Papal preacher: Stay anchored in Christ, live hope during Holy Year

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The papal preacher urged cardinals and senior officials of the Roman Curia to remain firmly anchored in Christ through lives of humility, conversion and fidelity, especially during the Holy Year, a time meant to rekindle Christian hope.

Opening a Lenten meditation for the Curia in the Paul VI Audience Hall March 21, Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household, recalled Pope Francis' invitation to view Christ as "the sure and firm anchor" of Christian hope during the Holy Year, noting that through baptism Christians are already united to heaven even as they live in this world.

"We are here, in this world," he said, "but through baptism it is as if we are already anchored in heaven, through Christ."

While this understanding offers reassurance, Father Pasolini emphasized that it also requires active engagement. Rootedness in Christ is not "granted," he said; rather, it depends on a willingness to "welcome the dynamism of conversion to the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit redefine the shape of our humanity according to God's will, not according to our own thoughts."

He warned that this anchoring in Christ can be fragile and requires vigilance, cautioning against the tendency to drift away from the core of faith.

"The great temptation for us Christians within the church is really that of always trying to move toward a Gospel that seems better to us than the one unique Gospel that is Christ," he said, noting how believers often emphasize select aspects of the faith -- such as morality, charity or liturgy -- while neglecting its entirety.

As a remedy, Father Pasolini invited the Curia to reflect on Jesus' baptism, which he said offers a foundational sign of God's closeness and a source of enduring hope.

Jesus' decision to be baptized by John the Baptist was, he said, a profound act of humility that marked the beginning of his mission to bring salvation not by overpowering humanity but by sharing its condition.

"The first gesture that Jesus performs is described with a passive verb: 'he was baptized,' 'he was immersed,'" the papal preacher said. "God allows our hands to do something to him. This is a profound trust."

Father Pasolini explained that Jesus' baptism shows God's desire to end humanity's isolation and fear, not through force, but through presence. Hope in Christ begins, he said, upon recognizing that "our reality -- with its light and shadows -- becomes a place of salvation if he is there."

He added that hope must be tested. Father Pasolini described Jesus' time in the desert following his baptism as a necessary stage in which Christ confirmed his mission through trial. Without such testing, he said, good intentions risk becoming fleeting or superficial.

"Without a trial, without a testing, without an initiation, the desires of our freedom are like clouds of vapor that vanish after a while," he said. Jesus' greatest temptation, he added, was not to reject God, but to abandon his mission when faced with suffering.

Father Pasolini identified three key attitudes to sustain Christian hope during the Jubilee Year: the ability to prioritize others over oneself, a commitment to ongoing interior conversion and the courage to remain fully present in life's challenges rather than seeking to avoid them.

"Only in this way can we recognize that in reality our journey is inhabited by a certain presence, that of God, the Father, who is with us and never abandons us," he said.