Words of Greeting of the Holy Father

Words of the Holy Father at the Parish of the Crucifixion

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Your Eminence,
Your Excellencies,
Dear brothers and sisters:

I am truly delighted to begin my visit to Madrid here. As His Eminence said, anyone who is in Madrid is from Madrid. And so I, too, am here among you as another Madrilenian. Thank you, Madrid, for this welcome. The welcome I have received makes me feel part of a large and wonderful family in which, as in all families, miracles of love take place.

This is particularly true in this home, where no one remains alone. Here, each person’s joy and sorrow are the joy and sorrow of all. By listening to one another, we face challenges together, without disregarding the complexity of situations and, at the same time, without neglecting the demands of charity and justice, “in the context of dialogue with all those seriously concerned for humanity and for the world in which we live” (Deus Caritas Est, 27). Thus, CEDIA follows the path of the Gospel in the footsteps of Jesus, the Son of God who became man not only to heal our illnesses and miseries, but to make them his own — except for sin — living as one of us in weakness and identifying with everyone who suffers, even to the point of saying: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).

It is in this sense that we can understand the words we have just heard in the song: “In every dream I sought you, and none was in vain.” They sum up very well the testimonies we have heard and the work carried out here every day.

Indeed, thanks to a dream and a small open door — small in size but immense in mercy, as His Eminence said — Niurka has given Ares and Athena life, her motherly love, the grace of Baptism and the promise of a happy future.

Thanks to a dream and that same small door, Khadri has made it through the dark tunnel of the pandemic and a journey full of uncertainties. With the help of those who lent him a hand, showing him that they cared for and believed in him, he found a job and, above all, regained the desire not only to move forward but also to support others, just as others have supported him.

Thanks also to a dream and that same small door, every day Alicia and the other volunteers at the Hope Project help so many women to start a new life and to regain dignity, independence, hope and respect for the sacred value of their humanity.

The symbols you have given me are also a message for everyone. The ribbon bearing the children’s names expresses the joy that every birth brings to the world. The residence permit tells a story of effort and above all of commitment, honesty and welcome. The sandals, which recall Moses’ encounter with God at Horeb (cf. Ex 3:1–6), evokes the “sacred ground” that we are bound to respect in every human life.

I express heartfelt gratitude to all of you for sharing your experiences of pain, which are above all full of light and that reflect, like mirrors, the love of God.

Your testimonies open a window onto a vast panorama, filled with countless mothers like Niurka, boys and girls, women and men and volunteers — so many people, so many brothers and sisters, so many stories. These stories are so numerous that, as Saint John says, “if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (Jn 21:25). This comparison with the Gospel is not forced, for the “things that Jesus did” (ibid.), the things to which the Evangelist refers, continue in these stories.

In his remarks, the Archbishop spoke of the path that leads from Bethlehem to Paradise. Madrid is also famous for the nativity scenes that adorn the city during the Christmas season. Their beauty, however, is but a pale reflection of an even greater and deeper wonder, which we find here today. The lights, voices and sounds that touch our hearts and bring tears to our eyes during the Christmas season are, in reality, carried within us, with us and among us throughout the year. Today they are more alive and radiant than ever in this place, around this simple and welcoming “nativity scene” which, with God’s help, you continue to prepare day by day — or literally day and night — for Jesus, present in the people who come to the Center’s doorstep in search of help.

The words Jesus spoke to his disciples have been chosen as the theme for this visit: “Look around you” (Jn 4:35).

These words are an invitation to contemplate the fields that, now ripe, await the harvest, and they remind us that charity permits no delay. If the wheat is not harvested when it is ripe, the harvest is lost. This is our responsibility before those in need. It is a responsibility that consecrates every encounter with another as a kairós, a unique and unrepeatable moment of grace in which to love, which must not be lost or postponed. The love of Christ impels us toward our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5:14), and the charity and concern with which we respond to its promptings are the proof of our faith.

If we think about it carefully, in reality, “Christians too, on a number of occasions, have succumbed to attitudes shaped by secular ideologies or political and economic approaches that lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions. The fact that some dismiss or ridicule charitable works, as if they were an obsession on the part of a few and not the burning heart of the Church’s mission, convinces me of the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world. The poor cannot be neglected if we are to remain within the great current of the Church’s life that has its source in the Gospel and bears fruit in every time and place” (Dilexi Te, 15).

Jesus’ words are also an invitation to cultivate a heart that is sensitive to the needs of others (cf. Ps 112:1–9), keeping alive within us the desire for the good that God has placed in our very humanity and that faith sets free and strengthens. Pope Francis said in this regard: “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” (Homily, Marseille, 23 September 2023).  He also warned of the danger of a “flat, cold heart, accustomed to the quiet life, which is encased in indifference and becomes impermeable” (ibid.). A living heart is warm and beating, and it gives life. A cold heart is motionless, no longer pumps blood and leads to death.

But I would like to highlight one final aspect of the Lord’s invitation: It is also a call to look those who suffer in the eye and to make our assistance, above all, an encounter between brothers and sisters united in the Father’s embrace. Pope Francis also greatly emphasized this point. He asked, “When you give alms, do you look the beggar in the eye? Do you touch his hand to feel his flesh?” (Angelus, 27 October 2024), and he concluded, “alms are not the same as philanthropy. The person who receives the most grace from almsgiving is the one who gives, because he makes himself visible to the Lord’s eyes” (ibid.). Those who truly love “do more than give alms: they listen, they engage, they try to understand and deal with difficult situations and their causes. They consider not only material but also spiritual needs; and they work for the integral promotion of individuals.” (Francis, Message for the 7th World Day of the Poor, 13 June 2023, 5).

And we might conclude by looking to Mary, in whose charity all this finds its fulfillment: in her solicitous love at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1–11), longing to follow in her Son’s footsteps (cf. Lk 2:41–49; 8:19–21), close and present at the foot of the cross to the very end (cf. Jn 19:25–27). To her I entrust each one of you and your work, in this land consecrated to her, hoping that the spirit of her universal motherhood may ever more animate the cry of faith. To her let us say: “Teach us to see you always as Mother, fountain of mercy, bosom of forgiveness, embrace of hope, gate of Glory” (Prayer of Saint John Paul II at the Almudena, 15 June 1993).

Thank you.

Before imparting my blessing, let us pray together the prayer that Jesus Christ taught us.

Our Father

Apostolic Blessing

My best wishes to all of you, and thank you for this witness of love.

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Words of the Holy Father at the Parish of the Crucifixion
 

Thank you very much. It is a joy to be here. I am very pleased to make this first visit to the Archdiocese of Madrid, and also to begin in a parish called “The Crucifixion,” which is a sign not of death but of hope, new life, resurrection and the salvation that Jesus offers to all of us.

I am most grateful to all the associations represented here. Thank you for the beautiful service you provide, because it is a sign of hope in today’s world. It is the living Gospel that everyone longs to see, feel and experience, yet which is so often obscured or forgotten amid the profound indifference that affects our society.

You hold in your hands a great opportunity to offer hope — to us and to the whole world — and for this I thank you. Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for saying “yes” to the Crucified Christ. Thank you for embracing the Cross so that you, we, and all people may walk together toward the hope and joy of the Resurrection. Thank you very much.

When we are in church — and there is no better place to pray, although of course we can also do so at home — but gathered like this, as one great community of life and faith, let us pray together as Jesus taught us.

Our Father

Apostolic Blessing

Thank you very much. My best wishes, and thank you for this beautiful service.