The text of the Pope’s homily – only in Italian so far

A summary:

The priest must be first and foremost a “man of prayer”; from this springs “friendship” with Christ, which allows man to act in God’s name and “bears fruit” in priestly deeds, “giving him my flesh”, as Fr Andrea Santoro used to say. The first homily of Benedict XVI for the Easter Triduum, of the Chrism Mass, was dedicated to the priesthood. As per tradition, priestly vows are renewed in this Mass, celebrated annually by the pope with all the cardinals, bishops and priests present in St Peter’s Basilica.

Benedict XVI focused his reflection on the concept that “being a priest means becoming a friend of Jesus Christ, and this even more for all our existence”. This because “the world needs God, not just any god, but the God of Jesus Christ, the God who became flesh and blood, who loved us to the point of dying for us, who resurrected and created in himself a space for man. This God must live in us and us in Him. And this is our priestly call: only thus can our actions as priests bear fruit.”

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Benedict XVI said the “mystery of the priesthood of the Church lies in the fact that we, miserable human beings, by virtue of the Sacrament, can speak with his I: in persona Christi. He wants to exercise his priesthood through us”. And “so daily cares will not mar what is great and mysterious, we need a similar specific reminder, we need to return to that hour in which He laid his hands on us and made us part of this mystery”. The pope emphasized “this ancient gesture of the laying of hands, with which He took possession of me, telling me: ‘You belong to me’”. He added: “By this he also said: ‘You are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. You are guarded in the hollow of my hands and thus you are in the vast expanse of my love. Stay within my hands and give me yours.”

The hands of the priest, continued Benedict XVI, are greased with the chrism at the moment of ordination. “If man’s hands symbolically represent his faculties and overall, the means of capacity to use in the world, then the greased hands become a sign of his capacity to give, of the creativity to shape the world with love – and for this, without doubt, we need the Holy Spirit”.

The Chrismal Mass was at 9:30 this morning (3:30 Eastern) at St. Peter’s Basilica. This evening at 5:30 (11:30 Eastern), the Pope will preside at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. John Lateran.

You can watch all of the papal Triduum liturgies via Vatican television on the internet and on EWTN.

(And…no . No big news yet…)