CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST
HOMILY OF HIS
HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Fifth Sunday of Easter, 20 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
In the Gospel we have just
heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is “the way,
and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to
the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of
that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let
us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our
hope in his promises!
With this encouragement to
persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet
all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of
welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates
the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston,
Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence
around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests,
and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the
fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic
faith which comes to us from the Apostles.
Our celebration today is also
a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the Church in your
country in the past two hundred years. From a small flock like that described
in the first reading, the Church in America has been built up in fidelity to
the twin commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. In this land of
freedom and opportunity, the Church has united a widely diverse flock in the
profession of the faith and, through her many educational, charitable and
social works, has also contributed significantly to the growth of American
society as a whole.
This great accomplishment was
not without its challenges. Today’s first reading, taken from the Acts of the
Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural tensions already present within the
earliest Church community. At the same time, it shows the power of the word of
God, authoritatively proclaimed by the Apostles and received in faith, to
create a unity which transcends the divisions arising from human limitations
and weakness. Here we are reminded of a fundamental truth: that the Church’s
unity has no other basis than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our
Lord. All external signs of identity, all structures, associations and
programs, valuable or even essential as they may be, ultimately exist only to
support and foster the deeper unity which, in Christ, is God’s indefectible
gift to his Church.
The first reading also makes
clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the
Church’s unity is “apostolic”. It is a visible unity, grounded in the Apostles
whom Christ chose and appointed as witnesses to his resurrection, and it is
born of what the Scriptures call “the obedience of faith” (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts
6:7).
“Authority” … “obedience”. To
be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these
represent a “stumbling stone” for many of our contemporaries, especially in a
society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the
light of our faith in Jesus Christ – “the way and the truth and the life” – we
come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The
Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is
found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by
losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33).
True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds
our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate
happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. “In his
will is our peace”.
Real freedom, then, is God’s
gracious gift, the fruit of conversion to his truth, the truth which makes us
free (cf. Jn 8:32). And this freedom in truth brings in its wake a new
and liberating way of seeing reality. When we put on “the mind of Christ” (cf. Phil
2:5), new horizons open before us! In the light of faith, within the communion
of the Church, we also find the inspiration and strength to become a leaven of
the Gospel in the world. We become the light of the world, the salt of the
earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14), entrusted with the “apostolate” of making our
own lives, and the world in which we live, conform ever more fully to God’s
saving plan.
This magnificent vision of a
world being transformed by the liberating truth of the Gospel is reflected in
the description of the Church found in today’s second reading. The Apostle
tells us that Christ, risen from the dead, is the keystone of a great temple
which is even now rising in the Spirit. And we, the members of his body,
through Baptism have become “living stones” in that temple, sharing in the life
of God by grace, blessed with the freedom of the sons of God, and empowered to
offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to him (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). And what is
this offering which we are called to make, if not to direct our every thought,
word and action to the truth of the Gospel and to harness all our energies in
the service of God’s Kingdom? Only in this way can we build with God, on the
one foundation which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). Only in this way can we
build something that will truly endure. Only in this way can our lives find
ultimate meaning and bear lasting fruit.
Today we recall the
bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the Church in the United States:
its first great chapter of growth. In these two hundred years, the face of the
Catholic community in your country has changed greatly. We think of the
successive waves of immigrants whose traditions have so enriched the Church in
America. We think of the strong faith which built up the network of churches,
educational, healthcare and social institutions which have long been the
hallmark of the Church in this land. We think also of those countless fathers
and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of
the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls, and the
incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only
taught generations of children how to read and write, but also inspired in them
a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him. How many
“spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God” have been offered up in these two
centuries! In this land of religious liberty, Catholics found freedom not only
to practice their faith, but also to participate fully in civic life, bringing
their deepest moral convictions to the public square and cooperating with their
neighbors in shaping a vibrant, democratic society. Today’s celebration is more
than an occasion of gratitude for graces received. It is also a summons to move
forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to
build a future of hope for coming generations.
“You are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own, to proclaim
his glorious works” (1 Pet 2:9). These words of the Apostle Peter do not
simply remind us of the dignity which is ours by God’s grace; they also
challenge us to an ever greater fidelity to the glorious inheritance which we
have received in Christ (cf. Eph 1:18). They challenge us to examine our
consciences, to purify our hearts, to renew our baptismal commitment to reject
Satan and all his empty promises. They challenge us to be a people of joy,
heralds of the unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God’s word,
and trust in his promises.
Each day, throughout this
land, you and so many of your neighbors pray to the Father in the Lord’s own
words: “Thy Kingdom come”. This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of
every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your
lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs
to create new “settings of hope” (cf. Spe Salvi, 32ff.) where
God’s Kingdom becomes present in all its saving power.
Praying fervently for the
coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its
presence, and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means
facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ’s victory
and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face
of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation
between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness.
It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life,
since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, “there is no human activity – even
in secular affairs – which can be withdrawn from God’s dominion” (Lumen Gentium, 36). It means
working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the
Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value
to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
And this, dear friends, is the
particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today.
As “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation”, follow faithfully in
the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God’s
Kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our
day too, the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its
prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in
care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid
foundations, the future of the Church in America must even now begin to rise!
Yesterday, not far from here,
I was moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ which I saw on
the faces of the many young people assembled in Dunwoodie. They are the
Church’s future, and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give
them. And so I wish to close by adding a special word of encouragement to them.
My dear young friends, like the seven men, “filled with the Spirit and wisdom”
whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward
and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May
you find the courage to proclaim Christ, “the same, yesterday, and today and
for ever” and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8).
These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee
respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in
our world – including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn
child in the mother’s womb. In a world where, as Pope John Paul II, speaking in
this very place, reminded us, Lazarus continues to stand at our door (Homily
at Yankee Stadium, October 2, 1979, No. 7), let your faith and love bear
rich fruit in outreach to the poor, the needy and those without a voice. Young
men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord’s call to
follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater
mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing
to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?
In today’s Gospel, the Lord
promises his disciples that they will perform works even greater than his (cf. Jn
14:12). Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has
yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United
States. Yet Christ’s promise fills us with sure hope. Let us now join our
prayers to his, as living stones in that spiritual temple which is his one,
holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let us lift our eyes to him, for even now
he is preparing for us a place in his Father’s house. And empowered by his Holy
Spirit, let us work with renewed zeal for the spread of his Kingdom.
“Happy are you who believe!”
(cf. 1 Pet 2:7). Let us turn to Jesus! He alone is the way that leads to
eternal happiness, the truth who satisfies the deepest longings of every heart,
and the life who brings ever new joy and hope, to us and to our world. Amen.
* * *
Queridos
hermanos y hermanas en el Señor:
Les saludo con afecto y me
alegro de celebrar esta Santa Misa para dar gracias a Dios por el bicentenario
del momento en que empezó a desarrollarse la Iglesia Católica en esta Nación.
Al mirar el camino de fe recorrido en estos años, no exento también de
dificultades, alabamos al Señor por los frutos que la Palabra de Dios ha dado en
estas tierras y le manifestamos nuestro deseo de que Cristo, Camino, Verdad y
Vida, sea cada vez más conocido y amado.
Aquí, en este País de
libertad, quiero proclamar con fuerza que la Palabra de Cristo no elimina
nuestras aspiraciones a una vida plena y libre, sino que nos descubre nuestra
verdadera dignidad de hijos de Dios y nos alienta a luchar contra todo aquello
que nos esclaviza, empezando por nuestro propio egoísmo y caprichos. Al mismo
tiempo, nos anima a manifestar nuestra fe a través de nuestra vida de caridad y
a hacer que nuestras comunidades eclesiales sean cada día más acogedoras y
fraternas.
Sobre todo a los jóvenes les
confío asumir el gran reto que entraña creer en Cristo y lograr que esa fe se
manifieste en una cercanía efectiva hacia los pobres. También en una respuesta
generosa a las llamadas que Él sigue formulando para dejarlo todo y emprender
una vida de total consagración a Dios y a la Iglesia, en la vida sacerdotal o
religiosa.
Queridos hermanos y
hermanas, les invito a mirar el futuro con esperanza, permitiendo que Jesús
entre en sus vidas. Solamente Él es el camino que conduce a la felicidad que no
acaba, la verdad que satisface las más nobles expectativas humanas y la vida
colmada de gozo para bien de la Iglesia y el mundo. Que Dios les bendiga.
©
Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana