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Pope Benedict XVI- Homilies |
"We
Must Bring the Reality of God Back Into Our World"
Homily at a Vespers Service in Aosta
H.H. Benedict XVI
Aosta Cathedral
July 24, 2009
Your Excellency,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
First of all, I should like to say "Thank you" to you, Your
Excellency, for your kind words of introduction to the great history
of this Cathedral Church, thus making me feel that not only do we
pray here, at this moment, but that we can pray through the
centuries in this beautiful church.
And my thanks to all of you, who have come to pray with me, and in
this way to manifest this network of prayer which binds us all at
all times.
In this brief Homily I should like to say a few words about the
prayer which concludes these Vespers as it seems to me that the
excerpt from the Letter to the Romans which has just been read is
interpreted and transformed here into prayer. The prayer is composed
of two parts: an address a heading, so to speak and then the prayer,
which consists of two requests.
Let us begin with the address, which is also, in its turn, composed
of two parts: here the "you" to whom we speak is made more specific,
so that we can knock with greater force on the heart of God.
In the Italian text, we read simply: "Merciful Father". The original
Latin is a little fuller; it says, "Almighty and Merciful God". In
my recent Encyclical, I have tried to show the prime importance of
God both in one's private life and in the life of society, of the
world, of history.
Certainly the relationship with God is a profoundly personal matter,
and the individual is a being in relationship with others. If the
fundamental relationship that with God is not living, is not lived,
then no other relationship can find its right form. But this is also
true for society, for humanity as such. Here, too, if God is
missing, if God is discounted, if he is absent, then the compass is
lacking which would show the way forward, the direction to follow in
relationships as a whole.
God! We must bring the reality of God back into our world, make him
known and present. But how can we know God? During the "ad limina"
visits I always speak with the Bishops, in particular African
Bishops, but also those from Asia and Latin America where
traditional religions still exist, about these religions. They
differ greatly from one another in many details, but they also share
common elements. They all know that God exists, one God, that "god"
is a singular noun, that the gods are not God, that God exists, God.
But at the same time this God seems absent, far away, he does not
seem to come into our daily lives, he hides, we do not know his
Face. Therefore the religions deal for the most part with objects,
with powers nearer to us, with spirits, ancestors and so on, since
God himself is too far away, and so we have to make do with these
closer powers. And the act of evangelization consists precisely in
the fact that the distant God draws near, that he is no longer far
away, but is close to us, that this "known and unknown" figure now
makes himself truly known, shows his Face, reveals himself: the veil
covering his Face disappears and he shows his true Face.
And so, since God himself is now near us, we can know him, he shows
us his Face and enters our world. There is no longer any need to
make do with those other powers, because he is the true power, the
Omnipotent.
I do not know why the word "omnipotent" has been omitted from the
Italian text, but it is true that we feel a little threatened by the
word "omnipotence": it seems to limit our freedom, it seems to be
too strong. But we must learn that the omnipotence of God is not an
arbitrary power, because God is Good, he is Truth, and therefore he
can do anything, but he cannot act against good, he cannot act
against truth, love or freedom, because he himself is good, love,
and true freedom. And therefore nothing he does can ever be in
contrast with truth, love and freedom. The contrary is true. He,
God, is the guardian of our freedom, of love and of truth. This eye
which looks upon us is not an evil eye watching us; it is the
presence of love which will never abandon us but rather gives us the
certainty that Good is being, Good is living: it is the eye of love
that gives us the air to live.
Almighty and Merciful God. A Roman prayer, connected with the text
of the Book of Wisdom, says: "O God, show your omnipotence through
pardon and mercy". The summit of God's power is mercy, pardon. In
our modern-day worldly concept of power, we think of someone who
owns large estates, who has some say in the world of economics, who
has capital and can influence the world of the market. We think of
someone who has military power, who can threaten. Stalin's question,
"How many armed divisions does the Pope have?" still characterizes
the common idea of power. Whoever has power and many worldly effects
may be dangerous, as he could threaten and destroy. But Revelations
tells us. "It is not so"; true power is the power of grace and of
mercy. In his mercy, God demonstrates true power.
And so the second part of this address says: "You have redeemed the
world with the Passion, with the suffering of Your Son". God has
suffered, and through his Son he suffers with us. This is the summit
of his power, that he can suffer with us. In this way he
demonstrates the true divine power: he desired to suffer with us and
for us. In our suffering we are never left alone. God, through his
Son, suffered first, and he is close to us in our suffering.
However a difficult question remains, one I cannot answer at length
at this moment: why was it necessary to suffer to save the world? It
was necessary because there exists in the world an ocean of evil, of
injustice, hatred, and violence, and the many victims of hatred and
injustice have the right to see justice done. God cannot ignore the
cries of the suffering who are oppressed by injustice. To forgive is
not to ignore, but to transform. God must enter into this world in
order to set against the ocean of injustice a larger ocean of
goodness and of love. And this is the event of the Cross: from that
moment, against the ocean of evil, there exists a river that is
boundless, and so ever mightier than all the injustices of the
world, a river of goodness, truth, and love. Thus God forgives,
coming into the world and transforming it so that there may be a
real strength, a river of goodness wider than all the evil that
could ever exist.
So our address to God becomes an address to ourselves: God invites
us to join with him, to leave behind the ocean of evil, of hatred,
violence, and selfishness and to make ourselves known, to enter into
the river of his love.
This is precisely the content of the first part of the prayer that
follows: "Let Your Church offer herself to You as a living and holy
sacrifice". This request, addressed to God, is made also to
ourselves. It is a reference to two passages from the Letter to the
Romans. We ourselves, with our whole being, must be adoration and
sacrifice, and by transforming our world, give it back to God. The
role of the priesthood is to consecrate the world so that it may
become a living host, a liturgy: so that the liturgy may not be
something alongside the reality of the world, but that the world
itself shall become a living host, a liturgy. This is also the great
vision of Teilhard de Chardin: in the end we shall achieve a true
cosmic liturgy, where the cosmos becomes a living host. And let us
pray the Lord to help us become priests in this sense, to aid in the
transformation of the world, in adoration of God, beginning with
ourselves. That our lives may speak of God, that our lives may be a
true liturgy, an announcement of God, a door through which the
distant God may become the present God, and a true giving of
ourselves to God.
Then the second request. We pray: "Let Your people know always the
fullness of Your love". The Latin text reads: "Satisfy us with Your
love". The text refers to the Psalm we have sung, which says: "Open
your hand and satisfy the hunger of every living creature". How much
hunger there is on Earth, hunger for bread in many parts of the
world: Your Excellency has also spoken of the suffering of the
families here: hunger for justice, hunger for love. And with this
prayer, we pray to God: "Open Your hand and satisfy fully the hunger
of every living creature. Satisfy our hunger for the truth and for
Your love".
So be it. Amen.
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