JOHN XXIII'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT: HIS WITNESS OF HOLINESS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 3, 2001 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. today, Solemnity of Pentecost, John Paul II celebrated Mass with the cardinals in St. Peter's Square, in the presence of 30,000 faithful.

Before the Eucharistic Celebration, Cardinal Virgilio Noe, archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, accompanied the casket of Blessed John XXIII from the basilica to the square. Joined by other priests, he led the procession from the basilica through the Arch of the Bells to a central aisle in the square, in the midst of the faithful, and finally to the altar where the Mass was celebrated in the piazza.

In his homily, John Paul II observed: "By a happy coincidence, in today's solemnity we have the joy to have with us, next to the altar, the venerated remains of Blessed John XXIII," who died June 3, 1963.

After recalling that Vatican Council II was "announced, called, and opened by Pope John XXIII," John Paul II said that "we can indeed say that the Holy Spirit was the protagonist of the Council, from the very moment the Pope convoked it."

"If today we recall that singular ecclesial season," he continued, "it is because the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 was placed in continuity with Vatican Council II, taking from it numerous aspects both of doctrine and method. And the recent extraordinary consistory has re-proposed its contemporariness and richness for the new Christian generations. All this is for us a further motive of gratitude with regard to Blessed Pope John XXIII."

The Holy Father underscored that "the most precious gift left by Pope John to the People of God was himself, that is to say, his witness of holiness. ... If evangelization requires holiness, this in turn needs the lifeblood of the spiritual life; of prayer and of intimate union with God through the Word and the Sacraments. It needs, in a word, the personal and profound life in the Spirit."

Blessed John XXIII "was molded by the Spirit day by day, seeking with persevering patience to conform himself ever more to His will. Here is the secret of the goodness with which he won over the People of God and many men of good will."

"Entrusting ourselves to his intercession, we wish today to ask the Lord that the grace of the Great Jubilee shine upon the new millennium, through the witness of holiness of Christians. We profess with trust that this is possible. It is possible through the action of the Paraclete Spirit Who, according to Christ's promise, remains ever with us."
At the end of the Mass, Blessed John XXIII's casket was transferred to the Altar of the Confession for the veneration of the faithful, before being permanently placed under the Altar of St. Jerome.

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