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Pope Francis: "The strength of the Church does not reside in herself, but is instead concealed in the deep waters of God"
Vatican City, 3 January 2014 (VIS) –
This morning, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Feast of the Most
Holy Name of Jesus in the Church of Jesus, to give thanks for the new
Jesuit saint Pierre Favre. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were
Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints; Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the
diocese of Rome; Bishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., secretary
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Bishop Yves Boivineau
of Annecy, France, in whose diocese Favre was born, and the vicar
general Alain Fournier-Bidoz; the superior general Fr. Adolfo Nicolas,
S.J., and seven young Jesuit priests.
Canonised by Pope Francis on 17
December, Pierre Favre, was the first companion of St. Ignatius of
Loyola – for this reason he is known as “the second Jesuit” – and one of
the founders of the Society of Jesus, of which he was also the first
priest. The tombs of St. Ignatius and St. Pierre Favre are located in
the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
Pope Francis dedicated his homily to
the new saint, and said that he was a “restless” man of “lofty desires”:
“it is necessary to search for God to find Him, and to find him in
order to seek him again, and for ever. Only this restlessness brings
peace to the heart of a Jesuit, a restlessness that is also apostolic,
so that we never tire of proclaiming the kerygma, of evangelising with
courage. And it is restlessness that prepares us to receive the gift of
apostolic fruitfulness. Without restlessness, we are sterile”.
“And this was the restlessness of
Pierre Favre”, continued the Pope, “a man of lofty desires, another
Daniel. Favre was a 'modest, sensitive man with a profound inner life.
He was endowed with the gift of making friends with people from every
walk of life'. However, his was a restless, indecisive spirit, never
satisfied. Under the guidance of St. Ignatius he learned to unite his
restless but gentle – indeed exquisite – sensibility with a capacity to
make decisions. He was a man of lofty desires; he took charge of his
desires, he recognised them. Rather, for Favre, it was precisely when
faced with difficult tasks that he demonstrated the true spirit that
sets into action”.
“An authentic faith always implies a
deep desire to change the world. And this is the question we should pose
ourselves: do we too have great visions and zeal? Are we bold too? Do
our dreams fly high? Are we consumed by zeal? Or are we mediocre and
satisfied with our theoretical apostolic plans? Let us always remember
that the strength of the Church does not reside in herself or in her
organisational capacity, but is instead concealed in the deep waters of
God. And these waters agitate our desires, and our desires expand our
hearts. It is as St. Augustine said: pray to desire and desire to expand
your heart. It was precisely in his desires that Favre was able to
discern the voice of God. Without desires, one cannot go forth, and this
is why we must offer our desires to the Lord. In the Constitutions it
is said that we help our neighbours with the wishes presented to the
Lord God”.
Favre, affirmed Pope Francis, “had the
true and deep desire to open up in God”: he was completely centred in
God, and for this reason he was able to go everywhere in Europe, in a
spirit of obedience and often on foot, to enter into dialogue with
everyone, with gentleness, and to proclaim the Gospel. I think of the
temptation that perhaps we experience, to which many people succumb, to
link the proclamation of the Gospel with inquisitionary bludgeoning and
condemnation. No, the Gospel must be proclaimed with gentleness, in a
fraternal spirit, with love. His familiarity with God led him to
understand that inner experience and apostolic life always go together.
He writes in his Memorial that the first movement of the heart must be
that of desiring that which is essential and originary, or rather that
priority must be reserved for seeking God, our Lord. Favre experienced
the desire to let the centre of his heart be occupied by Christ. Only
when centred in God is it possible to go out towards the peripheries of
the world! And Favre journeyed without respite even to geographical
frontiers; indeed, it was said of him that he appeared to have been born
never to stay still in any one place. Favre was consumed by the intense
desire to communicate the Lord. If we do not have the same desire, then
we need to pause a while in prayer and, with silent fervour, ask the
Lord, through the intercession of our brother Pierre, that we might
again experience the fascination of the Lord who led Pierre in his
'apostolic follies'”, concluded Pope Francis.
Vatican Website
Article links:
BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS
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