S. John Paul II Homil. 355
Urban VIII Chapel
Friday, 21 March 1986
Dear Friends in Christ,
In our prayer today we recall a truth that is vital for our life as Christians, namely that Christ gave a commission to his disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".
These words put clearly before us our true self-understanding as followers of Christ. He has entrusted to us the task of bringing people into contact with the saving mysteries of Redemption and of bearing witness to the Good News of Christ.
But with this commission given by Christ comes a challenge to Christian of every age and place. For our mission to be effective, we must ourselves bear witness to the reality of reconciliation that we preach.
That is why I believe that one of the most compelling questions of our time concerns Christian unity. Does not the present disunity of Christians undermine our ability to carry out the great commission which Christ has given to us? Do not others in the world raise questions about the credibility of Christianity when they see how we disagree with one another on important issues of faith?
But ours is an age of ecumenism. An age in which we come with a new spirit to face old problems which stand between us. As we look at the history of our separation, perhaps we can recognize that we are all victims of events that divided us centuries ago, and still keep us apart. We are victims of a history that we did not create, but which affects us today.
356 The question now facing us is whether we will perpetuate these divisions which make it difficult to carry out the great commission Christ has given us. The challenge to us now is whether we can become architects of a new situation in which the divisions between us are healed at the root, so that the scandal of disunity may be consigned to the past, to history. In that situation we will be free to bear ever stronger witness to the full meaning of life in Christ.
Of course, this will not be easy. But the psalmist reminds us: "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth". Christ calls us to unity. And to the great commission which he gave the disciples he also added a promise: "I am with you always, to the close of the age". In this way, he has assured us of his abiding presence among us. He has promised to share his life with us. He never abandons us.
In the steps we take in praying together, and in discussing our problems together, we collaborate with Christ in creating a new peace among those who believe in him. We contribute to the day when our witness to him can be free of the burden of disunity that casts a shadow over our efforts to preach to the world the Christ who is God’s living Word and our hope for salvation.
Saint Lucia (Colombia)
Monday, 7 July 1986
1. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing". On this special day, when I have the great joy of celebrating the Eucharist with you here in Saint Lucia, let our first thoughts be thoughts of praise and thanksgiving to the Triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
How good it is to join our voices as one in the praise of God’s holy name, to glorify the Lord for the gift of our faith. I have looked forward to this moment with great anticipation, and I give thanks to God that his loving providence has made it possible for me to be with you today. My feelings are well expressed in the words of Saint Paul which we have just listened to in the First Reading: "Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers".
2. In today’s Gospel, our Lord says to Saint Peter: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren”. These words of Christ have particular meaning for me as the Successor of Saint Peter. For they indicate the specific mission in the Church given to Peter and to all those who were to come after him and continue his office. They indicate my own mission in the Church today: namely, to strengthen my brothers and sisters in the faith.
It is because of this mission entrusted to me by Christ that I feel called to undertake my pastoral journeys, to visit the local Churches around the world. This is why I am here with you today: I come as the Successor of Saint Peter, to encourage you in the name of Jesus and do confirm you in your faith.
3. And what a wondrous blessing is the gift of faith, the gift of knowing and believing in the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. With this precious gift the Lord has blessed us all. We celebrate it in this Eucharist. The words of Saint Paul describe our situation. In Christ, he says, you “have heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him.”
The Gospel was first brought to Saint Lucia more than three centuries ago, when French settlers arrived accompanied by some priests. From that time on, faith in Christ has had an influence on the development of your land. But continual struggles between different Governments for control of the Island made sustained evangelization difficult in those first hundred years. Nevertheless, a number of the faithful held firmly to their belief in Christ, and the Church took ever deeper root in the hearts of the people.
357 As early as 1820, a group of lay people began the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, an organization which combined fervent devotion to the Mother of God with a genuine practice of charity and fraternal service. Even though slavery was still part of civil society at that time, the Confraternity bore witness to the equal dignity of all by welcoming slaves as members. This first association, and numerous other lay societies which were begun thereafter, give clear evidence of the vitality of the faith in your land and of the vital role of the laity in the mission of the Church.
Throughout the history of Saint Lucia, God has blessed you with zealous priests and religious. The first women religious arrived in 1847, and within a month they had already opened a school to teach young people. This first initiative was soon followed by many others. And no one can doubt the enormous contribution to the development and culture of Saint Lucia which has been made through the generous efforts of your priests working in harmony with the men and women religious. Although always fewer in number than the needs required, they tried to make up for this by their dedication and zeal.
With the constant growth of the Church on this Island, it was finally possible in 1956 to establish the Diocese of Castries. Then, only eighteen years later, it was raised to the rank of an Archdiocese, with the first Archbishop being a worthy son of your own land, Archbishop Patrick Webster.
God’s grace has indeed been at work in your midst. The history of the Church in Saint Lucia bears witness to the goodness and mercy of God, to “the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe”.
4. The gift of faith "enlightens the eyes of our hearts”, giving us a new vision of life and of the world. Every human event takes on a new perspective when we know that God is our loving Father who watches over us with gentleness and compassion. And having been “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” in Baptism and Confirmation, we are sent forth to live our faith, “to employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”.
The first response to the gift of faith is praise and gratitude, and this is accomplished especially in the Church’s greatest act of worrship: the Eucharist. A deep faith always expresses itself in a fervent love for the Eucharist, for it is at Mass that we hear the word of Life and share in the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord. I urge you therefore to make Sunday Mass and frequent Communion a regular part of your lives, in fact the centre and summit of an you are and do.
Faith, which we have received as a gift, must in turn be put into practice. Saint James tells us that “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead”. That is why I am so pleased at all the efforts you are making to practise your faith. An excellent example of this is the Pastoral Theme which you have chosen for the Archdiocese this year: “Strengthen our faith, Redeemer”. I am confident that this deserving initiative will bring you many graces as you continually practise your faith through prayer and good works.
We also need to deepen our knowledge of the faith through reading, study and prayer. This enables us to share that faith with other, to help others to rejoice in the Good News of salvation. Our faith ago causes us to work for justice and to serve the needs of others. As Baptism confers on us the great dignity of being brothers and sisters in Christ, so we are called to work for the dignity and equality of every human being.
In a very special way our faith invites us to promote the dignity of the Christian family, in accordance with God’s unchanging plan. The married love of husband and wife must reflect by its fidelity and permanence the love of Christ for his Church. Married couples are called to be a communion of persons sharing in the creative activity of God and providing education for their children. Our faith emphasizes that “the family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love”. Every effort of the community to defend and strengthen the family is a great contribution to the whole nation. Every effort made by Christians to be faithful to God’s plan for human love and human life is an expression of living faith.
5. Together with the gift of faith, God has blessed your country with youth and vitality. You are a new nation, having achieved independence only seven years ago. And you are blessed with a large population of young people. When I think of your youthful vigour, I am reminded of what Archbishop Richard P. Smith wrote when he visited your country in 1841: “There is a glorious future in store for the Church in Saint Lucia”.
Yes, there is a glorious future in store for you, if you build that future on the solid foundation of the Gospel and upon truly human values. The future is not merely given to us, nor is it forced upon us. We must cooperate with God to achieve it. And this requires virtues and discipline: the virtues of honesty and truthfulness, the virtue of fidelity to promises, the discipline of prayer and sacrifice, and the discipline of personal effort and fraternal collaboration. If you truly make these a part of your lives, then the words of Archbishop Smith will prove true.
358 6. I would now like to address a few words to the youth of Saint Lucia. Dear young friends: the future of your nation belongs to you, for you are the leaders of tomorrow. As you plan and prepare for the future, it is right that you should aspire to greatness, that you should wish to accomplish great things in your lives. May you never give up these desires, but remain always men and women of high principles and hopes. And remember what Jesus teaches us about greatness, about who is the greatest: “Let the greatest among you”, he says, “become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves”. It was precisely in this way that Jesus revealed the greatness of his love. That is why he said of himself: “I am among you as one who serves”.
I also wish to repeat to you what I wrote to all the youth of the world in my Apostolic Letter of Palm Sunday last year: "Do not be afraid of the love that places clear demands on people. These demands - as you find them in the constant teaching of the Church - are precisely capable of making your love a true love”. May you always aspire to greatness, to the greatness of generous service, and may you be ever eager to love God and your neighbour, whatever the cost. God has loved you with an infinite and tender love, and you must repay love with love.
In this context, dear young friends, I ask you to consider prayerfully what vocation Christ is calling you to in the Church. The Church looks to you with great hope. For the mission of the Church is so vast. And as Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few”. What a great need there is for married couples whose generous and faithful love for one another reflects the love of Christ for the Church! And great is the need for priests and religious, for messengers of the Good News of salvation. Surely the Lord who cares for his flock is calling many of you to these vocations in the Church. Listen to him, then, in the quiet of your heart And answer willingly when you hear him say: “Follow me”!
7. Dear young people, and all of you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage you in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”. If we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, be will lead us to perfect faith, he will show us the way to fullness of joy in his presence.
It was faith which sustained your ancestors in all their sufferings and trials. And the same light of faith will guide you safely into the twenty-first century, and even more importantly to eternal life. Never doubt the goodness and mercy of God and “the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe”.
Zanfan Bon Dye, pwen kouwaj, mete konfyans ou an Bon Dye. (Children of God, take courage, put your trust in God).
"How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth".
Dear Archbishop Michael Rozario and the other Bishops of Bangladesh,
Dear Bishops of Burma,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
359 1. Through all the earth, in every country, among every people, the name of the Most High God is known and adored. No less so in Bangladesh. In this land in which we are gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist, man, and every creature that God has placed in his power - in the words of the Psalm: "all of them, sheep and cattle, yes, even the savage beasts, birds of the air, and fish that make their way through the waters" - all proclaim the glory of the one God and praise his holy name.
Brothers and sisters of Bangladesh: people of different races, languages and religions, let us join together, as members of the same human family, in adoring the Most Merciful God: How great is your name, O God, through all the earth!
Brother bishops, dear priests, men and women religious, and lay people of Bangladesh: I thank the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has made it possible for me to celebrate this Holy Mass in your midst, in your own land. You are a "little flock", but you are very close to the heart of the Successor of Peter.
Distinguished men and women of Bangladesh, representatives of Government and public life, religious leaders and representatives of the world of culture and the arts: I thank you for your presence and for the warm welcome you have given me. I speak to you as a brother, as one deeply concerned for the fate of humanity, as a pilgrim of peace and a seeker of justice according to God’s will.
2. Who is it that gives praise and glory to God? It is the entire universe, every creature. But above all it is man who acknowledges and adores his Creator. For this very purpose all things have been put under his control. As the Psalm says: "You have made him little less than a god; with glory and honour you crowned him, gave him power over the works of your hand, put all things under his feet".
Commenting on this idea, the Second Vatican Council teaches that "man, created in God’s image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness, a mandate to relate himself and the totality of things to him who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. So, by the subjection of all things to man, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth".
Man’s task in this world, therefore, is "to make life more human and to render the whole earth submissive to this goal". In this sense man is lord of all material reality. Indeed, he is the "priest" of the cosmos, whose duty it is to proclaim, in the name of all creatures, the adorable greatness of the Almighty and to give the entire universe back to the Creator as a pleasing sacrifice.
In this universal religious perspective man’s great and inalienable dignity is immediately recognisable. Where this dignity is marred by poverty, hunger and disease, a lack of proper living conditions and of opportunities for education and work, the conscience of the world needs to be alerted to the duty of defending God’s image in man. In Bangladesh too, professionals and leaders have ample scope for the service of their fellow citizens, in building a just society and in responding to the urgent needs of so many people. Motivated and inspired by true human, moral and religious values they can give new direction and impulse to the task of development and progress.
3. In the broad setting of man’s duty to serve his fellowman and to give glory to God, this ceremony of priestly ordination assumes a particular significance. Eighteen sons of this land are being given a share in the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ, Prophet, Priest and King of the new and eternal Covenant. Through the anointing of the Holy Spirit they are being set apart for the building up of God’s people through a specific ministry and service of love.
Above all. these young men, who are our brothers, are being empowered to act in the person of Christ, offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice on behalf of all the people.
Do you realize, dear candidates, the dignity and responsibility that will be yours? You have been preparing for this moment of grace for many years. With trust in Christ’ and in the loving protection of Mary, commit yourselves whole-heartedly to the task now being laid on your shoulders.
360 4. The ministerial priesthood is conferred on those who have received a particular grace from God. It is a special vocation and requires a personal call: "No one takes this honour upon himself, but he is called by God".
The vocation of Jeremiah narrated in the first reading is a type and model of every special vocation: "Before you were born I consecrated you: I appointed you . . . I am with you".
In the inner experience of each priest and of each brother and sister in the consecrated life there is an awareness of that personal call from God, an awareness which is produced under the impulse of grace and steadily grows into that certainty of which Saint Paul says: "I know him in whom I have believed and I am confident".
This certainty is the certainty of being loved, personally and uniquely, by Christ, the Shepherd of our souls. The Gospel reading recalls those words of Jesus at the Last Supper: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, abide in my love". All of Christ’s disciples hear these words in their hearts. But they are heard with dramatic effect by those who receive a share in the ministry of the Apostles, for to them Jesus says in a special way: "You are my friends . . . No longer do I call you servants . . . I chose you and appointed you that you should go forth and bear fruit".
It is important for perseverance and fruitfulness in the priestly ministry that we never lose contact with the person who spoke these words.
What does Christ expect from you, his friends? He looks for your love. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you". And then he shows how far this love should go: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". Of this love Jesus himself gave the perfect example, and every time that you celebrate the Eucharist you will recall and renew his saving Sacrifice for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world.
Your service to the community will take many forms, and all of them must express this love. When you preach the word of life and administer the sacraments of faith, when you travel up and down this land to reach your brothers and sisters in need, when you heal the soul, when you educate and encourage the young, when you help to consolidate development and peace with justice and compassion for all. let love be your inspiration and your strength. Then you will bear "fruit that abides", which nurtures the divine life of souls and the vitality of the community of God’s people, the "Body of Christ", to which the second reading refers.
Saint Paul’s exhortation in that reading - "to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love" - is directed to the "building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ". In other words, the life of the Church in Bangladesh is intimately linked to the strength of your love for Christ.
5. The words of Saint Paul find their echo in the theme chosen for this visit of mine: Communion and Brotherhood. What better programme of priestly ministry than for these newly ordained priests and for the entire Church in Bangladesh to make a resolution to strengthen the bonds that unite the disciples of Christ in the commùnion of the "one body and one Spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all. who is above all and though all and in all"; and, at the same time, to build up and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, freedom, harmony and justice throughout the entire national community.
6. You must try to show your Muslim brethren and the followers of the other religious traditions that your Christian faith, far from weakening your sense of pride in your homeland and your love for her, helps you to prize and respect the culture and heritage of Bangladesh. It inspires you to face the challenges of the present day with love and responsibility.
Just over a year ago I had the pleasure of addressing a large gathering of Muslim young people at Casablanca in Morocco. I spoke to them, as I now speak to the young people of Bangladesh, of the many things that Christians and Muslims have in common as human beings and as believers. I stressed that "dialogue between Christians and Muslims is today more necessary than ever".
361 The Catholic Church is committed to a path of dialogue and collaboration with the men and women of good will of every religious tradition. We have many spiritual resources in common which we must share with one another as we work for a more human world. Young people especially know how to be open with each other and they want a world in which all basic freedoms, including freedom of religious belief, will be respected.
Sometimes Christians and Muslims fear and distrust one another as a result of past misunderstanding and conflict. this is also true in Bangladesh. Everyone, especially the young, must learn always to respect one another’s religious beliefs and to defend freedom of religion, which is the right of every human being.
7. The words of Christ are repeated today in this land: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you".
He speaks these words to you young men chosen for the priesthood!
To all of you who are the Church in Bangladesh!
He speaks them to everyone who lives in this land!
And he then goes on to say: Abide in the love of Christ! Keep fervent wish and prayer of the Successor of Peter who visits you today. Abide in the love of Christ! Keep his commandments, just as Christ kept his Father’s commandments and so abides in his love.
Dear brothers and sisters: abide in the love of the Father! In the love of God! "So that your joy may be full".
Amen.
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice".
362 Dear Archbishop Yong,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. I do indeed rejoice in the Lord as I celebrate the Eucharist today in Singapore. And in the love of Christ I greet you my beloved brothers and sisters of the Catholic Church. It is truly a joy to be with you. And it is right for us to rejoice together in the Sacred Liturgy, following the exhortation of Saint Paul in the second reading: "Rejoice with those who rejoice". We who have been baptized into Christ have the privilege and the duty to give praise and glory to the Most Holy Trinity. This is the primary reason why we gather for the Eucharist. We offer joyful thanks to the Father.
We rejoice in the gift of faith through which we have come to know and love Jesus Christ our Lord.
At this time I also offer warm greetings to our brothers and sisters of other Christian Communions, with whom we share a common Baptism and love for Christ. I am grateful for your presence. And I greet most cordially the members of other religions and all the people of good will in this Republic.
Jesus Christ came into the world to bring love and peace. And it is my desire to stand in your midst as a servant of the love and peace of Christ.
2. I also come among you as the Successor of Peter and Chief Pastor of the universal Church. And thus I wish to encourage and confirm you in your faith and to deepen your appreciation of the bonds of faith and charity which link you with your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world.
The Church in Singapore that I am visiting today, like your young and vigorous nation, is flourishing and fully alive. You are more than a hundred priests, three hundred men and women religious, numerous active and deeply committed lay men and women - over a hundred thousand baptized members. You have both a major and a minor seminary, a large number of educational institutions and social welfare organizations, in addition to your many parishes.
Even more important than the many institutions is the spirit of ecclesial communion that you enjoy among yourselves and with the neighbouring local Churches. You also appreciate the need for ecumenical sensitivity and cooperation, and you seek to maintain friendly, constructive relations with your non-Christian brothers and sisters.
This is the Church in Singapore which I rejoice to be with today. And it is this Church that I wish to urge on to even greater spiritual growth.
3. Allow me, for a moment, to reflect with you on the history of the Church in your country. Let us briefly trace the stages of evangelization, for remembering God’s blessings in the past in a source of inspiration and hope in the present, a cause for rejoicing and praise.
363 Two years after Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819, a Catholic priest took up residence here and the Church took root. From that time forward she has been increasing in your land. These simple and human beginnings have grown steadily under the providential hand of God.
These however were not the first efforts at evangelization in this region. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the Catholic faith had been brought to the Malay Peninsula during the time of the Portuguese colonization. In the middle of that century the region experienced a vigorous and fruitful missionary effort. Among those who preached the Gospel here was Saint Francis Xavier, who visited Malacca a number of times. Churches came to be built, schools established, and hospitals constructed. Later, however, evangelization came to a halt and the Church underwent a decline.
As we have noted, the Catholic missionary effort in Singapore began again at the early part of the nineteenth century. But it is in more recent decades that it has experienced a remarkable growth. In 1888 the Diocese of Malacca was created, and it included Singapore within its boundaries. In 1955 the Archdiocese of Malacca Singapore was established and in 1972 Singapore was set up as a separate Archdiocese. This is the Church which I rejoice to be with today. And it is to all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that I wish to proclaim his message of love and peace.
4. In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers us this message of love and peace: "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him". He goes on to say: "My own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you".
With these words, Jesus indicates once more that love constitutes the very heart of his mission from the Father: he, the Son, comes bringing love.
Love, then, is the most profound truth about God himself, "because God is love".
The love of God is personified in the Holy Spirit: I said in my Encyclical on the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and the world: "In the Holy Spirit the intimate life of the Triune God becomes totally gift, an exchange of mutual love between the divine Persons . . . It is the Holy Spirit who is the personal expression of this self-giving, of this being-love. He is Person-Love".
5. Love constitutes the very essence of the teaching of Christ, for it is the greatest commandment. Life - the lives of all of us - must be based on love. Saint Paul demonstrates this to us in a practical way in the instructions contained in today’s second reading taken from the Letter to the Romans: "Do not let your love be a pretence", he says, "but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other". Genuine human love is a faithful reflection of God’s love. Therefore love is characterized by a deep respect for all people, regardless of their race, belief or whatever makes them different from ourselves. Love responds generously to the needs of the poor, and it is marked by compassion for those in sorrow. Love is quick to offer hospitality and is persevering in times of trial. It is always ready to forgive, to hope and to return a blessing for a curse. " Love does not come to an end".
The commandment of love is the very centre of the Gospel.
6. It is Christ, the only Son of the Father, who teaches us the truth about God who is love. And this teaching of the Son is renewed constantly in the Church and in human hearts by the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the one who, as Jesus promised, "will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you".
This promise of Jesus means not only that in every land and every age the Spirit "will continue to inspire the spreading of the Gospel of salvation but also that he will help people to understand the correct meaning of the content of Christ’s message. The Holy Spirit, then, will ensure that in the Church there will always continue the same truth which the Apostles heard from their Master".
364 It is because of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, that the Church’s teaching is one and the same throughout the world. It is the same in Singapore as in Rome, for the same Holy Spirit is at work in our minds and hearts.
7. Immediately after speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says to his disciples: "Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you".
Peace is the fruit of love.
Peace is the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit.
This peace is given - as a gift - in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
At the same time it is assigned as a task, and it is continually assigned, so that as the Psalm says " justice and peace will embrace" It is assigned to people with differing roles and responsibilities, in the family, the community, society and international life.
8. Peacemaking is a task that is never finished, but always in progress, always in need of being confirmed and strengthened. We must constantly work for peace.
True peace begins in the mind and heart, in the will and soul of the human person, for it proceeds from genuine love of others. Indeed it is true to say that peace is the product of love, when people consciously decide to improve their relationship with others, to make every effort to overcome divisions and misunderstandings, and if possible even to become friends.
As Christian, we know that we can love other only because God has first loved us. We find inspiration and strength in the words of today’s first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, where God says to us: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I am constant in my affection for you". The everlasting love of God spurs us on in our efforts at peacemaking.
Peace requires justice, an attitude which recognizes the dignity and a firm commitment to strive to secure and protect the basic human rights of all. Where there is no justice there can be no peace. Peace is possible only where there is a just order that ensures the rights of everyone. World peace is possible only where the international order is just.
9. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I make this appeal to you: build your lives on love. "Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil . . . Do all you can to live at peace with everyone ".
365 "Blessed are the peacemakers". These words of our Saviour offer us a promise and a challenge. In faithful response to them, let us build peace!
After Mass I shall speak to the priests, but now I would like to say a few words to the religious. Dear brothers and sisters, you whom Christ has called to follow him more closely in chastity, poverty and obedience: your vocation finds its meaning and purpose in love - your love for Jesus and his love for you. The fruit of love is interior peace, "a peace the world cannot give", the kind of peace which precedes and makes possible peace among individuals and in the world. Is it any wonder, then, that one of the greatest heroes of peace in the history of the world is a religious founder, Saint Francis of Assisi? May you too be known as consecrated persons alive with love for Christ and radiating inner peace. By faithfully living out your vocation you are able to bring love and peace to the world. Remember too that the Sacrament of Penance in a special way restores peace to human hearts, for it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the liturgical celebration of God’s mercy and love.
I want to remind you families too how much you can contribute to peace. Husbands and wives, together with your children, you are the vital cell of society and the first foundation for its stability and well-being.
I wish to assure couples that the Church supports them as they strive to exercise responsibly their fundamental right to form families, to bear and rear their children without any type of coercion or pressure. It is the right of the married couple to make a free, informed and mutual decision, in accordance with objective moral principles, regarding the spacing of births and the size of the family. This decision should be based on their recognition of their responsibilities to God, to themselves, to their children, to their family and to society. In pursuing these decisions couples should be able to rely on those morally licit methods of family planning that are in accordance with the dignity of the person and with the authentic expression of conjugal love.
Families have a unique place in the Church as a community of life and love. While being a communion of persons in dialogue with God, they have an important role in society. They must remain open to the larger community, so that the loving concern they show in their homes may be extended to others for the betterment of all.
May I say at this time how pleased I am to learn of the moral education programme which has been established in the schools in Singapore. Such an initiative, which aims at inculcating human values and personal discipline, can truly complement the efforts of parents as the primary educators of their children in the love of God.
And now a word to you, dear young people, who make up such a large and dynamic part of the Church in Singapore, in Malaysia and throughout Asia. To you too I make an appeal: be peacemakers. Do not underestimate the great need for your contribution in promoting peace. As I said in my 1985 World Day of Peace Message: Peace and Youth go forward together. "When I look at you, the young people, I feel great gratitude and hope. The future far into the next century lies in your hands. The future of peace lies in your hearts . . . Trust in the grandeur of the human vocation - a vocation to be pursued with respect for truth and for the dignity and inviolable rights of the human person . . . Do not be afraid!".
The task of peacemaking belongs to every one of us. None can escape this duty, especially in an age marked by nuclear threat and increasing violence. I would like however to single out one more group of people who make a unique contribution to the cause of peace. I am referring to the sick and the aged, and all those who share in the sufferings of Christ. In my Apostolic Letter on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering I stated: "The mystery of the Redemption of the world is in an amazing way rooted in suffering . . . We ask all you who suffer to support us. We ask precisely you who are weak to become a source of strength for the Church and humanity. In the terrible battle between the forces of good and evil, revealed to our eyes by our modern world, may your suffering in union with the Cross of Christ be victorious!".
10. I want you to now how much I have looked forward to this opportunity of celebrating the Eucharist with you, and I am grateful to God that I am able to be here in Singapore. I would have liked to stay with you longer. But I find consolation in the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel. He tells us: "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you".
The Father sends his Spirit of truth and love into the world and the Spirit guides us in the ways of peace. Therefore, "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid". Dear brothers and sisters: the Holy Spirit is with you.
I wish at this time to entrust the whole Church in Singapore to Mary. It was she who through the power of the Holy Spirit first gave Christ to the world. By her love and her prayers may she now give him also to you. Amen.
S. John Paul II Homil. 355