Text of Pope Benedict XVI's Homily at Mass in Josaphat Valley
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
“Christ is risen, alleluia!” With
these words I greet you with immense affection. I thank Patriarch Fouad Twal for
his words of welcome on your behalf, and before all else I express my joy at being
able to celebrate this Eucharist with you, the Church in Jerusalem. We are gathered
beneath the Mount of Olives, where our Lord prayed and suffered, where he wept for
love of this City and the desire that it should know “the path to peace” (Lk 19:42),
and whence he returned to the Father, giving his final earthly blessing to his disciples
and to us. Today let us accept this blessing. He gives it in a special way to you,
dear brothers and sisters, who stand in an unbroken line with those first disciples
who encountered the Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread, those who experienced
the outpouring of the Spirit in the Upper Room and those who were converted by the
preaching of Saint Peter and the other apostles. My greeting also goes to all those
present, and in a special way to those faithful of the Holy Land who for various reasons
were not able to be with us today. As the Successor of Saint Peter, I have retraced
his steps in order to proclaim the Risen Christ in your midst, to confirm you in the
faith of your fathers, and to invoke upon you the consolation which is the gift of
the Paraclete. Standing before you today, I wish to acknowledge the difficulties,
the frustration, and the pain and suffering which so many of you have endured as a
result of the conflicts which have afflicted these lands, and the bitter experiences
of displacement which so many of your families have known and – God forbid – may yet
know. I hope my presence here is a sign that you are not forgotten, that your persevering
presence and witness are indeed precious in God’s eyes and integral to the future
of these lands. Precisely because of your deep roots in this land, your ancient and
strong Christian culture, and your unwavering trust in God’s promises, you, the Christians
of the Holy Land, are called to serve not only as a beacon of faith to the universal
Church, but also as a leaven of harmony, wisdom and equilibrium in the life of a society
which has traditionally been, and continues to be, pluralistic, multiethnic and multireligious. In
today’s second reading, the Apostle Paul tells the Colossians to “seek the things
that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1). His words
resound with particular force here, beneath the Garden of Gethsemani, where Jesus
accepted the chalice of suffering in complete obedience to the Father’s will, and
where, according to tradition, he ascended to the right hand of the Father to make
perpetual intercession for us, the members of his Body. Saint Paul, the great herald
of Christian hope, knew the cost of that hope, its price in suffering and persecution
for the sake of the Gospel, yet he never wavered in his conviction that Christ’s resurrection
was the beginning of a new creation. As he tells us: “When Christ, who is your life,
is revealed, you too will be revealed with him in glory!” (Col 3:4). Paul’s exhortation
to “set our minds on the things that are above” must constantly echo in our hearts.
His words point us to the fulfilment of faith’s vision in that heavenly Jerusalem
where, in fidelity to the ancient prophecies, God will wipe away the tears from every
eye, and prepare a banquet of salvation for all peoples (cf. Is 25:6-8; Rev 21:2-4). This
is the hope, this the vision, which inspires all who love this earthly Jerusalem to
see her as a prophecy and promise of that universal reconciliation and peace which
God desires for the whole human family. Sadly, beneath the walls of this same City,
we are also led to consider how far our world is from the complete fulfilment of that
prophecy and promise. In this Holy City where life conquered death, where the Spirit
was poured out as the first-fruits of the new creation, hope continues to battle despair,
frustration and cynicism, while the peace which is God’s gift and call continues to
be threatened by selfishness, conflict, division and the burden of past wrongs. For
this reason, the Christian community in this City which beheld the resurrection of
Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit must hold fast all the more to the hope bestowed
by the Gospel, cherishing the pledge of Christ’s definitive victory over sin and death,
bearing witness to the power of forgiveness, and showing forth the Church’s deepest
nature as the sign and sacrament of a humanity reconciled, renewed and made one in
Christ, the new Adam. Gathered beneath the walls of this city, sacred to the followers
of three great religions, how can we not turn our thoughts to Jerusalem’s universal
vocation? Heralded by the prophets, this vocation also emerges as an indisputable
fact, a reality irrevocably grounded in the complex history of this city and its people.
Jews, Muslims and Christians alike call this city their spiritual home. How much
needs to be done to make it truly a “city of peace” for all peoples, where all can
come in pilgrimage in search of God, and hear his voice, “a voice which speaks of
peace” (cf. Ps 85:8)! Jerusalem, in fact, has always been a city whose streets
echo with different languages, whose stones are trod by people of every race and tongue,
whose walls are a symbol of God’s provident care for the whole human family. As a
microcosm of our globalized world, this City, if it is to live up to its universal
vocation, must be a place which teaches universality, respect for others, dialogue
and mutual understanding; a place where prejudice, ignorance and the fear which fuels
them, are overcome by honesty, integrity and the pursuit of peace. There should be
no place within these walls for narrowness, discrimination, violence and injustice.
Believers in a God of mercy – whether they identify themselves as Jews, Christians
or Muslims – must be the first to promote this culture of reconciliation and peace,
however painstakingly slow the process may be, and however burdensome the weight of
past memories. Here I would like to speak directly to the tragic reality – which
cannot fail to be a source of concern to all who love this City and this land – of
the departure of so many members of the Christian community in recent years. While
understandable reasons lead many, especially the young, to emigrate, this decision
brings in its wake a great cultural and spiritual impoverishment to the City. Today
I wish to repeat what I have said on other occasions: in the Holy Land there is room
for everyone! As I urge the authorities to respect, to support and to value the Christian
presence here, I also wish to assure you of the solidarity, love and support of the
whole Church and of the Holy See. Dear friends, in the Gospel we have just heard,
Saint Peter and Saint John run to the empty tomb, and John, we are told, “saw and
believed” (Jn 20:8). Here in the Holy Land, with the eyes of faith, you, together
with the pilgrims from throughout the world who throng its churches and shrines, are
blessed to “see” the places hallowed by Christ’s presence, his earthly ministry, his
passion, death and resurrection, and the gift of his Holy Spirit. Here, like the
Apostle Saint Thomas, you are granted the opportunity to “touch” the historical realities
which underlie our confession of faith in the Son of God. My prayer for you today
is that you continue, day by day, to “see and believe” in the signs of God’s providence
and unfailing mercy, to “hear” with renewed faith and hope the consoling words of
the apostolic preaching, and to “touch” the sources of grace in the sacraments, and
to incarnate for others their pledge of new beginnings, the freedom born of forgiveness,
the interior light and peace which can bring healing and hope to even the darkest
of human realities. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pilgrims in every century
have venerated the stone which tradition tells us stood before the entrance to the
tomb on the morning of Christ’s resurrection. Let us return frequently to that empty
tomb. There let us reaffirm our faith in the victory of life, and pray that every
“heavy stone” that stands before the door of our hearts, blocking our complete surrender
to the Lord in faith, hope and love, may be shattered by the power of the light and
life which shone forth from Jerusalem to all the world that first Easter morn. Christ
is risen, alleluia! He is truly risen, alleluia!