Pope
Francis to new archbishops: be true witnesses
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass
celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and
Paul, Patrons of Rome. The Mass also saw the ceremonial gift of the Pallium -
the peculiar sign of the office of a Metropolitan Archbishop. Below, please
find the full text of the Holy Father's prepared remarks, in English.
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The reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks to us
of the first Christian community besieged by persecution. A community harshly
persecuted by Herod who “laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the
Church… proceeded to arrest Peter also… and when he had seized him he put him
in prison” (12:1-4).
However, I do not wish to dwell on these atrocious, inhuman and
incomprehensible persecutions, sadly still present in many parts of the world
today, often under the silent gaze of all. I would like instead to pay
homage today to the courage of the Apostles and that of the first Christian
community. This courage carried forward the work of evangelisation, free
of fear of death and martyrdom, within the social context of a pagan empire;
their Christian life is for us, the Christians of today, a powerful
call to prayer, to faith and to witness.
A
call to prayer: the first community was a Church at prayer: “Peter
was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the Church” (Acts 12:5).
And if we think of Rome, the catacombs were not places to escape to from
persecution but rather, they were places of prayer, for sanctifying the Lord’s
day and for raising up, from the heart of the earth, adoration to God who never
forgets his sons and daughters.
The community of Peter and Paul teaches us that the Church at prayer is a
Church on her feet, strong, moving forward! Indeed, a Christian who prays is a
Christian who is protected, guarded and sustained, and above all, who is never
alone.
The first reading continues: “Sentries before the door were guarding the
prison; and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the
cell; and he struck Peter on the side… And the chains fell off his hands”
(12:6-7).
Let us think about how many times the Lord has heard our prayer and sent us an
angel? An angel who unexpectedly comes to pull us out of a difficult
situation? Who comes to snatch us from the hands of death and from the
evil one; who points out the wrong path; who rekindles in us the flame of hope;
who gives us tender comfort; who consoles our broken hearts; who awakens us
from our slumber to the world; or who simply tells us, “You are not alone”.
How many angels he places on our path, and yet when we are overwhelmed by fear,
unbelief or even euphoria, we leave them outside the door, just as happened to
Peter when he knocked on the door of the house and the “maid named Rhoda came
to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the
door” (12:13-14).
No Christian community can go forward without being supported by persistent
prayer! Prayer is the encounter with God, with God who never lets us down; with
God who is faithful to his word; with God who does not abandon his children. Jesus
asked himself: “And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and
night?” (Lk 18:7). In prayer, believers express their faith
and their trust, and God reveals his closeness, also by giving us the angels,
his messengers.
A
call to faith: in the second reading Saint Paul writes to Timothy:
“But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the word fully… So I
was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every
evil and save me for his heavenly Kingdom” (2 Tim 4:17-18).
God does not take his children out of the world or away from evil but he does
grant them strength to prevail. Only the one who believes can truly say:
“The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” (Ps 23:1).
How many forces in the course of history have tried, and still do, to destroy
the Church, from without as well as within, but they themselves are destroyed
and the Church remains alive and fruitful! She remains inexplicably solid, so
that, as Saint Paul says, she may acclaim: “To him be glory for ever and ever”
(2 Tim 4:18).
Everything passes, only God remains. Indeed, kingdoms, peoples, cultures,
nations, ideologies, powers have passed, but the Church, founded on Christ,
notwithstanding the many storms and our many sins, remains ever faithful to the
deposit of faith shown in service; for the Church does not belong to Popes,
bishops, priests, nor the lay faithful; the Church in every moment belongs
solely to Christ. Only the one who lives in Christ promotes and defends
the Church by holiness of life, after the example of Peter and Paul.
In the name of Christ, believers have raised the dead; they have healed the
sick; they have loved their persecutors; they have shown how there is no power
capable of defeating the one who has the power of faith!
A
call to witness: Peter and Paul, like all the Apostles of Christ
who in their earthly life sowed the seeds of the Church by their blood, drank
the Lord’s cup, and became friends of God.
Paul writes in a moving way to Timothy: “My son, I am already on the point of
being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who
have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4: 6-8).
A Church or a Christian who does not give witness is sterile; like a dead person
who thinks they are alive; like a dried up tree that produces no fruit; an
empty well that offers no water! The Church has overcome evil thanks to
the courageous, concrete and humble witness of her children. She has
conquered evil thanks to proclaiming with conviction: “You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God” (cf. Mt 16:13-18).
Dear Archbishops who today receive the Pallium, it is a sign which represents
the sheep that the shepherd carries on his shoulders as Christ the Good Shepherd
does, and it is therefore a symbol of your pastoral mission. The Pallium
is “a liturgical sign of communion that unites the See of Peter and his
Successor to the Metropolitans, and through them to the other Bishops of the
world” (Benedict XVI, Angelus of 29 June 2005).
Today, by these Palliums, I wish to entrust you with this call to prayer, to
faith and to witness.
The Church wants you to be men of prayer, masters of prayer; that you may teach
the people entrusted to your care that liberation from all forms of
imprisonment is uniquely God’s work and the fruit of prayer; that God sends his
angel at the opportune time in order to save us from the many forms of slavery
and countless chains of worldliness. For those most in need, may you also
be angels and messengers of charity!
The Church desires you to be men of faith, masters of faith, who can teach the
faithful to not be frightened of the many Herods who inflict on them
persecution with every kind of cross. No Herod is able to banish the
light of hope, of faith, or of charity in the one who believes in Christ!
The Church wants you to be men of witness. Saint Francis used to tell his
brothers: “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words!” (cf.Franciscan
sources, 43). There is no witness without a coherent lifestyle!
Today there is no great need for masters, but for courageous witnesses, who are
convinced and convincing; witnesses who are not ashamed of the Name of Christ
and of His Cross; not before the roaring lions, nor before the powers of this
world. And this follows the example of Peter and Paul and so many other
witnesses along the course of the Church’s history, witnesses who, yet
belonging to different Christian confessions, have contributed to demonstrating
and bringing growth to the one Body of Christ. I am pleased to emphasize this,
and am always pleased to do so, in the presence of the Delegation of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, sent by my beloved brother Bartholomew
I.
This is not so straightforward: because the most effective and authentic
witness is one that does not contradict, by behaviour and lifestyle, what is
preached with the word and taught to others!
Teach
prayer by praying, announce the faith by believing; offer witness by living!
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