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Pope Benedict XVI- Homily |
"A Grand Gesture of Charity Is to Pray for Others"
Papal
Homily in Velletri
H.H. Benedict XVI
Plaza of the Cathedral of San Clement
September 23, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters!
I have returned with great pleasure in your midst to preside over
this solemn Eucharistic celebration, in response to you repeated
invitations. I return with joy to meet your diocesan community,
which for many years was also mine in a special way, and which is
still very dear to me today. I greet you all with great affection.
First of all I would like to greet Cardinal Francis Arinze, who
succeeded me as titular cardinal of this diocese; I greet your
pastor, Monsignor Vincenzo Apicella, whom I would like to thank for
the courteous words of welcome with which he welcomed me in your
name.
I greet the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and
pastoral workers, the youth and all those at work in parishes,
movements, associations and various diocesan activities. I greet the
prefectorial commissioner of Velletri, the mayors of towns of the
Diocese of Velletri-Segni and the other civil and military
authorities, who honor us with their presence.
I also greet all those who have come from other places, Germany in
particular, to unite themselves to us in this day of celebration.
Bonds of friendship link my native land to yours: This bronze column
from Marktl am Inn, given to me in September last year in honor of
my apostolic trip to Germany, is a testimony of that, and I wished
it to remain here, as a further sign of my affection and my
goodwill.
I know you have prepared for my visit here today with an intense
spiritual journey, adopting as the motto a meaningful verse from the
First Letter of John: "So we know and believe in the love that God
has for us" (4:16). "Deus Caritas East," God is love: My first
encyclical begins with these words, which pertain to the core of our
faith --the Christian image of God and the resulting image of man
and his journey.
I rejoice in the fact that you have chosen as your guide for the
diocese's spiritual and pastoral journey this very expression: "We
have known the love that God has for us and we have believed."
Today's liturgy cannot but focus on this essential truth, on the
love of God, able to impress upon human existence an absolutely new
orientation and value. Love is the essence of Christianity, which
renders the believer and the Christian community yeast of hope and
peace in every situation, especially attentive to the necessities of
the poor and needy. Love brings the Church into existence.
For the past few Sundays, St. Luke, the Gospel writer who more than
the others is concerned to show the love Jesus has for the poor, he
offered different ideas for reflection on the dangers of an
excessive attachment to money, to material goods and to all that
impedes us from loving the fullness of our vocation to love God and
our brethren. Also today, through the parable that provokes a
certain wonder in us because it speaks of a dishonest manager who
ends up being praised (cf. Luke 16:1-13), and the Lord is offering
is a salutary teaching. As he often does, he draws from current
events: He speaks about a manager on the verge of being fired for
his dishonest management of the affairs of his master and, to
guarantee his own future, he tries to slyly come to agreements with
his debtors. He is dishonest, but astute: The Gospel does not
present him as a model to follow in his dishonesty, but as an
example to imitate for his cautious craftiness. In fact, the brief
parable ends with these words: "The master praised the unrighteous
manager because he had acted shrewdly."
What does Jesus want to say to us? The Evangelist follows the
parable of the unfaithful steward with a brief series of sayings and
admonitions about the relationship we should have with money and the
goods of this earth. Brief phrases that invite us to a choice that
presupposes a radical decision, a constant interior tension. Life is
in truth always a choice: between honesty and dishonesty, between
faithfulness and unfaithfulness, between egoism and altruism,
between good and evil. The conclusion of the Gospel selection is
incisive and authoritative: "No servant can serve two masters; for
either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon"
(Luke 16:13).
Mammon is the original Phoenician term that evokes economic security
and success in business; we could say that in wealth is found the
idol in which one sacrifices everything to reach personal success.
Therefore a fundamental decision is necessary -- the choice between
the logic of profit as the ultimate criteria of our action and the
logic of sharing and solidarity. The logic of profit, if it
prevails, increases not only the disproportion between poor and
rich, but also the devastating exploitation of the planet.
When, on the other hand, the logic of sharing and solidarity
prevails, it is possible to correct the course of action and orient
it toward proportional development, for the common good of all. In
the end it is a decision between egoism and love, between justice
and dishonesty, and a final choice between God and Satan. If loving
Christ and our brethren is not considered as something accessorial
and superficial, but moreover the true and final scope of our
existence, we must know how to make fundamental choices, to be open
to radical renunciations, even martyrdom if necessary. Today, like
yesterday, the Christian life demands courage to go against the
tide, to love as Jesus did, who ended up sacrificing himself on the
cross.
We can say therefore, paraphrasing St. Augustine, that through
earthly riches we should obtain those that are true and eternal: If
in fact there are people who are ready for any kind of dishonest
action to ensure material well-being, which isn't sure, how much
more we Christians must try to provide for our eternal happiness
with the goods of this earth (cf. "Discourses" 359:10). Now, the
only way our personal gifts and abilities will be fruitful along
with the wealth we possess is to share them with our brethren,
showing ourselves to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to
us. Jesus says: "Whoever is faithful in little, is faithful also in
much; and he who is dishonest in little will be dishonest also in
much" (Luke 16:10-11).
The prophet Amos speaks about this fundamental choice to be
performed day after day in today's first reading. With strong words,
he stigmatizes a typical style of life of someone who lets
themselves be drawn in by a selfish search for profit in every
possible way and is transformed into a thirst for gain, a contempt
for the poor and in exploitation of the poor for their own advantage
(cf. Amos 4:5). The Christian must energetically reject all of this,
opening his heart, on the contrary, to feelings of authentic
generosity. A generosity that, as St. Paul tells us in today's
second reading, is expressed in a sincere love for all and is
manifested in the first place in prayer. A grand gesture of charity
is to pray for others.
The Apostle invites us first of all to pray for those who carry out
tasks of responsibility in the civil community, because -- he
explains -- from their decisions, if they tend toward the common
good, result in positive consequences, ensuring peace and "a calm
and tranquil life with piety and dignity" for all (1 Timothy 2:2).
Our prayer is just as valuable, a spiritual support for the
edification of an ecclesial community faithful to Christ and to the
construction of a more just and supportive society.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray, in a special way so that
your diocesan community, that is undergoing a series of
transformations, because of the transfer of many young families out
of Rome, the development of the service industry and the arrival of
many immigrants in town centers, may lead to an ever increasingly
organic and shared pastoral action, following the indications that
your bishop is offering with outstanding pastoral sensitivity.
To this end, his pastoral letter of last December proved to be very
opportune with an invitation to attentive and persevering listening
to God's word, to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and
the magisterium of the Church.
We place in the Madonna of Grace's hands, whose image is kept and
venerated in this your beautiful cathedral, all of your intentions
and pastoral projects. May the maternal protection of Mary accompany
the journey of all of you present here and of those who were unable
to participate in today's Eucharistic celebration. In a special way,
may the Holy Virgin watch over the sick, the elderly, the children
and anyone who feels alone or abandoned or is in particular need.
Free us Mary from the greed of wealth, and make it so that lifting
our free and pure hands, we can give glory to God with our life (cf.
Offertory Prayer). Amen!
[Translation by ZENIT]
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