“We often think we are the ones who serve God”, began the Pope. Instead, “He is the one who freely chose to serve us, for He loved us first.
The Lord served us by giving His life for us, continued Pope Francis. He did this “with the humility, patience and obedience of a servant, and purely out of love”.
“The Lord served us to the point of experiencing the most painful situations of those who love: betrayal and abandonment”, he added.
“Jesus suffered betrayal by the disciple who sold Him and by the disciple who denied Him”, explained Pope Francis. “He was betrayed by the people who sang hosanna to Him and then shouted: ‘Crucify Him!’ ”.
We have all suffered betrayals in life, the Pope acknowledged. Betrayal risks provoking disappointment “that can even make life seem meaningless”, he added, because “we were born to be loved and to love”.
“If we are honest with ourselves, we will see our infidelities”, continued Pope Francis: the “falsehoods, hypocrisies and duplicities”. The Lord knows “how weak and irresolute we are, how many times we fall, how hard it is for us to get up, and how difficult it is to heal certain wounds”, he said.
Despite all that, Jesus still comes to our aid. He serves us and heals us “by taking upon Himself our infidelity”, explained the Pope. “Instead of being discouraged by the fear of failing, we can now look upon the crucifix, feel His embrace”, and say: “You serve me with your love, you continue to support me… And so I will keep pressing on”.
The Pope then addressed young people, “on this day which has been dedicated to them for thirty-five years now”. He invited them to consider what he called “real heroes”: not famous, rich and successful people, but “those who are giving themselves in order to serve others”. His final words were for them:
“Feel called yourselves to put your lives on the line. Do not be afraid to devote your life to God and to others; it pays! For life is a gift we receive only when we give ourselves away, and our deepest joy comes from saying ‘yes’ to love, without ifs and buts. As Jesus did for us. Vatican News
