Bishop Declan at Mass Celebrating Pope’s 80th Birthday
Bishop Declan joined Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, President of the
Bishops’ Conference, and Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic
Nuncio to Great Britain, to celebrate a special Mass to give thanks for
Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday. The Mass was held in the Cathedral
Church of St Anne, Leeds at the beginning of the Plenary Meeting of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said that Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th Birthday is “an opportunity to thank him and to commend his gifts and his continuing ministry to the Lord.”
The full text of the homily preached by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and the closing remarks given by His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, can be found below.
Homily preached by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
We are here to celebrate the 80th Birthday of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. It is a lovely occasion for the Church and an opportunity for us to give thanks for his important Ministry in the Church and to the world.
During Easter week I was especially taken by the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles of Peter and his preaching and witness to the risen Lord. When Peter and John met the man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate to the Temple, Peter said to him, “I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have”. And we are told more than once that Peter spoke to the crowds using convincing language and arguments.
When Pope Benedict was elected he spoke of himself as a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act “even with inadequate instruments”. I believe that we have seen in the past two years, the fruits of the previous seventy-eight of prayer, study, reflection, teaching and service. We have in Pope Benedict a great example of one who, like Peter, gives completely of what he has and teaches using convincing language and clear arguments.
Pope Benedict has drawn on his own experience of previous Popes to consider the conduct of the Petrine Ministry. Several times he has recalled being present at the Second Vatican Council as an expert and listening to the words of Pope John XXIII. He has been particularly reflective on the ministry of Pope Paul VI who nominated him as Archbishop of Munich and created him a Cardinal. Only last month he said of him:
The secret of the pastoral action that Paul VI carried out with tireless dedication, at times adopting difficult and unpopular decisions, lies precisely in his love for Christ, a love vibrant with moving words to be found in all his teachings. His soul as a Pastor was totally consumed with missionary zeal, nourished by a sincere desire for dialogue with humanity.
And of Pope John Paul II with whom he worked so closely for such a long time he has said,
He lived his Pontificate in the sign of "prodigality", generously spending himself without reserve, motivated by a mystical love for Christ.
Pope Benedict strives for this in himself too, and as he lives this calling, so he urges each of us who are called to follow Christ to do the same. I have been present so many times when in his courteous and gentle way, he uses his intellect and his heart to enter into conversation with those whom he meets, or he sets himself about to teach and guide those who have come to listen to him.
Most of the Pope’s eighty years of life have been spent as a priest. When he visited Germany last year it was well reported because of what he said at Regensburg. What was less reported was his reflection on his own ordination as a priest and an understanding of what priesthood is about. Meeting with the clergy of Bavaria in Freising, he recalled his own ordination to the priesthood and said, “I experienced my priestly ordination as an initiation into the community of Jesus’ friends, called to be with him and to proclaim his message.” He went on to develop the theme by saying, “On the one hand we must know God from within, know Christ from within, and be with him; only in this way will we discover the “treasure”. On the other hand we must also go out towards others. We cannot simply keep the “treasure” to ourselves; we must hand it on.”
That friendship and love of the Lord combined with the call to proclaim to share – once again mirror the words and actions of Peter: “I will give you what I have”.
To all Christians the Pope wrote at the beginning of Deus Caritas Est, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”. And picking up again the theme of friendship and how we are called to live: “His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern… Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.”
The great truth and joy of the Christian faith is that we believe that the word became flesh and lived among us. So there is something utterly attractive and quite compelling in being reminded of the Lord as a true friend and of the importance of friendship with the Lord as a foundation for the communion and friendship among the followers of Christ.
It is also deeply practical and a real encouragement to Christians to be instruments for good in the world in which we live. Often the question arises as to what faith adds to life. People regularly say I can be good and I can care for others without being a person of faith. What Pope Benedict has sought to remind us in the wisdom of his years is that faith means that we can go beyond this and as friends in the Lord and of the Lord we can love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
I for one am grateful to Pope Benedict for reminding us of this. Grateful for the encouragement to deepen our love and friendship with the Lord, so that we might be more perfect witnesses of him in the world.
The Pope’s eightieth birthday celebration is an opportunity to thank him and to commend his gifts and his continuing ministry to the Lord, who has said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you”.
Closing remarks by His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz,
The Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain
At the end of this celebration of the Eucharist, during which we have placed before the Good Lord the intentions of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, I wish to thank His Excellency Bishop Arthur Roche and those responsible for having assisted in making this liturgy a true moment of prayer.
I also wish to thank the President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and the Secretariat of the Conference, under the direction of Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, for having wanted to place this liturgical celebration at the beginning of the Plenary Meeting of the Conference.
This gesture to gather the Bishops of England and Wales together with the priests, religious and laity to pray for the Holy Father signifies the fidelity of this local Church under the diligent leadership of the Bishops towards the Pope and the Holy See. It is truly encouraging to note how you, the Bishops, enhance, protect and promote the ecclesial bonds which unite the Church here with the Pope, who last Sunday (15 April) in St Peter’s Square during the Mass celebrated on his eightieth birthday said that “the shadow of Peter, through the Catholic Church, has covered his life from the very beginning and it is a good shadow, a life-giving shadow, because in effect it ultimately comes from Christ himself.”
I would say that as a result of the faithful and untiring ministry of the Bishops, the dedicated work of the priests and religious and the commitment of the laity, “the shadow of Peter” falls upon the Catholic community in this country in all of its dimensions: her worship, her educational activity, her ministry to the weak and the poor and her uncompromising efforts to proclaim, “in season and out of season” the truth of the Gospel.
Dear Bishops, dear priests, religious and laity, on behalf of the Holy Father, I wish to thank you for these prayers for him. In fact, during the homily that I mentioned above the Pope said that he felt encouraged and sustained by the prayers offered for him. Perhaps, then, this could be our best gift to him on his eightieth birthday: the assurance of our prayers. Therefore, let us lift up our hearts in thanksgiving for the universal ministry of the Holy Father so that through it the shadow of Peter that comes from Christ will continue to cover the Church renewing us and drawing us ever closer to our Redeemer.
Useful URL : http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said that Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th Birthday is “an opportunity to thank him and to commend his gifts and his continuing ministry to the Lord.”
The full text of the homily preached by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and the closing remarks given by His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, can be found below.
Homily preached by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
We are here to celebrate the 80th Birthday of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. It is a lovely occasion for the Church and an opportunity for us to give thanks for his important Ministry in the Church and to the world.
During Easter week I was especially taken by the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles of Peter and his preaching and witness to the risen Lord. When Peter and John met the man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate to the Temple, Peter said to him, “I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have”. And we are told more than once that Peter spoke to the crowds using convincing language and arguments.
When Pope Benedict was elected he spoke of himself as a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act “even with inadequate instruments”. I believe that we have seen in the past two years, the fruits of the previous seventy-eight of prayer, study, reflection, teaching and service. We have in Pope Benedict a great example of one who, like Peter, gives completely of what he has and teaches using convincing language and clear arguments.
Pope Benedict has drawn on his own experience of previous Popes to consider the conduct of the Petrine Ministry. Several times he has recalled being present at the Second Vatican Council as an expert and listening to the words of Pope John XXIII. He has been particularly reflective on the ministry of Pope Paul VI who nominated him as Archbishop of Munich and created him a Cardinal. Only last month he said of him:
The secret of the pastoral action that Paul VI carried out with tireless dedication, at times adopting difficult and unpopular decisions, lies precisely in his love for Christ, a love vibrant with moving words to be found in all his teachings. His soul as a Pastor was totally consumed with missionary zeal, nourished by a sincere desire for dialogue with humanity.
And of Pope John Paul II with whom he worked so closely for such a long time he has said,
He lived his Pontificate in the sign of "prodigality", generously spending himself without reserve, motivated by a mystical love for Christ.
Pope Benedict strives for this in himself too, and as he lives this calling, so he urges each of us who are called to follow Christ to do the same. I have been present so many times when in his courteous and gentle way, he uses his intellect and his heart to enter into conversation with those whom he meets, or he sets himself about to teach and guide those who have come to listen to him.
Most of the Pope’s eighty years of life have been spent as a priest. When he visited Germany last year it was well reported because of what he said at Regensburg. What was less reported was his reflection on his own ordination as a priest and an understanding of what priesthood is about. Meeting with the clergy of Bavaria in Freising, he recalled his own ordination to the priesthood and said, “I experienced my priestly ordination as an initiation into the community of Jesus’ friends, called to be with him and to proclaim his message.” He went on to develop the theme by saying, “On the one hand we must know God from within, know Christ from within, and be with him; only in this way will we discover the “treasure”. On the other hand we must also go out towards others. We cannot simply keep the “treasure” to ourselves; we must hand it on.”
That friendship and love of the Lord combined with the call to proclaim to share – once again mirror the words and actions of Peter: “I will give you what I have”.
To all Christians the Pope wrote at the beginning of Deus Caritas Est, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”. And picking up again the theme of friendship and how we are called to live: “His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern… Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.”
The great truth and joy of the Christian faith is that we believe that the word became flesh and lived among us. So there is something utterly attractive and quite compelling in being reminded of the Lord as a true friend and of the importance of friendship with the Lord as a foundation for the communion and friendship among the followers of Christ.
It is also deeply practical and a real encouragement to Christians to be instruments for good in the world in which we live. Often the question arises as to what faith adds to life. People regularly say I can be good and I can care for others without being a person of faith. What Pope Benedict has sought to remind us in the wisdom of his years is that faith means that we can go beyond this and as friends in the Lord and of the Lord we can love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
I for one am grateful to Pope Benedict for reminding us of this. Grateful for the encouragement to deepen our love and friendship with the Lord, so that we might be more perfect witnesses of him in the world.
The Pope’s eightieth birthday celebration is an opportunity to thank him and to commend his gifts and his continuing ministry to the Lord, who has said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you”.
Closing remarks by His Excellency Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz,
The Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain
At the end of this celebration of the Eucharist, during which we have placed before the Good Lord the intentions of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, I wish to thank His Excellency Bishop Arthur Roche and those responsible for having assisted in making this liturgy a true moment of prayer.
I also wish to thank the President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and the Secretariat of the Conference, under the direction of Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, for having wanted to place this liturgical celebration at the beginning of the Plenary Meeting of the Conference.
This gesture to gather the Bishops of England and Wales together with the priests, religious and laity to pray for the Holy Father signifies the fidelity of this local Church under the diligent leadership of the Bishops towards the Pope and the Holy See. It is truly encouraging to note how you, the Bishops, enhance, protect and promote the ecclesial bonds which unite the Church here with the Pope, who last Sunday (15 April) in St Peter’s Square during the Mass celebrated on his eightieth birthday said that “the shadow of Peter, through the Catholic Church, has covered his life from the very beginning and it is a good shadow, a life-giving shadow, because in effect it ultimately comes from Christ himself.”
I would say that as a result of the faithful and untiring ministry of the Bishops, the dedicated work of the priests and religious and the commitment of the laity, “the shadow of Peter” falls upon the Catholic community in this country in all of its dimensions: her worship, her educational activity, her ministry to the weak and the poor and her uncompromising efforts to proclaim, “in season and out of season” the truth of the Gospel.
Dear Bishops, dear priests, religious and laity, on behalf of the Holy Father, I wish to thank you for these prayers for him. In fact, during the homily that I mentioned above the Pope said that he felt encouraged and sustained by the prayers offered for him. Perhaps, then, this could be our best gift to him on his eightieth birthday: the assurance of our prayers. Therefore, let us lift up our hearts in thanksgiving for the universal ministry of the Holy Father so that through it the shadow of Peter that comes from Christ will continue to cover the Church renewing us and drawing us ever closer to our Redeemer.
Useful URL : http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk
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