3. The Magi found Jesus at
"Bêth-lehem" which means "house of
bread". In the humble stable in Bethlehem on some
straw lay the "grain of wheat" who, by dying,
would bring forth "much fruit" (cf Jn 12:24).
When speaking of Himself and His saving mission in the
course of His public life, Jesus would later use the
image of bread. He would say "I am the bread of
life", "I am the bread which came down from
heaven", "the bread that I shall give for the
life of the world is my flesh". (Jn 6: 35.41.51).
Faithfully pursuing the path of our Redeemer
from the poverty of the Crib to His abandonment on the
Cross we can better understand the mystery of His love
which redeems humanity. The Child, laid by Mary in the
manger, is the Man-God we shall see nailed to the Cross.
The same Redeemer is present in the sacrament of the
Eucharist. In the stable at Bethlehem He allowed himself
to be worshipped under the humble outward appearances of
a newborn baby, by Mary, by Joseph and by the shepherds;
in the consecrated Host we adore Him sacramentally
present in his body, blood, soul and godhead, and He
offers himself to us as the food of eternal life. The
Mass then becomes a truly loving encounter with the One
who gave himself wholly for us. Do not hesitate, my dear
young friends, to respond to Him when He invites you
"to the wedding feast of the Lamb (cf Rev 19:9).
Listen to him, prepare yourselves properly and draw close
to the Sacrament of the Altar, particularly in this Year
of the Eucharist (October 2004-2005) which I have
proclaimed for the whole Church.
4. "They fell down and worshipped
Him" (Mt 2:11). While the Magi acknowledged and
worshipped the baby that Mary cradled in her arms as the
One awaited by the nations and foretold by prophets,
today we can also worship Him in the Eucharist, and
acknowledge Him as our Creator, our only Lord and
Saviour.
"Opening their treasures they offered
Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh" (Mt
2:11). The gifts that the Magi offered the Messiah
symbolised true worship. With gold, they emphasised His
Royal Godhead; with incense, they acknowledged Him as the
priest of the New Covenant; by offering Him myrrh, they
celebrated the prophet who would shed His own blood to
reconcile humanity with the Father.
My dear young people, you too offer to the
Lord the gold of your lives, namely, your freedom to
follow Him out of love, responding faithfully to His
call; let the incense of your fervent prayer rise up to
him, in praise of His glory; offer Him your myrrh, that
is your affection of total gratitude to Him, true Man,
who loved us to the point of dying as a criminal on
Golgotha.
5. Be worshippers of the only true God,
giving Him pride of place in your lives! Idolatry is an
ever-present temptation. Sadly, there are those who seek
the solution to their problems in religious practices
that are incompatible with the Christian faith. There is
a strong urge to believe in the facile myths of success
and power; it is dangerous to accept the fleeting ideas
of the sacred which present God in the form of cosmic
energy, or in any other manner that is inconsistent with
Catholic teaching.
My dear young people, do not yield to false
illusions and passing fads which so frequently leave
behind a tragic spiritual vacuum! Reject the seduction of
wealth, consumerism and the subtle violence sometimes
used by the mass media.
Worshipping the true God is an authentic act
of resistance to all forms of idolatry. Worship Christ:
He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world
of greater justice and solidarity. Jesus is the Prince of
peace: the source of forgiveness and reconciliation, who
can make brothers and sisters of all the members of the
human family.
6. "And they departed to their own
country by another way" (Mt 2:12). The Gospel tells
us that after their meeting with Christ, the Magi
returned home "by another way". This change of
route can symbolise the conversion to which all those who
encounter Jesus are called, in order to become the true
worshippers that He desires (cf Jn 4: 23-24). This
entails imitating the way He acted by becoming, as the
apostle Paul writes, "a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God". The apostle then adds that we
must not be conformed to the mentality of this world, but
be transformed by the renewal of our minds, to
"prove what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect" (cf Rm 12: 1-2).
Listening to Christ and worshipping Him
leads us to make courageous choices, to take what are
sometimes heroic decisions. Jesus is demanding, because
He wishes our genuine happiness. He calls some to give up
everything to follow Him in the priestly or consecrated
life. Those who hear this invitation must not be afraid
to say "yes" and to generously set about
following Him as His disciples. But in addition to
vocations to special forms of consecration there is also
the specific vocation of all baptised Christians: that is
also a vocation to that "high standard" of
ordinary Christian living which is expressed in holiness.
When we meet Christ and accept His Gospel, life changes
and we are driven to communicate our experience to
others.
There are so many of our contemporaries who
do not yet know the love of God or who are seeking to
fill their hearts with trifling substitutes. It is
therefore urgently necessary for us to be witnesses to
love contemplated in Christ. The invitation to take part
in World Youth Day is also extended to you, dear friends,
who are not baptised or who do not identify with the
Church. Are you not perhaps yearning for the Absolute and
in search of "something" to give a meaning to
your lives? Turn to Christ and you will not be let down.
7. Dear young people, the Church needs
genuine witnesses for the new evangelisation: men and
women whose lives have been transformed by meeting with
Jesus, men and women who are capable of communicating
this experience to others. The Church needs saints. All
are called to holiness, and holy people alone can renew
humanity. Many have gone before us along this path of
Gospel heroism, and I urge you to turn often to them to
pray for their intercession. By meeting in Cologne you
will learn to become better acquainted with some of them,
such as St Boniface, the apostle of Germany, the Saints
of Cologne, and in particular Ursula, Albert the Great,
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and Blessed
Adolph Kolping. Of these I would like to specifically
mention St Albert and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross who,
with the same interior attitude as the Magi, were
passionate seekers after the truth. They had no
hesitation in placing their intellectual abilities at the
service of the faith, thereby demonstrating that faith
and reason are linked and seek each other.
My dear young people as you move forward in
spirit towards Cologne, the pope will accompany you with
his prayers. May Mary, "Eucharistic woman" and
Mother of Wisdom, support you along the way, enlighten
your decisions, and teach you to love what is true, good
and beautiful. May she lead you all to her Son, who alone
can satisfy the innermost yearnings of the human mind and
heart.
Go with my blessing!
Castel Gandolfo, 6 August 2004
JOHN PAUL II
|
