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Pope Francis Masses 2022:
14 April 2022 Chrism Mass Pope Francis + ASL Video (+American Sign Language, Homily starts at 28:38/1:50:17), Homily Text. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus/Regina Caeli Extracts: Having said that, in this Chrism Mass, I want to share with you three spaces of hidden idolatry in which the Evil One uses our idols to weaken us in our vocation as shepherds and, little by little, separate us from the benevolent and loving presence of Jesus, the Spirit and the Father. One space of hidden idolatry opens up wherever there is spiritual worldliness, which is “a proposal of life, a culture, a culture of the ephemeral, of appearances, of the cosmetic”. [3] Its criterion is triumphalism, a triumphalism without the cross. Jesus prayed that the Father would defend us against this culture of worldliness. This temptation of glory without the cross runs contrary to the very person of the Lord, it runs contrary to Jesus, who humbled himself in the incarnation and, as a sign of contradiction, is our sole remedy against every idol. Being poor with Christ who was poor and “chose to be poor”: this is the mind-set of Love; nothing else… A second space of hidden idolatry opens up with the kind of pragmatism where numbers become the most important thing. Those who cherish this hidden idol can be recognized by their love for statistics, numbers that can depersonalize every discussion and appeal to the majority as the definitive criterion for discernment; this is not good. This cannot be the sole method or criterion for the Church of Christ. Persons cannot be “numbered”, and God does not “measure out” his gift of the Spirit (cf. John 3:34). In this fascination with and love of numbers, we are really seeking ourselves, pleased with the control offered us by this way of thinking, unconcerned with individual faces and far from love. One feature of the great saints is that they know how to step back in order to leave room completely for God. This stepping back, this forgetting of ourselves and wanting to be forgotten by everyone else, is the mark of the Spirit… In these last two spaces of hidden idolatry (the pragmatism of numbers and functionalism), we replace hope, which is the space of encounter with God, with empirical results. This shows an attitude of vainglory on the part of the shepherd, an attitude that weakens the union of his people with God and forges a new idol based on numbers and programmes: the idol of “my power, our power”, [4] our programmes, of our numbers and pastoral plans…
Palm Sunday (10 April 2022) Holy Mass + Angelus Video (+American Sign Language), Homily Text. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus/Regina Caeli
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS TO MALTA Holy Mass on 3 April 2022 Video , Homily Text.
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS TO MALTA Prayer Meeting on 2 April 2022 Video , Homily Text.
25 March 2022 The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity) Mass Readings EWTN, USCCB, Universalis. CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
March 12 2022 Holy Mass, 400th anniversary of the canonization of St. Ignatius of Loyola (quotes) Holy Mass video (Homily starts @18:50/1:24:57. Homily text). 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C: Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus.
Pope Francis I on Ash Wednesday, 2 March 2022 Holy Mass video (Homily starts at 36:30/1:31:12, Homily Text). Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus.
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 2 February 2022 Mass Readings EWTN, USCCB, Universalis. Holy Mass video (Homily starts at 28:28/1:27:58, Homily text).
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, 25 January 2022 Celebration of Second Vespers - Pope Francis Mass Readings: Psalm 126, Psalm 116, Romans 15:1-3, Matthew 2:1-12. Holy Mass video (Homily starts @ 27:50/1:04:50), Homily text.
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 23 January 2022 Holy Mass video (Homily text). Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus.
FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD, 9 January 2022 Holy Mass Video, Homily Text. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD, 6 January 2022 Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD 54th WORLD DAY OF PEACE (1 January 2022) Holy Mass video, Homily Text.
Pope Francis Masses 2021: Celebration of Vespers and Te Deum in Thanksgiving for the past year (31 December 2021) Holy Mass video (American Sign Language) Homily in English not uploaded yet.
SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD, Holy Mass, 24 December 2021 Homily Text, 24 December 2021 Video of Holy Mass during the Night (ASL), Video of Christmas Vigil Mass. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus
Holy Mass at “Megaron Concert Hall” in Athens, Sunday, 5 December 2021
Holy Mass at “GSP Stadium” in Nicosia, Friday, 3 December 2021 Homily Text , Video.
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe - Sunday, 21 November 2021 Homily Text, Video of Holy Mass. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus
33th Sunday of Ordinary Time, 14 November 2021 Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Homily Text, Video of Holy Mass.
November 5 2021 Holy Mass Pope Francis HOLY MASS ON THE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY Video (Homily starts at 21:50/1:10:57). Text. Extracts: I wonder: how does our memory work? To simplify, we could say that we remember someone or something when it touches our heart, when it binds us to a particular affection or lack of affection. And so the Heart of Jesus heals our memory because it brings it back to the fundamental affection. It roots it on the most solid base. It reminds us that, whatever happens to us in life, we are loved. Yes, we are loved beings, children whom the Father loves always and, in any case, brothers and sisters for whom the Heart of Christ beats. Every time we peer into that Heart we discover ourselves “rooted and grounded in love”, as the Apostle Paul said in today's first reading (Ephesians 3:17).
The Heart of Christ is not a pious devotion, so as to feel a little warmth inside; it is not a tender image that arouses affection, no, it is not that. It is a passionate heart - just read the Gospel -, a heart wounded with love, torn open for us on the cross. We have heard how the Gospel speaks of it: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). Pierced, He gives; in death, He gives us life. The Sacred Heart is the icon of the Passion: it shows us God’s visceral tenderness, his loving passion for us, and at the same time, surmounted by the cross and surrounded by thorns, it shows us how much suffering our salvation cost. In its tenderness and pain, that Heart reveals, in short, what God’s passion is. What is it? Man, us. And what is God’s style? Closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is God’s style: closeness, compassion and tenderness.
…How many words we say about God without showing love! But love speaks for itself, it does not speak of itself. Let us ask for the grace to become passionate about the man who suffers, to become passionate about service, so that the Church, before having words to say, may keep a heart that beats with love. Before speaking, may she learn to safeguard her heart in love.
The third word is comfort. The first was remembrance, the second passion, the third is consolation. It indicates a strength that does not come from us, but from those who are with us: that is where strength comes from. Jesus, the God-with-us, gives us this strength, his Heart gives us courage in adversity… The Heart of Jesus beats for us, always repeating those words: “Courage, courage, do not be afraid, I am here!”. Courage, sister, courage, brother, do not lose heart, the Lord your God is greater than your ills, He takes you by the hand and caresses you, He is close to you, He is compassionate, He is tender. He is your comfort.
If we look at reality from the greatness of his Heart, the perspective changes, our knowledge of life changes because, as Saint Paul reminded us, we know “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). Let us encourage ourselves with this certainty, with God’s comfort. And let us ask the Sacred Heart for the grace to be able to console in turn. It is a grace that must be asked for, as we courageously commit ourselves to opening up, helping one another, carrying one another’s burdens. It also applies to the future of health care, especially “Catholic” health care: sharing, supporting each other, moving forward together. Pope Francis I (Homily, 5 November 2021)
November 4 2021 Holy Mass for deceased Cardinals and Bishops presided by Pope Francis Video (Homily starts at 21:40/1:03:11). Text Extracts: In the first Reading we heard this invitation: “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26). This attitude is not a starting point, but rather a destination. Indeed, the author reaches it at the end of a journey, a troubled journey, that enabled him to grow. He comes to understand the beauty of trusting in the Lord, who never fails to keep his promises. But trust in God is not born of a momentary enthusiasm; it is not an emotion, nor is it a sentiment. On the contrary, it comes from experience and matures in patience, as in the case of Job, who passes from a knowledge of God “by hearsay” to a living, experiential knowledge. And for this to happen, it takes a long inner transformation that, through the crucible of suffering, leads to knowing how to wait in silence, that is, with confident patience, with a meek soul. This patience is not resignation, because it is nurtured by the expectation of the Lord, whose coming is certain and does not disappoint…
At this point, however, the Lord makes a turning point, at the very moment when, while continuing to dialogue with Him, it seems as if we are at rock bottom. In the abyss, in the anguish of non-meaning, God draws near to save us at that moment. And when bitterness reaches its climax, hope suddenly flourishes again. It is bad to reach old age with a bitter heart, with a disappointed heart, with a heart that is critical of new things, it is very hard. “But this I call to mind”, says the praying man in the Book of Lamentations, “and therefore I have hope” (v. 21). Resuming hope in the moment of bitterness. In the midst of sorrow, those who cling to the Lord see that he unlocks suffering, opens it, transforms it into a door through which hope enters. It is a paschal experience, a painful passage that opens to life, a kind of spiritual labour that in the darkness makes us come to the light again.
… Christians do not diminish the seriousness of suffering, no, but they raise their eyes to the Lord and under the blows of adversity, they trust in him and pray: they pray for those who suffer. They keep their eyes on Heaven, but their hands are always extended to earth, to serve their neighbour concretely. Even in times of sadness, of darkness: service. Pope Francis I (Homily, 4 November 2021)
November 2 2021 Pope Francis All Souls Day Mass Video (Homily starts at 17:47/1:04:57). Text Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: I stopped in front of a tomb: “Inconnu. Mort pour la France 1944” [Unknown. Died for France 1944]. Not even the name. In God’s heart is the name of all of us, but this is the tragedy of war. I am sure that all these who went in good will, called by their homeland to defend it, are with the Lord. But do we, who are on the journey, fight sufficiently so that there will be no wars? So that the economies of countries are not fortified by the arms industry? Today the sermon should be to look at the tombs: “Died for France”; some have names, some others do not. But these graves are a message of peace: “Stop, brothers and sisters, stop! Stop, arms manufacturers, stop!”.
I leave you with these two thoughts. “You who are walking, think about your steps, and of your steps, think about the final step”: may they be in peace, in peace of the heart, all in peace. The second thought: these graves that speak, cry out, they cry out of themselves, they cry out, “Peace!”. May the Lord help us to sow and keep these two thoughts in our hearts. Pope Francis I (Homily, 2 November 2021)
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B HOLY MASS WITH EPISCOPAL ORDINATIONS Homily, 17 October 2021 Video (Homily starts at 29:30/2:11:38). Text . Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: You will be the custodians of faith, service and charity in the Church and for this you must be close. Think, closeness is the most typical sign of God. He himself says this to his people in Deuteronomy: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us?”. Closeness, with two accompanying traits: a closeness that is compassion and tenderness. Please, do not leave aside this closeness, come closer to the people… And the fourth form of closeness, closeness to the holy people of God. As Paul said to Timothy: “Remember your grandmother and your mother” (cf. 2 Timothy 1:5). Do not forget that you have been “taken from the flock”, not as a member of an élite that has studied, that has many qualifications and who must be a bishop. No, by the flock. Please, do not forget these four forms of closeness: closeness to God in prayer, closeness to bishops in the episcopal body, closeness to priests, and closeness to the flock. May the Lord let you grow on this path of closeness, so that you will better imitate the Lord, because he has always been and is near to us, and with his closeness that is compassionate and tender he leads us forward. And may Our Lady keep you. Pope Francis I (Homily, 17 October 2021)
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Homily, 10 October 2021 Video (Homily starts at 29:00/1:29:50), Text . Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: Encounter and listening are not ends in themselves, leaving everything just as it was before. On the contrary, whenever we enter into dialogue, we allow ourselves to be challenged, to advance on a journey. And in the end, we are no longer the same; we are changed. We see this in today’s Gospel. Jesus senses that the person before him is a good and religious man, obedient to the commandments, but he wants to lead him beyond the mere observance of precepts. Through dialogue, he helps him to discern. Jesus encourages that man to look within, in the light of the love that the Lord himself had shown by his gaze (cf. v. 21), and to discern in that light what his heart truly treasures. And in this way to discover that he cannot attain happiness by filling his life with more religious observances, but by emptying himself, selling whatever takes up space in his heart, in order to make room for God. Pope Francis I (Homily, 10 October 2021)
MASS WITH THE COUNCIL OF BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES OF EUROPE (23 September 2021) Homily text , Video (original sound).
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS TO BUDAPEST, ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONCLUDING HOLY MASS OF THE 52nd INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS, AND TO SLOVAKIA (12-15 SEPTEMBER 2021) Homily text, 15 September 2021 , Video .
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS FRANCIS TO BUDAPEST, ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONCLUDING HOLY MASS OF THE 52nd INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS, AND TO SLOVAKIA (12-15 SEPTEMBER 2021) Homily text, 14 September 2021 , Video .
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Holy Mass, 12 September 2021 Video (Homily @ 47:00/1:47:40), Text . Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: What does it mean to get behind Jesus? It is to advance through life with Jesus’ own confident trust, knowing that we are beloved children of God. It is to follow in the footsteps of the Master who came to serve and not be served (cf. Mark 10:45). It is to step out each day to an encounter with our brothers and sisters. The Eucharist impels us to this encounter, to the realization that we are one Body, to the willingness to let ourselves be broken for others. Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow our encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist to transform us, just as it transformed the great and courageous saints you venerate. I am thinking in particular of Saint Stephen and Saint Elizabeth. Like them, may we never be satisfied with little; may we never resign ourselves to a faith based on ritual and repetition, but be ever more open to the scandalous newness of the crucified and risen God, the Bread broken to give life to the world. In this way, we will be joyful ourselves and bring joy to others. This International Eucharistic Congress marks the end of one journey, but more importantly, the beginning of another. For walking behind Jesus means always looking ahead, welcoming the kairos of grace, and being challenged every day by the Lord’s question to each of us, his disciples: Who do you say that I am? Pope Francis I (Homily, 12 September 2021)
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, 25 August 2021 Holy Mass for the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 25 July 2021 Pope Francis Homily Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: Let us not lose the memory preserved by the elderly, for we are children of that history, and without roots, we will wither. They protected us as we grew, and now it is up to us to protect their lives, to alleviate their difficulties, to attend to their needs and to ensure that they are helped in daily life and not feel alone. Let us ask ourselves: “Have I visited my grandparents, my elderly relatives, the older people in my neighbourhood? Have I listened to them? Have I spent time with them?” Let us protect them, so that nothing of their lives and dreams may be lost. May we never regret that we were insufficiently attentive to those who loved us and gave us life.
Brothers and sisters, grandparents and the elderly are bread that nourishes our life. We are grateful to them for the watchful eyes that cared for us, the arms that held us and the knees on which we sat. For the hands that held our own and lifted us up, for the games they played with us and for the comfort of their caress. Please, let us not forget about them. Let us covenant with them. Let us learn to approach them, listen to them and never discard them. Let us cherish them and spend time with them. We will be the better for it. And, together, young and old alike, we will find fulfilment at table of sharing, blessed by God. Pope Francis I (Homily, 25 July 2021)
29 June, 2021 Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Video (Homily starts at 41:00/1:48:25) , Text . Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus <– compilation incomplete. 8-) Extracts: Dear brothers and sisters, the Church looks to these two giants of faith and sees two Apostles who set free the power of the Gospel in our world, only because first they themselves had been set free by their encounter with Christ. Jesus did not judge them or humiliate them. Instead, he shared their life with affection and closeness. He supported them by his prayer, and even at times reproached them to make them change. To Peter, Jesus gently says: “I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). And to Paul: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). He does the same with us: he assures us of his closeness by praying and interceding for us before the Father, and gently reproaching us whenever we go astray, so that we can find the strength to arise and resume the journey… Peter and Paul bequeath to us the image of a Church entrusted to our hands, yet guided by the Lord with fidelity and tender love, for it is he who guides the Church. A Church that is weak, yet finds strength in the presence of God. The image of a Church set free and capable of offering the world the freedom that the world by itself cannot give: freedom from sin and death, from resignation, and from the sense of injustice and the loss of hope that dehumanizes the lives of the women and men of our time. Pope Francis I (Homily, 29 June 2021)
Solemnity of Corpus Christi, 6 June 2021 Video (Homily starts at 30:00/1:47:32) , Text. Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Angelus Extracts: In the Eucharist, we contemplate and worship the God of love. The Lord who breaks no one, yet allows himself to be broken. The Lord who does not demand sacrifices, but sacrifices himself. The Lord who asks nothing but gives everything. In celebrating and experiencing the Eucharist, we too are called to share in this love. For we cannot break bread on Sunday if our hearts are closed to our brothers and sisters. We cannot partake of that Bread if we do not give bread to the hungry. We cannot share that Bread unless we share the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in need. In the end, and the end of our solemn Eucharistic liturgies as well, only love will remain. Even now, our Eucharistic celebrations are transforming the world to the extent that we are allowing ourselves to be transformed and to become bread broken for others. Pope Francis I (Homily, 6 June 2021)
Pentecost Sunday 23 May 2021 Holy Mass for Pentecost - Homily, Pope Francis Mass Readings, Past Homilies and Regina Caeli Extracts: Dear sister, dear brother, if you feel the darkness of solitude, if you feel that an obstacle within you blocks the way to hope, if your heart has a festering wound, if you can see no way out, then open your heart to the Holy Spirit. Saint Bonaventure (Publication) tells us that, “where the trials are greater, he brings greater comfort, not like the world, which comforts and flatters us when things go well, but derides and condemns us when they do not” (Homily in the Octave of the Ascension). That is what the world does, that is especially what the hostile spirit, the devil, does. First, he flatters us and makes us feel invincible (for the blandishments of the devil feed our vanity); then he flings us down and makes us feel that we are failures. He toys with us. He does everything to cast us down, whereas the Spirit of the risen Lord wants to raise us up… Let us go another step. We too are called to testify in the Holy Spirit, to become paracletes, comforters. The Spirit is asking us to embody the comfort he brings. How can we do this? Not by making great speeches, but by drawing near to others. Not with trite words, but with prayer and closeness. Let us remember that closeness, compassion and tenderness are God’s “trademark”, always… The Paraclete is also the Advocate. In Jesus’ day, advocates did not do what they do today: rather than speaking in the place of defendants, they simply stood next to them and suggested arguments they could use in their own defence. That is what the Paraclete does, for he is “the spirit of truth” (v. 26). He does not take our place, but defends us from the deceits of evil by inspiring thoughts and feelings. He does so discreetly, without forcing us: he proposes but does not impose. The spirit of deceit, the evil one, does the opposite: he tries to force us; he wants to make us think that we must always yield to the allure and the promptings of vice. Let us try to accept three suggestions that are typical of the Paraclete, our Advocate. They are three fundamental antidotes to three temptations that today are so widespread… (If you are interested, read starting from paragraph 6). 8-) Pope Francis I (Homily, 23 May 2021)
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