Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Friday morning in the mother church of
the Jesuit order, the church of the Gesù, to mark the Feast of the Holy
Name of Jesus and to give thanks for the enrollment of the first Jesuit to
be ordained a priest, Fr Peter Faber SJ, in the list of the saints.
In his homily, Pope Francis spoke of the particular way in which the Jesuit
Order is marked – and desires to be signed - by the name of Jesus: “To
march,” he said, “beneath the standard of His Cross.” Pope Francis went
on to explain that this means sharing in and having Christ’s very own
sentiments. “It means,” he said, “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.”
Pope Francis went on to discuss the great example of his holy confrere,
St Peter Faber, whose sainthood the Holy Father officially recognized and
proclaimed on December 17th of last year. “Under the guidance of St.
Ignatius,” explained Pope Francis, “[the man who would become St Peter
Faber, SJ] learned to combine his restless - but also sweet and even,”
said Pope Francis, “exquisite sensitivity, with the ability to make decisions:
he was a man of great desires,” Pope Francis said, “he recognised his
desires and he owned them. Indeed, for Faber, it is precisely in the
moment in which difficult things are proposed, that the true spirit that
moves to action manifests itself.” Pope Francis added, “An authentic faith
always implies a deep desire to change the world.”
