CASTEL GANDOLFO,
Italy, SEPT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the
address Benedict XVI gave Monday upon receiving in audience
bishops who were ordained in the last year.
* * *
Dear Brothers in the episcopate!
My heartfelt thanks for your visit, on the occasion of the
congress promoted for the bishops who have recently taken up
their pastoral ministry. These days of reflection, prayer and
updating are really propitious to help you, dear brothers, to
familiarize yourselves better with the tasks that you are called
to assume as pastors of diocesan communities; they are also days
of friendly coexistence that constitute a singular experience of
that "collegialitas affective" that unites all bishops in one
apostolic body, together with the Successor of Peter, "perpetual
and visible foundation of unity" (Lumen Gentium, 23).
I thank Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the
Congregation for Bishops, for the courteous words he addressed
to me in your name; I greet Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of
the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, and express my
acknowledgment to all those who in different ways collaborate in
the organization of this annual meeting.
This year, your congress is inserted in the context of the Year
for Priests, proclaimed on the 150th anniversary of the death of
St. John Mary Vianney. As I wrote in the letter sent for the
occasion to all priests, this special year is "meant to deepen
the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake
of a stronger and more incisive witness to the Gospel in today's
world."
The imitation of Jesus the Good Shepherd is, for every priest,
the obligatory path for their own sanctification and the
essential condition for exercising the pastoral ministry
responsibly. If this is true for priests, it is even more so for
us, dear brother bishops. What is more, it is important not to
forget that one of the essential tasks of the bishop is
precisely to help priests, by example and with fraternal
support, to follow their vocation faithfully, and to work with
enthusiasm and love in the Lord's vineyard.
In this connection, in the post-synodal exhortation "Pastores
Gregis," my venerated predecessor John Paul II observed that the
priest's gesture, when he puts his own hands in the hands of the
bishop on the day of his priestly ordination, commits both of
them: the priest and the bishop. The new priest chooses to
entrust himself to the bishop and, for his part, the bishop
commits himself to guard these hands (No. 47). Well seen, this
is a solemn task that is configured for the bishop as paternal
responsibility in the custody and promotion of the priestly
identity of the presbyters entrusted to his pastoral care, an
identity that unfortunately we see today subjected to a harsh
test by growing secularization. Therefore the bishop --
continues "Pastores Gregis" -- "will always strive to relate to
his priests as a father and brother who loves them, listens to
them, welcomes them, corrects them, supports them, seeks their
cooperation and, as much as possible, is concerned for their
human, spiritual, ministerial and financial well-being" (ibid.,
No. 47).
In a special way, the bishop is called to nourish the spiritual
life in priests, to foster in them harmony between prayer and
the apostolate, looking at the example of Jesus and of the
Apostles, whom he called first of all "to be with him" (Mark
3:14). An indispensable condition to produce good fruits is, in
fact, that the priest remain united to the Lord; herein lies the
secret of the fecundity of his ministry: Only if he is
incorporated with Christ, true Vine, will he bear fruit.
A presbyter's mission and, with greater reason, that of a
bishop, entails today a lot of work that tends to absorb him
continually and totally. The difficulties increase and the
incumbencies multiply, also because we are faced with new
realities and growing pastoral demands. Nevertheless, attention
to the problems of every day and the initiatives directed to
leading men on the way of God, must never distract us from our
profound and personal union with Christ. To be available to
people should not diminish or obfuscate our availability to the
Lord. The time that the priest and bishop dedicate to God in
prayer is always the best employed, because prayer is the soul
of pastoral activity, the "lymph" that gives it strength, it is
a support in moments of uncertainty and the inexhaustible source
of missionary fervor and fraternal love toward all.
The Eucharist is at the center of priestly life. In the
apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" I stressed how
"Mass is formative in the deepest sense of the word, since it
fosters the priest's configuration to Christ and strengthens him
in his vocation" (No. 80). Therefore, may the Eucharistic
celebration illumine your day and that of your priests,
imprinting its grace and spiritual influence in sad and joyful,
agitated and peaceful moments of action and contemplation. A
privileged way of prolonging in the day the mysterious
sanctifying action of the Eucharist is to recite devoutly the
Liturgy of the Hours, and also Eucharistic adoration, lectio
divina and the contemplative prayer of the rosary. The holy Cure
d'Ars teaches us how precious are the priest's empathy with the
Eucharistic sacrifice and the education of the faithful in the
Eucharistic presence and in communion. With the Word and the
Sacraments -- I recalled in the Letter to Priests -- St. John
Mary Vianney edified his people. At the time of appointing him
parish priest of Ars, the vicar-general of the Diocese of Belley
said: "There is not much love of God in that parish, but you
will put it there!" And that parish was transformed.
Dear new bishops, thank you for the service you render the
Church with dedication and love. I greet you with affection and
assure you of my constant support joined to prayer so that "you
will go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide" (John
15:16). For this I invoke the intercession of Mary Regina
Apostolorum, and I impart from my heart to you, your priests and
your diocesan communities a special apostolic blessing.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look at the One they
Pierced!
