HOLY MASS
HOMILY OF HIS
HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Washington Nationals Stadium
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
“Peace be with you!” (Jn
20:19). With these, the first words of the Risen Lord to his disciples, I greet
all of you in the joy of this Easter season. Before all else, I thank God for
the blessing of being in your midst. I am particularly grateful to Archbishop
Wuerl for his kind words of welcome.
Our Mass today brings the
Church in the United States back to its roots in nearby Maryland, and
commemorates the bicentennial of the first chapter of its remarkable growth –
the division by my predecessor, Pope Pius VII, of the original Diocese of
Baltimore and the establishment of the Dioceses of Boston, Bardstown (now
Louisville), New York and Philadelphia. Two hundred years later, the Church in
America can rightfully praise the accomplishment of past generations in
bringing together widely differing immigrant groups within the unity of the
Catholic faith and in a common commitment to the spread of the Gospel. At the
same time, conscious of its rich diversity, the Catholic community in this
country has come to appreciate ever more fully the importance of each
individual and group offering its own particular gifts to the whole. The Church
in the United States is now called to look to the future, firmly grounded in
the faith passed on by previous generations, and ready to meet new challenges –
challenges no less demanding than those faced by your forebears – with the hope
born of God’s love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom
5:5).
In the exercise of my ministry
as the Successor of Peter, I have come to America to confirm you, my brothers
and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles (cf. Lk 22:32). I have come to
proclaim anew, as Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus Christ
is Lord and Messiah, risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of
the Father, and established as judge of the living and the dead (cf. Acts
2:14ff.). I have come to repeat the Apostle’s urgent call to conversion and the
forgiveness of sins, and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the Church in this country. As we have heard throughout this Easter
season, the Church was born of the Spirit’s gift of repentance and faith in the
risen Lord. In every age she is impelled by the same Spirit to bring to men and
women of every race, language and people (cf. Rev 5:9) the good news of
our reconciliation with God in Christ.
The readings of today’s Mass
invite us to consider the growth of the Church in America as one chapter in the
greater story of the Church’s expansion following the descent of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost. In those readings we see the inseparable link between the
risen Lord, the gift of the Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and the mystery
of the Church. Christ established his Church on the foundation of the Apostles
(cf. Rev 21:14) as a visible, structured community which is at the same
time a spiritual communion, a mystical body enlivened by the Spirit’s manifold
gifts, and the sacrament of salvation for all humanity (cf. Lumen Gentium, 8). In every time
and place, the Church is called to grow in unity through constant conversion to
Christ, whose saving work is proclaimed by the Successors of the Apostles and
celebrated in the sacraments. This unity, in turn, gives rise to an unceasing
missionary outreach, as the Spirit spurs believers to proclaim “the great works
of God” and to invite all people to enter the community of those saved by the
blood of Christ and granted new life in his Spirit.
I pray, then, that this
significant anniversary in the life of the Church in the United States, and the
presence of the Successor of Peter in your midst, will be an occasion for all
Catholics to reaffirm their unity in the apostolic faith, to offer their
contemporaries a convincing account of the hope which inspires them (cf. 1
Pet 3:15), and to be renewed in missionary zeal for the extension of God’s
Kingdom.
The world needs this witness!
Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the Church
in America but also for society as a whole? It is a time of great promise, as
we see the human family in many ways drawing closer together and becoming ever
more interdependent. Yet at the same time we see clear signs of a disturbing
breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and
polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a
weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing
forgetfulness of Christ and God. The Church, too, sees signs of immense promise
in her many strong parishes and vital movements, in the enthusiasm for the
faith shown by so many young people, in the number of those who each year
embrace the Catholic faith, and in a greater interest in prayer and catechesis.
At the same time she senses, often painfully, the presence of division and
polarization in her midst, as well as the troubling realization that many of
the baptized, rather than acting as a spiritual leaven in the world, are
inclined to embrace attitudes contrary to the truth of the Gospel.
“Lord, send out your Spirit,
and renew the face of the earth!” (cf. Ps 104:30). The words of today’s
Responsorial Psalm are a prayer which rises up from the heart of the Church in
every time and place. They remind us that the Holy Spirit has been poured out
as the first fruits of a new creation, “new heavens and a new earth” (cf. 2
Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1), in which God’s peace will reign and the human
family will be reconciled in justice and love. We have heard Saint Paul tell us
that all creation is even now “groaning” in expectation of that true freedom
which is God’s gift to his children (Rom 8:21-22), a freedom which
enables us to live in conformity to his will. Today let us pray fervently that
the Church in America will be renewed in that same Spirit, and sustained in her
mission of proclaiming the Gospel to a world that longs for genuine freedom
(cf. Jn 8:32), authentic happiness, and the fulfillment of its deepest
aspirations!
Here I wish to offer a special
word of gratitude and encouragement to all those who have taken up the
challenge of the Second Vatican Council, so often reiterated by Pope John Paul
II, and committed their lives to the new evangelization. I thank my brother
Bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious, parents, teachers and
catechists. The fidelity and courage with which the Church in this country will
respond to the challenges raised by an increasingly secular and materialistic
culture will depend in large part upon your own fidelity in handing on the
treasure of our Catholic faith. Young people need to be helped to discern the path
that leads to true freedom: the path of a sincere and generous imitation of
Christ, the path of commitment to justice and peace. Much progress has been
made in developing solid programs of catechesis, yet so much more remains to be
done in forming the hearts and minds of the young in knowledge and love of the
Lord. The challenges confronting us require a comprehensive and sound
instruction in the truths of the faith. But they also call for cultivating a
mindset, an intellectual “culture”, which is genuinely Catholic, confident in
the profound harmony of faith and reason, and prepared to bring the richness of
faith’s vision to bear on the urgent issues which affect the future of American
society.
Dear friends, my visit to the
United States is meant to be a witness to “Christ our Hope”. Americans have
always been a people of hope: your ancestors came to this country with the
expectation of finding new freedom and opportunity, while the vastness of the
unexplored wilderness inspired in them the hope of being able to start
completely anew, building a new nation on new foundations. To be sure, this
promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of
the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here
forcibly from Africa as slaves. Yet hope, hope for the future, is very much a
part of the American character. And the Christian virtue of hope – the hope
poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the hope which supernaturally
purifies and corrects our aspirations by focusing them on the Lord and his
saving plan – that hope has also marked, and continues to mark, the life of the
Catholic community in this country.
It is in the context of this
hope born of God’s love and fidelity that I acknowledge the pain which the
Church in America has experienced as a result of the sexual abuse of minors. No
words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. It is
important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention. Nor
can I adequately describe the damage that has occurred within the community of
the Church. Great efforts have already been made to deal honestly and fairly
with this tragic situation, and to ensure that children – whom our Lord loves
so deeply (cf. Mk 10:14), and who are our greatest treasure – can grow
up in a safe environment. These efforts to protect children must continue.
Yesterday I spoke with your Bishops about this. Today I encourage each of you
to do what you can to foster healing and reconciliation, and to assist those
who have been hurt. Also, I ask you to love your priests, and to affirm them in
the excellent work that they do. And above all, pray that the Holy Spirit will
pour out his gifts upon the Church, the gifts that lead to conversion,
forgiveness and growth in holiness.
Saint Paul speaks, as we heard
in the second reading, of a kind of prayer which arises from the depths of our
hearts in sighs too deep for words, in “groanings” (Rom 8:26) inspired
by the Spirit. This is a prayer which yearns, in the midst of chastisement, for
the fulfillment of God’s promises. It is a prayer of unfailing hope, but also
one of patient endurance and, often, accompanied by suffering for the truth.
Through this prayer, we share in the mystery of Christ’s own weakness and suffering,
while trusting firmly in the victory of his Cross. With this prayer, may the
Church in America embrace ever more fully the way of conversion and fidelity to
the demands of the Gospel. And may all Catholics experience the consolation of
hope, and the Spirit’s gifts of joy and strength.
In today’s Gospel, the risen
Lord bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and grants them the
authority to forgive sins. Through the surpassing power of Christ’s grace,
entrusted to frail human ministers, the Church is constantly reborn and each of
us is given the hope of a new beginning. Let us trust in the Spirit’s power to
inspire conversion, to heal every wound, to overcome every division, and to
inspire new life and freedom. How much we need these gifts! And how close at
hand they are, particularly in the sacrament of Penance! The liberating power
of this sacrament, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God’s
merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated
by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America and
throughout the world depends on the renewal of the practice of Penance and the
growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.
“In hope we were saved!” (Rom
8:24).” As the Church in the United States gives thanks for the blessings of
the past two hundred years, I invite you, your families, and every parish and
religious community, to trust in the power of grace to create a future of
promise for God’s people in this country. I ask you, in the Lord Jesus, to set
aside all division and to work with joy to prepare a way for him, in fidelity
to his word and in constant conversion to his will. Above all, I urge you to
continue to be a leaven of evangelical hope in American society, striving to
bring the light and truth of the Gospel to the task of building an ever more
just and free world for generations yet to come.
Those who have hope must live
different lives! (cf. Spe Salvi, 2). By your
prayers, by the witness of your faith, by the fruitfulness of your charity, may
you point the way towards that vast horizon of hope which God is even now
opening up to his Church, and indeed to all humanity: the vision of a world
reconciled and renewed in Christ Jesus, our Savior. To him be all honor and
glory, now and forever. Amen!
* * *
Queridos
hermanos y hermanas de lengua española:
Deseo saludarles con las
mismas palabras que Cristo Resucitado dirigió a los apóstoles: “Paz a ustedes”
(Jn 20,19). Que la alegría de saber que el Señor ha triunfado sobre la
muerte y el pecado les ayude a ser, allá donde se encuentren, testigos de su
amor y sembradores de la esperanza que Él vino a traernos y que jamás defrauda.
No se dejen vencer por el
pesimismo, la inercia o los problemas. Antes bien, fieles a los compromisos que
adquirieron en su bautismo, profundicen cada día en el conocimiento de Cristo y
permitan que su corazón quede conquistado por su amor y por su perdón.
La Iglesia en los Estados
Unidos, acogiendo en su seno a tantos de sus hijos emigrantes, ha ido creciendo
gracias también a la vitalidad del testimonio de fe de los fieles de lengua
española. Por eso, el Señor les llama a seguir contribuyendo al futuro de la
Iglesia en este País y a la difusión del Evangelio. Sólo si están unidos a
Cristo y entre ustedes, su testimonio evangelizador será creíble y florecerá en
copiosos frutos de paz y reconciliación en medio de un mundo muchas veces
marcado por divisiones y enfrentamientos.
La Iglesia espera mucho de
ustedes. No la defrauden en su donación generosa. “Lo que han recibido gratis,
denlo gratis” (Mt 10,8). Amen!
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