For the church in Mexico: a message of continuity in faith
Pope Benedict celebrated Vespers in Leon’s cathedral on Sunday evening – the last
major event on his itinerary in Mexico. Philippa Hitchen was there and reports on
the message that the Pope had for bishops from Mexico and all across Latin America,
who’d come to be part of this short but intense papal visit.... Listen: Below
the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s Homily at Vespers in Léon Cathedral:
Your
Eminences, Dear Brother Bishops,
It gives me great joy to be able to pray
with all of you in this Basilica-Cathedral of León, dedicated to our Lady of Light.
In the lovely painting venerated in this basilica, the Blessed Virgin holds her Son
in one hand with immense tenderness while extending her other hand to succour sinners.
This is how the Church in every age sees Mary. We praise her for giving us the Redeemer
and we put our trust in her as the Mother whom her divine Son bequeathed to us from
the Cross. For this reason, we invoke her frequently as “our hope” because she has
shown us Jesus and passed down to us the great things which God constantly does for
humanity. She does so simply, as a mother teaches her children at home.
A
decisive sign of these great things is given to us in the reading just proclaimed
at these Vespers. The people of Jerusalem and their leaders did not acknowledge Christ,
yet, by condemning him to death, they fulfilled the words of the prophets (cf. Acts
13:27). Human evil and ignorance simply cannot thwart the divine plan of salvation
and redemption. Evil is simply incapable of that.
Another of God’s great
works is evoked in the second of the psalms which we recited: “the rock” turns into
“a pool, and flint into a spring of water” (Ps 113:8). What might have been
a stumbling block and a scandal has, by Jesus’ triumph over death, become a cornerstone:
“This is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes” (Ps 117:23). There is
no reason, then, to give in to the despotism of evil. Let us instead ask the risen
Lord to manifest his power in our weakness and need.
I have greatly looked
forward to this meeting with you, the Pastors of Christ’s pilgrim Church in Mexico
and in the different countries of this great continent. I see this meeting as an
occasion to turn our gaze together to Christ, who has entrusted you with the splendid
duty of preaching the Gospel among these peoples of sturdy and deep-rooted Catholic
faith. Certainly your dioceses face a number of challenges and difficulties at the
present moment. Yet, in the sure knowledge that the Lord is risen, we are able to
move forward confidently, in the conviction that evil does not have the last word
in human history, and that God is able to open up new horizons to a hope that does
not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5).
I thank the Archbishop of Tlalnepantla,
President of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference and the Latin American Episcopal Council,
for the cordial welcome offered me in your name. I ask you, the various Pastors of
the local churches that, on returning to your Dioceses, you bring to your faithful
the warm affection of the Pope, who holds all their sufferings and aspirations deep
in his heart.
In you I see reflected the concerns of the flocks which you
shepherd, and I am reminded of the Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, where the participants
applaud after an intervention by someone who exercises his ministry in particularly
troubling situations for the Church’s life and mission. That applause is a sign of
deep faith in the Lord and fraternity in the apostolate, as well as gratitude and
admiration for those who sow the Gospel amid thorns, some in the form of persecution,
others in the form of social exclusion or contempt. Neither are concerns lacking,
for want of means and human resources, or for limitations imposed on the freedom of
the Church in carrying out her mission.
The Successor of Peter shares these
concerns and he is grateful for your patient and humble pastoral outreach. You are
not alone amid your trials or in your successes in the work of evangelization. All
of us are one in sufferings and in consolation (cf. 2 Cor 1:5). Know that
you can count on a special place in the prayers of the one who has received from Christ
the charge of confirming his brethren in faith (cf. Lk 22:31). He now encourages
you in your mission of making our Lord Jesus Christ ever better known, loved and followed
in these lands, and he urges you not to let yourselves be intimidated by obstacles
along the way.
The Catholic faith has significantly marked the life, customs
and history of this continent, in which many nations are commemorating the bicentennial
of their independence. That was an historical moment in which the name of Christ
continued to shine brightly. That name was brought here through the labours of outstanding
and self-sacrificing missionaries who proclaimed it boldly and wisely. They gave
their all for Christ, demonstrating that in him men and women encounter the truth
of their being and the strength needed both to live fully and to build a truly humane
society in accordance with the will of their Creator. This ideal of putting the Lord
first and making God’s word effective in all, through the use of your own native expressions
and best traditions, continues to provide outstanding inspiration for the Church’s
Pastors today.
The initiatives planned for the Year of Faith must be
aimed at guiding men and women to Christ; his grace will enable them to cast off the
bonds of sin and slavery, and to progress along the path of authentic and responsible
freedom. A great contribution will be made to this goal by the continental mission
being launched from Aparecida, which is already reaping a harvest of ecclesial renewal
in the particular Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes the
study, dissemination and prayerful reading of sacred Scripture, which proclaims the
love of God and our salvation. I encourage you to continue to share freely the treasures
of the Gospel, so that they can become a powerful source of hope, freedom and salvation
for everyone (cf. Rom 1:16). May you also be faithful witnesses and interpreters
of the words of the incarnate Son, whose life was to do the will of the Father and
who, as a man among men, gave himself up completely for our sake, even unto death.
Dear
Brother Bishops, amid the challenges now facing us in our pastoral care and our preaching
of the Gospel, it is essential to show great concern for your seminarians, encouraging
them humbly “to know nothing … except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).
No less fundamental is the need to remain close to your priests; they must never lack
the understanding and encouragement of their Bishop, nor, if necessary, his paternal
admonition in response to improper attitudes. Priests are your first co-workers in
the sacramental communion of the priesthood, and you ought to show them a constant
and privileged attention. The same should be said for the different forms of consecrated
life, whose charisms need to be gratefully esteemed and responsibly encouraged, in
a way respectful of the gift received. Greater attention is due to the members of
the lay faithful most engaged in the fields of catechesis, liturgical animation, charitable
activity and social commitment. Their faith formation is critical if the Gospel is
to become present and fruitful in contemporary society. It is not right for them
to feel treated like second-class citizens in the Church, despite the committed work
which they carry out in accordance with their proper vocation, and the great sacrifice
which this dedication at times demands of them. In all of this, it is particularly
important for Pastors to ensure that a spirit of communion reigns among priests, religious
and the lay faithful, and that sterile divisions, criticism and unhealthy mistrust
are avoided.
With these heartfelt words of encouragement, I urge you to be
vigilant in proclaiming day and night the glory of God, which is the life of mankind.
Stand beside those who are marginalized as the result of force, power or a prosperity
which is blind to the poorest of the poor. The Church cannot separate the praise
of God from service to others. The one God, our Father and Creator, has made us brothers
and sisters: to be human is to be a brother and guardian to our neighbour. Along
this path, in union with the whole human family, the Church must relive and make present
what Jesus was: the Good Samaritan who came from afar, entered our human history,
lifted us up and sought to heal us.
Beloved Brother Bishops, the Church in
Latin America, which has often been joined to Christ in his passion, must continue
to be a seed of hope enabling the world to see how the fruits of the resurrection
have come to enrich these lands.
May the Mother of God, invoked as Our Lady
of Light, dispel the darkness of our world and illumine our path, so that we can confirm
the faith of the people of Latin America amid their struggles and aspirations, with
integrity, valour and firm faith in the One who can do all things and loves all men
and women to the fullest. Amen