The author of the Book of Wisdom, faced with a paganism in which God envied or despised humans, puts it clearly: how could God have created all things if he did not love them, he who in his infinite fullness, has need of nothing (cf. Wis 11:24-26)? Why would he have revealed himself to human beings if he did not wish to take care of them? God is the origin of our being and the foundation and apex of our freedom, not its opponent. How can mortal man build a firm foundation and how can the sinner be reconciled with himself? How can it be that there is public silence with regard to the first and essential reality of human life? How can what is most decisive in life be confined to the purely private sphere or banished to the shadows? We cannot live in darkness, without seeing the light of the sun. How is it then that God, who is the light of every mind, the power of every will and the magnet of every heart, be denied the right to propose the light that dissipates all darkness? This is why we need to hear God once again under the skies of Europe; may this holy word not be spoken in vain, and may it not be put at the service of purposes other than its own. It needs to be spoken in a holy way. And we must hear it in this way in ordinary life, in the silence of work, in brotherly love and in the difficulties that years bring on.
Europe must open itself to God, must come to meet him without fear, and work with his grace for that human dignity which was discerned by her best traditions: not only the biblical, at the basis of this order, but also the classical, the medieval and the modern, the matrix from which the great philosophical, literary, cultural and social masterpieces of Europe were born.
This God and this man were concretely and historically manifested in Christ. It is this Christ whom we can find all along the way to Compostela for, at every juncture, there is a cross which welcomes and points the way. The cross, which is the supreme sign of love brought to its extreme and hence both gift and pardon, must be our guiding star in the night of time. The cross and love, the cross and light have been synonymous in our history because Christ allowed himself to hang there in order to give us the supreme witness of his love, to invite us to forgiveness and reconciliation, to teach us how to overcome evil with good. So do not fail to learn the lessons of that Christ whom we encounter at the crossroads of our journey and our whole life, in whom God comes forth to meet us as our friend, father and guide. Blessed Cross, shine always upon the lands of Europe!
This homily was bold and brilliant, and it’s especially interesting to put alongside, mentally, his addresses and presence in the UK just two months ago. This 3-minute video-clip of the 6 Nov. event helps to compare if one has also seen any of the UK trip:
http://www.romereports.com/palio/index.php?newlang=english
The video also shows the remarkable vigor of a man who is now the same age as JPII’s last year of life. This day Pope Benedict XVI had boarded a flight in Rome at 8:30AM and arrived 3 hours later in Galicia where he had a reception and conference with the heir to the Spanish throne, a 10-km ride in the Popemobile past loudly cheering throngs, an hour or so at 1:00PM of traversing the Cathedral and its holy places, greeting the faithful who were in happy ‘chaos’, and addressing them for several minutes; then a luncheon for numerous Spanish bishops, and return to celebrate the Mass (mostly in a foreign language) starting at 4:30PM at the Obradoiro plaza outside the Cathedral, during which most of this video was made. After the 2-hour Mass he looked happier than ever, amazingly.
His similar Christian messages in the UK and in Spain were tailored to the needs of the two different societies, each challenged by relentless secularizing forces, the one almost incurably Pelagian in its public spirituality and the other still shadowed by the fascism of the 1930s.
(The video clip ‘Pope dressed as a pilgrim’ showing the interior of the Cathedral is also quite worth watching.)