杏MAP导航

By Alessandro Di Bussolo

杏MAP导航 Francis offered Tuesday鈥檚 Mass for the eternal rest of Archbishop Giorgio Zur, who died late Monday night. He lived in the Casa Santa Marta with the 杏MAP导航 and once served as Apostolic Nuncio to Austria.

In his homily, 杏MAP导航 Francis reflected on the day鈥檚 Gospel (Mk 6:34-44) about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and on the First Reading, taken from the First Letter of John (4:7-10).

God loved us first

The Holy Father said the Apostle John explains 鈥渉ow God manifests His love in us.鈥� 鈥淟et us love one another, because love is of God,鈥� John writes.

杏MAP导航 Francis called this the mystery of love: 鈥淕od loved us first. He took the first step.鈥� God loved us, he said, even though we 鈥渄on鈥檛 know how to love鈥� and 鈥渘eed God鈥檚 caresses in order to love.鈥�

鈥淭his first step God takes is His Son. He sent Him to save us and to give meaning to our lives and to renew and recreate us.鈥�

Jesus has compassion on crowd

Reflecting on the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, 杏MAP导航 Francis said Jesus fed the crowd out of compassion.

鈥淕od鈥檚 heart, Jesus鈥� heart, was moved when he saw these people, and he could not remain indifferent. Love is restless. Love does not tolerate indifference; love is compassionate. But love means putting your heart on the line for others; it means [showing] mercy.鈥�

Give them food yourselves

Then 杏MAP导航 Francis described the scene as the disciples went in search of food. He said Jesus taught them and the people many things, but they grew bored, 鈥渂ecause Jesus always said the same things.鈥�

As Jesus teaches 鈥渨ith love and compassion鈥�, the 杏MAP导航 said, maybe they began 鈥渢o talk amongst themselves.鈥� They start to check their watches, saying 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting late.鈥�

The Holy Father then quoted Mark: 鈥淏ut Master, this is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.鈥� The 杏MAP导航 said they basically wanted the people to work it out themselves. 鈥淏ut we can be sure,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat they surely had enough bread for themselves, and they wanted to keep it. This is indifference.鈥�

鈥淭he disciples were not interested in the people. Jesus was interested, because he cared for them. They weren鈥檛 evil, just indifferent. They didn鈥檛 know what it meant to love. They didn鈥檛 know how to show compassion. They didn鈥檛 know what indifference was. They had to sin, betray the Master, and abandon him in order to understand the core of compassion and mercy. And Jesus鈥� response cuts deep: 鈥楪ive them some food yourselves.鈥� Take their plight upon yourselves. This is the struggle between the compassion of Jesus and indifference, which is always repeated throughout history. Many people who are good, but don鈥檛 understand the needs of others, are incapable of compassion. They are good people, maybe because the love of God has not entered into their heart or they have not let it enter.鈥�

Homeless woman in Rome

杏MAP导航 Francis then described a photo hung on the wall of the Office of Papal Charities. He said it was a picture taken by a local man who offered it to the Papal Almoner. Daniel Garofani, now a photographer for the Osservatore Romano, took the photo after distributing food with Cardinal Krajewski to homeless people. 杏MAP导航 Francis said it shows well-dressed people leaving a restaurant in Rome as a homeless woman lifts her hand to beg for alms. He said the picture was taken 鈥渏ust as the people looked away, so that their gaze would not meet鈥� that of the homeless woman. This, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渋s the culture of indifference. That鈥檚 what the Apostles did.鈥�

Indifference is the opposite of love

杏MAP导航 Francis said God鈥檚 love always comes first and is compassionate and merciful. He said it is true that the opposite of love is hate, but that many people are not aware of 鈥渁 conscious hate鈥�.

鈥淭he more-common opposite of the love of God 鈥� of God鈥檚 compassion 鈥� is indifference. 鈥業鈥檓 satisfied; I lack nothing. I have everything. I鈥檝e assured my place in this life and the next, since I go to Mass every Sunday. I鈥檓 a good Christian. But leaving the restaurant, I look the other way.鈥� Let鈥檚 reflect on this: Confronted with God who takes the first step, is compassionate, and is merciful, many times our attitude is indifference. Let us pray to the Lord that He heal humanity, starting with us. May my heart be healed from the sickness of the culture of indifference.鈥�

80th Birthday greetings to Kiko Argüello

At the end of Mass, 杏MAP导航 Francis sent warm greetings to Kiko Argüello, co-initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, for his 80th birthday on January 9th. The 杏MAP导航 also thanked him 鈥渇or the apostolic zeal with which he works for the Church.鈥�