PASTORAL VISIT
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
IN POLAND
HOMILY BY THE HOLY FATHER
MASS IN KRAKOW - BŁONIE
28 May 2006
“Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking up to heaven?” (Acts 1:11).
Brothers and Sisters, today
in Błonie Park in Kraków we hear once again this question from the
Acts of the Apostles. This time it is directed to all of us: “Why do
you stand looking up to heaven?” The answer to this question
involves the fundamental truth about the life and destiny of every
man and woman.
The question has to do with
our attitude to two basic realities which shape every human life:
earth and heaven. First, the earth: “Why do you stand?” - Why are
you here on earth? Our answer is that we are here on earth because
our Maker has put us here as the crowning work of his creation.
Almighty God, in his ineffable plan of love, created the universe,
bringing it forth from nothing. Then, at the completion of this
work, he bestowed life on men and women, creating them in his own
image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26-27). He gave them the dignity of
being children of God and the gift of immortality. We know that man
went astray, misused the gift of freedom and said “No” to God, thus
condemning himself to a life marked by evil, sin, suffering and
death. But we also know that God was not resigned to this situation,
but entered directly into humanity’s history, which then became a
history of salvation. “We stand” on the earth, we are rooted in the
earth and we grow from it. Here we do good in the many areas of
everyday life, in the material and spiritual realms, in our
relationships with other people, in our efforts to build up the
human community and in culture. Here too we experience the weariness
of those who make their way towards a goal by long and winding
paths, amid hesitations, tensions, uncertainties, in the conviction
that the journey will one day come to an end. That is when the
question arises: Is this all there is? Is this earth on which “we
stand” our final destiny?
And so we need to turn to
the second part of the biblical question: “Why do you stand looking
up to heaven?” We have read that, just as the Apostles were asking
the Risen Lord about the restoration of Israel’s earthly kingdom,
“He was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And
“they looked up to heaven as he went” (cf. Acts 1:9-10). They looked
up to heaven because they looked to Jesus Christ, the Crucified and
Risen One, raised up on high. We do not know whether at that precise
moment they realized that a magnificent, infinite horizon was
opening up before their eyes: the ultimate goal of our earthly
pilgrimage. Perhaps they only realized this at Pentecost, in the
light of the Holy Spirit. But for us, at a distance of two thousand
years, the meaning of that event is quite clear. Here on earth, we
are called to look up to heaven, to turn our minds and hearts to the
inexpressible mystery of God. We are called to look towards this
divine reality, to which we have been directed from our creation.
For there we find life’s ultimate meaning.
Dear brothers and sisters, I
am deeply moved to be able to celebrate this Eucharist today in
Błonie Park in Kraków, where Pope John Paul II often celebrated Mass
during his unforgettable Apostolic Visits to his native land.
Through his liturgical celebrations he met the People of God in
almost every corner of the world, but surely his celebration of Holy
Mass in Błonie Park in Kraków was always something special. Here he
returned in mind and heart to his roots, to the sources of his faith
and his service to the Church. From here he could see Kraków and all
Poland. In his first Apostolic Visit to Poland, on 10 June 1979, at
the end of his homily in this Park, he said with nostalgia: “Allow
me, before leaving you, to look out once again on Kraków, this
Kraków whose every stone and brick is dear to me. And to look out
once again from here on Poland.” During the last Mass he celebrated
here, on 18 August 2002, he said in his homily: “I am grateful for
the invitation to visit my Kraków and for the hospitality you have
given me” (no. 2). I wish to take up these words, to make them my
own and repeat them today: I thank you with all my heart “for the
invitation to visit my Kraków and for the hospitality you have given
me.” Kraków, the city of Karol Wojtyła and of John Paul II, is also
my Kraków! Kraków has a special place in the hearts of countless
Christians throughout the world who know that John Paul II came to
the Vatican Hill from this city, from Wawel Hill, “from a far
country”, which thus became a country dear to all.
At the beginning of the
second year of my Pontificate, I have felt a deep need to visit
Poland and Kraków as a pilgrim in the footsteps of my predecessor. I
wanted to breathe the air of his homeland. I wanted to see the land
where he was born, where he grew up and undertook his tireless
service to Christ and the universal Church. I wanted especially to
meet the living men and women of his country, to experience your
faith, which gave him life and strength, and to know that you
continue firm in that faith. Here I wish to ask God to preserve that
legacy of faith, hope and charity which John Paul II gave to the
world, and to you in particular.
I cordially greet all those
gathered in Błonie Park, for as far as my eyes can see and even
farther. I wish I could meet each of you personally. I embrace all
those who are taking part in our Eucharist by radio and television.
I greet all of Poland! I greet the children and young people,
individuals and families, the sick and those suffering in body or
spirit, who are deprived of the joy of life. I greet all those whose
daily labours are helping this country to grow in prosperity. I
greet the Polish people living abroad, everywhere in the world. I
thank Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the Metropolitan Archbishop of
Kraków, for his warm words of welcome. I greet Cardinal Franciszek
Macharski and all the Cardinals, Bishops, priests and consecrated
men and women, as well as the other guests who have come from many
lands, particularly the neighbouring countries. My greetings go to
the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister, and to the
representatives of the national, territorial and local Authorities.
Dear brothers and sisters, I
have taken as the motto of my pilgrimage to Poland in the footsteps
of John Paul II the words: “Stand firm in your faith!” This appeal
is directed to us all as members of the community of Christ’s
disciples, to each and every one of us. Faith is a deeply personal
and human act, an act which has two aspects. To believe means first
to accept as true what our mind cannot fully comprehend. We have to
accept what God reveals to us about himself, about ourselves, about
everything around us, including the things that are invisible,
inexpressible and beyond our imagination. This act of accepting
revealed truth broadens the horizon of our knowledge and draws us to
the mystery in which our lives are immersed. Letting our reason be
limited in this way is not something easy to do. Here we see the
second aspect of faith: it is trust in a person, no ordinary person,
but Jesus Christ himself. What we believe is important, but even
more important is the One in whom we believe.
Saint Paul speaks of this in
the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians which we have heard
today. God has given us a spirit of wisdom and “enlightened the eyes
of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope to which he has
called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and
the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according
to the working of his great power in Christ” (cf. Eph 1:17-20).
Believing means surrendering ourselves to God and entrusting our
destiny to him. Believing means entering into a personal
relationship with our Creator and Redeemer in the power of the Holy
Spirit, and making this relationship the basis of our whole life.
Today we heard the words of
Jesus: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Centuries ago
these words reached Poland. They challenged, and continue to
challenge all those who say they belong to Christ, who consider his
to be the greatest cause. We need to be witnesses of Jesus, who
lives in the Church and in human hearts. He has given us a mission.
On the day he ascended to heaven, he said to his Apostles: “Go into
all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation … And they
went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it” (Mk
16:15,20). Dear brothers and sisters! When Karol Wojtyła was elected
to the See of Peter in order to serve the universal Church, your
land became a place of special witness to faith in Jesus Christ. You
were called to give this witness before the whole world. This
vocation of yours is always needed, and it is perhaps even more
urgent than ever, now that the Servant of God has passed from this
life. Do not deprive the world of this witness!
Before I return to Rome to
continue my ministry, I appeal to all of you in the words spoken
here by Pope John Paul II in 1979: “You must be strong, dear
brothers and sisters. You must be strong with the strength that
comes from faith. You must be strong with the strength of faith. You
must be faithful. Today, more than in any other age, you need this
strength. You must be strong with the strength of hope, the hope
that brings perfect joy in life and which prevents us from ever
grieving the Holy Spirit! You must be strong with love, the love
which is stronger than death ... You must be strong with the
strength of faith, hope and charity, a charity that is conscious,
mature and responsible, and which can help us at this moment of our
history to carry on the great dialogue with man and the world, a
dialogue rooted in dialogue with God himself, with the Father,
through the Son in the Holy Spirit, the dialogue of salvation”
(Homily, 10 June 1979, no. 4).
I too, Benedict XVI, the
Successor of Pope John Paul II, am asking you to look up from earth
to heaven, to lift your eyes to the One to whom succeeding
generations have looked for two thousand years, and in whom they
have discovered life’s ultimate meaning. Strengthened by faith in
God, devote yourselves fervently to consolidating his Kingdom on
earth, a Kingdom of goodness, justice, solidarity and mercy. I ask
you to bear courageous witness to the Gospel before today’s world,
bringing hope to the poor, the suffering, the lost and abandoned,
the desperate and those yearning for freedom, truth and peace. By
doing good to your neighbour and showing your concern for the common
good, you bear witness that God is love.
I ask you, finally, to share
with the other peoples of Europe and the world the treasure of your
faith, not least as a way of honouring the memory of your
countryman, who, as the Successor of Saint Peter, did this with
extraordinary power and effectiveness. And remember me in your
prayers and sacrifices, even as you remembered my great Predecessor,
so that I can carry out the mission Christ has given me. I ask you
to stand firm in your faith! Stand firm in your hope! Stand firm in
your love! Amen! Top
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