S. John Paul II Homil. 452
Sunday, 18 October 1987
453 “Mi è stato dato ogni potere in cielo e in terra. Andate... ammaestrate tutte le nazioni” (Mt 28,18-19).
1. Oggi la Chiesa ascolta ancora una volta queste parole di Cristo riferite dall’evangelista Matteo. Sono state pronunciate da Gesù in Galilea, sulla montagna, dove erano riuniti gli apostoli. Non sono semplicemente parole di congedo. Sono parole che contengono l'affidamento di una missione. Cristo se ne va dopo aver compiuto il suo compito messianico sulla terra. E nello stesso tempo egli rimane: “Io sono con voi tutti i giorni, fino alla fine del mondo” (Mt 28,20).
La terza domenica d’ottobre è chiamata Giornata missionaria. In tale domenica tutta la Chiesa ascolta queste parole di Gesù con una particolare emozione. Essa si rende conto di essere tutta intera missionaria, di essere tutta intera “in statu missionis”. E non può essere diversamente. Proprio questo fatto è messo in rilievo dall’ultimo Concilio.
2. Oggi, qui in Piazza San Pietro, i vescovi, riuniti nel Sinodo ascoltano con particolare attenzione queste parole del mandato missionario. Il Sinodo riguarda la missione dei laici nella Chiesa. Alla Giornata missionaria sono stati invitati i rappresentanti dei catechisti di tutti i Paesi e Continenti.Prima di tutto dei Paesi missionari.
Insieme con tutti i pastori della Chiesa qui presenti, vi saluto, cari fratelli e sorelle. Il messaggio missionario di Cristo pronunziato sulla montagna in Galilea è giunto e continua a giungere in modo speciale a voi. Siete proprio voi che realizzate, in grande misura, il carattere missionario della Chiesa. Uniti ai vostri vescovi e sacerdoti, partecipate alla grande, attuale e sempre rinnovata opera di evangelizzazione del mondo.
A voi si riferiscono le parole del Salmo che l’apostolo Paolo ha applicato agli operai del Vangelo della prima generazione: “Per tutta la terra è corsa la loro voce, fino ai confini del mondo le loro parole” (Rm 10,18).
3. Le sentirono come rivolte a sé, tre secoli fa, i missionari martiri, che stamani la Chiesa iscrive solennemente nell’albo dei santi. Fra di loro c’erano anche dei laici: un filippino e due giapponesi. Con coraggio seppero dare il loro contributo perché l’annuncio del Vangelo giungesse “fino ai confini del mondo”.
Queste parole risuonano oggi per tutti voi che servite la causa del Vangelo in terra di missione. In particolare per voi laici, della cui vocazione e missione nella Chiesa si sta interessando il Sinodo nel corso di queste settimane. L’apostolato missionario dei laici è frutto di una fede aperta alla testimonianza della parola:
“Se confesserai con la tua bocca che Gesù è il Signore e crederai con il tuo cuore che Dio lo ha risuscitato dai morti sarai salvo” (Rm 10,9).
Sarai salvo forse solamente tu? No certamente.
Ecco, Dio “è il Signore di tutti, ricco verso tutti quelli che l’invocano . . . Chiunque invocherà il nome del Signore sarà salvato” (Rm 10,12-13).
Chiunque! . . .
454 La salvezza è per tutti. “Dio vuole la salvezza di tutti gli uomini” (cf. 1Tm 2,4).
La messe è veramente grande. È sconfinata. Voi, cari fratelli e sorelle, siete chiamati dai Signore della messe.
E la vostra vocazione e il servizio sono senza prezzo. Insostituibili.
Ascoltiamo ancora una volta l’incalzare delle domande che l’Apostolo ci pone nella Lettera ai Romani in relazione all’opera missionaria della prima generazione della Chiesa:
“Come potranno invocarlo senza aver prima creduto in lui? E come potranno credere senza averne sentito parlare? E come potranno sentirne parlare senza uno che lo annunzi? E come lo annunzieranno, senza essere prima inviati?” (Rm 10,14-15).
4. Ascoltiamo tutti le parole dell’Apostolo. Ascoltatele specialmente voi, missionari e missionarie, religiosi e laici. Ascoltatele voi catechisti e catechiste.
Queste domande dell’apostolo Paolo si riferiscono direttamente a voi. Parlano di voi. La Chiesa dei nostri tempi fa totalmente sue le domande contenute in questo brano della Lettera ai Romani. L’attuale vescovo di Roma le porta nel suo cuore secondo l’esempio dell’Apostolo.
E facendosi eco delle parole apostoliche, proclama insieme con i vescovi sinodali, qui presenti, la lode della vostra missione, lode che troviamo già nell’Antico Testamento, nel libro del profeta Isaia (Is 52,7):
“Come sono belli sui monti i piedi del messaggero di lieti annunzi!”.
5. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings” (Is 52,7).
Today’s canonization of Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions, martyred in and around Nagasaki between 1633 and 1637, constitutes an eloquent confirmation of these words. Sixteen men and women bore witness, by their heroic sufferings and death, to their belief in the message of salvation in Christ which had reached them after being proclaimed from generation to generation since the time of the Apostles.
455 In their sufferings, their love and imitation of Jesus reached its fulfilment, and their sacramental configuration with Jesus, the one Mediator, was brought to perfection. "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (Rm 6,5).
These holy martyrs, different in origin, language, race and social condition, are united with each other and with the entire People of God in the saving mystery of Christ, the Redeemer. Together with them, we too, gathered here with the Synod Fathers from almost every country of the world, sing to the Lamb the new song of the Book of Revelation:
“Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on earth” (Ap 5,9-10).
The martyrs’ message of supreme fidelity to Christ speaks to Europe, with its common Christian foundation laid by the Apostles Peter and Paul - Europe, which has been a seedbed of missionaries for two thousand years.
It speaks to the Philippines, which was the place of immediate preparation and strengthening in faith for eleven of the new Saints - the Philippines which, as I remarked on the occasion of the martyrs’ Beatification in Manila in 1981, from being evangelized is called to become an evangelizer in the great work of bringing the Gospel to the peoples of Asia. May this task of evangelization begin in Philippine families, following the example of Lorenzo Ruiz, husband and father of three children, who first collaborated with the Dominican Fathers in Manila, and then shared their martyrdom in Nagasaki, and who is now the first canonized Filipino saint.The Holy martyrs speak to the Church in Japan, particularly to the Archdiocese of Nagasaki, to the Church in Taiwan and in Macao and to all Christ’s followers in Asia: may the example and intercession of the new Saints help to extend Christian truth and love throughout the length and breadth of this vast continent!
6. En cette Journée mondiale des Missions, l’Eglise proclame solennellement la sainteté de ces prêtres dominicains missionnaires, de leurs coopérateurs, de deux jeunes femmes membres du tiers ordre dominicain, qui ont été arrêtés et mis à mort en raison de leur oeuvre d’évangélisation.
Au cours du Synode des Evêques sur le rôle et la mission des laïcs dans l’Eglise et dans le monde, un père de famille philippin, deux laïcs japonais, tous engagés dans la catéchèse, sont honorés pour leur fidélité totale à la grâce de leur baptême, en même temps que des religieux dominicains, dont fait partie le Français Guillaume Courtet.
Toute l’Eglise de Dieu se réjouit de leur victoire. L’Eglise en Italie, en France, en Espagne, à Taiwan, à Macao, aux Philippines et au Japon est remplie d’admiration et de joie pour la Bonne Nouvelle annoncée par la passion et la mort de ces vaillants disciples de Jésus-Christ, “le témoin fidèle, le premier - né d’entre les morts” (Ap 1,5).
Par le témoignage de leur vie généreusement offerte par amour pour le Christ, les nouveaux saints parlent aujourd’hui à toute l’Eglise: ils l’entraînent et la stimulent dans sa mission évangélisatrice. En effet, selon le décret conciliaire Ad Gentes, pour accomplir sa mission, l’Eglise, “obéissant à l’ordre du Christ, mue par la grâce de l’Esprit Saint et par la charité, devient pleinement présente à tous les hommes et à tous les peuples pour les amener, par l’exemple de sa vie, par la prédication, par les sacrements et les autres moyens de grâce, à la foi, à la liberté, à la paix du Christ”.
Un cordiale e speciale saluto alla Chiesa che è in Giappone fondata sulla testimonianza dei martiri.
456 7. Los nuevos Santos hablan también hoy a todos los misioneros que, urgidos por el mandato de Cristo “id y enseñad a todas las gentes”, han salido por los caminos del mundo a anunciar la Buena Nueva de la salvación a todos los hombres, particularmente a los más necesitados.
Ellos, con su mensaje y su martirio, hablan a los catequistas, a los agentes de pastoral, a los laicos, a quienes la Iglesia, está dedicando particular atención y solicitud en el presente Sínodo de los Obispos. Ellos nos recuerdan que “morir por la fe es un don que se concede a algunos; pero vivir la fe es una llamada dirigida a todos”.
La gran familia dominica, y en particular la Provincia del Santo Rosario que celebra el cuarto centenario de su creación, recibe hoy, con legítimo orgullo, entre sus Santos a estos mártires, algunos de los cuales estuvieron especialmente ligados al Colegio de Santo Tomás de Manila. Este centro, convertido hoy en Universidad, así como otras beneméritas instituciones eclesiales, han contribuído de modo notable a la implantación y desarrollo de la Iglesia en el lejano oriente.
Los misioneros que hoy son canonizados hablan a todos los fieles cristianos, en esta Jornada de oración por las misiones, y les exhortan a reavivar su conciencia misionera. “Todos los cristianos -nos dice el Concilio-, dondequiera que vivan, estan obligados a manifestar con el ejemplo de su vida y el testimonio de la palabra el hombre nuevo de que se revistieron por el bautismo”. Todo bautizado debe sentirse, pues, urgido por su vocación a la santidad. En esto los nuevos Santos han de servirnos de modelo a seguir con una entrega sin límites a la llamada de Dios. Uno de ellos, el Padre Lucas del Espíritu Santo escribía: “El beneficio que yo estimo más, es haberme enviado a esta tierra en compañía de tan grandes siervos de Dios, de los cuales, unos ya le están gozando, y otros tienen adquirido un gran tesoro delante de su divina Majestad”.
8. “Venite, saliamo sul monte del Signore... perché ci indichi le sue vie” (Is 2,3).
Così parla il profeta Isaia nella sua visione.
E questa visione si realizza quando Cristo risorto sale insieme con gli apostoli sul monte in Galilea. Dice loro: “Andate... ammaestrate tutte le nazioni, battezzandole nel nome del Padre e del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo, insegnando loro ad osservare tutto ciò che vi ho comandato” (Mt 28,19-20).
Questo “tutto”, è il Vangelo dell’amore e della pace.
Isaia non profetava forse sul mutamento delle spade in vomeri e delle lance in falci, perché gli uomini non si esercitino più nell’arte della guerra? (cf. Is Is 2,4).
Egli annunciava le vie di un vero progresso dei popoli, già qui sulla terra, e nello stesso tempo le vie della salvezza eterna che è il futuro e definitivo destino dell’uomo in Dio.
9. A voi tutti, quindi, mi rivolgo, a voi che mi ascoltate qui oggi, e a tutti voi che faticate nel campo della Chiesa missionaria in tutto il mondo: la vostra consolazione e speranza sia il Vangelo dell’amore e della pace.
457 “Venite... Casa di Giacobbe, vieni, camminiamo nella luce del Signore” (Is 2,3 Is 2,5).
Sì. Camminiamo infaticabilmente! Cristo cammina con noi!
1. “Tu sei il re . . .?”. “Tu lo dici: io sono re. Per questo sono nato e per questo sono venuto nel mondo: per rendere testimonianza alla verità” (Gv 18, 33.37).
Nell’ultima domenica dell’anno liturgico leggiamo questo dialogo di Cristo con Pilato. Infatti celebriamo oggi la solennità di Cristo Re.
In questo giorno ci è dato pure di compiere il rito della beatificazione di George Haydock e di 84 martiri inglesi.
Martire è colui che, a somiglianza di Cristo, rende testimonianza alla verità. Più ancora: rende testimonianza alla stessa Verità che è Cristo.
Davanti a Pilato Cristo disse: “Chiunque è dalla verità, ascolta la mia voce” (Gv 18, 37).
Ecco stanno davanti a noi degli uomini, dei quali si può dire veramente che sono stati “dalla verità”. Uomini che “hanno ascoltato la voce” di Cristo: primo ed eterno testimone della Verità.
2. I martiri inglesi, che stanno oggi al cospetto della Chiesa, hanno confermato la loro testimonianza alla Verità col sacrificio, della vita.
Hanno creduto sino alla fine nella croce di Cristo.
458 Hanno creduto contemporaneamente nella potenza della sua risurrezione.
“Tutti riceveranno la vita in Cristo” . . . dal quale “verrà . . . la risurrezione dei morti” (1Co 15,22 1Co 15,21).
I martiri, la cui gloria oggi proclama la Chiesa, hanno dato la loro vita per rendere testimonianza alla Verità. Hanno subìto la morte. Subendo la morte, hanno professato la fede nella Vita. In quella Vita, che è stata rivelata al mondo nella risurrezione di Cristo.
In tal modo hanno reso testimonianza anche alla Vita, che per opera di Gesù Cristo è più potente della morte.
La testimonianza alla Verità e la testimonianza alla Vita: ecco questo è il pieno significato del martirio a somiglianza di Cristo crocifisso e risorto. Il suo mistero pasquale rivela il proprio volto redentore nella morte dei martiri, subita per rendere testimonianza alla Verità.
3. This feast of Christ the King proclaims that all earthly power is ultimately from God, thathis Kingdom is our first and lasting concern and that obedience to his laws is more important than any other obligation or loyalty.
Thomas More, that most English of saints, declared on the scaffold: “I die the King’s good servant but God’s servant first". In this way he witnessed to the primacy of the Kingdom.
Today we have declared Blessed another eighty-five martyrs: from England, Scotland and Wales, and one from Ireland. Each of them chose to be "God’s servant First". They consciously and willingly embraced death for love of Christ and the Church. They too chose the Kingdom above all else. If the price had to be death they would pay it with courage and joy.
Blessed Nicholas Postgate welcomed his execution "as a short cut to heaven". Blessed Joseph Lambton encouraged those who were to die with him with the words "Let us be merry, for tomorrow I hope we shall have a heavenly breakfast". Blessed Hugh Taylor, not knowing the day of his death, said: "How happy I should be if on this Friday, on which Christ died for me, I might encounter death for him". He was executed on that very day, Friday 6 November 1585. Blessed Henry Heath, who died in 1643, thanked the court for condemning him and giving him the "singular honour to die with Christ".
4. Among these eighty-five martyrs we find priests and laymen, scholars and craftsmen. The oldest was in his eighties, and the youngest no more than twenty-four. There were among them a printer, a bartender, a stable-hand, a tailor. What unites them all is the sacrifice of their lives in the service of Christ their Lord.
The priests among them wished only to feed their people with the Bread of Life and with the Word of the Gospel. To do so meant risking their lives. But for them this price was small compared to the riches they could bring to their people in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
459 The twenty-two laymen in this group of martyrs shared to the full the same love of the Eucharist. They, too, repeatedly risked their lives, working together with their priests, assisting, protecting and sheltering them. Laymen and priests worked together; together they stood on the scaffold and together welcomed death. Many women, too, not included today in this group of martyrs, suffered for their faith and died in prison. They have earned our undying admiration and remembrance.
5. These martyrs gave their lives for their loyalty to the authority of the Successor of Peter, who alone is Pastor of the whole flock. They also gave their lives for the unity of the Church, since they shared the Church’s fait, unaltered down the ages, that the Successor of Peter has been given the task of serving and ensuring "the unity of the flock of Christ". He has been given by Christ the particular role of confirming the faith of his brethren.
The martyrs grasped the importance of that Petrine ministry. They gave their lives rather than deny this truth of their faith. Over the centuries the Church in England, Wales and Scotland has drawn inspiration from these martyrs and continues in love of the Mass and in faithful adherence to the Bishop of Rome. The same loyalty and faithfulness to the Pope is demonstrated today whenever the work of renewal in the Church is carried out in accordance with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and in communion with the universal Church.
6. Central to this renewal, to which the Holy Spirit calls the Church, is work for that unity among Christians for which Christ himself prayed. We must all rejoice that the hostilities between Christians, which so shaped the age of these martyrs, are over, replaced by fraternal love and mutual esteem.
Seventeen years ago forty of the glorious company of martyrs were canonized. It was the prayer of the Church on that day that the blood of those martyrs would be a source of healing for the divisions between Christians. Today we may fittingly give thanks for the progress made in the intervening years towards fuller communion between Anglicans and Catholics. We rejoice in the deeper understanding, broader collaboration and common witness that have taken place through the power of God.
In the days of the martyrs whom we honour today, there were other Christians who died for their beliefs. We can all now appreciate and respect their sacrifice. Let us respond together to the great challenge which confronts those who would preach the Gospel in our age. Let us be bold and united in our profession of our common Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.
7. Nella liturgia odierna domina la persona del pastore: “Il Signore è il mio pastore” (Sal 23, 1). I pensieri del salmista e del profeta Ezechiele seguono le stesse orme.
Attraverso la persona del pastore - del buon pastore - possiamo penetrare, in modo più semplice, la realtà del regnare di Cristo. In lui tutto è regnare, tutto è regno, la sua venuta, la nascita dalla Vergine per opera dello Spirito Santo, il suo Vangelo, la sua croce e la sua risurrezione. In tutto ciò si rivela Cristo Re come compimento dell’immagine del pastore, di cui l’Antico e il Nuovo Testamento sono profondamente penetrati.
San Paolo ci introduce nella prospettiva definitiva di questo regnare di Cristo, che riempie la storia dell’umanità.
L’Apostolo scrive: “Bisogna . . . che egli regni finché non abbia posto tutti i nemici sotto i suoi piedi. L’ultimo nemico ad essere annientato sarà la morte . . . E quando tutto gli sarà stato sottomesso, anche lui, il Figlio, sarà sottomesso a colui che gli ha sottomesso ogni cosa, perché Dio sia tutto in tutti” (1Co 15,25 1Co 15,26 1Co 15,28).
8. Beati voi, martiri!
460 Voi che avete scelto la morte, per rendere testimonianza alla Verità!
Rallegratevi! Ecco la morte sarà annientata da Cristo come “l’ultimo nemico”. Il regno di Dio è regno di Verità e di Vita.
Rallegratevi! La vostra testimonianza ha lasciato orme profonde su cui cammina la Chiesa nella vostra patria, e contemporaneamente in tutto il mondo.
Queste orme conducono verso il regno, che non tramonta.
Rallegratevi! Attraverso la vostra testimonianza si sta preparando il compimento definitivo del mondo in Cristo, quando “Dio sia tutto in tutti”.
Rallegratevi!
Harare (Zimbabwe)
Sunday, 11 September 1988
“The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps 23,1).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
1. Today I stand in your midst as the Bishop of Rome and I make this joyful proclamation: “The Lord is my shepherd”. I make it together with you, with the whole Church and with all the People of God who dwell in your country, Zimbabwe.
461 I come to you as a pastor. I come in the name of the Lord who is our Shepherd. I come in the name of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, the Eternal Pastor of our souls. And in his name I extend most cordial greetings to all those who constitute the Church in Zimbabwe: the bishops from your six dioceses, and in particular Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa of Harare. Together with them, I greet the priests, the men and women religious, and the seminarians of your Regional Seminary.
Christ is present in the daily life of this country through the dedicated members of your laity. I therefore wish to embrace you who bear witness to our Redeemer in the ordinary events of life: the families of Zimbabwe, fathers and mothers, small children and young people, the elders and the leaders of your local communities.
I greet those who build up the social and cultural life of Zimbabwe: all those who work on the land, in offices and in schools, in business and industry, in government and in social services. In a special way I embrace in the love of Jesus the lonely and the sick, as well as those who care for them.
At the same time, it is a joy to greet the bishops who are members of IMBISA, the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa. I am very grateful to the Lord for the grace of meeting with you last evening, and for the opportunity to concelebrate this Mass which brings your meeting to a close. I assure you of my fraternal concern for each of you as you seek to give a shepherd’s care to the flock entrusted to you. Through you, dear brothers, I greet your local Churches. In particular, I am thinking of the Church in the countries which I have not been able to include in this pastoral journey: my brothers and sisters in Christ in Angola, Namibia, São Tomé e Príncipe and South Africa. Upon returning to your homes, please assure your people of my closeness to them in prayer and of my love for them in Christ Jesus.
Aos amados fiéis da Igreja em Angola, Moçambique e São Tomé e Príncipe, através dos seus Bispos, que participaram na Assembleia da IMBISA, envio as minhas cordiais saudações. Sinto-me muito unido convosco, irmãos e irmãs, na caridade divina, e desejo-vos felicidades, graça e paz, em Jesus Cristo, nosso Senhor e Salvador
2. At your invitation I have willingly come to Zimbabwe. I have come as the Successor of Peter and Bishop of Rome, who has inherited a particular mission and responsibility, linked with the witness of the Apostles Peter and Paul. For Peter and Paul strengthened the very foundation of the Church by their apostolic service, and above all by their death as martyrs, giving their lives for Christ, for the truth which is Christ himself. This truth they have faithfully handed on to all generations of the Church. This same truth I come to proclaim to you, as the Successor of Peter in the last part of the twentieth century.
Ever since the time of the Apostles, the Church has built on this truth, not only in Rome but throughout the entire world. In your country too the Church of Christ builds on this truth, in communion with the Apostolic See of Rome.
She builds on the strength of the bond of truth and love, a bond which the Holy Spirit has sustained in every age since the day of Pentecost and continues to do so today among the different peoples and nations that make up the one great People of God.
It was God’s truth and love which inspired Father Gonçalvo da Silveira to come to the Zambezi Valley in 1560, and in the following year to lay down his life in order to plant in this land the first seeds of the Christian faith. Other missionaries followed in his footsteps, beginning with the Jesuit and Dominican religious families.
The most intense efforts at evangelization and the most widespread fruits of those efforts have been seen in the past hundred years. The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth and Love – has been at work in your midst in a remarkable way, moving hearts to accept the saving message of the Gospel, planting many native vocations to the priesthood and religious life, building up the family of believers into a holy dwelling place for God. You have thus become a new people, reborn in the Sacrament of Baptism, nourished by the Holy Eucharist, living in loving communion with God and with one another, with the Successor of Peter and the Catholic Church throughout the world.
Undoubtedly the most eloquent expression of God’s grace and of the power of truth and love has been the heroic witness of those who have given their lives in service of the Gospel. I am thinking in particular of those who have been killed in the past fifteen years, including Bishop Adolph Schmitt, a number of your priests and religious, and many of your laity. To all of them I wish to pay tribute today. Their courageous testimony will never be forgotten. They have shown to all of us the power of truth and love. In them we see incarnate the victory of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ.
462 3. The Gospel of today’s Liturgy directs our thoughts towards the Apostle Peter who, laser in his life, in Rome, was to become the foundation of the faith of the whole Church.
See how Jesus – in the region of Caesarea Philippi – puts a question to his disciples: “Who do people say I am?” (Marc. 8, 27). And then he puts a second: “But you, who do you say I am?” (Ibid. 8, 29) . And at that moment Peter answers, speaking in the name of all the Apostles: “You are the Christ” (Ibid). Or as Saint Matthew records it. the answer was: “You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living God” (Mt 16,16).
“Messiah” means the one whom God had anointed with the Holy Spirit and sent to accomplish the work of salvation.
Thus Peter professes his faith. And Christ accepts his profession but then goes on to foretell his own Passion and Resurrection. He declares: “The Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected... and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again” (Marc. 8, 31).
Peter, who has professed that Jesus in the Messiah, is astonished by these words. He takes his Master aside and rebukes him. What does this “rebuke” mean? It means that he tries to convince Jesus that what he has said cannot happen, that such a mission and death cannot happen to him, precisely because he is the Messiah, because he has been sent by God and anointed with the Holy Spirit.
And how does Christ react? He in turn rebukes Peter, in words that are very severe. He says “Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s” (Ibid.8, 33).
Yes, Peter already believed in Christ, but he was not yet ready to accept the whole truth about Christ. Like so many of his contemporaries, Peter was thinking of the Messiah in human terms: he saw Jesus as the one who could restore freedom to Israel.
4. But in fact the full truth about Christ, about the Messiah, did soon become known. It became known exactly as Jesus had foretold. And only then did Peter believe: he believed that the Messiah sent by God was the Crucified and Risen Christ.
Peter professed and proclaimed this truth about Christ, beginning on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem right up to the day when for the sake of this truth he gave his life on the Vatican Hill in Rome. And by believing and teaching this, Peter thought and spoke in God’s way and not in man’s.
5. In the light of Peter’s profession of faith, what does it mean that Christ is the Good Shepherd? It means that he “offers his life for the sheep” (Cfr. Io. Jn 10,11). When the Psalmist of the Old Testament boldly proclaimed: “The Lord is my shepherd”, his inspired words foretold a Shepherd who would offer his life for the flock, for all people; a Shepherd who would redeem them all with the Sacrifice of his own death on the Cross.
Today, we have gathered here in Harare to celebrate the Eucharist, which is the “memorial” of that redemptive Sacrifice of Christ. It is its unbloody renewal under the forms of bread and wine.
463 When he instituted the Eucharist on the day before his Passion, Jesus gave the disciples the Passover bread and said: “This is my body which will be given up for you”. Then he gave them the Passover wine in a cup, saying: “This the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven”.
6. In the Eucharist, then, we celebrate the Sacrifice of the Covenant, the new and everlasting Covenant. This is God’s Covenant with his people which had been foretold by the Prophet Ezekiel: “I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them... I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Ez 37,26-27).
God made this Covenant with all humanity in the blood of his Son on Calvary. He made it with all people, with every person on earth. He made it also with you: with the people of Africa who live in the nation of Zimbabwe. And so we can sing with the Psalmist:
“The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want...
Near restful wafers he leads me...
He guides me along the right path” (Ps 23,1-3).
7. What, then, must we do, dear brothers and sisters, to keep this Covenant with our God?
The response is given to us by the Apostle James in his Letter, which we heard in today’s Second Reading: “If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘ I wish you well: keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that?” (Iac. 2, 15-16).
We must believe in the word of God. And we must also confirm our faith with works which are born of faith: “Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead” (Ibid. 2, 17).
And one of the first good works which flow from faith, one that is so desperately needed in this place and everywhere, is the work of reconciliation: reconciliation with God, reconciliation with one another.
464 Your own country has known only too well the pain and suffering caused by sins such as racial discrimination and segregation, which deny the human dignity and full equality of other people simply because of the colour of their skin or because of the tribe to which they belong. The sins of greed and lust for power, as well as the sins of dishonesty and selfishness, likewise destroy bonds of trust and weaken the very fabric of society. These are sins which work against the harmonious and full development of your nation.
Yet all these sins can be overcome with the help of the God of the Covenant and through your faith in him. In the Sacrament of Baptism God reconciled you with himself and entrusted to you the work of reconciliation. In the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance, you are strengthened in faith and in the love of God: you experience the joy of coming together in Christ, and you are sent forth to overcome disunity wherever it exists – within your families and villages or in any sector of the country of Zimbabwe.
8. If we want to keep the Covenant with God which Christ accomplished through his blood, in his Cross and Resurrection, we must follow Christ himself. He has called us to be his disciples, and he continues to say to us:
“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his Cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it: but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it” (Marc.8, 34-35). Think carefully about these words of Christ! Go back to them often in your mind, in your heart, in your prayer. The Good Shepherd offers his life for the sheep. He has given his life in sacrifice to the Father.
“If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear. You are there” (Ps 23,4). You, Jesus Christ! You are with me! You, Jesus Christ, the Eternal Shepherd of every individual and of all peoples! You are with me!
“Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever” (Ibid.6).
Amen.
S. John Paul II Homil. 452