VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis called on people to replace their thirst for power with the joy of quiet and humble service, as he proclaimed four new saints, including the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux.
All of Christ’s disciples, especially its pastors, are called to model themselves after Jesus and “suppress our instinctive desire to exercise power over others, and instead exercise the virtue of humility.”
The pope said the new saints — a Spanish religious woman, an Italian priest and the first married couple with children to be canonized together — “unfailingly served their brothers and sisters with outstanding humility and charity in imitation of the divine master.”
On World Mission Sunday Oct. 18 in St. Peter’s Square, during the Synod of Bishops on the family, the pope created the following new saints:
Louis Martin (1823-1894) and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin (1831-1877), the French parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. They had nine children; four died in infancy and five entered religious life. During their 19-year marriage, the couple was known to attend Mass daily, pray and fast, respect the Sabbath, visit the elderly and the sick, and welcome the poor into their home.
Italian Father Vincenzo Grossi (1845-1917), founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory.
Spanish Sister Maria of the Immaculate Conception (1926-1998), a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross.
Some 65,000 people attended the Mass, including the more than 300 cardinals, bishops and others taking part in the Oct. 4-25 synod on the family.
While the pope’s homily pointed to the new saints as inspiring examples of joyful servants who completely trusted in God, he dedicated the bulk of his reflection on the day’s readings and the Christian meaning of authority and hierarchy.
He said the prophet Isaiah said the servant of the Lord “is not someone of illustrious lineage; he is despised, shunned by all, a man of sorrows. He does not do great things or make memorable speeches; instead he fulfills God’s plan through his humble, quiet presence and his suffering.”
It was Jesus’ life and attitude of profound service that “were the cause of our salvation and the reconciliation of mankind with God,” the pope said.
Jesus invites everyone to follow him on this same path of love and service, he said, and to “reject the worldly temptation of seeking first place and commanding others.”
“Faced with people who seek power and success, the disciples are called to do the opposite,” the pope said.
Those who exercise “genuine authority” in the church and the Christian community are those who serve others and “lack real prestige.” Jesus calls people “to pass from the thirst for power to the joy of quiet service,” the pope said.
Jesus’ teaching and example clearly show there is “no compatibility between a worldly understanding of power and the humble service, which must characterize authority.”
