Pope's video message closes
Naples special jubilee year
December 17, 2011
A solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by Cardinal Crescencio Sepe at the Cathedral of Naples yesterday evening closed the special Jubilee Year of the Church of Naples marking 10 years since the Great Jubilee of 2000.
The following is the text of the videomessage by Pope Benedict XVI which was broadcast at the Prayer Vigil held on Friday night.
Dear brothers and sisters of the Archdiocese of Naples:
I greet you all with great affection, and I am happy to be able to join spiritually in the solemn conclusion of your Special Jubilee Year which has represented for the entire diocesan community a propitious time of hope and an opportunity for new evangelization.
I greet first of all your Archbishop, Cardinal Crescencio Sepe, the priests, deacons, religious, catechists and other pastoral workers, with a special thought for families, young people and the sick.
I am very happy for you because the journey that you have undertaken in the past months has seen the joyous participation and sincere involvement of the entire ecclesial community, as well as civilians and so many other persons of good will. I am pleased that so many have offered their won generous contribution for the spiritual, moral and cultural growth of your city and diocese.
This special jubilee years has been for the Church in Naples a time of immersion in the mystery of God, and therefore, a year of grace. It can be compared to a 'baptism' because, in a certain sense, the Jubilee has opened up heaven over you, and has allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to descend on your life and your community, just as he did over the disciples in the Cenacle at Pentecost.
And it is the Holy Spirit who has made the various events of your Jubilee beautiful and significant. He has inspired holy offerings, generous projects, and above all, a renewed desire to inflame your city with the fire of the Gospel.
Yes, dear friends of Naples, heaven is open above you. And you can proceed with renewed enthusiasm to face - with the power of faith, hope and charity - the many and complex problems encountered in daily life.
Just as the Apostles, after Pentecost, set about to announce the Good News with courage, you, too, after this Jubilee, should renew your hope, allow yourselves to be guided by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and collaborate with renewed impulse in the mission of the Church.
Each one must make fruitful the gifts you have received, placing them in the service of others and in the work of the entire community, without personalism nor rivalry, but in a spirit of sincere humility and joyful brotherhood. Always have, as you already do, special attention for your brothers who are weaker and lesser, the poor and the disadvantaged.
May the Blessed Virgin of Carmel, patroness of Naples, and San Gennaro, watch over you and help you carry forward, with perseverance and faithfulness, the commitments you took on during this jubilee year.
Along with my prayers, may you be accompanied always by the Apostolic Blessing that I impart on all of you from the heart.
