Pope at Mass in Monaco: 'You are called to bear witness to living in peace'

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"Let us not grow accustomed to the clamor of weapons and images of war!" 

Pope Leo XIV made this powerful reminder to the faithful of Monaco during the Mass he celebrated at Louis II Stadium during his one-day Apostolic Journey to the Principality.

READ POPE LEO'S FULL HOMILY HERE

In his homily, the Pope stressed, "Every life cut short wounds the body of Christ," and reminded that, "Peace is not merely a balance of power; it is the work of purified hearts, of those who see others as brothers and sisters to be protected, not enemies to be defeated."

The Holy Father began his homily recalling that today's Gospel reading, according to St. John, recounts the cruel sentence issued against Jesus, telling of the day when the members of the Sanhedrin planned to put him to death. The Pope reasoned that the decision was largely a political calculation rooted in fear. "If Jesus continued to inspire hope and turn the people’s sorrow into joy, the Romans would come and devastate the nation."

Pope Leo, therefore, explained that rather than recognize Jesus as the Messiah, as the long-awaited Christ, the religious leaders saw Him as a threat.

The Pope observed that we witness two opposing forces, "on the one hand, the revelation of God, who presents himself as the almighty Lord and Savior; and on the other, the hidden schemes of powerful authorities who are eager to kill without scruples." The Pope suggested that not much has changed when we look at our world today.

How many plots devised to kill the innocent!

"Even today, how many plots are devised around the world to kill the innocent!" Pope Leo condemned, observing, "How many excuses are made to justify their elimination!"

Yet, despite the persistence of evil, Pope Leo reassured, "God’s eternal justice always rescues us from our graves, as it did with Lazarus, and gives us new life."  

He recalled that the Lord frees us from pain by instilling hope and converts our hardened hearts. His mercy, Pope Leo said, saves the world and nurtures every human life in all its frailty, from the moment it grows in the womb until it withers away.

The Pope recalled how the Prophet Ezekiel, in the First Reading, testifies to how God carries out His plan of salvation, beginning with liberation and realized through the sanctification of the people, who embark upon a journey of conversion, much like our own Lenten journey.  

Likewise, we are invited, the Pope suggested, to become involved, "rather than remaining at a private or individual level, so that our relationships with God and with our neighbors can be transformed."

The Pope recalled that liberation takes the form of a purification from the “idols” that defiled the people, all those things that enslave our hearts, deceiving and corrupting them, and stressing, "The Lord changed the course of history by calling us from idolatry to true faith, from death to life."

Faced with many injustices and wars

The Pope thus continued, noting that in the face of the many injustices that afflict peoples and the wars that tear nations apart, the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “I will turn their mourning into joy, I will gladden them, I will comfort them after their sorrow," resound with strength.   

Idolatry, the Pope noted, makes people slaves of each other, but purification from idolatry sanctifies them. "It is a gift of grace that makes people children of God, and brothers and sisters to one another.   "This gift," he pointed out, "sheds light on our present, for the wars that stain it with blood are the fruit of the idolatry of power and money." 

"Every life cut short wounds the body of Christ," Pope Leo decried, appealing, "Let us not grow accustomed to the clamor of weapons and images of war!  

Thus, the Pope emphasized that peace does not consist simply of a balance of power, but is the work of purified hearts, "of those who see others as brothers and sisters to be protected, not enemies to be defeated."

Bring happiness to others through your faith

Thus, the Pope reminded those before him that the Church in Monaco is called to bear witness to living in peace and with God’s blessing.  "Therefore, dear friends, bring happiness to others through your faith, by manifesting authentic joy, which is not won through a wager, but shared through charity." 

God’s love, the Pope said, is the "source of this joy: love for new and vulnerable life, which should always be welcomed and cared for; love for the young and the elderly, who should receive encouragement through life’s challenges; love for the healthy and the sick, who are sometimes alone, and are always in need of attentive accompaniment."  

Amid evil raging in world, the Lord sustains us and the Church

He prayed the Virgin Mary help them to provide a welcoming and dignified space for the little ones and the poor, and to promote integral and inclusive development.

"In the world’s prolonged Lent, when evil rages and idolatry makes hearts indifferent, the Lord prepares His Easter," Pope Leo said, reassuring the Lord sustains our pilgrimage and the Church’s mission in the world.