Dear Brothers in the
Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear Friends of the Regional Seminaries of Las Marcas, Puglia
and Abruzzo-Molise,
I am particularly happy to welcome you on the occasion of the
centenary of the foundation of your respective regional
seminaries, encouraged by Pope St. Pius X, who appealed to
Italian bishops, especially of the center and south of the
Peninsula, to come to an agreement to concentrate the
seminaries, in order to be more effective in the formation of
aspirants to the priesthood. I greet you all affectionately,
beginning with archbishops Edoardo Menichelli, Carlo Ghidelli
and Francesco Cacucci, whom I thank for the words with which
they wished to express the sentiments of all. I greet the
rectors, formators, professors and students and all those who
live and work daily in your institutions. In such a significant
event, I wish to join you in thanking the Lord, who in this
century has accompanied with his grace the life of so many
priests, formed in such important educational realities. Many of
them are occupied today in the different sections of your local
Churches, in the ad gentes mission and in other services to the
universal Church. Some have been called to fill posts of high
ecclesial responsibility.
I would now like to address you in particular, dear seminarians,
who are preparing to be laborers in the Lord's vineyard. As the
recent assembly of the Synod of Bishops also recalled, among the
priority tasks of the priest is that of spreading with full
hands the Word of God in the world, which, like the seed in the
Gospel parable, seems too small a reality, but once it has
germinated, it becomes a great bush and bears abundant fruit
(cf. Matthew 13:31-32). The Word of God that you will be called
upon to spread with full hands and which brings with it eternal
life, is Christ himself, the only one who can change the human
heart and renew the world. However, we might ask ourselves: Does
modern man still feel a need for Christ and his message of
salvation?
In the present social context, a certain culture seems to show
us the face of a self-sufficient humanity, anxious to carry out
its projects on its own, which chooses to be the sole architect
of its destiny and which, consequently, believes that the
presence of God does not count and so excludes it from its
choices and decisions.
In a climate marked by a rationalism shut-in on itself, which
considers the practical sciences as the only model of knowledge
while the rest is subjective, non-essential and determinant for
life. For these and other reasons, today, without a doubt, it is
increasingly more difficult to believe, more difficult to accept
the truth that is Christ, more difficult to spend one's life for
the cause of the Gospel. However, as we see every day in the
news, modern man often seems to be disoriented and worried about
his future, seeking certainties and sure points of reference. As
in all ages, man of the third millennium needs God and seeks him
perhaps without realizing it. The duty of Christians, especially
of priests, is to respond to this profound yearning of the human
heart and to offer all, with the means and ways that best
respond to the demands of the times, the immutable and always
living Word of eternal life that is Christ, Hope of the world.
In face of this important mission, which you will be called to
carry out in the Church, the years spent in the seminary take on
great value, a time allocated to formation and discernment;
years in which, in the first place, must be the constant search
for a personal relationship with Jesus, a profound experience of
his love, which is acquired above all through prayer and contact
with the Sacred Scriptures, interpreted and meditated in the
faith of the ecclesial community.
In this Pauline Year, why not propose the Apostle Paul to
yourselves as model in which to be inspired for your preparation
to the apostolic ministry? The extraordinary experience on the
road to Damascus transformed him, from persecutor of Christians
to witness of the resurrection of the Lord, willing to give his
life for the Gospel. He was a faithful observer of all the
prescriptions of the Torah and of the Hebrew traditions;
however, after having found Jesus "whatever gain I had -- he
writes in the Letter to the Philippians -- I counted as loss for
the sake of Christ" (cf. 3:7-9). Conversion did not eliminate
all that was good and true in his life, but enabled him to
interpret in a new way the wisdom and truth of the Law and the
prophets and thus be able to dialogue with all, following the
example of the Divine Teacher.
In imitation of St. Paul, dear seminarians, do not tire of
encountering Christ in listening to, reading and studying sacred
Scripture, in prayer and personal meditation, in the liturgy and
in every daily activity. In this connection, dear ones
responsible for formation, your role is very important, as you
are called to be witnesses for your students even before being
teachers of evangelical life. Because of their typical
characteristics, the Regional Seminaries can be privileged
places to form seminarians in diocesan spirituality, inscribing
this formation in the largest ecclesial and regional context
with wisdom and balance. Your institutions should also be
vocational "houses" of welcome to give greater impetus to
vocational pastoral care, taking care especially of the world of
youth and educating young people in the great evangelical and
missionary ideals.
Dear friends, while thanking you for your visit I invoke over
each one of you the maternal protection of the Virgin Mother of
Christ, which the Advent liturgy presents to us as model of
those who watch while awaiting the glorious return of her divine
Son. Entrust yourselves to her with confidence, take recourse
often to her intercession, so that she will help you to stay
awake and vigilant. For my part I assure you of my affection and
daily prayer, while I bless you all from my heart.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look at the One they
Pierced!