He enters the Cathedral of San Pancrazio, of which he should have taken possession on May 12 (“But the Holy Spirit made differently”, he explains during the Mass) if there had not been the conclave, with a step sent after having come out, on foot, from the pontifical villa overlooking Piazza Pia. Pope Leone receives the applause of the crowd and the tribute of Bishop Vincenzo Viva who delivers the silver plate prepared for that occasion. “We had to correct the coat of arms,” he explains in showing the gift. Next to the mayor of Albano, Massimiliano Borelli, and 12 other first citizens of the diocesan territory. Also present was the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci.
On the other side of the road, Maupal’s mural reminiscent of Pope Francis’ visit on September 20, 2019 with the pontiff who cleans the sky from the smoke of the chimneys to make the sun shine again.
Already from the early hours of dawn the faithful have tailing themselves to be as close as possible to the barriers and greet the new pontiff in memory of his predecessor.
And of Pope Francis speaks Leone in his homily. “Pope Francis said,” Prevost recalls, that “if we want to savor life with joy, we must associate these two attitudes: on the one hand, the” staying at the feet “of Jesus, to listen to him while he reveals the secret of everything; on the other, be caring and ready in hospitality, when he passes and knocks on our door, with the face of his friend who needs a moment of refreshment and fraternity”. He said these words, among other things, a few months before the pandemic broke out: and how much he taught us, in this sense, the long and hard experience that we still remember ».
Explains the Gospel of Luca and the song of Genesis who speak of “hospitality, service and listening”. He underlines that when God “visits Abraham in the person of” three men “who come to his tent” in the hottest hour of the day “” the patriarch, who was sitting in front of the tent, “recognized the presence of God in visitors, gets up, runs them, he prostrates up to the ground, he begs them to stop”. In the end God tells him that he will be the Father, even if Sara is no longer young.
“The dynamics of this meeting can make us reflect: God chooses the path of hospitality to meet Sara and Abraham and give them the announcement of the gift of fertility, who wanted so much and in which they did not hope for anymore”, says Leone. «After so many moments of grace in which he had already visited them, he returns to knock on their door, asking for welcome and trust. And the two elderly spouses respond positively, without still knowing what will happen. They recognize its blessing, its own presence in mysterious visitors. They offer him what they have: the food, the company, the service, the shadow of a tree. They receive the promise of a new life and a descent ».
And of welcome and listening also speaks the Gospel by proposing the scene of Jesus the guest of Marta and Maria. «He is not a stranger: he is at friends’ house and the climate is celebrating. One of the sisters welcomes him with a thousand attentions, while the other listens to him sitting at his feet, with the typical attitude of the disciple towards the master. As we know, at the complaints of the first, who would like to have a little help in practical affairs, Jesus replies inviting it to appreciate the value of listening ». They are not opposing attitudes. “The service and listening, in fact, are two twin dimensions of the reception”. In fact, explains the Pontiff, “if it is important that we live our faith in the concreteness of the action and in the loyalty to our duties, depending on the state and the vocation of each one, it is also fundamental that we do it starting from the meditation of the Word of God and from the attention to what the Holy Spirit suggests to our heart, reserving, for this purpose, moments of silence and prayer, times in which, we are silent and distracting us in front of him. We unity in ourselves. This is a dimension of Christian life that today we particularly need to recover, both as a personal and community value and as a prophetic sign for our times: giving space to silence, listening to the father who speaks and “sees in the secret” “.
Leone invites us to use summer days as a propitious time for this purpose to “experience how beautiful and important intimacy with God is, and how much it can also help us to be more open and welcoming to each other. These are days when we have more free time, both to collect and meditate and to meet us, moving and exchanging visits. Let’s take advantage of it to savor, coming from the turbine of commitments and concerns, a few moments of quiet and recollection, as well as to share, by going to some place, the joy of seeing us – as for me, today, here -, let’s do the opportunity to take care of each other, to exchange experiences and ideas, to offer us mutually understanding and advice: this makes us feel loved. Even so, he adds, “in solidarity and sharing of faith and life, a culture of peace is promoted, also helping those who are around us overcome fractures and hostilities and build communion: among people, among peoples, between religions”.
Of course, silence, service and listening are not always easy. «It costs effort, for example, in listening and service, the loyalty and love with which a dad and a mother send their family forward, as well as it costs the commitment with which the children, at home and school, correspond to their efforts; It costs struggling to understand when you have different opinions, forgive yourself when you are wrong, to give yourself assistance when you are sick, support when you are sad. But it is only so, with these efforts, that something good is built in life; This is how only authentic and strong relationships are born between people, and that from the bottom, from everyday life, it grows, spread and experience the kingdom of God ».
And finally, he cites Sant’Agostino to remember his comment precisely to this Gospel: «In these two women two lives are symbolized: the present and the future; one lived in fatigue and the other in rest; one troubled, the other blessed; One temporary, the other eternal ». And again, “thinking about Marta’s work said:” Who is ever exempt from this service to take care of others? Who can ever take breath from these duties? We try to fulfill them irreproachablely and with charity (…). The effort will pass and the rest will come; but you will get to rest only through fatigue. It will pass the ship and arrive in the homeland; but it will not be reached by the home. ” Abraham, Marta and Maria, today, remind us just that: that listening and service are two complementary attitudes with which to open up, in life, in the blessing presence of the Lord. Their example invites us to reconcile, in our days, contemplation and action, rest and fatigue, silence and industriousness, with wisdom and balance, always keeping the charity of Jesus as a meter of judgment, as light his word and as a source of force his grace, which supports us beyond our own possibilities “.
