Entry 0300: Reflections on the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary
Time by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on 25 September 2005, 1 October 2006, 30 September 2007, 28 September 2008, 27 September 2009, 26 September 2010, 25 September 2011, and 30 September 2012. Here are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and two homilies delivered on these occasions.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this last
Sunday that I spend in Castel Gandolfo , I
would like to cordially greet all of the community’s citizens, wholeheartedly
thanking you again for the welcome you have given me.
Continuing the
reflection on the Mystery of the Eucharist, heart of the Christian life, I
would like to highlight today the link between the Eucharist and charity.
“Charity” - agape
in Greek, caritas in Latin - does not primarily mean an act
or positive sentiment; rather, it means the spiritual gift, the love of God that
the Holy Spirit effuses in the human heart, moving it to give [this love] to
God and to neighbour (see Rom 5: 5).
Jesus’ entire
earthly existence, from conception to death on the Cross, was a single act of
love, so much so that we can summarize our faith in these words: Jesus
Caritas, Jesus Love.
At the Last
Supper, knowing that “his hour had come” (Jn 13: 1), the divine Teacher offered
his disciples the supreme example of love, washing their feet and entrusting to
them the most precious inheritance, the Eucharist, where the entire Paschal
Mystery is concentrated, as the Venerable Pope John Paul II wrote in the
Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (see no. 5).
“Take this and
eat it, this is my body... all of you must drink from it, for this is my blood”
(Mt 26: 26-27). Jesus’ words in the Upper Room are a prelude to his death and
manifest the awareness with which he faced it, transforming it into a gift of
self in the act of love that gives completely.
In the Eucharist
the Lord gives himself to us in his body, soul and divinity, and we become one
with him and with others. Our response to his love must then be concrete and
expressed in an authentic conversion to love, in forgiveness, in welcoming one
another and being attentive to the needs of everyone.
The kinds of
service that we can render to our neighbour in everyday life, with a bit of
attention, are many and varied. The Eucharist thus becomes the source of
spiritual energy that renews our life each day, and in this way also renews the
world in Christ’s love.
The saints are
exemplary witnesses of this love; from the Eucharist they drew the strength of
living a charity that was difficult and oftentimes heroic.
I think of St
Vincent de Paul, whose liturgical memorial we celebrate the day after tomorrow.
St Vincent de Paul said: “What a joy it is to serve the person of Christ in his
poor members!”. And this he did with his entire life.
I also think of
Bl. Mother Teresa, foundress of the Missionaries of Charity; she loved Jesus in
the poorest of the poor, and received and contemplated him every day in the
consecrated Host.
Before and more
than all the saints, divine charity filled the heart of the Virgin Mary. After
the Annunciation, moved by the One she carried in her womb, the Mother of the
Word-made-flesh hurriedly set out to visit and help her cousin Elizabeth. Let
us pray so that every Christian, nourished by the Body and Blood of the Lord,
may ever more grow in their love towards God and in generous service towards
one’s neighbours.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, the first
day of October, I would like to reflect on two aspects which characterize this
month in the Ecclesial Community: the prayer of the Rosary and the commitment
to the Missions. This Saturday, 7 October, we will be celebrating the feast of
Our Lady of the Rosary, and it is as though Our Lady invites us every year to
rediscover the beauty of this prayer, so simple and so profound.
Our beloved John
Paul II was a great Apostle of the Rosary: we remember him on his knees,
his rosary beads in his hands, immersed in the contemplation of Christ as he
himself invited us to do in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium
Virginis Mariae.
The Rosary is a
contemplative and Christocentric prayer, inseparable from meditation on Holy
Scripture. It is the prayer of the Christian who advances on his pilgrimage of
faith, following Jesus and preceded by Mary.
Dear brothers
and sisters, I would like to invite you during this month to recite the Rosary
in the family, in the community and in parishes, for the Pope’s intentions, for
the Church’s mission and for world peace.
October is also
the missionary month, and on Sunday, the 22nd, we will be celebrating World
Mission Day. The Church is, by her very nature, missionary. “As the Father has
sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20: 21), the Risen Jesus said to the
Apostles at the Last Supper.
The Church’s
mission is the extension of Christ’s mission: to bring God’s love to all,
proclaiming it with words and with the concrete testimony of charity.
In my Message
for the upcoming World Mission Day, I wanted to present charity precisely as “the
soul of the mission”. St Paul ,
the Apostle to the Gentiles, wrote: “The love of Christ impels us” (II
Cor 5: 14). May every Christian make these words his own, in the joyful
experience of being a missionary of Love wherever Providence has placed him,
with humility and courage, serving his neighbour with no ulterior motives and
drawing strength from prayer for a cheerful and industrious charity (see Deus
Caritas Est, nos. 32-39).
St Teresa of the
Child Jesus, the Carmelite virgin and doctor of the Church whom we are
commemorating this very day, is universal Co-Patroness of the Missions, together
with St Francis Xavier. May she, who pointed out trusting abandonment to God’s
love as the “simple” way to holiness, help us to be credible witnesses of the
Gospel of charity. May Mary Most Holy, Virgin of the Rosary and Queen of
Missions, lead us all to Christ the Saviour.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Papal
Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo , Sunday, 30
September 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, Luke’s
Gospel presents to us the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Lk 16:
19-31). The rich man personifies the wicked use of riches by those who spend
them on uncontrolled and selfish luxuries, thinking solely of satisfying
themselves without caring at all for the beggar at their door.
The poor man, on
the contrary, represents the person whom God alone cares for: unlike the rich
man he has a name: “Lazarus”, an abbreviation of “Eleazarus”, which means,
precisely, “God helps him”.
God does not
forget those who are forgotten by all; those who are worthless in human eyes
are precious in the Lord’s. The story shows how earthly wickedeness is
overturned by divine justice: after his death, Lazarus was received “in the
bosom of Abraham”, that is, into eternal bliss; whereas the rich man ended up “in
Hades, in torment”. This is a new and definitive state of affairs against which
no appeal can be made, which is why one must mend one’s ways during one’s life;
to do so after serves no purpose.
This parable can
also be interpreted in a social perspective. Pope Paul VI’s interpretation of
it 40 years ago in his Encyclical Populorum Progressio remains
unforgettable. Speaking of the campaign against hunger he wrote: “It is a
question... of building a world where every man... can live a fully human
life... where the poor man Lazarus can sit down at the same table with the rich
man” (no. 47).
The cause of the
numerous situations of destitution, the Encyclical recalls, is on the one hand “servitude
imposed.... by other men”, and on the other, “natural forces over which [the
person] has not sufficient control” (ibid.).
Unfortunately,
some populations suffer from both these factors. How can we fail to think at
this time especially of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, affected by
serious floods in the past few days? Nor can we forget the many other
humanitarian emergencies in various regions of the planet, in which conflicts
for political and economic power contribute to exacerbating existing,
oppressive environmental situations.
The appeal
voiced by Paul VI at that time, “Today the peoples in hunger are making a
dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance” (ibid., no. 3),
is still equally pressing today.
We cannot say
that we do not know which way to take: we have the Law and the Prophets, Jesus
tells us in the Gospel. Those who do not wish to listen to them would not
change even if one of the dead were to return to admonish them.
May the Virgin
Mary help us to make the most of the present time to listen to and put into
practice these words of God. May she obtain for us that we become more
attentive to our brethren in need, to share with them the much or the little
that we have and to contribute, starting with ourselves, to spreading the logic
and style of authentic solidarity.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Papal
Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo , Sunday, 28
September 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today the
liturgy presents to us the Gospel parable of the two sons sent by their father
to work in his vineyard. One of them immediately agrees to go but then does
not; the other instead refuses but later repents and complies with his father’s
wishes. With this parable Jesus reaffirms his predilection for sinners who
convert and teaches us that humility is necessary in order to accept the gift
of salvation. St Paul
too, in the passage from his Letter to the Philippians on which we are
meditating today, urges us to be humble: “Do nothing from selfishness or
conceit”, he writes, “but... let each of you... in humility count others better
than yourselves” (Phil 2: 3). These are the same sentiments as those of Christ
who, emptying himself of divine glory out of love for us, became a man and
humbled himself even to dying on a Cross (see Phil 2: 5-8). The verb used - ekenôsen
- means literally that he “emptied himself” and sheds clear light on the deep
humility and infinite love of Jesus, the humble Servant par excellence.
In reflecting on
these biblical texts, I immediately thought of Pope John Paul I, the 30th
anniversary of whose death we are commemorating today. John Paul I chose as his
episcopal motto the same motto as St Charles Borromeo, namely: Humilitas.
This single word sums up the essential of Christian life and indicates the
indispensable virtue of those in the Church who are called to the service of
authority. At one of the four General Audiences held during his extremely short
Pontificate, he said, among other things, with that familiar tone that
distinguished him: “I will just recommend one virtue so dear to the Lord. He
said, “Learn from me who am meek and humble of heart’.... Even if you have done
great things, say: “We are useless servants’“. And he observed: “On the
contrary the tendency in all of us, is rather the opposite: to show off”
(Homily, General Audience, 6 September 1978). Humility can be considered his
spiritual testament.
Because of this
virtue of his, it only took 33 days for Pope Luciani to win people’s hearts. In
his Addresses he always referred to events in practical life, from his family
memories and from popular wisdom. His simplicity was a vehicle for a solid,
rich teaching which, thanks to the gift of an exceptional memory and a vast
knowledge, he embellished with numerous citations from ecclesiastical and
secular writers. Thus, he was an incomparable catechist, following in the
footsteps of St Pius X, who came from the same region and was his Predecessor
first on the throne of St Mark and then on that of St Peter. “We must feel
small before God”, he said during the same Audience. And he added, “I am not
ashamed to feel like a child before his mother; one believes in one’s mother; I
believe in the Lord, in what he has revealed to me” (ibid., p. 1). These words
reveal the full depth of his faith. As we thank God for having given him to the
Church and to the world, let us treasure his example, striving to cultivate his
same humility which enabled him to talk to everyone, especially the small and
the “distant”. For this, let us invoke Mary Most Holy, the humble Handmaid of
the Lord.
APOSTOLIC
VISIT
OF
HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
(SEPTEMBER
26-28, 2009)
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have come to
the end of this solemn celebration, and the midday hour invites us to pray the Angelus.
I am pleased to do so here, in the heart of Moravia, Bohemia ’s sister territory, a land marked
for many centuries by the Christian faith, a land that reminds us of the
courageous mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
Twenty years
ago, when Pope John Paul II decided to visit Central and Eastern Europe after
the fall of Communist totalitarianism, he chose to being his pastoral journey
in Velehrad, the place where the famous Unionist Congresses were held, those
precursors of ecumenism among the Slav peoples, a place known throughout the
Christian world. I am sure you also remember another of his visits, in 1995,
when he went to Svatý Kopeček near Olomouc
for an unforgettable meeting with young people. I should like to make my own
the ideas put forward by my venerable predecessor, as I invite you to remain
faithful to your Christian vocation and to the Gospel, so as to build together
a future of solidarity and peace.
APOSTOLIC
VISIT
OF
HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
(SEPTEMBER
26-28, 2009)
HOLY MASS
HOMILY BY THE HOLY FATHER
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“Come to me, all
who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt
11:28). Jesus invites each of his disciples to spend time with him, to
find comfort, sustenance and renewal in him. This invitation is addressed in a
special way to our liturgical assembly which, in accordance with the ecclesial
ideal, brings the whole of your local Church together with the Successor of
Peter. I greet each and every one of you: firstly the Bishop of Brno , to whom I am
grateful for the kind words he addressed to me at the start of the Mass, and
also the Cardinals and the other Bishops present. I greet the priests, deacons,
seminarians, men and women religious, the catechists and pastoral workers, the
young people and the many families here. I pay my respects to the civil and
military authorities, particularly to the President of the Republic and the
First Lady, to the Mayor of the City of Brno
and the President of the Region of Southern Moravia, a land rich in history and
in cultural, industrial and commercial activity. I should also like to extend
warm greetings to the pilgrims from the entire region of Moravia
and the nearby dioceses of Slovakia ,
Poland , Austria and Germany .
Dear friends,
regarding the character of today’s liturgical assembly, I gladly supported the
decision, mentioned by your Bishop, to base the Scripture readings for Mass on
the theme of hope: I supported it in consideration of the people of this
beloved land as well as Europe and the whole of humanity, thirsting as it does
for something on which to base a firm future. In my second Encyclical, Spe
Salvi, I emphasized that the only “certain” and “reliable” hope (see no.
1) is founded on God. History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man
descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions, and
how hard it is to build a society inspired by the values of goodness, justice
and fraternity, because the human being is free and his freedom remains fragile.
Freedom has constantly to be won over for the cause of good, and the arduous
search for the “right way to order human affairs” is a task that belongs to all
generations (see ibid., nos. 24-25). That, dear friends, is why our
first reason for being here is to listen, to listen to a word that will show us
the way that leads to hope; indeed, we are listening to the only word that can
give us firm hope, because it is God’s word.
In the first
reading (Is 61:1-3a), the Prophet speaks as one invested with the mission of
proclaiming liberation, consolation and joy to all the afflicted and the poor.
Jesus took up this text and re-applied it to himself in his preaching. Indeed,
he stated explicitly that the prophet’s promise was fulfilled in him (see Lk
4:16-21). It was completely fulfilled when by dying on the cross and rising
from the dead he freed us from our slavery to selfishness and evil, to sin and
death. And this is the message of salvation, ancient and ever new, that the
Church proclaims from generation to generation: Christ crucified and risen, the
Hope of humanity!
This word of
salvation still resounds with power today, in our liturgical assembly. Jesus
addresses himself lovingly to you, sons and daughters of this blessed land, in
which the seed of the Gospel has been sown for over a thousand years. Your
country, like other nations, is experiencing cultural conditions that often
present a radical challenge to faith and therefore also to hope. In fact, in
the modern age both faith and hope have undergone a “shift”, because they have
been relegated to the private and other-worldly sphere, while in day-to-day
public life confidence in scientific and economic progress has been affirmed (see Spe Salvi, no. 17). We all know that this progress is ambiguous: it
opens up possibilities for good as well as evil. Technical developments and the
improvement of social structures are important and certainly necessary, but
they are not enough to guarantee the moral welfare of society (see ibid.,
no. 24). Man needs to be liberated from material oppressions, but more
profoundly, he must be saved from the evils that afflict the spirit. And who
can save him if not God, who is Love and has revealed his face as almighty and
merciful Father in Jesus Christ? Our firm hope is therefore Christ: in him, God
has loved us to the utmost and has given us life in abundance (see Jn 10:10),
the life that every person, even if unknowingly, longs to possess.
“Come to me, all
who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” These words of
Jesus, written in large letters above the entrance to your Cathedral in Brno , he now addresses to
each of us, and he adds: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:29-30). Can we remain indifferent
in the face of his love? Here, as elsewhere, many people suffered in past
centuries for remaining faithful to the Gospel, and they did not lose hope;
many people sacrificed themselves in order to restore dignity to man and
freedom to peoples, finding in their generous adherence to Christ the strength
to build a new humanity. In present-day society, many forms of poverty are born
from isolation, from being unloved, from the rejection of God and from a
deep-seated tragic closure in man who believes himself to be self-sufficient,
or else merely an insignificant and transient datum; in this world of ours
which is alienated “when too much trust is placed in merely human projects” (Caritas
in Veritate, no. 53), only Christ can be our certain hope. This is the
message that we Christians are called to spread every day, through our witness.
Proclaim it
yourselves, dear priests, as you remain intimately united to Jesus, as you
exercise your ministry enthusiastically, certain that nothing can be lacking in
those who put their trust in him. Bear witness to Christ, dear religious,
through the joyful and consistent practice of the evangelical counsels,
indicating where our true homeland lies: in Heaven. And you, dear young people,
dear lay faithful, dear families, base on the firm foundation of faith in
Christ whatever plans you have for your family, for work, for school, for
activities in every sphere of society. Jesus never abandons his friends. He
assures us of his help, because nothing can be done without him, but at the
same time, he asks everyone to make a personal commitment to spread his
universal message of love and peace. May you draw encouragement from the
example of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the principal patrons of Moravia, who
evangelized the Slavic peoples, and of Saints Peter and Paul, to whom your
Cathedral is dedicated. Look to the shining testimony of Saint Zdislava, mother
of a family, rich in works of religion and works of mercy; of Saint John
Sarkander, priest and martyr; of Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer, priest and
religious, born in this diocese and canonized one hundred years ago, and of
Blessed Restituta Kafkova, a religious sister born in Brno and killed by the
Nazis in Vienna. May you always be accompanied and protected by Our Lady, Mother
of Christ our Hope. Amen!
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
Courtyard of the Papal Residence, Castel
Gandolfo , Sunday, 26 September 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
In this
Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 16: 19-31), Jesus tells the Parable of the rich man and
poor Lazarus. The former lives in luxury and egoism and when he dies, he will
go to hell. The poor man on the contrary eats the food left over from the table
of the rich man, and at his death he will be brought by angels to his eternal
dwelling place with God and the saints. “Blessed are you poor”, the Lord
proclaimed to his disciples, “for yours is the Kingdom of God
By a
happy coincidence, tomorrow we shall be celebrating the Liturgical Memorial of
St Vincent de Paul, Patron of Catholic charities, on the 350th anniversary of
his death. In 16th-century France ,
he himself keenly perceived the strong contrast between the richest and the
poorest of people. In fact, as a priest, he had the opportunity to experience
the aristocratic life and life in the country, as well as the dregs of society
in Paris .
Encouraged by the love of Christ, Vincent de Paul knew how to organize
permanent forms of service for marginalized people, giving life to the
so-called “Charitées” and “Charities”, that is the groups of
women who gave their time and belongings to the most marginalized people. Some
of these volunteers chose to consecrate themselves completely to God and to the
poor, with St Louise de Marillac, and St Vincent, Founder of the “Daughters of
Charity” the first female congregation to live a consecrated life “in the world”,
with the common people, including the sick and the needy.
Dear
friends, only Love with a capital “L” can bring true happiness! This is shown
by another witness, a young girl who was proclaimed Blessed yesterday in Rome . I am speaking of
Chiara Badano, an Italian girl born in 1971, who was afflicted by a disease
that caused her death just before she turned 19. Despite her suffering, she was
a ray of light [luce] as her nickname suggests “Chiara Luce”. Her
parish, the Diocese of Acqui Termi and the Focolare Movement to which she
belonged, are rejoicing today and it is indeed a celebration for all young
people who can discover in her an example of Christian devotion. Fully
accepting the will of God, she spoke her last words: “Bye Mum. Be happy because
I am”. Let us praise God because his love is stronger than evil and death. Let
us thank the Virgin Mary, who leads youth, through difficulty and suffering, to
love Jesus and to discover the beauty of life.
APOSTOLIC
JOURNEY TO GERMANY
22-25
SEPTEMBER 2011
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Airport,
Freiburg im Breisgau, Sunday, 25 September 2011
Dear Sisters and Brothers!
At the end of
this solemn celebration of holy Mass we now pray the Angelus
together. This prayer constantly reminds us of the historical beginnings
of our salvation. The Archangel Gabriel presents God’s plan of salvation
to the Virgin Mary, by which she was to become the Mother of the
Redeemer. Mary was fearful, but the angel of the Lord spoke a word of
comfort to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.”
So Mary is able to respond with her great “yes”. This “yes”, by which she
accepts to become the handmaid of the Lord, is the trusting “yes” to God’s
plan, to our salvation. And she finally addresses her “yes” to us all,
whom she received as her children entrusted to her at the foot of the Cross (see Jn 19:27). She never withdraws this promise. And so she
is called happy, or rather blessed, for believing that what was promised her by
the Lord would be fulfilled (see Lk 1:45). As we pray this Angelus,
we may join Mary in her “yes”, we may adhere trustingly to the beauty of God’s
plan and to the providence that he has assigned to us in his grace. Then
God’s love will also, as it were, take flesh in our lives, becoming ever more
tangible. In all our cares we need have no fear. God is good.
At the same time we know that we are sustained by the fellowship of the many
believers who are now praying the Angelus with us throughout the world,
via radio and television.
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO GERMANY
22-25 SEPTEMBER 2011
HOLY MASS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Touristic airport, Freiburg im Breisgau, Sunday, 25
September 2011
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
It is
moving for me to celebrate this Eucharist, this Thanksgiving, with so many
people from different parts of Germany
and the neighbouring countries. We offer our thanks above all to God, in whom
we live and move and have our being (see Acts 17:28). But I would also
like to thank all of you for your prayers that the Successor of Peter may
continue to carry out his ministry with joy and faithful hope, and that he may
strengthen his brothers in faith.
“Father,
you show your almighty power in your mercy and forgiveness”, as we said in
today’s Collect. In the first reading we heard how God manifested the power of
his mercy in the history of Israel .
The experience of the Babylonian Exile caused the people to fall into a deep
crisis of faith: Why did this calamity happen? Perhaps God was not truly
powerful at all?
There
are theologians who, in the face of all the terrible things that happen in the
world today, say that God cannot possibly be all-powerful. In response to this
we profess God, the all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth. And we are glad
and thankful that God is all-powerful. At the same time, we have to be aware
that he exercises his power differently from the way we normally do. He has
placed a limit on his power, by recognizing the freedom of his creatures. We
are glad and thankful for the gift of freedom. However, when we see the
terrible things that happen as a result of it, we are frightened. Let us put
our trust in God, whose power manifests itself above all in mercy and
forgiveness. Let us be certain, dear faithful, that God desires the salvation
of his people. He desires our salvation, my salvation, the salvation of every
single person. He is always close to us, especially in times of danger and
radical change, and his heart aches for us, he reaches out to us. We need to
open ourselves to him so that the power of his mercy can touch our hearts. We
have to be ready freely to abandon evil, to raise ourselves from indifference
and make room for his word. God respects our freedom. He does not constrain us.
He is waiting for us to say “yes”, he as it were begs us to say “yes”.
In the
Gospel Jesus takes up this fundamental theme of prophetic preaching. He
recounts the parable of the two sons invited by their father to work in the
vineyard. The first son responded: “‘I will not go’, but afterward he repented
and went.” The other son said to the father: “‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.”
When asked by Jesus which of the two sons did the father’s will, those
listening rightly respond: “the first” (Mt 21:29-31). The message of the
parable is clear: it is not words that matter, but deeds, deeds of conversion
and faith. As we heard, Jesus directs this message to the chief priests and
elders of the people of Israel ,
that is, to the religious experts of his people. At first they say “yes” to God’s
will, but their piety becomes routine and God no longer matters to them. For
this reason they find the message of John the Baptist and the message of Jesus
disturbing. The Lord concludes his parable with harsh words: “Truly, the tax
collectors and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God
These
words should make all of us stop and reflect, in fact they should disturb us.
However, this is by no means to suggest that everyone who lives in the Church
and works for her should be considered far from Jesus and the Kingdom of God Germany
has many social and charitable institutions through which the love of neighbour
is practised in ways that bring social benefits and reach to the ends of the
earth. At this moment I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to
all those working in Caritas Germany and in other church
organizations who give their time and effort generously in voluntary service to
the Church. In the first place, such service requires objective and
professional expertise. But in the spirit of Jesus’ teaching something more is
needed – an open heart that allows itself to be touched by the love of Christ,
and thus gives to our neighbour, who needs us, something more than a technical
service: it gives love, in which the other person is able to see Christ, the
loving God. So let us ask ourselves, in the light of today’s Gospel, how is my
personal relationship with God: in prayer, in participation at Sunday Mass, in
exploring my faith through meditation on sacred Scripture and study of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church? Dear friends, in the last analysis, the
renewal of the Church will only come about through openness to conversion and
through renewed faith.
The
Gospel for this Sunday, as we saw, speaks of two sons, but behind them, in a
mysterious way, is a third son. The first son says “no,” but does the father’s
will. The second son says “yes,” but does not do what he was asked. The third
son both says “yes” and does what he was asked. This third son is the
Only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has gathered us all here. Jesus, on
entering the world, said: “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God” (Heb 10:7).
He not only said “yes”, he acted on that “yes”, and he suffered it, even to
death on the Cross. As the Christological hymn in the second reading says: “Though
he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to
be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in
the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross” (Phil. 2: 6-8). In
humility and obedience, Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father and by dying on
the Cross for his brothers and sisters, for us, he saved us from our pride and
obstinacy. Let us thank him for his sacrifice, let us bend our knees before his
name and proclaim together with the disciples of the first generation: “Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11).
The
Christian life must continually measure itself by Christ: “Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5), as Saint Paul says in the
introduction to the Christological hymn. And a few verses before, he exhorts
us: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any
participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by
being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one
mind” (Phil 2:1-2). Just as Christ was totally united to the Father and
obedient to him, so too the disciples must obey God and be of one mind among
themselves. Dear friends, with Paul I dare to exhort you: complete my joy by
being firmly united in Christ. The Church in Germany will overcome the great
challenges of the present and future, and it will remain a leaven in society,
if the priests, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful, in fidelity to
their respective vocations, work together in unity, if the parishes,
communities, and movements support and enrich each other, if the baptized and
confirmed, in union with their bishop, lift high the torch of untarnished faith
and allow it to enlighten their abundant knowledge and skills. The Church in Germany
will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world: if she remains
faithfully united with the Successors of Saint Peter and the Apostles, if she
fosters cooperation in various ways with mission countries and allows herself
to be “infected” by the joy that marks the faith of these young Churches.
To his
exhortation to unity, Paul adds a call to humility, saying: “Do nothing from
selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests
of others” (Phil 2:3-4). Christian life is a life for others: existing
for others, humble service of neighbour and of the common good. Dear friends,
humility is a virtue that does not enjoy great esteem in the world of today, or
indeed of any time. But the Lord’s disciples know that this virtue is, so to
speak, the oil that makes the process of dialogue fruitful, cooperation
possible and unity sincere. The Latin word for humility, humilitas, is
derived from humus and indicates closeness to the earth. Those who are
humble stand with their two feet on the ground, but above all they listen to
Christ, the Word of God, who ceaselessly renews the Church and each of her
members.
Let us
ask God for the courage and the humility to walk the path of faith, to draw
from the riches of his mercy, and to fix our gaze on Christ, the Word, who
makes all things new and is for us “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6):
he is our future. Amen.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
This
Sunday’s Gospel presents one of those episodes in Christ’s life which, even if
they are noted, so to speak en passant, contain a profound meaning (see
Mk 9:38-41). The event involved someone who was not a follower of Jesus but who
had expelled demons in his name. The Apostle John, a young man and ardently
zealous as he was, wanted to prevent him but Jesus did not permit this; on on
the contrary, he drew inspiration from this circumstance to teach his disciples
that God could work good and even miraculous things even outside their circle,
and that it is possible to cooperate with the cause of the Kingdom of God in
different ways, even by simply offering a missionary a glass of water (v. 41).
St Augustine wrote in this regard: “as, therefore, there is in the Catholic —
meaning the Church — something which is not Catholic, so there may be something
which is Catholic outside the Catholic Church” (see On Baptism, Against the
Donatists, PL 43, VII, 39, 77).
Therefore
if a stranger to the community does good works in Christ’s name, so long as he
does so with upright intentions and with respect, members of the Church must
not feel jealous but must rejoice. Even within the Church, people can find it
difficult, in the spirit of deep communion, to value and appreciate good things
achieved by the different ecclesial entities. Instead, we must all and always
be able to appreciate one another, praising God for the infinite “creativity”
with which he acts in the Church and in the world.
The
stream of invective of the Apostle James against the dishonest rich who rely on
wealth accumulated by abuse, rings out in today’s Liturgy (see Jas 5:1-6). St
Caesarius of Arles
says in this regard in one of his sermons: “riches can do no harm to a good
man, so long as he gives them compassionately, just as they cannot help a
wicked man, so long as he keeps them greedily for himself or wastes them in
dissipation” (Sermons, 35, 4). While the Apostle James’ words put us on
guard against the worthless desire for material goods, they are a powerful
appeal to use them with a view to solidarity and the common good, always acting
with fairness and morality at all levels.
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González
