Mass in the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (City of
Westminster, 18 September 2010)
Mass, Westminster Cathedral, London Homily of the Holy Father
18 September
2010
Dear Friends in Christ, I greet all of you with joy in the Lord and
I thank you for your warm reception. I am grateful to Archbishop Nichols for his
words of welcome on your behalf. Truly, in this meeting of the Successor of Peter
and the faithful of Britain, “heart speaks unto heart” as we rejoice in the love of
Christ and in our common profession of the Catholic faith which comes to us from the
Apostles. I am especially happy that our meeting takes place in this Cathedral dedicated
to the Most Precious Blood, which is the sign of God’s redemptive mercy poured out
upon the world through the passion, death and resurrection of his Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. In a particular way I greet the Archbishop of Canterbury, who honours us
by his presence. The visitor to this Cathedral cannot fail to be struck by the
great crucifix dominating the nave, which portrays Christ’s body, crushed by suffering,
overwhelmed by sorrow, the innocent victim whose death has reconciled us with the
Father and given us a share in the very life of God. The Lord’s outstretched arms
seem to embrace this entire church, lifting up to the Father all the ranks of the
faithful who gather around the altar of the Eucharistic sacrifice and share in its
fruits. The crucified Lord stands above and before us as the source of our life and
salvation, “the high priest of the good things to come”, as the author of the Letter
to the Hebrews calls him in today’s first reading (Heb 9:11). It is in the shadow,
so to speak, of this striking image, that I would like to consider the word of God
which has been proclaimed in our midst and reflect on the mystery of the Precious
Blood. For that mystery leads us to see the unity between Christ’s sacrifice on the
Cross, the Eucharistic sacrifice which he has given to his Church, and his eternal
priesthood, whereby, seated at the right hand of the Father, he makes unceasing intercession
for us, the members of his mystical body. Let us begin with the sacrifice of the
Cross. The outpouring of Christ’s blood is the source of the Church’s life. Saint
John, as we know, sees in the water and blood which flowed from our Lord’s body the
wellspring of that divine life which is bestowed by the Holy Spirit and communicated
to us in the sacraments (Jn 19:34; cf. 1 Jn 1:7; 5:6-7). The Letter to the Hebrews
draws out, we might say, the liturgical implications of this mystery. Jesus, by his
suffering and death, his self-oblation in the eternal Spirit, has become our high
priest and “the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb 9:15). These words echo our Lord’s
own words at the Last Supper, when he instituted the Eucharist as the sacrament of
his body, given up for us, and his blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant
shed for the forgiveness of sins (cf. Mk 14:24; Mt 26:28; Lk 22:20). Faithful to
Christ’s command to “do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19), the Church in every time
and place celebrates the Eucharist until the Lord returns in glory, rejoicing in his
sacramental presence and drawing upon the power of his saving sacrifice for the redemption
of the world. The reality of the Eucharistic sacrifice has always been at the heart
of Catholic faith; called into question in the sixteenth century, it was solemnly
reaffirmed at the Council of Trent against the backdrop of our justification in Christ.
Here in England, as we know, there were many who staunchly defended the Mass, often
at great cost, giving rise to that devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist which has been
a hallmark of Catholicism in these lands. The Eucharistic sacrifice of the Body
and Blood of Christ embraces in turn the mystery of our Lord’s continuing passion
in the members of his Mystical Body, the Church in every age. Here the great crucifix
which towers above us serves as a reminder that Christ, our eternal high priest, daily
unites our own sacrifices, our own sufferings, our own needs, hopes and aspirations,
to the infinite merits of his sacrifice. Through him, with him, and in him, we lift
up our own bodies as a sacrifice holy and acceptable to God (cf. Rom 12:1). In this
sense we are caught up in his eternal oblation, completing, as Saint Paul says, in
our flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, the Church
(cf. Col 1:24). In the life of the Church, in her trials and tribulations, Christ
continues, in the stark phrase of Pascal, to be in agony until the end of the world
(Pensées, 553, éd. Brunschvicg). We see this aspect of the mystery of Christ’s
precious blood represented, most eloquently, by the martyrs of every age, who drank
from the cup which Christ himself drank, and whose own blood, shed in union with his
sacrifice, gives new life to the Church. It is also reflected in our brothers and
sisters throughout the world who even now are suffering discrimination and persecution
for their Christian faith. Yet it is also present, often hidden in the suffering
of all those individual Christians who daily unite their sacrifices to those of the
Lord for the sanctification of the Church and the redemption of the world. My thoughts
go in a special way to all those who are spiritually united with this Eucharistic
celebration, and in particular the sick, the elderly, the handicapped and those who
suffer mentally and spiritually. Here too I think of the immense suffering caused
by the abuse of children, especially within the Church and by her ministers. Above
all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes,
along with my hope that the power of Christ’s grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation,
will bring deep healing and peace to their lives. I also acknowledge, with you, the
shame and humiliation which all of us have suffered because of these sins; and I invite
you to offer it to the Lord with trust that this chastisement will contribute to the
healing of the victims, the purification of the Church and the renewal of her age-old
commitment to the education and care of young people. I express my gratitude for
the efforts being made to address this problem responsibly, and I ask all of you to
show your concern for the victims and solidarity with your priests. Dear friends,
let us return to the contemplation of the great crucifix which rises above us. Our
Lord’s hands, extended on the Cross, also invite us to contemplate our participation
in his eternal priesthood and thus our responsibility, as members of his body, to
bring the reconciling power of his sacrifice to the world in which we live. The Second
Vatican Council spoke eloquently of the indispensable role of the laity in carrying
forward the Church’s mission through their efforts to serve as a leaven of the Gospel
in society and to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in the world (cf. Lumen
Gentium, 31; Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7). The Council’s appeal to the lay faithful
to take up their baptismal sharing in Christ’s mission echoed the insights and teachings
of John Henry Newman. May the profound ideas of this great Englishman continue to
inspire all Christ’s followers in this land to conform their every thought, word and
action to Christ, and to work strenuously to defend those unchanging moral truths
which, taken up, illuminated and confirmed by the Gospel, stand at the foundation
of a truly humane, just and free society. How much contemporary society needs this
witness! How much we need, in the Church and in society, witnesses of the beauty
of holiness, witnesses of the splendour of truth, witnesses of the joy and freedom
born of a living relationship with Christ! One of the greatest challenges facing
us today is how to speak convincingly of the wisdom and liberating power of God’s
word to a world which all too often sees the Gospel as a constriction of human freedom,
instead of the truth which liberates our minds and enlightens our efforts to live
wisely and well, both as individuals and as members of society. Let us pray,
then, that the Catholics of this land will become ever more conscious of their dignity
as a priestly people, called to consecrate the world to God through lives of faith
and holiness. And may this increase of apostolic zeal be accompanied by an outpouring
of prayer for vocations to the ordained priesthood. For the more the lay apostolate
grows, the more urgently the need for priests is felt; and the more the laity’s own
sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out.
May many young men in this land find the strength to answer the Master’s call to the
ministerial priesthood, devoting their lives, their energy and their talents to God,
thus building up his people in unity and fidelity to the Gospel, especially through
the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Dear friends, in this Cathedral of
the Most Precious Blood, I invite you once more to look to Christ, who leads us in
our faith and brings it to perfection (cf. Heb 12:2). I ask you to unite yourselves
ever more fully to the Lord, sharing in his sacrifice on the Cross and offering him
that “spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1) which embraces every aspect of our lives and finds
expression in our efforts to contribute to the coming of his Kingdom. I pray that,
in doing so, you may join the ranks of faithful believers throughout the long Christian
history of this land in building a society truly worthy of man, worthy of your nation’s
highest traditions.
Mass, Westminster Cathedral, London Salute
of the Holy Father to the youth
18 September 2010
Mr Uche,
dear young friends, Thank you for your warm welcome! “Heart speaks unto heart”
– cor ad cor loquitur – as you know, I chose these words so dear to Cardinal Newman
as the theme of my visit. In these few moments that we are together, I wish to speak
to you from my own heart, and I ask you to open your hearts to what I have to say.
I ask each of you, first and foremost, to look into your own heart. Think of
all the love that your heart was made to receive, and all the love it is meant to
give. After all, we were made for love. This is what the Bible means when it says
that we are made in the image and likeness of God: we were made to know the God of
love, the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to find our supreme fulfilment
in that divine love that knows no beginning or end. We were made to receive love,
and we have. Every day we should thank God for the love we have already known, for
the love that has made us who we are, the love that has shown us what is truly important
in life. We need to thank the Lord for the love we have received from our families,
our friends, our teachers, and all those people in our lives who have helped us to
realize how precious we are, in their eyes and in the eyes of God. We were also
made to give love, to make it the inspiration for all we do and the most enduring
thing in our lives. At times this seems so natural, especially when we feel the exhilaration
of love, when our hearts brim over with generosity, idealism, the desire to help others,
to build a better world. But at other times we realize that it is difficult to love;
our hearts can easily be hardened by selfishness, envy and pride. Blessed Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, the great Missionary of Charity, reminded us that giving love,
pure and generous love, is the fruit of a daily decision. Every day we have to choose
to love, and this requires help, the help that comes from Christ, from prayer and
from the wisdom found in his word, and from the grace which he bestows on us in the
sacraments of his Church. This is the message I want to share with you today.
I ask you to look into your hearts each day to find the source of all true love.
Jesus is always there, quietly waiting for us to be still with him and to hear his
voice. Deep within your heart, he is calling you to spend time with him in prayer.
But this kind of prayer, real prayer, requires discipline; it requires making time
for moments of silence every day. Often it means waiting for the Lord to speak.
Even amid the “busy-ness” and the stress of our daily lives, we need to make space
for silence, because it is in silence that we find God, and in silence that we discover
our true self. And in discovering our true self, we discover the particular vocation
which God has given us for the building up of his Church and the redemption of our
world. Heart speaks unto heart. With these words from my heart, dear young friends,
I assure you of my prayers for you, that your lives will bear abundant fruit for the
growth of the civilization of love. I ask you also to pray for me, for my ministry
as the Successor of Peter, and for the needs of the Church throughout the world.
Upon you, your families and your friends, I cordially invoke God’s blessings of wisdom,
joy and peace.
Mass, Westminster Cathedral, London Salute
of the Holy Father to the faithful of Wales
18 September 2010
Dear
Bishop Regan, Thank you for your very warm greeting on behalf of the faithful of
Wales. I am happy to have this opportunity to honour the nation and its ancient Christian
traditions by blessing a mosaic of Saint David, the patron saint of the Welsh people,
and by lighting the candle of the statue of Our Lady of Cardigan. Saint David was
one of the great saints of the sixth century, that golden age of saints and missionaries
in these isles, and he was thus a founder of the Christian culture which lies at the
root of modern Europe. David’s preaching was simple yet profound: his dying words
to his monks were, “Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things”. It is the
little things that reveal our love for the one who loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19)
and that bind people into a community of faith, love and service. May Saint David’s
message, in all its simplicity and richness, continue to resound in Wales today, drawing
the hearts of its people to renewed love for Christ and his Church. Through the
ages the Welsh people have been distinguished for their devotion to the Mother of
God; this is evidenced by the innumerable places in Wales called “Llanfair” – Mary’s
Church. As I prepare to light the candle held by Our Lady, I pray that she will continue
to intercede with her Son for all the men and women of Wales. May the light of Christ
continue to guide their steps and shape the life and culture of the nation. Sadly,
it was not possible for me to come to Wales during this visit. But I trust that this
beautiful statue, which now returns to the National Shrine of Our Lady in Cardigan,
will be a lasting reminder of the Pope’s deep love for the Welsh people, and of his
constant closeness, both in prayer and in the communion of the Church. Bendith
Duw ar bobol Cymru! God bless the people of Wales!