Entry 0341: Reflections on the Fifth Sunday of Lent
by Pope Benedict XVI
On seven
occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, on 2 April 2006, 25 March 2007, 9 March
2008, 29 March 2009, 21 March 2010, 10 April 2011, and 25 March 2012. Here are the texts of seven brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and four homilies delivered on
these occasions.
Expo Bicentenario Park
Expo Bicentenario Park
Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to assist us in
purifying our hearts, especially in view of the coming Easter celebrations, that
we may enter more deeply the salvific mystery of her Son, as she made it known in
this land. And let us also ask her to continue accompanying and protecting her Mexican
and Latin American children, that Christ may reign in their lives and help them
boldly to promote peace, harmony, justice and solidarity. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 2 April 2006.
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On 2 April last year,
just as today, in these very hours and here in this very apartment, beloved Pope
John Paul II was living the last stage of his earthly pilgrimage, a pilgrimage of
faith, love and hope which left a profound mark on the history of the Church and
of humanity. His agony and death constitute, as it were, an extension of the Easter
Triduum.
We all remember the
images of his last Way
John Paul II died
as he had always lived, inspired by the indomitable courage of faith, abandoning
himself to God and entrusting himself to Mary Most Holy. This evening we will commemorate
him with a Marian Prayer Vigil in St Peter’s Square, where tomorrow afternoon we
will celebrate Mass for him.
A year after his
departure from this earth to the Father’s house, we can ask ourselves: what did this great Pope who led the Church into
the third millennium leave us?
His legacy is immense
but the message of his very long Pontificate can be summed up well in the words
he chose to inaugurate it, here in St Peter’s Square on 22 October 1978: “Open wide the doors to Christ!” (Inauguration
Homily; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 2 November 1978, p. 12).
John Paul II incarnated
this unforgettable appeal, which I feel resounding within me as if it were yesterday,
in the whole of himself and in the whole of his mission as Successor of Peter, especially
with his extraordinary programme of Apostolic Journeys. In visiting the countries
of the entire world, meeting the crowds, the Ecclesial Communities, the Heads of
Government, Religious Leaders and various social realities, he was making, as it
were, a great gesture to confirm his initial words. He always proclaimed Christ,
presenting him to everyone, as did the Second Vatican Council, as an answer to man’s
expectations, expectations of freedom, justice and peace. Christ is the Redeemer
of man, he was fond of repeating, the one genuine Savior of every person and the
entire human race.
In his last years,
the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, to make him fully resemble him. And
when henceforth he could no longer travel or even walk, or finally even speak, his
gesture, his proclamation, was reduced to the essential: to the gift of himself to the very end. His death
was the fulfilment of a consistent witness of faith that moved the hearts of so
many people of good will.
John Paul II departed
from us on a Saturday dedicated especially to Mary, for whom he had always had a
filial devotion. Let us now ask the heavenly Mother of God to help us treasure what
this great Pope gave and taught us.
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
St Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 25 March 2007
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
The 25th
of March is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. This year it
coincides with a Sunday in Lent and will therefore be celebrated tomorrow. I would
now like, however, to reflect on this amazing mystery of faith which we contemplate
every day in the recitation of the Angelus.
The Annunciation,
recounted at the beginning of St Luke’s Gospel, is a humble, hidden event - no one
saw it, no one except Mary knew of it -, but at the same time it was crucial to
the history of humanity. When the Virgin said her “yes” to the Angel’s announcement,
Jesus was conceived and with him began the new era of history that was to be ratified
in Easter as the “new and eternal Covenant”.
In fact,
Mary’s “yes” perfectly mirrors that of Christ himself when he entered the world,
as the Letter to the Hebrews says, interpreting Psalm 40[39]: “As is written of
me in the book, I have come to do your will, O God” (Heb 10: 7). The Son’s obedience
was reflected in that of the Mother and thus, through the encounter of these two
“yeses”, God was able to take on a human face.
This is
why the Annunciation is a Christological feast as well, because it celebrates a
central mystery of Christ: the Incarnation.
“Behold,
I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word”. Mary’s
reply to the Angel is extended in the Church, which is called to make Christ present
in history, offering her own availability so that God may continue to visit humanity
with his mercy. The “yes” of Jesus and Mary is thus renewed in the “yes” of the
saints, especially martyrs who are killed because of the Gospel.
I stress
this because yesterday, 24 March, the anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop
Oscar Romero of San Salvador ,
we celebrated the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Missionary Martyrs: Bishops, priests,
Religious and lay people struck down while carrying out their mission of evangelization
and human promotion.
These missionary
martyrs, as this year’s theme says, are the “hope of the world”, because they bear
witness that Christ’s love is stronger than violence and hatred. They did not seek
martyrdom, but they were ready to give their lives in order to remain faithful to
the Gospel. Christian martyrdom is only justified when it is a supreme act of love
for God and our brethren.
In this
Lenten Season we often contemplate Our Lady, who on Calvary sealed the “yes” she
pronounced at Nazareth .
United to Christ, Witness of the Father’s love, Mary lived martyrdom of the soul.
Let us call on her intercession with confidence, so that the Church, faithful to
her mission, may offer to the whole world a courageous witness of God’s love.
VISIT
TO THE ROMAN PARISH OF ST FELICITY AND HER CHILDREN, MARTYRS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Sunday,
25 March 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters of the Parish of St Felicity and her Children, Martyrs,
I have willingly
come to visit you on this Fifth Sunday of Lent, also known as Passion Sunday. I
offer you all my cordial greeting. I first address my thoughts to the Cardinal Vicar
and to Auxiliary Bishop Enzo Dieci. I then greet with affection the Vocationist
Fathers, to whom the Parish has been entrusted since its foundation in 1958, and
especially to Fr Eusebio Mosca, your parish priest, whom I thank for the beautiful
words with which he has briefly presented to me your community’s situation. I greet
the other priests, men and women religious, catechists and committed lay people,
and all those who make their own contribution in various ways to the multiple activities
of the Parish - pastoral, educational and for human advancement -, directed with
priority attention to children, young people and families. I greet the Filipino
community, quite numerous in your territory, who meet here every Sunday for Holy
Mass celebrated in their own language. I extend my greeting to all the inhabitants
of the Fidene neighborhood; they are very numerous and increasingly consist of people
from other parts of Italy
and various countries in the world.
Here, as elsewhere,
situations of both material and moral hardship are not absent, situations that require
of you, dear friends, a constant commitment to witnessing that God’s love, fully
manifested in the Crucified and Risen Christ, actually embraces everyone without
distinctions of race and culture.
This is basically
the mission of every parish community, called to proclaim the Gospel and to be a
place of acceptance and listening, formation and fraternal sharing, dialogue and
forgiveness.
How can a Christian
community stay faithful to this mandate? How can it become increasingly a family
of brothers and sisters enlivened by Love? The Word of God we have just heard, which
resounds with special eloquence in our hearts during this Lenten Season, reminds
us that our earthly pilgrimage is fraught with difficulties and trials, as was the
journey through the desert of the Chosen People before they reached the Promised
Land. But divine intervention, Isaiah assures us in the First Reading, can make
it easy, transforming the wilderness into a luxuriant country flowing with water
(see Is 43: 19-20). The Responsorial Psalm echoes the Prophet: while it evokes the joy of the return from the
Babylonian Exile, it implores the Lord to intervene on behalf of the “prisoners”
who depart weeping but who return rejoicing because God is present and, as in the
past, will also do “great things for us” in the future.
This very awareness,
this hope that after difficult times the Lord will always show us his presence and
love, must enliven every Christian community, provided by its Lord with abundant
spiritual provisions in order to cross the desert of this world and make it into
a fertile garden. These provisions are docile listening to his Word, the Sacraments
and every other spiritual resource of the liturgy and of personal prayer. The love
that impelled Jesus to sacrifice himself for us transforms us and makes us capable
in turn of following him faithfully. Continuing what the liturgy presented to us
last Sunday, today’s Gospel passage helps us understand that only God’s love can
change man’s life and thus every society from within, for it is God’s infinite love
alone that sets him free from sin, which is the root of all evil. If it is true
that God is justice, we should not forget that above all he is love. If he hates
sin, it is because he loves every human person infinitely. He loves each one of
us and his fidelity is so deep that it does not allow him to feel discouraged even
by our rejection.
Today, in particular,
Jesus brings us to inner conversion: he explains
why he forgives us and teaches us to make forgiveness received from and given to
our brothers and sisters the “daily bread” of our existence.
The Gospel passage
recounts the episode of the adulterous woman in two vivid scenes: in the first, we witness a dispute between Jesus
and the scribes and Pharisees concerning a woman caught in flagrant adultery who,
in accordance with the prescriptions of the Book of Leviticus (see 20: 10), was
condemned to stoning. In the second scene, a brief but moving dialogue develops
between Jesus and the sinner-woman. The pitiless accusers of the woman, citing the
law of Moses, provoke Jesus - they call him “Teacher” (Didáskale) -, asking him
whether it would be right to stone her. They were aware of his mercy and his love
for sinners and were curious to see how he would manage in such a case which, according
to Mosaic law, was crystal clear. But Jesus immediately took the side of the woman.
In the first place, he wrote mysterious words on the ground, which the Evangelist
does not reveal but which impressed him, and Jesus then spoke the sentence that
was to become famous: “Let him who is without
sin among you (he uses the term anamártetos here, which is the only time it appears
in the New Testament) be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8: 7) and
begin the stoning. St Augustine
noted, commenting on John’s Gospel, that:
“The Lord, in his response, neither failed to respect the law nor departed
from his meekness”. And Augustine added that with these words, Jesus obliged the
accusers to look into themselves, to examine themselves to see whether they too
were sinners. Thus, “pierced through as if by a dart as big as a beam, one after
another, they all withdrew” (in Io. Ev. tract 33, 5).
So it was, therefore,
that the accusers who had wished to provoke Jesus went away one by one, “beginning
with the eldest to the last”. When they had all left, the divine Teacher remained
alone with the woman. St Augustine ’s
comment is concise and effective: “relicti
sunt duo: misera et Misericordia, the two
were left alone, the wretched woman and Mercy” (ibid.). Let us pause, dear brothers
and sisters, to contemplate this scene where the wretchedness of man and Divine
Mercy come face to face, a woman accused of a grave sin and the One who, although
he was sinless, burdened himself with our sins, the sins of the whole world. The
One who had bent down to write in the dust, now raised his eyes and met those of
the woman. He did not ask for explanations. Is it not ironic when he asked the woman: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
(8: 10). And his reply was overwhelming:
“neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again” (8: 11). Again, St Augustine in his Commentary
observed: “The Lord did also condemn, but
condemned sins, not man. For if he were a patron of sin, he would say, “neither
will I condemn you; go, live as you will; be secure in my deliverance; however much
you sin, I will deliver you from all punishment’. He said not this” (Io Ev. tract.
33, 6).
Dear friends, from
the Word of God we have just heard emerge practical instructions for our life. Jesus
does not enter into a theoretical discussion with his interlocutors on this section
of Mosaic Law; he is not concerned with winning an academic dispute about an interpretation
of Mosaic Law, but his goal is to save a soul and reveal that salvation is only
found in God’s love. This is why he came down to the earth, this is why he was to
die on the Cross and why the Father was to raise him on the third day. Jesus came
to tell us that he wants us all in Paradise and that hell, about which little is
said in our time, exists and is eternal for those who close their hearts to his
love.
In this episode too,
therefore, we understand that our real enemy is attachment to sin, which can lead
us to failure in our lives. Jesus sent the adulterous woman away with this recommendation: “Go, and do not sin again”. He forgives her so
that “from now on” she will sin no more. In a similar episode, that of the repentant
woman, a former sinner whom we come across in Luke’s Gospel (see 7: 36-50), he welcomed
a woman who had repented and sent her peacefully on her way. Here, instead, the
adulterous woman simply receives an unconditional pardon. In both cases - for the
repentant woman sinner and for the adulterous woman - the message is the same. In
one case it is stressed that there is no forgiveness without the desire for forgiveness,
without opening the heart to forgiveness; here it is highlighted that only divine
forgiveness and divine love received with an open and sincere heart give us the
strength to resist evil and “to sin no more”, to let ourselves be struck by God’s
love so that it becomes our strength. Jesus’ attitude thus becomes a model to follow
for every community, which is called to make love and forgiveness the vibrant heart
of its life.
Dear brothers and
sisters, on the Lenten journey we are taking, which is rapidly reaching its end,
we are accompanied by the certainty that God never abandons us and that his love
is a source of joy and peace; it is a powerful force that impels us on the path
of holiness, if necessary even to martyrdom. This is what happened to the children
and then to their brave mother, Felicity, the patron Saints of your Parish. Through
their intercession, may the Lord grant you an ever deeper encounter with Christ
and docile fidelity to follow him, so that, as happened for the Apostle Paul, you
too may sincerely proclaim: “I count everything
as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his
sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order
that I may gain Christ...” (Phil 3: 8). May the example and intercession
of these Saints be a constant encouragement to you to follow the path of the Gospel
without hesitation and without compromise. May the Virgin Mary, whom we will contemplate
tomorrow in the mystery of the Annunciation of the Lord and to whom I entrust all
of you and the entire population of this suburb of Fidene, obtain for you this generous
fidelity. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 9 March 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In our Lenten journey
we have reached the Fifth Sunday, characterized by the Gospel of the resurrection
of Lazarus (Jn 11: 1-45). It concerns the last “sign” fulfilled by Jesus, after
which the chief priests convened the Sanhedrin and deliberated killing him, and
decided to kill the same Lazarus who was living proof of the divinity of Christ,
the Lord of life and death. Actually, this Gospel passage shows Jesus as true Man
and true God. First of all, the Evangelist insists on his friendship with Lazarus
and his sisters, Martha and Mary. He emphasizes that “Jesus loved” them (Jn 11:
5), and this is why he wanted to accomplish the great wonder. “Our friend Lazarus
has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him out of sleep” (Jn 11: 11), he tells his
disciples, expressing God’s viewpoint on physical death with the metaphor of sleep.
God sees it exactly as sleep, from which he can awaken us. Jesus has shown an absolute
power regarding this death, seen when he gives life back to the widow of Nain’s
young son (see Lk 7: 11-17) and to the 12 year-old girl (see Mk 5: 35-43). Precisely
concerning her he said: “The child is not
dead but sleeping” (Mk 5: 39), attracting the derision of those present. But in
truth it is exactly like this: bodily death is a sleep from which God can awaken
us at any moment.
This lordship over
death does not impede Jesus from feeling sincere “com-passion” for the sorrow of
detachment. Seeing Martha and Mary and those who had come to console them weeping,
Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled”, and lastly, “wept” (Jn 11: 33,
35). Christ’s heart is divine-human: in him
God and man meet perfectly, without separation and without confusion. He is the
image, or rather, the incarnation of God who is love, mercy, paternal and maternal
tenderness, of God who is Life. Therefore, he solemnly declared to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes
in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall
never die”. And he adds, “Do you believe this?” (Jn 11: 25-26). It is a question
that Jesus addresses to each one of us: a
question that certainly rises above us, rises above our capacity to understand,
and it asks us to entrust ourselves to him as he entrusted himself to the Father.
Martha’s response is exemplary: “Yes, Lord;
I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world”
(Jn 11: 27). Yes, O Lord! We also believe, notwithstanding our doubts and darkness;
we believe in you because you have the words of eternal life. We want to believe
in you, who give us a trustworthy hope of life beyond life, of authentic and full
life in your Kingdom of light and peace.
We entrust this prayer
to Mary Most Holy. May her intercession strengthen our faith and hope in Jesus,
especially in moments of greater trial and difficulty.
PAPAL HOMILY AT ROME ’S SAN LORENZO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CENTRE
I survived because “I knew I was expected’
On Sunday, 9 March, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Holy
Father visited San Lorenzo International Youth Centre and celebrated Mass in the
tiny Church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus, close to the Vatican. The following is a
translation of the Pope’s Homily, given in Italian and part extemporaneously.
Your Eminences,
Venerable
Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
It gives
me great joy to commemorate together with you, in this beautiful Romanesque Church
The Holy
Mass celebrated here every Friday evening is an important spiritual event for many
young people who have come from various parts of the world to study at the Roman Universities Rome on their ad limina visits.
As you have
mentioned, I too came here often to celebrate the Eucharist when I was Prefect of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and it was always a beautiful experience
to meet boys and girls from all corners of the earth who find this Centre an important
and hospitable reference point.
And it is
precisely to you, dear young people, that I first address my cordial greeting, while
I thank you for your warm welcome. I also greet all of you who have desired to speak
at this solemn and at the same time family celebration.
I greet
in a special way the Cardinals and Prelates present. Among them, may I mention in
particular Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the titular of this Church of San Lorenzo
in Piscibus, and Cardinal Stanis³aw Ry³ko, President of the Pontifical Council for
the Laity, whom I thank for his kind words of welcome addressed to me at the beginning
of Holy Mass, as well as to the two spokespersons for the young people.
I greet
Bishop Josef Clemens, Secretary of the Pontifical Council, the youth team, priests
and seminarians who animate this Centre under the guidance of the Youth Section
of this Dicastery, and all who in various capacities make their contribution.
I am referring
to the Associations, Movements and Communities represented here, with a special
mention to the Emmanuel Community which has coordinated the various initiatives
for the past 20 years with great fidelity. It has also created a Mission School
in Rome from which
come several of the young people who are present here.
I also greet
the chaplains and volunteers who for the past 25 years have worked at the service
of youth. My affectionate greeting to each and every one.
Life, death: basic questions
We now come
to today’s Gospel, which is dedicated to an important, fundamental theme: what is life? What is death? How should one live?
How should one die?
To enable
us to understand better this mystery of life and Jesus’ answer, St John uses two different
terms for this unique reality to suggest the different dimensions in this reality
of “life”; the word bíos and the word zoé.
Bíos,
as can easily be understood, means this great
biocosmos, this biosphere that extends from individual, primitive cells to the most
organized, most developed organisms; this great tree of life where all the possibilities
of this reality, bios, are developed. Man belongs to this tree of life; he
is part of this living cosmos that begins with a miracle: in inert matter a vital centre develops, the reality
that we call an organism.
But although
man is part of this great biocosmos, he transcends it, for he is also part of that
reality which St John
calls zoé. It is a new level of life in which the being is open to knowledge.
Of course, man is always man with all his dignity, even if he is in a comatose state,
even if he is at the embryonic stage, but if he lives only biologically, the full
potential of his being is not fulfilled. Man is called to open himself to new dimensions.
He is a being who knows.
Certainly,
animals know too, but only things that concern their biological life. Human knowledge
goes further; the human being desires to know everything, all reality, reality in
its totality; he wants to know what his being is and what the world is. He thirsts
for knowledge of the infinite, he desires to arrive at the font of life, he desires
to drink at this font, to find life itself.
Thus, we
have touched on a second dimension: man is
not only a being who knows; he also lives in a relationship of friendship, of love.
In addition to the dimension of the knowledge of truth and being, and inseparable
from it, exists the dimension of the relationship of love. And here the human being
comes closer to the source of life from which he wants to drink in order to have
life in abundance, to have life itself.
We could
say that science, and medicine in particular, is one great struggle for life. In
the end, medicine seeks to counter death; it is the search for immortality. But
can we find a medicine that will guarantee us immortality? The question of today’s
Gospel is precisely this.
Spiritual
immortality
Let us try
to imagine that medicine succeeds in finding the recipe against death, the recipe
for immortality. Even in this case it would always be a medicine that fitted into
the biosphere, a useful medicine of course for our spiritual and human lives, but
in itself confined to within this biosphere.
It is easy
to imagine what would happen if the biological life of man lasted for ever; we would
find ourselves in an ageing world, a world full of old people, a world that would
no longer leave room for the young, for the renewal of life. We can therefore understand
that this cannot be the type of immortality to which we aspire; this is not the
possibility of drinking at the source of life for which we all long.
Precisely
at this point, when on the one hand we realize that we cannot hope for biological
life to be infinitely prolonged, yet on the other, we desire to drink from the very
source of life to enjoy life without end, it is precisely at this point that the
Lord intervenes.
He speaks
to us in the Gospel, saying: “I am the resurrection
and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever
lives and believes in me shall never die”.
“I am the
Resurrection”: to drink from the source of
life is to enter into communion with this infinite love which is the source of life.
In encountering Christ, we enter into contact, indeed, into communion with life
itself and we have already crossed the threshold of death because, beyond biological
life, we are in touch with true life.
The Church
Fathers have called the Eucharist a drug of immortality. And so it is, for
in the Eucharist we come into contact, indeed, we enter into communion with the
Risen Body of Christ, we enter the space of life already raised, eternal life. Let
us enter into communion with this Body which is enlivened by immortal life and thus,
from this moment and for ever, we will dwell in the space of life itself.
In this
way, this Gospel is also a profound interpretation of what the Eucharist is and
invites us to live truly on the Eucharist, to be able thus to be transformed into
the communion of love. This is true life. In John’s Gospel the Lord says: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”.
Life in
abundance is not as some think: to consume
everything, to have all, to be able to do all that one wants. In that case we would
live for inanimate things, we would live for death.
Life in
abundance means being in communion with true life, with infinite love. It is in
this way that we truly enter into the abundance of life and also become messengers
of life for others.
On their
return, prisoners of war who had been in Russia for 10 years or more, exposed
to cold and hunger, have said: “I was able
to survive because I knew I was expected. I knew people were looking forward to
my arrival, that I was necessary and awaited”.
This love
that awaited them was the effective medicine of life against all ills.
In reality,
we are all awaited. The Lord waits for us and not only does he wait for us; he is
present and stretches out his hand to us.
Let us take
the Lord’s hand and pray to him to grant that we may truly live, live the abundance
of life and thus also be able to communicate true life to our contemporaries, life
in abundance. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 29 March 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
I would first of
all like to thank God and all those who collaborated in various ways in the success
of the Apostolic Journey that I was able to make to Africa in the past few days
and I invoke upon the seeds scattered on African soil an abundance of Blessings
from Heaven. I propose to expand on this significant pastoral experience next Wednesday
at the General Audience, but I cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing
the deep emotion I felt on encountering the Catholic communities and peoples of
Cameroon and Angola .
Two aspects impressed me above all, both of which are very important. The first
was the visible joy on the faces of the people, the joy of feeling part of the one
family of God, and I thank the Lord for having been able to share moments of simple
celebration, choral and full of faith, with the multitudes of these our brothers
and sisters. The second aspect is the strong feeling of sacredness in the air at
the Liturgical Celebrations, characteristic of all African peoples and which, I
can say, emerged at every moment of my stay among these dear peoples. The Visit
enabled me to see and understand better the reality of the Church in Africa , in the variety of her experiences and the challenges
she has to face in this period.
In thinking precisely
of the challenges that mark the path of the Church on the African continent and
in every other part of the world, we realize how timely are the words of the Gospel
this Fifth Sunday of Lent. In the imminence of his Passion Jesus declared: “Unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies,
it bears much fruit” (Jn 12: 24). Now is no longer the time for words and discourses;
indeed the crucial hour has come for which the Son of God came into the world and
although his soul is troubled, he makes himself available to fulfill the Father’s
will to the end. And this is the will of God: to give eternal life to us who have
lost it. However, in order for this to be brought about Jesus dies, like a grain
of wheat that God the Father has sown in the world. Indeed, only in this way can
a new humanity germinate and grow, free from the dominion of sin and able to live
in brotherhood, as sons and daughters of the one Father who is in Heaven.
In the great celebration
of faith lived together in Africa , we experienced
that this new humanity is alive, even with its human limitations. Abundant fruits
are gathered wherever missionaries, like Jesus, have given their life and continue
to spend it for the Gospel. I would like to address a special thought of gratitude
to them for the good that they do. They are women and men both religious and lay.
It was beautiful for me to see the fruit of their love for Christ and to observe
the Christian’s profound gratitude to them. Let us give thanks to God and pray to
Most Holy Mary that Christ’s message of hope and love may spread throughout the
world.
PASTORAL
VISIT TO THE PARISH
CHURCH
OF “SANTO
VOLTO DI GESÙ” IN ROME ’S
SUBURB OF MAGLIANA
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Fifth
Sunday of Lent, 29 March 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In today’s Gospel
passage St John
refers to an episode that occurred during the last phase of Christ’s public ministry,
just before the Jewish Passover, which was to be the Passover of his death and Resurrection.
While Jesus was in Jerusalem , the Evangelist recounts,
some Greeks, proselytes of Judaism who were curious and attracted by what he was
doing, approached Philip, one of the Twelve who had a Greek name and came from Galilee . “Sir”, they said to him, “ we wish to see Jesus”.
Philip in turn went to Andrew, one of the first Apostles very close to the Lord
and who also had a Greek name, and they both went and “told Jesus” (see Jn 12: 20-21).
In the request of
these anonymous Greeks we can interpret the thirst to see and to know Christ which
is in every person’s heart; and Jesus’ answer orients us to the mystery of Easter,
the glorious manifestation of his saving mission. “The hour has come”, he declared,
“for the Son of man to be glorified (Jn 12: 23). Yes! The hour of the glorification
of the Son of man is at hand, but it will entail the sorrowful passage through his
Passion and death on the Cross. Indeed the divine plan of salvation which is for
everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike will only be brought about in this manner. Actually,
everyone is invited to be a member of the one people of the new and definitive Covenant.
In this light, we also understand the solemn proclamation with which the Gospel
passage ends: “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”
(Jn 12: 32), and likewise the Evangelist’s comment: “He said this to show by what
death he was to die” (Jn 12: 33). The Cross: the height loftiness of love is the
loftiness of Jesus and he attracts all to these heights.
Very appropriately,
the liturgy brings us to meditate on this text of John’s Gospel today, on this Fifth
Sunday of Lent, while the days of the Lord’s Passion draw near in which we will
immerse ourselves spiritually as from next Sunday which is called, precisely, Palm
Sunday and the Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. It is as if the Church were encouraging
us to share Jesus’ state of mind, desiring to prepare us to relive the mystery of
his Crucifixion, death and Resurrection not as foreign spectators but on the contrary
as protagonists, involved together with him in his mystery of the Cross and the
Resurrection. Indeed, where Christ is his disciples called to follow him, to be
in solidarity with him at the moment of the combat must also be in order to share
in his victory.
What our association
with his mission consists of is explained by the Lord himself. In speaking of his
forthcoming glorious death, he uses a simple and at the same time evocative image:
“unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if
it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12: 24).
He compares himself
to a “grain of wheat which has split open, to bring much fruit to others”, according
to an effective statement of St Athanasius; it is only through death, through the
Cross that Christ bears much fruit for all the centuries. Indeed, it was not enough
for the Son of God to become incarnate. To bring the divine plan of universal salvation
to completion he had to be killed and buried: only in this way was human reality
to be accepted, and, through his death and Resurrection, the triumph of Life, the
triumph of Love to be made manifest; it was to be proven that love is stronger than
death.
Yet the man Jesus
who was a true man with the same sentiments as ours felt the burden of the trial
and bitter sorrow at the tragic end that awaited him. Precisely since he was God-Man
he felt terror even more acutely as he faced the abyss of human sin and all that
is unclean in humanity which he had to carry with him and consume in the fire of
his love. He had to carry all this with him and transform it in his love. “Now is
my soul troubled”, he confessed. “And what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour?” (Jn 12: 27). The temptation to ask: “Save me, do not permit the Cross, give
me life!” surfaces. In the distress of his invocation we may grasp in anticipation
the anguished prayer of Gethsemane , when, experiencing
the drama of loneliness and fear, he implored the Father to take from him the cup
of the Passion. At the same time, however, his filial adherence to the divine plan
did not fail, because it is precisely this that enables him to know that his hour
has come and with trust he prays: “Father, glorify your name” (Jn 12: 28). By this
he means “I accept the Cross” in which the name of God is glorified, that is, the
greatness of his love. Here too Jesus anticipates the words of the Mount of Olives , the process that must be fundamentally brought
about in all our prayers: to transform, to allow grace to transform our selfish
will and open it to comply with the divine will. The same sentiments surface in
the passage of the Letter to the Hebrews proclaimed in the Second Reading. Prostrated
by extreme anguish because of the death that was hanging over him, Jesus offers
up prayers and supplications to God “with loud cries and tears” (Heb 5: 7). He invokes
help from the One who can set him free but always remaining abandoned in the Father’s
hands. And precisely because of his filial trust in God, the author notes, he was
heard, in the sense that he was raised, he received new and definitive life. The
Letter to the Hebrews makes us understand that these insistent prayers, of Jesus
with tears and cries, were the true act of the High Priest with which he offered
himself and humanity to the Father, there by transforming the world.
Dear brothers and
sisters, this is the demanding way of the Cross that Jesus points out to all his
disciples. On several occasions he said, “If anyone wants to serve me, let him follow
me”. There is no alternative for the Christian who wishes to fulfill his vocation.
It is the “law” of the Cross, described with the image of the grain of wheat that
dies in order that new life may germinate; it is the “logic” of the Cross, recalled
also in today’s Gospel: “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life
in this world will keep it for eternal life”. “To hate” one’s life is a strong and
paradoxical Semitic expression that clearly emphasizes the radical totality which
must distinguish those who follow Christ and, out of love for him, put themselves
at the service of their brethren. They lose their life and thus find it. There is
no other way to experience the joy and the true fruitfulness of Love: the way of
giving oneself, of self-giving, of losing oneself in order to find oneself.
Dear friends, Jesus’
invitation rings out with particular eloquence at today’s celebration in this Parish
of yours. Indeed, it is dedicated to the Holy Face of Jesus: that Face which “some
Greeks”, of which the Gospel speaks, wished to see; that Face which in the coming
days of the Passion we shall contemplate disfigured by human sins, indifference
and ingratitude; that Face, radiant with light and dazzling with glory that will
shine out at dawn on Easter Day. Let us keep our hearts and minds fixed on the Face
of Christ, dear faithful whom I greet with affection, starting with Fr Luigi Coluzzi,
your Parish Priest, to whom I am also grateful for expressing your sentiments. Thank
you for your cordial welcome: I am truly glad to be among you on the occasion of
the third anniversary of the dedication of your church and I greet you all with
affection. I extend a special greeting to the Cardinal Vicar, as well as to Cardinal
Fiorenzo Angelini, who has contributed to the realization of this new parish centre,
to the Auxiliary Bishop of the Sector, to Bishop Marcello Costalunga and to the
other Prelates present, to the priests who collaborate in the parish, to the praiseworthy
women religious of the Congregation of the Poor Daughters of the Visitation who
take care of the residents in their Rest Home for the elderly right opposite this
beautiful church. I greet the catechists, the Council and the parish workers and
those who collaborate in the life of the Parish; I greet the children, the young
people and their families. I extend my thoughts with pleasure to the inhabitants
of Magliana, especially the elderly, the sick, people who are lonely and in difficulty.
I am praying for each and everyone at this Holy Mass.
Dear brothers and
sisters, let yourselves be enlightened by the splendor of the Face of Christ, and
your young community which can now benefit from a new parish complex, with modern
and functional structures will walk united, united by the commitment to proclaim
and witness to the Gospel in this neighborhood. I know what great care you devote
to liturgical formation, making the most of every resource of your community: the
readers, the choir and all those who are dedicated to enlivening the celebrations.
It is important to put always personal and liturgical prayer first in our life.
I am aware of the great commitment you devote to catechesis to ensure that it lives
up to the expectations of the children, both those preparing to receive the sacraments
of First Communion and Confirmation and those who attend the After-School Prayer
and Recreation Centre. You are also anxious to provide a suitable catechesis for
parents, whom you invite to take a course of Christian formation together with their
children. In this way you seek to help families to live the sacramental events together,
educating and being educated in the faith “in the family”, which must be the first
and natural “school” of Christian life for all its members. I congratulate you on
your open and welcoming parish. It is motivated and enlivened by a sincere love
for God and for all the brethren, in imitation of St Maximilian Mary Kolbe to whom
it was originally dedicated. In Auschwitz , with
heroic courage, he sacrificed himself to save the life of another. In our time,
marked by a general social and economic crisis, the effort you are making, above
all through the parish Caritas and the Sant’Egidio group, in order, as far
as possible, to meet the expectations of the poorest and neediest people is most
praiseworthy.
I would like to say
a special word of encouragement to you, dear young people: let yourselves be attracted
by the fascination of Christ! Fixing his Face with the eyes of the faith, ask him:
“Jesus what do you want me to do with you and for you?”. Thus, keep listening. Be
guided by his Spirit, second the plan he has for you. Prepare yourselves seriously
and build families that are united and faithful to the Gospel and to be his witnesses
in society; then, if he calls you, be ready to dedicate your whole life to his service
in the Church as priests or as men and women religious. I assure you of my prayers;
in particular I am expecting you next Thursday in St Peter’s Basilica to prepare
ourselves for the World Youth Day, which as you know, is being celebrated
this year at the diocesan level, next Sunday. We shall remember together my beloved
and venerable Predecessor John Paul II on the fourth anniversary of his death. In
many circumstances he encouraged young people to encounter Christ and to follow
him with enthusiasm and generosity.
Dear brothers and
sisters of this parish community, may the infinite love of Christ that shines in
his Face be radiant in your every attitude, and become your “daily life”. As St Augustine urged in an Easter
homily, “Christ has suffered; let us die to sin. Christ is risen; let us live for
God. Christ has passsed from this world to the Father; let us not be attached to
this earth with our hearts but follow him in the things of above. Our Lord was hung
on the wood of the Cross; let us crucify concupiscence of the flesh. he lay in the
tomb; buried with him, let us forget past things; he is seated in Heaven; let us
concentrate our longing on our desires to supreme things” (S. Agostino, Discourse
229/D, 1).
Heartened by this
knowledge, let us continue the Eucharistic celebration, invoking the motherly intercession
of Mary, so that our life may become a reflection of Christ’s. Let us pray that
all those whom we meet may always perceive in our gestures and in our words the
pacifying and comforting goodness of his Face. Amen!
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 21 March 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We have reached the
Fifth Sunday of Lent in which the Liturgy this year presents to us the Gospel episode
of Jesus who saves an adulterous woman condemned to death (Jn 8: 1-11). While he
is teaching at the Temple
the Scribes and Pharisees bring Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery for
which Mosaic law prescribed stoning. Those men ask Jesus to judge the sinful woman
in order “to test him” and impel him to take a false step. The scene is full with
drama: the life of that person and also his own life depend on Jesus. Indeed, the
hypocritical accusers pretend to entrust the judgment to him whereas it is actually
he himself whom they wish to accuse and judge. Jesus, on the other hand, is “full
of grace and truth” (Jn 1: 14): he can read every human heart, he wants to condemn
the sin but save the sinner, and unmask hypocrisy. St John the Evangelist highlights one detail:
while his accusers are insistently interrogating him, Jesus bends down and starts
writing with his finger on the ground. St
Augustine notes that this gesture portrays Christ as the
divine legislator: in fact, God wrote the law with his finger on tablets of stone
(see Commentary on John’s Gospel, 33, 5). Thus Jesus is the Legislator,
he is Justice in person. And what is his sentence? “Let him who is without sin among
you be the first to throw a stone at her”. These words are full of the disarming
power of truth that pulls down the wall of hypocrisy and opens consciences to a
greater justice, that of love, in which consists the fulfilment of every precept
(see Rom 13: 8-10). This is the justice that also saved Saul of Tarsus, transforming
him into St Paul
(see Phil 3: 8-14).
When his accusers
“went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest”, Jesus, absolving the woman of
her sin, ushers her into a new life oriented to good. “Neither do I condemn you;
go, and do not sin again”. It is the same grace that was to make the Apostle say:
“One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies
ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus” (Phil 3: 13-14). God wants only goodness and life for us; he provides for
the health of our soul through his ministers, delivering us from evil with the Sacrament
of Reconciliation, so that no one may be lost but all may have the opportunity to
convert. In this Year for Priests I would like to urge Pastors to imitate the holy
Curé d’Ars in the ministry of sacramental pardon so that the faithful may discover
its meaning and beauty and be healed by the merciful love of God, who “even forces
himself to forget the future so that he can grant us his forgiveness!” (Letter
to Priests for the Inauguration of the Year for Priests, 16 June 2009).
Dear friends, let
us learn from the Lord Jesus not to judge and not to condemn our neighbour. Let
us learn to be intransigent with sin starting with our own! and indulgent with people.
May the holy Mother of God, free from all sin, who is the mediatrix of grace for
every repentant sinner, help us in this.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 10 April 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
There are only two
weeks to go until Easter and the Bible Readings of this Sunday all speak about resurrection.
It is not yet that of Jesus, which bursts in as an absolute innovation, but our
own resurrection, to which we aspire and which Christ himself gave to us, in rising
from the dead. Indeed, death represents a wall as it were, which prevents us from
seeing beyond it; yet our hearts reach out beyond this wall and even though we cannot
understand what it conceals, we nevertheless think about it and imagine it, expressing
with symbols our desire for eternity.
The Prophet Ezekiel
proclaimed to the Jewish people, exiled far from the land of Israel, that God would
open the graves of the dead and bring them home to rest in peace (see Ez 37:12-14).
This ancestral aspiration of man to be buried together with his forefathers is the
longing for a “homeland” which welcomes us at the end of our earthly toil. This
concept does not yet contain the idea of a personal resurrection from death, which
only appears towards the end of the Old Testament, and even in Jesus’ time was not
accepted by all Judeans. Among Christians too, faith in the resurrection and in
life is often accompanied by many doubts and much confusion because it also always
concerns a reality which goes beyond the limits of our reason and requires an act
of faith.
In today’s Gospel
— the raising of Lazarus — we listen to the voice of faith from the lips of Martha,
Lazarus’ sister. Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise again,” and she replies:
“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (Jn 11:23-24).
But Jesus repeats: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though
he die, yet shall he live” (Jn 11:25-26). This is the true newness which abounds
and exceeds every border! Christ pulls down the wall of death and in him dwells
all the fullness of God, who is life, eternal life. Therefore death did not have
power over him and the raising of Lazarus is a sign of his full dominion over physical
death which, before God, resembles sleep (see Jn 11:11).
However there is
another death, which cost Christ the hardest struggle, even the price of the Cross:
it is spiritual death and sin which threaten to ruin the existence of every human
being. To overcome this death, Christ died and his Resurrection is not a
return to past life, but an opening to a new reality, a “new land” united at last
with God’s Heaven. Therefore St Paul writes: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from will give life to your
mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom 8:11).
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us turn to the Virgin Mary, who previously shared in this Resurrection,
so that she may help us to say faithfully: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the
Christ, the Son of God” (Jn 11:27), to truly discover that he is our salvation.
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO MEXICO
AND THE REPUBLIC OF
CUBA
(MARCH 23-29, 2012)
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
In today’s
Gospel, Jesus speaks of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, dies and bears
much fruit. This is his response to some Greeks who approached Philip asking: “we
would like to see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). Today we invoke Mary Most Holy and we
ask her: “show Jesus to us”.
As we now
pray the Angelus and remember the Annunciation of the Lord, our eyes too turn spiritually
towards the hill of Tepeyac, to the place where the Mother of God, under the title
of “the Ever-Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe” has been fervently honored for
centuries as a sign of reconciliation and of God’s infinite goodness towards the
world.
My predecessors
on the Chair of Saint Peter honored her with affectionate titles such as Our Lady
of Mexico, Heavenly Patroness of Latin America, Mother and Empress of this continent.
Her faithful children, in their turn, who experience her help, invoke her confidently
with such affectionate and familiar names as the Rose of Mexico, Our Lady of Heaven,
Virgin Morena, Mother of Tepeyac, Noble Indita.
Dear brothers
and sisters, do not forget that true devotion to the Virgin Mary always takes us
to Jesus, and “consists neither in sterile nor transitory feelings, nor in an empty
credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to recognize the excellence
of the Mother of God, and we are moved to filial love towards our Mother and to
the imitation of her virtues” (Lumen Gentium, no. 67). To love her means
being committed to listening to her Son, to venerate the Guadalupana means
living in accordance with the words of the blessed fruit of her womb.
At this
time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are
suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis
of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength
and hope. She is the Mother of the true God, who invites us to stay with faith and
charity beneath her mantle, so as to overcome in this way all evil and to establish
a more just and fraternal society.
With these
sentiments, I place once again this country, all of Latin America and the Caribbean before the gentle gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
I entrust all their sons and daughters to the Star of both the original and the
new evangelization; she has inspired with her maternal love their Christian history,
has given particular expression to their national achievements, to their communal
and social initiatives, to family life, to personal devotion and to the Continental
Mission which is now taking place across these noble lands. In times of trial
and sorrow she was invoked by many martyrs who, in crying out “Long live Christ
the King and Mary of Guadalupe” bore unyielding witness of fidelity to the Gospel
and devotion to the Church. I now ask that her presence in this nation may continue
to serve as a summons to defence and respect for human life. May it promote fraternity,
setting aside futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred. May Holy
Mary of Guadalupe bless us and obtain for us the abundant graces that, through her
intercession, we request from heaven.
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO MEXICO
AND THE REPUBLIC OF
CUBA
(MARCH 23-29, 2012)
HOLY MASS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
I am very
pleased to be among you today and I express my sincere gratitude to the Most Reverend
José Guadalupe Martín Rábago, Archbishop of León, for his kind words of welcome.
I greet the Mexican Bishops, and the Cardinals and other Bishops present here, and
in a special way those who have come from Latin America and the Caribbean . I also extend a warm greeting to the authorities
that are with us, as well as all who have gathered for this Holy Mass presided by
the Successor of Peter.
We said,
“A pure heart, create for me, O God” (Ps 50:12) during the responsorial psalm.
This exclamation shows us how profoundly we must prepare to celebrate next week
the great mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. It also helps
us to look deeply into the human heart, especially in times of sorrow as well as
hope, as are the present times for the people of Mexico
and of Latin America .
The desire
for a heart that would be pure, sincere, humble, acceptable to God was very much
felt by Israel as it became aware of the persistence in its midst of evil and sin
as a power, practically implacable and impossible to overcome. There was nothing
left but to trust in God’s mercy and in the hope that he would change from within,
from the heart, an unbearable, dark and hopeless situation. In this way recourse
gained ground to the infinite mercy of the Lord who does not wish the sinner to
die but to convert and live (see Ez 33:11). A pure heart, a new heart, is
one which recognizes that, of itself, it is impotent and places itself in God’s
hands so as to continue hoping in his promises. Then the psalmist can say to the
Lord with conviction: “Sinners will return to you” (Ps 50:15). And towards
the end of the psalm he will give an explanation which is at the same time a firm
conviction of faith: “A humble, contrite heart you will not spurn” (v. 19).
The history
of Israel
relates some great events and battles, but when faced with its more authentic existence,
its decisive destiny, its salvation, it places its hope not in its own efforts,
but in God who can create a new heart, not insensitive or proud. This should remind
each one of us and our peoples that, when addressing the deeper dimension of personal
and community life, human strategies will not suffice to save us. We must have recourse
to the One who alone can give life in its fullness, because he is the essence of
life and its author; he has made us sharers in the same through his Son Jesus Christ.
Today’s
Gospel takes up the topic and shows us how this ancient desire for the fullness
of life has actually been achieved in Christ. Saint John explains it in a passage in which the
wish of some Greeks to see Jesus coincides with the moment in which the Lord is
about to be glorified. Jesus responds to the question of the Greeks, who represent
the pagan world, saying: “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”
(Jn 12:23). This is a strange response which seems inconsistent with the
question asked by the Greeks. What has the glorification of Jesus to do with the
request to meet him? But there is a relation. Someone might think – says Saint Augustine – that Jesus
felt glorified because the Gentiles were coming to him. This would be similar to
the applause of the multitudes who give “glory” to those who are grand in the world,
as we would say today. But this is not so. “It was convenient that, before the wonder
of his glorification, should come the humility of his passion” (In Joannis Ev.
51:9: PL 35, 1766).
Jesus’ answer,
announcing his imminent passion, means that a casual encounter in those moments
would have been superficial and perhaps deceptive. The Greeks will see the one they
wished to meet raised up on the cross from which he will attract all to himself
(see Jn 12:32). There his “glory” will begin, because of his sacrifice of
expiation for all, as the grain of wheat fallen to the ground that by dying germinates
and produces abundant fruit. They will find the one whom, unknown to them, they
were seeking in their hearts, the true God who is made visible to all peoples. This
was how Our Lady of Guadalupe showed her divine Son to Saint Juan Diego, not as
a powerful legendary hero but as the very God of the living, by whom all live, the
Creator of persons, of closeness and immediacy, of heaven and earth (see Nican
Mopohua, v.33). At that moment she did what she had done previously at the wedding
feast of Cana . Faced with the embarrassment caused
by the lack of wine, she told the servants clearly that the path to follow was her
Son: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).
Dear brothers
and sisters, by coming here I have been able to visit the monument to Christ the
King situated on top of the Cubilete. My venerable predecessor, Blessed Pope John
Paul II, although he ardently desired to do so, was unable on his several journeys
to this beloved land to visit this site of such significance for the faith of the
Mexican people. I am sure that in heaven he is happy that the Lord has granted me
the grace to be here with you and that he has blessed the millions of Mexicans who
have venerated his relics in every corner of the country. This monument represents
Christ the King. But his crowns, one of a sovereign, the other of thorns, indicate
that his royal status does not correspond to how it has been or is understood by
many. His kingdom does not stand on the power of his armies subduing others through
force or violence. It rests on a higher power than wins over hearts: the love of
God that he brought into the world with his sacrifice and the truth to which he
bore witness. This is his sovereignty which no one can take from him and which no
one should forget. Hence it is right that this shrine should be above all a place
of pilgrimage, of fervent prayer, of conversion, of reconciliation, of the search
for truth and the acceptance of grace. We ask Christ, to reign in our hearts, making
them pure, docile, filled with hope and courageous in humility.
From this
park, foreseen as a memorial of the bicentenary of the birth of the Mexican nation,
bringing together many differences towards one destiny and one common quest, we
ask Christ for a pure heart, where he as Prince of Peace may dwell “thanks to the
power of God who is the power of goodness, the power of love”. But for God to dwell
in us, we need to listen to him; we must allow his Word to challenge us every day,
meditating upon it in our hearts after the example of Mary (see Lk 2:51).
In this way we grow in friendship with him, we learn to understand what he expects
from us and we are encouraged to make him known to others.
At Aparecida,
the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean saw with clarity the need to confirm,
renew and revitalize the newness of the Gospel rooted deeply in the history of these
lands “on the basis of a personal and community encounter with Jesus Christ which
raises up disciples and missionaries” (Final Document, 11). The Continental
Mission now taking place in the various dioceses of this continent has the specific
task of transmitting this conviction to all Christians and ecclesial communities
so that they may resist the temptation of a faith that is superficial and routine,
at times fragmentary and incoherent. Here we need to overcome fatigue related to
faith and rediscover “the joy of being Christians, of being sustained by the inner
happiness of knowing Christ and belonging to his Church. From this joy spring the
energies that are needed to serve Christ in distressing situations of human suffering,
placing oneself at his disposition and not falling back on one’s own comfort” (Address
to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2011). This can be seen clearly in the saints
who dedicated themselves fully to the cause of the Gospel with enthusiasm and joy
without counting the cost, even of life itself. Their heart was centered entirely
on Christ from whom they had learned what it means to love until the end.
In this
sense the Year of Faith, to which I have convoked the whole Church, “is an invitation
to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the only Savior of the world
[…]. Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it
is communicated as an experience of grace and joy” (Porta Fidei 6, 7).
© Copyright 2014 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González