S. John Paul II Homil. 393


APOSTOLIC PILGRIMAGE TO BANGLADESH, SINGAPORE, FIJI ISLANDS,

NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA AND SEYCHELLES

394
Melbourne (Australia), 28 November 1986




"I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you".

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. These words of God’s promise which were spoken through the Prophet Ezekiel make us think of the words which Jesus of Nazareth spoke at the beginning of his messianic ministry:

"The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me . . .
He has sent me . . . to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour".
Coming from God, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Precisely for this reason he was called the Christ, which means the Anointed One. He came in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he brought the Spirit with him. Jesus gave that Spirit to the Apostles.

He gave the Spirit to the Church. He gives the Spirit to all who are open to receive him. All of this was foreshadowed when God said: "I shall put a new spirit in you".

2. We are gathered here today in the power of Christ’s messianic mission. We are united in the Holy Spirit. In this great City of Melbourne I greet you, Archbishop Little, and all of you who are gathered as the liturgical assembly of God’s people in "the fellowship of the Holy Spirit".

This is not the first time that I have come to your country, and to this city. I have vivid memories of the strong faith shown by the people of Victoria at the Fortieth Eucharistic Congress here in Melbourne in 1973. The host at that great event was Cardinal Knox, and I attended it as Archbishop of Krakow, a pilgrim of the Church in Poland to the Church in Australia. I gratefully recall his friendship and your hospitality.

395 At that time I heard people speak of the great leadership of Archbishop Mannix in this city from 1917 to 1963. The faith had first been brought here during the last century by the Irish immigrants, and the Archbishop’s task was to lead his people to take their rightful place in this democracy. In those years the Church increased and multiplied, and the foundations were laid for the present lively traditions of lay initiative and activity, of Catholic education, and of generous dedication by the members of the Church to the progress and development of this State. It is only right that we should remember these outstanding churchmen and give thanks to God for their leadership.

3. Today I have the privilege of being here among you once more. This time I come as a pilgrim from Rome. I bring you the legacy of the See of Saint Peter, which is the servant Church of the whole human family and of all the particular Churches in Australia and throughout the world.

Yours is an immense and beautiful land: "An opal-hearted country, A wilful, lavish land”, as your poet Dorothea Mackellar wrote, a sunburnt country "of sweeping plains and far horizons", but also a huge and mighty place of "fire and famine", "of droughts and flooding rains”. You have met these challenges, and your present situation and your freedom show that you have built well.

Since the Second World War people from many nations have come here, and while they were seeking a better life for themselves and their families, they in turn have enriched the life and traditions of their adopted country. They came from Europe, and in particular from Italy, but also more recently from Asia and South America. They include many Catholics and these have contributed greatly to building up the Church in this land. Throughout this country and continent God’s words spoken through the Prophet Ezekiel have taken on a particular eloquence: "Then I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from all the foreign countries, and bring you home . . . you will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God".

4. The Second Vatican Council tells us that "it has pleased God to make people holy and save them not merely as individuals without any mutual bonds, but by making them into a single people, a people which acknowledges him in truth and serves him in holiness". With these words the Council introduces a theme of the greatest importance for Christian faith and life. It is also a dominant theme of Sacred Scripture. With the new covenant in his blood, Christ institutes a new People of God. In this new people there is room for every nation, for each and every person. Its head is Christ, its heritage is the dignity and freedom of the children of God, its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us, its goal is the full revelation of the Kingdom of God, which is already present among us, but which will only be complete when "creation itself will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God".

By the power of God’s grace, this messianic people moves forward through history, not without trials and tribulations, seeking to build up the fellowship of life, charity and truth. Here at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, we gather as a part of the People of God to celebrate the Eucharist, and as we bear witness to the redemptive Sacrifice of Christ we give an account of the hope of eternal life that is in us.

5. Catholics of Victoria and all Australia, do you fully realize what it means to belong to the Church? Above all. do you draw sufficiently on the strength of the Holy Spirit, who sustains the Church in the truth and love of Christ, so that you can carry out the tasks of communicating this truth and this love to the world? Do you fully realise to use the words of Saint Peter - that you are "living stones making a spiritual house”? Yours is indeed a great dignity!

As the Successor of Peter, I have the task of encouraging the particular Churches to share ever more fully in the communion that is the universal Church, a communion with the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, and a communion of the members among themselves. The second reading expresses the full force of our union in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church: "together (we) are Christ’s body". Australia is geographically far from Rome, but the bonds that unite us in the Church are much more than flesh and blood. Saint Paul tells us that "in the one Spirit we were all baptized". And it is the Holy Spirit who keeps us united in faith, hope and charity.

6. "Serve the Lord with gladness, Come before him singing for joy. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him". These words of the Psalm are addressed to the whole People of God. In Christ, they are addressed to each one of us: to every man, woman and child. They are an invitation to exercise the fundamental office of the priesthood of the faithful, which means to give glory to God and to acknowledge his dominion over all life.

7. The new People of God is a priestly people that has a share in the one priesthood of Christ: through baptism "he made us a line of kings and priests to serve his God and Father". We are a people of praise and worship, of holiness and spiritual rebirth. In brief, this common priesthood of all the baptized is expressed in two ways: on the one hand by worshipping and adoring God, and on the other by working to extend his Kingdom in the affairs of the human family. Both are part of our Christian vocation and should not be separated. The Sacrament of Confirmation helps us to share more fully in these tasks.

8. All the members of the Church, young and old, men and women, priests, religious and lay people have certain duties towards God. They are called to acknowledge his primacy in their lives through the Liturgy and’ through prayer. The sacraments, and especially the Eucharist, are bridges between the ordinary world and the Kingdom of God. They are the instruments of Christ’s saving grace at work in our lives. They enable us to offer thanksgiving to God for all the good things that we possess; they help us to plead for our own needs and the needs of the human family. In this sense the tradition of Sunday Mass is of immense importance. God’s people are called to assemble for the celebration of the Lord’s saving Death and Resurrection on the first day of the week, the day on which his Resurrection showed forth the Father’s acceptance of our Redemption.

396 To those who have drifted away from the practice of the faith, I say this: listen to Christ and you will once more discover the meaning of his love. You will hear him calling you to return to his "Father’s house”. Perhaps you fear some lack of understanding on the part of the community. True, the Church is never perfect in all her members, but she is the Father’s house. And it is only in the Father’s house that you will be able to share fully in Christ’s gifts of love and reconciliation.

9. Will the Christian community defend the gift of life from conception to the moment of death? It is not the quality of life - however important this may be - which makes life sacred, but the very fact of our existence. Life is a gift of God. Man is merely its administrator within the limits of the Creator’s design. If the vulnerable and defenceless are not safe, no one is safe for long. No human rights are safe in a world without firm moral principles, in a world where everything is relative and depends merely on a particular opinion or point of view. God has given us our reason and his revealed teaching, in order to help us recognize these truths and defend fundamental values. If we explain them badly or ignore their consequences in public life, we will have betrayed our Christian heritage.

My visit is meant to be an invitation to the ecclesial community in Australia, and especially to the laity, to take a firm stand on the side of life and love, truth and justice, and the dignity of every human being. Ultimately I am asking you to take a stand for God! What I am saying is this: "Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him". This is the great task of the priestly People of God.

10. I address my appeal in a particular way to the young, especially young adults. The future of any society rests with its young people. In fact the young are the most precious possession of any society, and a community is decadent when it does not want children, when it does not love them and respect them. Young people of Australia: I ask you: Does God have a part in your hopes and ambitions for the Australia of tomorrow? Do you dream of an Australia in which the poor and the downtrodden, the disadvantaged and the lonely, the spiritually blind and those struggling to make sense out of their lives will be sustained by the hands of a loving God? And do you realize that God has no other hands but yours to stretch out to those in need?

Are you willing to rise to Christ’s challenge? It has different degrees. First he says: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments". When the young man in the Gospel freely asks what more he can do, Jesus answers: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; them come, follow me”.

The challenge which the Pope wants to place before the young people of Melbourne, of Victoria and of Australia is the very same challenge which Christ addressed to that young man. Australia needs the witness of your Christian life. Australia needs young people who will live in charity and truth, who will live chaste lives and bear witness to God’s plan for human love in marriage. Australia needs young people who will freely make the sacrifices necessary to follow Jesus more closely in the priesthood or in the religious life of consecrated chastity, poverty and obedience. In one way or another Christ will certainly speak to your hearts. In one form or another he will call you to sacrifice and service.

11. I have been told that Melbourne is a city of movements and ideas. It has been in the forefront of social programming, and more recently in the field of biotechnology. It is here, therefore, that I wish to stress that progress is only really progress when it respects the image of God in man, the God who has revealed himself in human history, and who has revealed that the ultimate meaning of human life - every human life - is union with himself, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I would ask the men and women of science to make sure that they truly use their research and technical skill in the service of humanity, to make sure that these never become false idols. If science is ever separated from its moral and ethical demands, it can never lead humanity to a better life. Humanity has already had enough experience to know that such science can only destroy the very freedom and dignity of the human person which it was meant to serve.

Today we need to listen once more to God’s promise made through the Prophet Ezekiel: "I shall cleanse you . . . of all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you . . . You shall be my people and I will be your God”.

Today we also need to be able to repeat the words of the Psalm: "Serve the Lord with gladness . . . Yes, the Lord is good, his faithfulness is from age to age”.

The Lord is good! He is our supreme good! The world too is good, the world that surrounds us, the world as it is built up through human civilization. It is good because it can lead us to God. But if the world draws man away from God, if it leads him away from his final destiny, it no longer serves its purpose, even if it appears to satisfy and to offer happiness. "God made us, we belong to him". Our task is to serve him with gladness.

397 12. This is my hope for all of you: a true renewal of spirit and life: for you, the bishops of Victoria; for the priests, deacons and seminarians, called to minister to God’s people with all the love and concern of the Good Shepherd;

for you, men and women religious, who are privileged witnesses of God’s love for his people;

for you, the laity of the Church in Victoria, called to build up Christ’s Kingdom of justice, truth and love in this blessed land.

May Mary be the constant inspiration and model for you all.

Brothers and sisters of other Christian Communions, men and women of other religions and all people of good will: allow me to include you too in this prayer of hope and blessing.

May all of you, dear people of Australia, "serve the Lord with gladness"! Amen.





APOSTOLIC PILGRIMAGE TO BANGLADESH, SINGAPORE, FIJI ISLANDS,

NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA AND SEYCHELLES

Melbourne (Australia), 28 November 1986



"I will sing for ever of the goodness of the Lord!".

Dear Brothers Priests,
Dear Seminarians,

1. This refrain which we have just sung expresses well my sentiments as I meet you, my brothers in Christ, the priests and seminarians of Australia. For my heart is filled with praise whenever I think of the priestly vocation which we share. This call from Christ truly reflects the goodness of the Lord. The mystery that has touched each of our lives is captured in the words of Saint Paul: "God . . . has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ".

398 I am grateful for this opportunity to be with you; this meeting is indeed a very significant part of my Pastoral Visit to your country. I come to support you in the faith, to encourage you in the hope that has been kindled in your hearts, and to remind you of the deep love of him who has called us to be his friends and co-workers. I come as the Successor of Peter, who was given the duty to confirm his brethren; and I also come as a brother priest, a fellow worker in the Lord, entrusted with the mysteries of God.

I am pleased that we are meeting here in this inspiring Cathedral dedicated to Saint Patrick, a priest and bishop whose apostolic work has had such an immense influence on the Church throughout the world. I pay tribute to the memory of the Archbishops of Melbourne buried here, particularly Cardinal Knox, the fifth Archbishop of this Archdiocese, whom I knew so well and who served the Church so faithfully.

2. You all know that I am accustomed to write a letter to priests every year for Holy Thursday. I do so because, at that time of the liturgical year, I feel particularly close to all of you who share with me in the ministerial priesthood. The Liturgy of Holy Week and Easter sets before us Christ in his Paschal Mystery. We contemplate him offering himself to the Father for the Redemption of the human race. We see him at the Last Supper, saying: "This is my Body. This is by Blood". We hear him telling his disciples: "Do this in memory of me". It is here that all of us are united in the source of our vocation and mission. It is here that we realize how closely our priesthood is linked to the Cross. As Saint Paul says, "We carry with us in our body the death of Christ, so that the life of Christ my be seen in us".

Our vocation to the ministerial priesthood is an invitation to union with Christ on Calvary as both priest and victim. This is how we share in the work of Christ, the eternal High Priest; this is where we find the grace and inspiration to serve faithfully in the Church, so that the saving fruits of the Redemption may be brought to the people of every time and place.

3. To be a priest requires courageous faith and perseverance. "Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part". We happen to live at a time that is extremely challenging. We need both creativity and fidelity in proclaiming the eternal message of salvation. We have a choice: either we can give in to discouragement or we can be men of firm hope. Our hope will be strong, and "there will be no weakening on our part", if we put all our trust in God whose providence is guiding the Church, even along ways that we do not always understand.

"We are only the earthenware vessels that hold his treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us". These words of the Apostles strike a responsive chord in our minds and hearts, do they not? The longer a man has the privilege of serving as a priest, the more aware he becomes of human limitations and failures, the more keenly he feels the burden of his own human weakness. Rather than discouraging us, however, this realization should remind us that when we are weak Christ is strong. It should "make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us". This realization of our human weakness should be a reminder to us of the need we have to receive Christ’s mercy and pardon frequently in the Sacrament of Penance. In approaching this sacrament we acknowledge that Christ’s grace is infinitely stronger than sin. Our confession is also an act of faith in God’s will that mercy should reach us through the sacred humanity of his Son and the human instrumentality of those who share in the priesthood of his Son.

How important it is, therefore, to keep alive within us a keen sense of God, the mystery of Christ, his love, his compassion, his great mercy. How do we maintain this awareness in our daily lives? By spending time alone with the Lord, by praying and reflecting on God’s word, by devotion to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. We must keep alive our own sense of God so that we can transmit it to others. It is from our faith that we draw our sense of mission.

4. For all of us, priests and seminarians, Saint Paul is an excellent example of a man of God with a clear sense of mission. He took up his apostolic task, convinced that he had been "captured by Christ", and that by an act of mercy he had been entrusted with his ministry. His task was to proclaim the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ. He preached this message fully and with courageous determination. He stated quite plainly: "We will have none of the reticence of those who are ashamed, no deceitfulness or watering down of the word of God; but the way we commend ourselves to every human being with a conscience is by stating the truth openly in the sight of God".

We need this same courageous spirit today in order to proclaim God’s word, and to hand on, in its entirety, the authentic teaching of the Church.

The ministry of the word is closely linked with the priest’s sacramental ministry: with the baptisms he administers, the confessions he hears, the marriages he witnesses, the anointings he performs, and in particular with the Eucharist. As the Second Vatican Council says: "The Eucharist shows itself to be the source and the summit of the whole work of evangelization".

We who celebrate the Eucharist each day are invited to draw closer to Christ in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. And throughout our day, the Liturgy of the Hours directs our attention to the Paschal Mystery as we join in the Church’s great chorus of praise of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. From these rich sources of union with Jesus, we find the strength needed to renew our sense of mission and to serve God’s people with joyful fidelity.

399 The priest must make it his constant aim to be a servant of unity and reconciliation, remembering that Christ came "to gather in unity the scattered children of God". In many different ways we build up the communion of the faithful: by personal kindness and charity, by having a sincere interest in all the various groups we serve, by generously providing ample time and opportunity for the Sacrament of Penance, by ecumenical concern and by cultivating a real love for the diocese and the universal Church, of which the local community is a living part.

5. Our sense of mission, which is always linked to our union with Jesus Christ, is also renewed through a regular habit of study and through a fraternal relationship with the bishop and our brother priests.

A regular habit of study is important for us because Christ has called us to be heralds of the Gospel. We must therefore continually deepen our understanding of the word of God and the way it applies to the concrete circumstances of life. In addition to our regular practice of reading and reflecting on the Bible, we should take time to read the great classics of the Church, especially the Fathers, and try to keep abreast of the pronouncements of the Magisterium and of sound theological writings. Meetings and workshops organized in the local diocese or more extensive programmes of theological and spiritual enrichment can be a great help in this regard.

One of the many fruits of the Second Vatican Council has been a renewed emphasis on the spiritual and fraternal relationships which unite priests among themselves and with their bishops. The fact that we all share in the one priesthood of Christ is manifested in the concelebration of the Eucharist, in presbyteral councils, in the Liturgy of Holy Thursday’s Chrism Mass and in many other ways.

Our sacramental brotherhood shines forth as an eloquent witness to the Gospel when it is truly lived, when younger priests and older priests encourage and help one another, when hospitality is offered and accepted, when each priest feels a responsibility for the whole diocese and for the Church throughout the world, when our lives conform to the exhortation of Saint Paul: "There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus".

6. Our commitment to celibacy, dear brothers, is a positive expression of a special capacity to love which frees us to be fully at the service of the Church. As the Second Vatican Council says: "It simultaneously signifies and stimulates pastoral charity and is a special fountain of spiritual fruitfulness on earth . . . Through celibacy observed for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven, priests are consecrated to Christ in a new and distinguished way. They more easily hold fast to him with undivided heart. They more freely devote themselves in him and through him to the service of God and people".

When we promise to be celibate, we do so freely and out of a conviction that God is offering us this gift a charismatic gift which he does not give to everyone, a gift which does not detract from the beauty or goodness of marriage but which highlights a love specifically directed to God and his people. At the same time, we priests know that we are not just receiving a gift; we are also giving a gift. We are offering the gift of our whole self to Christ and the Church, a gift freely and consciously and gratefully offered. And this gift, like Christ’s gift of himself, requires sacrifice.

The promise of celibacy is permanently binding. We say that we will be faithful for ever in celibate love. But it is not a gift that is made once and for all as one might donate a large sum of money. It is a gift that is made over and over again; it must be continually renewed. The generosity which prompted our lifelong promise must be kept alive day in day out, through prayerful union with Christ and a constant desire to offer loyal service to the Church. Not only must we avoid impurity; we must also avoid greed and selfishness, and whatever else might weaken our commitment to love Christ with an undivided heart.

7. I now wish to say a few words specifically to the seminarians, although what I have already said is intended for you as well. I am sure that I speak for all the priests here present and all the priests here present and all the priests of Australia when I say how grateful we are to God for you. As priests, we love the Church; we are concemed about her future; we are eager to see our own ministry, the mission of Christ, continued in the years to come. But even more than that, we want you to discover in the priesthood the joy of Christ, the joy we have found in giving ourselves to the one who said of himself: "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many".

There are many things about which I would like to speak to you in detail: for example, the importance of study and discipline, the need for generosity and fidelity, the value of celibacy and pastoral charity. There is no time to do this here, but let me just emphasize the vital importance of prayer. In my first Holy Thursday Letter to Priests, in 1979, I wrote: "It is prayer that shows the essential style of the priest; without prayer this style becomes deformed. Prayer helps us always to find the light that has led us since the beginning of our priestly vocation, and which never ceases to lead us . . . Prayer enables us to be converted continually, to remain in a state of continuous reaching out to God, which is essential if we wish to lead others to him. Prayer helps us to believe, to hope and to love". Yes, dear brothers, it is prayer that also shows the essential style of the seminarian.

8. As I am speaking to brother priests and to those preparing for the priesthood, I wish to mention the need for priestly vocations. So often we hear that the numbers of those offering themselves for the priesthood and religious life have diminished. To you priests and seminarians, and to parents and others who may hear my words, I insist that we cannot accept this situation as inevitable and unchangeable.

400 I repeat the appeal I made to the whole Church earlier this year in my message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations: "The Church has an urgent need of priests. This is one of the most crucial problems facing Christian communities. Jesus did not want a Church without priests. If priests are lacking, then Jesus is lacking in the world, as in his Eucharist and his forgiveness. To carry out the Church’s mission, all the rich variety of consecrated vocations are vitally necessary. Christians cannot accept with passivity and indifference the decline in vocations. Vocations are the future of the Church. A community which is poor in vocations impoverishes the whole Church; but a community which is rich in vocations enriches the whole Church". We owe it to Jesus Christ not to doubt the power of his Paschal Mystery. He is for ever able, through his Death and Resurrection, to raise up vocations in his Church, and to sustain young people in generous sacrificial love.

Dear brothers: you have enriched the whole Church by responding to the call of Christ to special service as priests and seminarians. Be assured that the joy which you experience and communicate to others will, with Christ’s grace, help promote vocations. It is far from foolish to be "fools for the sake of Christ". Communicate that message to others. Pray for vocations. Pray that parents will encourage their children to ask themselves whether they have a vocation and to accept that challenge. And never doubt the truth that priests remain essential for the full life of the Church, today and always. The Lord Jesus needs you to fulfil his plan for the salvation of the world.

Let us go forward, then, with gratitude for the priesthood, with confidence in God’s love, with praise in our hearts.

Let us "sing for ever of the goodness of the Lord"!



APOSTOLIC PILGRIMAGE TO BANGLADESH, SINGAPORE, FIJI ISLANDS,

NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA AND SEYCHELLES

Darwin (Australia), 29 November 1986



"The nations will learn that I am the Lord".’

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. These words of the Lord spoken through the Prophet Ezekiel have been fulfilled in every corner of the earth: "The nations will know that I am the Lord". In every place people worship God and can him "Father", as Jesus Christ taught us. After Christ’s Death and Resurrection, the word went out from Jerusalem, carried by the Apostles and the first Christian communities until, in the course of time, the Good News of salvation in Christ reached the very ends of the earth.

Dear people of Darwin: here too in the Northern territory God’s word has been proclaimed and we are now gathered to proclaim it and to celebrate it sacramentally in the Eucharist. which is the Sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood.

I thank God who has given me the opportunity to make this visit. Today I am learning how truly vast your country is: from Melbourne to Darwin, and from here to Alice Springs and Adelaide - all in the same day. The Pope has finally arrived and wishes to greet each one of you in the love of Christ.

I greet Bishop Collins of this diocese, and the other bishops present, as well as the priests, religious and lay people gathered here; the young and the old, the children and, in a special way, the sick; all of you from Darwin, Bathurst Island, Melville Island, Port Keats and Daly River; from Katherine, from all the townships and communities out of Darwin.

401 I thank the members of the other Christian Communions who have chosen to share this moment with the Catholic community. I am comforted by the knowledge that the spirit of Christian fellowship is strong among you.

I also extend a respectful greeting to the representatives of the State and local Governments.

2. As the Successor of Peter, I have come to you in the faith that Peter confessed at Caesarea Philippi, when he said to Jesus: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Yes, the message that I bring is none other than the one which has always been proclaimed by the Church: our salvation is in Christ Jesus, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life".

It is nearly two hundred years since the Gospel was first proclaimed in this continent. Because of the political circumstances of the time, the Catholic laity were entirely without the service of a priest for fifteen years after the establishment of the first colony in Sydney. For a further period of approximately the same length they had only intermittent service from priests allowed to serve them temporarily. At present, the whole Church throughout the world is preparing for the next session of the Synod of Bishops, and is engaged in a reflection on the mission of the laity. It is therefore particularly fitting that we should remember those first lay Catholics in the beginnings of the Church here in Australia. We are reminded that responsibility for the Church and her evangelizing mission is not a matter only for bishops, priests and religious. It belongs to the entire community.

When the first priests, brothers and sisters came to this continent they hardly knew what risks they faced. In most cases they had no hope of ever returning to their native lands and their own people. When we ask why they chose a life of such uncertainty and frequent hardship we can only answer that they were moved by an intense love of Jesus Christ and their fellow human beings. They came in response to the explicit command of Jesus to his followers: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation". They were filled with a great missionary zeal.

3. Here in Darwin, I am pleased to pay special tribute to the missionary congregations of religious which over the years have provided personnel to serve the particular Churches of more isolated parts of this continent: the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and so many others. In turn, the Church in Australia has given evidence of a lively missionary spirit. Her sons and daughters have gone outside their own land to spread the Gospel in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, and elsewhere. In this city, which is closer to great cities and civilizations in South East Asia than to Sydney or Melbourne, I invite the entire Church in Australia to remember the missionary challenge, the first demand of which is prayer: "Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest".

There is a special need in the Church for those who are willing to go abroad to other communities and nations in the name of Jesus Christ. These priests, religious and lay people place their talents, their energies and above all their faith at the service of a people not their own. They follow in the glorious tradition of the great Saint Paul, Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Saint Patrick and Saint Francis Xavier. The missionaries of today deserve the support of our prayers, our interest and our material help. There is still so much to be done! Two thousand years after the coming of Christ, over two thirds of the human family have still not heard the Gospel message.

I express my heartfelt gratitude for the work being done in Australia by the Pontifical Mission Aid Societies, and for the generous support given them in all parts of the country. They are the official bodies concerned with promoting the missionary work of the Church everywhere in the world. They are the means by which the Pope seeks to carry out the universal ministry of evangelization which is the special responsibility of the See of Peter.

4. By her very nature the whole Church is missionary. The Second Vatican Council in fact reminds us that "each disciple of Christ has the obligation of spreading the faith". In the cultural climate of our times, and with particular reference to Australia’s spiritual needs, the local Churches must work for a renewal of spiritual and missionary endeavour. The modern world is marked by an intense, if often confused, thirst for God. The young especially are crying out for the liberating truth of Christ’s message and the programme of life which embodies this message. Today’s Gospel gives an eloquent summary of these:

"How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy the gentle; they shall have the earth for their heritage.
402 Happy those who mourn; they shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right; they shall be satisfied.
Happy the merciful; they shall have mercy shown them.
Happy the pure in heart; they shall see God.
Happy the peacemakers; they shall be called sons of God.
Happy those who are persecuted for the cause of right; theirs is the kingdom of heaven".

5. The entire Church, which means each of her members, is obliged to make this message known and to bear authentic witness to its truth and beauty. The Beatitudes are the path to life. They reveal man’s ultimate destiny and the true meaning of his existence. They build up the community in justice, truth and love. The human and spiritual needs of Australia should make Australian Christians take ever more seriously the challenge of following the Beatitudes and thus becoming ever more "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world".

Today in Australia, as in many other countries, there are people who have yet to hear the Gospel message of life and salvation in Jesus Christ for the first time. Others have a very limited and weak understanding of the faith to which they claim to belong. This is particularly evident when we see how little impact the moral values of the Gospel have upon some people in their individual, family and public life. There is a real need for a second evangelization, and this requires the active and responsible collaboration of all members of the ecclesial community. The laity in particular have to make the Gospel message present in the secular activities of the world.

6. Brothers and sisters: I wish to encourage you and to encourage the entire Church in Australia to respond to the needs of the modern world. People already realize that material progress alone does not bring fulfilment. They desperately need the truth that makes them free. Jesus said: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free". You have this "truth" in you when Jesus Christ is present in your lives. In this part of the Northern Territory, just as everywhere else, the deeper questions of the human spirit have to be faced and resolved.

I appeal to you to overcome indifference and apathy, to use wisely and responsibly the many natural resources and gifts with which the Creator has richly endowed your land. Serve the Lord with gladness!

May the Christian community of the Northern Territory be united in faith and love. May each of you be a missionary of Christ’s peace and reconciliation to others.

403 To the children and the young I say this: you too are missionaries to one another. Be strong in faith, and always be willing to share that faith with others, through your prayers, your words and the example of your lives.

And may Mary, Help of Christians and Patroness of Australia, guide all of you - the people of Darwin and the Northern Territory - to her Son, Jesus Christ. It is in his name that all missionary work is done. It is by the power of his Gospel that salvation reaches to the ends of the earth.

Praised be Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world! Amen.





S. John Paul II Homil. 393