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The homily that sums up the visit, as the Mass was itself the capstone…<\/p>\nThe homily that sums up the visit, as the Mass was itself the capstone…<\/p>\n
The homily that sums up the visit, as the Mass was itself the capstone…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nHOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
\nYankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
\nFifth Sunday of Easter, 20 April 2008<\/strong>
\nDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
\nIn the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is \u201cthe way, and the truth and the life\u201d (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises!
\nWith this encouragement to persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests, and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the Apostles.
\nOur celebration today is also a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the Church in your country in the past two hundred years. From a small flock like that described in the first reading, the Church in America has been built up in fidelity to the twin commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. In this land of freedom and opportunity, the Church has united a widely diverse flock in the profession of the faith and, through her many educational, charitable and social works, has also contributed significantly to the growth of American society as a whole.
\nThis great accomplishment was not without its challenges. Today\u2019s first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural tensions already present within the earliest Church community. At the same time, it shows the power of the word of God, authoritatively proclaimed by the Apostles and received in faith, to create a unity which transcends the divisions arising from human limitations and weakness. Here we are reminded of a fundamental truth: that the Church\u2019s unity has no other basis than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord. All external signs of identity, all structures, associations and programs, valuable or even essential as they may be, ultimately exist only to support and foster the deeper unity which, in Christ, is God\u2019s indefectible gift to his Church.
\nThe first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the Church\u2019s unity is \u201capostolic\u201d. It is a visible unity, grounded in the Apostles whom Christ chose and appointed as witnesses to his resurrection, and it is born of what the Scriptures call \u201cthe obedience of faith\u201d (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts 6:7).
\n\u201cAuthority\u201d \u2026 \u201cobedience\u201d. To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a \u201cstumbling stone\u201d for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ \u2013 \u201cthe way and the truth and the life\u201d \u2013 we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. \u201cIn his will is our peace\u201d.
\nReal freedom, then, is God\u2019s gracious gift, the fruit of conversion to his truth, the truth which makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). And this freedom in truth brings in its wake a new and liberating way of seeing reality. When we put on \u201cthe mind of Christ\u201d (cf. Phil 2:5), new horizons open before us! In the light of faith, within the communion of the Church, we also find the inspiration and strength to become a leaven of the Gospel in the world. We become the light of the world, the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14), entrusted with the \u201capostolate\u201d of making our own lives, and the world in which we live, conform ever more fully to God\u2019s saving plan.
\nThis magnificent vision of a world being transformed by the liberating truth of the Gospel is reflected in the description of the Church found in today\u2019s second reading. The Apostle tells us that Christ, risen from the dead, is the keystone of a great temple which is even now rising in the Spirit. And we, the members of his body, through Baptism have become \u201cliving stones\u201d in that temple, sharing in the life of God by grace, blessed with the freedom of the sons of God, and empowered to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to him (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). And what is this offering which we are called to make, if not to direct our every thought, word and action to the truth of the Gospel and to harness all our energies in the service of God\u2019s Kingdom? Only in this way can we build with God, on the one foundation which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). Only in this way can we build something that will truly endure. Only in this way can our lives find ultimate meaning and bear lasting fruit.
\nToday we recall the bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the Church in the United States: its first great chapter of growth. In these two hundred years, the face of the Catholic community in your country has changed greatly. We think of the successive waves of immigrants whose traditions have so enriched the Church in America. We think of the strong faith which built up the network of churches, educational, healthcare and social institutions which have long been the hallmark of the Church in this land. We think also of those countless fathers and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls, and the incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only taught generations of children how to read and write, but also inspired in them a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him. How many \u201cspiritual sacrifices pleasing to God\u201d have been offered up in these two centuries! In this land of religious liberty, Catholics found freedom not only to practice their faith, but also to participate fully in civic life, bringing their deepest moral convictions to the public square and cooperating with their neighbors in shaping a vibrant, democratic society. Today\u2019s celebration is more than an occasion of gratitude for graces received. It is also a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to build a future of hope for coming generations.
\n\u201cYou are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own, to proclaim his glorious works\u201d (1 Pet 2:9). These words of the Apostle Peter do not simply remind us of the dignity which is ours by God\u2019s grace; they also challenge us to an ever greater fidelity to the glorious inheritance which we have received in Christ (cf. Eph 1:18). They challenge us to examine our consciences, to purify our hearts, to renew our baptismal commitment to reject Satan and all his empty promises. They challenge us to be a people of joy, heralds of the unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God\u2019s word, and trust in his promises.
\nEach day, throughout this land, you and so many of your neighbors pray to the Father in the Lord\u2019s own words: \u201cThy Kingdom come\u201d. This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs to create new \u201csettings of hope\u201d (cf. Spe Salvi, 32ff.) where God\u2019s Kingdom becomes present in all its saving power.
\nPraying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its presence, and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ\u2019s victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, \u201cthere is no human activity \u2013 even in secular affairs \u2013 which can be withdrawn from God\u2019s dominion\u201d (Lumen Gentium, 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
\nAnd this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today. As \u201ca chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation\u201d, follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God\u2019s Kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our day too, the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid foundations, the future of the Church in America must even now begin to rise!
\nYesterday, not far from here, I was moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ which I saw on the faces of the many young people assembled in Dunwoodie. They are the Church\u2019s future, and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give them. And so I wish to close by adding a special word of encouragement to them. My dear young friends, like the seven men, \u201cfilled with the Spirit and wisdom\u201d whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, \u201cthe same, yesterday, and today and for ever\u201d and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8). These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world \u2013 including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother\u2019s womb. In a world where, as Pope John Paul II, speaking in this very place, reminded us, Lazarus continues to stand at our door (Homily at Yankee Stadium, October 2, 1979, No. 7), let your faith and love bear rich fruit in outreach to the poor, the needy and those without a voice. Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord\u2019s call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?
\nIn today\u2019s Gospel, the Lord promises his disciples that they will perform works even greater than his (cf. Jn 14:12). Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States. Yet Christ\u2019s promise fills us with sure hope. Let us now join our prayers to his, as living stones in that spiritual temple which is his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let us lift our eyes to him, for even now he is preparing for us a place in his Father\u2019s house. And empowered by his Holy Spirit, let us work with renewed zeal for the spread of his Kingdom.
\n\u201cHappy are you who believe!\u201d (cf. 1 Pet 2:7). Let us turn to Jesus! He alone is the way that leads to eternal happiness, the truth who satisfies the deepest longings of every heart, and the life who brings ever new joy and hope, to us and to our world. Amen.
\n* * *
\nQueridos hermanos y hermanas en el Se\u00f1or:
\nLes saludo con afecto y me alegro de celebrar esta Santa Misa para dar gracias a Dios por el bicentenario del momento en que empez\u00f3 a desarrollarse la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica en esta Naci\u00f3n. Al mirar el camino de fe recorrido en estos a\u00f1os, no exento tambi\u00e9n de dificultades, alabamos al Se\u00f1or por los frutos que la Palabra de Dios ha dado en estas tierras y le manifestamos nuestro deseo de que Cristo, Camino, Verdad y Vida, sea cada vez m\u00e1s conocido y amado.
\nAqu\u00ed, en este Pa\u00eds de libertad, quiero proclamar con fuerza que la Palabra de Cristo no elimina nuestras aspiraciones a una vida plena y libre, sino que nos descubre nuestra verdadera dignidad de hijos de Dios y nos alienta a luchar contra todo aquello que nos esclaviza, empezando por nuestro propio ego\u00edsmo y caprichos. Al mismo tiempo, nos anima a manifestar nuestra fe a trav\u00e9s de nuestra vida de caridad y a hacer que nuestras comunidades eclesiales sean cada d\u00eda m\u00e1s acogedoras y fraternas.
\nSobre todo a los j\u00f3venes les conf\u00edo asumir el gran reto que entra\u00f1a creer en Cristo y lograr que esa fe se manifieste en una cercan\u00eda efectiva hacia los pobres. Tambi\u00e9n en una respuesta generosa a las llamadas que \u00c9l sigue formulando para dejarlo todo y emprender una vida de total consagraci\u00f3n a Dios y a la Iglesia, en la vida sacerdotal o religiosa.
\nQueridos hermanos y hermanas, les invito a mirar el futuro con esperanza, permitiendo que Jes\u00fas entre en sus vidas. Solamente \u00c9l es el camino que conduce a la felicidad que no acaba, la verdad que satisface las m\u00e1s nobles expectativas humanas y la vida colmada de gozo para bien de la Iglesia y el mundo. Que Dios les bendiga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"