The readings of today\u2019s Mass invite us to consider the growth of the Church in America as one chapter in the greater story of the Church\u2019s expansion following the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In those readings we see the inseparable link between the risen Lord, the gift of the Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and the mystery of the Church. Christ established his Church on the foundation of the Apostles (cf. Rev 21:14) as a visible, structured community which is at the same time a spiritual communion, a mystical body enlivened by the Spirit\u2019s manifold gifts, and the sacrament of salvation for all humanity (cf. Lumen Gentium, 8). In every time and place, the Church is called to grow in unity through constant conversion to Christ, whose saving work is proclaimed by the Successors of the Apostles and celebrated in the sacraments. This unity, in turn, gives rise to an unceasing missionary outreach, as the Spirit spurs believers to proclaim \u201cthe great works of God\u201d\u009d and to invite all people to enter the community of those saved by the blood of Christ and granted new life in his Spirit.<\/p>\n
I pray, then, that this significant anniversary in the life of the Church in the United States, and the presence of the Successor of Peter in your midst, will be an occasion for all Catholics to reaffirm their unity in the apostolic faith, to offer their contemporaries a convincing account of the hope which inspires them (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), and to be renewed in missionary zeal for the extension of God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/p>\n
The world needs this witness! Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the Church in America but also for society as a whole?<\/p>\n