Isabella Piro – Vatican City

A “change of direction” and “perspective” to turn our steps and gaze to God and enter “His dreams”: this is what Pope Francis hopes for every man and woman who becomes a pilgrim on earth in this Holy Year of hope. Hope that resonates strongly in the voices and emotional faces of about eight thousand pilgrims from the Campanian dioceses of Caserta and Capua, who crowded the Paul VI Audience Hall this morning, February 1st. Another two thousand faithful from the Sulmona-Valva diocese in Abruzzo followed the meeting from St. Peter’s Basilica. At the end, the Pontiff went to greet them personally and recited the “Our Father” with them.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF POPE FRANCIS’ CATECHESIS HERE

The jubilee audience in the Paul VI Hall

Hope that never disappoints

“The Jubilee – explains Francis – is a new beginning for people and for the Earth; it is a time where everything must be rethought within God’s dream.” Conversion, he adds, is precisely this: changing direction, looking at things “from another perspective,” directing the journey “towards new goals.”

Thus arises hope that never disappoints… And even for us, the experience of faith has been stimulated by encountering people who have known how to change in life and, so to speak, have entered into God’s dreams.

Mary Magdalene, healed by God’s mercy

The Pope then focuses on the figure of Mary Magdalene, healed by God’s mercy: “Mercy changes the heart – he emphasizes – and to Mary Magdalene, mercy brought her back into God’s dreams and gave new goals to her journey.” Above all, the Pontiff highlights, Magdalene is the one who turns: she does not look at the empty tomb but at the Risen One. And she turns again when she hears her name being spoken:

Her hope grows this way: now she sees the tomb, but not as before. She can dry her tears because she has heard her name: only her Master pronounces it like that. The old world seems to still be there, but it is no more.

The Pope greets the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica

Putting aside the pride that prevents recognizing Jesus

From Mary Magdalene, therefore, “the apostle of the apostles,” we can learn hope, the one that leads “to a new world” through constant conversion. Hence, the question that Pope Francis addresses to each believer:

Let us ask ourselves today: can I turn to look at things differently, with a different gaze? Do I have the desire for conversion? An overly sure self, an overly proud self prevents us from recognizing the Risen Jesus: even today, in fact, His appearance is that of common people who easily stay behind us. Even when we cry and despair, we leave Him behind. Instead of looking into the darkness of the past, into the emptiness of a tomb, let us learn from Mary Magdalene to turn towards life. There our Master awaits us. There our name is pronounced.

In real life, there is always room for everyone, there is always a mission for everyone, one that is given to us by the Lord. And this thought, the Pontiff concludes, helps us to live life with courage.