HOMILY
"I
will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that
speaks of peace. Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice
and peace
have embraced" (Ps 84(85):8,10).
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
These
are words of today's liturgy, taken from the Responsorial
Psalm. The God of the Covenant is
a God of
peace. Peace on earth is a good that belongs to his Kingdom
and
to his salvation. This good is obtained in justice and faithfulness to
the
divine commandments. This good, which is peace, is promised to us in different
spheres: as the interior good
of our conscience, as the good of our human living together,
and
finally as a social and international good.
This
last meaning was above all what Paul VI had in mind when he
wrote these memorable words: "The
new
name for peace is development". And he wrote these words in the Encyclical Populorum
Progressio (No.
87).
Today
we come together here in Edmonton to
make this theme of the development
or progress of peoples, the principal object of our meditations
and
prayers in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. In
this Eucharistic community is gathered
first of all
the whole Church of the Archdiocese of
Edmonton. And I
wish indeed
to greet this Church with its Pastor, Archbishop MacNeil, as well
as the Eparchy of Edmonton of the
Ukrainians, together with Bishop Savaryn
and Bishop Greschuk. I also acknowledge with deep gratitude the presence
of the large group of faithful from Saskatchewan, who
have brought their crosses to be
blessed. I
likewise embrace in the love of Christ Jesus our Lord all the pilgrims
and
visitors. The refugees from Central America,
Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe have a special place in my heart.
Considering
our theme, I think that in a
certain sense all Canada shares
in this meeting at Edmonton. If the theme was proposed by the
local community,
it
was certainly done so with a thought towards the whole society for
which the
cause of the development of peoples is a question of greatest importance
and social and international responsibility. Especially since
this
"development" or "progress" is the new name for "peace".
The
liturgy leads us to consider this
important theme, first of all,
as it is presented in the twenty-fifth
chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel.
We
have listened today to the Gospel about the final judgment with
the same emotion as always. This
passage
touches some of the most fundamental questions
of our faith and morality. These
two fields are strictly linked to
each
other. Perhaps no other passage in the Gospel speaks of their relationship
in such a convincing way.
Our
faith in Jesus Christ finds here a
kind of final expression: "The Father
judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son" (Jn
5:22). In today's Gospel Christ stands before us as our Judge. He has a
special
right to make this judgment; indeed he became one of us, our
Brother.
This brotherhood
with the human
race - and at the same time his brotherhood with every
single person - has led him to the Cross and the
Resurrection. Thus he
judges in the name of
his solidarity with each person and likewise in the name of our solidarity
with him, who is our Brother and Redeemer and whom we discover in every human being:
"I was hungry... I was
thirsty... I was a
stranger...
naked... sick... in prison..." (Mt 25:35-36).
And
those called to judgment - on his right
hand and on his
left –
will ask:
When and where? When
and where have we seen you like this?
When and where
have we done what you said? Or: When and where have we
not done it?
The
answer:
"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of
the least of these
my
brethren, you did it to me"
(Mt 25:40). And, on the contrary:
"As
you did it not to one of the
least of these, you did it not to me" (Mt
25:45).
"To
one of the least of these my
brethren".
Thus: to
man, to an individual
human being in need.
Yet,
the Second Vatican Council, following the whole of Tradition,
warns us not to stop at an
"individualistic" interpretation of Christian ethics, since Christian ethics also has
its social
dimension. The human person
lives
in a community, in society. And with the community he shares hunger
and
thirst and sickness and malnutrition and misery and all the deficiencies that result therefrom. In
his or her
own person the human being is meant to experience the needs of
others.
So
it is that Christ the Judge speaks
of "one of the least of the brethren",
and at the same time he is speaking of each and of all.
Yes.
He is speaking of the whole universal
dimension of injustice and evil.
He
is speaking of what today we are accustomed to call the North-South
contrast. Hence not only East-West, but also North-South: the increasingly
wealthier North, and the increasingly poorer South.
Yes,
the South - becoming always poorer; and
the North - becoming always
richer.
Richer too in
the resources of weapons with which the superpowers
and blocs can mutually threaten each other. And they
threaten each other - such an argument also exists - in order
not to
destroy each other.
This
is a separate dimension - and according to the opinion
of many it is the dimension in
the forefront
- of the deadly threat which hangs over the modern world, which
deserves
separate attention.
Nevertheless,
in the light of Christ's words, this poor South will
judge the rich North. And the poor people and poor nations
- poor in different ways,
not only lacking food, but also
deprived of freedom and other human rights - will judge
those
people who take these goods away from them,
amassing to themselves the imperialistic monopoly of economic and
political
supremacy at the expense of others.
The
Gospel of today's liturgy is very rich in
content. It is relevant to
the different spheres of
injustice and human evil. In the midst of each of these situations
stands Christ himself, and as Redeemer and Judge he says: "You did
it to me", "you did it not to me".
Nevertheless
he wishes, in this final judgment - which is
constantly in preparation and
which in a
certain sense is constantly present - to bear witness first of all
to the
good that has been done.
And
here also that significant expression of the teaching of the
Church takes a start, whose
principal
formulation became the Encyclical Populorum Progressio. What
was the
inner concern of Paul VI and the universal Church became a dynamic action and a loud
appeal that
echoes to this day: "It is not just a matter of eliminating hunger, or
even of reducing poverty. The struggle against destitution,
though
urgent and necessary, is not enough. It is a
question, rather, of building a world where every man, no matter what
his race,
religion or nationality, can live a fully human life, freed from
servitude
imposed on him by other men or by natural forces; a world where freedom
is not
an empty word and where the poor man Lazarus can sit down at
the same
table with the rich man" (No. 47).
Yes,
"development" is the
new name for peace. Peace is necessary; it is
an imperative of our time. And so is this development or
progress: the progress
of all the
disadvantaged.
Today
we pray in this spirit. Today's liturgy
emphasizes very clearly the
link between justice and
peace.
Look
at the first reading from Isaiah:
"There will be poured on us the spirit
from above... Integrity will bring peace, justice give lasting security.
My people will live in a peaceful home, in safe houses,
in quiet dwellings"
(Is
32:15,17-18).
This
was written by the Prophet centuries
before Christ. How lasting and
unchanging are the desires of individuals and peoples!
And
later on, after Christ, the Apostle Paul writes in the Letter
to the Philippians: "And the peace of God, which passes all
understanding,
will keep your hearts and your
minds in
Christ Jesus" (Ph 4:7).
Yet
the condition for such peace is human behaviour in every
dimension of existence.
Hence, Saint
Paul continues: "Fill your minds with everything that is true,
everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and
honour, and everything that can be
thought virtuous or worthy
of praise.
Keep doing all the things that you learned
from me and have been taught by me and have heard or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with
you"
(Ph 4:8-9).
May
our prayer pierce the heavens! May the
God of peace be with us!
May
the God of peace be with us! This cry
brings with it the whole drama
of
our age, the whole threat.
The
nuclear threat? Certainly!
But
even more: the whole threat of injustice,
the threat coming from the
rigid structures of those systems
which man is not able to pass through -
those systems which do not open themselves so as to permit themselves
to go out towards man,
to go out towards the
development of peoples, to go out towards justice, with all
its
requirements, and towards peace.
Is
the global balance not perhaps ever
increasing - the global balance of
what we "have not done for one of the least of the
brethren"? for millions
of the least of the brethren? for billions?
This
must also be said here, in Canada, which is as vast as a continent. And at the same time here,
from this
very place, it must likewise
be said to all people of good will,
and to
all groups, communities,
organizations, institutions, nations and governments, that everything
we "have done" and what we will still do,
what we will plan and will do
with ever
greater energy and determination - all of this really matters.
And
the balance is increasing and must increase of what we
"have done" for one person, for
millions, for billions: the balance of good in human history.
The
judgment spoken of in today's Gospel is constantly being
prepared and is already taking
place: What
you did for one... for millions... for billions, "you did it to me"!
May
the God of peace be with us, here in Canada
and everywhere.
May
justice and peace embrace (cf. Ps 84(85):10) once again at the
end of the second millennium
which prepares
us for the coming of Christ, in glory.
Amen.
Conférence
des évêques catholiques du Canada