Reflecting on the Papal Visit - 7

A Jumbotron view of the pope at Mass at Nationals Park: AP photo

Jump over to Rocco's place for the full text of the homily the pope delivered this morning at Mass at Nationals Park in Washington.

I don't know the scope of the collaboration that contributed to the quality of the messages the pope has been delivering, but certainly at some significant level the Vatican has worked with those on the scene here to help accurately frame Benedict's appeal in American terms and to render his gospel message in a form that is accessible to the many. My guess is that the apostolic delegate to the the US, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, had a helpful hand in all of this. (If you follow Rocco with some regularity, you'll have read over Sambi's tenure of his pastoral grasp of the life and times of the Church in America.)

At the beginning of his homily, the pope reiterates the reason for his visit:

I have come to America to confirm you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles. I have come to proclaim anew, as Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Messiah, risen from the dead, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, and established as judge of the living and the dead. I have come to repeat the Apostle's urgent call to conversion and the forgiveness of sins, and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country.

While recognizing the gifts of the Church in America, Benedict also points to its serious challenges:

Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the Church in America but also for society as a whole? It is a time of great promise, as we see the human family in many ways drawing closer together and becoming ever more interdependent. Yet at the same time we see clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of Christ and God. The Church, too, sees signs of immense promise in her many strong parishes and vital movements, in the enthusiasm for the faith shown by so many young people, and also in the number of those who each year embrace the Catholic faith, and in a greater interest in prayer and catechesis. At the same time she senses, often painfully, the presence of division and polarization in her midst, as well as the troubling realization that many of the baptized, rather than acting as a spiritual leaven in the world, are inclined to embrace attitudes contrary to the truth of the Gospel.

Those in the Church today hoping for a reversal of the letter and spirit of Vatican II will find scant comfort in the following. But again, the pope addresses both the successes and the challenges of American Catholicism:

Here I wish to offer a special word of gratitude and encouragement to all those who have taken up the challenge of the Second Vatican Council, so often reiterated by Pope John Paul II, and committed their lives to the new evangelization. I thank my brother Bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious, parents, teachers and catechists. The fidelity and courage with which the Church in this country will respond to the challenges raised by an increasingly secular and materialistic culture will depend in large part upon your own fidelity in handing on the treasure of our Catholic faith. Young people need to be helped to discern the path that leads to true freedom: the path of a sincere and generous imitation of Christ, the path of commitment to justice and peace. Much progress has been made in developing solid programs of catechesis, yet so much more remains to be done in forming the hearts and minds of the young in knowledge and love of the Lord. The challenges confronting us require a comprehensive and sound instruction in the truths of the faith. But they also call for cultivating a mindset, an intellectual "culture", which is genuinely Catholic, confident in the profound harmony of faith and reason, and prepared to bring the richness of faith's vision to bear on the urgent issues which affect the future of American society.

While many remain angry and dissatisfied with how he is handling this, Benedict takes the occasion of his homily to address, now for the third time this week, the clergy sexual abuse crisis:

It is in the context of this hope born of God's love and fidelity that I acknowledge the pain which the Church in America has experienced as a result of the sexual abuse of minors. No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention. Nor can I adequately describe the damage that has occurred within the community of the Church. Great efforts have already been made to deal honestly and fairly with this tragic situation, and to ensure that children - whom our Lord loves so deeply (cf. Mk 10:14), and who are our greatest treasure - can grow up in a safe environment. These efforts to protect children must continue. Yesterday I spoke with your Bishops about this. Today I encourage each of you to do what you can to foster healing and reconciliation, and to assist those who have been hurt. Also, I ask you to love your priests, and to affirm them in the excellent work that they do. And above all, pray that the Holy Spirit will pour out his gifts upon the Church, the gifts that lead to conversion, forgiveness and growth in holiness.

One way to sum up this homily is to understand it as a call for us to recognize our sin and our need for the mercy of God in our lives, to turn again to Christ as the channel of that mercy and to proclaim among our own and to the world that Jesus is Lord. Near the end of his homily, Benedict speaks of a sacrament all but forgotten in the United States:

The liberating power of the sacrament of Penance, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God's merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of Penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.

My own parish is in the midst of studying the future of parish life in the Archdiocese of Boston and how we want to shape the life of our parish with a view towards the challenges the future presents. I am blessed to see the blossoming of great lay leadership in this faith community in virtually every area of parish life. Just last night, perhaps as the pope was reviewing the homily he would deliver today, I was at a meeting of our Youth Steering Committee: adults dedicating time, effort and love to youth ministry and the faith formation of our youngest parishioners. In the fall, with many other parishes, we will begin the ARISE! program - a version of the well known program, RENEW! - a program I believe will give us the opportunity to begin to address many of the issues raised in Benedict's talks this week.

-ConcordPastor