(Vatican Radio) On the first full day of his Apostolic Journey to Cuba, Pope Francis celebrated the Sunday Mass in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, focusing on the theme of service.
As the Holy Father arrived in the Plaza, he stopped along the way to bless and embrace several young people with special needs, a gesture to which he gave voice in his homily: “Serving others chiefly means caring for their vulnerability.”
The Pope also praised the Cuban people’s love of beauty, saying “God’s holy and faithful people in Cuba is a people with a taste for parties, for friendship, for beautiful things.”
Below please find the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared homily for the Holy Mass celebrated in Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, Cuba:
Homily of Pope Francis
Holy Mass, Havana, Plaza de la Revolución
Sunday, 20 September 2015
The Gospel shows us Jesus asking a seemingly indiscreet question of his disciples: “What were you discussing along the way?” It is a question which he could also ask each of us today: “What do you talk about every day?” “What are your aspirations?” The Gospel tells us that the disciples “did not answer because on the way they had been arguing about who was the most important”. The disciples were ashamed to tell Jesus what they were talking about. As with the disciples then, we too can be caught up in these same arguments: who is the most important?
Jesus does not press the question. He does not force them to tell him what they were talking about on the way. But the question lingers, not only in the minds of the disciples, but also in their hearts.
Who is the most important? This is a life-long question to which, at different times, we must give an answer. We cannot escape the question; it is written on our hearts. I remember more than once, at family gatherings, children being asked: “Who do you love more, Mommy or Daddy”? It’s like asking them: “Who is the most important for you?” But is this only a game we play with children? The history of humanity has been marked by the answer we give to this question.
Jesus is not afraid of people’s questions; he is not afraid of our humanity or the different things we are looking for. On the contrary, he knows the “twists and turns” of the human heart, and, as a good teacher, he is always ready to encourage and support us. As usual, he takes up our searching, our aspirations, and he gives them a new horizon. As usual, he somehow finds an the answer which can pose a new challenge, setting aside the “right answers”, the standard replies we are expected to give. As usual, Jesus sets before us the “logic” of love. A mindset, an approach to life, which is capable of being lived out by all, because it is meant for all.
Far from any kind of elitism, the horizon to which Jesus points us is not for those few privileged souls capable of attaining the heights of knowledge or different levels of spirituality. The horizon to which Jesus points us always has to do with daily life, also here on “our island”, something which can season our daily lives with eternity.
Who is the most important? Jesus is straightforward in his reply: “Whoever wishes to be the first among you must be the last of all, and the servant of all”. Whoever wishes to be great must serve others, not be served by others.
Here lies the great paradox of Jesus. The disciples were arguing about who would have the highest place, who would be chosen for privileges, who would be above the common law, the general norm, in order to stand out in the quest for superiority over others. Who would climb the ladder most quickly to take the jobs which carry certain benefits.
Jesus upsets their “logic”, their mindset, simply by telling them that life is lived authentically in a concrete commitment to our neighbor.
The call to serve involves something special, to which we must be attentive. Serving others chiefly means caring for their vulnerability. Caring for the vulnerable of our families, our society, our people. Theirs are the suffering, fragile and downcast faces which Jesus tells us specifically to look at and which he asks us to love. With a love which takes shape in our actions and decisions. With a love which finds expression in whatever tasks we, as citizens, are called to perform. People of flesh and blood, people with individual lives and stories, and with all their frailty: these are those whom Jesus asks us to protect, to care for, to serve. Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it. That is why Christians are constantly called to set aside their own wishes and desires, their pursuit of power, and to look instead to those who are most vulnerable.
There is a kind of “service” which truly “serves”, yet we need to be careful not to be tempted by another kind of service, a “service” which is “self-serving”. There is a way to go about serving which is interested in only helping “my people”, “our people”. This service always leaves “your people” outside, and gives rise to a process of exclusion.
All of us are called by virtue of our Christian vocation to that service which truly serves, and to help one another not to be tempted by a “service” which is really “self-serving”. All of us are asked, indeed urged, by Jesus to care for one another out of love. Without looking to one side or the other to see what our neighbor is doing or not doing. Jesus tells us: Whoever would be first among you must be the last, and the servant of all”. He does not say: if your neighbor wants to be first, let him be the servant! We have to be careful to avoid judgmental looks and renew our belief in the transforming look to which Jesus invites us.
This caring for others out of love is not about being servile. Rather, it means putting our brothers and sisters at the center. Service always looks to their faces, touches their flesh, senses their closeness and even, in some cases, “suffers” in trying to help. Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.
God’s holy and faithful people in Cuba is a people with a taste for parties, for friendship, for beautiful things. It is a people which marches with songs of praise. It is a people which has its wounds, like every other people, yet knows how to stand up with open arms, to keep walking in hope, because it has a vocation of grandeur. Today I ask you to care for this vocation of yours, to care for these gifts which God has given you, but above all I invite you to care for and be at the service of the frailty of your brothers and sisters. Do not neglect them for plans which can be seductive, but are unconcerned about the face of the person beside you. We know, we are witnesses of the incomparable power of the resurrection, which “everywhere calls forth the seeds of a new world” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 276, 278).
Let us not forget the Good News we have heard today: the importance of a people, a nation, and the importance of individuals, which is always based on how they seek to serve their vulnerable brothers and sisters. Here we encounter one of the fruits of a true humanity. “Whoever does not live to serve, does not ‘serve’ to live”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The visit of Pope Francis to Cuba is the third visit of a Pope to this nation. The journey of the Holy Father comes amid an easing of tensions between Cuba and the United States.
Our Correspondent in Cuba, Seàn Patrick Lovett asked the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, about the Pope’s contribution to this easing of strains between the two countries and what it means for Cuba.
Listen:
Father Lombardi says that, “Pope Francis comes with a great moral authority and credibility for the people here in Cuba and also in the United States…”
He goes on say that the Holy Father is coming to a place where there is an “atmosphere of hope”, and that there is something concrete going on, “not only words”.
Fr Lombardi also says that the Pope can give important encouragement to the Church in Cuba and the nation as a whole, describing the country as a “land of encounter”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis began his apostolic visit to Cuba Saturday, touching down in the nation’s capital Havana where he was greeted by the country’s president Raúl Castro, other authorities, and bishops.
The Holy Father’s 19-22 September visit to the island nation coincides with the eightieth anniversary of the renewal of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Holy See.
This year, the country also celebrates one hundred years since our Lady of Charity of El Cobre was named patroness of Cuba by Pope Benedict XV.
Pope Francis is the third pontiff to go to the Caribbean nation, which was visited by Saint John Paul II in 1998, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2012.
Please find below the full prepared text of Pope Francis’s speech at the welcoming ceremony at the Havana airport:
Mr President, Distinguished Authorities, Brother Bishops, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank you, Mr President, for your greeting and your kind words of welcome in the name of the government and the entire Cuban people. I also greet the authorities and the members of the diplomatic corps present at this ceremony.
My gratitude also goes to Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, the Most Reverend Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba and President of the Episcopal Conference, the other bishops and all the Cuban people, for their warm welcome.
I thank, too, all those who worked to prepare for this Pastoral Visit. Mr President, I would ask you to convey my sentiments of particular respect and consideration to your brother Fidel. I would like my greeting to embrace especially all those who, for various reasons, I will not be able to meet, and to Cubans throughout the world.
This year of 2015 marks the eightieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Holy See. Providence today enables me to come to this beloved nation, following the indelible path opened by the unforgettable apostolic journeys which my two predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, made to this island. I know that the memory of those visits awakens gratitude and affection in the people and leaders of Cuba. Today we renew those bonds of cooperation and friendship, so that the Church can continue to support and encourage the Cuban people in its hopes and concerns, with the freedom, the means and the space needed to bring the proclamation of the Kingdom to the existential peripheries of society.
This Apostolic Journey also coincides with the first centenary of Pope Benedict XV’s declaration of our Lady of Charity of El Cobre as Patroness of Cuba. It was the veterans of the War of Independence who, moved by sentiments of faith and patriotism, wanted the Virgen mambisa to be the patroness of Cuba as a free and sovereign nation. Since that time she has accompanied the history of the Cuban people, sustaining the hope which preserves people’s dignity in the most difficult situations and championing the promotion of all that gives dignity to the human person. The growing devotion to the Virgin is a visible testimony of her presence in the soul of the Cuban people. In these days I will have occasion to go to El Cobre, as a son and pilgrim, to pray to our Mother for all her Cuban children and for this beloved nation, that it may travel the paths of justice, peace, liberty and reconciliation.
Geographically, Cuba is an archipelago, facing all directions, with an extraordinary value as a “key” between north and south, east and west. Its natural vocation is to be a point of encounter for all peoples to join in friendship, as José Martí dreamed, “regardless of the languages of isthmuses and the barriers of oceans” (La Conferencia Monetaria de las Repúblicas de América, in Obras escogidas II, La Habana, 1992, 505). Such was also the desire of Saint John Paul II, with his ardent appeal: “May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself to the world, and may the world open itself to Cuba” (Arrival Ceremony, 21 January 1998, 5).
For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement. It is a sign of the victory of the culture of encounter and dialogue, “the system of universal growth” over “the forever-dead system of groups and dynasties” (José Martí, loc. cit.). I urge political leaders to persevere on this path and to develop all its potentialities as a proof of the high service which they are called to carry out on behalf of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.
I place these days under the protection of our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Blessed Olallo Valdés and Blessed José López Pietreira, and Venerable Félix Varela, the great promoter of love between Cubans and all peoples, so that our bonds of peace, solidarity and mutual respect may ever increase.
Once again, thank you, Mr. President.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The family of Syrian refugees being hosted by the Vatican parish of Santa Anna had the opportunity to thank Pope Francis for his hospitality towards them on Saturday morning.
Their visit came shortly before the Holy Father departed for Cuba and the United States.
The Syrian family, accompanied by the Pontifical Almoner Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, met Pope Francis briefly at the Santa Marta residence to say thank you and to wish him a safe trip.
On Friday evening (September 18), Pope Francis visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome for a moment of prayer before his 10th Apostolic Voyage as Pontiff.
It has become traditional for the Holy Father to visit the Papal Basilica and to pray before the Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People) image of the Blessed Virgin Mary before a trip.
Click here to learn more about the family hosted by the Santa Anna parish in the Vatican City State.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On the 19th of September Pope Francis will become the third pope to visit Cuba in the past 17 years, following in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI, now pope emeritus in 2012 .
During his stay in Cuba his schedule includes the celebration of three Holy Masses with the Cuban faithful before flying to the United States on the 22nd of September.
As we know Cuba has a strong Marian devotion and one of the masses Pope Francis will preside over will take place at the National Shrine of “Our Lady of Charity of Cobre”.
But the Catholic Church in Cuba doesn’t only have a strong Marian devotion it also has some key figures to its name. Among these the Servant of God Félix Varela and the man to inherit his legacy José Marti. And on the evening of the 20th of September while in Havana Pope Francis will visit a cultural centre dedicated to Varela, the ‘Centro de Estudio P.Félix Varela’.
A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
To find out more about these two figures Veronica Scarisbrick steps back in time to that first historic visit of John Paul II to Cuba in 1998. A journey which took him on the 23rd of January of that year to the University of Havana where he venerated the relics of this great priest and patriot whom he described on this occasion as the true ‘Father’ of Cuban culture:
“He is, in his own person, the best synthesis one could find of Christian faith and Cuban culture. An exemplary priest of Havana and an undeniable patriot, Fr Varela was an outstanding thinker who in 19th-century Cuba renewed the method and content of teaching in philosophy, law, science and theology. To generations of Cubans, he taught that to assume full responsibility for our existence we must first learn the difficult art of thinking in a right way and with our own mind. He was the first to speak of independence in these lands. He also spoke of democracy, judging it to be the political project best in keeping with human nature, while at the same time underscoring its demands. Among these demands, he stressed two in particular: first, that people must be educated for freedom and responsibility, with a personally assimilated ethical code which includes the best of the heritage of civilization and enduring transcendental values, so that they may be able to undertake decisive tasks in service of the community; and second, that human relationships, like the form of society as a whole, must give people suitable opportunities to perform, with proper respect and solidarity, their historic role giving substance to the rule of law, which is the essential guarantee of every form of human concourse claiming to be democratic.
During this visit to the University of Havana Pope John Paul also highlighted Father Varela’s awareness that in his time, independence was as yet unattainable ideal and so devoted his time to training people, men and women of conscience, who were neither high-handed with the weak nor weak with the powerful. And again how during his New York exile, he used a range of means to pursue his goal: personal letters, the press and what might be judged his finest work, Letters to Elpidio concerning impiety, superstition and fanaticism in relation to society, a true monument of moral teaching, his precious legacy to the young people of Cuba. How in the last 30 years of his life, far away from Havana, he continued to teach from afar and so gave birth to a school of thought, a vision of human society and an attitude towards one’s own country which even today should enlighten all Cubans. The entire life of Fr Varela, Pope John Paul remarked was inspired by a profound Christian spirituality:
“This was his deep driving-force, the wellspring of his virtues, the root of his commitment to the Church and to Cuba: to seek the glory of God in all things. This led him to believe in the power of little things, in the creative force of seeds of truth, in the appropriateness of changes being made step by step towards great and authentic reforms. “…. “Christ is the way which leads man to the fullness of life, the way which leads to a society which is more just, more free, more human, more caring. The love for Christ and for Cuba which illumined Fr Varela’s life is part of the indestructible root of Cuban culture. A legacy taken up, shortly after his death, by another striking figure of this country, José Martí: a writer and a teacher in the fullest sense of the word, deeply committed to democracy and independence, a patriot, a loyal friend even to those who did not share his political programme. He was above all an enlightened man, faithful to his ethical values and stirred by a spirituality the roots of which are outstandingly evangelical. He is regarded as the heir of the thought of Fr Varela, whom he called “the Cuban saint”.
(from Vatican Radio)…