Pope Francis celebrates Divine Liturgy with Chaldean Catholics at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Baghdad. He makes a homily that explains how the confession of love in the Beatitudes helps to fulfill God’s promises.
By Robin Gomes
Pope Francis told Iraqi Catholics on Saturday that they are precious in God’s eyes because they are witnesses to Jesus’ Beatitudes in their daily lives. He said that there are witnesses who, living happiness, help God to fulfill his promises of peace.
The Pope made the observation in homily during his first public Eucharistic holiday, called the Divine Liturgy in Chaldean Rite and other Eastern rites, which he presided in the evening in the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph in the capital Baghdad.
He based his homily on reading the day of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of St. Matthew and explained the wisdom of the Beatitudes and how they are practiced in daily life to help fulfill God’s promises.
The wisdom of happiness
The pope stressed that the search for wisdom has always attracted men and women. But often those with more means can gain more knowledge and have greater opportunities, while those with fewer are aligned.
“Such inequality, which has grown in our time,” said the Pope, “is unacceptable.” However, the Book of Wisdom reverses this logic when it says, “The lowest may be forgiven in mercy, but the strong will be tested. “The strongest are subjected to rigorous examination, while the least are the privileged of God.
And Jesus, who is Wisdom in person, brings this total reversal with the Beatitudes. The poor, the mourners, the persecuted are all called blessed.
They are no longer the rich, but the poor in spirit; not those who can impose their will on others, but those who are gentle with all; not those who are acclaimed by the crowds, but those who show mercy to their brother and sister.
Pope Francis the Divine Liturgy
Love: the heart of happiness
The Pope explained that Jesus’ invitation to love, which is the heart of the Beatitudes, even if it seems weak in the eyes of the world, in fact always triumphs.
On the Cross, love proved stronger than sin, and in the grave it overcame death. The same love made the martyrs victorious in their trials, the pope said, adding that in the last century there were far more martyrs than in the past.
Love was also the strength of Iraqi Christians, who suffered prejudice and indignity, abuse, and persecution for Jesus’ sake. St. Paul emphasizes this point in the second reading of the Divine Liturgy, when he tells the Corinthians: “Love never ends.”
“As the power, glory and vanity of the world disappear,” the Pope said, “love remains.” The practice of Happiness requires us to become witnesses, day by day, living gently, showing mercy and having a pure heart. “The witness is the way to embody the wisdom of Jesus,” the pope said, adding that the world is changed “not by power and might, but by happiness.”
The Pope passes into the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph
Love is patient
St. Paul goes on to explain how the love of Jesus can be confessed. Love seems synonymous with kindness, generosity, and good works, yet Paul says that “love is patient.”
First, the Bible speaks of God’s patience with men and women who throughout history have been unbelievers, falling into the same old sins, the pope said. However, the Lord always remained faithful, forgave, and began again. This patience to start all over again is the first quality of love. He does not become discouraged, does not give up or surrender, but remains creative and responds to evil with good. God’s witnesses, the Pope said, are not passive or fatalistic, but are always full of hope.
In the face of adversity, the Pope explained, there are always two temptations – either to run and distance yourself, or to react with anger and show strength. This was the case with the disciples in Gethsemane when many fled and Peter drew his sword. However, neither the flight nor the sword accomplished anything.
On the other hand, Jesus changed history with the humble power of love, with His patient testimony, which we are called to do; and so God fulfills his promises.
The faithful gathered for the Divine Liturgy
Promises of Happiness
The wisdom of Jesus embodied in the Beatitudes, the Pope continued, calls for testimony and offers divine promises, such as the kingdom of heaven, comfort, satisfaction or seeing the face of God, which guarantees unparalleled joy and never disappoints.
The Pope said that these are fulfilled through our weaknesses and inner poverty, and biblical figures such as Abraham and his wife Sarah, Moses, the Mother of God, and Peter are proof of this.
The pope urged Iraqi Christians never to give in to feeling powerless and useless, saying that “God wants to work miracles precisely because of our weaknesses.”
In conclusion, Pope Francis thanked God with and for the Christians in Iraq, for many witnesses “in our time,” who are “often overlooked in the news,” but are “precious in the eyes of God.” They are “witnesses who, living happiness, help God to fulfill his promises of peace.”