Christ Our Hope
In a message prior to his apostolic journey to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI told American Catholics: "Together with your bishops, I have chosen as the theme of my journey three simple but essential words: 'Christ our hope.' Following in the footsteps of my venerable predecessors, Paul VI and John Paul II, I shall come to United States of America as pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition. Yes, Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you, in a series of celebrations and gatherings. I shall also bring the message of Christian hope to the great assembly of the United Nations, to the representatives of all the peoples of the world. Indeed, the world has greater need of hope than ever: hope for peace, for justice, and for freedom, but this hope can never be fulfilled without obedience to the law of God, which Christ brought to fulfillment in the commandment to love one another."
Meeting with U.S. bishops, Pope Benedict asked how in the 21st century a bishop can "best fulfill the call to make all things new in 'Christ, our hope?' How can he lead his people to 'an encounter with the living God,' the source of that life - transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks? Perhaps he needs to begin by clearing away some of the barriers to such an encounter. While it is true that this country is marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior. Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."
At a Mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington, Pope Benedict said, "Dear friends, my visit to the United States is meant to be a witness to 'Christ our hope.' Americans have always been a people of hope. Your ancestors came to this country with the expectation of finding new freedom and opportunity, while the vastness of the unexplored wilderness inspired in them the hope of being able to start completely anew, building a new nation on new foundations. To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves. Yet hope, hope for the future, is very much a part of the American character. And the Christian virtue of hope - the hope poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the hope which supernaturally purifies and corrects our aspirations by focusing them on the Lord and his saving plan - that hope has also marked, and continues to mark, the life of the Catholic community in this country."
Praying with priests, men and women religious at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Pope Benedict said, "[O]ne of the great disappointments which followed the Second Vatican Council, with its call for a greater engagement in the Church's mission to the world, has been the experience of division between different groups, different generations, different members of the same religious family. We can only move forward if we turn our gaze together to Christ! In the light of faith, we will then discover the wisdom and strength needed to open ourselves to points of view which may not necessarily conform to our own ideas or assumptions. Thus we can value the perspectives of others, be they younger or older than ourselves, and ultimately hear 'what the Spirit is saying' to us and to the Church."
In his homily at a Mass in New York's Yankee Stadium, the pope said "authority" and "obedience" are not easy words to speak nowadays [and] "represent a 'stumbling stone' for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ - 'the way and the truth and the life' - we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self - surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves. True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. 'In his will is our peace.'"
To review the homilies and public comments made by Pope Benedict XVI during his Apostolic Journey to the United States of America, visit the Archdiocese of San Francisco's new website, www.sfarchdiocese.org - click on "Christ Our Hope."
MEH
