 | | | Knights of Columbus disperse with priests and deacons, aiding Eucharistic ministers up and down the steep steps of the baseball stadium in New York as the time for Communion approaches | |
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NEW YORK
(CNS) --
Here is the text of Pope Benedict XVI's homily at the Yankee Stadium Mass April 20.Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his apostles to put their faith in him, for he is "the way, and the truth and the life" (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!
With 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 200th 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 50 states of the union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the apostles.
Our celebration today is also a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the church in your country in the past 200 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.
This great accomplishment was not without its challenges. Today's 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's 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's indefectible gift to his church.
The first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the church's unity is "apostolic." 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 "the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts 6:7).
"Authority" ... "obedience." To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a "stumbling stone" 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 -- "the way and the truth and the life" -- 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. "In his will is our peace."
Real freedom, then, is God's 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 "the mind of Christ" (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 "apostolate" of making our own lives and the world in which we live conform ever more fully to God's saving plan.
This 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's 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 "living stones" 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 Pt 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's 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.
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
