Pope
Francis celebrates Junipero Serra at Rome's North American College
(Vatican Radio) Pope
Francis on Saturday made the short trip to Rome’s Janiculum Hill to the Pontifical
North American College, the national seminary for the United States.
The College was
hosting a day of reflection on Blessed Junipero Serra, the Franciscan
missionary to California who will canonized by Pope Francis during his trip to
Washington, DC, in September.
Pope Francis said
during his homily he wanted to discuss three aspect of the life of Blessed
Serra – his missionary zeal, his Marian devotion, and his witness of holiness.
Pope Francis said it
was “that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the
gift of encountering Christ: a gift that he had first received and experienced
in all its truth and beauty” which drove the Franciscan Missionary to leave
everything he knew and go to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Father said
this a challenge to us today, and asked if are able “to respond with the same
generosity and courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything
in order to worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of the
poor, to proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and, therefore, have
not experienced the embrace of his mercy.”
Pope Francis noted
Blessed Junipero wanted to consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to
ask her for the grace to open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous
peoples, for the mission he was about to begin. The Pope said you
cannot “separate her from the hearts of the American people.”
And finally, Pope
Francis pointed out he was one of the founding fathers of the United States, a
saintly example of the Church’s universality and special patron of the Hispanic
people of the country.
He said this zeal
was also true for the many missionaries who brought the Gospel to the New World
and, at the same time, defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the
colonizers.
The Pontifical North
American College has been at capacity enrollment for four years, reflecting an
overall increase in vocations to the priesthood in the United States over the
past few years.
The full text of the
homily by Pope Francis at the Pontifical North American College is below.
“I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to
the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47; cf. Is 49:6). These words of the
Lord, in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles which we have just heard,
show us the missionary nature of the Church, sent by Jesus to go out and
proclaim the Gospel. The disciples experienced this from the first moment
when, after the persecution broke out, they left Jerusalem (cf. Acts 8:
1-3). This was true also for the many missionaries who brought the Gospel
to the New World and, at the same time, defended the indigenous peoples against
abuses by the colonizers. Among these missionaries was Friar Junípero; his work
of evangelization reminds us of the first “12 Franciscan apostles" who
were pioneers of the Christian faith in Mexico. He ushered in a new
springtime of evangelization in those immense territories, extending from
Florida to California, which, in the previous two hundred years, had been
reached by missionaries from Spain. This was long before the pilgrims of
the Mayflower reached the North Atlantic coast.
There are three key aspects to the life and example of Friar Junípero: his
missionary zeal, his Marian devotion and his witness of holiness.
First of all, he was a tireless missionary. What made Friar Junípero leave his
home and country, his family, university chair and Franciscan community in
Mallorca to go to the ends of the earth? Certainly, it was the desire to
proclaim the Gospel ad gentes, that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with
those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ: a gift that he had first
received and experienced in all its truth and beauty. Like Paul and
Barnabas, like the disciples in Antioch and in all of Judea, he was filled with
joy and the Holy Spirit in spreading the word of the Lord. Such zeal excites
us, it challenges us! These missionary disciples who have encountered Jesus,
the Son of God, who have come to know him through his merciful Father, moved by
the grace of the Holy Spirit, went out to all the geographical, social and
existential peripheries, to bear witness to charity. They challenge
us! Sometimes we stop and thoughtfully examine their strengths and, above
all, their weaknesses and their shortcomings.
But I wonder if
today we are able to respond with the same generosity and courage to the call
of God, who invites us to leave everything in order to worship him, to follow
him, to rediscover him in the face of the poor, to proclaim him to those who
have not known Christ and, therefore, have not experienced the embrace of his
mercy. Friar Junípero’s witness calls upon us to get involved,
personally, in the mission to the whole continent, which finds its roots in
Evangelii Gaudium.
Secondly, Friar Junípero entrusted his missionary activity to the Blessed
Virgin Mary. We know that before leaving for California, he wanted to
consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for the grace to
open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous peoples, for the mission he
was about to begin. In this prayer we can still see this humble brother
kneeling in front of the "Mother of the true God", the Morenita, who
brought her Son to the New World. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was and
has been present in the twenty-one missions that Friar Junípero founded along
the coast of California. Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become, in
fact, the Patroness of the whole American continent. You cannot separate
her from the hearts of the American people. She represents our shared
roots in this land. Indeed, today's mission to the continent is entrusted
to her, the first, holy missionary disciple, a constant presence and companion,
our source of comfort and hope. For she always hears and protects her
American children.
Thirdly, brothers and sisters, let us contemplate the witness of holiness given
by Friar Junípero. He was one of the founding fathers of the United
States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality and special patron of
the Hispanic people of the country. In this way may all Americans
rediscover their own dignity, and unite themselves ever more closely to Christ
and his Church.
With the universal communion of saints and, in particular, with the assembly of
American saints, may Friar Junípero Serra accompany us and intercede for us,
along with the many other holy men and women who have distinguished themselves
through their various charisms:
•
contemplatives like Rose of Lima, Mariana of Quito and Teresita de los Andes;
• pastors who bear
the scent of Christ and of his sheep, such as Toribio de Mogrovejo, Francois de
Laval, and Rafael Guizar Valencia;
• humble workers in
the vineyard of the Lord, like Juan Diego and Kateri Tekakwitha;
• servants of
the suffering and the marginalized, like Peter Claver, Martín de Porres, Damian
of Molokai, Alberto Hurtado and Rose Philippine Duchesne;
• founders of
communities consecrated to the service of God and of the poorest, like Frances
Cabrini, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Katharine Drexel;
• tireless
missionaries, such as Friar Francisco Solano, José de Anchieta, Alonso de
Barzana, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa and Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero;
• martyrs like
Roque Gonzalez, Miguel Pro and Oscar Arnulfo Romero;
and so many other
saints and martyrs, whom I do not mention here, but who pray before the Lord
for their brothers and sisters who are still pilgrims in those lands.
May a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas during the
coming Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy! Confident in Jesus’ promise, which
we heard today in the Gospel, we ask God for this special outpouring of the
Holy Spirit.
We ask the Risen Jesus, Lord of all ages, that the life of our American
continent may be rooted ever more deeply in the Gospel it has received; that Christ
may be ever more present in the lives of individuals, families, peoples and
nations, for the greater glory of God. We pray too that this glory may be
manifested in the culture of life, brotherhood, solidarity, peace and justice,
with a preferential and concrete love for the poor, through the witness of
Christians of various confessions and communities, together with believers of
other religious traditions, and people of upright conscience and good will.
Lord Jesus, we are merely your missionary disciples, your humble co-workers so
that your Kingdom may come!
With this heartfelt prayer, I ask Our Lady of Guadalupe, Friar Junípero and all
the American saints to lead me and guide me during my approaching apostolic
journeys to South America and North America. I ask all of you to keep this
intention in your prayers, and to continue to pray for me. Amen.
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