Pope Francis: Through the paradox of the cross, Jesus ‘embraced our death’

On the Solemnity of Christ the King, Pope Francis said Jesus, through his death on the cross, opened his arms to embrace all people and everything about them, including their death, pain, and weakness.

“Only by entering into [Christ’s] embrace do we come to realize that God went to this extreme, even to the paradox of the cross, in order to embrace everything about us, even what was furthest from him: our death — he embraced our death — our pain, our poverty, our weakness, and our frailties. He embraced all of that,” the pope said Nov. 20 in the Asti Cathedral in northern Italy.

Pope Francis visited the Italian province of Asti, 30 miles east of Turin, Nov. 19-20.

The pope’s father, Mario José Bergoglio, lived in the Diocese of Asti before migrating to Argentina in 1929. Pope Francis’ maternal grandparents also immigrated to Argentina from northern Italy.

In his homily for the final Sunday of the liturgical year, Pope Francis said he wanted, in the land of his own roots, to reflect on “the roots of our faith.”

“Those roots are planted in the barren soil of Calvary, where Jesus, like the seed that falls to the earth and dies, made hope spring up,” he said.

Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to ask themselves: “Is this king of the universe also the king of my life? Do I believe him? How can How can I celebrate him as the Lord of all creation, unless he also becomes the Lord of my life?”

Today, Jesus our king looks at us from the cross, the pope said. “It is up to us to choose whether we will be onlookers or involved.”

“Am I a spectator or do I want to be involved?” he said. “We see the crises of the present time, the decline of faith, the lack of participation… What are we to do? Are we content to theorize and criticize, or do we roll up our sleeves, take life in hand, and pass from the ‘if’ of excuses to the ‘yes’ of prayer and service?”

The pope said: “All of us think we know what is wrong with society, all of us; we talk every day about what is wrong with the world, and even with the Church — many things are wrong with the Church. But then what do we do? Do we soil our hands like our God, nailed to the cross? Or do we stand with hands in our pockets, as mere onlookers?”