Pope at Mass in Rimini: ‘At every level, authority is service'
By Christopher Wells
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time at the Italian port of Rimini on Saturday evening, concluding a one-day pastoral visit that began in the Republic of San Marino and included an encounter with the participants in the “Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples.”
The Holy Father began his homily by recalling St. Peter’s profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, recounted in the day’s Gospel.
“We are here,” Pope Leo said, “because we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the eternal Son of the Father, consecrated and sent into the world ‘to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
In Peter’s words, he continued, “we recognize the truth that fills us with joy and hope, and we find the path that leads to life: the path of God who places Himself at the service of humanity.”
Pope Leo explained that this is how we should understand Jesus’ handing of the keys of the Kingdom, a gesture that shows us that in the Church, authority is service.
Not only bishops and priests, but every baptized person, he said, is called to embrace, reunite, welcome, liberate, forgive, and emancipate “anyone imprisoned by sin and its consequences.
Turning to the Old Testament reading, which saw the unjust steward removed from his position in favour of the righteous Eliakim, Pope Leo drew the lesson: “everything we have and are is a gift from God to us, so that, in His hands, we can be instruments of salvation for one another in justice.”
Pope Leo went on to explain the “inscrutability” of God’s plans for us—expressed by St Paul in the Second Reading—saying that those plans are not complex because of the reasoning behind them, but because of “the disarming immensity of His love, which surpasses all our capacity and expectations.”
This divine loved, which we are called to imitate, is mirrored in the honesty, generosity, and, benevolence of the people of the Romagna region, the Holy Father sad, as he encouraged them to continue to ensure that the area is welcoming, “not only for its refreshment and entertainment, but also for its spirituality.”
In the context of the summer vacation that is drawing to a close, Pope Leo warned the faithful not to allow a period of rest to lead to “dispersion and ruin,” but rather to take the opportunity to find rest in a genuine encounter with God and other people in the depths of our souls.
He said the Christian community is called to foster this experience, as individuals and institutions, through hospitality, recollection, and the willingness “to help and to offer charity.” This applies not only to our engagement with those seeking rest and refreshment, but also with those “wounded in body and spirit, who seek refuge, food, and assistance far from their homeland.”
Quoting the local Bishop, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful gathered for the Holy Mass to take up the attitudes of prayer, unity, listening, courage, simplicity, gratitude, before thanking them for their welcome and commending them to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and their patron saints.
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