Vatican City, 25 January 2015 (VIS) –
Yesterday afternoon the Pope presided at the second Vespers on the
solemnity of the conversion of St. Paul, bringing to a close the Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity, the theme of which this year was “Give
me to drink” (John, 4.7).
Representatives from other Churches and
communities in Rome were present, and the celebration concluded with
an apostolic blessing. In his homily, the full text of which is
published below, Pope Francis emphasised that Jesus' thirst – which
is described in the Gospel passage of the Samaritan woman – goes
well beyond physical thirst. “It is also the thirst for an
encounter, the wish to establish a dialogue with the woman, thus
offering her the possibility of a path of inner conversion”.
“On his way from Judea to Galilee,
Jesus passes through Samaria”, began the Pope. “He has no problem
dealing with Samaritans, who were considered by the Jews to be
heretics, schismatics, separate. His attitude tells us that encounter
with those who are different from ourselves can make us grow.
“Weary from his journey, Jesus does
not hesitate to ask the Samaritan woman for something to drink. His
thirst, however, is much more than physical: it is also a thirst for
encounter, a desire to enter into dialogue with that woman and to
invite her to make a journey of interior conversion. Jesus is
patient, respectful of the person before him, and gradually reveals
himself to her. His example encourages us to seek a serene encounter
with others. To understand one another, and to grow in charity and
truth, we need to pause, to accept and listen to one another. In this
way, we already begin to experience unity. Unity grows along the way;
it never stands still. Unity happens when we walk together.
“The woman of Sychar asks Jesus about
the place where God is truly worshipped. Jesus does not side with the
mountain or the temple, but goes to the heart of the matter, breaking
down every wall of division. He speaks instead of the meaning of true
worship: 'God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
spirit and truth'. So many past controversies between Christians can
be overcome when we put aside all polemical or apologetic approaches,
and seek instead to grasp more fully what unites us, namely, our call
to share in the mystery of the Father’s love revealed to us by the
Son through the Holy Spirit. Christian unity, we are convinced, will
not be the fruit of subtle theoretical discussions in which each
party tries to convince the other of the soundness of their opinions.
When the Son of Man comes, he will find us still discussing! We need
to realise that, to plumb the depths of the mystery of God, we need
one another, we need to encounter one another and to challenge one
another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who harmonises
diversities and overcomes conflicts, reconciles differences”.
Gradually, continued the Pope, “the
Samaritan woman comes to realise that the one who has asked her for a
drink is able to slake her own thirst. Jesus in effect tells her that
he is the source of living water which can satisfy her thirst for
ever. Our human existence is marked by boundless aspirations: we seek
truth, we thirst for love, justice and freedom. These desires can
only be partially satisfied, for from the depths of our being we are
prompted to seek 'something more', something capable of fully
quenching our thirst. The response to these aspirations is given by
God in Jesus Christ, in his paschal mystery. From the pierced side of
Jesus there flowed blood and water. He is the brimming fount of the
water of the Holy Spirit, 'the love of God poured into our hearts on
the day of our baptism. By the working of the Holy Spirit, we have
become one in Christ, sons in the Son, true worshippers of the
Father. This mystery of love is the deepest ground of the unity which
binds all Christians and is much greater than their historical
divisions. To the extent that we humbly advance towards the Lord,
then, we also draw nearer to one another”.
Her encounter with Jesus “made the
Samaritan women a missionary. Having received a greater and more
important gift than mere water from a well, she leaves her jar behind
and runs back to tell her townspeople that she has met the Christ.
Her encounter with Jesus restored meaning and joy to her life, and
she felt the desire to share this with others. Today there are so
many men and women around us who are weary and thirsting, and who ask
us Christians to give them something to drink. It is a request which
we cannot evade. In the call to be evangelisers, all the Churches and
Ecclesial Communities discover a privileged setting for closer
cooperation. For this to be effective, we need to stop being
self-enclosed, exclusive, and bent on imposing a uniformity based on
merely human calculations. Our shared commitment to proclaiming the
Gospel enables us to overcome proselytism and competition in all
their forms. All of us are at the service of the one Gospel”.
“In this moment of prayer for unity,
I would also like to remember our martyrs, the martyrs of today. They
are witnesses to Jesus Christ, and they are persecuted and killed
because they are Christians. Those who persecute them make no
distinction between the religious communities to which they belong.
They are Christians and for that they are persecuted. This, brothers
and sisters, is the ecumenism of blood”, emphasised Francis.
He continued, “Mindful of this
testimony given by our martyrs today, and with this joyful certainty,
I offer a cordial and fraternal greeting to His Eminence Metropolitan
Gennadios, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Grace
David Moxon, the personal representative in Rome of the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and “all the representatives of the various Churches
and Ecclesial Communions gathered here to celebrate the Feast of the
Conversion of Saint Paul”. He added, “I am also pleased to greet
the members of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between
the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, and I offer them my
best wishes for the fruitfulness of the plenary session to be held in
these coming days. I also greet the students from the Ecumenical
Institute at Bossey, and the young recipients of study grants from by
the Committee for Cultural Collaboration with the Orthodox Churches,
centred in the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity”.
Also present, he said, “are men and
women religious from various Churches and Ecclesial Communities who
have taken part in an ecumenical meeting organised by the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of
Apostolic Life, in conjunction with the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, to mark the Year for Consecrated Life.
Religious life, as prophetic sign of the world to come, is called to
offer in our time a witness to that communion in Christ which
transcends all differences and finds expression in concrete gestures
of acceptance and dialogue. The pursuit of Christian unity cannot be
the sole prerogative of individuals or religious communities
particularly concerned with this issue. A shared knowledge of the
different traditions of consecrated life, and a fruitful exchange of
experiences, can prove beneficial for the vitality of all forms of
religious life in the different Churches and Ecclesial Communities”.
“Dear brothers and sisters”, he
concluded, “today all of us who thirst for peace and fraternity
trustingly implore from our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ the
one priest and mediator, and through the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the Apostle Paul and all the saints, the gift of full
communion between all Christians, so that 'the sacred mystery of the
unity of the Church' may shine forth as the sign and instrument of
reconciliation for the whole world”.
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