(Vatican Radio) The day's Gospel reading, which relates how the chief priests asked Jesus by what authority He did His works, was the focus of the Pope's homily on Monday. It is a demand, the Pope explained, that demonstrates the "hypocritical heart" of those people – people who were not interested in the truth, who sought only their own interests, and went where the wind blew: you should go this way, you should go that way…" They were weathervanes, all of them! All of them! Without consistency. A heart without consistency. And so they negotiated everything: they negotiated interior freedom, they negotiated the faith, they negotiated their county, everything except appearances." To such people, getting the best out of every situation was the important thing. They were opportunists: "They profited from the situations."
"And yet," the Pope continued, "some of you might ask me: 'But Father, these people were observers of the law: on Saturday they didn't travel more than a hundred metres – or however many they were able to go – they never, never sat down to eat without washing their hands and making their ablutions; they were a very observant people, very secure in their habits.' Yes, it's true – but only in appearance. They were strong, but on the outside. They were in a cast. The heart was very week, they didn't know what they believed. And because of this their life, the outer part of their life, was completely regulated, but the heart was otherwise: a weak heart, and a skin that was plastered over, strong, harsh. Jesus, on the other hand, teaches us that the Christian should have a strong heart, a firm heart, a heart built on the rock, that is Christ; and then, in the way it goes out, it goes out with prudence: 'In this case, I do this, but…' It is the way of going out, but the heart is not negotiable, the rock is not negotiable. The rock is Christ, it is not negotiable":
"This is the drama of the hypocrisy of this people. And Jesus never negotiates His heart of the Son of the Father, but He was so open to the people, seeking paths to help them. 'But this can't be done; our discipline, our doctrine say this can't be done!' they say. 'Why do your disciples eat grain in the fields, when they travel, on the day of the Sabbath? It can't be done!' They were so rigid in their discipline: 'No, the discipline can't be touched, it's sacred.'"
Pope Francis recalled how "Pius XII freed us from the very heavy cross that was the Eucharistic fast":
"But some of you might remember. You couldn't even drink a drop of water. Not even that! And to brush your teeth, it had to be done in such a way that you didn't swallow the water. But I myself as a young boy went to confession for having made the Communion, because I thought a drop of water had gone in. Is it true or no? It's true. When Pius XII changed the discipline: 'Ah, heresy! No! He touched the discipline of the Church.' So many Pharisees were scandalized. So many. Because Pius XII had acted like Jesus: he saw the need of the people. 'But the poor people, with such warmth.' These priests who said three Masses, the last at one o'clock, after noon, fasting. The discipline of the Church. And these Pharisees [spoke about] 'our discipline' – rigid on the outside, but, as Jesus said of them, 'rotting in the heart,' weak, weak to the point of rottenness. Gloomy in the heart."
"This is the drama of these people," and Jesus denounces hypocrisy and opportunism:
"Even our life can become like that, even our life. And sometimes, I confess something to you, when I have seen a Christian, a Christian of that kind, with a weak heart, not firm, not fixed on the rock—Jesus – and with such rigidness on the outside, I ask the Lord: 'But Lord, throw a banana peel in front of them, so that they will take a good fall, and feel shame that they are sinners, and so encounter You, [and realize] that You are the Saviour. Many times a sin will make us feel shame, and make us encounter the Lord, Who pardons us, as the sick who were there and went to the Lord for healing."
"But the simple people," the Pope said, "do not err," despite the words of these doctors of the law, "because the people know, they have a certain 'flair' for the faith."
The Pope concluded his homily with this prayer: "I ask the Lord for the grace that our hearts might be simple, luminous with the truth that He gives us, and thus we might be able to be lovable, forgiving, understanding of others, [to have] a large heart with the people, to be merciful. Never to condemn, never to condemn. If you have wanted to condemn, you condemn yourself, who has some reason, eh?" He continued, "Let us ask the Lord for the grace that He might give us this interior light, that convinces us that the rock is Him alone, and not so many stories we make as if they were important things; and that He might tell us – that He might tell us! – the path, that He might accompany us on the path, that He might enlarge our hearts, so that they can enter into the problems of so many people, and that He might give us the grace that these people did not have: the grace to feel that we are sinners."
Listen to Christopher Wells' report:
