"He Roused Us From a Lethargic Faith"
April 08, 2005 | 4722 hits
"Follow me." The Risen Lord says these words to Peter. They are his last
words to this disciple, chosen to shepherd his flock. "Follow me" --
this lapidary saying of Christ can be taken as the key to understanding
the message which comes to us from the life of our late beloved Pope
John Paul II. Today we bury his remains in the earth as a seed of
immortality -- our hearts are full of sadness, yet at the same time of
joyful hope and profound gratitude.
These are the sentiments that inspire us, brothers and sisters in
Christ, present here in St. Peter's Square, in neighboring streets and
in various other locations within the city of Rome, where an immense
crowd, silently praying, has gathered over the last few days. I greet
all of you from my heart. In the name of the College of Cardinals, I
also wish to express my respects to heads of state, heads of government
and the delegations from various countries.
I greet the authorities and official representatives of other Churches
and Christian Communities, and likewise those of different religions.
Next I greet the archbishops, bishops, priests, religious men and women
and the faithful who have come here from every continent; especially the
young, whom John Paul II liked to call the future and the hope of the
Church. My greeting is extended, moreover, to all those throughout the
world who are united with us through radio and television in this solemn
celebration of our beloved Holy Father's funeral.
Follow me -- as a young student Karol Wojtyla was thrilled by
literature, the theater and poetry. Working in a chemical plant,
surrounded and threatened by the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the
Lord: Follow me! In this extraordinary setting he began to read books of
philosophy and theology, and then entered the clandestine seminary
established by Cardinal Sapieha. After the war he was able to complete
his studies in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian University of
Krakow.
How often, in his letters to priests and in his autobiographical books,
has he spoken to us about his priesthood, to which he was ordained on
November 1, 1946. In these texts he interprets his priesthood with
particular reference to three sayings of the Lord.
First: "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit that will remain" (John 15:16). The second
saying is: "A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John
10:11). And then: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in
my love" (John 15:9). In these three sayings we see the heart and soul
of our Holy Father. He really went everywhere, untiringly, in order to
bear fruit, fruit that lasts.
"Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way!" is the title of his next-to-last book.
"Rise, let us be on our way!" -- with these words he roused us from a
lethargic faith, from the sleep of the disciples of both yesterday and
today. "Rise, let us be on our way!" he continues to say to us even
today. The Holy Father was a priest to the last, for he offered his life
to God for his flock and for the entire human family, in a daily
self-oblation for the service of the Church, especially amid the
sufferings of his final months. And in this way he became one with
Christ, the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep.
Finally, "abide in my love": The Pope who tried to meet everyone, who
had an ability to forgive and to open his heart to all, tells us once
again today, with these words of the Lord, that by abiding in the love
of Christ we learn, at the school of Christ, the art of true love.
Follow me! In July 1958, the young priest Karol Wojtyla began a new
stage in his journey with the Lord and in the footsteps of the Lord.
Karol had gone to the Masuri lakes for his usual vacation, along with a
group of young people who loved canoeing. But he brought with him a
letter inviting him to call on the primate of Poland, Cardinal
Wyszynski. He could guess the purpose of the meeting: He was to be
appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Krakow.
Leaving the academic world, leaving this challenging engagement with
young people, leaving the great intellectual endeavor of striving to
understand and interpret the mystery of that creature which is man and
of communicating to today's world the Christian interpretation of our
being -- all this must have seemed to him like losing his very self,
losing what had become the very human identity of this young priest.
Follow me -- Karol Wojtyla accepted the appointment, for he heard in the
Church's call the voice of Christ. And then he realized how true are
the Lord's words: "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but
whoever loses it will save it" (Luke 17:33).
Our Pope -- and we all know this -- never wanted to make his own life
secure, to keep it for himself; he wanted to give of himself
unreservedly, to the very last moment, for Christ and thus also for us.
And thus he came to experience how everything which he had given over
into the Lord's hands, came back to him in a new way. His love of words,
of poetry, of literature, became an essential part of his pastoral
mission and gave new vitality, new urgency, new attractiveness to the
preaching of the Gospel, even when it is a sign of contradiction.
Follow me! In October 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla once again heard the voice
of the Lord. Once more there took place that dialogue with Peter
reported in the Gospel of this Mass: "Simon, son of John, do you love
me? Feed my sheep!" To the Lord's question, "Karol, do you love me?" the
archbishop of Krakow answered from the depths of his heart: "Lord you
know everything; you know that I love you." The love of Christ was the
dominant force in the life of our beloved Holy Father. Anyone who ever
saw him pray, who ever heard him preach, knows that. Thanks to his being
profoundly rooted in Christ, he was able to bear a burden which
transcends merely human abilities: that of being the shepherd of
Christ's flock, his universal Church.
This is not the time to speak of the specific content of this rich
pontificate. I would like only to read two passages of today's liturgy
which reflect central elements of his message. In the first reading, St.
Peter says -- and with St. Peter, the Pope himself -- "In truth, I see
that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him
and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word (that) he
sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who
is Lord of all" (Acts 10:34-36). And in the second reading, St. Paul --
and with St. Paul, our late Pope -- exhorts us, crying out: "Therefore,
my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way
stand firm in the Lord, beloved" (Philippians 4:1).
Follow me! Together with the command to feed his flock, Christ
proclaimed to Peter that he would die a martyr's death. With those
words, which conclude and sum up the dialogue on love and on the mandate
of the universal shepherd, the Lord recalls another dialogue, which
took place during the Last Supper. There Jesus had said: "Where I am
going, you cannot come." Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?"
Jesus replied: "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you
will follow me afterward" (John 13:33,36). Jesus from the Supper went
toward the Cross, went toward his resurrection -- he entered into the
paschal mystery; and Peter could not yet follow him. Now -- after the
resurrection -- comes the time, comes this "afterward."
By shepherding the flock of Christ, Peter enters into the paschal
mystery, he goes toward the cross and the resurrection. The Lord says
this in these words: "when you were younger, you used to dress yourself
and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out
your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do
not want to go" (John 21:18).
In the first years of his pontificate, still young and full of energy,
the Holy Father went to the very ends of the earth, guided by Christ.
But afterward, he increasingly entered into the communion of Christ's
sufferings; increasingly he understood the truth of the words: "someone
else will dress you." And in this very communion with the suffering
Lord, tirelessly and with renewed intensity, he proclaimed the Gospel,
the mystery of that love which goes to the end (cf. John 13:1).
He interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine mercy.
In his last book, he wrote: The limit imposed upon evil "is ultimately
Divine Mercy" ("Memory and Identity," pp. 60- 61). And reflecting on the
assassination attempt, he said: "In sacrificing himself for us all,
Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a
new order: the order of love. ... It is this suffering which burns and
consumes evil with the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a
great flowering of good" (pp. 189-190). Impelled by this vision, the
Pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is why the
message of his suffering and his silence proved so eloquent and so
fruitful.
Divine Mercy: the Holy Father found the purest reflection of God's mercy
in the Mother of God. He, who at an early age had lost his own mother,
loved his divine mother all the more. He heard the words of the
crucified Lord as addressed personally to him: "Behold your Mother." And
so he did as the beloved disciple did: "he took her into his own home"
(John 19:27) -- "Totus tuus." And from the mother he learned to conform
himself to Christ.
None of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his life,
the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of
the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing "urbi et orbi."
We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of
the Father’s house, that he sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy
Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother,
who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the eternal glory
of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
[Original text in Italian; translation issued by Holy See]
(April 08, 2005) © Innovative Media Inc.
