Pope's Mass: Encounter Jesus through the poor, sick, marginalized

July 03, 2013. (Romereports.com) During one of his last public Masses before starting his summer vacation, the Pope reflected on the life of St. Thomas, whose feast day is celebrated on Wednesday. He explained that the apostle was full of doubts, before seeing Jesus Resurrected and directly touching His wounds. To encounter God, the Pope said,  it's necessary, to kiss the wounds of Jesus through those who are hungry, poor, sick and incarcerated.

POPE FRANCIS
“We find Jesus' wounds in carrying out works of mercy, by helping the body – the body – the soul too, but – I stress - the body of your wounded brother, because he is hungry, because he is thirsty, because he is naked, because he is humiliated, because he is enslaved, because he is in jail, because he is in hospital. Those are the wounds of Jesus nowadays. And Jesus asks us to take a leap of faith towards Him, but through these wounds. Some say: 'Oh, great! Let's set up a foundation to help everyone and do so many good things to help '. That's important, but if we remain on this level, we will only be philanthropic. We need to touch the wounds of Jesus, we must caress the wounds of Jesus, we need to heal the wounds of Jesus with tenderness, we have to kiss the wounds of Jesus, and do so literally. Just think of what happened to St. Francis, when he embraced the leper! The same thing that happened to Thomas: his life changed.”

The Mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who announced Pope Francis' election to the world back in March.

PARTIAL HOMILY
(Source: VIS)
“He was stubborn. But the Lord wanted exactly that, a stubborn person to make us understand something greater. Thomas saw the Lord, was invited to put his finger into the wounds left by the nails; to put his hand in His side and he did not say, 'It's true: the Lord is risen'. No! He went further. He said: 'God'. The first of the disciples who makes the confession of the divinity of Christ after the Resurrection. And he worshiped Him”

“In the history of the Church there have been some mistakes made on the path towards God. Some have believed that the Living God, the God of Christians can be found on the path of meditation, indeed that we can reach higher through meditation. That's dangerous! How many are lost on that path, never to return. Yes perhaps they arrive at knowledge of God, but not of Jesus Christ, Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. They do not arrive at that. It is the path of the Gnostics, no? They are good, they work, but it is not the right path. It’s very complicated and does not lead to a safe harbor.”

“We find Jesus’ wounds in carrying out works of mercy, giving to our body – the body – the soul too, but – I stress - the body of your wounded brother, because he is hungry, because he is thirsty, because he is naked because it is humiliated, because he is a slave, because he's in jail because he is in the hospital. Those are the wounds of Jesus today. And Jesus asks us to take a leap of faith, towards Him, but through these His wounds. 'Oh, great! Let's set up a foundation to help everyone and do so many good things to help '. That's important, but if we remain on this level, we will only be philanthropic. We need to touch the wounds of Jesus, we must caress the wounds of Jesus, we need to bind the wounds of Jesus with tenderness, we have to kiss the wounds of Jesus, and this literally. Just think of what happened to St. Francis, when he embraced the leper? The same thing that happened to Thomas: his life changed.”