Entry 0276: Reflections on the Sixth Sunday of Easter by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, on 1 May 2005, 21 May 2006, 13 May
2007, 27 April 2008, 17 May 2009, 9 May 2010, 29 May 2011, and 13 May 2012. Here are the texts of the eight brief addresses prior to the recitation
of the Regina Caeli and three homilies delivered on these
occasions.
Dear brothers and sisters, continue serving God and
man according to Jesus’ teaching, the shining example of your Saints and the
tradition of your people. May the maternal protection of Our Lady of
Consolation, whom you love and venerate, accompany and sustain you in this
task. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
St
Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 1 May 2005
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I address you
for the first time from this window that the beloved figure of my Predecessor
made familiar to countless people throughout the world. We also think to that
window where John Paul II, from one Sunday to the next and faithful to an
appointment that became a friendly habit, guided the history of the Church and
of the world for more than a quarter of a century, and we continue to feel him
closer to us than ever. My first sentiment is still gratitude to those who have
supported me with their prayers in these days and to those who have sent me
messages and good wishes from every part of the world.
I would like to
greet with particular affection the Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox
Churches and those Oriental Catholic Churches that are celebrating Christ’s
Resurrection on this very Sunday. I address to these beloved brothers and
sisters of ours the traditional proclamation of joy: Christós
anesti! Yes, Christ is risen, he is truly risen. I hope with all my heart
that the celebration of Easter may be for them a unanimous prayer of faith and
praise to the One who is our common Lord and is calling us to walk with
determination on the path that leads to full communion.
Today, we are
beginning the month of May with a liturgical memorial very dear to the
Christian people: that of St Joseph the Worker; and you know that my name is
Joseph. Exactly 50 years ago it was established by Pope Pius XII of venerable
memory to highlight the importance of work and of the presence of Christ and
the Church in the working world. It is also necessary to witness in
contemporary society to the “Gospel of work”, of which John Paul II spoke in
his Encyclical Laborem Exercens. I hope that work will be
available, especially for young people, and that working conditions may be ever
more respectful of the dignity of the human person.
I am thinking
with affection of all workers and I greet those gathered in St Peter’s Square
who belong to many associations. In particular, I greet the friends of the
Christian Associations of Italian Workers, who this year are celebrating the
60th anniversary of their foundation. I hope that they will continue to live
their choice of “Christian brotherhood” as a value to embody in the field of
work and of social life, so that solidarity, justice and peace may be the
pillars on which to build the unity of the human family.
Lastly, I
address my thoughts to Mary: the month of May is specially dedicated to her.
Pope John Paul II taught us, with his words and even more, with his example, to
contemplate Christ with Mary’s eyes, especially appreciating the prayer of the
Holy Rosary. With the singing of the Regina Caeli let us entrust to the
Blessed Virgin all the needs of the Church and of humanity.
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 21 May 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The book of the
Acts of the Apostles recounts that Jesus, after his Resurrection, appeared to
the disciples for 40 days and then “was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of
their sight” (Acts 1: 9).
It is the
Ascension, the feast we will celebrate on Thursday, 25 May, though in some
countries it has been transferred to next Sunday.
The meaning of
this final gesture of Jesus is twofold. In the first place, ascending on high,
he clearly reveals his divinity: he returns to where he came from, that is, to
God, after having fulfilled his mission on earth. Moreover, Christ ascends into
heaven with the humanity he has assumed and which he has resurrected from the
dead: that humanity is ours, transfigured, divinized, made eternal.
Therefore, the
Ascension reveals the “most high calling” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 22) of
every human person, called to eternal life in the Kingdom of God
Celebrated on
the feast of the Ascension is the World Day of Social Communications, initiated
by the Second Vatican Council and now in its 40th year. This year’s theme is: “Media:
communication, communion, cooperation”.
The Church looks
with attention at the media, because it is an important vehicle to spread the
Gospel and to favour solidarity between peoples, calling attention to the major
problems that still mark them profoundly.
Today, for
example, the “Walk the World” [to fight hunger] initiative of the United
Nations World Food Programme, seeks to sensitize governments and public opinion
on the need for concrete and timely action to guarantee to all, especially
children, “freedom from hunger”.
With prayer I am
close to this demonstration, which is taking place in Rome and in other cities
of some 100 nations.
I earnestly hope
that, thanks to the contribution of all, the plague of hunger will be
surmounted which still afflicts humanity, putting in great danger the hope of
life of millions of people. I am thinking, above all, of the urgent and tragic
situation in Darfur, Sudan, where strong difficulties persist to satisfy even
the primary food needs of the population.
With the usual
recitation of the Regina Caeli we particularly entrust today to the
Virgin Mary our brothers and sisters oppressed by the scourge of hunger, all
those who come to their aid and those who, through the means of social
communication, contribute to consolidating between peoples the bonds of
solidarity and peace.
We also pray to
Our Lady to make fruitful the Apostolic Trip to Poland which, God willing, I
will make from Thursday to next Sunday in memory of beloved John Paul II.
APOSTOLIC
JOURNEY
OF
HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO
BRAZIL ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE
OF
THE BISHOPS OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
Square
in front of the Shrine of Aparecida, Sunday, 13 May 2007
Today is the
ninetieth anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. With their powerful
call to conversion and penance, they are without doubt the most prophetic of
all modern apparitions. Let us ask the Mother of the Church, who knows the
sufferings and hopes of humanity, to protect our homes and our communities. I
extend a special greeting to all mothers, whose day we are celebrating today.
May God bless them and those who are dear to them.
HOLY
MASS FOR THE INAUGURATION
OF
THE FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE BISHOPS
OF
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Square
in front of the Shrine of Aparecida, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 13 May 2007
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear priests, and all of you,
brothers and sisters in the Lord!
There are no
words to express my joy in being here with you to celebrate this solemn
Eucharist on the occasion of the opening of the Fifth General Conference of the
Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. I greet each of you most warmly,
particularly Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis, whom I thank for the words he
addressed to me in the name of the entire assembly, and the Cardinal Presidents
of this General Conference. My respectful greeting goes to the civil and
military Authorities who have honoured us with their presence. From this Shrine
my thoughts reach out, full of affection and prayer, to all those who are
spiritually united with us, especially the communities of consecrated life, the
young people belonging to various associations and movements, the families, and
also the sick and the elderly. To all I say: “Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:3).
I see it as a
special gift of Providence that this Holy Mass is being celebrated at this
time and in this place. The time is the liturgical season of Easter;
on this Sixth Sunday of Easter, as Pentecost rapidly approaches, the Church is
called to intensify her prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The place
is the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, the Marian heart of Brazil:
Mary welcomes us to this Upper Room and, as our Mother and Teacher,
helps us to pray trustingly to God with one voice. This liturgical celebration
lays a most solid foundation for the Fifth Conference, setting it on the firm
basis of prayer and the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis. Only the
love of Christ, poured out by the Holy Spirit, can make this meeting an
authentic ecclesial event, a moment of grace for this Continent and for the
whole world. This afternoon I will be able to discuss more fully the
implications of the theme of your Conference. But now, let us leave space for
the word of God which we have the joy of receiving with open and docile hearts,
like Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, so that, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, Christ may once again take flesh in the “today” of our history.
The first
reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, refers to the so-called “Council
of Jerusalem”, which dealt with the question as to whether the observance of
the Mosaic Law was to be imposed on those pagans who had become Christians. The
reading leaves out the discussion between “the apostles and the elders” (vv.
4-21) and reports the final decision, which was then written down in the form
of a letter and entrusted to two delegates for delivery to the community in
Antioch (vv. 22-29). This passage from Acts is highly appropriate for
us, since we too are assembled here for an ecclesial meeting. It reminds us of
the importance of community discernment with regard to the great problems and
issues encountered by the Church along her way. These are clarified by the “apostles”
and “elders” in the light of the Holy Spirit, who, as today’s Gospel says,
calls to mind the teaching of Jesus Christ (see Jn 14:26) and thus helps
the Christian community to advance in charity towards the fullness of truth (see
Jn 16:13). The Church’s leaders discuss and argue, but in a constant
attitude of religious openness to Christ’s word in the Holy Spirit.
Consequently, at the end they can say: “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit
and to us…” (Acts 15:28).
This is the “method”
by which we operate in the Church, whether in small gatherings or in great
ones. It is not only question of procedure: it is a reflection of the Church’s
very nature as a mystery of communion with Christ in the Holy Spirit. In the
case of the General Conferences of the Bishops of Latin America and the
Caribbean, the first, held in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, merited a special Letter
from Pope Pius XII, of venerable memory; in later Conferences, including the
present one, the Bishop of Rome has travelled to the site of the continental
gathering in order to preside over its initial phase. With gratitude and
devotion let us remember the Servants of God Paul VI and John Paul II, who
brought to the Conferences of Medellín, Puebla and Santo Domingo the witness of
the closeness of the universal Church to the Churches in Latin America, which
constitute, proportionally, the majority of the Catholic community.
“To the Holy
Spirit and to us”. This is the Church: we, the community of
believers, the People of God, with its Pastors who are called to lead the way;
together with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father, sent in the
name of his Son Jesus, the Spirit of the one who is “greater” than all, given
to us through Christ, who became “small” for our sake. The Paraclete Spirit,
our Ad-vocatus, Defender and Consoler, makes us live in God’s presence,
as hearers of his word, freed from all anxiety and fear, bearing in our hearts
the peace which Jesus left us, the peace that the world cannot give (see Jn
14:26-27). The Spirit accompanies the Church on her long pilgrimage between
Christ’s first and second coming. “I go away, and I will come to you” (Jn
14:28), Jesus tells his Apostles. Between Christ’s “going away” and his “return”
is the time of the Church, his Body. Two thousand years have passed so far,
including these five centuries and more in which the Church has made her
pilgrim way on the American Continent, filling believers with Christ’s life
through the sacraments and sowing in these lands the good seed of the Gospel,
which has yielded thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. The time of the Church,
the time of the Spirit: the Spirit is the Teacher who trains disciples:
he teaches them to love Jesus; he trains them to hear his word and to
contemplate his countenance; he conforms them to Christ’s sacred humanity, a
humanity which is poor in spirit, afflicted, meek, hungry for justice,
merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking, persecuted for justice’s sake (see Mt
5:3-10). By the working of the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes the “Way” along
which the disciple walks. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word”, Jesus
says at the beginning of today’s Gospel. “The word which you hear is not mine
but the Father’s who sent me” (Jn 14:23-24). Just as Jesus makes known
the words of the Father, so the Spirit reminds the Church of Christ’s own words
(see Jn 14:26). And just as love of the Father led Jesus to feed on his
will, so our love for Jesus is shown by our obedience to his words. Jesus’
fidelity to the Father’s will can be communicated to his disciples through the
Holy Spirit, who pours the love of God into their hearts (see Rom 5:5).
The New
Testament presents Christ as the missionary of the Father.
Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus often speaks of himself in relation to
the Father who sent him into the world. And so in today’s Gospel he says: “the
word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (Jn
14:24). At this moment, dear friends, we are invited to turn our gaze to him,
for the Church’s mission exists only as a prolongation of Christ’s mission: “As
the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21). The evangelist
stresses, in striking language, that the passing on of this commission takes
place in the Holy Spirit: “he breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the
Holy Spirit’” (Jn 20:22). Christ’s mission is accomplished in
love. He has kindled in the world the fire of God’s love (see Lk
12:49). It is Love that gives life: and so the Church has been sent
forth to spread Christ’s Love throughout the world, so that individuals and
peoples “may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). To you, who
represent the Church in Latin America , today I
symbolically entrust my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, in which I sought
to point out to everyone the essence of the Christian message. The Church
considers herself the disciple and missionary of this Love: missionary
only insofar as she is a disciple, capable of being attracted constantly and
with renewed wonder by the God who has loved us and who loves us first (see 1
Jn 4:10). The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by
“attraction”: just as Christ “draws all to himself” by the power of his
love, culminating in the sacrifice of the Cross, so the Church fulfils her
mission to the extent that, in union with Christ, she accomplishes every one of
her works in spiritual and practical imitation of the love of her Lord.
Dear brothers
and sisters! This is the priceless treasure that is so abundant in Latin America , this is her most precious inheritance: faith
in the God who is Love, who has shown us his face in Jesus Christ. You
believe in the God who is Love: this is your strength, which overcomes the
world, the joy that nothing and no one can ever take from you, the peace that
Christ won for you by his Cross! This is the faith that has made America the
“Continent of Hope.” Not a political ideology, not a social movement, not
an economic system: faith in the God who is Love—who took flesh, died and rose
in Jesus Christ—is the authentic basis for this hope which has brought forth
such a magnificent harvest from the time of the first evangelization until
today, as attested by the ranks of Saints and Beati whom the Spirit has
raised up throughout the Continent. Pope John Paul II called you to a new
evangelization, and you accepted his commission with your customary
generosity and commitment. I now confirm it with you, and in the words of this
Fifth Conference I say to you: be faithful disciples, so as to be courageous
and effective missionaries.
The second
reading sets before us the magnificent vision of the heavenly Jerusalem.
It is an image of awesome beauty, where nothing is superfluous, but everything
contributes to the perfect harmony of the holy City. In his vision John sees
the city “coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God” (Rev
21:10). And since the glory of God is Love, the heavenly Jerusalem is the icon
of the Church, utterly holy and glorious, without spot or wrinkle (see Eph
5:27), permeated at her heart and in every part of her by the presence of the
God who is Love. She is called a “bride”, “the bride of the Lamb” (Rev
20:9), because in her is fulfilled the nuptial figure which pervades
biblical revelation from beginning to end. The City and Bride is the locus of
God’s full communion with humanity; she has no need of a temple or of any
external source of light, because the indwelling presence of God and of the
Lamb illuminates her from within.
This magnificent
icon has an eschatological value: it expresses the mystery of the beauty
that is already the essential form of the Church, even if it has not
yet arrived at its fullness. It is the goal of our pilgrimage, the homeland
which awaits us and for which we long. Seeing that beauty with the eyes of
faith, contemplating it and yearning for it, must not serve as an excuse for
avoiding the historical reality in which the Church lives as she shares the joys
and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially those
who are poor or afflicted (see Constitution Gaudium et Spes, no. 1). If
the beauty of the heavenly Jerusalem
is the glory of God—his love in other words—then it is in charity, and in
charity alone, that we can approach it and to a certain degree dwell within it
even now. Whoever loves the Lord Jesus and keeps his word, already experiences
in this world the mysterious presence of the Triune God. We heard this in the
Gospel: “we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23).
Every Christian is therefore called to become a living stone of this splendid “dwelling
place of God with men”. What a magnificent vocation!
A Church totally
enlivened and impelled by the love of Christ, the Lamb slain for love, is the
image within history of the heavenly Jerusalem ,
prefiguring the holy city that is radiant with the glory of God. It releases an
irresistible missionary power which is the power of holiness.
Through the prayers of the Virgin Mary, may the Church in Latin America and the
Caribbean be abundantly clothed with power from on high (see Lk 24:49),
in order to spread throughout this Continent and the whole world the holiness
of Christ. To him be glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and
ever. Amen.
BENEDICT XVI
REGINA CÆLI
St Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 27 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The
celebration during which I ordained 29 new priests just concluded in St Peter’s
Basilica. Every year this is a moment of special grace and great festivity:
renewed energy is infused into the network of both the ecclesial and civil
community. If the presence of priests is indispensable for the Church’s life,
it is, however, precious for all. In the Acts of the Apostles one reads that
the deacon Philip brought the Gospel to a city of Samaria; the people
enthusiastically adhered to his teaching, also seeing the wondrous signs that
he worked for the sick: “So there was much joy in that city” (8: 8). As I reminded
the newly ordained during the Eucharistic celebration, this is the sense of the
Church’s mission and in particular of priests: to sow the joy of the Gospel in
the world! Where Christ is preached with the power of the Holy Spirit and he is
accepted with an open heart, society, although full of many problems, becomes a
“city of joy” - as heard in the title of a famous book that refers to the work
of Mother Teresa at Calcutta. This is therefore the wish that I make to the new
priests, for whom I ask you all to pray: may they spread, there where they will
be destined, the joy and hope that springs from the Gospel.
Actually,
this is also the message that I brought in the past days to the United States
of America, with an Apostolic Journey that had these words for a motto: “Christ
our Hope”. I thank God because he has generously blessed this, my unique
missionary experience, and has allowed me to be an instrument of Christ’s hope
for that Church and that Country. At the same time, I thank him because I myself
have been confirmed in hope by American Catholics. In fact, I found great
vitality and the determination to live and witness the faith in Jesus. This
Wednesday during the General Audience, I plan on pausing more amply on this, my
Apostolic Visit in America.
Today,
many Eastern Churches celebrate, according to the Julian calendar, the great
Solemnity of Easter. I desire to express my fraternal, spiritual closeness to
these brothers and sisters of ours. I cordially greet them, praying to the one
and trine God to confirm them in the faith, to fill them with the resplendent
light that flows from the Lord’s Resurrection and to comfort them in the
difficult situations in which they must often live and witness the Gospel. I
invite all to unite themselves to me by invoking the Mother of God, so that the
path of dialogue and collaboration embarked on long ago may quickly bring a
more complete communion among all Christ’s disciples, so that they may be an
ever more luminous sign of hope for the whole of humanity.
ORDINATION OF NEW PRIESTS FOR THE DIOCESE OF ROME
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St Peter’s Basilica, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 27 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today
the words that say “You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing”
come true for us in a very special way. Indeed, besides the joy of celebrating
the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day there is the spiritual exultation of the Easter
Season, of which we have now reached the Sixth Sunday, and above all the
celebration of the ordination of new priests. Together with you I greet with
affection the 29 deacons who are shortly to be ordained priests. I express deep
gratitude to those who have guided them in their process of discernment and
preparation and I ask you all to thank God for his gift to the Church of these
new priests. Let us support them with intense prayer during this celebration,
in a spirit of fervent praise to the Father who has called them, to the Son who
has attracted them to him and to the Spirit who has formed them. The Ordination
of new priests usually takes place on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, known as “Good
Shepherd” Sunday, which is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations but this
was not possible because I was away on the Pastoral Visit to the United States
of America. The image of the Good Shepherd seems to be the one which sheds more
light than any other on the role and ministry of the priest in the Christian
community. However, the biblical passages which today’s liturgy offers for our
meditation also illumine the priest’s mission, from a different angle.
The
First Reading, from chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles, tells of the mission
of the deacon Philip in Samaria. I would like immediately to draw attention to
the sentence that ends the first part of the text: “The rejoicing in that town
rose to fever pitch” (v. 8). This expression does not communicate an idea or a
theological concept but refers to a circumstantiated event, something that
changed people’s lives: in a specific city of Samaria, in the period that
followed the violent persecution of the Church in Jerusalem (see Acts 8: 1),
something happened that caused “great joy”. So what was it? The sacred Author
recounts that to escape the persecution which had been unleashed in Jerusalem
against those who had converted to Christianity, all the disciples except the
Apostles left the Holy City and scattered in the countryside around it. This
distressing event mysteriously and providentially gave new dynamism to the
spread of the Gospel. Among those who had dispersed was Philip, one of the
Community’s seven deacons, a deacon like you, dear Ordinands although, of
course, in a different way because, in the unrepeatable season of the nascent
Church, the Apostles and deacons were endowed by the Holy Spirit with
extraordinary power in both preaching and in healing. Now, it happened that the
inhabitants of the region of Samaria mentioned in this chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles unanimously accepted Philip’s proclamation and, thanks to their
adherence to the Gospel, he was able to heal many sick people. In that town of
Samaria, in the midst of a people traditionally despised and virtually
excommunicated by the Jews, the proclamation of Christ, which opened the hearts
of all who accepted it, resounded. This explains why, St Luke emphasizes, “there
was great joy” in that town.
Dear
friends, this is also your mission: to bring the Gospel to everyone so that
everyone may experience the joy of Christ and that there be joy in every city.
What can be more beautiful than this? What can be greater, more exciting, than
cooperating in spreading the Word of life in the world, than communicating the
living water of the Holy Spirit? To proclaim and to witness joy: this is the
central core of your mission, dear deacons who will soon become priests. The
Apostle Paul called Gospel ministers “servants of joy”. He wrote in his Second
Letter to the Christians of Corinth: “Domineering over your faith is not my
purpose. I prefer to work with you toward your happiness. As regards faith, you
are standing firm” (II Cor 1: 24). These are programmatic words for every
priest. In order to be collaborators in the joy of others, in a world that is
often sad and negative, the fire of the Gospel must burn within you and the joy
of the Lord dwell in you. Only then will you be able to be messengers and
multipliers of this joy, bringing it to all, especially to those who are
sorrowful and disheartened.
Let us
return to the First Reading which offers us another element of meditation. In
it is mentioned a prayer meeting which takes place precisely in the Samarian
town evangelized by the deacon Philip. Presiding at it are the Apostles Peter
and John, two “pillars” of the Church, who came from Jerusalem to visit this
new community and strengthen it in the faith. Through the imposition of their
hands, the Holy Spirit descended upon all those who had been baptized. In this
episode we can see a first attestation of the rite of “Confirmation”, the
second Sacrament of Christian initiation. The reference to the ritual gesture
of the imposition of hands is especially meaningful also for us who are
gathered here. Indeed, it is also the central gesture of the rite of Ordination
through which, in a little while, I shall confer on the candidates the dignity
of the priesthood. It is a sign inseparable from the prayer of which it is a
silent prolongation. Without speaking, the consecrating Bishop and after him
the other priests, place their hands on the heads of the ordinands, thereby
expressing the invocation to God that he will pour out his Spirit upon them and
transform them, making them sharers in the priesthood of Christ. It is a matter
of only a few seconds, a very short time, but full of an extraordinary
spiritual intensity.
Dear
Ordinands, in the future you must always think back to this moment, to this
gesture that has nothing magical about it and yet is full of mystery, because
this is the origin of your new mission. In that silent prayer the encounter
between two freedoms comes into being: the freedom of God, who works through
the Holy Spirit and the freedom of man. COPY The imposition of hands visually
expresses the specific manner of this meeting: the Church, impersonated by the
Bishop standing with extended hands, prays to the Holy Spirit to consecrate the
candidate: the deacon, on his knees, receives the imposition of hands and
entrusts himself to this mediation. Altogether these gestures are important but
the invisible spiritual movement that they express is infinitely more
important, a movement clearly evoked by the sacred silence that envelops
everything, internal and external.
We also
find in this Gospel passage the mysterious Trinitarian “movement” that leads
the Holy Spirit and the Son to dwell in the disciples. Here, it is Jesus
himself who promises that he will ask the Father to send his Spirit, defined as
“another Paraclete” (Jn 14: 16), a Greek word that is equivalent to the Latin “ad-vocatus”,
an advocate-defender. The first Paraclete is in fact the Incarnate Son who
came to defend man from the accuser by antonomasia, who is Satan. At the moment
when Christ, his mission fulfilled, returns to the Father, he sends the Spirit
as Defender and Consoler to remain with believers for ever, dwelling within
them. Thus, through the mediation of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, an
intimate relationship of reciprocity is established between God the Father and
the disciples: “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you”, Jesus says (Jn
14: 20). However, all this depends on one condition which Christ imposes
clearly at the beginning: “If you love me” (Jn 14: 15), and which he repeats at
the end: “He who obeys the commandments he has from me is the man who loves me;
and he who loves me will be loved by my Father. I too will love him and reveal
myself to him” (Jn 14: 21). Without love for Jesus, which is expressed in the
observance of his commandments, the person is excluded from the Trinitarian
movement and begins to withdraw into himself, losing the ability to receive and
to communicate God.
“If you
love me”. Dear friends, Jesus said these words at the Last Supper in the
context of the moment when he instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood.
Although they were addressed to the Apostles, in a certain sense they are
addressed to all their successors and to priests who are the closest
collaborators of the successors of the Apostles. Let us hear them again today
as an invitation to live our vocation in the Church ever more coherently: you,
dear Ordinands, listen to them with special emotion because precisely today
Christ makes you share in his priesthood. Accept them with faith and with love!
Let them be imprinted on your hearts, let them accompany you on the journey of
your whole life. Do not forget them, do not lose them on the way! Reread them,
meditate on them often and, especially, pray on them. Thus you will remain
faithful to Christ’s love and realize with joy ever new that his divine word “walks”
with you and “grows” within you. CONTINUE
One
more observation on the Second Reading: it is taken from the First Letter of
Peter, near whose tomb we find ourselves and to whose intercession I would
especially like to entrust you. I make my own and consign to you with affection
his words: “Venerate the Lord, that is, Christ, in your hearts. Should anyone
ask you the reason for this hope of yours, be ever ready to reply (3: 15).
Worship Christ the Lord in your hearts: cultivate a personal relationship of
love with him, your first and greatest love, one and totalizing, in which to
live, purify, illumine and sanctify all your other relationships. The “hope
that is in you” is linked to this “adoration”, to this love of Christ, who
through the Spirit, as we said, dwells within us. Our hope, your hope is God,
in Jesus and in the Spirit. It is a hope which from today becomes in you a “priestly
hope”, that of Jesus the Good Shepherd who dwells within you and gives shape to
your desires in accordance with his divine Heart: a hope of life and
forgiveness for the people who will be entrusted to your pastoral care; a hope
of holiness and apostolic fruitfulness for yourselves and for all the Church; a
hope of openness to faith and to the encounter with God for those who support
you in their quest for the truth; a hope of peace and comfort for the suffering
and for those wounded by life.
Dear
friends, this is my wish on this day which is so important for you: that hope
rooted in faith may become more and more your own! And may you, who are wise
and generous, gentle and strong, always be respectful and convinced witnesses
and dispensers of it. May the Virgin Mary, whom I urge you to welcome anew, as
did the Apostle John beneath the Cross, accompany you on this mission and
protect you always, as the Mother and Star of your life and your priesthood.
Amen!
BENEDICT XVI
REGINA CÆLI
St Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 17 May 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I
returned from the Holy Land the day before yesterday. I have in mind to talk to
you about this Pilgrimage
more fully next Wednesday, at the General Audience. Here I would like above all
to thank the Lord who granted me to complete this most important Apostolic
Journey. I also thank all those who offered their collaboration: the Latin
Patriarch and the Bishops of the Church in Jordan, in Israel and in the
Palestinian Territories, the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, the
civil authorities of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the
organizers and the police forces. I thank the priests, religious and faithful
who welcomed me with such great affection and all who accompanied me and
supported me with their prayers. A wholehearted thank you to everyone!
This Pilgrimage to the
Holy Places was also a Pastoral Visit to the faithful who live
there, a service to Christian unity, to dialogue with Jews and Muslims and to
building peace. The Holy Land, a symbol of God’s love for his People and for
all humanity, is also a symbol of the freedom and peace that God wants for all
his children. Yet recent and past history shows de facto that this very Land
has also become a symbol of contradiction, in other words of never-ending
division and conflict among brothers and sisters. How can this be? It is right
that this question should challenge our hearts although we know that a
mysterious design of God concerns that Land where as St John writes he “sent
his Son to be the expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4: 10). The Holy Land has been
called a “fifth Gospel” because in it we can see, indeed, tangibly feel the
reality of the history that God brought about with men and women; beginning
with the places of Abraham’s life and including the places of Jesus’ life, from
the Incarnation to the empty tomb, the sign of his Resurrection. Yes, God
entered this land, he acted with us in this world. But here we can say even
more: the Holy Land, because of its history, may be considered a microcosm that
sums up in itself God’s arduous journey with humanity. It is a journey that
implies together with sin also the Cross. Yet, with the abundance of divine
love there is also always the joy of the Holy Spirit, the Resurrection that has
already begun and is a journey through the valleys of our suffering towards the
Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that is not of this world, but lives in this world
and must penetrate it with his power of justice and peace. CONTINUE
The
history of salvation begins with the choice of a man, Abraham, and a people,
Israel, but its scope is universal, the salvation of all peoples. The history
of salvation has always been marked by this interweaving of particularity and
universality. We see this connection clearly in today’s First Reading: on
seeing in Cornelius’ home the faith of the Gentiles and their desire for God,
St Peter says: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every
nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts
10: 34-35). Learning to fear God and practise justice thus opens the world to
the Kingdom of God: this is the most profound purpose of all interreligious
dialogue.
I
cannot conclude this Marian prayer without thinking of Sri Lanka, in order to
assure of my affection and my spiritual closeness the civilians who are in the
combat zones in the north of the country. This concerns the thousands of
children, women, and elderly people whom the war has deprived of years of life
and hope. In this regard I wish once again to address a pressing invitation to
the belligerents to facilitate evacuation and to this end I join my voice to
that of the Security Council of the United Nations which, just a few days ago,
requested an assurance of their safety. I also ask humanitarian institutions,
including the Catholic agencies, to leave no stone unturned to meet the urgent
food and medical needs of the refugees. I entrust that beloved country to the
motherly protection of the Blessed Virgin of Madhu, loved and venerated by all
Sri Lankans and I raise my prayers to the Lord that he will hasten the day of
reconciliation and peace.
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
St
Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 9 May 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
May is a month
beloved and welcomed for many reasons. In our hemisphere, spring comes with a
wealth of colourful flowers and normally, the climate is conducive to walks and
excursions. For the Liturgy, May is always part of the Easter Season, the time
of the “Alleluia”, of the revelation of Christ’s mystery in the light of the
Resurrection and of our Paschal faith; and it is the time of awaiting the Holy
Spirit who came down on the nascent Church powerfully at Pentecost. The Church’s
tradition of dedicating the month of May to the Virgin Mary harmonizes very
well with both these contexts, the natural and the liturgical. Indeed, she is
the most beautiful flower to have unfolded since the Creation, the “rose” that
appeared in the fullness of time when God, by sending his Son, gave the world a
new springtime. At the same time she is the humble and discreet protagonist of
the first steps taken by the Christian community: Mary is its spiritual heart
since her very presence among the disciples is a living memory of the Lord
Jesus and a pledge of the gift of his Spirit.
This Sunday’s
Gospel, taken from Chapter 14 of the Gospel according to St John, gives us an
implicit spiritual portrait of the Virgin Mary when Jesus says: “Whoever loves
me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him” (see Jn 14: 23). These words are addressed to the
disciples but can be applied to a maximum degree precisely to the One who was
the first and perfect disciple of Jesus. Mary, in fact, observed first and
fully the words of her Son, showing that she loved him not only as a mother,
but first of all as a humble and obedient handmaid. For this reason God the
Father loved her and the Most Holy Trinity made its dwelling place in her.
Furthermore, when Jesus promises his friends that the Holy Spirit will come to
their aid to help them remember and deeply understand his every word (see Jn
14: 26), how can we not think of Mary who, in her heart, the temple of the Holy
Spirit, pondered and interpreted faithfully all that her Son said and did? Thus
already before Easter but especially after it the Mother of Jesus also became
the Mother and model of the Church.
Dear friends, in
these coming days, in the heart of this Marian month, I will have the
joy of going to Portugal. I shall visit Lisbon, the capital, and
Porto, the country’s second most important city. The principal destination of
my journey is Fatima, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary
of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, the two little
shepherd children. For the first time as Successor of Peter, I shall visit this
Marian shrine that was so dear to the Venerable and dear John Paul II.
I ask everyone to accompany me on this pilgrimage, participating actively with
their prayers: with one heart and one mind let us invoke for the Church, and in
particular for priests and for peace in the world the intercession of the
Virgin Mary.
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sixth Sunday of Easter, 29 May 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The book of the
Acts of the Apostles states that after a first violent persecution, the
Christian community of Jerusalem, except for the Apostles, spread to the
surrounding areas. Philip, one of the deacons, arrived in a city of Samaria.
There he preached the Risen Christ, and his proclamation was supported by
numerous healings, so that the outcome of the episode was very positive: “there
was much joy in that city” (Acts 8:8).
We are
repeatedly impressed in a profound way by this expression, which in essence
communicates a sense of hope, as if saying: It is possible! It is possible for
humanity to know true joy, because wherever the Gospel comes, life flourishes,
just as arid ground, irrigated by rain, immediately turns back to green.
With the
strength of the Holy Spirit, Philip and the other disciples accomplished in the
villages of Palestine what Jesus had done: They preached the Good News and
worked miraculous signs. It was the Lord who acted through them. As Jesus
proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God, so the disciples proclaimed the
Risen Jesus, professing that he is the Christ, the Son of God, baptizing in his
name and driving out every illness of body and spirit.
“There was much
joy in that city”. Reading this passage, one thinks spontaneously of the
healing power of the Gospel, which throughout the centuries has “watered” so
many populations, like a beneficent river. Several great men and women saints
brought hope and peace to entire cities — we think of Charles Borromeo in Milan
at the time of the plague, of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and of so many
missionaries, whose names are known by God, who have given their lives to bring
the proclamation of Christ and make profound joy flower among men. While the
powers of this world sought to conquer new territories for political and
economic interests, Christ’s messengers went everywhere with the aim of
bringing Christ to men and men to Christ, knowing that he alone can give true
freedom and eternal life. Today too the Church’s vocation is evangelization:
whether it be to populations which have not yet been “irrigated” by the living
water of the Gospel, or to those that, though having ancient Christian roots,
are in need of new nourishment to bear new fruit and rediscover the beauty and
joy of the faith.
Dear friends,
Bl. John Paul II was a great missionary, as an exhibition open now in Rome also documents. He
re-launched the mission ad gentes and, at the same time, promoted the
new evangelization. Let us entrust both to the intercession of Mary Most Holy.
May Christ’s Mother accompany the proclamation of the Gospel always and
everywhere, so that the places where men rediscover the joy of living as
children of God will multiply and spread in the world.
PASTORAL
VISIT TO AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO
(MAY
13, 2012)
BENEDICT
XVI
REGINA CÆLI
“Il
Prato” Park, Arezzo, Sunday, 13 May 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the end of
this liturgical celebration, the time of the Marian prayer invites us to gather
spiritually before the image of Our Lady of Consolation, housed in the
Cathedral.
The Mother of
the Church, Mary Most Holy always desires to comfort her children in moments of
great difficulty and suffering. And this city has experienced many times her
motherly support. Therefore, today too, we entrust to her intercession all the
individuals and families of your community who find themselves in situations of
great need.
At the same
time, through Mary, let us ask God for moral support, so that the community of
Arezzo, and all of Italy, may resist the temptation of discouragement and, with
strength in the humanist tradition, may they continue with determination on the
path of spiritual and ethical renewal, that can alone lead to the authentic
advancement of social and civil life. Each person, in this, can and must do his
or her part. O Mary, Our Lady of Consolation, pray for us!
PASTORAL
VISIT TO AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO
(MAY
13, 2012)
EUCHARISTIC
CONCELEBRATION
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
“Il
Prato” Park, Arezzo, Sunday, 13 May 2012
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
It
is a great joy for me to be able to break the Bread of the Word of God and of
the Eucharist with you. I extend my cordial greetings to you all and I thank
you for your warm welcome! I greet your Pastor, Archbishop Riccardo Fontana,
whom I thank for his kind words of welcome, the other Bishops, priests, men and
women religious and the representatives of Ecclesial Associations and
Movements. A respectful greeting goes to the Mayor, Mr Giuseppe Fanfani,
grateful for his greeting, to Senator Mario Monti, Prime Minister of Italy, and
to the other civil and military Authorities. A special thank you to all those
who have generously cooperated to make my Pastoral Visit a success.
Today
I am welcomed by an ancient Church: expert in relations and well-deserving in
her commitment to building through the centuries a city of man in the image of
the City of God. In the land of Tuscany, the community of Arezzo has
distinguished itself many times throughout history by its sense of freedom and
its capacity for dialogue among different social components. Coming among you
for the first time, my hope is that this City may always understand how to make
the most of this precious legacy.
In
past centuries, the Church in Arezzo has been enriched and enlivened by many
expressions of the Christian faith, among which the highest is that of the
Saints. I am thinking especially of St Donatus, your Patron, whose witness of
life, which fascinated the Christianity of Medieval times, is still relevant.
He was a fearless evangelist, so that all might be liberated from pagan customs
and rediscover in the Word of God the strength to affirm the dignity of every
person and the true meaning of freedom. Through his preaching, as Bishop he led
his people back to unity through prayer and the Eucharist. The chalice was
broken and then pieced back together by St Donatus, of whom Gregory the Great
speaks (see Dialogues i, 7, 3). It is the image of a work of peace
carried out by the Church within society, for the common good. Such was
recorded for you by St Peter Damian and with him the great Camaldolese
tradition of Casentino which for a thousand years, has offered its spiritual
wealth to this diocesan Church and to the universal Church.
In
your Cathedral Pope Bl. Gregory X is buried almost as if to show in different
times and cultures the continuity of service that the Church of Christ wishes
to render to the world. He, sustained by the light of the young Mendicant
Orders, by theologians and Saints like St Thomas Aquinas and St Bonaventure of
Bagnoregio, had to confront the great problems of his time: reform of the
Church; reconciliation of the schism with the Christian East, which he
attempted to bring about at the Council of Lyons; concern for the Holy Land;
peace and relations among peoples. He was the first in the West to have an
exchange of ambassadors with Kublai Khan of China.
Dear
friends, the First Reading presents us with an important moment which manifests
the universality of the Christian Message: in the house of Cornelius St Peter
baptizes the first pagans. In the Old Testament, God wanted the blessing of
Hebrew people not to be exclusive but extended to all nations. Ever since the
call of Abraham he had said: “[B]y you all the families of the earth shall
bless themselves” (Gen 12:3). Thus Peter, inspired from on High, understood
that “God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and
does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35). Peter’s gesture
becomes an image of the Church open to all of humanity. Following the great
tradition of your Church and of your Communities, may you be genuine witnesses
of God’s love for men!
But
how can we, in our weakness, carry this love? St John, in the Second Reading,
tells us emphatically that liberation from sin and from its consequences does
not come about by our own initiative, but of God’s. It was not we who loved him
but he who loved us and who took upon himself our sin and washed it away with
the blood of Christ. God loved us first and wants us to enter into his
communion of love, to collaborate in his work of redemption.
In
the Gospel passage the invitation of the Lord resonates: “I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should
abide” (Jn 15:16). It is a message meant in a specific way for the Apostles
but, in a broad sense, regards all the disciples of Jesus. The whole Church,
all of us are sent out into the world to spread the Gospel Message and the good
news of salvation. But it is always God’s initiative; he calls us to various
ministries, so that each one plays a proper role in the common good. He calls
us to the ministerial priesthood, to the consecrated life, to married life, to
working in the world: all are asked to respond generously to the Lord,
sustained by his Word which comforts us: “You did not choose me, but I chose
you” (ibid.).
Dear
friends, I am aware of your Church’s commitment to promoting Christian life. Be
a leaven in society, be present as Christians, be active and consistent. With
its centuries-old history, the City of Arezzo embodies significant expressions
of culture and values. Among the treasures of your tradition, there is the
proud nature of Christian identity, witnessed through many signs and rooted in
devotion like the one to Our Lady of Consolation. This land was the birthplace
of great Renaissance figures, from Petrarch to Vasari, and played an active
role in affirming that concept of man which left its mark on Europe’s history,
drawing strength from Christian values. In recent times too, the ideal heritage
of your city has been expressed by some of its most distinguished figures
through university research and in other institutions where they have
elaborated the very concept of civitas, realized in terms of the
Christian ideal among people of our time. Within the context of the Church in
Italy, committed to education in this decade, we must ask — especially in this
Region where the Renaissance was born — what vision of man are we proposing to
the new generations? The Word of God, that we have heard, is a powerful
invitation to live God’s love for everyone, and, among its distinctive values,
the culture of this land includes solidarity, attention to the weakest, respect
for the dignity of each person. Your capacity to welcome those who have come
here recently in search of freedom and work, is well known. To show solidarity
with the poor is to recognize the plan of God the Creator, who made us all one
single family.
Of
course, your Province has also been severely hit by the economic crisis. The
complexity of the problems makes it difficult to find quick and effective
solutions to emerge from the present situation which especially affects the
underprivileged and greatly worries young people. Since far-off times,
attention to others has motivated the Church to show concrete signs of
solidarity with those in need, sharing resources, promoting simpler lifestyles,
going against an ephemeral culture which has disappointed many and brought
about a profound spiritual crisis. May this diocesan Church, be enriched by the
shining witness of the Poverello of Assisi, continue to be caring and
attentive towards those in need, and may it its instruction succeed in
overcoming the purely materialistic ideologies that often mark our age and end
up clouding our sense of solidarity and charity.
Witnessing
to the love of God by paying attention to the weakest is tied to the defence of
human life, from its conception to its natural end. In your Region, ensuring
everyone dignity, health and fundamental rights, is justly considered an
indispensable good. The defence of the family, through a just legislation able
to protect the underprivileged, is always an important factor to ensure a
strong social fabric and offers hope for the future. Just as in the Middle
Ages, the Statutes of your cities became instruments which ensured inalienable
rights to many, may they continue that task today, promoting a City with an
ever more human face. The Church offers her contribution to this task so that
the love of God may always be accompanied by love of neighbour.
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