Vatican City, 19 October 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy Mass celebrated at 10.30 a.m. in St. Peter's Square this
morning, during which Pope Paul VI was proclaimed Blessed, closed the
Synod of Bishops devoted to “Pastoral challenges to the family in
the context of evangelisation”. The ceremony was attended by Pope
emeritus Benedict XVI and 70,000 faithful from all over the world,
and the Holy Father concelebrated with the cardinals, patriarchs,
archbishops and presbyters who took part in the Synod.
Following the rite of beatification and
the Gospel reading, Francis pronounced a homily in which he
emphasised that during the Synod, the participants felt “felt the
power of the Holy Spirit who constantly guides and renews the Church
... called to waste no time in seeking to bind up open wounds and to
rekindle hope in so many people who have lost it”. He described the
new Blessed as a “courageous Christian, a tireless apostle and the
great helmsman of the Council”.
“We have just heard one of the most
famous phrases in the entire Gospel: 'Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s'. Goaded
by the Pharisees who want to put him to the test in matters of
religion, Jesus gives this ironic and brilliant reply. It is a
striking phrase which the Lord has bequeathed to all those who
experience qualms of conscience, particularly when their comfort,
their wealth, their prestige, their power and their reputation are in
question. This happens all the time; it always has”.
He continued, “Jesus puts the stress
on the second part of the phrase: 'and [render] to God the things
that are God’s'. This means acknowledging and professing – in the
face of any sort of power – that God alone is the Lord of mankind,
that there is no other. This is the perennial newness to be
discovered each day, and it requires mastering the fear which we
often feel at God’s surprises. God is not afraid of the new! That
is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and
guiding us in unexpected ways. He renews us: he constantly makes us
'new'. A Christian who lives the Gospel is 'God’s newness' in the
Church and in the world. How much God loves this 'newness'!”.
“'Rendering to God the things that
are God’s' means being docile to his will, devoting our lives to
him and working for his kingdom of mercy, love and peace. Here is
where our true strength is found; here is the leaven which makes it
grow and the salt which gives flavour to all our efforts to combat
the prevalent pessimism which the world proposes to us. Here too is
where our hope is found, for when we put our hope in God we are
neither fleeing from reality nor seeking an alibi: instead, we are
striving to render to God what is God’s. That is why we Christians
look to the future, God’s future. It is so that we can live this
life to the fullest – with our feet firmly planted on the ground –
and respond courageously to whatever new challenges come our way”.
“In these days, during the
extraordinary Synod of Bishops, we have seen how true this is.
'Synod' means 'journeying together'. And indeed pastors and lay
people from every part of the world have come to Rome, bringing the
voice of their particular Churches in order to help today’s
families walk the path the Gospel with their gaze fixed on Jesus. It
has been a great experience, in which we have lived synodality and
collegiality, and felt the power of the Holy Spirit who constantly
guides and renews the Church. For the Church is called to waste no
time in seeking to bind up open wounds and to rekindle hope in so
many people who have lost it. For the gift of this Synod and for the
constructive spirit which everyone has shown, in union with the
Apostle Paul 'we give thanks to God always for you all, constantly
mentioning you in our prayers'. May the Holy Spirit, who during
these busy days has enabled us to work generously, in true freedom
and humble creativity, continue to guide the journey which, in the
Churches throughout the world, is bringing us to the Ordinary Synod
of Bishops in October 2015. We have sown and we continued to sow,
patiently and perseveringly, in the certainty that it is the Lord who
gives growth to what we have sown”.
Pope Francis went on to focus on the
figure of Pope Paul VI, recalling on the day of his beatification the
words with which he established the Synod of Bishops: “by carefully
surveying the signs of the times, we are making every effort to adapt
ways and methods… to the growing needs of our time and the changing
conditions of society”.
“When we look to this great Pope,
this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle, we cannot but say
in the sight of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and
important: thank you. Thank you, our dear and beloved Pope Paul VI!
Thank you for your humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ
and his Church. In his personal journal, the great helmsman of the
Council wrote, at the conclusion of its final session: 'Perhaps the
Lord has called me and preserved me for this service not because I am
particularly fit for it, or so that I can govern and rescue the
Church from her present difficulties, but so that I can suffer
something for the Church, and in that way it will be clear that he,
and no other, is her guide and saviour'”.
The Holy Father concluded, “In this
humility the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the
advent of a secularised and hostile society, he was able to hold
fast, with farsightedness and wisdom – and at times alone – to
the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his
trust in the Lord. Paul VI truly 'rendered to God what is God’s' by
devoting his whole life to the 'sacred, solemn and serious task of
continuing in history and extending on earth the mission of Christ',
loving the Church and leading her so that she might be 'a loving
mother of the whole human family and at the same time the minister of
its salvation'”.
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