CREDIT: Vatican Media
Vatican // This morning, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at the Vatican crypt, presiding at the altar near the tomb of Saint Peter. In the liturgy for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, the Pope offered reflections in both English and Italian, focusing on Mother’s Day and the urgent need for vocations in the Church.
The Holy Father began his homily by referencing the day’s Gospel: “The Gospel that we just heard on this Sunday of the Good Shepherd: ‘My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me.’”
He reflected on the significance of the Good Shepherd image, especially as he embarks on his new ministry as Pope.
“While we celebrate the beginning of this new mission of the ministry that the Church has called me to, there is no better example than Jesus Christ himself, to whom we give our lives and whom we depend on,” Pope Leo said. “Jesus Christ whom we follow, he is the Good Shepherd, and he is the one who gives us life: the way and the truth and the life. So we celebrate with joy this day and we deeply appreciate your presence here.”
Concelebrating with His Holiness was the Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Father Alejandro Moral Anton. The Mass was attended by a small group of faithful.
Turning to the occasion of Mother’s Day, Pope Leo offered a special greeting: “Today is Mother’s Day. I think there is only one mother present: happy Mother’s Day! One of the most wonderful expressions of the love of God is the love that is poured out by mothers, especially to their children and grandchildren.”
Highlighting the dual significance of the day, the Pope emphasized the Church’s ongoing need for vocations: “This Sunday is known to be special for several different reasons. One of the first ones I would mention is vocations.”
“During the recent work of the cardinals, before and after the election of the new Pope, we spoke a lot about vocations in the Church and how important it is that all of us search together,” Pope Leo said. “First and foremost by giving [a] good example in our lives, with joy, living the joy of the Gospel, not discouraging others, but rather looking for ways to encourage young people to hear the voice of the Lord and to follow it and to serve in the Church. ‘I am the Good Shepherd,’ he tells us.”
Switching to Italian, Pope Leo underlined the universal mission of the Church, drawing from the day’s first reading: “Now I will add just one word also in Italian, because this mission that we carry out is no longer to a single diocese but to the whole Church: this universal spirit is important. And we also find it in the first reading that we heard [Acts 13:14.43-52].”
“Paul and Barnabas go to Antioch,” the Pope continued. “They go first to the Jews, but they do not want to listen to the voice of the Lord, and then they begin to announce the Gospel to the whole world, to the pagans. They go, as we know, on this great mission. Saint Paul comes to Rome, where in the end he also [accomplished it].”
“I also said it in a very personal way, what it means to announce the Gospel to the whole world,” Pope Leo said. “Courage! Be not afraid! Many times Jesus says in the Gospel: ‘Do not be afraid.’ We must be courageous in the testimony we give, with words and above all with life: giving our life, serving, sometimes with great sacrifices to live this mission.”
A call to unity with Jesus and in the Church
Reflecting on the importance of listening, Pope Leo shared a personal insight. “I saw a little reflection that makes me think a lot, because it also comes out in the Gospel,” he said. “In this sense, someone asked: ‘When you think about your life, how do you explain where you have arrived?’ The answer they give in this reflection is in a certain sense also mine, with the verb ‘to listen’. How important it is to listen! Jesus says: ‘My sheep listen to my voice.’ And I think it is important for all of us to learn more and more to listen, to enter into dialogue. First of all with the Lord: always listen to the Word of God.”
“Then also listen to others,” the Pope continued, “know how to build bridges, know how to listen so as not to judge, not to close doors thinking that we have all the truth and no one else can tell us anything. It is very important to listen to the voice of the Lord, to listen to ourselves, in this dialogue, and to see where the Lord is calling us.”
Pope Leo concluded by inviting the faithful to journey together: “Let us walk together in the Church, let us ask the Lord to give us this grace to be able to listen to his Word to serve all his people.”
At the end of the Mass, the Pope paused in prayer at the tombs of his predecessors and in front of the niche of the Pallii.
The niche is called “of the Pallii” because inside a bronze urn, the pallia are kept. Pallia are bands of white wool on which stand out six black silk crosses. They are made with the wool of two white lambs blessed on January 21st in the Basilica of St. Agnes. The pallia, blessed by the Pope on June 29th, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, constitute a liturgical insignia and are the badges of metropolitan archbishops.