See preceding page for earlier posts today, 12/16/10.
PRE-CHRISTMAS VESPERS WITH
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF ROME
The cave in Bethlehem:
Where God came to men
in total closeness
Translated from the Italian service of
16 DEC 2010 (RV) - To return to the cave in Bethlehem where Jesus was born is to make a journey to experience the total and freely bestowed closeness of God who renews and sustains man, Pope Benedict XVI told Rome's university students tonight in his homily at Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica in preparation for Christmas.
Benedict XVI said a new class of intellectuals was needed, and it is the university's role to carry out this role, for which the Church would provide support and active cooperation. Massimiliano Menichetti reports:
St. Peter's Basilica was warm with the affection of so many young people who joined the Pope in prayer and looking forward to the birth of Jesus.
In his homily, the Holy Father said that the cave of Bethlehem shows the way that "can free the heart from every ferment of impatience and of false expectations... which can always nest within", if man forgets that "God has come already and has been working in human history...asking only to be welcomed and accepted"...
[The full text of the homily is translated farther below on this post.]
The event was also the occasion for the traditional handover of the icon of Mary Seat of Wisdom which travelled to various African universities this year, from a delegation of African students to their counterparts from Spain, where the Icon will be travelling in 2011, also the year of World Youth Day in Madrid.
Finally, the Pope entrusted the entire university community to the protection of the Most Blessed Virgin, and said he looked forward to seeing most of them again in Madrid next August.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's homily:
"Be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord." (James 5,7)
With these words, the apostle James launches us on the road of immediate preparation for the Holy Nativity which, in this Vespertine liturgy, I have the joy of starting with you, dear students and distinguished professors of the universities of Rome.
To all I address a heartfelt greeting, particularly to the group which is preparing to receive Confirmation, and I express my sincere appreciation for the commitment you have to Christian animation of the culture in our city.
I thank the Rector Magnificus of the University of Rome in Tor Vergata, Prof. Renato Lauro, for the words of good wishes that he addressed to me in your name. And I address a special deferential greeting to the Cardinal Vicar and to the various academic and institutional authorities.
The apostle's invitation shows us te eway that leads to Bethlehem, liberating our hearts from every ferment of intolerance and false expectation, which can always harbor itself in us if we forget that God has already come, that he is already operative in our personal and communitarian history, and that he only asks to be accepted.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob revealed himself, he showed his face and took up his dwelling in our flesh, in Jesus, son of Mary, true God and true man, whom we meet in the cave of Bethlehem.
To return to that humble and constricted place is not a mere ideal itinerary: it is the journey we are called upon to make , in orderto experience today the closeness of God and of his action which renews and sustains our existence.
Christian patience and perseverance, of which St. James speaks, are not synonymous to apathy or resignation, but are virtues for him who knows that one can and must construct, not on sand, but on rock - virtues for him who respects the times and the modalities of the human condition, and therefore, avoids obfuscating the most profound expectations of the spirit with utopian or transient hopes which end up disappointing.
"See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth" (James 5,7).
Dear friends, to us, who are immersed in a society that is increasingly dynamic, this invitation may sound surprising, as it refers to the rural world, which follows the rhythms of nature.
But the metaphor chosen by the Apostle calls us to look at the true and unique 'farmer', the God of Jesus Christ, to his most profound mystery which is revealed in the Incarnation of the Son. Indeed, the Creator of all things is not a despot who orders and intervenes forcefully in history - rather, he is like the farmer who sows, who makes the seed grow and bear fruit.
Man can be, like him, a good farmer, who loves history and builds it in depth, acknowledging the seeds of good that the Lord has given us and contributing to grow them.
Therefore let us go towards Bethlehem with our eyes fixed on the patient and faithful God who waits, who stays in place, who respects the times of our existence. The Baby that we shall find is the full manifestation of the mystery of God's love who loves us by giving his life, who loves in a disinterested way, who teaches us to love and only asks to be loved himself.
"Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand".
The journey towards the cave of Bethlehem is an itinerary of interior liberation, an experience of profound freedom, because it urges us to get out of ourselves, towards God who made himself near to us, who makes our hearts firm with his presence and with his freely given love, who precedes and accompanies us in our daily choices, who speaks to us in the secrecy of our heart and in Sacred Scriptures.
He wants to instill courage into our life, especially in the moments when we feel tired and burdened, when we need to recover calm for our journey and feel ourselves to be joyous pilgrims towards eternity.
"The coming of the Lord is near".
It is an announcement that fills this celebration with emotion and wonder, and which hastens our steps towards the cave of Bethlehem. The baby we find between Mary and Joseph is Logos-Love, the Word which can give full significance to our life.
God has opened to us the treasures of his profound silence, and has communicated to us with his Word. In Bethlehem, God's perennial today touches our fleeting time, which receives orientation and light for the journey of life.
Dear friends of the universities of Rome, to you who are pursuing the fascinating and demanding way of research and cultural elaboration, the Incarnate Word asks to share with you the patience of 'building'.
To build one's own existence, to build society, is not work that can be realized by hearts and minds that are distracted or superficial. It requires profound educational activity and continual discernment, which must involve the entire academic community, in order to promote that synthesis of intellectual formation, moral discipline and religious commitment which Blessed John Henry Newman proposed in his book The Idea of a University.
In our time, we feel the need for a new class of intellectuals who are able to interpret social and cultural dynamics in order to offer solutions that are not abstract but concrete and realistic. The University is called on to carry out this irreplaceable role, for which the Church will be a convinced and active supporter.
The Church of Rome, in particular, has been committed for years to sustain the vocation of the university and to serve it with the simple and discreet contribution of so many priests who work in chaplaincies and other church organizations.
I wish to express my appreciation to the Cardinal Vicar and his co-workers for the program of pastoral ministry in the universities which, this year, like the diocesan project, is well summarized in the slogan, "Go, the Mass is over... into the Court of the Gentiles".
The greeting at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, 'Ite, missa est', invites everyone to be witnesses to that charity which transforms man's life and plants in society the seed of the civilization of love.
Your program to offer the city of Rome a culture in the service of the integral development of the human being, as I indicated in the encyclical Caritas in veritate, is a concrete example of your commitment to promote academic communities in which to mature and exercise that which Giovanni Battista Montini (Paul VI) called 'intellectual charity', when he was spiritual director for FUCI [Italian federation of Catholic universities].
The university community of Rome, with her wealth of institutions - state, private, Catholic and pontifical - is called to a noteworthy historical task: to overcome 'prepared' understanding and prejudices which often prevent the development of authentic culture.
Working in synergy, particularly among the theological faculties, Roman universities can demonstrate that a new dialog and collaboration is possible between Christian faith and various branches of learning, without confusion or separation, but sharing the same aspiration to serve man in his fullness.
It is my hope that the next International Symposium on the theme "The University and the challenge of knowledge: Towards what kind of future?" may represent a significant stage in this renewed journey of study and commitment.
In this context, I wish to encourage the initiatives proposed by the management of the Cooperation for Development in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which involves universities in all the continents, lately including those in the Middle East, represented here today by some of their rectors.
Dear young varsitarians, memories of the Cross of the World Youth Days resonate in this assembly. At the end of the liturgy, the African university delegation will turn over the icon of Mary Seat of Wisdom to a Spanish university delegation.
Thus will begin the pilgrimage of this Marian image to all the universities of Spain, a sign which orients us towards our meeting next August in Madrid.
Your presence there will be very important - young university students who are prepared and who wish to communicate to their contemporaries the fecundity of the Christian faith not only in Spain but in all the world.
With Mary who precedes us in our journey of preparation, I look forward to seeing you in Madrid and I trust very much in your generous and creative commitment.
To you Sedes Sapientiae [Seat of wisdom], I entrust the entire university community of Rome.
With her, let us hasten to meet the Baby in the cave of Bethlehem. He is the Lord who comes for us. Amen.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/12/2010 11:31]