Entry 0304: Reflections on the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary
Time by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on 23 October 2005, 29 October 2006, 28 October 2007, 26 October 2008, 25 October 2009, 24 October 2010, 23 October 2011, and 28 October 2012. Here are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and six homilies delivered on these occasions.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 23 October 2005
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
With today’s
Eucharistic celebration in St Peter’s Square, the Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops was closed. At the same time the Year of the Eucharist was concluded,
which the beloved Pope John Paul II opened in October 2004.
To the dear and
venerable Synod Fathers, with whom I was able to share three weeks of intense
work in a climate of fraternal communion, I renew the expression of my cordial
gratitude. Their reflections, testimonies, experiences and propositions on the
theme, The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the
Church, have been gathered together to be elaborated in a Post-Synodal
Exhortation which, taking into account the different world realities, helps to
portray the face of the “Catholic” community, and to live united, amid the
plurality of cultures, the central mystery of the faith: the Incarnation of
Redemption, of which the Eucharist is the living presence.
Moreover, as the
exposed tapestries on the facade of the Vatican Basilica show, I had the joy
today of proclaiming five new saints which, at the end of the Eucharistic Year,
I am pleased to point out their exemplary fruits of communion of life with
Christ. They are Jozef Bilczewski, Archbishop of Lviv for Latins; Gaetano
Catanoso, priest, Founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St Veronica,
Missionaries of the Holy Face; Zygmunt Gorazdowski, Polish priest, Founder of
the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph; Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, priest
of the Society of Jesus, from Chile; and the Capuchin Felix of Nicosia.
Each of these
disciples of Jesus was interiorly formed by his divine presence, welcomed,
celebrated and adored in the Eucharist. Each of them, moreover, nourished with
different hues a tender and filial devotion to Mary, Mother of Christ.
These new
saints, whom we contemplate in heavenly glory, invite us to make recourse in
every circumstance to the maternal protection of Mary, in order to advance ever
more on the road of evangelical perfection, sustained by constant union with
the Lord truly present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
In such a way we
will be able to live the vocation to which each Christian is called: that of
being “bread broken for the life of the world”, as World Mission Sunday aptly
reminds us.
How very
significant is the bond between the Church’s mission and the Eucharist. In
fact, missionary and evangelizing action is the apostolic diffusion of love
that is, as it were, concentrated in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Whoever
receives Christ in the reality of his Body and Blood cannot keep this gift to
himself, but is impelled to share in courageous witness to the Gospel, in
service to brothers and sisters in need, in pardoning offences.
For some, then,
the Eucharist is the seed of a specific call to leave all and go to proclaim
Christ to those who still do not know him.
To Mary Most
Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, let us entrust the spiritual fruits of the Synod
and the Year of the Eucharist. May she keep watch over the Church’s journey and
teach us to grow in communion with the Lord Jesus, to be witnesses of his love,
in which is the secret of joy.
CONCLUSION OF THE 11th ORDINARY GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS AND YEAR OF THE
EUCHARIST
CANONIZATION OF THE BLESSEDS:
JÓZEF
BILCZEWSKI
GAETANO
CATANOSO
ZYGMUNT
GORAZDOWSKI
ALBERTO
HURTADO CRUCHAGA
FELIX
OF NICOSIA
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Saint
Peter’s Square, World Mission
Venerable
Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On this 30th
Sunday of Ordinary Time, our Eucharistic celebration is enriched for various
reasons that impel us to give thanks to God.
The Year of the
Eucharist and the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated
precisely to the mystery of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the
Church, have concurrently come to an end. And in a short while, five Blesseds
will be canonized: Archbishop Jozef Bilczewski; Gaetano Catanoso, Zygmunt
Gorazdowski and Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, priests; and Felix of Nicosia, a
Religious Capuchin Friar.
Furthermore,
today is “World Mission Sunday”, a yearly appointment that reawakens missionary
ardour in the Ecclesial Community.
With joy I greet
all who are present; first, the Synod Fathers, and then, the pilgrims who have
come from various nations, together with their Pastors, to celebrate the new
Saints.
Today’s liturgy
invites us to contemplate the Eucharist as the source of holiness and spiritual
nourishment for our mission in the world: this supreme “gift and mystery”
manifests and communicates to us the fullness of God’s love.
The Word of the
Lord, just proclaimed in the Gospel, has reminded us that all of divine law is
summed up in love. The dual commandment to love God and neighbour contains the
two aspects of a single dynamism of the heart and of life. Jesus thus brings to
completion the ancient revelation, not by adding an unheard-of commandment, but
by realizing in himself and in his work of salvation the living synthesis of
the two great commands of the Old Covenant: “You shall love the Lord your God with
your whole heart...” and “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (see Dt 6:
5; Lv 19: 18).
In the Eucharist
we contemplate the Sacrament of this living synthesis of the law: Christ offers
to us, in himself, the complete fulfilment of love for God and love for our
brothers and sisters. He communicates his love to us when we are nourished by
his Body and Blood.
In this way, St Paul ’s words to the
Thessalonians in today’s Second Reading are brought to completion in us: “You
turned to God from idols, to serve him who is the living and true God” (I Thes
1: 9). This conversion is the beginning of the walk of holiness that the
Christian is called to achieve in his own life.
The saint is the
person who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth as to
be progressively transformed by it. Because of this beauty and truth, he is
ready to renounce everything, even himself. Love of God is enough for him,
experienced in humble and disinterested service to one’s neighbour, especially
towards those who cannot give back in return.
In this
perspective, how providential it is today that the Church points out to all her
members five new saints who, nourished by Christ, the Living Bread, were
converted to love; this marked their entire life!
In different
situations and with different charisms, they loved the Lord with all their
heart and their neighbour as themselves, so as to become “a model for all
believers” (I Thes 1: 6-7).
St Jozef
Bilczewski was a man of prayer. The Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours,
meditation, the Rosary and other pious practices formed part of his daily life.
A particularly long time was dedicated to Eucharistic adoration.
St Zygmunt
Gorazdowski also became famous for his devotion founded on the celebration and
adoration of the Eucharist. Living Christ’s offering urged him toward the sick,
the poor and the needy.
The deep
knowledge of theology, faith and Eucharistic devotion of Jozef Bilczewski made
him an example for priests and a witness for all the faithful.
In founding the
Association of Priests, the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph and many
other charitable institutions, Zygmunt Gorazdowski always allowed himself to be
guided by the spirit of communion, fully revealed in the Eucharist.
“You shall love
the Lord your God with your whole heart.... You shall love your neighbour as
yourself” (Mt 22: 37, 39). This was the programme of life of St Alberto
Hurtado, who wished to identify himself with the Lord and to love the poor with
this same love. The formation received in the Society of Jesus, strengthened by
prayer and adoration of the Eucharist, allowed him to be won over by Christ,
being a true contemplative in action. In love and in the total gift of self to
God’s will, he found strength for the apostolate.
He founded El
Hogar de Cristo for the most needy and the homeless, offering them a family
atmosphere full of human warmth. In his priestly ministry he was distinguished
for his simplicity and availability towards others, being a living image of the
Teacher, “meek and humble of heart”. In his last days, amid the strong pains
caused by illness, he still had the strength to repeat: “I am content, Lord”,
thus expressing the joy with which he always lived.
St Gaetano
Catanoso was a lover and apostle of the Holy Face of Jesus. “The Holy Face”, he
affirmed, “is my life. He is my strength”. With joyful intuition he joined this
devotion to Eucharistic piety.
He would say: “If
we wish to adore the real Face of Jesus..., we can find it in the divine Eucharist,
where with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Face of Our Lord is hidden
under the white veil of the Host”.
Daily Mass and
frequent adoration of the Sacrament of the Altar were the soul of his
priesthood: with ardent and untiring pastoral charity he dedicated himself to
preaching, catechesis, the ministry of confession, and to the poor, the sick
and the care of priestly vocations. To the Congregation of the Daughters of St
Veronica, Missionaries of the Holy Face, which he founded, he transmitted the
spirit of charity, humility and sacrifice which enlivened his entire life.
St Felix of Nicosia loved to repeat in
all situations, joyful or sad: “So be it, for the love of God”. In this way we
can well understand how intense and concrete his experience was of the love of
God, revealed to humankind in Christ.
This humble
Capuchin Friar, illustrious son of the land of Sicily, austere and penitent,
faithful to the most genuine expressions of the Franciscan tradition, was
gradually shaped and transformed by God’s love, lived and carried out in love
of neighbour.
Bro. Felix helps
us to discover the value of the little things that make our lives more
precious, and teaches us to understand the meaning of family and of service to
our brothers and sisters, showing us that true and lasting joy, for which every
human heart yearns, is the fruit of love.
Dear and
venerable Synod Fathers, for three weeks we have lived together an atmosphere
of renewed Eucharistic fervour. Now I would like, with you and in the name of
the entire Episcopacy, to extend a fraternal greeting to the Bishops of the
Church in China .
With deep sorrow
we felt the absence of their representatives. Nevertheless, I want to assure
all of the Chinese Bishops that, in prayer, we are close to them and to their
priests and faithful. The painful journey of the communities entrusted to their
pastoral care is present in our heart: it does not remain fruitless, because it
is a participation in the Paschal Mystery, to the glory of the Father.
The work of the
Synod enabled us to deepen the important aspects of this mystery, given to the
Church from the beginning. Contemplation of the Eucharist must urge all the
members of the Church, priests in the first place, ministers of the Eucharist,
to revive their commitment of faithfulness. The celibacy that priests have
received as a precious gift and the sign of undivided love towards God and
neighbour is founded upon the mystery of the Eucharist, celebrated and adored.
For lay persons
too, Eucharistic spirituality must be the interior motor of every activity, and
no dichotomy is acceptable between faith and life in their mission of spreading
the spirit of Christianity in the world.
With the closing
of the Year of the Eucharist, how can we not give thanks to God for the many
gifts granted to the Church during this time? And how can we not take up once
again the invitation of our beloved Pope John Paul II to “start afresh from
Christ”?
Like the
disciples of Emmaus, whose hearts were kindled by the words of the Risen One
and enlightened by his living presence recognized in the breaking of the bread,
who hurriedly returned to Jerusalem and became messengers of Christ’s
Resurrection, we too must take up the path again, enlivened by the fervent
desire to witness to the mystery of this love that gives hope to the world.
It is in this
Eucharistic perspective that today’s World Mission Sunday is well situated, to
which the venerated Servant of God John Paul II gave as the theme for
reflection: Mission: bread broken for the life of the world.
When the
Ecclesial Community celebrates the Eucharist, especially on Sunday, the Day of
the Lord, it better understands that Christ’s sacrifice is “for all” (Mt 26:
28), and that the Eucharist urges Christians to be “bread broken” for others,
to commit themselves to a more just and fraternal world.
Even today,
faced with the crowds, Christ continues to exhort his disciples: “Give them
something to eat yourselves” (Mt 14: 16), and in his Name, missionaries
proclaim and witness to the Gospel, sometimes with the sacrifice of their
lives.
Dear friends, we
must all start afresh from the Eucharist. Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, will
help us to “fall in love” with it, she will help us to “remain” in Christ’s
love, to be deeply renewed by him.
Docile to the
Spirit’s action and attentive to the needs of others, the Church will be
evermore a beacon of light, of true joy and hope, fully achieving its mission
as “sign and instrument... of unity among all men” (Lumen Gentium, no.
1).
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 29 October 2006
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In this Sunday’s
Gospel (Mk 10: 46-52), we read that while the Lord passed through the
streets of Jericho a blind man called Bartimaeus cried out loudly to him, “Jesus,
Son of David, have mercy on me!”. This prayer moved the heart of Jesus, who
stopped, had him called over and healed him.
The decisive
moment was the direct, personal encounter between the Lord and that suffering
man. They found each other face to face: God with his desire to heal and
the man with his desire to be healed; two freedoms, two converging desires. “What
do you want me to do for you?” the Lord asks him. “Master, let me receive my
sight”, the blind man answers. “Go your way, your faith has saved you”.
With these
words, the miracle was worked: God’s joy and the man’s joy. And Bartimaeus, who
had come into the light, as the Gospel narrates, “followed him on the way”;
that is, he became a disciple of the Lord and went up to Jerusalem with the Master to take part with
him in the great mystery of salvation. This account, in the essentiality of its
passages, recalls the catechumen’s journey towards the Sacrament of Baptism,
which in the ancient Church was also known as “Illumination”.
Faith is a
journey of illumination: it starts with the humility of recognizing oneself as
needy of salvation and arrives at the personal encounter with Christ, who calls
one to follow him on the way of love. On this model the Church has formulated
the itinerary of Christian initiation to prepare for Baptism, Confirmation (or
Chrism) and the Eucharist.
In places
evangelized of old, where the Baptism of children is widespread, young people
and adults are offered catechetical and spiritual experiences that enable them
to follow the path of a mature and conscious rediscovery of faith in order to
then take on a consistent commitment to witness to it.
How important is
the work that Pastors and catechists do in this field! The rediscovery of the
value of one’s own Baptism is at the root of every Christian’s missionary
commitment, because as we see in the Gospel, those who allow themselves to be
fascinated by Christ cannot fail to witness to the joy of following in his
footsteps.
In this month of
October, especially dedicated to missions, we understand ever more that it is
precisely in virtue of Baptism that we possess a co-natural missionary
vocation.
Let us invoke
the intercession of the Virgin Mary so that missionaries of the Gospel may
multiply.
May every
baptized person, closely united to the Lord, feel that he is called to proclaim
God’s love to everyone with the witness of his own life.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St.
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 28 October 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This morning,
here in St Peter’s Square, 498 Martyrs killed in Spain in the 1930s have been
beatified. I thank Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints, who has presided at the celebration, and I address my
cordial greeting to the pilgrims gathered here for this happy event. Today’s
addition to the roll of Blesseds of such a large number of Martyrs shows that
the supreme witness of blood is not an exception reserved for only a few
individuals, but a realistic possibility for the entire Christian People.
Indeed, they are men and women of different ages, vocations and social classes
who paid with their lives for their faithfulness to Christ and his Church. St Paul ’s words which
resounded in this Sunday’s liturgy can be well applied to them: “I for my part
am already being poured out like a libation”, he writes to the Apostle Timothy.
“The time of my dissolution is near. I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith” (II Tm 4: 6-7). Paul, in prison in Rome , saw death
approaching and sketched an evaluation full of recognition and hope. He was at
peace with God and with himself and faced death serenely, in the knowledge that
he had spent his whole life, sparing no effort, at the service of the Gospel.
The month of
October, dedicated in a special way to missionary commitment, thus ends with
the shining witness of the Spanish Martyrs, who come in addition to the Martyrs
Albertina Berkenbrock, Emmanuel Gómez Gonzàlez and Adílio Daronch, and Franz
Jägerstätter, beatified a few days ago in Brazil and in Austria. Their example
testifies that Baptism commits Christians to participating courageously in the
spreading of the Kingdom
of God
This martyrdom
of ordinary life constitutes a particularly important witness in the
secularized society of our time. It is the peaceful battle of love which every
Christian, like Paul, must fight without flagging: the race to spread the
Gospel that involves us until our death. May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs
and Star of Evangelization, help us in our daily witness.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 26 October 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
With the
Eucharistic celebration in St Peter’s Basilica this morning, the 12th General
Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on “The Word of God in the life
and mission of the Church” came to a conclusion. Every Synodal Assembly is
a powerful experience of ecclesial communion, but this one was even more so
because it focused on what illumines and guides the Church: the Word of God:
Christ in person. And we lived every day in religious listening, conscious of
all of the grace and beauty of being his disciples and servants. In accordance
with the original meaning of the term “church”, we experienced the joy of being
gathered together by the Word and, especially in the liturgy, found ourselves
on our way within it, as in our promised land, which gives us a foretaste of
the Kingdom of Heaven
One aspect very
deeply reflected upon was the relationship between the Word and words, that is,
between the Divine Word and the Scriptures that express it. As the Second
Vatican Council teaches in the Constitution Dei Verbum (no. 12), a good
biblical exegesis demands both the historical-critical and theological methods
since Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in human words. This means that every
text must be read and interpreted keeping in mind the unity of the whole of
Scripture, the living tradition of the Church and the light of the faith. If it
is true that the Bible is also a literary work even the great codex of
universal culture it is also true that it should not be stripped of the divine
element but must be read in the same Spirit in which it was composed.
Scientific exegesis and lectio divina are therefore both necessary and complementary
in order to seek, through the literal meaning, the spiritual meaning that God
wants to communicate to us today.
At the end of
the Synodal Assembly, the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches launched an
appeal, which I make my own, in order to call the attention of the
international community, religious leaders and all men and women of good will,
to the tragedy that is bearing its toll on several Eastern countries where
Christians are the victims of intolerance and cruel violence, killed, threatened
and forced to abandon their homes and wander in search of refuge. I am thinking
at this moment above all of Iraq
and India .
I am certain that the ancient and noble peoples of those nations have learned,
over the course of centuries respectful coexistence, to appreciate the
contribution that the small but hardworking and well-qualified Christian
minorities make to the growth of the common homeland. They do not ask for
privileges but desire only to be able to continue to live in their country with
their fellow citizens as they have always lived. I ask the civil and religious
Authorities concerned to spare no efforts to ensure that legality and civil
coexistence are soon re-established so that honest and loyal citizens may be
able to count on the adequate protection of State institutions. I also hope
that the civil and religious leaders of all countries, aware of their role as a
guide and reference for the population, will make significant and explicit
gestures of friendship and consideration to minorities whether they are
Christian or belong to other religions and make the defence of their legitimate
rights a point of honour.
I am also
pleased to inform you who are present here of what I announced a little while
ago during Holy Mass: the Second Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for
Africa will be held here in Rome
in October of next year. Before then, please God, I intend to go to Africa in
the month of March, to visit first Cameroon ,
where I shall present to the Bishops of the Continent the Instrumentum
laboris of the Synod, and then Angola , on the occasion of the
500th anniversary of the evangelization of that country. Let us entrust the
sufferings mentioned above, as well as the hopes that we all carry in our
hearts, and in particular the prospects for the Synod of Africa, to the
intercession of Mary Most Holy.
CAPPELLA
PAPALE FOR THE CONCLUSION
OF
THE 12th ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Brothers in
the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
The Word of the
Lord, resounding a short while ago in the Gospel, reminded us that the whole
divine law is summarized in love. The Evangelist Matthew narrates that after
Jesus had answered the Sadducees, silencing them, the Pharisees met to put him
to the test (see 22: 34-35). One of them, a doctor of law, asked him: “Teacher,
which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (22: 36). The question makes
apparent the concern, present in ancient Jewish tradition, over finding a
unifying principle in the various formulations of God’s will. This was not an
easy question, considering that in the law of Moses, a good 613 precepts and
prohibitions are contemplated. How does one discern, among all of these, which
is the most important? But Jesus does not hesitate, and readily responds: “You
shall love the Lord your God with your all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (22: 37-38). Jesus
quotes the Shemà in his answer, the prayer the pious Israelite recites
several times a day, especially in the morning and in the evening (see Dt 6:
4-9; 11: 13-21; Nm 15: 37-41): the proclamation of the integral and total love
due to God, as the only Lord. Emphasis is placed on the totality of this
dedication to God, listing the three faculties that define man in his deep
psychological structures: heart, soul and mind. The word mind, diánoia,
contains the rational element. God is not only the object of love, commitment,
will and sentiment, but also of the intellect, which should not be excluded
from this milieu. Then, however, Jesus adds something which, in truth, had not
been asked by the doctor of law: “And a second is like it, You must love your
neighbour as yourself” (22: 39). The surprising aspect of Jesus’ answer
consists in the fact that he establishes a similarity between the first and the
second commandments, defined this time too with a biblical formula drawn from
the Levitical code of holiness (see Lv 19: 18). And thus by the end of the
passage the two commandments become connected in the role of a fundamental
union upon which all of biblical Revelation rests: “On these two commandments
the whole law is based, and the prophets as well” (Mt 22: 40).
The Gospel
passage on which we are focusing makes clear that being disciples of Christ
means practicing his teachings, which can be summarized in the first and
greatest commandment of the divine law, the commandment of love. Even the First
Reading, taken from the Book of Exodus, insists on the duty of love; a love
witnessed concretely in relationships between persons, which must be
relationships of respect, collaboration, generous help. The neighbour to be
loved is the stranger, the orphan, the widow and the needy, in other words,
those citizens who have no “defender”. The holy author goes into details, as in
the case of the object pawned by one of these poor persons (see Ex 22: 25-26).
In this case God himself is the one to vouch for the neighbour’s position.
In the Second
Reading, we can find a concrete application of the supreme commandment of love
in one of the first Christian communities. St Paul writes to the Thessalonians, leading
them to understand that, while having known them for such a short time, he
appreciates them and holds them dear in his heart. Because of this, he
pinpoints them as “a model for all the believers of Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thes 1:
7). Weaknesses and difficulties are not lacking in this recently founded
community, but it is love that surpasses all, renews all, conquers all: the
love of those who, knowing their own limits, docilely follow the words of
Christ, the divine Teacher, passed down through one of his faithful disciples. “You,
in turn, became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word despite
great trials, with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit”, the Apostle wrote.
He continued: “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia
and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thes 1: 6, 8).
The lesson that we can draw from the Thessalonians’ experience, an experience
that is truly common in every authentic Christian community, is that
neighbourly love is born from docile listening to the divine Word. It is a love
that will even withstand difficult trials for the truth of the divine Word, and
in this way true love grows and truth shines in all its splendour. How
important it is to listen to the Word and incarnate it in personal and
community life!
In this Eucharistic
celebration, which closes the work of the Synod, we sense, in a particular way,
the bond that exists between the loving listening to the Word of God and
disinterested service of the brethren. How many times, in the past days,
we have heard experiences and reflections that highlight today’s emerging need
for a more intimate listening to God, for a truer knowledge of his Word of
salvation; for a more sincere sharing of faith which is constantly nourished at
the table of the divine Word! Dear and venerable Brothers, thank you for the
contribution each of you has offered in analysing the Synod’s theme: “The Word
of God in the life and the mission of the Church”. I greet you all with great
affection. I address a special greeting to the Cardinals, the Delegate
Presidents of the Synod and the General Secretary, whom I thank for their
constant dedication. I greet you, dear brothers and sisters, who have come from
every continent bringing your enriching experience. In returning home, give
everyone an affectionate greeting from the Bishop of Rome.
I greet the
Fraternal Delegates, the Experts, the Auditors and the Invited Guests, the
members of the General Secretariat of the Synod, all those who work with the
press. A special thought goes to the Bishops of Continental China, who could
not be represented during this Synodal Assembly. I would like to speak on
behalf of them and thank God for their love for Christ, their communion with
the universal Church and their faithfulness to the Successor of the Apostle Peter.
They are present in our prayer, along with all the faithful who are entrusted
to their pastoral care. We ask the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Pt 5: 4) of the sheep to
give them joy, strength, and apostolic zeal to guide, with wisdom and
far-sightedness, the Catholic community of China that we love so dearly.
All of us who
have taken part in the work of the Synod will carry with us the renewed
awareness that the Church’s principal task, at the start of this new
millennium, is above all to nourish herself on the Word of God, in order to
make new evangelization, the proclamation in our day, more effective. What is
needed now is that this ecclesial experience reach every community; it is
necessary to understand the need to translate the Word we have heard into gestures
of love, because this is the only way to make the Gospel proclamation credible,
despite the human weaknesses that mark individuals. First of all this requires
a more intimate knowledge of Christ and an ever more docile listening to his
Word.
In this Pauline
year, making the words of the Apostle our own: “Woe to me if I do not preach
the gospel” (1 Cor 9: 16), I hope with all my heart that this yearning of Paul’s
will be felt in every community with ever greater conviction as a vocation in
the service of the Gospel for the world. At the start of the Synod I recalled
Jesus’ appeal: “the harvest is rich” (Mt 9: 37), an appeal we must never tire
of responding to, no matter what difficulties we might encounter. So many
people are seeking, sometimes unknowingly, to encounter Christ and his Gospel;
many need to find in him the meaning of their lives. To give a clear and common
witness to a life according to the Word of God, demonstrated by Jesus, is
therefore an indispensable criterion to verify the mission of the Church.
The Readings today’s liturgy
offers for our meditation remind us that the fulness of the law, as all of the
divine Scriptures, is love. Therefore anyone who believes they have understood
the Scriptures, or at least some part of them, without undertaking to build, by
means of their intelligence, the twofold love of God and neighbour, in reality
proves to be still a long way from having grasped its deeper meaning. But how
can we put this commandment into practice, how can we live the love of God and
our brothers without a living and intense contact with the Sacred Scriptures?
The Second Vatican Council asserts that “access to sacred Scripture ought to be
open wide to the Christian faithful” (Dei Verbum, 22), so that persons,
encountering the truth, may grow in authentic love. This is a requisite that is
indispensable for evangelization today. And since often the encounter with
Scriptures is in danger of being not “a fact” of the Church, but informed by
subjectivity and arbitrariness, a robust and credible pastoral promotion of
the knowledge of Sacred Scripture to announce, celebrate and live the Word
in the Christian community becomes indispensable, dialoguing with the cultures
of our time, placing ourselves at the service of truth and not of current
ideologies, and increasing the dialogue God wishes to have with all men (see ibid,
21). To this end special care should be given to the preparation of
pastors, who are then ready to take whatever action is necessary to spread the
biblical movement with appropriate means. Ongoing efforts to give life to the
biblical movement among lay people should be encouraged, along with the
formation of group leaders, with particular attention being paid to the young.
We must also support the effort to allow faith to be known through the Word of
God to those who are “far away” as well and especially those who are sincerely
seeking the meaning of life.
Many other
reflections could be added but I will limit myself to underlining that the privileged
place where the Word of God resounds, which edifies the Church, as was said
many times in the Synod, is undoubtedly the liturgy. This is where it appears
that the Bible is a book of the people and for the people: a heritage, a
testament consigned to readers so that the salvation history witnessed in the
text becomes concrete in their own lives. There is therefore a vital,
reciprocal relationship of belonging between the people and the Book: the Bible
remains a living Book with the people its subject who read it. The people
cannot exist without the Book, because in it they find their reason for being,
their vocation and their identity. This mutual belonging between people and
Sacred Scripture is celebrated in every liturgical assembly, which, thanks to
the Holy Spirit, listens to Christ, since it is he who speaks when the
Scripture is read in the Church and welcomes the Covenant that God renews with his
people. Scripture and liturgy converge, therefore, with the single aim of
bringing the people to dialogue with the Lord and to obedience to the will of
the Lord. The Word issued from the mouth of God and witnessed in the Scriptures
returns to him in the form of a prayerful response, a response that is lived, a
response that wells up from love (see Is 55: 10-11).
Dear brothers
and sisters, let us pray that from renewed listening to the Word of God, guided
by the action of the Holy Spirit, an authentic renewal in the universal Church
and in every Christian community may spring forth. We entrust the fruit of this
Synodal Assembly to the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. I also
entrust to her the Second Special Assembly of the Synod for Africa, that will
take place in Rome
in October of next year. Next March I intend to go to Cameroon to deliver the Instrumentum
laboris of that Synodal Assembly to representatives of the Episcopal
Conferences of Africa. From there, God willing, I will proceed to Angola
to pay homage to one of the most ancient sub-saharan Churches. May Mary Most
Holy, who offered her life as the “servant of the Lord” (Lk 1: 38), so that
everything would happen according to the divine will and who exhorts us to do
whatever Jesus would tell us (see Jn 2: 5), teach us to recognize in our lives
the primacy of the Word that alone can grant us salvation. Amen!
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 25 October 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
A short while
ago, with the Eucharistic celebration in St Peter’s Basilica, the Second
Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of
Bishops ended. Three weeks of mutual prayer and listening, to discern what the
Holy Spirit says today to the Church who lives in the African Continent, but at
the same time to the Universal
Church Africa ,
presented the richness of the local Churches’ realities. Together we shared
their joys for the dynamism of the Christian communities, which continue to
grow in quantity and quality. We thank God for the missionary impetus that
found a fertile terrain in many dioceses and which expresses itself by sending
missionaries to other African Countries and to other Continents. Special
emphasis was given to the family, which also in Africa constitutes the primary
cell of society, but which today is threatened by ideological currents coming
from outside as well. Then what can be said about the young people exposed to
this sort of pressure, influenced by models of thought and behavior that
contrast with the human and Christian values of the African peoples? Naturally
during this Assembly, today’s problems in Africa
came out, as well as its great need for reconciliation, justice and peace. To
this the Church answers re-proposing, with renewed impetus, proclaiming the
Gospel and the act of human promotion. Enlivened by the Word of God and the
Eucharist, it strives to make everyone have what is necessary to live so that
all may live an existence worthy of a human being.
Remembering the
Apostolic Visit to Cameroon
and Angola I made last
March, which also had the aim of beginning the immediate preparation for the
second Synod for Africa , today I would like to
speak to all the African populations, in particular those who share the
Christian faith, to give them the Final Message of this Synodal Assembly. It is
a Message that comes from Rome , the See of Peter’s
Successor, who presides universal communion, but we can say, from another true
sense, originates in Africa, gathering its experiences, expectations, projects
and now returns to Africa , bearing the
richness of a profound communion in the Holy Spirit. Dear brothers and sisters
who are listening to me from Africa ! I entrust
to your prayer the fruits of the work of the Synodal Fathers’ work in a special
way and I encourage you with the words of the Lord Jesus: be the salt and the
light of the beloved African land!
While this Synod
is ending, I would like to remind you now that a Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops is scheduled for next
year. On the occasion of my Visit to Cyprus , I will have the pleasure of
presenting the Instrumentum Laboris for that assize. Let us thank the
Lord, who never tires of building his Church in communion, and we invoke the
maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary with trust.
HOLY
MASS FOR THE CONCLUSION
OF
THE SECOND SPECIAL ASSEMBLY FOR AFRICA
OF
THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Venerable
Brothers,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Here is a
message of hope for Africa : we have just
listened to the Word of God. It is the message that the Lord of history never
tires of renewing for the oppressed and overcome humanity of every era and
every land, since the time he revealed to Moses his will for the Israelite
slaves of Egypt: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people... and have
heard their cry... so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have
come down to rescue them... and lead them out of that land into a good and
spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3: 7-8). What is this
land? Is it not the Kingdom
of Reconciliation Israel , laid low by the invasion of the army of
Nebuchadnezzar, by the devastation of Jerusalem
and the Temple and the deportation to Babylonia . A message of joy for the “remainder” of Jacob’s
sons, which announces a future for them, because the Lord will lead them back
to their lands, by a straight and easy road. The persons needing support, like
the blind or the crippled, the pregnant woman and the woman in labor, will all
experience the strength and tenderness of the Lord: he is a father for Israel,
ready to care for it as if it were his firstborn (see Jer 31: 7-9).
God’s plan does
not change. Through the centuries and turns of history, he always aims at the
same finality: the Kingdom of liberty and peace for all. And this implies his
predilection for those deprived of freedom and peace, for those violated in
their dignity as human beings. We think in particular of our brothers and
sisters who in Africa suffer poverty,
diseases, injustice, wars and violence, forced migration. These favorite
children of the heavenly Father are like the blind man in the Gospel,
Bartimaeus (Mk 10: 46) at the gates of Jericho .
Jesus the Nazarene passed that way. It is the road that leads to Jerusalem , where the
Paschal Event will take place, his sacrificial Easter, towards which the
Messiah goes for us. It is the road of his exodus which is also ours: the only
way that leads to the land of reconciliation, justice and peace. On that road,
the Lord meets Bartimaeus, who has lost his sight. Their paths cross, they
become a single path. The blind man calls out, full of faith “Jesus, son of
David, have pity on me!”. Jesus replies: “Call him!”, and adds: “What do you
want me to do for you?”. God is light and the Creator of light. Man is the son
of light, made to see the light, but has lost his sight, and is forced to beg.
The Lord, who became a beggar for us, walks next to him: thirsting for our
faith and our love. “What do you want me to do for you?”. God knows the answer,
but asks; he wants the man to speak. He wants the man to stand up, to find the
courage to ask for what is needed for his dignity. The Father wants to hear in
the son’s own voice the free choice to see the light once again, the light, the
reason for Creation. “Master, I want to see!” And Jesus says to him: “Go your
way; your faith has saved you’. Immediately he received his sight and followed
him on the way” (Mk 10: 51-52).
Dear Brothers,
we give thanks because this “mysterious encounter between our poverty and the
greatness” of God was achieved also in the Synodal Assembly for Africa that has ended today. God renewed his call: “Take
courage! Get up...” (Mk 10: 49). And the Church in Africa, through its Pastors,
having come from all the countries in the continent, from Madagascar and the other islands, has embraced
the message of hope and light to walk on the path that leads to the Kingdom of God
The Second
Reading offers another perspective: the Church, the community that follows
Christ on the path of love, has a sacerdotal form. The category of priesthood,
as the interpretive key of the Mystery of Christ and, consequently, of the
Church, was introduced in the New Testament, by the author of the Letter to the
Hebrews. His intuition originates from Psalm 110, quoted in today’s words,
where the Lord God assures the Messiah with a solemn promise: “You are a priest
for ever of the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110: 4). A reference which leads to
another, taken from Psalm 2, in which the Messiah announces the Lord’s decree
which says about him: “You are my son, today have I fathered you” (Ps 2: 7).
From these texts derives the attribution to Jesus Christ of a sacerdotal
character, not in the generic sense, rather “of the order of Melchizedek”, in
other words the supreme and eternal priesthood, of divine not human origins. If
each supreme priest “is taken from among men and made their representative
before God” (Heb 5: 1), He alone, Christ, the Son of God, possesses a ministry
that can be identified to his own person, a singular and transcendent ministry,
on which universal salvation relies. Christ transmitted this ministry of his to
the Church through the Holy Spirit; therefore the Church has in itself, in each
of its members, because of Baptism, a sacerdotal characteristic. However here
is a decisive aspect the priesthood of Jesus Christ is no longer primarily
ritual, rather it is existential. The dimension of the rite is not abolished,
but, as clearly seen in the institution of the Eucharist, takes its meaning
from the Paschal Mystery, which completes the ancient sacrifices and surpasses
them. Thus contemporarily a new sacrifice, a new ministry and a new temple are
born, and all three coincide with the Mystery of Jesus Christ. United to him
through the Sacraments, the Church prolongs its saving action, allowing man to
be healed, like the blindman Bartimaeus. Thus the ecclesial community, in the
steps of its Master and Lord, is called to walk decisively along the path of
service, to share the condition of men and women in its time, to witness to all
the love of God and thus sow hope.
Dear friends,
this message of salvation is always transmitted by the Church by joining
evangelization and the promotion of humanity. Let us take the example of the
historical Encyclical Popolorum Progressio: what the Servant of God Paul
VI elaborated in terms of reflection, the missionaries created and continue to
create in the field, promoting a development that respects local cultures and
the environment, following a logic that now, more than 40 years later, appears
to be the only one capable of allowing the African people to emerge from the
slavery of hunger and sickness. This means transmitting the announcement of
hope, following a “sacerdotal form”, that is, living the Gospel in the first
person, trying to translate it into projects and undertakings that are
consistent with its principle dynamic foundation, which is love. In these three
weeks, the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops has
confirmed what my venerable Predecessor John Paul II had already clearly
focused on, and that I also wanted to look at more closely in the recent
Encyclical Caritas in Veritate: what is necessary, therefore, is the
renewal of the model of global development, in such a way that it be capable of
“including within its range all peoples and not just the better off” (no. 39).
What the social doctrine of the Church has always maintained is what is
required today of globalization (see ibid.). This we must remember should not be
understood fatalistically as though its dynamics were produced by anonymous impersonal
forces or structures independent of the human will. Globalization is a human
reality and as such can be modified in line with one or another cultural
impositions. The Church works with its personalist and community concept to
steer the globalization of humanity in relational terms, in terms of communion
and the sharing of goods (see ibid. no. 42).
“Take courage!
Get up”... This is how the Lord of life and hope addresses the Church and
peoples of Africa at the end of these weeks of
Synodal reflection. Get up, Church in Africa, Family of God, because you are
being called by the Heavenly Father whom your ancestors invoked as Creator,
before knowing his merciful closeness, revealed in his only-begotten Son, Jesus
Christ. Set out on the path of a new evangelization with the courage that comes
from the Holy Spirit. The urgent action of evangelization which has been spoken
about so much in these days also involves an urgent appeal for reconciliation,
an indispensable condition for instilling in Africa justice among men and
building a fair and lasting peace that respects each individual and people; a
peace that requires and is open to the contribution of all people of good will
irrespective of their religious, ethnic, linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds.
In such a challenging mission, pilgrim
Church in Africa
of the third millennium, you are not alone. The whole Catholic Church is near
to you with its prayer and active solidarity, and from heaven you are
accompanied by the African saints who, with their lives to the point of
martyrdom sometimes, testified to the fullness of their faith in Christ.
Courage! Get up,
African continent, land that welcomed the Savior of the World when as a child
he had to take refuge with Joseph and Mary in Egypt to save his life from the
persecution of King Herod. Welcome with renewed enthusiasm the Gospel
proclamation so that the Face of Christ may light with its splendor the
multiplicity of cultures and languages of your peoples. As it offers the bread
of the Word and the Eucharist, the Church also undertakes to operate, with
every means at its disposal, to ensure that no African should be deprived of
his or her daily bread. For this reason, along with the work of primary
importance of evangelization, Christians are actively involved in interventions
in favor of promoting humanity.
Dear Synodal
Fathers, at the end of these reflections of mine, I want to salute you most
warmly, and thank you for your edifying participation. Return home, you,
pastors of the Church in Africa , take my
blessing to your communities. Transmit to everyone the oft-heard appeal of this
Synod for reconciliation, justice and peace. As
the Synodal Assembly draws to a close, I have to renew my most vivid thanks to
the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops and all their collaborators. I
express my grateful thoughts to the choirs of the Nigerian community in Rome and the Ethiopian
College Africa to grow in every part of that great continent,
spreading the “salt” and “light” of the Gospel everywhere.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 24 October 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This morning at
the Vatican Basilica the solemn Celebration concluded the Special Assembly for
the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops with the theme with the slogan: “The
Catholic Church in the Middle East: communion and witness”. Moreover this
Sunday is also World Mission Day: “The construction of Ecclesial Communion is
the key to the Mission ”.
This motto displays a similarity between the themes of both ecclesial events.
Each invite us to look at the Church as a mystery of communion that, by her
nature, is destined for the whole person and for all people. The Servant of God
Pope Paul vi stated the Church “exists
in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the
channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate
Christ’s sacrifice in Holy Mass, which is the memorial of His death and
glorious resurrection” (Apostolic Exortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 8
December 1975, no. 14: p. 8 ). So the next Ordinary General Synod of Bishops in
2012 will have the theme: “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the
Christian Faith”. At any time or any place, even today in the Middle
East , the Church is present and works to welcome every person and
offer him/her the fullness of life in Christ. As the Italian-German theologian
Romano Guardini once wrote, “The reality of the ‘Church’ implies a complete
fullness of being Christian, which grows as it embraces the fullness the human
being in relation to God” (see Formazione liturgica, Brescia, 2008, pp.
106-107).
Dear friends, in
the today’s Liturgy we read the testimony of St Paul concerning the final reward that the
Lord will grant “to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8). This
testimony does not mean an idle or solitary waiting. Quite the contrary! The
Apostle lived in communion with the Risen Christ to “proclaim the Word [Gospel]
fully” so that “all the Gentiles might hear it” (2 Tim 4:17). The missionary
task is not to revolutionize the world, rather to transfigure it, drawing upon
the strength of Jesus Christ who “summons us to the banquet of his word and of
the Eucharist, to taste the gift of his presence, to be formed at his school
and to live ever more closely united to him, our teacher and Lord” (Message
for the 84th World Mission Sunday). Also, Christians of today – as it is
written in the Epistle to Diognetus – “show how marvellous and...
extraordinary their associated life is. They spend their life on earth, but
they are citizens of heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their way
of living go beyond these laws... They are condemned to death, from which they
draw life. While doing good, they are... persecuted and they grow in number
every day” (v, 4.9.12.16; vi 9, no. 33, Paris 1951, 62-66).
To the Virgin
Mary, that from Jesus crucified received the new mission to be the Mother of
all those who desire to believe in and follow Him, we entrust the Christian
community of the Middle East and all
missionaries of the Gospel.
PAPAL
MASS FOR THE CLOSING
OF
THE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE MIDDLE EAST
OF
THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Venerable
Brothers,
Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear brothers
and sisters,
Two weeks from
the opening Celebration, we are gathered once again on the Lord’s day, at the
Altar of the Confession in St Peter’s Basilica, to conclude the Special
Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. In our hearts is a deep
gratitude towards God who has afforded us this truly extraordinary experience,
not just for us, but for the good of the Church, for the People of God who live
in the lands between the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia .
As Bishop of Rome, I would like to express my gratitude to you, Venerable Synod
Fathers: Cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops. I wish to especially
thank the Secretary General, the four Presidents Delegate, the Relator General,
the Special Secretary and all the collaborators, who have worked tirelessly in
these days. This morning we left the Synod Hall and came to “the temple to pray”:
in this, we are touched directly by the parable of the pharisee and the
publican, told by Jesus and recounted by the Evangelist St Luke (see 18:9-14).
We too may be tempted, like the pharisee, to tell God of our merits, perhaps
thinking of our work during these days. However, to rise up to Heaven, prayer
must emanate from a poor, humble heart. And therefore we too, at the conclusion
of this ecclesial event, wish to first and foremost give thanks to God, not for
our merits, but for the gift that He has given us. We recognize ourselves as
small and in need of salvation, of mercy; we recognize all that comes from Him
and that only with his Grace we may realize what the Holy Spirit told us. Only
in this manner may we “return home” truly enriched, made more just and more
able to walk in the path of the Lord.
The First
Reading and the responsorial Psalm stress the theme of prayer, emphasizing that
it is much more powerful to God’s heart when those who pray are in a condition
of need and are afflicted. “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds”
affirms Ecclesiasticus (35:21); and the Psalmist adds: “Yahweh is near to the
broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed” (34:18). Our thoughts
go to our numerous brothers and sisters who live in the region of the Middle East and who find themselves in trying situations,
at times very burdensome, both for the material poverty and for the
discouragement, the state of tension and at times of fear. Today the Word of
God also offers us a light of consoling hope, there where He presents prayer,
personified, that “until he has eliminated the hordes of the arrogant and
broken the sceptres of the wicked, until he has repaid all people as their
deeds deserve and human actions as their intentions merit” (Ecc 35:21-22). This
link too, between prayer and justice makes us think of many situations in the
world, particularly in the Middle East . The
cry of the poor and oppressed finds an immediate echo in God, who desires to
intervene to open up a way out, to restore a future of freedom, a horizon of
hope.
This faith in
God who is near, who frees his friends, is what the Apostle Paul witnesses to
in today’s epistle, in the Second Letter to Timothy. Realizing that the end of
his earthly life was near, Paul makes an assessment: “I have fought the good
fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith” (2
Tim 4:7). For each one of us, dear brothers in the episcopacy, this is a model
to imitate: may Divine Goodness allow us to make a similar judgment of
ourselves! St Paul
continues, “the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the
message might be fully proclaimed for all the gentiles to hear” (2 Tim 4:17).
It is a word which resounds with particular strength on this Sunday in which we
celebrate World Mission Day! Communion with Jesus crucified and risen, witness
of his love. The Apostle’s experience is a model for every Christian,
especially for us Shepherds. We have shared a powerful moment of ecclesial
communion. We now leave each other so that each may return to his own mission,
but we know that we remain united, we remain in his love.
The Synodal
Assembly which concludes today has always kept in mind the icon of the first
Christian community, described in the Acts of the Apostles: “The whole group of
believers was united, heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). It is a reality that we
experienced in these past days, in which we have shared the joys and the pains,
the concerns and the hopes of Christians in the Middle
East . We experienced the unity of the Church in the variety of
Churches present in that region. Led by the Holy Spirit, we became “united,
heart and soul” in faith, in hope, and in charity, most of all during the
Eucharistic celebrations, source and summit of ecclesial communion, and in the
Liturgy of the Hours as well, celebrated every morning according to one of the
seven Catholic rites of the Middle East. We have thus enhanced the liturgical,
spiritual and theological wealth of the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as
of the Latin Church. It involved an exchange of precious gifts, from which all
the Synodal Fathers benefited. It is hoped that this positive experience
repeats itself in the respective communities of the Middle East, encouraging
the participation of the faithful in liturgical celebrations of other Catholic
rites, thus opening themselves to the dimensions of the Universal Church
Common prayer
helped us to face the challenges of the Catholic Church in the Middle East as well. One of these is communion within
each sui iuris
Church
The words of the
Lord Jesus may be applied to Christians in the Middle East :
“There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to
give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). Indeed, even if they are few, they are
bearers of the Good News of the love of God for man, love which revealed itself
in the Holy Land in the person of Jesus
Christ. This Word of salvation, strengthened with the grace of the Sacraments,
resounds with particular potency in the places in which, by Divine Providence,
it was written, and it is the only Word which is able to break that vicious
circle of vengeance, hate, and violence. From a purified heart, in peace with
God and neighbour, may intentions and initiatives for peace at local, national,
and international levels be born. In these actions, to whose accomplishment the
whole international community is called, Christians as full-fledged citizens
can and must do their part with the spirit of the Beatitudes, becoming builders
of peace and apostles of reconciliation to the benefit of all society.
Conflicts, wars,
violence and terrorism have gone on for too long in the Middle
East . Peace, which is a gift of God, is also the result of the
efforts of men of goodwill, of the national and international institutions, in
particular of the states most involved in the search for a solution to
conflicts. We must never resign ourselves to the absence of peace. Peace is
possible. Peace is urgent. Peace is the indispensable condition for a life
worthy of humanity and society. Peace is also the best remedy to avoid
emigration from the Middle East . “Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem ”
we are told in the Psalm (122:6). We pray for peace in the Holy
Land . We pray for peace in the Middle East ,
undertaking to try to ensure that this gift of God to men of goodwill should
spread through the whole world.
Another
contribution that Christians can bring to society is the promotion of an
authentic freedom of religion and conscience, one of the fundamental human
rights that each state should always respect. In numerous countries of the Middle East there exists freedom of belief, while the
space given to the freedom to practice religion is often quite limited.
Increasing this space of freedom becomes essential to guarantee to all the
members of the various religious communities the true freedom to live and
profess their faith. This topic could become the subject of dialogue between
Christians and Muslims, a dialogue whose urgency and usefulness was reiterated
by the Synodal Fathers.
During the work
of the Synod what was often underlined was the need to offer the Gospel anew to
people who do not know it very well or who have even moved away from the
Church. What was often evoked was the need for a new evangelization for the Middle East as well. This was quite a widespread theme,
especially in the countries where Christianity has ancient roots. The recent
creation of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization also
responds to this profound need. For this reason, after having consulted the
episcopacy of the whole world and after having listened to the Ordinary Council
of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, I have decided to dedicate
the next Ordinary General Assembly, in 2012, to the following theme: “Nova
evangelizatio ad christianam fidem tradendam — The New Evangelization for
the Transmission of the Christian Faith”.
Dear brothers
and sisters of the Middle East ! May the
experience of these days assure you that you are never alone, that you are
always accompanied by the Holy See and the whole Church, which, having been
born in Jerusalem , spread through the Middle East and then the rest of the world. We entrust
the results of the Special Assembly for the Middle East, as well as the
preparation for the Ordinary General Assembly, to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of the Church and Queen of Peace. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 23 October 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Before concluding
this solemn celebration, I would like to cordially greet everyone. I turn first
to the pilgrims who have come to pay homage to St Guido Maria Conforti and St
Luigi Guanella, with a thought of special affection and encouragement for the
members of the Institutes founded by them: the Xavieran Missionaries, the
Daughters of St Mary of Providence
and the Servants of Charity. I greet the Bishops and Civil Authorities and
thank each of them for their presence. Once again, Italy has offered the Church and the
world exemplary witnesses of the Gospel; let us give glory to God and let us
pray that in this nation the faith may never cease to renew itself and bear
good fruit.
PAPAL MASS FOR THE
CANONIZATION OF BLESSEDS:
GUIDO MARIA
CONFORTI (1865-1931)
LUIGI GUANELLA
(1842-1915)
BONIFACIA
RODRÍGUEZ DE CASTRO (1837-1905)
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 23 October 2011
Venerable
Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
For various
reasons, our Sunday Liturgy today is enriched by thanksgiving and supplication
to God. While we are celebrating with the whole Church World Mission Day — an
annual event aiming to awaken enthusiasm and commitment to mission — we praise
the Lord for the three new Saints: Bishop Guido Maria Conforti, the priest
Aloysius [also known as Luigi] Guanella and the religious Bonifacia Rodríguez
de Castro. I joyfully greet all those present, in particular the official
Delegations and the many pilgrims who have come to celebrate these three
exemplary disciples of Christ.
The Word of the
Lord, which was proclaimed just a moment ago in the Gospel Reading, reminds us
that the whole of the Divine Law can be summed up in love. The Evangelist
Matthew recounts that the Pharisees, after Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
met to put him to the test (see 22:34-35). One of these interlocutors, a doctor
of law, asked him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” (v.
36). Jesus answered the deliberately tricky question, saying quite simply: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (vv. 37-38). In
fact, the main requirement for each one of us is that God be present in our
lives. He should, as the Scripture says, penetrate all levels of our being and
fill them completely. The heart should know him and let itself be touched by
him, and thus also the soul, the energies of our will and determination, as
well as intelligence and thought. One could say, as St Paul did, “It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
Jesus
immediately adds something that the doctor of law did not actually ask: “And a
second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22:39). By
declaring that the second commandment is similar to the first, Jesus implies
that loving your neighbour is as important as loving God. In fact, a visible sign
that the Christian can show the world in order to witness to God’s love is love
for our brothers and sisters. How providential it is that precisely today the
Church holds up to her members three new Saints, who allowed themselves to be
transformed by the divine love, that imbued their entire existence. Through
various situations and with different charisms, they loved the Lord with all
their heart and loved their neighbour as themselves: thus becoming “an example
to all the believers” (1 Thess 1:7).
Psalm 17, just
read, invites us to abandon ourselves with trust into the hands of the Lord,
who is “steadfast... to his anointed” (Ps 18[17]:51). This interior attitude
guided the life and ministry of St Guido Maria Conforti. Since, as a boy, he
had had to overcome his father’s opposition to his entering the Seminary. He
displayed strong character in following God’s will and by conforming in
everything to the caritas Christi, that, in the contemplation of the
Crucifix, attracted him to it. He felt strongly the urgency to announce this
love to those who had not yet received the news and the motto “Caritas
Christi urget nos” (see 2 Cor 5:14), summed up the Missionary Institute’s
programme, to which he, after just turning 30-years-old, brought to life: a
religious family completely at the service of evangelization, under the
patronage of the great “Patron of the Orient”, St Francis Xavier. St Guido
Maria was called to live this apostolic zeal in his episcopal ministry first in
Ravenna and then in Parma . With all his strength he dedicated
himself to the good of the souls entrusted to him, especially those who had
moved away from the Lord’s path. His life was marked by numerous trials, even
serious ones. He understood how to accept every situation with docility, welcoming
it as an indication of the path traced for him by Divine Providence. In every
circumstance, even in debilitating periods of illness, he knew how to recognize
God’s plan, which led him to build his Kingdom, above all through self-denial
and the daily acceptance of God’s will, ever more complete with a trusting
abandonment. He first experienced and testified what he taught his
missionaries, namely, that perfection consists in doing the will of God,
following the model of the crucified Jesus. St Guido Maria Conforti fixed his
interior gaze on the Cross, which sweetly attracted him. In contemplating the
Cross he saw the horizon of the entire world open wide to him, he perceived the
“urgent” desire, hidden in the heart of every person, to receive and welcome
the good news of the only love that saves.
The human and
spiritual testimony of St Luigi Guanella is a special gift of grace for the
whole Church. During his earthly life he lived with courage and determination
the Gospel of Love and the “great commandment”, which today too, the Word of
God has recalled. Thanks to the profound and continuing union with Christ, in
the contemplation of his love, Don Guanella, led by Divine Providence, became a
companion and teacher, comfort and support to the poorest and weakest. The love
of God aroused in him the desire for the good of the people who were entrusted
to him in the routine of daily life. He paid caring attention to each one and
respected the pace of their development. He cultivated the hope in his heart that
every human being, created in the image and likeness of God, by tasting the joy
of being loved by him — Father of all — can receive and give to others the best
of himself. Today, let us praise and thank the Lord, who gave us a prophet and
an apostle of love in St Luigi Guanella. In his testimony, so full of humanity
and attention to the least, we recognize a bright sign of the presence and
charitable action of God, the God — as we heard in the First Reading — who
defends the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the poor person obliged to give
his garment in pledge... his only covering for the night (see Ex 22:20-26). May
this new Saint of love be for everyone, especially for the members of the
Congregations founded by him, a model of profound and fruitful synthesis
between contemplation and action that he himself lived and put into practice.
We can summarize his whole human and spiritual life in his last words on his
death-bed: “in caritate Christi”. It is Christ’s love that illumines the
life of every person, revealing through the gift of himself to others that
nothing is lost but is fully realized for our happiness. May St Luigi Guanella
obtain that we may grow in friendship with the Lord to be bearers of the
fullness of God’s love in our time, to promote life in all of its forms and
conditions, and to ensure that human society increasingly become the family of
God’s children.
In Spanish
the Pope said: In the Second Reading we heard a passage from the First
Letter to the Thessalonians, a text that uses the metaphor of manual labour to
describe the work of evangelization and which, in a certain sense, can be
applied also to the virtues of St Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro. When St Paul writes the Letter,
he is working to earn his bread and it becomes evident, from the tone and the
examples he uses, that in the shop where he preaches he meets his first
disciples. This same intuition motivated St Bonifacia who, from the beginning
understood how to combine her following of Jesus Christ with painstaking daily
work. Work, as she had done since she was a child, was not only a way not to
burden people but also implied the freedom to pursue one’s vocation. At the
same time it gave her the chance to attract and train other women, who in the
workshop could meet God and listen to his loving call, discerning the plan for
their life and preparing themselves to carry it out. Thus the Servants of St
Joseph came into being in the humility and simplicity of the Gospel, which in
the family of Nazareth presents a school of Christian Kingdom
of Heaven
“I love you,
Lord, my strength”, we have just proclaimed this, dear brothers and sisters, in
the Responsorial Psalm. These three new Saints are an eloquent sign of this
passionate love for God. Let us follow their example, let us be guided by their
teachings so that our whole life may become a witness of authentic love of God
and neighbour. May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Saints, and the intercession of St
Guido Maria Conforti, of St Luigi Guanella e St Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro
obtain this grace for us. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St.
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 28 October 2012
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
With the Holy
Mass celebrated this morning in the Basilica of St Peter’s, we have concluded
the 13th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. For three weeks we looked
at the reality of the new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian
faith: the entire Church was represented and, therefore, involved in this task,
which will not fail to bear fruit, with the grace of the Lord. Before all else,
however, the Synod is always a moment of strong ecclesial communion, and thus I
desire with all of you to give thanks to God, who yet again has made us
experience the beauty of being the Church, and of being this today, in this
world just as it is, in the midst of this humanity with all its toil and all
its hopes.
The coincidence
of this Synodal Assembly with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second
Vatican Council is very significant, and thus with the start of the Year of
Faith. Thinking back to Blessed John XXIII, to the Servant of God Paul VI,
to the conciliar season, has been more fruitful than ever, because it helped us
to remember that the new evangelization is not of our invention, but rather it
is a dynamism that developed in the Church in a special way over the past 50
years, when it appeared evident that even those countries of ancient Christian
tradition had become, as the saying goes, “mission territory.”
Thus arose the
need for a renewed proclamation of the Gospel in secular societies, with the
double certainty that, one the one hand, it is only he, Jesus Christ, the true
newness who answers the longings of man from every age, and on the other, that
his message calls to be transmitted in an adequate way in the changed social
and cultural context.
What can we say
at the end of these intense days of work? For my part, I have listened and
gathered much food for reflection and many propositions, that, with the help of
the Secretariat of the Synod and my Collaborators, I will seek to order and elaborate
on, so as to offer to the whole of the Church an organic synthesis and coherent
indications. Until now we can say that from this Synod comes a reinforced
commitment to the spiritual renewal of the Church herself, to enable her to
spiritually renew the secularized world; and this renewal comes from the
rediscovery of Jesus Christ, of his truth and of his grace, of his “faceâ€,
both human and divine, upon which shines resplendent the transcendent mystery
of God.
Let us entrust
to the Virgin Mary the fruits of the work of this Synodal Assembly just
concluded. May she, the Star of the New Evangelization, teach us and help us to
bring Christ to all, with courage and with joy.
HOLY
MASS FOR THE CLOSING OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brother
Bishops,
Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
The miracle of
the healing of blind Bartimaeus comes at a significant point in the structure
of Saint Mark’s Gospel. It is situated at the end of the section on the “journey
to Jerusalem ”, that is, Jesus’ last pilgrimage
to the Holy City Jerusalem .
Sitting and begging by the side of the road was Bartimaeus, whose name means “son
of Timaeus”, as the evangelist tells us. The whole of Mark’s Gospel is a
journey of faith, which develops gradually under Jesus’ tutelage. The
disciples are the first actors on this journey of discovery, but there are also
other characters who play an important role, and Bartimaeus is one of
them. His is the last miraculous healing that Jesus performs before his
passion, and it is no accident that it should be that of a blind person,
someone whose eyes have lost the light. We know from other texts too that
the state of blindness has great significance in the Gospels. It
represents man who needs God’s light, the light of faith, if he is to know
reality truly and to walk the path of life. It is essential to
acknowledge one’s blindness, one’s need for this light, otherwise one could
remain blind for ever (see Jn 9:39-41).
Bartimaeus,
then, at that strategic point of Mark’s account, is presented as a model.
He was not blind from birth, but he lost his sight. He represents man who
has lost the light and knows it, but has not lost hope: he knows how to seize
the opportunity to encounter Jesus and he entrusts himself to him for
healing. Indeed, when he hears that the Master is passing along the road,
he cries out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mk 10:47), and
he repeats it even louder (v. 48). And when Jesus calls him and asks what
he wants from him, he replies: “Master, let me receive my sight!” (v.
51). Bartimaeus represents man aware of his pain and crying out to the
Lord, confident of being healed. His simple and sincere plea is
exemplary, and indeed – like that of the publican in the Temple : “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk
18:13) – it has found its way into the tradition of Christian prayer. In
the encounter with Christ, lived with faith, Bartimaeus regains the light he
had lost, and with it the fullness of his dignity: he gets back onto his feet
and resumes the journey, which from that moment has a guide, Jesus, and a path,
the same that Jesus is travelling. The evangelist tells us nothing more
about Bartimaeus, but in him he shows us what discipleship is: following Jesus “along
the way” (v. 52), in the light of faith.
This
interpretation, that Bartimaeus was a man who had fallen from a condition of “great
prosperity”, causes us to think. It invites us to reflect on the fact
that our lives contain precious riches that we can lose, and I am not speaking
of material riches here. From this perspective, Bartimaeus could
represent those who live in regions that were evangelized long ago, where the
light of faith has grown dim and people have drifted away from God, no longer
considering him relevant for their lives. These people have therefore
lost a precious treasure, they have “fallen” from a lofty dignity – not
financially or in terms of earthly power, but in a Christian sense – their
lives have lost a secure and sound direction and they have become, often
unconsciously, beggars for the meaning of existence. They are the many in
need of a new evangelization, that is, a new encounter with Jesus, the Christ,
the Son of God (see Mk 1:1), who can open their eyes afresh and teach
them the path. It is significant that the liturgy puts the Gospel of
Bartimaeus before us today, as we conclude the Synodal Assembly on the New
Evangelization. This biblical passage has something particular to say to
us as we grapple with the urgent need to proclaim Christ anew in places where
the light of faith has been weakened, in places where the fire of God is more
like smouldering cinders, crying out to be stirred up, so that they can become
a living flame that gives light and heat to the whole house.
The new
evangelization applies to the whole of the Church’s life. It applies, in
the first instance, to the ordinary pastoral ministry that must be more
animated by the fire of the Spirit, so as to inflame the hearts of the faithful
who regularly take part in community worship and gather on the Lord’s day to be
nourished by his word and by the bread of eternal life. I would like here
to highlight three pastoral themes that have emerged from the Synod. The
first concerns the sacraments of Christian initiation. It has been
reaffirmed that appropriate catechesis must accompany preparation for Baptism,
Confirmation and Eucharist. The importance of Confession, the sacrament
of God’s mercy, has also been emphasized. This sacramental journey is
where we encounter the Lord’s call to holiness, addressed to all
Christians. In fact it has often been said that the real protagonists of
the new evangelization are the saints: they speak a language intelligible to
all through the example of their lives and their works of charity.
Secondly, the
new evangelization is essentially linked to the Missio ad Gentes.
The Church’s task is to evangelize, to proclaim the message of salvation to
those who do not yet know Jesus Christ. During the Synod, it was
emphasized that there are still many regions in Africa, Asia and Oceania whose inhabitants await with lively expectation,
sometimes without being fully aware of it, the first proclamation of the
Gospel. So we must ask the Holy Spirit to arouse in the Church a new
missionary dynamism, whose progatonists are, in particular, pastoral workers
and the lay faithful. Globalization has led to a remarkable migration of
peoples. So the first proclamation is needed even in countries that were
evangelized long ago. All people have a right to know Jesus Christ and
his Gospel: and Christians, all Christians – priests, religious and lay
faithful – have a corresponding duty to proclaim the Good News.
A third aspect
concerns the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism.
During the Synod, it was emphasized that such people are found in all
continents, especially in the most secularized countries. The Church is
particularly concerned that they should encounter Jesus Christ anew, rediscover
the joy of faith and return to religious practice in the community of the
faithful. Besides traditional and perennially valid pastoral methods, the
Church seeks to adopt new ones, developing new language attuned to the
different world cultures, proposing the truth of Christ with an attitude of
dialogue and friendship rooted in God who is Love. In various parts of
the world, the Church has already set out on this path of pastoral creativity,
so as to bring back those who have drifted away or are seeking the meaning of
life, happiness and, ultimately, God. We may recall some important city
missions, the “Courtyard of the Gentiles”, the continental mission, and so
on. There is no doubt that the Lord, the Good Shepherd, will abundantly
bless these efforts which proceed from zeal for his Person and his Gospel.
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