VATICAN - Benedict XVI in the Czech Republic (5) - Eucharistic Celebration: “Only Christ can be our certain hope. This is the message that we Christians are called to spread every day, through our witness.”

Prague (Agenzia Fides) – On the morning of Sunday, September 27, the Holy Father Benedict XVI presided the Eucharistic Celebration in the Brno Airport. At the beginning of his homily, he greeted all those present, especially the Mayor of the City of Brno and the President of the Region of Southern Moravia, “a land rich in history and in cultural, industrial and commercial activity,” and the pilgrims from the entire region of Moravia and the Dioceses of Slovakia, Poland, Austria, and Germany.
“Dear friends, regarding the character of today’s liturgical assembly, I gladly supported the decision, mentioned by your Bishop, to base the Scripture readings for Mass on the theme of hope: I supported it in consideration of the people of this beloved land as well as Europe and the whole of humanity, thirsting as it does for something on which to base a firm future. In my second Encyclical, Spe Salvi, I emphasized that the only 'certain' and 'reliable' hope (cf. no. 1) is founded on God. History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions, and how hard it is to build a society inspired by the values of goodness, justice and fraternity, because the human being is free and his freedom remains fragile. Freedom has constantly to be won over for the cause of good, and the arduous search for the 'right way to order human affairs' is a task that belongs to all generations.”
Making reference to the Sunday readings, the Pope said, “And this is the message of salvation, ancient and ever new, that the Church proclaims from generation to generation: Christ crucified and risen, the Hope of humanity!” He then continued “both faith and hope have undergone a “shift”, because they have been relegated to the private and other-worldly sphere, while in day-to-day public life confidence in scientific and economic progress has been affirmed...Technical developments and the improvement of social structures are important and certainly necessary, but they are not enough to guarantee the moral welfare of society. Man needs to be liberated from material oppressions, but more profoundly, he must be saved from the evils that afflict the spirit. And who can save him if not God, who is Love and has revealed his face as almighty and merciful Father in Jesus Christ? Our firm hope is therefore Christ: in him, God has loved us to the utmost and has given us life in abundance, the life that every person, even if unknowingly, longs to possess.”
Benedict XVI then recalled the many who “suffered in past centuries for remaining faithful to the Gospel, and they did not lose hope,” and still today, in present-day society, “many forms of poverty are born from isolation, from being unloved, from the rejection of God and from a deep-seated tragic closure in man who believes himself to be self-sufficient, or else merely an insignificant and transient datum...only Christ can be our certain hope. This is the message that we Christians are called to spread every day, through our witness.”
At the close of the Mass, the Holy Father in introducing the Angelus, highlighted the joy of finding himself “in the heart of Moravia, Bohemia’s sister territory, a land marked for many centuries by the Christian faith, a land that reminds us of the courageous mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius.” He then recalled its many “Marian shrines that are visited by crowds of pilgrims throughout the year,” and the importance of conserving the popular traditions with deep roots in the past. “At times one cannot help noticing, with a certain nostalgia, that the pace of modern life tends to diminish some elements of a rich heritage of faith. Yet it is important not to lose sight of the ideal expressed by traditional customs, and above all to maintain the spiritual patrimony inherited from your forebears, to guard it and to make it answer to the needs of the present day.” After the prayer of the Angelus, the Pope sent out his greeting, in various languages, to the many faithful present, many of whom were from Moravia and the neighboring dioceses of Slovakia, Poland, Austria, and Germany. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 28/9/2009)