Mass Celebrated by Pope Francis at Santa Marta in the Vatican
This historical reflection accompanies the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on Sunday, May 17, 2020. Sunday is the Lord's Day, when the Church celebrates the triumphant Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a day of worship and special joy, when we gather as a family and Christian community, in person or through the media, to thank the God who gave his life for us, paid the ransom for our sins, and revealed his infinite mercy.
By dying, Christ destroyed death, and through his death he gave us life.
On this Sunday, let us place upon the Lord's altar every form of death in our lives: our failures, pain, and sadness. There the Lord raises us up and gives us new life. Let us approach the good Father with complete trust, placing our whole lives in his hands. We do not come with cynicism or imagine ourselves perfect because we are Christians. We come as repentant sinners who know that God has loved us from eternity. Let us stand before him and allow his tenderness to heal and embrace us, for God comes to meet us.
The Eucharist was presided over by Pope Francis, but in every Eucharist celebrated on any altar in the world, God becomes sacramentally present under the humble appearances of bread and wine. Christ offers us his Body and Blood as food. He said that where two or three gather in his name, he is there among them, and he promised not to leave us alone.
He remains in his Word, in the communion of the Church, and in those most in need. Above all, he is present in the precious Body and saving Blood he offered upon the Cross, now made present in the sacrament of the Eucharist. With this faith, we begin our celebration.