April 6, 2012. (Romereports.com) Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Holy Thursday Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
This ceremony commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. The Pope also carried out the tradition of washing the feet of 12 men just as Jesus did.
The Pope explained why Holy Thursday is celebrated and spoke about the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Olives.
Benedict XVI "In this prayer of Jesus, pervaded by mortal anguish, the Lord performs the office of a priest: he takes upon himself the sins of humanity, of us all, and he brings us before the Father."
The Pope said that to be free is not by choice, but to be free is to be in the truth that is God. He also noted that the obedience of Jesus on the Mount of Olives opened the way to freedom.
Benedict XVI “When human beings set themselves against God, they set themselves against the truth of their own being and consequently do not become free, but alienated from themselves. We are free only if we stand in the truth of our being, if we are united to God.”
The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the Cathedral of the Eternal City and one of the four major basilicas in Rome.
April 6, 2012. (Romereports.com) Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Holy Thursday Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
