By Susan Gately - 19 April, 2014
Pope Francis has called on Catholics to follow Jesus in his path of humiliation as he also reminded them that Jesus’ resurrection was not the happy ending of a fairy tale or a film.
On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Father Carlo Gnocchi Foundation’s Our Lady of Providence Centre for the disabled and elderly where he washed the feet of 12 patients with special needs.
The twelve, four women and eight men ranging in age from 16 to 86, included non Catholics.
After washing a foot, the Pontiff bent to kiss the foot he had just washed.
In his homily, Pope Francis underlined that Jesus, although being God, “became a servant, our servant”.
This gesture, he said, left the faithful with an inheritance that we “ought to be servants of one another.”
“He has made this road for love, you also ought to love and be servants and love. This is the legacy that Jesus leaves us,” said the Pope.
Elsewhere, he urged the faithful, “Let us say to ourselves: ‘it is for me; even if I were the only person in the world, He would have done this, for me.’ Let us kiss the crucifix and say: ‘For me, thank you Jesus, for me’.”
Pope Francis said that when all appears to be lost, when no-one remains because the shepherd has been smitten and the flock has scattered, God will intervene with the power of the resurrection.
God’s intervention is at the point where human hope is shattered, he said.
“When all seems lost, at that moment of pain when many people feel the need to kiss the Cross, this is the moment closest to the resurrection. The night is at its darkest just before dawn breaks, just before the light emerges; in the darkest moment, God intervenes and resurrects.”
“When in certain moments in life we are not able to find any way out of our difficulties, when we sink into the deepest darkness, it is the moment of our humiliation in which we are entirely laid bare, in which we discover that we are fragile and sinners.”
“It is precisely in that moment that we must not mask our failure, but rather open ourselves up, trusting in our hope in God, just as Jesus did.”
He concluded, “It will to us good to take a crucifix in our hands, to kiss it many times and to say, ‘Thank you Jesus, thank you, Lord!’”
