Fear Not

 He is risen!

He lives,
Jesus, the Nazarene,
who triumphed over death.
 Why should I be afraid?
He walked on water!
 He multiplied the loaves!
He made the blind see!
The sick walked,
and He gave life back to the dead,
For He reigns over life and death.
Why should I be afraid?
 Of demons? No!
He took them out of souls.
Of storms? No!
He stopped the wind.
He speaks and the entire universe hears.
Why should I be afraid?
 He conquered sin for me,
He conquered death for me,
He resurrected, the first...
Because He is First in everything,
Because He can do everything,
 He is our hope,
He is life,
 Whoever believes in Him will never die!
 Do you believe this? He asks you,
If you believe this, do not be afraid,
for nothing is impossible,
 for Him who lives and reigns!
Yes, He, Jesus, is our hope.

Homily of Pope Leo XIV in his inaugural. Mass

 Dear Brother Cardinals,

Brother Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps.
Greetings to the pilgrims who have come for the Jubilee of Confraternities!

I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: Lord, “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1).

In these days, we have experienced intense emotions. The death of Pope Francis filled our hearts with sadness. In those difficult hours, we felt like the crowds that the Gospel says were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). Then, on Easter Sunday, we received his final blessing and, in the light of the resurrection, we experienced the days that followed in the certainty that the Lord never abandons his people, but gathers them when they are scattered and guards them “as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jer 31:10).

them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity.  In the words of Saint Augustine: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbour” (Serm. 359,9).

Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!

This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world.  We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.

Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 20).

With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.

Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.

Love

 Today the Gospel speaks to us about a new commandment that Jesus leaves us: Love one another as I have loved you. The deacon tells us that with this new commandment, Jesus speaks to us about the first commandment, which asks us to love God. As Saint Augustine tells us, the first Christians loved one another because they saw God in each other. That is, they loved God in their neighbors. This reminds me of a time I witnessed an Easter Vigil from inside the church. On that occasion, I watched as everyone entered with a small candle, all lit from the Paschal Candle that represents Christ. I remember understanding that we must love others because Jesus himself is within them. And He already told us: whatever you do to my least brothers is as if you were doing it to me. As a Sister of Charity of the Order of Saint Teresa of Calcutta says, sometimes the saint had to remind them that they were serving Jesus, so that they would remember that it was Jesus whose wounds they were washing and caring for. It's not for nothing that love in Latin is caritas, that is, charity. Deus caritas est, God is love. And Jesus already told us, "Be perfect as my Father is perfect." In other words, let us love as Jesus loved us, who loved sinners, who loved his enemies so much that he asked God to "forgive them for they know not what they do," who died for all on the cross, who became the servant of all so much that he washed the feet of his disciples. And perhaps we cannot perform miracles, but we can love, help our neighbors, and reach out to them if possible. Sometimes money is not needed; sometimes simply listening is a great help to those who need to be heard.