 'Making
firewood from a felled tree' gradually gives way to the third
temptation, the worst. It is that of pride, or rather, putting
oneself on a higher level than one truly is on, feeling that one does
not share the life of 'mere mortals', and yet being one who prays
every day: 'I thank you Lord that you have not made me like those
others'.
These three temptations which the
Christian is faced with daily "seek to corrode, destroy and
extinguish the joy and freshness of the Gospel. Three temptations
which lock us into a cycle of destruction and sin".
"It is worth asking ourselves, to
what degree are we aware of these temptations in our lives, in our
very selves?", continued Francis. "How much have we become
accustomed to a lifestyle where we think that our source and life
force lies only in wealth? To what point do we feel that caring about
others, our concern and work for bread, for the good name and dignity
of others, are wellsprings of happiness and hope? We have chosen
Jesus, not the evil one. If we remember what we heard in the Gospel,
Jesus does not reply to the devil with any of His own words, but
rather He challenges him with the words of God, the words of
scripture. Because brothers and sisters, and let us be clear about
this, we cannot dialogue with the devil, we cannot do this because He
will always win. Only the power of Gods’ word can overcome him. We
have opted for Jesus and not for the devil; we want to follow in
Jesus’ footsteps, even though we know that this is not easy. We
know what it means to be seduced by money, fame and power. For this
reason, the Church gives us the gift of this Lenten season, invites
us to conversion, offering but one certainty: He is waiting for us
and wants to heal our hearts of all that tears us down. He is the God
Who has a name: Mercy. His name is our wealth, His name is what makes
us famous, His name is our power and in His name we say once more
with the Psalm: 'You are my God and in You I trust'. Will you repeat
it together? Three times: 'You are my God and in You I trust'".
After listening to the response of the
crowd, Francis concluded, "In this Eucharist, may the Holy
Spirit renew in us the certainty that His name is Mercy, and may He
let us experience each day that 'the Gospel fills the hearts and
lives of all who encounter Jesus...', knowing that 'with Christ and
in Christ joy is constantly born anew'”.
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