Pope Francis is currently in hospital and so was not able to celebrate Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons earlier today. His homily was read by Archbishop Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation. The full text is available from the website of the Holy See: Holy Mass and Ordinations to the Diaconate.
In a manner typical of Pope Francis, the homily was structured around three words:
The message of today’s readings can be summed up in a single word: “gratuity”. That is surely a word dear to you as deacons, gathered here for the Jubilee celebration. So, let us reflect on three specific aspects of this fundamental dimension of the Christian life in general and your ministry in particular: forgiveness, selfless service and communion.
It is a short passage at the end of the homily that caught my attention (my emphasis added, as it reflects something of my previous post for the Jubilee of Deacons):
Dear deacons, your mission sets you apart from society only to be re-immersed in it in order to enable it to be an ever more open and welcoming place for everyone. It is one of the finest expressions of a synodal Church, one that “goes forth.”
Soon some of you, in receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders, will “descend” the steps of the ministry. I deliberately say “descend,” and not “ascend,” because being ordained is not an ascent but a descent, whereby we make ourselves small. We lower ourselves and divest ourselves. In the words of Saint Paul, through service, we leave behind the “earthly man,” and put on, in charity, the “man of heaven” (cf. 1 Cor 15:45-49).
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