Vatican Radio's Italian and German services have published a few more excerpts from Benedict XVI's homily at Mass this morning, celebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. He spoke in German.
On his 85th birthday: Pope says
'I entrust myself to God -
his goodness and light are my certainty'
Translated from the Italian service of
April 16, 2012
Benedict XVI's 85th birthday began with a private Mass celebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, in the presence of Bavarian bishops, other prominent Bavarians and friends who came to Rome from Germany to mark this important anniversary, and members of the Roman Curia.
In his homily, the Pope reflected on the 'signs' that mark April 16, the day of his birth and baptism (within four hours of being born).
St. Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in Lourdes, and St. Benedict Joseph Labre
[whose feast day was April 16 at the time of the Pope's birth, moved to April 17 after it became the feast day of St. Bernadette], an 18th century saint who was known as the 'mendicant pilgrim', were the two figures who, from childhood, Joseph Ratzinger considered signs sent to him by Providence about the course of his life.
They, and Holy Saturday, which fell on April 16 the day he was born - and which he calls "the day of God's silence, of his apparent absence, which was, instead, a prelude to the announcement of the Resurrection".
This has been his 'reading' of his life up to and beyond his election to the Chair of Peter, he said.
Of Bernadette Soubirous, he said he was always struck by "her heart which was able to see the Mother of God, and in her, the reflection of the beauty and goodness of God". With her "pure and uncontaminated heart", he said, "Mary could show herself to her, and through her, speak to her century and centuries beyond".
"That is why, this day, this young saint was always a sign for me of what we ought to be. Of the fact that with all our knowing and doing, though they are necessary, we must not lose a simple heart, a heart that can look with simplicity and is able to see the essential".
Thus, Bernadette could see what Mary pointed to her - "a spring of pure and living water... the image of truth which comes to us from faith, of truth which is not dissimulated and remains uncontaminated".
"To be able to live truly, to be able to become pure, a nostalgia must awaken in us for the pure life, for truth, for what is unspoiled by corruption, for the human being who is sinless...
In our time, when we see the world in such distress, and in which the need for water literally confronts us, this sign is even more significant. From Mary, from the Mother of the Lord, from her pure heart, comes pure and uncontaminated water which gives life, the water that in this century and in the centuries to come can purify and heal us".
Of Benedict Joseph Labre, the Pope recalled his wanderings throughout Europe and the shrines he established on the continent. A 'European' saint who is special because "he wanted nothing else but to pray and bear witness to what truly counts in life - God".
He called him "a finger that pointed to the essential - namely, that God alone suffices... and that he who is open to God does not alienate himself from the world and other men".
"Because in other men, he found brothers. God all barriers fall down, and only God can do this, because for him, we are all brothers, we are part of each other. God wants brotherhood and reconciliation among all men, bringing down barriers to unite and to heal us".
Reflecting on the day he was born, the Pope said he was thankful to his parents not just for the gift of life but for having 'given him rebirth' on that very day through the water of Baptism.
But he asked, "In what way is the gift of life truly a gift? It is right to simply pass on life? Is it always responsible to do so?"
Biological life in itself, he said, is a true gift but it comes with many demands. "Life becomes a true gift when it also comes with a promise that is stronger that any mishap that may threaten it, if it is immersed in a power that guarantees it is good to be human... And so, birth must be associated with rebirth [in Baptism] and the certainty that it is good to exist, because the promise is stronger than any threat".
And that, he says, is the meaning of Baptism, belonging to "the great family of God and therefore being stronger than all the negative forces that threaten us".
He ended with words entrusting himself to God:
I find myself facing the last stretch in the course of my life, and I do not know what awaits me. But I know that there is the light of God, that he is Risen, that his light is more powerful than any darkness, that the goodness of God is stronger than every evil in the world. And this helps me to proceed with certainty. This helps us all to go forward, and at this time, I thank all those who continuously make me perceive the Yes of God through their faith.
Before the Mass began, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, extended to him the affectionate good wishes of all the cardinals.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/04/2012 18:56]