VATICAN CITY, JUN 24, 2001 (VIS) - During intermittent rain, Pope John Paul presided at a concelebrated Mass at 9:30 this morning on the field of Chayka Airport, 16 kilometers from Kiev, in the presence of tens of thousands of faithful. The Eucharistic celebration was according to the Latin rite.
In his homily, the Pope recalled that "today we celebrate the birth of Saint John the Baptist. ... Of all the Saints, John is the only one whose birth is celebrated by the Liturgy. We heard in the first Reading that the Lord called His Servant 'from his mother's womb'. ... Even from his mother's womb John indicates the One who will reveal to the world the loving plan of God."
The Holy Father continued, "John the Baptist was the messenger, the forerunner: he was sent to prepare the way for Christ. How does the figure of St. John the Baptist speak to us here, in Kiev, at the beginning of this pilgrimage in your country?"
"This is the place of the Baptism of Rus'. From Kiev there began that flowering of Christian life which the Gospel first brought forth in the land of the ancient Rus', then in the lands of Eastern Europe and, later, beyond the Urals, in the lands of Asia. In a certain sense, then, Kiev itself played the role of a 'precursor of the Lord' among the many peoples who would receive the proclamation of the Gospel from here."
"The Baptism which took place here, in Kiev," remarked John Paul II, "inaugurated the thousand-year history of Christianity in the lands of today's Ukraine and in the whole region. ... What a flowering of spiritual, liturgical and ecclesial life developed from the meeting of different cultures and religious traditions!"
The Pope urged the faithful to "look today to John the Baptist, an enduring model of fidelity to God and His Law, ... a model of faith, ... a model of humility" and "a model of uprightness and courage in defending the truth, for which he was prepared to pay in his person, even to the point of imprisonment and death. Land of Ukraine, drenched with the blood of martyrs, thank you for the example of fidelity to the Gospel which you have given to Christians the world over! So many of your sons and daughters walked in complete fidelity to Christ: many of them remained constant even to the supreme sacrifice. May their witness serve as an example and a stimulus for the Christians of the third millennium."
"Dear brothers and sisters," he concluded, "be brave enough always to give priority to the values of the spirit. ... You, dear young people, be brave and free! Do not let yourselves be taken in by the deceptive mirages of an easy happiness. Follow the way of Christ: He is demanding, certainly, but He alone can help you to savour the full meaning of life and enjoy peace of heart. You, dear parents, prepare the way of the Lord before your children. Bring them up with love, and set a good example by living the principles you teach."
Immediately following Mass, Pope John Paul prayed the Angelus with the faithful present. In meditations made before reciting this prayer, he noted that "Mary, the first and the most perfect disciple of her Son, is a figure and a model of the Church which welcomes the word of the Lord in faith. Her protection has accompanied every step of the Christian community in Ukraine ever since the Baptism of Rus' in 988."
"Bathed by the great river of faith, Ukraine thus became a Christian land and, at the same time, a Marian country. This can be seen in the numerous shrines which express the deep love of the faithful for their heavenly Mother. ... To Mary's heavenly intercession I entrust this my pastoral visit and all those whom I shall meet during these days. In a special way I ask her, Mother of the Church, to hasten the steps of all Christians towards full communion."
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