James Martin, SJ
On January 3, 2014, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with his Jesuit brothers at the Church of the Gesu in Rome, on the titular feast of the Society of Jesus: The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. The Pope also celebrated the canonization of St. Peter Faber and the beginning of the year commemorating the 200th anniversary of the "Restoration" of the Society of Jesus. These photos (but for one) were graciously sent by the Jesuit Curia in Rome. Many thanks to Giuseppe Bellucci, SJ, the communications and public relations director at the Society of Jesus in Rome.
Arrival of Pope Francis at the Gesù welcomed by Adolfo Nicolas, SJ, superior general of the Society of Jesus and Ina Echarte, SJ, secretary of the Society.
The Pope's homily at the Mass with his brother Jesuits: "We Jesuits want to be honored with the name of Jesus, under the military banner of the cross, and that means: to have the same feelings of Christ. It means to think like Him, to love like Him, to see things the way He sees them, to walk like Him. It means doing what He did, and with the same sentiments He had, with the sentiments of His heart."
"We are men who live in tension, we are also contradictory and inconsistent men, sinners all. But men who want to walk under the gaze of Jesus. We are small, we are sinners, but we want to fight under the banner of the Cross in the Society signed by the name of Jesus. We who are selfish, nonetheless want to live a life agitated by great desires. So let us renew our oblation to the Lord, that through the Lord of the universe with the help of his glorious Mother we can desire and experience the feelings of Christ who emptied himself. As St. Peter Faber wrote, 'never in this life may we seek a name that does not bring us back to that of Jesus' (Memoriale, 205). And pray to Our Lady to be placed with her Son."
"The temptation, that maybe many of us experience, and many other people have comes to mind; that of linking the proclamation of the Gospel with inquisitorial beatings of condemnation. No, the Gospel is preached gently, fraternally, with love."
During the Liturgy of the Eucharist. (Photo by Jurek Brzoska, S.J., courtesy of Mike Rogers S.J.)
Father General thanks the Pope after the Mass. You can see in between the two, in the background, a statue of St. Peter Faber, which was in the church for the occasion.
Father General thanks the Pope.
Father General embraces the Pope.
This gift was presented to Pope Francis by the postulator of the cause of St. Peter Faber, Father Anton Witwer, SJ, and the Vice-Postulator Father Marc Lindeijer, SJ. It is a facsimile of the Final Vows of St. Peter Faber in 1541.
In his homily, Pope Francis praised Faber's "restlessness" to his brother Jesuits: "This is the restlessness that Peter Faber had, a man of great dreams." He was, said the pope, a "modest man, sensitive, with a deep inner life and endowed with the gift of making friends with people of all kinds."
"However, he was also a restless spirit, indecisive, never satisfied...He was a man of great desires, and he took charge of his desires, recognized them."
"An authentic faith always implies a deep desire to change the world. Here's the question we must ask ourselves: Do we also have great vision and momentum? Are we too bold? Do our dreams aim high? Does our zeal devour us (cf. Ps 69.10) or are we mediocre and are satisfied?"