We pray today for the men and women who work in the communications media. In this time of pandemic, they risk a lot and there is a lot of work. May the Lord help them in this work to always transmit the truth.
This was the intention Pope Francis had for morning Mass of May 6.
In his homily, the pope reflected on Wednesday’s Gospel (Jn 12:44-50) in which Jesus says: “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness”.
Pope Francis explained that Jesus’ mission is to enlighten because “He is the light of the world.” And the mission of the apostles was also to bring this light, the light of Jesus, “because the world is in darkness.”
Saint Paul had this experience of the passage from darkness to light and “it is a passage to which we are also called,” he said.
But the drama of Jesus’ light, stressed the pope, “is that it was rejected; His people did not welcome him. They loved darkness more than light; they were slaves to darkness.”
This is also our story, the Holy Father said, because the light makes us see things as they are; it makes us see the truth. But our sin blinds us such that we cannot tolerate the light, because our eyes are sick.
We are blinded, the pope said, by vices, pride, and the worldly spirit. “It is not easy to live in the light because it makes us see the ugly things inside us that we do not want to see: our sins.”
We seek out a “spiritual mafia” to “stay safe in the darkness.”
The light makes us see so many ugly things within ourselves that we don’t want to see: vices, sin … Let us think of our vices, let us think of our pride, let us think of our worldly spirit. These things blind us, they separate us from the light of Jesus.
Yet, if we find these things, Pope Francis added, “we will not find a wall, no, we will find an exit,” because Jesus himself says that He is the light.
Pope Francis underlined that Jesus came into the world not to condemn but to save, and “we must let ourselves be enlightened in our daily darkness.”
Jesus says, “Be not afraid. Allow yourself to be enlightened, allow yourself to see what you have within, because it is I who will carry you forward, who saves you. I do not condemn you. I save you.”
The Lord rescues us from the darkness we carry within, the Holy Father said, “the darkness of our daily lives, of our social life, of political life, of national and international life … so much darkness.”
But, he continued, the Lord asks us to see it first, that we have the courage to look at our darkness so that the light of the Lord can come in and save us.
The Lord is good, He is gentle, He is near to us. He came to save us. Let’s not be afraid of the light of Jesus.
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And today we celebrate...