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Pope
Benedict XVI - Homilies |
Homily
"We Are Still Far from that Unity for Which Christ Prayed"
Homily to Close the Prayer for Christian Unity Week
H.H. Benedict XVI
January 25, 2011
www.zenit.org
Brothers and Sisters,
Following the example of Jesus, who on the eve of his Passion prayed to
the Father for his disciples "that they may all be one"
(John 17:21), Christians
continue to invoke incessantly from God the gift of this unity. This
request is made more intense during the Week of
Prayer, which ends today, when the Churches and ecclesial Communities
meditate and pray together for the unity of all Christians.
This year the theme offered for our meditation was proposed by the
Christian communities of Jerusalem, to which I would like to express by
heartfelt gratitude, accompanied by the assurance of affection and
prayer either on my part or on that of the whole of the Church. The
Christians of the Holy City invite us to renew and reinforce our
commitment for the re-establishment of full unity meditating on the
model of life of the first disciples of Christ gathered in Jerusalem:
"They -- we read in the Acts of the Apostles (and we heard it now) --
devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). This is the portrait of
the early community, born in Jerusalem the same day of Pentecost,
aroused by the preaching of the Apostle Peter, full of the Holy Spirit,
addressed to all those who had arrived in the Holy City for the feast. A
community not shut-in on itself, but, from its birth, catholic,
universal, capable of embracing people of different languages and
cultures, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles itself testifies. A
community not founded on a pact among its members, or the simple sharing
of a project or an ideal, but from profound communion with God, who
revealed himself in his Son, from the encounter with Christ dead and
resurrected.
In a brief summary, which ends the chapter that began with the account
of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the
Evangelist Luke presents synthetically the life of this first community:
how many had heard the word preached by Peter and were baptized,
listened to the Word of God, transmitted by the Apostles; were happily
together, taking charge of the necessary services and sharing freely and
generously their material goods; celebrated the sacrifice of Christ on
the Cross, his mystery of Death and Resurrection, in the Eucharist,
repeating the gesture of the breaking of the bread; they continually
praised and thanked the Lord, invoking his help in their difficulties.
This description, however, is not simply a memory of the past, and even
less the presentation of an example to imitate or of an ideal goal to
reach. It is rather the affirmation of the presence and action of the
Holy Spirit, uniting all in Christ, who is the principle of the unity of
the Church and makes believers one.
The teaching of the Apostles, fraternal communion, the breaking of the
bread and prayer are the concrete ways of life of the first Christian
community of Jerusalem gathered by the action of the Holy Spirit but at
the same time they constitute the essential features of all Christian
communities, of all times and all places. In other words, we can also
say that they represent the essential dimensions of the unity of the
visible Body of the Church.
We must be grateful because, in the course of the last decades, the
ecumenical movement, "arising from the impulse of the grace of the Holy
Spirit" ("Unitatis Redintegratio," No. 1), has taken significant steps
forward, which have made it possible to attain encouraging convergence
and consent on varied points, developing between the Churches and the
ecclesial communities relations of mutual esteem and respect, as well as
of concrete collaboration in face of the challenges of the contemporary
world. We are well aware, however, that we are still far from that unity
for which Christ prayed and which we find reflected in the portrait of
the first community of Jerusalem. The unity to which Christ, through his
Spirit, calls the Church is not realized only on the plane of
organizational structures, but is configured, at a much more profound
level, as expressed "in the confession of only one faith, in the common
celebration of divine worship and in the fraternal concord of the family
of God" (ibid., No. 2).
The search for the re-establishment of unity among divided Christians
cannot therefore be reduced to a recognition of the reciprocal
differences and to the obtaining of a peaceful coexistence: What we long
for is that unity for which Christ himself prayed and which by its
nature is manifested in the communion of the faith, of the sacraments,
of the ministry. The path toward this unity must be seen as a moral
imperative, response to a precise call of the Lord. Because of this, the
temptation must be overcome to resignation and pessimism, which is lack
of trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our duty is to continue
passionately on the path towards this goal with a serious and rigorous
dialogue to deepen the common theological, liturgical and spiritual
patrimony; with reciprocal knowledge, with the ecumenical formation of
the new generations and, above all, with conversion of heart and prayer.
In fact, as Vatican Council II declared, the "holy intention to
reconcile all Christians in the unity of the one Church of Christ,
surpasses human forces and talents" and, because of this, our hope is
placed first of all "in the prayer of Christ for the Church, in the
Father's love for us and in the power of the Holy Spirit" (ibid., No.
24).
On this path for the search of full visible unity among all Christians
we are accompanied and sustained by the Apostle Paul, of whom today we
celebrate solemnly the feast of his conversion. He, before the Risen One
appeared to him on the road to Damascus saying to him: "I am Jesus whom
you are persecuting!" (Acts 9:5), was one of the most ferocious
adversaries of the early Christian communities. The evangelist Luke
describes Saul among those who approved the killing of Stephen, in the
days when a violent persecution broke out against Christians of
Jerusalem (cf. Acts 8:1). He left from the Holy City to extend the
persecution of Christians to Syria and, after his conversion, he
returned to be introduced to the Apostles of Barnabas, who made himself
guarantor of the authenticity of his encounter with the Lord. From then
on Paul was admitted not only as a member of the Church but also as
preacher of the Gospel together with the other Apostles, having
received, as them, the manifestation of the Risen Lord and the special
call to be "chosen instrument" to carry his name before the Gentiles
(cf. Acts 9:15).
In his long missionary journeys, Paul, journeying through different
cities and regions, never forgot the bond of communion with the Church
of Jerusalem. The collection in favor of Christians of that community,
who, very soon, had need of being helped (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1),
occupied an important place in Paul's concerns, which he considered not
only a work of charity, but the sign and the guarantee of the unity and
the communion between the Churches founded by him and the early
community of the Holy City, as sign of the one Church of Christ.
In this climate of intense prayer, I wish to address my cordial greeting
to all those present: to Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of
this Basilica, to Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to the other cardinals and
brothers in the episcopate and priesthood, to the abbot and to the
Benedictine monks of this ancient community, to men and women religious,
to the laity that represent the entire diocesan community of Rome. In a
special way, I would like to greet the brothers and sisters of the other
Churches and ecclesial communities represented here this evening. Among
them, it is particularly gratifying to me to address my greeting to the
members of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue
between the Catholic Church and the Ancient Eastern Churches, whose
meeting will take place here in Rome in the next few days. Let us
entrust to the Lord the good outcome of your meeting, so that it can
represent a step forward toward the much hoped for unity.
[...]
Dear brothers and sisters, trusting in the intercession of the Virgin
Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, we invoke, therefore,
the gift of unity. United to Mary, who on the day of Pentecost was
present in the Cenacle together with the Apostles, we turn to God source
of every gift to have renewed for us today the miracle of Pentecost and,
guided by the Holy Spirit, may all Christians re-establish full unity in
Christ. Amen.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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