“The Church as a whole and all her pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert [of poverty, hunger, loneliness, emptiness, etc.], towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance,” he said.
The Pope also commented on the analogy of the fisherman.
“We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings us into the splendor of God’s light, into true life,” he said.
“It is really true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of God,” he continued.
The Pope once again referred to his particular call to seek Christian unity. “Both the image of the shepherd and that of the fisherman issue an explicit call to unity,” he said. The pontiff had already made mention of this goal as a priority in his first homily to the College of Cardinals earlier this week.
‘Be not afraid!’
Pope Benedict concluded by sharing his reflections of Pope John Paul II’s inauguration 26 years ago and recalling the words that he spoke that day: "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!"
Pope John Paul “was addressing the mighty, the powerful of this world, who feared that Christ might take away something of their power if they were to let him in, if they were to allow the faith to be free,” said Pope Benedict.
“Yes, he would certainly have taken something away from them: the dominion of corruption, the manipulation of law and the freedom to do as they pleased. But he would not have taken away anything that pertains to human freedom or dignity, or to the building of a just society,” he said firmly.
He also addressed the fears that people, especially youth, have about fully embracing Christ and his message.
“If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great,” he assured them. “Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation.
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“And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything,” the Pope emphasized.
“When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life,” he concluded.
> For the full homily, go to:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=63