Pentecost Monday
Pope Leo has just written a message to the Catholic Church in France on the anniversary of the canonisation of Saint John Eudes, Saint John-Mary Vianney, and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The Pope tells us: “they loved Jesus unreservedly in a simple, strong and authentic way; they experienced His goodness and tenderness in a special daily closeness, and they bore witness to Him with admirable missionary enthusiasm.” That says it all: love, closeness, and proclamation. May Jesus be the source, the centre, the raison d’être of our lives, as He was for these saints.
The Jubilee of Hope in Rome and the Jubilee of the 1,000th anniversary of the crypt in Chartres are both channels of the Grace that Jesus communicates to those who learn from Him by listening to Him in truth. You pilgrims have walked, sweated, suffered, slept little, cried out, sung, and prayed. You moved beyond all comfort, supporting one another, guided by the spires of Notre Dame de Chartres seen in the distance. This vision gave you courage, you sang praise to the Lord. You deserve our admiration. You have participated in the joy of the Jubilee of Hope. 105 kilometres on foot. Let us ask ourselves why you decided to make such an effort? Do we believe we will be rewarded by Jesus? Biblical Revelation says that, faced with the infidelity of His people, God came closer to them to share in our human life. He, of divine condition, consented to descent into this world inhabited by evil. He consented to humble Himself and even to experience more humiliation than any other man. Jesus lived His passion from His birth in Bethlehem: He offered Himself as a victim to pay the price of the redemption of our sins and save humanity from eternal death. This free offering is fully accomplished on the Cross: He dies in atrocious suffering, bearing all our sins upon Himself. So yes, we have walked in thanksgiving, to thank Him and welcome the salvation freely offered. Through Him, all is given, all is completed: the mystery of redemption is accomplished. By our love, we respond to His love which is always first.
After the pilgrimage, what will be new in your life, what fruit will emerge from this self-transcendence? We desire to build a new society, illuminated by Christ and to live according to the Spirit, by uniting our talents and our charisms. All our human capacities must be placed at the service of the civilisation of love, building peace and not war, working for acceptance and not rejection, encouraging love and not indifference. With God, we are not alone as Jesus made this promise: “if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you… When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you all into the Truth” (Jn 16: 7,13). Our Faith is built on this promise. Jesus is in divine glory and simultaneously He remains among us when we gather in His name.
How can we choose the path to take? Let us listen to Jesus: “He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit” (Jn 15:5). Jesus asks that we abide in Him by keeping His word: “whoever loves me will keep my word. So, whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Mt 7:24). Jesus’ words are clear. His Word is our food because “man does not live on bread alone”, Jesus says “but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). At so many times, crowds followed Jesus to Galilee or Judea so that He could touch and heal the sick. But what did Jesus do? He taught them at length, and those who listened to Him kept His words. The prophet Ezekiel took the scroll of the law and said: “I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ezek 3:3). Let us remember the words that have nourished us during our journey. Which ones will enlighten our daily prayer in the future? Indeed, dear sons and daughters, prayer is the breath of the soul nourished by the Word of the Holy Scriptures. Experience shows us that it is easier to walk 100 kilometres in two and a half days than to pray for quarter of an hour each day. Is it not our vocation to listen to God daily? Let us thank Jesus for having taken upon Himself our sins by offering him a quarter of an hour daily… at least!
To stay on the path of Faith in our perverted society – Saint Paul speaks of a perverted society – it is necessary to have great desire. “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41). Jesus said to Bartimaeus. A teenage girl, soon to be confirmed, wrote to me about her desire to “cleave to the Lord forever”. You who are in Chartres today, is it your desire to cleave to Jesus Christ all your life? If so, how will you do it? Jesus said, “if anyone loves me, he will keep my word; my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home in him” (Jn 14:23). Christian Faith consists of listening to Jesus Christ and opening the door of your heart to let him in. Divine love is like a fire, like the one that set fire to Mount Sinai as Moses went to meet God. Three centuries ago, Jesus revealed His heart to Saint Margaret Mary: “my heart is so passionate with love, and for you in particular, that, unable to contain the flames of its love, it must spread them by every means. If you believe it, you will see the power of my Heart in the magnificence of My love.”
The saints are the richness of the Church; through them we have received the heritage of Faith, and from now on, it is up to each of us to live it and bear witness to it, shining with the light of the Holy Spirit. I ask you now: do you choose holiness as the goal of your life? Those who discover Faith are amazed to hear that God is love and He is close to us, through the Holy Spirit to communicate His love. But the danger is great for every Christian who believes his faith is solid and thinks that conversion is not for him. We must remember the words of the angel to the Church of Ephesus: “I have against you that you have left your first love” (Rev 2:4). The danger is just as great for priests, consecrated persons and religious: have you preserved the love that encouraged you to say yes to consecration or priesthood? Let us ask ourselves: how can we be witnesses to Christ if the Gospel does not burn within us, so that we may be freed from our chains and our overly certain ideas, and be drawn where the Spirit leads us? This is the price of love. Love demands the complete and joyful gift of oneself.
The time has come for witnessing, but to be a witness, we must know the Word of God and courageously bring it to the people of our time. Jesus said, “He who is of God, listens to the words of God.” (Jn 8:47). However, the world does not listen to God: it listens to itself and closes itself to the voice of God. This is why Jesus needs you. It is likely that we will not always be accepted, but Jesus has warned us. This resistance is part of the transmission of Faith; it is even a criterion of authenticity.
Dear pilgrims, the beauty of Creation is a sign of God’s presence. You have enjoyed the beauty of this nature, the fields planted with cereals, the forests, the sun, perhaps the wind. Your joyful generosity will be a sign of the truth of your Faith to your friends. The Christian is a pilgrim of Hope who accepts to leave his father, mother, home, and work to undertake the great pilgrimage of Faith with the aim of proclaiming the Good News. Here in Chartres, you have come to Our Lady. Entrust to the Virgin your sorrows and perhaps your tears, entrust to her your heart, sometimes broken by great suffering, betrayals, disappointments, abuse. Entrust to her your desires so that she may present them to her Son Jesus, offer her your plans. This is her mission: to intercede for each of her children. Mary be sure, accompanies you on this earthly pilgrimage, and her greatest joy is to lead you to her Son.
In a few hours, most of you will return to your families, your homes, your studies, and your jobs. Our Christian life is to be lived where we are rooted among people to whom we can bear witness to the wonders of God. What are your guiding principles from now on? Will the Word of God be your nourishment and your guide? What will be your life plan?
My brothers and sisters, my children, and my friends, let us not go astray. Only Jesus Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life. Our journey has only just begun, and the promise is there: a new world is possible. Will we be its builders? Let us humbly dare to set out on the journey together, with God’s grace. For each of us, it is a matter of saying yes to love, and God will provide the rest. Have a good journey!
Amen
