Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) – The
Holy Father's day began with a meeting with the bishops and bishops
emeritus of Ecuador, in Bicentennial Park in Quito. After greetings
from the president of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop
Fausto Gabriel Travez O.F.M., the Pope spoke with the bishops
formally, behind closed doors.
The meeting lasted around a hour, after
which the Pope travelled by popemobile to the park, in the space
previously occupied by the former airport and known as the “lung of
Quito”, due to its 125 hectares of trees. He greeted the more than
one and a half million faithful attending the Holy Mass for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, at which the Holy Father presided,
concelebrating with 1,200 priests.
In the improvised sacristy he put on
the liturgical vestments – stole, chasuble and miter – made in
the Ecuadorian region of Azuay by local artisans and by the Descalzed
Carmelites with the symbols of a calla lily, representing St. Mariana
de Jesus, the first Ecuadorian saint, and the Heart of Jesus, to
which Ecuador is consecrated.
In his second homily in Latin America,
the Pope spoke about liberation: liberation from social inequality
and sin, the need for inclusion at all levels and evangelisation as a
vehicle for unity of aspirations, sensibilities and hopes.
He began by paraphrasing Jesus' remark
at the Last Supper – The word of God calls us to live in unity,
that the world may believe – and added, “I think of those hushed
words of Jesus during the Last Supper as more of a shout, a cry
rising up from this Mass which we are celebrating in Bicentennial
Park. Let us imagine this together. The bicentennial which this Park
commemorates was that of Latin America’s cry for independence. It
was a cry which arose from being conscious of a lack of freedom, of
exploitation and despoliation, of being 'subject to the passing whims
of the powers that be'.
“I would like to see these two cries
joined together, under the beautiful challenge of evangelisation. We
evangelise not with grand words, or complicated concepts, but with
'the joy of the Gospel', which 'fills the hearts and lives of all who
encounter Jesus. For those who accept his offer of salvation are set
free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, loneliness, and an isolated
conscience'. We who are gathered here at table with Jesus are
ourselves a cry, a shout born of the conviction that his presence
leads us to unity, 'pointing to a horizon of beauty and inviting
others to a delicious banquet'.
“'Father, may they be one ... so that
the world may believe'. This was Jesus’ prayer as he raised his
eyes to heaven. This petition arose in a context of mission: 'As you
sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world'. At that
moment, the Lord experiences in his own flesh the worst of this
world, a world he nonetheless loves dearly. Knowing full well its
intrigues, its falsity and its betrayals, he does not turn away, he
does not complain. We too encounter daily a world torn apart by wars
and violence. It would be facile to think that division and hatred
only concern struggles between countries or groups in society.
Rather, they are a manifestation of that 'widespread individualism'
which divides us and sets us against one another, they are a
manifestation of that legacy of sin lurking in the heart of human
beings, which causes so much suffering in society and all of
creation. But is it precisely this troubled world, with its forms of
egoism, into which Jesus sends us. We must not respond with
nonchalance, or complain we do not have the resources to do the job,
or that the problems are too big. Instead, we must respond by taking
up the cry of Jesus and accepting the grace and challenge of being
builders of unity.
“There was no shortage of conviction
or strength in that cry for freedom which arose a little more than
two hundred years ago. But history tells us that it only made headway
once personal differences were set aside, together with the desire
for power and the inability to appreciate other movements of
liberation which were different yet not thereby opposed.
“Evangelisation can be a way to unite
our hopes, concerns, ideals and even utopian visions. We believe this
and we make it our cry. In our world, especially in some countries,
different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we
Christians wish to remain steadfast in our intention to respect
others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships
and to bear one another’s burdens. The desire for unity involves
the delightful and comforting joy of evangelising, the conviction
that we have an immense treasure to share, one which grows stronger
from being shared, and becomes ever more sensitive to the needs of
others. Hence the need to work for inclusivity at every level, to
strive for this inclusivity at every level, to avoid forms of
selfishness, to build communication and dialogue, to encourage
collaboration. We need to give our hearts to our companions along the
way, without suspicion or distrust. Trusting others is an art,
because peace is an art. Our unity can hardly shine forth if
spiritual worldliness makes us feud among ourselves in a futile quest
for power, prestige, pleasure or economic security. And this on the
backs of the poorest, the most excluded and vulnerable, those who
still keep their dignity despite daily blows against it.
“Such unity is already an act of
mission, that the world may believe. Evangelisation does not consist
in proselytising, for proselytising is a caricature of
evangelisation, but rather evangelising entails attracting by our
witness those who are far off, it means humbly drawing near to those
who feel distant from God in the Church, drawing near to those who
feel judged and condemned outright by those who consider themselves
to be perfect and pure. We are to draw near to those who are fearful
or indifferent, and say to them: 'The Lord, with great respect and
love, is also calling you to be a part of your people'. Because our
God respects us even in our lowliness and in our sinfulness. This
calling of the Lord is expressed with such humility and respect in
the text from the Book of Revelations: 'Look, I am at the door and I
am calling; do you want to open the door?' He does not use force, he
does not break the lock, but instead, quite simply, he presses the
doorbell, knocks gently on the door and then waits. This is our God!
“The Church’s mission as sacrament
of salvation also has to do with her identity as a pilgrim people
called to embrace all the nations of the earth. The more intense the
communion between us, the more effective our mission becomes.
Becoming a missionary Church requires constantly fostering communion,
since mission does not have to do with outreach alone. We also need
to be missionaries within the Church, showing that she is 'a mother
who reaches out, showing that she is a welcoming home, a constant
school of missionary communion'.
“Jesus’ prayer can be realised
because he has consecrated us. He says, 'for their sake I consecrate
myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth'. The spiritual
life of an evangeliser is born of this profound truth, which should
not be confused with a few comforting religious exercises, a
spirituality which is perhaps widespread. Jesus consecrates us so
that we can encounter him, person to person; an encounter that leads
us in turn to encounter others, to become involved with our world and
to develop a passion for evangelisation.
“Intimacy with God, in itself
incomprehensible, is revealed by images which speak to us of
communion, communication, self-giving and love. For that reason, the
unity to which Jesus calls us is not uniformity, but rather a
'multifaceted and inviting harmony'. The wealth of our differences,
our diversity which becomes unity whenever we commemorate Holy
Thursday, makes us wary of all temptations that suggest extremist
proposals akin to totalitarian, ideological or sectarian schemes. The
proposal offered by Jesus is a concrete one and not a notion. It is
concrete: 'Go and do the same' he tells that man who asked, 'who is
my neighbour?'. After telling the parable of the Good Samaritan,
Jesus says, 'Go and do the same'. Nor is this proposal of Jesus
something we can fashion as we will, setting conditions, choosing who
can belong and who cannot; the religiosity of the ‘elite’. Jesus
prays that we will all become part of a great family in which God is
our Father, in which all of us are brothers and sisters. No one is
excluded; and this is not about having the same tastes, the same
concerns, the same gifts. We are brothers and sisters because God
created us out of love and destined us, purely of his own initiative,
to be his sons and daughters. We are brothers and sisters because God
has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba!
Father!'. We are brothers and sisters because, justified by the blood
of Christ Jesus, we have passed from death to life and been made
'coheirs' of the promise. That is the salvation which God makes
possible for us, and which the Church proclaims with joy: to be part
of that 'we' which leads to the divine 'we'.
“Our cry, in this place linked to the
original cry for freedom in this country, echoes that of St. Paul:
'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!'. It is a cry every bit as
urgent and pressing as was the cry for independence. It is similarly
thrilling in its ardour. Brothers and sisters, have the same mind as
Christ: May each of you be a witness to a fraternal communion which
shines forth in our world!
“And how beautiful it would be if all
could admire how much we care for one another, how we encourage and
help each other. Giving of ourselves establishes an interpersonal
relationship; we do not give 'things' but our very selves. Any act of
giving means that we give ourselves. 'Giving of oneself” means
letting all the power of that love which is God’s Holy Spirit take
root in our lives, opening our hearts to his creative power. And
giving of oneself even in the most difficult moments as on that Holy
Thursday of the Lord when he perceived how they weaved a plot to
betray him; but he gave himself, he gave himself for us with his plan
of salvation. When we give of ourselves, we discover our true
identity as children of God in the image of the Father and, like him,
givers of life; we discover that we are brothers and sisters of
Jesus, to whom we bear witness. This is what it means to evangelise;
this is the new revolution – for our faith is always revolutionary
– this is our deepest and most enduring cry”.
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