VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI presides special Concelebration of the Eucharist on the occasion of his 80th birthday: “The shadow of Peter through the community of the Catholic Church has lain over my life since the beginning, and I have realised that it is a good shadow, a shadow which redeems because ultimately it comes from Christ himself”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On Sunday April 15 the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI presided a special Mass in St Peter’s Square to celebrate his 80th birthday which was the next day the 16th . With the Pope there were sixty concelebrants, cardinals, archbishop and bishops of the curia and auxiliary bishops and clergy representing the Pope’s diocese of Rome. Also present a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by His Eminence Ioannis (Zizioulas), Metropolitan of Pergamo, personal envoy of His Holiness Bartholomew I. At the beginning of the Mass birthday wishes were expressed to the Pope by Cardinal Angelo Sodano Dean of the College of Cardinals on behalf of all present. In his homily the Pope recalled that the 2nd Sunday of Easter used to be called ‘in Albis’ because it was the day “the neophytes put on once again the white garment received at Baptism on the Easter Vigil”. He also recalled that more recently John Paul II wished for this Sunday to be dedicated to Divine Mercy “Misericordia”: “he found that the word ‘misericordia’, summarised the entire work of Redemption giving it a new interpretation for our day … misericordia is the garment of light which the Lord gives us in Baptism. We must never allow this light fade; on the contrary day by day it must grow in us and so speak of God to the world”.
The Pope said: “We are gathered here to mark the completion of a large part of my life. Of course the Liturgy should not serve to speak of oneself; but one’s life should serve to speak of the loving mercy of God.” Benedict XVI said he considered “a great gift Divine Mercy ” the fact that his birth and his new birth in baptism happened “on the same day, to mark the beginning of Easter”, it was Holy Saturday. He then thanked God for allowing him to experience the significance of "family". “That I was able to learn the meaning of fatherhood and so understand from within the Word of God the Father, the human experience opened the way to the great and loving Father in Heaven. … that I had a profound experience of the meaning of maternal goodness, to which the door is always open and so gives me freedom. I thank God for my brother and sister who stood by me and helped me faithfully all through my life” for companions, advisers, friends encountered on the path of life. The Pope thanked God that “that from the very first day of life I entered and grew up in the great community of believers where the barrier between life and death, heaven and earth is lifted”.
The first reading told how the early Christians would lay the sick along the road where Peter was passing so that his shadow would heal them. The Pope said: “The shadow of Peter through the community of the Catholic Church has lain over my life since the beginning, and I have realised that it is a good shadow, a shadow which redeems because ultimately it comes from Christ himself”
... today we seek the shadow of Peter in order to be in the light of Christ!”
Recalling the invocation of the Saints during his priestly ordination at the cathedral of Frisinga, in 1951 the Pope said “it was a consoling to know that the protection of the Saints of God, the God of the living and the dead, was being invoked on us. I knew I would never be alone. And what confidence came from the words of Jesus … He the Lord is not only the Lord he is our Friend. He has placed his hand upon me and will never leave me … friendship with Jesus Christ is friendship with the One who makes us people able to forgive, the One who forgives us, who lifts us up from our weakness and in this way educates us”. Last of all the Gospel where St Thomas touches wounds of the Risen Lord: “The Lord took his wounds with him into eternity - the Pope said -. He is the wounded God; he let himself be wounded out of love for us. For us His wounds are signs that he understands us and lets himself be wounded out of love for us. How we touch these wounds of his in our own day! In fact he still lets himself be wounded for us.”
The Holy Father concluded “may divine mercy accompany us every day. If our hearts are watchful we will feel this”. Last of all he thanked those who sustain him spiritually: “who help me in my ministry with their prayers, with their faith and with their affection; who are indulgent with regard to my weakness, seeing in the shadow of Peter the good light of Jesus Christ”. The Pope closed with a prayer composed by Pope Leo the Great which he chose 30 years ago for the holy picture card printed on the occasion of his ordination as Bishop. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 17/4/2007 - righe 58, parole 878)