Pope, in the footsteps of Paul and John Paul II to rediscover Christ, mission and martyrdom
Rome (AsiaNews) As Bishop of Rome, the ministry of the Pope is based on the witness and martyrdom of Peter and Paul. For this reason, a day after his installation in St Peter, Benedict XVI went to the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls, on Rome's Ostiense Street. Thousands of faithful were there waiting for him.
After honouring and incensing the sepulchre of the Apostle Paul, he read a homily and ended the service singing the Pater Noster and blessing those present.
Here is the text of the homily.
"Lord Cardinals,
Venerated Brothers of the Episcopate and the Priesthood.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord!
"I thank God who, in the beginning of my ministry as successor to Peter, has granted me the opportunity to pray before the sepulchre of the Apostle Paul.
"This is a much wished for pilgrimage, an act of faith which I perform on my own behalf, but also on behalf of the beloved diocese of Rome, of which the Lord has made me Bishop and Pastor, and of the Universal Church, which is part of my pastoral care.
"This is a pilgrimage, so to speak, back to the roots of mission, of the mission that Christ entrusted to Peter, the Apostles, and in a unique way, to Paul as well; it was he who was impelled to announce the Gospel to the Gentiles till he reached this city where, after proclaiming the kingdom of God for a long time (Acts, 28: 31), he bore witness with his blood to His Lord, who had taken possession of him (Phil., 3: 12) and sent him on mission.
"Even before Providence led him to Rome, the capital of the Empire, he had written his most important Letter from a doctrinal point of view.
"Its initial part has just been proclaimed, a deep preamble in which the Apostle greets the community of Rome introducing himself as 'a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle' (Romans, 1: 1).
"Further down the, he added: 'Through him [Christ], we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles' (Romans, 1: 5).
"Dear friends, as successor to Peter, I am here to revive the faith in the 'grace of apostleship', because God, according to the Apostle to the Gentiles, gave me the 'anxiety for all the churches' (2 Cor, 11: 28).
"Before our own eyes we have the example of my dearly loved and venerated predecessor, John Paul II, a missionary Pope, whose activism was very intense as evidenced by his more than 100 trips outside of Italy. He was indeed inimitable.
"What drove him to be so dynamic if not the love of Christ that transformed St Paul's existence (cf 2 Cor, 5: 14). May the Lord nourish in me such a love, may He never give me peace in the face of the necessities of the evangelical message in today's world.
"By her own nature, the Church has a missionary vocation; her main task is evangelisation."
"The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council adopted a decree on missionary activities called Ad gentes, which says how 'the Apostles . . . following the example of Christ preached the word of truth and begat the Churches' (St Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 44, 23: PL 36, 508) and how 'it is the task of their successors to continue "so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified' (2 Ths, 3: 1) and the Kingdom of the Lord be announced and established on earth" (nº 1).
"In the beginning of the third millennium, it is with renewed vigour that the Church feels that the missionary mandate of Christ is as current as eve r before.
"The Great Jubilee in 2000 made her 'restart from Christ', contemplated in prayers so the light of truth can radiate everyone and bear special witness to holiness.
"It is dear to me to remember the motto St Benedict included in his Rule in which he encouraged his monks "to prefer nothing to the love of Christ" (Ch 4).
"In effect, the vocation that came on the way to Damascus led Paul to just that: making Christ the centre of his life, leaving everything for the sublimity of knowing Him and his mystery of love, committing himself to announce Him to all, especially to the pagans, 'for the sake of his name' (Romans 1,5).
"His passion for Christ led him to preach the Gospel not only in words, but with his life as well, which was increasingly shaped by His Lord.
"In the end, Paul announced Christ by dying a martyr's death and his blood along with that of Peter and so many other witnesses to the Gospel irrigated this land and made the Church of Rome fruitful so that she now presides over the universal communion of charity (cf St Ignatius Ant., Ad Rom., Inscr.: Funk, I, 252).
"The 20th century was a time of martyrdom. Pope John Paul II himself underscored this fact
by asking the Church to 'update her martyrology'. He did so by canonising and beatifying many martyrs of recent history.
"If the blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians, it is legitimate to expect a renewed blossoming of the Church, especially where she has suffered the most for her faith and witness of the Gospel.
"We entrust this hope to the intercession of St Paul. May he attain for the Church of Rome, especially for her Bishop, and the entire people of God, the joy to announce and bear witness of the Good News of Christ the Saviour."
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