July 27, 2013.
(Romereports.com)
Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Rio de
Janeiro's St. Sebastian Cathedral, along with hundreds of bishops, seminarians
and religious. Some of them specifically traveled to Brazil for World Youth
Day. During his homily the Pope encouraged them to go beyond their
parish walls to proclaim the Gospel. He also said they must show the courage
to stand up against a culture that welcomes only what's convenient.
POPE'S HOMILY:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
Seeing this Cathedral full of
Bishops, priests, seminarians, and men and women religious from the whole
world, I think of the Psalmist’s words from today’s Mass: "Let the peoples
praise you, O God" (Ps 66). We are indeed here to praise the Lord, and we
do so reaffirming our desire to be his instruments so that not only some
peoples may praise God, but all. With the same parrhesia of Paul and Barnabas,
we proclaim the Gospel to our young people, so that they may encounter Christ,
the light for our path, and build a more fraternal world. I wish to reflect
with you on three aspects of our vocation: we are called by God, called to
proclaim the Gospel, and called to promote the culture of encounter.
1. Called by God – It is important
to rekindle an awareness of our divine vocation, which we often take for
granted in the midst of our many daily responsibilities: as Jesus says,
"You did not choose me, but I chose you" (Jn 15:16). This means
returning to the source of our calling. At the beginning of our vocational
journey, there is a divine election. We were called by God and we were called
to be with Jesus (cf. Mk 3:14), united with him in a way so profound that we
are able to say with Saint Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). This living in Christ, in fact, marks all
that we are and all that we do. And this "life in Christ" is
precisely what ensures the effectiveness of our apostolate, that our service is
fruitful: "I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your
fruit should abide" (Jn 15:16). It is not pastoral creativity, or meetings
or planning that ensure our fruitfulness, but our being faithful to Jesus, who
says insistently: "Abide in me and I in you" (Jn 15:4). And we know
well what that means: to contemplate him, to worship him, to embrace him,
especially through our faithfulness to a life of prayer, and in our daily
encounter with him, present in the Eucharist and in those most in need.
"Being with" Christ does not isolate us from others. Rather, it is a
"being with" in order to go forth and encounter others. This brings
to mind some words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: "We must be very
proud of our vocation because it gives us the opportunity to serve Christ in
the poor. It is in the favelas, in the cantegriles, in the villas
miseria, that one must go to seek and to serve Christ. We must go to them as
the priest presents himself at the altar, with joy" (Mother’s
Instructions, I, p. 80). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is our true treasure. Let us
try to unite our hearts ever more closely to his (cf. Lk 12:34).
2. Called to proclaim the
Gospel – dear Bishops and priests, many of you, if not all, have accompanied
your young people to World Youth Day. They too have heard the mandate of Jesus:
"Go and make disciples of all nations" (cf. Mt 28:19). It is our
responsibility to help kindle within their hearts the desire to be missionary
disciples of Jesus. Certainly, this invitation could cause many to feel somewhat
afraid, thinking that to be missionaries requires leaving their own homes and
countries, family and friends. I remember the dream I had when I was young: to
be a missionary in faraway Japan. God, however, showed me that my missionary
territory was much closer: my own country. Let us help our young people to
realize that the call to be missionary disciples flows from our baptism and is
an essential part of what it means to be a Christian. We must also help them to
realize that we are called first to evangelize in our own homes and our places
of study and work, to evangelize our family and friends.
Let us spare no effort in the
formation of our young people! Saint Paul uses a beautiful expression that he
embodied in his own life, when he addressed the Christian community: "My
little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in
you" (Gal 4:19). Let us embody this also in our own ministry! Let us help
our young people to discover the courage and joy of faith, the joy of being
loved personally by God, who gave his Son Jesus for our salvation. Let us form
them in mission, in going out and going forth. Jesus did this with his own
disciples: he did not keep them under his wing like a hen with her chicks. He
sent them out! We cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes, in our
communities, when so many people are waiting for the Gospel! It is not enough
simply to open the door in welcome, but we must go out through that door to
seek and meet the people! Let us courageously look to pastoral needs, beginning
on the outskirts, with those who are farthest away, with those who do not
usually go to church. They too are invited to the table of the Lord.
3. Called to promote the
culture of encounter – Unfortunately, in many places, the culture of exclusion,
of rejection, is spreading. There is no place for the elderly or for the
unwanted child; there is no time for that poor person on the edge of the
street. At times, it seems that for some people, human relations are regulated
by two modern "dogmas": efficiency and pragmatism. Dear Bishops,
priests, religious and you, seminarians who are preparing for ministry: have
the courage to go against the tide. Let us not reject this gift of God which is
the one family of his children. Encountering and welcoming everyone, solidarity
and fraternity: these are what make our society truly human.
Be servants of communion and of
the culture of encounter! Permit me to say that we must be almost obsessive in
this matter. We do not want to be presumptuous, imposing "our truths".
What must guide us is the humble yet joyful certainty of those who have been
found, touched and transformed by the Truth who is Christ, ever to be
proclaimed (cf. Lk 24:13-35).
Dear
brothers and sisters, we are called by God, called to proclaim the Gospel and
called to promote with courage the culture of encounter. May the Virgin Mary be
our exemplar. In her life she was "a model of that motherly love with
which all who join in the Church’s apostolic mission for the regeneration of
humanity should be animated" (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic
ConsPope Francis celebrated Mass in Rio de Janeiro's St. Sebastian Cathedral,
along with hundreds of bishops, seminarians and religious. Some of them
specifically traveled to Brazil for World Youth Day. During his homily
the Pope encouraged them to go beyond their parish walls to proclaim the
Gospel. He also said they must show the courage to stand up against a culture
that welcomes only what's convenient. titution Lumen Gentium, 65). May she be
the Star that surely guides our steps to meet the Lord. Amen.
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