POPE BENEDICT XVI AT WORLD YOUTH DAY - 20 Aug 2011 Homily at the Mass with the
Seminarians Meeting with the Organising Committees, WYD Visit of the
Foundation Institute of San Jose Homily at the Vigil of Prayer With Young
People
Your Eminence the Archbishop of Madrid, Dear Brother Bishops, Dear Priests and Religious,
Dear Rectors and Formators, Dear Seminarians, Dear Friends,
I am very pleased
to celebrate Holy Mass with you who aspire to be Christ’s priests for the service
of the Church and of man, and I thank you for the kind words with which you welcomed
me. Today, this holy cathedral church of Santa María La Real de la Almudena is like
a great Upper Room, where the Lord greatly desires to celebrate the Passover with
you who wish one day to preside in his name at the mysteries of salvation. Looking
at you, I again see proof of how Christ continues to call young disciples and to make
them his apostles, thus keeping alive the mission of the Church and the offer of the
Gospel to the world. As seminarians you are on the path towards a sacred goal: to
continue the mission which Christ received from the Father. Called by him, you have
followed his voice and, attracted by his loving gaze, you now advance towards the
sacred ministry. Fix your eyes upon him who through his incarnation is the supreme
revelation of God to the world and who through his resurrection faithfully fulfills
his promise. Give thanks to him for this sign of favour in which he holds each one
of you. The first reading which we heard shows us Christ as the new and eternal
priest who made of himself a perfect offering. The response to the psalm may be aptly
applied to him since, at his coming into the world, he said to the Father, “Here I
am to do your will” (cf. Ps 39:8). He tried to please him in all things: in his words
and actions, along the way or welcoming sinners. His life was one of service and
his longing was a constant prayer, placing himself in the name of all before the Father
as the first-born son of many brothers and sisters. The author of the Letter to the
Hebrews states that, by a single offering, he brought to perfection for all time those
of us who are called to share his sonship (cf. Heb 10:14). The Eucharist, whose
institution is mentioned in the Gospel just proclaimed (cf. Lk 22:14-20), is the real
expression of that unconditional offering of Jesus for all, even for those who betrayed
him. It was the offering of his body and blood for the life of mankind and for the
forgiveness of sins. His blood, a sign of life, was given to us by God as a covenant,
so that we might apply the force of his life wherever death reigns due to our sins,
and thus destroy it. Christ’s body broken and his blood outpoured – the surrender
of his freedom – became through these Eucharistic signs the new source of mankind’s
redeemed freedom. In Christ, we have the promise of definitive redemption and the
certain hope of future blessings. Through Christ we know that we are not walking
towards the abyss, the silence of nothingness or death, but are rather pilgrims on
the way to a promised land, on the way to him who is our end and our beginning. Dear
friends, you are preparing yourselves to become apostles with Christ and like Christ,
and to accompany your fellow men and women along their journey as companions and servants.
How should you behave during these years of preparation? First of all, they should
be years of interior silence, of unceasing prayer, of constant study and of gradual
insertion into the pastoral activity and structures of the Church. A Church which
is community and institution, family and mission, the creation of Christ through his
Holy Spirit, as well as the result of those of us who shape it through our holiness
and our sins. God, who does not hesitate to make of the poor and of sinners his friends
and instruments for the redemption of the human race, willed it so. The holiness
of the Church is above all the objective holiness of the very person of Christ, of
his Gospel and his sacraments, the holiness of that power from on high which enlivens
and impels it. We have to be saints so as not to create a contradiction between the
sign that we are and the reality that we wish to signify. Meditate well upon this
mystery of the Church, living the years of your formation in deep joy, humbly, clear-mindedly
and with radical fidelity to the Gospel, in an affectionate relation to the time spent
and the people among whom you live. No one chooses the place or the people to whom
he is sent, and every time has its own challenges; but in every age God gives the
right grace to face and overcome those challenges with love and realism. That is
why, no matter the circumstances in which he finds and however difficult they may
be, the priest must grow in all kinds of good works, keeping alive within him the
words spoken on his Ordination day, by which he was exhorted to model his life on
the mystery of the Lord’s cross. To be modeled on Christ, dear seminarians, is
to be identified ever more closely with him who, for our sake, became servant, priest
and victim. To be modeled on him is in fact the task upon which the priest spends
his entire life. We already know that it is beyond us and we will not fully succeed
but, as St Paul says, we run towards the goal, hoping to reach it (cf. Phil 3:12-14).
That said, Christ the High Priest is also the Good Shepherd who cares for his
sheep, even giving his life for them (cf. Jn 10:11). In order to liken yourselves
to the Lord in this as well, your heart must mature while in seminary, remaining completely
open to the Master. This openness, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, inspires the
decision to live in celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and, leaving aside
the world’s goods, live in austerity of life and sincere obedience, without pretense.
Ask him to let you imitate him in his perfect charity towards all, so that you do
not shun the excluded and sinners, but help them convert and return to the right path.
Ask him to teach you how to be close to the sick and the poor in simplicity and generosity.
Face this challenge without anxiety or mediocrity, but rather as a beautiful way of
living our human life in gratuitousness and service, as witnesses of God made man,
messengers of the supreme dignity of the human person and therefore its unconditional
defenders. Relying on his love, do not be intimidated by surroundings that would exclude
God and in which power, wealth and pleasure are frequently the main criteria ruling
people’s lives. You may be shunned along with others who propose higher goals or
who unmask the false gods before whom many now bow down. That will be the moment
when a life deeply rooted in Christ will clearly be seen as something new and it will
powerfully attract those who truly search for God, truth and justice. Under the
guidance of your formators, open your hearts to the light of the Lord, to see if this
path which demands courage and authenticity is for you. Approach the priesthood only
if you are firmly convinced that God is calling you to be his ministers, and if you
are completely determined to exercise it in obedience to the Church’s precepts. With
this confidence, learn from him who described himself as meek and humble of heart,
leaving behind all earthly desire for his sake so that, rather than pursuing your
own good, you build up your brothers and sisters by the way you live, as did the patron
saint of the diocesan clergy of Spain, St John of Avila. Moved by his example, look
above all to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests. She will know how to mould your
hearts according to the model of Christ, her divine Son, and she will teach you how
to treasure forever all that he gained on Calvary for the salvation of the world.
Amen.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Meeting
with the Organising Committees of the WYDDear Friends,
I am pleased to
welcome you to the Apostolic Nunciature, and to thank you warmly for all that you
have done for the organization of this World Youth Day. I know very well that,
from the moment that it was made public that the Archdiocese of Madrid had been chosen
as the centre for this initiative, His Eminence Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela
launched the work of the Local Organizing Committee in which all those responsible
for the different areas involved in an undertaking of this size worked together, coordinated
by Bishop César Augusto Franco Martínez, with a deep sense of ecclesial belonging
and an extraordinary affection for the Vicar of Christ. Only love for the Church
and zeal to evangelize young people can explain this generous commitment of time and
energy, which will bear much apostolic fruit. Over the months you have offered your
best to the service of the Church’s mission. May God reward you for it a hundredfold,
and not just you but your families and your institutions which with self-sacrifice
have supported your dedication and care. Since Jesus tells us that not even a cup
of water given in his name will go without reward, how much more will be rewarded
the daily and unceasing contribution to the organization of a church event of such
importance as the one we are now celebrating! Thank you to each one of you. Similarly,
I wish to offer my thanks to the members of the Mixed Commission formed by the Archdiocese
of Madrid and the national Government offices, the Community of Madrid and the City
Hall which, since the beginning of this World Youth Day, was set up with its gaze
fixed upon the hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims coming to Madrid, a city open,
beautiful and welcoming. Certainly, without this diligent cooperation, it would not
have been possible to realize an event of such complexity and importance. In this
regard, I know that many groups placed themselves at the disposal of the Local Organizing
Committee, sparing no effort and in an atmosphere of friendly cooperation, which is
a credit to this noble nation and to the well-known spirit of hospitality of the Spanish
people. The effectiveness of the Commission shows that cooperation between the
Church and local authorities is possible, and not only when they work together on
an initiative of such great significance, like the present one, proving the principle
that good things bring us together. For this reason, I would like to express to the
representatives of the various institutions that have worked boldly for the success
of this World Day, my warm and heartfelt thanks in the name of the Church and of the
young people who are now enjoying your welcome and diligence. Upon all of you,
as well as upon your families and institutions, I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings.
Thank you very much.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Visit
of the Foundation Institute of San Jose Your Eminence, Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Priests and Religious of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, Distinguished
Authorities, Dear Young People, Family Members and Volunteers, I thank you most
sincerely for your kind greeting and heartfelt welcome. This evening, just before
the Prayer Vigil with the young people from throughout the world gathered in Madrid
for this World Youth Day, we have this chance to spend time together as a way of showing
the Pope’s closeness and esteem for each of you, for your families and for all those
who help and care for you in this Foundation of Saint Joseph’s Institute. Youth,
as I have said more than once, is the age when life discloses itself to us with all
its rich possibilities, inspiring us to seek the lofty goals which give it meaning.
So when suffering appears on the horizon of a young life, we are shaken; perhaps we
ask ourselves: “Can life still be something grand, even when suffering unexpectedly
enters it?” In my Encyclical on Christian Hope, I observed that “the true measure
of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer
… A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share
their suffering and to bear it inwardly through ‘com-passion’ is a cruel and inhuman
society” (Spe Salvi, 38). These words reflect a long tradition of humanity
which arises from Christ’s own self-offering on the Cross for us and for our redemption.
Jesus and, in his footsteps, his Sorrowful Mother and the saints, are witnesses who
shows us how to experience the tragedy of suffering for our own good and for the salvation
of the world. These witnesses speak to us, first and foremost, of the dignity of
all human life, created in the image of God. No suffering can efface this divine
image imprinted in the depths of our humanity. But there is more: because the Son
of God wanted freely to embrace suffering and death, we are also capable of seeing
God’s image in the face of those who suffer. This preferential love of the Lord for
the suffering helps us to see others more clearly and to give them, above and beyond
their material demands, the look of love which they need. But this can only happen
as the fruit of a personal encounter with Christ. You yourselves – as religious,
family members, health care professionals and volunteers who daily live and work with
these young people – know this well. Your lives and your committed service proclaim
the greatness to which every human being is called: to show compassion and loving
concern to the suffering, just as God himself did. In your noble work we hear an
echo of the words found in the Gospel: “just as you did it to one of the least of
these my brothers, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40) At the same time, you are
also witnesses of the immense goodness which the lives of these young people represent
for those who love them, and for humanity as a whole. In a mysterious yet real way,
their presence awakens in our often hardened hearts a tenderness which opens us to
salvation. The lives of these young people surely touch human hearts and for that
reason we are grateful to the Lord for having known them. Dear friends, our society,
which all too often questions the inestimable value of life, of every life, needs
you: in a decisive way you help to build the civilization of love. What is more,
you play a leading role in that civilization. As sons and daughters of the Church,
you offer the Lord your lives, with all their ups and downs, cooperating with him
and somehow becoming “part of the treasury of compassion so greatly needed by the
human race” (Spe Salvi, 40). With great affection, and through the intercession
of Saint Joseph, Saint John of God and Saint Benito Menni, I commend you to God our
Lord: may he be your strength and your reward. As a pledge of his love, I cordially
impart to you, and to your families and friends, my Apostolic Blessing.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Homily
at the Vigil of Prayer With Young People at Cuatro Vientos