杏MAP导航

By Thaddeus Jones

Recalling the example of the "smiling pope," John Paul I, 杏MAP导航 Francis presided over his beatification in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday. The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, with 25 thousand faithful participating in a rainy and later sun-filled square.

Pilgrims attending the beatification of John Paul I

, 杏MAP导航 Francis recalled how in today's Gospel we hear of large crowds following Jesus who gives them a challenging message: to become His disciple means to put aside earthly attachments, to love Him more than his or her own family, to carry the cross we bear in our lives. 

Crowds seek hope

The 杏MAP导航 observed that this admonition of the Lord contrasts with what we often see in our world, where the crowds are taken by the charisma of a teacher or leader, attaching their hopes for the future based on emotions, but they become more susceptible to those who instead shrewdly take advantage of them, telling them what they want to hear for their own profit, glory or power, profiting on society's fears and needs.

Beatification of John Paul I in St. Peter's Square

God鈥檚 style is different

The 杏MAP导航 explained that God's way is different, as he does not exploit our needs or vulnerabilities, or offer easy promises and favours. The Lord is not interested in huge crowds, or seeking approval, the 杏MAP导航 went on to say, pointing out that the Lord appears more worried about those who follow with easy enthusiasm but without a more profound understanding of what is needed.

Many in the crowds recounted in the Gospel reading were hoping Jesus would become their leader and free them from their enemies, the 杏MAP导航 observed, someone who could easily fix all their problems. This worldly focus on only one's needs, of gaining prestige and status, power and privilege, needs to be challenged he pointed out, as "this is not the style of Jesus...and cannot be the style of his disciples and of his Church."

Beatification of John Paul I in St. Peter's Square

Carrying one鈥檚 cross

The Lord asks a different attitude of us, the 杏MAP导航 said, he wants his disciples to prefer nothing other than this love, even over their deepest affections and greatest treasures.

Love without measure

To commit as a disciple of Jesus means to look to the Lord more than ourselves, to learn how to love from the Crucified One, "the love that bestows itself to the very end, without measure and without limits."

When we look upon the Crucified Lord, the 杏MAP导航 continued, we are called to overcome the focus on ourselves, to love God and others everywhere, even those who see things differently, even our enemies.

Pilgrims attending the beatification of John Paul I in St. Peter's Square

Love calls for sacrifice

To love can involve "sacrifice, silence, misunderstanding, solitude, resistance and persecution," the 杏MAP导航 pointed out, and it calls on us to take risks, and never to settle for less or we can end up living life "halfway," without taking the decisive steps needed to be the Lord's disciples, truly committing ourselves to Him and helping others.

杏MAP导航 Francis greeting pilgrims attending the beatification of John Paul I in St. Peter's Square

Love without compromise

Recalling the example of Blessed John Paul I, 杏MAP导航 Francis recalled how the new Blessed lived the joy of the Gospel, "without compromises, loving to the very end." He did not seek his own glory, but lived as a "meek and humble pastor." 

In conclusion, the 杏MAP导航 encouraged us to ask Blessed John Paul I to help us obtain from the Lord 鈥渢he smile of the soul鈥� and to pray in his own words: 鈥淟ord take me as I am, with my defects, with my shortcomings, but make me become what you want me to be.鈥�