Pope Francis urges youth to aid others with a ‘noble heart’

Pope Francis urged the twelve young men and women whose feet he washed during the Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper to serve others with humility and a noble heart.

The pope said,  “Helping each other, even through simple human gestures, springs from a noble heart, and Jesus today wishes to teach us and encourage us to have this "nobility of heart." 

The pope remarked, "Such an attitude of helping one another, as opposed to following worldly ways of cheating or taking advantage of one another, would make our lives so beautiful."

On April 6, the pope presided over a live-streamed Mass in the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention facility chapel for more than 80 inmates, family members, staff, and guards.

Pope Francis told the young inmates that Jesus is never surprised by who we are on the inside because he is already aware of our weaknesses.

The pontiff added, "Jesus knows everything about us and "loves us just as we are," washing the feet of each of us.

The Pope stated that we should never be afraid of our weaknesses because the Lord desires to accompany us on our voyage, “to take us by the hand so that life is not so hard for us."

Pope Francis, hospitalized for three days last week for bronchitis, arrived at the penitentiary in a white Fiat. He was rolled into the chapel in a wheelchair and remained seated for most of Mass. 

During his time as pontiff and bishop, Francis has made it a custom to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass with the incarcerated.

Fifteen days after his election, he celebrated his first Holy Thursday Mass as pontiff at the Casal del Marmo prison on the northwest outskirts of Rome.

During the Holy Thursday Mass 2023, the Pope washed the feet of ten young men and two young women, ages 14 to 25. Two were Sintis, while the rest were from Russia, Croatia, Senegal, and Romania. They were all of various religious origins.-With inputs from Vatican News.