Pope Benedict XVI in Cyprus - Homily at the Church of the Holy Cross
(5 June 10 - RV) Below is the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's homily at the Church
of the Holy Cross in Cyprus:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The
Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life
(cf. Jn 3:14-15). In this Votive Mass we adore and praise our Lord Jesus Christ,
because by his Holy Cross he has redeemed the world. Through his death and resurrection
he has thrown open the gates of heaven and he has prepared a place for us, so that
we, his followers, may be granted a share in his glory. In the joy of Christ’s
saving victory, I greet all of you gathered here in Holy Cross Church and I thank
you for your presence. I greatly appreciate the warmth of the reception you have
given me. I am particularly grateful to His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
for his words of welcome at the beginning of Mass and for the presence of the Father
Custos of the Holy Land. Here in Cyprus, a land that was the first port of call on
Saint Paul’s missionary journeys across the Mediterranean, I come among you today,
following in the great Apostle’s footsteps, to strengthen you in your Christian faith
and to preach the Gospel that offers life and hope to the world. The focus of
our celebration today is the Cross of Christ. Many might be tempted to ask why we
Christians celebrate an instrument of torture, a sign of suffering, defeat and failure.
It is true that the Cross expresses all these things. And yet, because of him who
was lifted up on the Cross for our salvation, it also represents the definitive triumph
of God’s love over all the evil in the world. There is an ancient tradition
that the wood of the Cross was taken from a tree planted by Adam’s son Seth over the
place where Adam was buried. On that very spot, known as Golgotha, the place of the
skull, Seth planted a seed from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree
in the midst of the Garden of Eden. Through God’s providence, the work of the Evil
One would be undone by turning his own weapons against him. Beguiled by the
serpent, Adam had foresaken his filial trust in God and sinned by biting into the
fruit of the one tree in the garden that was forbidden to him. In consequence of
that sin, suffering and death came into the world. The tragic effects of sin, suffering
and death were all too evident in the history of Adam’s descendants. We see this
in our first reading today, with its echoes of the Fall and its prefiguring of Christ’s
redemption. As a punishment for their sin, the people of Israel, languishing
in the desert, were bitten by serpents and could only be saved from death by looking
upon the emblem that Moses raised up, foreshadowing the Cross that would put an end
to sin and death once and for all. We see clearly that man cannot save himself from
the consequences of his sin. He cannot save himself from death. Only God can release
him from his moral and physical enslavement. And because he loved the world so much,
he sent his only-begotten Son, not to condemn the world – as justice seemed to demand
– but so that through him the world might be saved. God’s only-begotten Son had to
be lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that all who looked
upon him with faith might have life. The wood of the Cross became the vehicle
for our redemption, just as the tree from which it was fashioned had occasioned the
Fall of our first parents. Suffering and death, which had been a consequence of sin,
were to become the very means by which sin was vanquished. The innocent Lamb was
slain on the altar of the Cross, and yet from the immolation of the victim new life
burst forth: the power of evil was destroyed by the power of self-sacrificing love.
The Cross, then, is something far greater and more mysterious than it at first
appears. It is indeed an instrument of torture, suffering and defeat, but at the
same time it expresses the complete transformation, the definitive reversal of these
evils: that is what makes it the most eloquent symbol of hope that the world has ever
seen. It speaks to all who suffer – the oppressed, the sick, the poor, the outcast,
the victims of violence – and it offers them hope that God can transform their suffering
into joy, their isolation into communion, their death into life. It offers unlimited
hope to our fallen world. That is why the world needs the Cross. The Cross is
not just a private symbol of devotion, it is not just a badge of membership of a certain
group within society, and in its deepest meaning it has nothing to do with the imposition
of a creed or a philosophy by force. It speaks of hope, it speaks of love, it speaks
of the victory of non-violence over oppression, it speaks of God raising up the lowly,
empowering the weak, conquering division, and overcoming hatred with love. A world
without the Cross would be a world without hope, a world in which torture and brutality
would go unchecked, the weak would be exploited and greed would have the final word.
Man’s inhumanity to man would be manifested in ever more horrific ways, and there
would be no end to the vicious cycle of violence. Only the Cross puts an end to it.
While no earthly power can save us from the consequences of our sins, and no earthly
power can defeat injustice at its source, nevertheless the saving intervention of
our loving God has transformed the reality of sin and death into its opposite. That
is what we celebrate when we glory in the Cross of our Redeemer. Rightly does Saint
Andrew of Crete describe the Cross as “more noble, more precious than anything on
earth […] for in it and through it and for it all the riches of our salvation were
stored away and restored to us” (Oratio X; PG 97, 1018-1019). Dear
brother priests, dear religious, dear catechists, the message of the Cross has been
entrusted to us, so that we can offer hope to the world. When we proclaim Christ
crucified we are proclaiming not ourselves, but him. We are not offering our own
wisdom to the world, nor are we claiming any merit of our own, but we are acting as
channels for his wisdom, his love, his saving merits. We know that we are merely
earthenware vessels, and yet, astonishingly, we have been chosen to be heralds of
the saving truth that the world needs to hear. Let us never cease to marvel at the
extraordinary grace that has been given to us, let us never cease to acknowledge our
unworthiness, but at the same time let us always strive to become less unworthy of
our noble calling, lest through our faults and failings we weaken the credibility
of our witness. In this Year for Priests, let me address a special word to the
priests present today, and to those who are preparing for ordination. Reflect on
the words spoken to a newly ordained priest as the Bishop presents him with the chalice
and paten: “Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your
life to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross”. As we proclaim the Cross of Christ, let
us always strive to imitate the selfless love of the one who offered himself for us
on the altar of the Cross, the one who is both priest and victim, the one in whose
person we speak and act when we exercise the ministry that we have received. As we
reflect on our shortcomings, individually and collectively, let us humbly acknowledge
that we have merited the punishment that he, the innocent Lamb, suffered on our behalf.
And if, in accordance with what we have deserved, we should have some share in Christ’s
sufferings, let us rejoice because we will enjoy a much greater gladness when his
glory is revealed. In my thoughts and prayers I am especially mindful of the
many priests and religious in the Middle East who are currently experiencing a particular
call to conform their lives to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross. Through the difficulties
facing their communities as a result of the conflicts and tensions of the region,
many families are taking the decision to move away, and it can be tempting for their
pastors to do likewise. In situations of this kind, though, a priest, a religious
community, a parish that remains steadfast and continues to bear witness to Christ
is an extraordinary sign of hope, not only for the Christians but for all who live
in the region. Their presence alone is an eloquent expression of the Gospel of peace,
the determination of the Good Shepherd to care for all the sheep, the Church’s unyielding
commitment to dialogue, reconciliation and loving acceptance of the other. By embracing
the Cross that is held out to them, the priests and religious of the Middle East can
truly radiate the hope that lies at the heart of the mystery we are celebrating in
our liturgy today. Let us all take heart from the words of our second reading
today, which speak sobeautifully of the triumph that was in store for Christ
after his death on the Cross, a triumph in which we are invited to share. “For God
raised him high and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil
2:9-10). Ναι, αγαπητές εν Χριστώ αδελφές και αγαπητοί αδελφοί, εμάς δε μή γένοιτο
καυχάσθαι ει μή εν τώ σταυρώ του Κυρίου ημών Ιησού Χριστού (cf. Gal 6:14).
Αυτος ειναι η σωτηρία, η ζωή και η ανάστασις. Δια μέσου αυτου εσωθήκαμε και ελευθερωθήκαμε.