Pope Francis celebrated Mass with his fellow Jesuits on January 3, in the mother church of the Society of Jesus, the church of the Gesù, in Rome.  The Mass marked the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and gave thanks for the enrollment of the first Jesuit to be ordained a priest, Fr Peter Faber SJ, in the list of the saints.  About 350 Jesuits were present.

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 St Peter Faber, whose sainthood the Holy Father officially recognized and proclaimed on December 17, 2013. “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 –  exquisite sensitivity, with the ability to make decisions: he was a man of great desires, he recognized 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”.  [Jesuit Curia in Rome] 

For Fr General Adolfo Nicolas’ impressions after the meeting of the Roman Jesuits with Pope Francis on Jan. 3, 2014, visit http://www.sjweb.info.

To read Pope Francis’ homily, visit http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-homily-at-mass-in-the-church-of-the-gesu. 

To view the mass at the Gesù, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUuOT_rre0w#t=0.