In full: Pope Leo’s homily for the canonisation of St Bartolo Longo

‍Today, in a packed St Peter’s Square, the Holy Father canonised seven new saints. The group includes two martyrs, three laypeople, and two founders of religious congregations. Among them are the first saint from Papua New Guinea and the first two from Venezuela, marking a historic moment for the Church in Latin America.

The homily given by His Holiness reflects on faith as the greatest treasure, the importance of trust in God’s justice and providence, divine justice as mercy, the necessity of constant prayer, and how the seven new saints embody these virtues.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Let us begin our reflection with the question that concludes the Gospel just proclaimed: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8). This question reveals to us what is most precious in the Lord’s eyes: faith — the bond of love between God and man.

Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning. Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.

When we consider the great material, cultural, scientific, and artistic treasures of this world, faith shines — not because these goods are to be undervalued, but because without faith they lose their meaning. Our relationship with God is of the utmost importance because, at the beginning of time, He created all things out of nothing, and at the end of time, He will save mortal beings from nothingness. A world without faith would be populated by children living without a Father — that is, by creatures without salvation.

For this reason, Jesus, the Son of God made man, asks about faith: if it disappeared from the world, what would happen? Heaven and earth would remain as before, but there would no longer be hope in our hearts; everyone’s freedom would be defeated by death; our desire for life would fade into nothingness. Without faith in God, we cannot hope for salvation.

Jesus’ question can disturb us — but only if we forget that it is Jesus Himself who poses it. The Lord’s words are always the Gospel, the joyful proclamation of salvation. This salvation is the gift of eternal life that we receive from the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Dear friends, this is precisely why Christ speaks to His disciples of the “need to pray always and not to lose heart” (Lk 18:1). Just as we never grow weary of breathing, so let us never grow weary of praying. As breathing sustains the life of the body, so prayer sustains the life of the soul. Faith, in fact, is expressed in prayer, and authentic prayer lives on faith.

Jesus shows us this connection with a parable: a judge remains deaf to the pressing requests of a widow, whose perseverance finally leads him to act. At first glance, such tenacity becomes for us a beautiful example of hope, especially in times of trial and tribulation. Yet the woman’s perseverance and the judge’s reluctant action set the stage for a provocative question from Jesus: Will not God, the good Father, grant justice to His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night? (Lk 18:7).

Let us allow these words to resonate in our hearts. The Lord is asking us whether we believe that God is a just judge toward all. The Son asks whether we believe that the Father always wants our good and the salvation of every person.

Two temptations test our faith. The first draws strength from the scandal of evil, leading us to think that God does not hear the cries of the oppressed and has no pity for the innocent who suffer. The second temptation is the claim that God must act as we want Him to — that prayer becomes a command to God, to teach Him how to be just and effective.

Jesus, the perfect witness of filial trust, frees us from both temptations. He is the innocent one who, especially during His Passion, prays: “Father, your will be done” (cf. Lk 22:42). The Master gives us these same words in the Our Father. Whatever happens, Jesus entrusts Himself as Son to the Father. We are therefore brothers and sisters in His name, and we proclaim: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give You thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord” (Eucharistic Prayer II, Preface).

The Church’s prayer reminds us that God grants justice to all, giving His life for all. Thus, when we cry out to the Lord, “Where are You?”, let us transform this invocation into prayer and recognise that God is present where the innocent suffer. The Cross of Christ reveals God’s justice — and God’s justice is forgiveness. He sees evil and redeems it by taking it upon Himself.

When we are crucified by pain and violence, by hatred and war, Christ is already there — on the Cross for us and with us. There is no cry that God does not console; no tear that is far from His heart. The Lord listens to us, embraces us as we are, and transforms us as He is. Those who reject God’s mercy remain incapable of mercy toward their neighbour. Those who do not welcome peace as a gift will not know how to give peace.

Dear friends, we now understand that Jesus’ questions are a powerful invitation to hope and action: when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in God’s providence? It is this faith that sustains our commitment to justice, precisely because we believe that God saves the world out of love, freeing us from fatalism.

When we hear the cries of those in difficulty, let us ask ourselves: are we witnesses to the Father’s love, as Christ was to all? He is the humble one who calls the arrogant to conversion, the just one who makes us just.

We see all this in the lives of the new saints. They are not heroes or champions of some ideal, but authentic men and women. These faithful friends of Christ are martyrs for their faith, like Bishop Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan and catechist Peter To Rot; evangelisers and missionaries, like Sister Maria Troncatti; charismatic founders, like Sister Vincenza Maria Poloni and Sister María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez; and, with hearts burning with devotion, benefactors of humanity, like Bartolo Longo and José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros.

May their intercession assist us in our trials, and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness. As we journey towards this goal, let us pray without ceasing, and continue in what we have learned and firmly believe (cf. 2 Tim 3:14). Faith on earth thus sustains the hope of heaven.

(Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)