The Pope's Mass at Santa Marta No fear of joy

In his homily at Holy Mass on Thursday,
24 April, Pope Francis reflected on the contrast between what the
Apostles felt after the Lord’s Resurrection: on the one hand, they
were filled with joy at the thought that he had risen; on the other,
they were fearful at seeing him among them once again and of entering
once more into contact with the mystery.

Drawing on the day’s Gospel passage
from Luke (24:35-48), the Pope recalled that “on the evening of the
Resurrection the disciples were talking about what they had seen”:
the two disciples from Emmaus spoke about their encounter with Jesus
on the road, and how he had also appeared to Peter. “They were all
happy because the Lord had risen: they were sure that the Lord had
risen”. However, as they were speaking, the Gospel says, “Jesus
himself stood among them” and greeted them saying: “Peace be with
you”.

At that moment, the Pope noted, the
completely unexpected happened: something other than peace. In fact,
the Gospel describes the Apostles as “startled and frightened”.
They “didn’t know what to do, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit”. Thus, the Pope continued, Jesus sought most of all to
reassure them: “look, I am not a spirit, touch me, look at my
wounds!”

“There is a word in this Gospel
passage that explains well for us what had happened at that moment”,
the Pope said. We read in the text: “And while they still
disbelieved for joy ...”. This is the focal point: the disciples
“could not believe because they were afraid of joy”. Jesus “leads
them to joy: the joy of the Resurrection, the joy of his presence
among them”. However, for them this joy posed “a problem for
belief: they disbelieved for joy and they were full of amazement”.

Essentially, Pope Francis said, the
disciples “preferred to think that Jesus was an idea, a spirit, but
not a reality”. Therefore, “Jesus’ whole task was to make them
understand that he was real: “Give me something to eat, touch me,
it is I! A spirit does not have flesh, does not have a body, it is
I!”. Furthermore, the Pope continued, “let’s remember that this
occurred after several of them had seen him during the day: they were
sure he was alive. Then we don’t know what happened...”.

The Gospel passage suggests that “the
fear of joy is a Christian illness”, the Pope remarked. We too “are
afraid of joy” and we tell ourselves that “it is better to think:
yes, God exists, but he is out there. Jesus is risen, he is out
there!”. We tell ourselves: let’s keep “a little distance ...
we are afraid of Jesus’ closeness because this brings us joy”.

This attitude also explains why there
are so many “funeral Christians” for whom “life seems like a
continual funeral”. Christians who “prefer sadness and not joy;
they move better, not in the light of joy, but in the shadows”.
Just “like those animals”, the Pope said, “that manage to go
out at night but don’t see anything in the light of day. Like bats!
And with a little bit of humour we can say that they are ‘bat
Christians’ who prefer the shadows to the light of the presence of
the Lord”.

“We are afraid of joy”, the Pope
repeated, “and Jesus, by his Resurrection, gives us joy: the joy of
being Christians, the joy of following him closely, the joy of taking
the road of the beatitudes, the joy of being with him”. Instead,
“many times we are either startled when this joy comes to meet us,
or we are full of fear: either we believe we are seeing a ghost, or
we think that Jesus is a way of acting”; indeed, we say “we are
Christians and we have to do it this way!”. Rather, we should ask
ourselves: “Do you speak with Jesus? Do you tell him: Jesus, I
believe that you are alive, that you are risen, that you are close to
me, that you will not abandon me”? This is the “dialogue with
Jesus” which is proper to the Christian life and is enlivened by
the knowledge that “Jesus is always with us, he is always with our
problems, with our struggles and with our good works”.

Therefore, the Pope reiterated, we need
to overcome “the fear of joy”; we need to think of the many times
that “we are not joyful because we are afraid”. Like the
disciples who “were startled and frightened” by the mystery of
the Cross. This was the cause of their fear. “In my homeland”,
Pope Francis said, “there is a saying that goes like this: when
someone gets burned by boiling milk, he cries when he sees the cow”.
The disciples, who were “burned by the drama of the Cross, said:
no, let’s stop here! He is in heaven, that’s excellent, he is
risen, but may he not come back again because we can’t take handle
it!”.

Pope Francis concluded his meditation
asking the Lord that he “may do for us all what he did for the
disciples who were afraid of joy: open our minds”. Indeed, in the
Gospel we read: “He opened their minds to understand the
Scriptures”. The Pope therefore expressed his hope “that the Lord
may open our minds and make us understand that he is a living
reality, that he has a body, that he is with us and that he
accompanies us, that he has conquered: let us ask the Lord for the
grace not to be afraid of joy”.

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