Vatican City, 30 November 2015 (VIS) –
Tens of thousands of people participated in the final act of the Holy
Father's apostolic trip in Africa: the Holy Mass celebrated in the
Barthelemy Boganda sports complex in Bangui. Those unable to enter
followed the event on the maxi screens installed outside the stadium.
In his homily, the Pope invited Central Africans to be artisans of
the human and spiritual renewal of the country, at a time of
difficulties and suffering, passing over to the “other side”
which is Christ Who transforms the reality of our present life.
“We might be astonished, listening to
this morning’s first reading, by the enthusiasm and missionary
drive of St. Paul. 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
good news!'. These words inspire us to give thanks for the gift of
the faith which we have received. They also inspire us to reflect
with amazement on the great missionary effort which – not long ago
– first brought the joy of the Gospel to this beloved land of
Central Africa. It is good, especially in times of difficulty, trials
and suffering, when the future is uncertain and we feel weary and
apprehensive, to come together before the Lord. To come together, as
we do today, to rejoice in His presence and in the new life and the
salvation which He offers us. For He invites us to cross over to
another shore.
“This other shore is, of course,
eternal life, heaven, which awaits us. Looking towards the world to
come has always been a source of strength for Christians, of the
poor, of the least, on their earthly pilgrimage. Eternal life is not
an illusion; it is not a flight from the world. It is a powerful
reality which calls out to us and challenges us to persevere in faith
and love. But the more immediate other shore, which we are trying to
reach, this salvation secured by the faith of which St. Paul speaks,
is a reality which even now is transforming our lives and the world
around us. 'Faith in the heart leads to justification'. Those who
believe receive the very life of Christ, which enables them to love
God and their brothers and sisters in a new way and to bring to birth
a world renewed by love”.
The Pope urged those present to thank
the Lord “for His presence and for the strength which He gives us
in our daily lives, at those times when we experience physical and
spiritual suffering, pain, and grief. Let us thank Him for the acts
of solidarity and generosity which He inspires in us, for the joy and
love with which He fills our families and our communities, despite
the suffering and violence we sometimes experience, and our fears for
the future. Let us thank Him for His gift of courage, which inspires
us to forge bonds of friendship, to dialogue with those who are
different than ourselves, to forgive those who have wronged us, and
to work to build a more just and fraternal society in which no one is
abandoned. In all these things, the Risen Christ takes us by the hand
and guides us. I join you in thanking the Lord in His mercy for all
the beautiful, generous and courageous things He has enabled you to
accomplish in your families and communities during these eventful
years in the life of your country.
“Yet the fact is that we have not yet
reached our destination”, he continued. “In a certain sense we
are in midstream, needing the courage to decide, with renewed
missionary zeal, to pass to the other shore. All the baptised need to
continually break with the remnants of the old Adam, the man of sin,
ever ready to rise up again at the prompting of the devil. How often
this happens in our world and in these times of conflict, hate and
war! How easy it is to be led into selfishness, distrust, violence,
destructiveness, vengeance, indifference to and exploitation of those
who are most vulnerable.
“We know that our Christian
communities, called to holiness, still have a long way to go.
Certainly we need to beg the Lord’s forgiveness for our all too
frequent reluctance and hesitation in bearing witness to the Gospel.
May the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which has just begun in your country,
be an occasion to do so. Dear Central Africans, may you look to the
future and, strengthened by the distance you have already come,
resolutely determine to begin a new chapter in the Christian history
of your country, to set out towards new horizons, to put out into the
deep. The Apostle Andrew, with his brother Peter, did not hesitate to
leave everything at Christ’s call: 'Immediately they left their
nets and followed him'. Once again, we are amazed at the great
enthusiasm of the Apostles. Christ drew them so closely to Himself,
that they felt able to do everything and to risk everything with Him.
“Each of us, in his or her heart, can
ask the crucial question of where we stand with Jesus, asking what we
have already accepted – or refused to accept – in responding to
his call to follow him more closely. The cry of 'those who bring good
news' resounds all the more in our ears, precisely when times are
difficult; that cry which 'goes out through all the earth ... to the
ends of the earth'. And it resounds here, today, in this land of
Central Africa. It resounds in our hearts, our families, our
parishes, wherever we live. It invites us to persevere in enthusiasm
for mission, for that mission which needs new 'bearers of good news',
ever more numerous, generous, joyful and holy. We are all called to
be, each of us, these messengers whom our brothers and sisters of
every ethnic group, religion and culture, await, often without
knowing it. For how can our brothers and sisters believe in Christ –
Saint Paul asks – if the Word is neither proclaimed nor heard?
“We too, like the Apostles, need to
be full of hope and enthusiasm for the future. The other shore is at
hand, and Jesus is crossing the river with us. He is risen from the
dead; henceforth the trials and sufferings which we experience are
always opportunities opening up to a new future, provided we are
willing to follow Him. Christians of Central Africa, each of you is
called to be, through perseverance in faith and missionary
commitment, artisans of the human and spiritual renewal of your
country”.
Pope Francis ended his homily by asking
the Virgin Mary, “who by sharing in the Passion of her Son, now
shares in his perfect joy”, for her protection and encouragement on
this path of hope”.
Following Mass and before giving his
blessing, the Pope mentioned that today is the feast day of St.
Andrew and, from the heart of Africa, he greeted his “dear
brother”, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomaios
I, expressing his wishes for joy and fraternity, and asking the Lord
to bless these two sister Churches.
From the Barthelemy Boganda stadium,
the Holy Father transferred by popemobile to the M'Poko airport where
he boarded the aircraft for his return flight to Rome, expected to
land around 6.45 p.m.
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