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Pope Benedict XVI- Addresses |
 "To
Be a Father Means Above All to Be at the Service of Life and Growth"
Reflection on St. Joseph at Vesper Service
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Yaounde, Cameroon, Basilica of Mary Queen of the Apostles
March 18, 2009
Dear Brother
Cardinals and Bishops,
Priests and Deacons,
Consecrated Brothers and Sisters,
Friends from other Christian Confessions,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
It is a great joy to meet here to give thanks to God in this
Basilica of Marie Reine des Apôtres in Mvolyé, raised on the
site of the first church built by the Missionaries of the Holy
Spirit who came to bring the Good News to Cameroon. Reflecting
the apostolic fervour of those men whose hearts embraced the
whole of your country, this place symbolically contains every
portion of your land. And so, dear brothers and sisters, in deep
spiritual closeness to all the Christian communities where you
render service, we raise our prayer of praise this evening to
the Father of lights.
In the presence of the representatives of other Christian
confessions, to whom I extend my respectful and fraternal
greetings, I wish to reflect on the figure of Saint Joseph,
setting out from the words of Scripture offered to us in this
evening’s liturgy.
Speaking to the crowd and to his disciples, Jesus declared: "You
have only one Father" (Mt 23:9). There is but one fatherhood,
that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, "of all
that is seen and unseen". Yet man, created in the image of God,
has been granted a share in this one paternity of God (cf. Eph
3:15). Saint Joseph is a striking case of this, since he is a
father, without fatherhood according to the flesh. He is not the
biological father of Jesus, whose Father is God alone, and yet
he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. To be a father
means above all to be at the service of life and growth. Saint
Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the
sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty
which this entails. He had to settle far from his native town.
His only reward was to be with Christ. His readiness to do all
these things illustrates the words of Saint Paul: "It is Christ
the Lord whom you serve" (Col 3:24).
What is important is not to be a useless servant, but rather a
"faithful and wise servant". The pairing of the two adjectives
is not by chance. It suggests that understanding without
fidelity, and fidelity without wisdom, are insufficient. One
quality alone, without the other, would not enable us to assume
fully the responsibility which God entrusts to us.
Dear brother priests, you are called to live out this fatherhood
in the daily tasks of your ministry. In the words of the
conciliar Constitution Lumen Gentium: "As their fathers in
Christ, priests should care for the faithful whom they have
spiritually begotten by Baptism and instruction" (No. 28). If
this is the case, how can we not continually return to the very
foundation of our priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ? Our
personal relationship with Jesus is constitutive of the way we
wish to live our lives. He has called us his friends because
everything which he learned from the Father he has made known to
us (cf. Jn 15:15). In living out this deep friendship with
Christ you will discover true freedom and deep joy. The
ministerial priesthood entails a profound relationship with
Christ who is given to us in the Eucharist. Let the celebration
of the Eucharist be truly the centre of your priestly lives; in
this way it will also be the centre of your ecclesial mission.
Throughout our lives Christ calls us to share in his mission, to
be his witnesses, so that his word may be proclaimed to all. In
celebrating this sacrament in the Lord’s name and in his person,
the person of the priest cannot occupy centre stage; he is a
servant, a humble instrument pointing to Christ, who offers
himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the world. As Jesus
teaches us, "the leader must become as one who serves" (Lk
22:26). Origen writes that "Joseph understood that Jesus was
superior to him even as he submitted to him, and, knowing the
superiority of his charge, he commanded him with respect and
moderation. Everyone should reflect on this: frequently a lesser
man is placed over people who are greater, and it happens at
times that an inferior is more worthy than the one who appears
to be set above him. If a person of greater dignity understands
this, then he will not be puffed up with pride because of his
higher rank; he will know that his inferior may well be superior
to him, even as Jesus was subject to Joseph" (Homily on Saint
Luke XX, 5; S.C. p. 287).
Dear brothers in the priesthood, your pastoral ministry demands
many sacrifices, yet it is also a source of great joy. Trusting
in your Bishops, united fraternally to the whole presbyterate
and supported by the portion of the People of God commended to
your care, you will be able to respond faithfully to the Lord
who has called you, just as he called Joseph to watch over Mary
and the Child Jesus! May you always remain faithful, dear
priests, to the promises that you made to God before your Bishop
and in the presence of the whole community. The Successor of
Peter thanks you for your generous devotion to the service of
the Church, and he urges you not to be troubled by the
difficulties you encounter along the way. To the young men who
are preparing to join you, and to those still discerning a
priestly vocation, I hold out once more the joy that comes from
giving oneself completely to the service of God and the Church.
Be courageous, then, and generously say "yes" to Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters who live out your commitment in the
consecrated life or in ecclesial movements, I also encourage you
to look to Saint Joseph. When Mary received the visit of the
angel at the Annunciation, she was already betrothed to Joseph.
In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely
associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph
agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to
bring about in the womb of his spouse. He took Mary into his
home. He welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery
that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is
the mark of all authentic love. Joseph teaches us that it is
possible to love without possessing. In contemplating Joseph,
all men and women can, by God’s grace, come to experience
healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the
plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to him,
just as Joseph entered into the work of redemption through Mary
and as a result of what God had already done in her. Dear
brothers and sisters from the ecclesial movements, may you be
attentive to those around you, and may you reveal the loving
face of God to the poor, especially by your works of mercy, your
human and Christian education of young people, your programmes
for the advancement of women, and in so many other ways!
The spiritual contribution offered by consecrated persons is
likewise significant and indispensable for the life of the
Church. This call to follow Christ is a gift for the whole
People of God. According to your vocation, that of imitating
Christ, chaste, poor and obedient, totally consecrated to the
glory of his Father and the love of his brothers and sisters,
you have the mission of bearing much-needed witness before our
world to the primacy of God and of eternal life (cf. Vita
Consecrata, 85). By your unreserved fidelity to your
commitments, you are for the Church a sapling of life, springing
up to serve the coming of God’s Kingdom. At all times, and
especially whenever your fidelity is put to the test, Saint
Joseph reminds you of the value and meaning of your promises.
The consecrated life is a radical imitation of Christ. Hence the
way you live ought to show clearly what inspires you, and your
actions must not conceal your deepest identity. Do not be afraid
of living to the full the self-offering that you have made to
God, bearing authentic witness to it wherever you find
yourselves. One particular example that can encourage you to
strive for holiness of life is that of Father Simon Mpeke, known
as Baba Simon. All of you know how this "barefooted missionary"
spent all his energies with selfless humility in the loving
service of souls, heedless of the cares and sufferings involved
in the material service of others.
Dear brothers and sisters, our meditation on the human and
spiritual journey of Saint Joseph invites us to ponder his
vocation in all its richness, and to see him as a constant model
for all those who have devoted their lives to Christ in the
priesthood, in the consecrated life or in the different forms of
lay engagement. Joseph was caught up at every moment by the
mystery of the Incarnation. Not only physically, but in his
heart as well, Joseph reveals to us the secret of a humanity
which dwells in the presence of mystery and is open to that
mystery at every moment of everyday life. In Joseph, faith is
not separated from action. His faith had a decisive effect on
his actions. Paradoxically, it was by acting, by carrying out
his responsibilities, that he stepped aside and left God free to
act, placing no obstacles in his way. Joseph is a "just man" (Mt
1:19) because his existence is "ad-justed" to the word of God.
The life of Saint Joseph, lived in obedience to God’s word, is
an eloquent sign for all the disciples of Jesus who seek the
unity of the Church. His example helps us to understand that it
is only by complete submission to the will of God that we become
effective workers in the service of his plan to gather together
all mankind into one family, one assembly, one "ecclesia". Dear
friends from other Christian confessions, this quest for unity
among the disciples of Christ represents a great challenge for
us. It leads us first of all to be converted to the Person of
Christ, to let ourselves be drawn more and more to him. In him,
we are called to acknowledge one another as brothers and
sisters, children of the same Father. During this year dedicated
to the Apostle Paul, the great herald of Jesus Christ and the
Apostle of the Nations, let us all turn towards him so as to
hear and learn "the faith and truth" which are the deepest
reasons for the unity of Christ’s disciples.
In conclusion, let us now turn to the spouse of Saint Joseph,
the Virgin Mary, "Queen of Apostles", for under this title she
is invoked as Patroness of Cameroon. To her I commend the
consecration which each of you has received, as well as your
desire to respond ever more faithfully to your calling and to
the mission entrusted to you. Finally, I invoke her intercession
for your beautiful country. Amen.
Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they
Pierced!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
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