A lively crowd awaited Pope Francis for Mass in the Vélodrome Stadium on Sept. 23. Attendees in the stadium seating, including the concelebrating priests, passed the time by doing “the wave” before the pope’s arrival and the start of Mass.
In his homily, the pope explained that to leap in the face of life means “to feel that something is moving in our heart” — the opposite of “a flat, cold heart, accustomed to the quiet life, which is encased in indifference and becomes impermeable.”
“Such a heart becomes hardened and insensitive to everything and everyone, even to the tragic discarding of human life, which is seen today in the rejection of many immigrants, of countless unborn children and abandoned elderly people,” he said.
Francis said this indifference can mean people “suffer cynicism, disenchantment, resignation, uncertainty, and an overall sadness,” while with faith, instead, “we can recognize God’s presence in everything.”
“Faced with the mystery of life and the challenges of society, those who believe have a spring in their step, a passion, a dream to cultivate, an interest that impels them to personally commit themselves. They know that in everything the Lord is present, calling and inviting them to witness to the Gospel with meekness, in order to build a new world, using the gifts and charisms they have received,” he said.
Pope Francis closed his homily by invoking the protection of Mary over France and all of Europe and by quoting the poem “The Virgin at Noon,” by French poet and dramatist Paul Claudel, who died in 1955.
“I would like to offer this prayer using the words of Paul Claudel,” the pope said: “I see the church, open. … / I have nothing to offer and nothing to ask. / I come, Mother, only to look at you. / To look at you, to weep for happiness, knowing that / I am your son, and that you are there. … To be with you, Mary, in this place where you are. … / Because you are there, always / Simply because you are Mary / Simply because you exist / Mother of Jesus Christ, thanks be to you.”
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.