He knows how to include, he gets his hands dirty because he wants “no gloves”, his is no longer “a fluttering heart”. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, pierced by the love of God. He is not “an inspector of his flock”, nor “an accountant of the spirit” but a good shepherd seeking the sheep who are not yet in his fold, for whom, at times, he can even “struggle with the Lord.” Pope Francis drew the outline of the “priest for Jesus” in his homily at the Mass celebrated today in St. Peter’s Square, marking the conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy for Priests and Seminarians.
Where does the heart go? On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Pope recalled that the Heart of the Good Shepherd is “itself mercy”, “it is never exhausted and it never gives up.” It is a heart that “reaches out to us, above all to those who are most distant. There the needle of his compass inevitably points, there we see a particular “weakness” of his love, which desires to embrace all and lose none.” “Contemplating the Heart of Christ, we are faced with the fundamental question of our priestly life: Where is my heart directed? It is a question we should constantly ask ourselves as priests, every day, every week.”
Two “treasures.” For the Pope the “irreplaceable treasures” of the Heart of Jesus are two: “the Father and ourselves.” Also “the heart of Christ’s priests knows only two directions: the Lord and his people.” The heart of the priest, Francis underlined, “is a heart pierced by the love of the Lord. For this reason, he no longer looks to himself, but is turned towards God and his brothers and sisters.
It is no longer “a fluttering heart”, allured by momentary whims, shunning disagreements and seeking petty satisfactions. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, warmed by the Holy Spirit, open and available to our brothers and sisters.”
To seek, to include, to rejoice. For Francis these are the three key-words. The Good Shepherd goes out in search of the lost sheep, “without fear of the risks; without delaying he leaves the pasture and his regular workday.”
“Sometimes – the Pope added impromptu – he has to go and seek it out, speak to it, persuade it, other times he has to remain before the Tabernacle, struggling for that sheep with the help of the Lord.”
His heart “does not set aside times and spaces as private” – beware of shepherds that create spaces a private – it is a heart that is not jealous of its legitimate quiet time and never demands that it be left alone.” A shepherd after the heart of God “does not protect his own comfort zone; he is not worried about protecting his good name, but rather, without fearing criticism, he is disposed to take risks in seeking to imitate his Lord.” His heart is “sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked:
He is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need. He is a shepherd, not an inspector of the flock”, he finds because he takes risks,
“if the shepherd does not risk he is not a good shepherd”, and he wants that no one is lost. For this, “Not only does he keep his doors open, but he also goes to seek out those who no longer wish to enter them. Like every good Christian, and as an example for every Christian, he constantly goes out of himself. The epicentre of his heart is outside of himself, centred only in Jesus.”
He does not own gloves. For Francis, the priest of Christ “is anointed for his people, not to choose his own projects but to be close to the real men and women whom God has entrusted to him. No one is excluded from his heart, his prayers or his smile. With a father’s loving gaze and heart, he welcomes and includes everyone, and if at times he has to correct, it is to draw people closer. He stands apart from no one, but is always ready to dirty his hands.”
“The Good Shepherd – Francis ad-libbed – does not own gloves.”
He is a minister of the communion “that he celebrates and lives, he does not await greetings and compliments from others, but is the first to reach out, rejecting gossip, judgements and malice. He listens patiently to the problems of his people and accompanies them, sowing God’s forgiveness with generous compassion. He does not scold those who wander off or lose their way, but is always ready to bring them back and to resolve difficulties and disagreements.” “He is a man – he added off the cuff – who knows how to include.”
A “yes” that only God knows. If God is “full of joy” so is the Good Shepherd, “transformed by the mercy that he freely gives”, Francis repeated twice. In prayer “he discovers God’s consolation and realizes that nothing is more powerful than his love. He thus experiences inner peace, and is happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring men and women closer to the Heart of God. Sadness for him is not the norm, but only a step along the way; harshness is foreign to him.”
The Pope personally thanked all the priests present for saying “yes” . “and for the many times you said ‘yes’ that only God knows in giving your life in union with Jesus: for in this is found the pure source of our joy.”
Threefold mercy. Today’s Mass concluded the Jubilee of Mercy for Priests and Seminarians (June 1-3) attended by over 6 thousand priests and seminarians from world countries. “Unprecedented outburst of love”, ever “exaggerated, excessive”, the Pope described it with different tones and emphases during the “spiritual marathon” with three meditations proposed yesterday at the spiritual retreat of priests in the Basilicas of Saint John in Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul outside the Walls.
