Pope Francis, during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated on Maundy Thursday in a Roman prison for minors, performed the traditional rite of washing the feet of twelve people. “Jesus is never afraid of our weaknesses, he wants to take us by the hand so that life is not so hard for us,” Francis said.
The mass in the chapel was attended by about a hundred people – young inmates and staff.
Franciszek leaned over each person, including two girls, and in a gesture of humility and service, he washed, dried and kissed their feet. In the group of twelve young people there were representatives of different nationalities, among them a Muslim from Senegal.
Pope: Jesus is never afraid of our weaknesses
In an impromptu homily, the Pope said: “Jesus knows what is in our hearts and loves us as we are.
“Jesus is never afraid of our weaknesses, he wants to take us by the hand so that life is not so hard for us,” Francis said. He emphasized: – Each of us can slip, everyone.
As the Pope explained, “this awareness, this certainty that each of us can slip, gives us the dignity … the dignity of being sinners”.
– We see in society how many people take advantage of others, how many people are in the corner and can’t get out. How much injustice, how many people without work, how many people work for half their wages, how many people do not have the money to buy medicines, how many broken families.
Francis, who was at the same facility, Casal del Marmo, two weeks after the conclave in March 2013, introduced a change in the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper by visiting this place. He has been doing it outside since then the Vaticanin places marked by pain, suffering, difficulties. On Maundy Thursday he has been to three prisons, hospitals, a nursing home and a refugee center.
Main photo source: Reuters