| On Tuesday afternoon, 12 May 2009, the Holy Father celebrated Mass
just outside the walls of Jerusalem, near the Basilica of Gethsemane, in
the Valley of Josaphat, where, according to Tradition, the Last Judgment
is to take place. Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
"Christ is risen, alleluia!" With these words I greet you with immense
affection. I thank Patriarch Fouad Twal for his words of welcome on your
behalf, and before all else I express my joy at being able to celebrate
this Eucharist with you, the Church in Jerusalem. We are gathered
beneath the Mount of Olives, where our Lord prayed and suffered, where
he wept for love of this City and the desire that it should know "the
path to peace" (Lk 19:42), and whence he returned to the Father, giving
his final earthly blessing to his disciples and to us. Today let us
accept this blessing. He gives it in a special way to you, dear brothers
and sisters, who stand in an unbroken line with those first disciples
who encountered the Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread, those who
experienced the outpouring of the Spirit in the Upper Room and those who
were converted by the preaching of Saint Peter and the other apostles.
My greeting also goes to all those present, and in a special way to
those faithful of the Holy Land who for various reasons were not able to
be with us today.
As the Successor of Saint Peter, I have retraced his steps in order to
proclaim the Risen Christ in your midst, to confirm you in the faith of
your fathers, and to invoke upon you the consolation which is the gift
of the Paraclete. Standing before you today, I wish to acknowledge the
difficulties, the frustration, and the pain and suffering which so many
of you have endured as a result of the conflicts which have afflicted
these lands, and the bitter experiences of displacement which so many of
your families have known and – God forbid – may yet know. I hope my
presence here is a sign that you are not forgotten, that your
persevering presence and witness are indeed precious in God’s eyes and
integral to the future of these lands. Precisely because of your deep
roots in this land, your ancient and strong Christian culture, and your
unwavering trust in God’s promises, you, the Christians of the Holy
Land, are called to serve not only as a beacon of faith to the universal
Church, but also as a leaven of harmony, wisdom and equilibrium in the
life of a society which has traditionally been, and continues to be,
pluralistic, multiethnic and multireligious.
In today’s second reading, the Apostle Paul tells the Colossians to
"seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God" (Col 3:1). His words resound with particular force here,
beneath the Garden of Gethsemani, where Jesus accepted the chalice of
suffering in complete obedience to the Father’s will, and where,
according to tradition, he ascended to the right hand of the Father to
make perpetual intercession for us, the members of his Body. Saint Paul,
the great herald of Christian hope, knew the cost of that hope, its
price in suffering and persecution for the sake of the Gospel, yet he
never wavered in his conviction that Christ’s resurrection was the
beginning of a new creation. As he tells us: "When Christ, who is your
life, is revealed, you too will be revealed with him in glory!" (Col
3:4).
Paul’s exhortation to "set our minds on the things that are above" must
constantly echo in our hearts. His words point us to the fulfilment of
faith’s vision in that heavenly Jerusalem where, in fidelity to the
ancient prophecies, God will wipe away the tears from every eye, and
prepare a banquet of salvation for all peoples (cf. Is 25:6-8; Rev
21:2-4).
This is the hope, this the vision, which inspires all who love this
earthly Jerusalem to see her as a prophecy and promise of that universal
reconciliation and peace which God desires for the whole human family.
Sadly, beneath the walls of this same City, we are also led to consider
how far our world is from the complete fulfilment of that prophecy and
promise. In this Holy City where life conquered death, where the Spirit
was poured out as the first-fruits of the new creation, hope continues
to battle despair, frustration and cynicism, while the peace which is
God’s gift and call continues to be threatened by selfishness, conflict,
division and the burden of past wrongs. For this reason, the Christian
community in this City which beheld the resurrection of Christ and the
outpouring of the Spirit must hold fast all the more to the hope
bestowed by the Gospel, cherishing the pledge of Christ’s definitive
victory over sin and death, bearing witness to the power of forgiveness,
and showing forth the Church’s deepest nature as the sign and sacrament
of a humanity reconciled, renewed and made one in Christ, the new Adam.
Gathered beneath the walls of this city, sacred to the followers of
three great religions, how can we not turn our thoughts to Jerusalem’s
universal vocation? Heralded by the prophets, this vocation also emerges
as an indisputable fact, a reality irrevocably grounded in the complex
history of this city and its people. Jews, Muslims and Christians alike
call this city their spiritual home. How much needs to be done to make
it truly a "city of peace" for all peoples, where all can come in
pilgrimage in search of God, and hear his voice, "a voice which speaks
of peace" (cf. Ps 85:8)!
Jerusalem, in fact, has always been a city whose streets echo with
different languages, whose stones are trod by people of every race and
tongue, whose walls are a symbol of God’s provident care for the whole
human family. As a microcosm of our globalized world, this City, if it
is to live up to its universal vocation, must be a place which teaches
universality, respect for others, dialogue and mutual understanding; a
place where prejudice, ignorance and the fear which fuels them, are
overcome by honesty, integrity and the pursuit of peace. There should be
no place within these walls for narrowness, discrimination, violence and
injustice. Believers in a God of mercy – whether they identify
themselves as Jews, Christians or Muslims – must be the first to promote
this culture of reconciliation and peace, however painstakingly slow the
process may be, and however burdensome the weight of past memories.
Here I would like to speak directly to the tragic reality – which cannot
fail to be a source of concern to all who love this City and this land –
of the departure of so many members of the Christian community in recent
years. While understandable reasons lead many, especially the young, to
emigrate, this decision brings in its wake a great cultural and
spiritual impoverishment to the City. Today I wish to repeat what I have
said on other occasions: in the Holy Land there is room for everyone! As
I urge the authorities to respect, to support and to value the Christian
presence here, I also wish to assure you of the solidarity, love and
support of the whole Church and of the Holy See.
Dear friends, in the Gospel we have just heard, Saint Peter and Saint
John run to the empty tomb, and John, we are told, "saw and believed" (Jn
20:8). Here in the Holy Land, with the eyes of faith, you, together with
the pilgrims from throughout the world who throng its churches and
shrines, are blessed to "see" the places hallowed by Christ’s presence,
his earthly ministry, his passion, death and resurrection, and the gift
of his Holy Spirit. Here, like the Apostle Saint Thomas, you are granted
the opportunity to "touch" the historical realities which underlie our
confession of faith in the Son of God. My prayer for you today is that
you continue, day by day, to "see and believe" in the signs of God’s
providence and unfailing mercy, to "hear" with renewed faith and hope
the consoling words of the apostolic preaching, and to "touch" the
sources of grace in the sacraments, and to incarnate for others their
pledge of new beginnings, the freedom born of forgiveness, the interior
light and peace which can bring healing and hope to even the darkest of
human realities.
In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pilgrims in every century have
venerated the stone which tradition tells us stood before the entrance
to the tomb on the morning of Christ’s resurrection. Let us return
frequently to that empty tomb. There let us reaffirm our faith in the
victory of life, and pray that every "heavy stone" that stands before
the door of our hearts, blocking our complete surrender to the Lord in
faith, hope and love, may be shattered by the power of the light and
life which shone forth from Jerusalem to all the world that first Easter
morn. Christ is risen, alleluia! He is truly risen, alleluia!
Distributed by:
The Holy See Press Office
12 May 2009
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