Dear brothers and sisters!
I am happy to find myself with you on this festive day and to celebrate this solemn Eucharist for you.
I greet everyone present, in particular the pastor of your archdiocese, Cardinal Severino Poletto, whom I thank for the warm address to me on behalf of everyone.
I also greet the archbishops and bishops present, the priests, religious, the representatives of ecclesial associations and movements.
I address myself with deference to the mayor, Dr. Sergio Chiamparino, grateful for his kind greeting, to the representatives of the government and to civil and military officials, with special thanks to those who generously offered their cooperation for the realization of this pastoral visit.
I also think of those who are not able to be present, especially the sick, those who are alone, and those who find themselves in difficulty.
I entrust to the Lord the city of Turin and all its inhabitants in this Eucharistic celebration, which, invites us every Sunday to participate communally at the dual table of the Word of truth and the Bread of eternal life.
We are in Eastertide, which is the time of the glorification of Jesus. The Gospel we have just heard reminds us that this Glorification is realized through the Passion. In the paschal mystery, Passion and Glorification are closely joined into an indissoluble unity.
Jesus says: “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31) when Judas leaves the Upper Room to carry out the plan of his betrayal, which will lead to the Master’s death: At this moment, precisely, the glorification of Jesus begins.
The Evangelist John makes it clear: he does not, in fact, say that Jesus was glorified only after his passion, through his resurrection, but shows that his glorification began precisely with the Passion. In it Jesus manifests his glory, which is the glory of love, of giving oneself entirely. He loved the Father, doing his will to the very end, with a perfect oblation; he loved humanity, giving his life for us. Thus, already in his Passion he was glorified, and God was glorified in him.
But the Passion is only the beginning. Jesus says that his glorification is also to come (cf. 13:32). Then when he announces his departure from this world (cf. 13:33), almost as a testament to his disciples to continue his presence among them in a new way, the Lord gives them a new commandment: “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. As I loved you, love one another” (13:34). If we love each other, Jesus will continue to be present in our midst.
Jesus speaks of a “new commandment.” But what is new about it? Already in the Old Testament, God gave the commandment of love; now, however, this commandment has become new insofar as Jesus makes a very important addition to it: “As I loved you, love one another.”
What is new is precisely this “loving as Jesus loved.” The Old Testament did not prescribe a way to love, it only formulated the precept to love. Jesus, however, gave himself to us as model and source of love - a love without limits, universal, able to transform all negative circumstances and all obstacles into occasions to progress in love.
In recent centuries, the Church in Turin knew a rich tradition of sanctity and generous service -- as the archbishop and the mayor pointed out -- thanks to the work of zealous priests, men and women in both active and contemplative religious communities, and faithful laypeople.
Therefore, Jesus’s words thus acquire a particular resonance for this Church, a Church that is generous and active, beginning with her priests. Giving us the new commandment, Jesus asks us to live his love, and of his love, which is the truly credible, eloquent and effective sign to announce the Kingdom of God to the world.
Obviously with our own powers, we are weak and limited. There is always a resistance to love in us, and in our existence, there are many difficulties that provoke divisions, resentment and rancor. But the Lord promised us he would be present in our life, and this makes us capable of this generous and total love, which knows how to overcome all obstacles.
If we are united to Christ, we can truly love. Loving others as Jesus loved us is possible only with that strength that is communicated to us in our relationship with him, especially in the Eucharist, in which his Sacrifice of love that generates love becomes present in a real way.
I would like to say, then, a word of encouragement especially to the priests and deacons of this Church, who dedicate themselves with generosity to pastoral work, and to the religious. Sometimes being a worker in the Lord’s vineyard can be tiring, duties multiply, there are so many demands, there is no lack of problems: Learn to draw daily from this relationship of love with the Lord in prayer the strength to transmit the prophetic announcement of salvation; re-center your existence on what is essential in the Gospel; cultivate a real dimension of communion and fraternity in the priesthood, in your communities, in your relationship with the People of God; in service, testify to the power of love that comes from on high.
The first reading that we heard indeed presents us with a special way of glorifying Jesus: the apostolate and its fruits. Paul and Barnabas, at the end of their first apostolic trip, return to the cities that they have already visited and reanimate the disciples, exhorting them to remain solid in the faith, because, as they say, “we must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations” (Acts 14:22).
Christian life, dear brothers and sisters, is not easy; I know that there is no lack of difficulties, problems, and concerns in Turin: I think in particular of those who actually live in precarious conditions, because of the scarcity of jobs, the uncertainty of the future, physical and moral suffering. I think of families, young people, of old people who often live in solitude, the marginalized, immigrants.
Yes, life brings many difficulties, many problems, but it is precisely the certainty that comes from faith, the certainty that we are not alone, that God loves everyone without distinction and is near to everyone with his love, that makes it possible to face, to live through and to overcome the toll that daily problems take.
It was the universal love the risen Christ urged on them that moved the apostles to go out of themselves, to spread the word of God, to spend themselves without reserve for others, with courage, joy and serenity.
The Risen One has a strength of love that overcomes every limit, that does not stop at any obstacle. And the Christian community, especially in the most pastorally demanding situations, must be a concrete instrument of this love of God.
I exhort families to live the Christian dimension of love in simple daily actions - in family relationships, overcoming divisions and misunderstandings; and in cultivating faith, which makes communion still stronger.
Even the rich diverse world of the university and culture should not lack testimony of the love the Gospel today speaks of in the capacity for attentive listening and humble dialog in the search for truth, with the certainty that Truth itself will come to us and grip us.
I would also like to encourage the efforts, often difficult, of those who are called on to administer public affairs: collaboration in pursuing the common good os a sign that Christian thinking on man is never against his freedom, but for greatere fulfillment that can only find its realization in a 'civilization of love'.
To everyone, in particular the young people, I want to say: Never lose hope, that which comes from the risen Christ, from God’s victory over sin and death.
Today’s second reading shows us precisely the final outcome of Jesus’s Resurrection: it is the new Jerusalem, the holy city, that comes down from heaven, from God, prepared as a bride for her husband (cf. Revelation 21:2).
He who was crucified, who shared our suffering -- as the sacred Shroud also reminds us in an eloquent way -- is he who is risen and wants to reunite all of us in his love.
It is a stupendous, “powerful,” solid hope, because, as Revelation says: “[God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, nor will there be any mourning or lament anymore, because the former things will pass away” (21:4).
Does the holy Shroud not communicate the same message? In it we see, as in a mirror, our sufferings in the sufferings of Christ: “Passio Christi. Passio hominis.”
It is because of this that the Shroud is a sign of hope: Christ faced the cross to put up a wall against evil; to make us see, in his passion, the anticipation of that moment when, even for us, every tear will be wiped away, when there will no longer be death, mourning, or lamentation.
The passage from Revelation ends with this statement: “He who sits upon the throne says: ‘Behold, I make all things new’” (21:5).
The first absolutely new thing realized by God was Jesus’s resurrection, his heavenly glorification. It is the beginning of a whole series of “new things” in which we also have a share.
“New things” are a world full of joy, in which there is no more suffering and destruction, there is no rancor and hate, but only the love that comes from God and transforms everything.
Dear Church in Turin, I have come among you to confirm you in the faith. I would like to exhort you, firmly and with affection, to remain firm in that faith that you have received and that gives meaning to life: Never lose the light of hope in the Risen Christ, who is able to transform reality and make all things new; Live God’s love in a simple and concrete way in the city, in the neighborhoods, in communities, in families: “As I have loved you, love one another.”
Amen.