Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vienna (Agenzia Fides) - Sunday 9 September, at 10am the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI presided a Celebration of the Eucharist at Vienna's St Stephen's Cathedral. In his homily the Pope illustrated the meaning of Sunday for Christians. Recalling the testimony of the Christians in Abitene, present day Tunisia, who in 304 were taken before the judge and then martyred for celebrating the then forbidden Sunday Eucharist, the Pope said: “ We too need access to the Risen one, who sustains us through and beyond death. We need this encounter which brings us together, which gives us space for freedom, which lets us see beyond the bustle of everyday life to God’s creative love, from which we come and towards which we are travelling.”
Citing the Sunday Gospel Benedict XVI explained that Jesus refers to the calling of the Twelve Apostles: “ The Twelve must first of all overcome the scandal of the Cross, and then they must be prepared truly to leave everything behind; they must be prepared to assume the seemingly absurd task of travelling to the ends of the earth and, with their minimal education, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world filled with claims to erudition and with real or apparent education - and naturally also to the poor and the simple. They must themselves be prepared to suffer martyrdom in the course of their journey into the vast world, and thus to bear witness to the Gospel of the Crucified and Risen Lord… He calls people of all times to count exclusively on him, to leave everything else behind, so as to be totally available for him, and hence totally available for others: to create oases of selfless love in a world where so often only power and wealth seem to count for anything”.
The Sunday Gospel contains Jesus teaching which applies to everyone: “ Whoever wants to keep his life just for himself will lose it. Only by giving ourselves do we receive our life - Pope Benedict XVI said-. In other words: only the one who loves discovers life. And love always demands going out of oneself… Only the love of God, who loses himself for us and gives himself to us, makes it possible for us also to become free, to let go, and so truly to find life”.
In the last part of his homily the Pope spoke again about the value of Sunday: “ Without the Lord and without the day that belongs to him, life does not flourish. Sunday has been transformed in our Western societies into the week-end, into leisure time. Leisure time is something good and necessary, especially amid the mad rush of the modern world; each of us knows this. Yet if leisure time lacks an inner focus, an overall sense of direction, then ultimately it becomes wasted time that neither strengthens nor builds us up. Leisure time requires a focus - the encounter with him who is our origin and goal. Because Sunday is ultimately about encountering the risen Christ in word and sacrament, its span extends through the whole of reality… Therefore Sunday is also the Church’s weekly feast of creation - the feast of thanksgiving and joy over God’s creation. At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too. Then, for the early Church, the first day increasingly assimilated the traditional meaning of the seventh day, the Sabbath. We participate in God’s rest, which embraces all of humanity. Thus we sense on this day something of the freedom and equality of all God’s creatures.”
At the end of the Eucharistic Celebration in the square outside the Cathedral the Holy Father led the recitation of the Angelus. Introducing the Marian prayer the Pope returned to the subject of his homily and referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary he said: “Fully willing, totally open in her heart and free of self, she made it possible for God to fill her with his Love, with the Holy Spirit. And so Mary, a humble young woman, was able to receive within herself the Son of God and the world the Saviour who had given himself to her. We too during the Mass received today the Son of God. Those who received communion now carry in a special way the Risen Lord within themselves. As Mary carried him in her womb- a helpless little human being, totally dependent on his mother's love- so Jesus Christ, under the species of bread, entrusted himself to us dear brothers and sisters. Let us love this Jesus who puts his whole self into our hands! Let us love Him as Mary did! Let us carry Him to others as Mary carried Him to Elizabeth, spreading joy and happiness!” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 10/9/2007; righe 53, parole 832)
