HOMILIES OF A
PETRINE HEART
"A SPECIAL
GRACE WHICH JOHN PAUL II HAS OBTAINED FOR ME...
I FEEL HIS
STRONG HAND CLASPING MINE."
Homily at Funeral Mass of
the Roman Pontiff John Paul II-
April 8, 2005
Homily at Mass «Pro Eligendo
Romano Pontifice»-
April 18, 2005
Message at the End of the
Eucharistic Concelebration with the College of Cardinals-
April 20, 2005
Homily at Mass, Imposition
of the Pallium and Conferral of the Fisherman's Ring-
April 24, 2005
FUNERAL MASS OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II
HOMILY OF HIS EMINENCE CARD. JOSEPH RATZINGER
St Peter's Square
Friday, April 8 2005
"Follow me. " The Risen Lord says these words to Peter. They are
his last words to this disciple, chosen to shepherd his flock.
"Follow me" – this lapidary saying of Christ can be taken as the
key to understanding the message which comes to us from the life
of our late beloved Pope John Paul II. Today we bury his remains
in the earth as a seed of immortality – our hearts are full of
sadness, yet at the same time of joyful hope and profound
gratitude.
These are the sentiments that inspire us, Brothers and Sisters
in Christ, present here in Saint Peter’s Square, in neighbouring
streets and in various other locations within the city of Rome,
where an immense crowd, silently praying, has gathered over the
last few days. I greet all of you from my heart. In the name of
the College of Cardinals, I also wish to express my respects to
Heads of State, Heads of Government and the delegations from
various countries. I greet the Authorities and official
representatives of other Churches and Christian Communities, and
likewise those of different religions. Next I greet the
Archbishops, Bishops, priests, religious men and women and the
faithful who have come here from every Continent; especially the
young, whom John Paul II liked to call the future and the hope
of the Church. My greeting is extended, moreover, to all those
throughout the world who are united with us through radio and
television in this solemn celebration of our beloved Holy
Father’s funeral.
Follow me – as a young student Karol Wojtyła was thrilled by
literature, the theatre, and poetry. Working in a chemical
plant, surrounded and threatened by the Nazi terror, he heard
the voice of the Lord: Follow me! In this extraordinary setting
he began to read books of philosophy and theology, and then
entered the clandestine seminary established by Cardinal Sapieha.
After the war he was able to complete his studies in the faculty
of theology of the Jagiellonian University of Kraków. How often,
in his letters to priests and in his autobiographical books has
he spoken to us about his priesthood, to which he was ordained
on 1 November 1946. In these texts he interprets his priesthood
with particular reference to three sayings of the Lord. First:
"You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to
go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (Jn 15:16). The
second saying is: "The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep" (Jn 10:11). And then: "As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you; abide in my love" (Jn 15:9). In
these three sayings we see the heart and soul of our Holy
Father. He really went everywhere, untiringly, in order to bear
fruit, fruit that lasts. "Rise, Let us be on our Way!" is the
title of his next-to-last book. "Rise, let us be on our way!" –
with these words he roused us from a lethargic faith, from the
sleep of the disciples of both yesterday and today. "Rise, let
us be on our way!" he continues to say to us even today. The
Holy Father was a priest to the last, for he offered his life to
God for his flock and for the entire human family, in a daily
self-oblation for the service of the Church, especially amid the
sufferings of his final months. And in this way he became one
with Christ, the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep. Finally,
"abide in my love:" the Pope who tried to meet everyone, who had
an ability to forgive and to open his heart to all, tells us
once again today, with these words of the Lord, that by abiding
in the love of Christ we learn, at the school of Christ, the art
of true love.
Follow me! In July 1958 the young priest Karol Wojtyła began a
new stage in his journey with the Lord and in the footsteps of
the Lord. Karol had gone to the Masuri lakes for his usual
vacation, along with a group of young people who loved canoeing.
But he brought with him a letter inviting him to call on the
Primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszyński. He could guess the
purpose of the meeting: he was to be appointed as the auxiliary
Bishop of Kraków. Leaving the academic world, leaving this
challenging engagement with young people, leaving the great
intellectual endeavour of striving to understand and interpret
the mystery of that creature which is man and of communicating
to today’s world the Christian interpretation of our being – all
this must have seemed to him like losing his very self, losing
what had become the very human identity of this young priest.
Follow me – Karol Wojtyła accepted the appointment, for he heard
in the Church’s call the voice of Christ. And then he realized
how true are the Lord’s words: "Those who try to make their life
secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it"
(Lk 17:33). Our Pope – and we all know this – never
wanted to make his own life secure, to keep it for himself; he
wanted to give of himself unreservedly, to the very last moment,
for Christ and thus also for us. And thus he came to experience
how everything which he had given over into the Lord’s hands
came back to him in a new way. His love of words, of poetry, of
literature, became an essential part of his pastoral mission and
gave new vitality, new urgency, new attractiveness to the
preaching of the Gospel, even when it is a sign of
contradiction.
Follow me! In October 1978 Cardinal Wojtyła once again heard the
voice of the Lord. Once more there took place that dialogue with
Peter reported in the Gospel of this Mass: "Simon, son of John,
do you love me? Feed my sheep!" To the Lord’s question, "Karol,
do you love me?," the Archbishop of Krakow answered from the
depths of his heart: "Lord you know everything; you know that I
love you." The love of Christ was the dominant force in the life
of our beloved Holy Father. Anyone who ever saw him pray, who
ever heard him preach, knows that. Thanks to his being
profoundly rooted in Christ, he was able to bear a burden which
transcends merely human abilities: that of being the shepherd of
Christ’s flock, his universal Church. This is not the time to
speak of the specific content of this rich pontificate. I would
like only to read two passages of today’s liturgy which reflect
central elements of his message. In the first reading, Saint
Peter says – and with Saint Peter, the Pope himself – "I truly
understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation
anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to
him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ - he is Lord of all" (Acts
10:34-36). And in the second reading, Saint Paul – and with
Saint Paul, our late Pope – exhorts us, crying out: "My brothers
and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown,
stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved" (Phil
4:1).
Follow me! Together with the command to feed his flock, Christ
proclaimed to Peter that he would die a martyr’s death. With
those words, which conclude and sum up the dialogue on love and
on the mandate of the universal shepherd, the Lord recalls
another dialogue, which took place during the Last Supper. There
Jesus had said: "Where I am going, you cannot come." Peter said
to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied: "Where I am
going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow me
afterward." (Jn 13:33,36). Jesus from the Supper went
towards the Cross, went towards his resurrection – he entered
into the paschal mystery; and Peter could not yet follow him.
Now – after the resurrection – comes the time, comes this
"afterward." By shepherding the flock of Christ, Peter enters
into the paschal mystery, he goes towards the cross and the
resurrection. The Lord says this in these words: "... when you
were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go
wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out
your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and
take you where you do not wish to go" (Jn 21:18). In the
first years of his pontificate, still young and full of energy,
the Holy Father went to the very ends of the earth, guided by
Christ. But afterwards, he increasingly entered into the
communion of Christ’s sufferings; increasingly he understood the
truth of the words: "Someone else will fasten a belt around
you." And in this very communion with the suffering Lord,
tirelessly and with renewed intensity, he proclaimed the Gospel,
the mystery of that love which goes to the end (cf. Jn
13:1).
He
interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine
mercy. In his last book, he wrote: The limit imposed upon evil
"is ultimately Divine Mercy" (Memory and Identity, pp.
60-61). And reflecting on the assassination attempt, he said:
"In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to
suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of
love ... It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with
the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a great
flowering of good" (pp. 189-190). Impelled by this vision, the
Pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is
why the message of his suffering and his silence proved so
eloquent and so fruitful.
Divine Mercy: the Holy Father found the purest reflection of
God’s mercy in the Mother of God. He, who at an early age had
lost his own mother, loved his divine mother all the more. He
heard the words of the crucified Lord as addressed personally to
him: "Behold your Mother." And so he did as the beloved disciple
did: he took her into his own home" (eis ta idia: Jn
19:27) – Totus tuus. And from the mother he learned to
conform himself to Christ.
None
of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his
life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to
the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his
blessing urbi et orbi. We can be sure that our beloved
Pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that
he sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We
entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who
guided you each day and who will guide you now to the eternal
glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
CAPPELLA PAPALE
MASS «PRO
ELIGENDO ROMANO PONTIFICE»
HOMILY OF HIS EMINENCE CARD. JOSEPH RATZINGER
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
Vatican Basilica
Monday 18 April 2005
At this moment of great responsibility, let us listen with
special attention to what the Lord says to us in his own words.
I would like to examine just a few passages from the three
readings that concern us directly at this time.
The
first one offers us a prophetic portrait of the person of the
Messiah - a portrait that receives its full meaning from the
moment when Jesus reads the text in the synagogue at Nazareth
and says, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your
hearing" (Lk 4: 21).
At
the core of the prophetic text we find a word which seems
contradictory, at least at first sight. The Messiah, speaking of
himself, says that he was sent "to announce a year of favour
from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God" (Is 61: 2).
We hear with joy the news of a year of favour: divine mercy puts
a limit on evil, as the Holy Father told us. Jesus Christ is
divine mercy in person: encountering Christ means encountering
God's mercy.
Christ's mandate has become our mandate through the priestly
anointing. We are called to proclaim, not only with our words
but also with our lives and with the valuable signs of the
sacraments, "the year of favour from the Lord".
But
what does the prophet Isaiah mean when he announces "the day of
vindication by our God"? At Nazareth, Jesus omitted these words
in his reading of the prophet's text; he concluded by announcing
the year of favour. Might this have been the reason for the
outburst of scandal after his preaching? We do not know.
In
any case, the Lord offered a genuine commentary on these words
by being put to death on the cross. St Peter says: "In his own
body he brought your sins to the cross" (I Pt 2: 24). And St
Paul writes in his Letter to the Galatians: "Christ has
delivered us from the power of the law's curse by himself
becoming a curse for us, as it is written, "Accursed is anyone
who is hanged on a tree'. This happened so that through Christ
Jesus the blessing bestowed on Abraham might descend on the
Gentiles in Christ Jesus, thereby making it possible for us to
receive the promised Spirit through faith" (Gal 3: 13f.).
Christ's mercy is not a grace that comes cheap, nor does it
imply the trivialization of evil. Christ carries the full weight
of evil and all its destructive force in his body and in his
soul. He burns and transforms evil in suffering, in the fire of
his suffering love. The day of vindication and the year of
favour converge in the Paschal Mystery, in the dead and Risen
Christ. This is the vengeance of God: he himself suffers for us,
in the person of his Son. The more deeply stirred we are by the
Lord's mercy, the greater the solidarity we feel with his
suffering - and we become willing to complete in our own flesh
"what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col 1: 24).
Let
us move on to the second reading, the letter to the Ephesians.
Here we see essentially three aspects: first of all, the
ministries and charisms in the Church as gifts of the Lord who
rose and ascended into heaven; then, the maturing of faith and
the knowledge of the Son of God as the condition and content of
unity in the Body of Christ; and lastly, our common
participation in the growth of the Body of Christ, that is, the
transformation of the world into communion with the Lord.
Let
us dwell on only two points. The first is the journey towards
"the maturity of Christ", as the Italian text says, simplifying
it slightly. More precisely, in accordance with the Greek text,
we should speak of the "measure of the fullness of Christ" that
we are called to attain if we are to be true adults in the
faith. We must not remain children in faith, in the condition of
minors. And what does it mean to be children in faith? St Paul
answers: it means being "tossed here and there, carried about by
every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4: 14). This description is very
timely!
How
many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many
ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat
of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by
these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to
liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical
individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from
agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects
spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the
trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4:
14) comes true.
Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is
often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is,
letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by
every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope
with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism
that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose
ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true
man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not
a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest
novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship
with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that
is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the
true from the false, and deceipt from truth. We must develop
this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this
faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity
and is fulfilled in love.
On
this theme, St Paul offers us as a fundamental formula for
Christian existence some beautiful words, in contrast to the
continual vicissitudes of those who, like children, are tossed
about by the waves: make truth in love. Truth and love coincide
in Christ. To the extent that we draw close to Christ, in our
own lives too, truth and love are blended. Love without truth
would be blind; truth without love would be like "a clanging
cymbal" (I Cor 13: 1).
Let
us now look at the Gospel, from whose riches I would like to
draw only two small observations. The Lord addresses these
wonderful words to us: "I no longer speak of you as slaves....
Instead, I call you friends" (Jn 15: 15). We so often feel, and
it is true, that we are only useless servants (cf. Lk 17: 10).
Yet,
in spite of this, the Lord calls us friends, he makes us his
friends, he gives us his friendship. The Lord gives friendship a
dual definition. There are no secrets between friends: Christ
tells us all that he hears from the Father; he gives us his full
trust and with trust, also knowledge. He reveals his face and
his heart to us. He shows us the tenderness he feels for us, his
passionate love that goes even as far as the folly of the Cross.
He entrusts himself to us, he gives us the power to speak in his
name: "this is my body...", "I forgive you...". He entrusts his
Body, the Church, to us.
To our weak minds, to our weak hands, he entrusts his truth -
the mystery of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; the
mystery of God who "so loved the world that he gave his only
Son" (Jn 3: 16). He made us his friends - and how do we respond?
The
second element Jesus uses to define friendship is the communion
of wills. For the Romans "Idem velle - idem nolle" [same
desires, same dislikes] was also the definition of friendship.
"You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15: 14).
Friendship with Christ coincides with the third request of the
Our Father: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". At
his hour in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus transformed our
rebellious human will into a will conformed and united with the
divine will. He suffered the whole drama of our autonomy - and
precisely by placing our will in God's hands, he gives us true
freedom: "Not as I will, but as you will" (Mt 26: 39).
Our
redemption is brought about in this communion of wills: being
friends of Jesus, to become friends of God. The more we love
Jesus, the more we know him, the more our true freedom develops
and our joy in being redeemed flourishes. Thank you, Jesus, for
your friendship!
The
other element of the Gospel to which I wanted to refer is Jesus'
teaching on bearing fruit: "It was I who chose you to go forth
and bear fruit. Your fruit must endure" (Jn 15: 16). It is here
that appears the dynamism of the life of a Christian, an
apostle: I chose you to go forth. We must be enlivened by a holy
restlessness: a restlessness to bring to everyone the gift of
faith, of friendship with Christ. Truly, the love and friendship
of God was given to us so that it might also be shared with
others. We have received the faith to give it to others - we are
priests in order to serve others. And we must bear fruit that
will endure.
All
people desire to leave a lasting mark. But what endures? Money
does not. Even buildings do not, nor books. After a certain
time, longer or shorter, all these things disappear. The only
thing that lasts for ever is the human soul, the human person
created by God for eternity. The fruit that endures is
therefore all that we have sown in human souls: love, knowledge,
a gesture capable of touching hearts, words that open the soul
to joy in the Lord. So let us go and pray to the Lord to help us
bear fruit that endures. Only in this way will the earth be
changed from a valley of tears to a garden of God.
To
conclude, let us return once again to the Letter to the
Ephesians. The Letter says, with words from Psalm 68, that
Christ, ascending into heaven, "gave gifts to men" (Eph 4: 8).
The victor offers gifts. And these gifts are apostles, pro-phets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers. Our ministry is a gift of
Christ to humankind, to build up his body - the new world. We
live out our ministry in this way, as a gift of Christ to
humanity!
At this time, however, let us above all pray insistently to the
Lord that after his great gift of Pope John Paul II, he will
once again give us a Pastor according to his own heart, a Pastor
who will guide us to knowledge of Christ, to his love and to
true joy. Amen.
MISSA PRO ECCLESIA
FIRST
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI AT THE END OF THE
EUCHARISTIC CONCELEBRATION
WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
Sistine Chapel
Wednesday, 20 April 2005
Venerable Brother Cardinals,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
All you men and women of good will,
1. "Favour
and peace be yours in abundance" (I Pt 1: 2)! At this time, side
by side in my heart I feel two contrasting emotions. On the one
hand, a sense of inadequacy and human apprehension as I face the
responsibility for the universal Church, entrusted to me
yesterday as Successor of the Apostle Peter in this See of Rome.
On the other, I have a lively feeling of profound gratitude to
God who, as the liturgy makes us sing, never leaves his flock
untended but leads it down the ages under the guidance of those
whom he himself has chosen as the Vicars of his Son and has made
shepherds of the flock (cf. Preface of Apostles I).
Dear
friends, this deep gratitude for a gift of divine mercy is
uppermost in my heart in spite of all. And I consider it a
special grace which my Venerable Predecessor, John Paul II, has
obtained for me. I seem to feel his strong hand clasping mine; I
seem to see his smiling eyes and hear his words, at this moment
addressed specifically to me, "Do not be afraid!".
The
death of the Holy Father John Paul II and the days that followed
have been an extraordinary period of grace for the Church and
for the whole world. Deep sorrow at his departure and the sense
of emptiness that it left in everyone have been tempered by the
action of the Risen Christ, which was manifested during long
days in the unanimous wave of faith, love and spiritual
solidarity that culminated in his solemn funeral Mass.
We
can say it: John Paul II's funeral was a truly extraordinary
experience in which, in a certain way, we glimpsed the power of
God who, through his Church, wants to make a great family of all
the peoples by means of the unifying power of Truth and Love
(cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 1). Conformed to his Master and Lord,
John Paul II crowned his long and fruitful Pontificate at the
hour of his death, strengthening Christian people in their
faith, gathering them around him and making the entire human
family feel more closely united.
How
can we not feel sustained by this testimony? How can we fail to
perceive the encouragement that comes from this event of grace?
2.
Surprising all my expectations, through the votes of the
Venerable Father Cardinals, divine Providence has called me to
succeed this great Pope. I am thinking back at this moment to
what happened in the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi some
2,000 years ago. I seem to hear Peter's words: "You are the
Christ..., the Son of the living God", and the Lord's solemn
affirmation: "You are "Peter' and on this rock I will build my
Church.... I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven" (cf. Mt 16: 15-19).
You
are Christ! You are Peter! I seem to be reliving the same Gospel
scene; I, the Successor of Peter, repeat with trepidation the
anxious words of the fisherman of Galilee and listen once again
with deep emotion to the reassuring promise of the divine
Master. Although the weight of responsibility laid on my own
poor shoulders is enormous, there is no doubt that the divine
power on which I can count is boundless: "You are "Peter', and
on this rock I will build my Church" (Mt 16: 18). In choosing me
as Bishop of Rome, the Lord wanted me to be his Vicar, he wanted
me to be the "rock" on which we can all safely stand. I ask him
to compensate for my limitations so that I may be a courageous
and faithful Pastor of his flock, ever docile to the promptings
of his Spirit.
I am
preparing to undertake this special ministry, the "Petrine"
ministry at the service of the universal Church, with humble
abandonment into the hands of God's Providence. I first of all
renew my total and confident loyalty to Christ: "In Te, Domine,
speravi; non confundar in aeternum!".
Your
Eminences, with heartfelt gratitude for the trust you have shown
me, I ask you to support me with your prayers and with your
constant, active and wise collaboration. I also ask all my
Brothers in the Episcopate to be close to me with their prayers
and advice, so that I may truly be the Servus servorum Dei. Just
as the Lord willed that Peter and the other Apostles make up the
one Apostolic College, in the same way the Successor of Peter
and the Bishops, successors of the Apostles - the Council has
forcefully reasserted this (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 22) -, must be
closely united with one another. This collegial communion,
despite the diversity of roles and functions of the Roman
Pontiff and the Bishops, is at the service of the Church and of
unity in the faith, on which the efficacy of evangelizing action
in the contemporary world largely depends. Therefore, it is on
this path, taken by my Venerable Predecessors, that I also
intend to set out, with the sole concern of proclaiming the
living presence of Christ to the whole world.
3. I
have before my eyes in particular the testimony of Pope John
Paul II. He leaves a Church that is more courageous, freer, more
youthful. She is a Church which, in accordance with his teaching
and example, looks serenely at the past and is not afraid of the
future. With the Great Jubilee she entered the new millennium,
bearing the Gospel, applied to today's world through the
authoritative rereading of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John
Paul II rightly pointed out the Council as a "compass" by which
to take our bearings in the vast ocean of the third millennium
(cf. Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, nn. 57-58). Also,
in his spiritual Testament he noted, "I am convinced that it
will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the
treasures that this 20th-century Council has lavished upon us"
(17 March 2000; L'Osservatore Romano English edition [ORE], 13
April 2005, p. 4).
Thus, as I prepare myself for the service that is proper to the
Successor of Peter, I also wish to confirm my determination to
continue to put the Second Vatican Council into practice,
following in the footsteps of my Predecessors and in faithful
continuity with the 2,000-year tradition of the Church. This
very year marks the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the
Council (8 December 1965). As the years have passed, the
Conciliar Documents have lost none of their timeliness; indeed,
their teachings are proving particularly relevant to the new
situation of the Church and the current globalized society.
4.
My Pontificate begins in a particularly meaningful way as the
Church is living the special Year dedicated to the Eucharist.
How could I fail to see this providential coincidence as an
element that must mark the ministry to which I am called? The
Eucharist, the heart of Christian life and the source of the
Church's evangelizing mission, cannot but constitute the
permanent centre and source of the Petrine ministry that has
been entrusted to me.
The
Eucharist makes constantly present the Risen Christ who
continues to give himself to us, calling us to participate in
the banquet of his Body and his Blood. From full communion with
him flows every other element of the Church's life: first of
all, communion among all the faithful, the commitment to
proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel, the ardour of love for
all, especially the poorest and lowliest.
This
year, therefore, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi must be
celebrated with special solemnity. Subsequently, the Eucharist
will be the centre of the World Youth Day in Cologne in August,
and in October, also of the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of
Bishops, whose theme will be: "The Eucharist, source and summit
of the life and mission of the Church". I ask everyone in the
coming months to intensify love and devotion for Jesus in the
Eucharist, and to express courageously and clearly faith in the
Real Presence of the Lord, especially by the solemnity and the
correctness of the celebrations.
I
ask this especially of priests, whom I am thinking of with deep
affection at this moment. The ministerial Priesthood was born at
the Last Supper, together with the Eucharist, as my Venerable
Predecessor John Paul II so frequently emphasized. "All the more
then must the life of a priest be "shaped' by the Eucharist"
(Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2005, n. 1; ORE, 23 March,
p. 4). In the first place, the devout, daily
celebration of Holy Mass, the centre of the life and mission of
every priest, contributes to this goal.
5.
Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but
feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ
expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of
Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for
his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted
with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Lk 22: 32).
With
full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in
the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's
current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work
tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's
followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty. He is aware
that good intentions do not suffice for this. Concrete gestures
that enter hearts and stir consciences are essential, inspiring
in everyone that inner conversion that is the prerequisite for
all ecumenical progress.
Theological dialogue is necessary; the investigation of the
historical reasons for the decisions made in the past is also
indispensable. But what is most urgently needed is that
"purification of memory", so often recalled by John Paul II,
which alone can dispose souls to accept the full truth of
Christ. Each one of us must come before him, the supreme Judge
of every living person, and render an account to him of all we
have done or have failed to do to further the great good of the
full and visible unity of all his disciples.
The
current Successor of Peter is allowing himself to be called in
the first person by this requirement and is prepared to do
everything in his power to promote the fundamental cause of
ecumenism. Following the example of his Predecessors, he is
fully determined to encourage every initiative that seems
appropriate for promoting contacts and understanding with the
representatives of the different Churches and Ecclesial
Communities. Indeed, on this occasion he sends them his most
cordial greeting in Christ, the one Lord of us all.
6. I
am thinking back at this time to the unforgettable experience
seen by all of us on the occasion of the death and funeral of
the late John Paul II. The Heads of Nations, people from every
social class and especially young people gathered round his
mortal remains, laid on the bare ground, in an unforgettable
embrace of love and admiration. The whole world looked to him
with trust. To many it seemed that this intense participation,
amplified by the media to reach the very ends of the planet, was
like a unanimous appeal for help addressed to the Pope by
today's humanity which, upset by uncertainties and fears, was
questioning itself on its future.
The
Church of today must revive her awareness of the duty to
repropose to the world the voice of the One who said: "I am the
light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in
darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life" (Jn 8: 12). In
carrying out his ministry, the new Pope knows that his task is
to make Christ's light shine out before the men and women of
today: not his own light, but Christ's.
Aware of this I address everyone, including the followers of
other religions or those who are simply seeking an answer to the
fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it. I
address all with simplicity and affection, to assure them that
the Church wants to continue to weave an open and sincere
dialogue with them, in the search for the true good of the human
being and of society.
I
ask God for unity and peace for the human family, and declare
the willingness of all Catholics to cooperate for an authentic
social development, respectful of the dignity of every human
being. I will make every conscientious effort to continue the
promising dialogue initiated by my Venerable Predecessors with
the different civilizations, so that mutual understanding may
create the conditions for a better future for all.
I am
thinking in particular of the young. I offer my affectionate
embrace to them, the privileged partners in dialogue with Pope
John Paul II, hoping, please God, to meet them in Cologne on the
occasion of the upcoming World Youth Day. I will continue our
dialogue, dear young people, the future and hope of the Church
and of humanity, listening to your expectations in the desire to
help you encounter in ever greater depth the living Christ,
eternally young.
7.
Mane nobiscum, Domine! Stay with us, Lord! This invocation,
which is the principal topic of the Apostolic Letter of John
Paul II for the Year of the Eucharist, is the prayer that wells
up spontaneously from my heart as I prepare to begin the
ministry to which Christ has called me. Like Peter, I too renew
to him my unconditional promise of fidelity. I intend to serve
him alone, dedicating myself totally to the service of his
Church.
To
support me in my promise, I call on the motherly intercession of
Mary Most Holy, in whose hands I place the present and future of
the Church and of myself. May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
and all the Saints also intercede for us. With these sentiments
I impart to you, Venerable Brother Cardinals, to those who are
taking part in this rite and to all who are watching it on
television and listening to it on the radio, a special,
affectionate Blessing.
Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
MASS, IMPOSITION OF THE PALLIUM AND CONFERRAL OF THE FISHERMAN'S
RING
FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE PETRINE MINISTRY
OF THE BISHOP OF ROME
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St. Peter's Square
Sunday, 24 April 2005
Your Eminences,
My dear Brother Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
During
these days of great intensity, we have chanted the litany of the
saints on three different occasions: at the funeral of our Holy
Father John Paul II; as the Cardinals entered the Conclave; and
again today, when we sang it with the response: Tu illum adiuva
– sustain the new Successor of Saint Peter. On each occasion, in a
particular way, I found great consolation in listening to this
prayerful chant. How alone we all felt after the passing of John
Paul II – the Pope who for over twenty-six years had been our
shepherd and guide on our journey through life! He crossed the
threshold of the next life, entering into the mystery of God. But he
did not take this step alone. Those who believe are never alone –
neither in life nor in death. At that moment, we could call upon the
Saints from every age – his friends, his brothers and sisters in the
faith – knowing that they would form a living procession to
accompany him into the next world, into the glory of God. We knew
that his arrival was awaited. Now we know that he is among his own
and is truly at home. We were also consoled as we made our solemn
entrance into Conclave, to elect the one whom the Lord had chosen.
How would we be able to discern his name? How could 115 Bishops,
from every culture and every country, discover the one on whom the
Lord wished to confer the mission of binding and loosing? Once
again, we knew that we were not alone, we knew that we were
surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God. And now, at this
moment, weak servant of God that I am, I must assume this enormous
task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How can I do this? How
will I be able to do it? All of you, my dear friends, have just
invoked the entire host of Saints, represented by some of the great
names in the history of God’s dealings with mankind. In this way, I
too can say with renewed conviction: I am not alone. I do not have
to carry alone what in truth I could never carry alone. All the
Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry
me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love,
your faith and your hope accompany me. Indeed, the communion of
Saints consists not only of the great men and women who went before
us and whose names we know. All of us belong to the communion of
Saints, we who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we who draw life from the gift of
Christ’s Body and Blood, through which he transforms us and makes us
like himself. Yes, the Church is alive – this is the wonderful
experience of these days. During those sad days of the Pope’s
illness and death, it became wonderfully evident to us that the
Church is alive. And the Church is young. She holds within herself
the future of the world and therefore shows each of us the way
towards the future. The Church is alive and we are seeing it: we are
experiencing the joy that the Risen Lord promised his followers. The
Church is alive – she is alive because Christ is alive, because he
is truly risen. In the suffering that we saw on the Holy Father’s
face in those days of Easter, we contemplated the mystery of
Christ’s Passion and we touched his wounds. But throughout these
days we have also been able, in a profound sense, to touch the Risen
One. We have been able to experience the joy that he promised, after
a brief period of darkness, as the fruit of his resurrection.
The
Church is alive – with these words, I greet with great joy and
gratitude all of you gathered here, my venerable brother Cardinals
and Bishops, my dear priests, deacons, Church workers, catechists. I
greet you, men and women Religious, witnesses of the transfiguring
presence of God. I greet you, members of the lay faithful, immersed
in the great task of building up the Kingdom of God which spreads
throughout the world, in every area of life. With great affection I
also greet all those who have been reborn in the sacrament of
Baptism but are not yet in full communion with us; and you, my
brothers and sisters of the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by
a great shared spiritual heritage, one rooted in God’s irrevocable
promises. Finally, like a wave gathering force, my thoughts go out
to all men and women of today, to believers and non-believers alike.
Dear
friends! At this moment there is no need for me to present a
programme of governance. I was able to give an indication of what I
see as my task in my Message of Wednesday 20 April, and there will
be other opportunities to do so. My real programme of governance is
not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen,
together with the whole Church, to the word and the will of the
Lord, to be guided by Him, so that He himself will lead the Church
at this hour of our history. Instead of putting forward a programme,
I should simply like to comment on the two liturgical symbols which
represent the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry; both these
symbols, moreover, reflect clearly what we heard proclaimed in
today’s readings.
The
first symbol is the Pallium, woven in pure wool, which will be
placed on my shoulders. This ancient sign, which the Bishops of Rome
have worn since the fourth century, may be considered an image of
the yoke of Christ, which the Bishop of this City, the Servant of
the Servants of God, takes upon his shoulders. God’s yoke is God’s
will, which we accept. And this will does not weigh down on us,
oppressing us and taking away our freedom. To know what God wants,
to know where the path of life is found – this was Israel’s joy,
this was her great privilege. It is also our joy: God’s will does
not alienate us, it purifies us – even if this can be painful – and
so it leads us to ourselves. In this way, we serve not only him, but
the salvation of the whole world, of all history. The symbolism of
the Pallium is even more concrete: the lamb’s wool is meant to
represent the lost, sick or weak sheep which the shepherd places on
his shoulders and carries to the waters of life. For the Fathers of
the Church, the parable of the lost sheep, which the shepherd seeks
in the desert, was an image of the mystery of Christ and the Church.
The human race – every one of us – is the sheep lost in the desert
which no longer knows the way. The Son of God will not let this
happen; he cannot abandon humanity in so wretched a condition. He
leaps to his feet and abandons the glory of heaven, in order to go
in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the Cross. He
takes it upon his shoulders and carries our humanity; he carries us
all – he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
What the Pallium indicates first and foremost is that we are all
carried by Christ. But at the same time it invites us to carry one
another. Hence the Pallium becomes a symbol of the shepherd’s
mission, of which the Second Reading and the Gospel speak. The
pastor must be inspired by Christ’s holy zeal: for him it is not a
matter of indifference that so many people are living in the desert.
And there are so many kinds of desert. There is the desert of
poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment,
of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of God’s
darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or
the goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are
growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore
the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all
to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of
exploitation and destruction. The Church as a whole and all her
Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert,
towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God,
towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance. The symbol
of the lamb also has a deeper meaning. In the Ancient Near East, it
was customary for kings to style themselves shepherds of their
people. This was an image of their power, a cynical image: to them
their subjects were like sheep, which the shepherd could dispose of
as he wished. When the shepherd of all humanity, the living God,
himself became a lamb, he stood on the side of the lambs, with those
who are downtrodden and killed. This is how he reveals himself to be
the true shepherd: “I am the Good Shepherd . . . I lay down my life
for the sheep”, Jesus says of himself (Jn 10:14f). It is not
power, but love that redeems us! This is God’s sign: he himself is
love. How often we wish that God would make show himself stronger,
that he would strike decisively, defeating evil and creating a
better world. All ideologies of power justify themselves in exactly
this way, they justify the destruction of whatever would stand in
the way of progress and the liberation of humanity. We suffer on
account of God’s patience. And yet, we need his patience. God, who
became a lamb, tells us that the world is saved by the Crucified
One, not by those who crucified him. The world is redeemed by the
patience of God. It is destroyed by the impatience of man.
One of
the basic characteristics of a shepherd must be to love the people
entrusted to him, even as he loves Christ whom he serves. “Feed my
sheep”, says Christ to Peter, and now, at this moment, he says it to
me as well. Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready
to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the
nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his
presence, which he gives us in the Blessed Sacrament. My dear
friends – at this moment I can only say: pray for me, that I may
learn to love the Lord more and more. Pray for me, that I may learn
to love his flock more and more – in other words, you, the holy
Church, each one of you and all of you together. Pray for me, that I
may not flee for fear of the wolves. Let us pray for one another,
that the Lord will carry us and that we will learn to carry one
another.
The
second symbol used in today’s liturgy to express the inauguration of
the Petrine Ministry is the presentation of the fisherman’s ring.
Peter’s call to be a shepherd, which we heard in the Gospel, comes
after the account of a miraculous catch of fish: after a night in
which the disciples had let down their nets without success, they
see the Risen Lord on the shore. He tells them to let down their
nets once more, and the nets become so full that they can hardly
pull them in; 153 large fish: “and although there were so many, the
net was not torn” (Jn 21:11). This account, coming at the end
of Jesus’s earthly journey with his disciples, corresponds to an
account found at the beginning: there too, the disciples had caught
nothing the entire night; there too, Jesus had invited Simon once
more to put out into the deep. And Simon, who was not yet called
Peter, gave the wonderful reply: “Master, at your word I will let
down the nets.” And then came the conferral of his mission: “Do not
be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men” (Lk 5:1-11).
Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to
put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as
to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true
life. The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this
singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water,
it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital
element to serve as human food. But in the mission of a fisher of
men, the reverse is true. We are living in alienation, in the salt
waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light.
The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings
us into the splendour of God’s light, into true life. It is really
true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we
must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many
forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of
God. It is really so: the purpose of our lives is to reveal God to
men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we
meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not
some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the
result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is
loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than
to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There
is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of
our friendship with Him. The task of the shepherd, the task of the
fisher of men, can often seem wearisome. But it is beautiful and
wonderful, because it is truly a service to joy, to God’s joy which
longs to break into the world.
Here I
want to add something: both the image of the shepherd and that of
the fisherman issue an explicit call to unity. “I have other sheep
that are not of this fold; I must lead them too, and they will heed
my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn
10:16); these are the words of Jesus at the end of his discourse on
the Good Shepherd. And the account of the 153 large fish ends with
the joyful statement: “although there were so many, the net was not
torn” (Jn
21:11). Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that
it has been torn! But no – we must not be sad! Let us rejoice
because of your promise, which does not disappoint, and let us do
all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised.
Let us remember it in our prayer to the Lord, as we plead with him:
yes, Lord, remember your promise. Grant that we may be one flock and
one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be
servants of unity!
At this
point, my mind goes back to 22 October 1978, when Pope John Paul II
began his ministry here in Saint Peter’s Square. His words on that
occasion constantly echo in my ears: “Do not be afraid! Open wide
the doors for Christ!” The Pope was addressing the mighty, the
powerful of this world, who feared that Christ might take away
something of their power if they were to let him in, if they were to
allow the faith to be free. Yes, he would certainly have taken
something away from them: the dominion of corruption, the
manipulation of law and the freedom to do as they pleased. But he
would not have taken away anything that pertains to human freedom or
dignity, or to the building of a just society. The Pope was also
speaking to everyone, especially the young. Are we not perhaps all
afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if
we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might
take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up
something significant, something unique, something that makes life
so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived
of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ
into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what
makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship
are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the
great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this
friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today,
with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long
personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not
be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you
everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold
in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will
find true life. Amen.
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