Christians should resist the temptation to be swayed by applause, popularity or approval, especially in a culture driven by social media and instant recognition, instead grounding their lives firmly in Christ, the preacher of the papal household said.
“Today the world lives on notifications, likes, approvals and recognition,” Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, the papal preacher, told cardinals and senior officials of the Roman Curia in a Lenten meditation March 28. “Jesus seems totally detached from this type of recognition, too quick and superficial.”
Opening the second Lenten reflection for members of the Roman Curia, Father Pasolini offered a greeting to Pope Francis, who was not present in the Paul VI Audience Hall but was watching from his residence nearby, the Vatican press office said.
“We are all very happy about his return home,” Father Pasolini said. The 88-year-old pope was released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, infections and double pneumonia.
Citing Gospel accounts of Jesus’s public ministry, the preacher explained how Jesus repeatedly resisted the pull of popularity, opting instead to guide others toward a deeper, freer relationship with God.
One such moment, he said, is found in St. John’s Gospel, when many people are drawn to Jesus after witnessing his miraculous signs. Rather than embrace their enthusiasm, Jesus holds back – unwilling to entrust himself to them because he understands the complexities and contradictions of the human heart.
“That reaction of Jesus is rather disconcerting,” Father Pasolini said. “We are all very pleased when someone appreciates us or applauds our way of acting and doing, it even seduces us.”
Yet Jesus’s response is not a rejection of others, but rather an invitation to a more authentic response to his ministry.
Jesus, the Capuchin said, “rejects a style of humanity, and even of messianism, that seeks to respond to people’s needs in a way that risks taking control of their lives or fostering forms of dependence.”
Rather than seize on popularity, Jesus repeatedly chooses solitude, silence or retreat, modeling a kind of freedom rooted not in affirmation but in fidelity to the Father. Father Pasolini noted how after the multiplication of the loaves Jesus withdraws to the mountain alone, refusing the crowd’s attempt to make him king.
“Jesus does not give in to the temptation of easy complicity with our consensus,” he said. “He shows that the truth and love do not need to impose themselves but know how to wait.”
This freedom, Father Pasolini said, must characterize Christian life as well, particularly among those who lead and serve. Anchoring one’s identity in Christ, rather than in approval or accomplishment, makes space for more honest relationships and a deeper openness to grace.
“To remain anchored in him we must welcome the dynamism of his life within our life,” he said. “This is living our baptism.”
The Lenten journey is meant to test “if and how much our life is really anchored in Christ, because this is our hope,” the Capuchin explained. But that anchoring, he added, is not static: “Christ is alive, and we are invited to embrace his life.”
Father Pasolini warned against what he called a tendency toward “spiritual sedentariness,” a kind of complacency that keeps believers from growing in faith. Instead, he encouraged members of the Curia to embrace the discomfort of movement – a call especially fitting during the current Holy Year “which invites us to set out again on the journey and become pilgrims of hope.”
