Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Bogota: Full text
Colombian faithful gather for Holy Mass with Pope Francis in Simon Bolivar Park in Bogota.- REUTERS |
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated his first public
Mass on Colombian soil on Thursday evening at the Simon Bolivar Park in
Bogota, encouraging Colombians to keep trusting in Christ in the difficult
journey towards peace and reconciliation.
He pointed to the figure of St. Peter in the day’s Gospel
who heeded to Christ’s exhortation to put out into the deep and came up with a
wonderful catch.
Noting that, like anywhere else, in Colombia too there is
darkness such as injustice, social inequality, corruption, selfishness,
disrespect for human life, vengeance and hatred, the Holy Father said, “Jesus
invites us to put out into the deep, he prompts us to take shared risks, to
leave behind our selfishness and to follow him…”
Below, please find the official English translation of
the Pope's prepared homily:
Homily: “Artisans of Peace, Promoters of Life”
Bogotá
Thursday, 7 September 2017
The Gospel writer tells us that the calling of the first
disciples happened along the shore of Lake Gennesaret, where the people came
together to hear a voice capable of guiding them and illuminating them; it was
also the place where fishermen used to bring their tiring days to an end, where
they looked for sustenance in order to live a dignified and happy life, one not
lacking the basic necessities. It is the only time in the whole Gospel of
Luke that Jesus preaches near the Sea of Galilee. On the open sea their
hopes for a bountiful catch are turned into frustration with what seem to be
pointless and wasted efforts. According to an ancient Christian
interpretation, the sea also represents the vastness where all peoples live;
because of its turmoil and darkness, it evokes everything that threatens human
existence and that has the power to destroy it.
We use similar expressions to define crowds: a human tide, a
sea of people. That day, Jesus had the sea behind him, and in front of
him a crowd that followed him because they knew how deeply moved he was by
human suffering… and they knew of his impartial, profound, and true
words. Everyone came to hear him; the word of Jesus has something special
that leaves no one indifferent; his word has the power to convert hearts, to
change plans and projects. It is a word demonstrated by action, not
academic findings, cold agreements, removed from people’s pain; for his is a
word valid both for the safety of the shore and the fragility of the sea.
This beloved city, Bogotá, and this beautiful country,
Colombia, convey many of the human scenarios presented by the Gospel.
Here too the crowds come together, longing for a word of life to englighten all
their efforts, and to indicate the direction and beauty of human
existence. These crowds of men and women, the young and the elderly,
dwell in a land of unimaginable fertility, which could provide for
everyone. But here, as in other places, there is a thick darkness which
threatens and destroys life: the darkness of injustice and social inequality;
the corrupting darkness of personal and group interests that consume in a
selfish and uncontrolled way what is destined for the good of all; the darkness
of disrespect for human life which daily destroys the life of many innocents,
whose blood cries out to heaven; the darkness of thirst for vengeance and the
hatred which stains the hands of those who would right wrongs on their own
authority; the darkness of those who become numb to the pain of so many
victims. Jesus scatters and destroys all this darkness with the command
he gives to Peter in the boat: “Put out into the deep sea” (Lk 5:4).
We can get tangled up in endless discussions, adding up
failed attempts and making a list of all the efforts that have ended in
nothing; just like Peter, we know what it means to work without success.
This nation knows this all too well, given that in a period of six years, from
its beginning, there were sixteen presidents, and the country paid dearly for
its divisions (the “foolish homeland”); the Church in Colombia knows also about
unsuccessful and fruitless pastoral work…, but, like Peter, we too are able to
trust the Master, whose word is fruitful even where the hostility of human
darkness renders so many attempts and efforts fruitless. Peter is the man
who resolutely accepts Jesus’ invitation, to leave everything and follow him,
to become a new fisherman, whose mission is to bring to his brothers the
Kingdom of God, where life is made full and happy.
But the command to cast out the nets is not directed only to
Simon Peter; he was directed to put out into the deep, like those in your
homeland who first recognized what is most compelling, like those who took the
initiative for peace, for life. Casting out the nets involves
responsibility. In Bogotá and in Colombia a vast community journeys
forwards, called to conversion in a healthy net that gathers everyone into
unity, working for the defense and care of human life, especially when it is
most fragile and vulnerable: in a mother’s womb, in infancy, in old age, in
conditions of incapacity and in situations of social marginalization.
Great multitudes of people in Bogotá and in Colombia can also become truly
vibrant, just and fraternal communities, if they hear and welcome the Word of
God. From these evangelized multitudes will arise many men and women
transformed into disciples, who with a truly free heart, follow Jesus; men and
women capable of loving life in all its phases, of respecting and promoting it.
We need to call out to one another, to signal each other,
like fishermen, to see each other again as brothers and sisters, companions on
the way, partners in this common cause which is the homeland. Bogotá and
Colombia are at the same time the shore, the lake, the open sea, the city
through which Jesus has passed and passes, to offer his presence and his
fruitful word, to call out of darkness and bring us to light and to
life. He calls everyone, so that no one is left to the mercy of the
storms; to go into the boat of every family, that sanctuary of life; to
make space for the common good above any selfish or personal interests; to
carry the most fragile and promote their rights.
Peter experiences his smallness, the immensity of the word
and the power of Jesus; Peter knows his weakness, his ups and downs…, as we all
know our own, as is known in the history of violence and division of your
people, a history which has not always found us sharing the boat, the storm,
the misfortunes. But in the same way as Simon, Jesus invites us to put
out into the deep, he prompts us to take shared risks, to leave behind our
selfishness and to follow him; to give up our fears which do not come from God,
which paralyze us and prevent us becoming artisans of peace, promoters of life.
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