 | | | A woman receives Communion during Pope Benedict XVI's Mass at Nationals Park in Washington April 17. Thousands turned out for the pope's first public Mass of his pastoral visit to the U.S. (CNS photo/Joshua Roberts) | |
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In today's Gospel, the risen Lord bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and grants them the authority to forgive sins. Through the surpassing power of Christ's grace, entrusted to frail human ministers, the church is constantly reborn and each of us is given the hope of a new beginning. Let us trust in the Spirit's power to inspire conversion, to heal every wound, to overcome every division, and to inspire new life and freedom. How much we need these gifts! And how close at hand they are, particularly in the sacrament of penance! The liberating power of this sacrament, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God's merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.
"In hope we were saved!" (Rom 8:24). As the church in the United States gives thanks for the blessings of the past 200 years, I invite you, your families, and every parish and religious community, to trust in the power of grace to create a future of promise for God's people in this country. I ask you, in the Lord Jesus, to set aside all division and to work with joy to prepare a way for him in fidelity to his word and in constant conversion to his will. Above all, I urge you to continue to be a leaven of evangelical hope in American society, striving to bring the light and truth of the Gospel to the task of building an ever more just and free world for generations yet to come.
Those who have hope must live different lives! (cf. "Spe Salvi," 2). By your prayers, by the witness of your faith, by the fruitfulness of your charity, may you point the way toward that vast horizon of hope which God is even now opening up to his church and indeed to all humanity: the vision of a world reconciled and renewed in Christ Jesus, our Savior. To him be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Queridos hermanos y hermanas de lengua espanola:
Deseo saludarles con las mismas palabras que Cristo resucitado dirigio a los apostoles: "Paz a ustedes" (Jn 20:19). Que la alegria de saber que el Senor ha triunfado sobre la muerte y el pecado les ayude a ser, alla donde se encuentren, testigos de su amor y sembradores de la esperanza que El vino a traernos y que jamas defrauda.
No se dejen vencer por el pesimismo, la inercia o los problemas. Antes bien, fieles a los compromisos que adquirieron en su bautismo, profundicen cada dia en el conocimiento de Cristo y permitan que su corazan quede conquistado por su amor y por su perdon.
La Iglesia en los Estados Unidos, acogiendo en su seno a tantos de sus hijos emigrantes, ha ido creciendo gracias tambien a la vitalidad del testimonio de fe de los fieles de lengua espanola. Por eso, el Senor les llama a seguir contribuyendo al futuro de la Iglesia en este pais y a la difusion del evangelio. Solo si estan unidos a Cristo y entre ustedes, su testimonio evangelizador sera creible y florecera en copiosos frutos de paz y reconciliacion en medio de un mundo muchas veces marcado por divisiones y enfrentamientos.
La Iglesia espera mucho de ustedes. No la defrauden en su donacion generosa. "Lo que han recibido gratis, denlo gratis" (Mt 10:8)
CD
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
