{"id":6285,"date":"2019-10-15T11:54:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/news\/news-2\/pope-canonization-mass-new-saints-kindly-lights-gloom-world\/"},"modified":"2019-10-15T11:54:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T15:54:42","slug":"pope-canonization-mass-new-saints-kindly-lights-gloom-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/news\/news-2\/pope-canonization-mass-new-saints-kindly-lights-gloom-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope at Canonization Mass: new saints “kindly lights” in the gloom of the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n\n

In a sun-drenched St Peter\u2019s Square, and before thousands of pilgrims coming from all over the world, Pope Francis proclaimed five new saints for the Church. In his homily, he reflected on Saint Luke\u2019s Gospel account of Jesus healing the lepers. Theirs was a \u201cjourney of faith\u201d, said the Pope. There are three steps in this journey, he added, all expressed in the actions of the lepers whom Jesus heals: \u201cThey cry out, they walk and they give thanks\u201d.
\n
\nTo cry out<\/strong>
\n
\nThe lepers \u201ccry out\u201d, said Pope Francis, both because of their disease and because they were excluded. Still, \u201cthey did not let themselves be paralyzed because they were shunned by society\u201d, he said. \u201cThey cried out to God, who excludes no one\u201d. Distances are shortened, loneliness is overcome, said the Pope, not by closing in on ourselves, but by crying out to the Lord, who \u201chears the cry of those who find themselves alone\u201d. We too need to be healed, continued Pope Francis: \u201chealed of our lack of confidence in ourselves, in life, in the future; healed of our fears and the vices that enslave us, of our introversion, our addictions and our attachment to games, money, television, mobile phones, to what other people think\u201d. \u201cThe Lord sets our hearts free and heals them if only we ask Him\u201d, said Pope Francis. The lepers call on Jesus by name, a name that means: \u201cGod saves\u201d. To call someone by name is a sign of confidence, he said. \u201cThat is how faith grows, through confident, trusting prayer\u201d, said the Pope. \u201cPrayer is the door of faith; prayer is medicine for the heart\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

To walk<\/strong>
\n
\nThe second stage of faith is \u201cto walk\u201d, continued Pope Francis. There are several verbs of motion in today\u2019s Gospel, he noted. \u201cThe lepers are not healed as they stand before Jesus\u201d, only afterwards as they are walking \u201cuphill\u201d towards Jerusalem.  On the journey of life, that is how purification happens, said the Pope. \u201cFaith calls for journey, a \u2018going out\u2019 from ourselves\u201d, he said, leaving behind our \u201ccomforting certainties\u201d and \u201csafe harbours\u201d. Faith increases by giving and by taking risks, added Pope Francis. \u201cFaith advances with humble and practical steps\u201d.
\n
\nThe Pope went on to stress how the lepers \u201cmove together\u201d. The verbs in the Gospel are in the plural, he said. \u201cFaith means walking together, never alone\u201d, added Pope Francis. Yet, once healed, nine of the lepers go on their way, and only one turns back to give thanks. \u201cThe other nine, where are they?\u201d, asks Jesus, as though He expects the one who returned to account for the other nine. We too are called to care for \u201cthose who have stopped walking, those who have lost their way\u201d, said the Pope. \u201cWe are called to be guardians of our distant brothers and sisters\u201d.  
\n
\nTo give thanks<\/strong>
\n
\nGiving thanks. This, said the Pope, is the final step. \u201cOnly to the one who thanked Him did Jesus say: \u2018Your faith has saved you\u2019\u201d. The ultimate goal is not health or wellness, said Pope Francis, but the encounter with Jesus. \u201cHe alone frees us from evil and heals our hearts\u201d, only He \u201ccan make life full and beautiful\u201d. \u201cThe culmination of the journey of faith is to live a life of continual thanksgiving\u201d, affirmed Pope Francis. \u201cTo give thanks is not a question of good manners or etiquette, it is a question of faith\u201d, he said. \u201cA grateful heart is one that remains young\u201d, said the Pope. He reminded us to remember always to say thank you: \u201cThose words are the simplest and most effective of all\u201d, he said.
\n
\nThe new saints<\/strong>
\n
\nNoting that three of the new saints canonized this Sunday were religious women, the Pope said they show us that \u201cthe consecrated life is a journey of love to the existential peripheries\u201d. Laywoman, Marguerite Bays, on the other hand, \u201cspeaks to us of the power of simple prayer, enduring patience and silent self-giving\u201d.
\n
\nPope Francis concluded his homily by quoting Saint John Henry Newman, who described the holiness of daily life in these words: \u201cThe Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not… The Christian is cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming; has no pretence… with so little that is unusual or striking in his bearing, that he may easily be taken at first sight for an ordinary man\u201d
\n
\nLet us ask God to be like that, said Pope Francis: \u201ckindly lights\u201d amid the encircling gloom.
\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source In a sun-drenched St Peter\u2019s Square, and before thousands of pilgrims coming from all over the world, Pope Francis…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nouvelle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}