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Pope Benedict XVI - World Youth Day 2008 |
"May
This 23rd World Youth Day Be Experienced as a New Upper Room"
Homily of Closing Mass for World Youth Day 2008
His Holiness Benedict XVI
Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia
July 20, 2007
Dear Friends,
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you" (Acts
1:8). We have seen this promise fulfilled! On the day of Pentecost,
as we heard in the first reading, the Risen Lord, seated at the
right hand of the Father, sent the Spirit upon the disciples
gathered in the Upper Room. In the power of that Spirit, Peter and
the Apostles went forth to preach the Gospel to the ends of the
earth. In every age, and in every language, the Church throughout
the world continues to proclaim the marvels of God and to call all
nations and peoples to faith, hope and new life in Christ.
In these days I too have come, as the Successor of Saint Peter, to
this magnificent land of Australia. I have come to confirm you, my
young brothers and sisters, in your faith and to encourage you to
open your hearts to the power of Christ's Spirit and the richness of
his gifts. I pray that this great assembly, which unites young
people "from every nation under heaven" (cf. Acts 2:5), will be a
new Upper Room. May the fire of God's love descend to fill your
hearts, unite you ever more fully to the Lord and his Church, and
send you forth, a new generation of apostles, to bring the world to
Christ! "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon
you". These words of the Risen Lord have a special meaning for those
young people who will be confirmed, sealed with the gift of the Holy
Spirit, at today's Mass. But they are also addressed to each of us -
to all those who have received the Spirit's gift of reconciliation
and new life at Baptism, who have welcomed him into their hearts as
their helper and guide at Confirmation, and who daily grow in his
gifts of grace through the Holy Eucharist. At each Mass, in fact,
the Holy Spirit descends anew, invoked by the solemn prayer of the
Church, not only to transform our gifts of bread and wine into the
Lord's body and blood, but also to transform our lives, to make us,
in his power, "one body, one spirit in Christ".
But what is this "power" of the Holy Spirit? It is the power of
God's life! It is the power of the same Spirit who hovered over the
waters at the dawn of creation and who, in the fullness of time,
raised Jesus from the dead. It is the power which points us, and our
world, towards the coming of the Kingdom of God. In today's Gospel,
Jesus proclaims that a new age has begun, in which the Holy Spirit
will be poured out upon all humanity (cf. Lk 4:21). He himself,
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, came among
us to bring us that Spirit. As the source of our new life in Christ,
the Holy Spirit is also, in a very real way, the soul of the Church,
the love which binds us to the Lord and one another, and the light
which opens our eyes to see all around us the wonders of God's
grace.
Here in Australia, this "great south land of the Holy Spirit", all
of us have had an unforgettable experience of the Spirit's presence
and power in the beauty of nature. Our eyes have been opened to see
the world around us as it truly is: "charged", as the poet says,
"with the grandeur of God", filled with the glory of his creative
love. Here too, in this great assembly of young Christians from all
over the world, we have had a vivid experience of the Spirit's
presence and power in the life of the Church. We have seen the
Church for what she truly is: the Body of Christ, a living community
of love, embracing people of every race, nation and tongue, of every
time and place, in the unity born of our faith in the Risen Lord.
The power of the Spirit never ceases to fill the Church with life!
Through the grace of the Church's sacraments, that power also flows
deep within us, like an underground river which nourishes our spirit
and draws us ever nearer to the source of our true life, which is
Christ. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who died a martyr in Rome at the
beginning of the second century, has left us a splendid description
of the Spirit's power dwelling within us. He spoke of the Spirit as
a fountain of living water springing up within his heart and
whispering: "Come, come to the Father" (cf. Ad Rom., 6:1-9).
Yet this power, the grace of the Spirit, is not something we can
merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God's love can only
unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We
have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our
spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age.
Only then can we let it ignite our imagination and shape our deepest
desires. That is why prayer is so important: daily prayer, private
prayer in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed Sacrament,
and liturgical prayer in the heart of the Church. Prayer is pure
receptivity to God's grace, love in action, communion with the
Spirit who dwells within us, leading us, through Jesus, in the
Church, to our heavenly Father. In the power of his Spirit, Jesus is
always present in our hearts, quietly waiting for us to be still
with him, to hear his voice, to abide in his love, and to receive
"power from on high", enabling us to be salt and light for our
world.
At his Ascension, the Risen Lord told his disciples: "You will be my
witnesses ... to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Here, in
Australia, let us thank the Lord for the gift of faith, which has
come down to us like a treasure passed on from generation to
generation in the communion of the Church. Here, in Oceania, let us
give thanks in a special way for all those heroic missionaries,
dedicated priests and religious, Christian parents and grandparents,
teachers and catechists who built up the Church in these lands -
witnesses like Blessed Mary MacKillop, Saint Peter Chanel, Blessed
Peter To Rot, and so many others! The power of the Spirit, revealed
in their lives, is still at work in the good they left behind, in
the society which they shaped and which is being handed on to you.
Dear young people, let me now ask you a question. What will you
leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm
foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living
your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst
of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name
of a falsely-conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have
been given, the "power" which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared
to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people
yet to come? What difference will you make? The power of the Holy
Spirit does not only enlighten and console us. It also points us to
the future, to the coming of God's Kingdom. What a magnificent
vision of a humanity redeemed and renewed we see in the new age
promised by today's Gospel! Saint Luke tells us that Jesus Christ is
the fulfilment of all God's promises, the Messiah who fully
possesses the Holy Spirit in order to bestow that gift upon all
mankind. The outpouring of Christ's Spirit upon humanity is a pledge
of hope and deliverance from everything that impoverishes us. It
gives the blind new sight; it sets the downtrodden free, and it
creates unity in and through diversity (cf. Lk 4:18-19; Is 61:1-2).
This power can create a new world: it can "renew the face of the
earth" (cf. Ps 104:30)!
Empowered by the Spirit, and drawing upon faith's rich vision, a new
generation of Christians is being called to help build a world in
which God's gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished - not
rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed. A new age in which love
is not greedy or self-seeking, but pure, faithful and genuinely
free, open to others, respectful of their dignity, seeking their
good, radiating joy and beauty. A new age in which hope liberates us
from the shallowness, apathy and self-absorption which deaden our
souls and poison our relationships. Dear young friends, the Lord is
asking you to be prophets of this new age, messengers of his love,
drawing people to the Father and building a future of hope for all
humanity.
The world needs this renewal! In so many of our societies, side by
side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an
interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair. How
many of our contemporaries have built broken and empty cisterns (cf.
Jer 2:13) in a desperate search for meaning - the ultimate meaning
that only love can give? This is the great and liberating gift which
the Gospel brings: it reveals our dignity as men and women created
in the image and likeness of God. It reveals humanity's sublime
calling, which is to find fulfilment in love. It discloses the truth
about man and the truth about life.
The Church also needs this renewal! She needs your faith, your
idealism and your generosity, so that she can always be young in the
Spirit (cf. Lumen Gentium, 4)! In today's second reading, the
Apostle Paul reminds us that each and every Christian has received a
gift meant for building up the Body of Christ. The Church especially
needs the gifts of young people, all young people. She needs to grow
in the power of the Spirit who even now gives joy to your youth and
inspires you to serve the Lord with gladness. Open your hearts to
that power! I address this plea in a special way to those of you
whom the Lord is calling to the priesthood and the consecrated life.
Do not be afraid to say "yes" to Jesus, to find your joy in doing
his will, giving yourself completely to the pursuit of holiness, and
using all your talents in the service of others!
In a few moments, we will celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation.
The Holy Spirit will descend upon the confirmands; they will be
"sealed" with the gift of the Spirit and sent forth to be Christ's
witnesses. What does it mean to receive the "seal" of the Holy
Spirit? It means being indelibly marked, inalterably changed, a new
creation. For those who have received this gift, nothing can ever be
the same! Being "baptized" in the one Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:13) means
being set on fire with the love of God. Being "given to drink" of
the Spirit means being refreshed by the beauty of the Lord's plan
for us and for the world, and becoming in turn a source of spiritual
refreshment for others. Being "sealed with the Spirit" means not
being afraid to stand up for Christ, letting the truth of the Gospel
permeate the way we see, think and act, as we work for the triumph
of the civilization of love.
As we pray for the confirmands, let us ask that the power of the
Holy Spirit will revive the grace of our own Confirmation. May he
pour out his gifts in abundance on all present, on this city of
Sydney, on this land of Australia and on all its people! May each of
us be renewed in the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit
of right judgement and courage, the spirit of knowledge and
reverence, the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence!
Through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, may
this Twenty-third World Youth Day be experienced as a new Upper
Room, from which all of us, burning with the fire and love of the
Holy Spirit, go forth to proclaim the Risen Christ and to draw every
heart to him! Amen.
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