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Cardinal Ratzinger's Homily at John Paul II's Funeral Mass
"He Roused Us From a Lethargic Faith"
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 8, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave at John Paul II's funeral Mass today in St.
Peter's Square.
* * *
"Follow me." The Risen Lord says these words to Peter. They are his last words
to this disciple, chosen to shepherd his flock. "Follow me" -- this lapidary
saying of Christ can be taken as the key to understanding the message which
comes to us from the life of our late beloved Pope John Paul II. Today we bury
his remains in the earth as a seed of immortality -- our hearts are full of
sadness, yet at the same time of joyful hope and profound gratitude.
These are the sentiments that inspire us, brothers and sisters in Christ,
present here in St. Peter's Square, in neighboring streets and in various other
locations within the city of Rome, where an immense crowd, silently praying,
has gathered over the last few days. I greet all of you from my heart. In the
name of the College of Cardinals, I also wish to express my respects to heads
of state, heads of government and the delegations from various countries.
I greet the authorities and official representatives of other Churches and
Christian Communities, and likewise those of different religions. Next I greet
the archbishops, bishops, priests, religious men and women and the faithful who
have come here from every continent; especially the young, whom John Paul II
liked to call the future and the hope of the Church. My greeting is extended,
moreover, to all those throughout the world who are united with us through
radio and television in this solemn celebration of our beloved Holy Father's
funeral.
Follow me -- as a young student Karol Wojtyla was thrilled by literature, the
theater and poetry. Working in a chemical plant, surrounded and threatened by
the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the Lord: Follow me! In this
extraordinary setting he began to read books of philosophy and theology, and
then entered the clandestine seminary established by Cardinal Sapieha. After
the war he was able to complete his studies in the faculty of theology of the
Jagiellonian University of Krakow.
How often, in his letters to priests and in his autobiographical books, has he
spoken to us about his priesthood, to which he was ordained on November 1,
1946. In these texts he interprets his priesthood with particular reference to
three sayings of the Lord.
First: "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to
go and bear fruit that will remain" (John 15:16). The second saying is: "A good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). And then: "As the
Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love" (John 15:9). In these
three sayings we see the heart and soul of our Holy Father. He really went
everywhere, untiringly, in order to bear fruit, fruit that lasts.
"Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way!" is the title of his next-to-last book. "Rise, let
us be on our way!" -- with these words he roused us from a lethargic faith,
from the sleep of the disciples of both yesterday and today. "Rise, let us be
on our way!" he continues to say to us even today. The Holy Father was a priest
to the last, for he offered his life to God for his flock and for the entire
human family, in a daily self-oblation for the service of the Church,
especially amid the sufferings of his final months. And in this way he became
one with Christ, the Good Shepherd who loves his sheep.
Finally, "abide in my love": The Pope who tried to meet everyone, who had an
ability to forgive and to open his heart to all, tells us once again today,
with these words of the Lord, that by abiding in the love of Christ we learn,
at the school of Christ, the art of true love.
Follow me! In July 1958, the young priest Karol Wojtyla began a new stage in
his journey with the Lord and in the footsteps of the Lord. Karol had gone to
the Masuri lakes for his usual vacation, along with a group of young people who
loved canoeing. But he brought with him a letter inviting him to call on the
primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszynski. He could guess the purpose of the
meeting: He was to be appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Krakow.
Leaving the academic world, leaving this challenging engagement with young
people, leaving the great intellectual endeavor of striving to understand and
interpret the mystery of that creature which is man and of communicating to
today's world the Christian interpretation of our being -- all this must have
seemed to him like losing his very self, losing what had become the very human
identity of this young priest. Follow me -- Karol Wojtyla accepted the
appointment, for he heard in the Church's call the voice of Christ. And then he
realized how true are the Lord's words: "Whoever seeks to preserve his life
will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it" (Luke 17:33).
Our Pope -- and we all know this -- never wanted to make his own life secure,
to keep it for himself; he wanted to give of himself unreservedly, to the very
last moment, for Christ and thus also for us. And thus he came to experience
how everything which he had given over into the Lord's hands, came back to him
in a new way. His love of words, of poetry, of literature, became an essential
part of his pastoral mission and gave new vitality, new urgency, new
attractiveness to the preaching of the Gospel, even when it is a sign of
contradiction.
Follow me! In October 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla once again heard the voice of the
Lord. Once more there took place that dialogue with Peter reported in the
Gospel of this Mass: "Simon, son of John, do you love me? Feed my sheep!" To
the Lord's question, "Karol, do you love me?" the archbishop of Krakow answered
from the depths of his heart: "Lord you know everything; you know that I love
you." The love of Christ was the dominant force in the life of our beloved Holy
Father. Anyone who ever saw him pray, who ever heard him preach, knows that.
Thanks to his being profoundly rooted in Christ, he was able to bear a burden
which transcends merely human abilities: that of being the shepherd of Christ's
flock, his universal Church.
This is not the time to speak of the specific content of this rich pontificate.
I would like only to read two passages of today's liturgy which reflect central
elements of his message. In the first reading, St. Peter says -- and with St.
Peter, the Pope himself -- "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to
him. You know the word (that) he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace
through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all" (Acts 10:34-36). And in the second
reading, St. Paul -- and with St. Paul, our late Pope -- exhorts us, crying
out: "Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in
this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved" (Philippians 4:1).
Follow me! Together with the command to feed his flock, Christ proclaimed to
Peter that he would die a martyr's death. With those words, which conclude and
sum up the dialogue on love and on the mandate of the universal shepherd, the
Lord recalls another dialogue, which took place during the Last Supper. There
Jesus had said: "Where I am going, you cannot come." Peter said to him, "Lord,
where are you going?" Jesus replied: "Where I am going, you cannot follow me
now; but you will follow me afterward" (John 13:33,36). Jesus from the Supper
went toward the Cross, went toward his resurrection -- he entered into the
paschal mystery; and Peter could not yet follow him. Now -- after the
resurrection -- comes the time, comes this "afterward."
By shepherding the flock of Christ, Peter enters into the paschal mystery, he
goes toward the cross and the resurrection. The Lord says this in these words:
"when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but
when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress
you and lead you where you do not want to go" (John 21:18).
In the first years of his pontificate, still young and full of energy, the Holy
Father went to the very ends of the earth, guided by Christ. But afterward, he
increasingly entered into the communion of Christ's sufferings; increasingly he
understood the truth of the words: "someone else will dress you." And in this
very communion with the suffering Lord, tirelessly and with renewed intensity,
he proclaimed the Gospel, the mystery of that love which goes to the end (cf.
John 13:1).
He interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine mercy. In his
last book, he wrote: The limit imposed upon evil "is ultimately Divine Mercy"
("Memory and Identity," pp. 60- 61). And reflecting on the assassination
attempt, he said: "In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning
to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of love. ...
It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love and
draws forth even from sin a great flowering of good" (pp. 189-190). Impelled by
this vision, the Pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is
why the message of his suffering and his silence proved so eloquent and so
fruitful.
Divine Mercy: the Holy Father found the purest reflection of God's mercy in the
Mother of God. He, who at an early age had lost his own mother, loved his
divine mother all the more. He heard the words of the crucified Lord as
addressed personally to him: "Behold your Mother." And so he did as the beloved
disciple did: "he took her into his own home" (John 19:27) -- "Totus tuus." And
from the mother he learned to conform himself to Christ.
None of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy
Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic
Palace and one last time gave his blessing "urbi et orbi." We can be sure that
our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that he
sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul
to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide
you now to the eternal glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
[Original text in Italian; translation issued by Holy See]
ZE05040802
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"[M]y ministry is that of servus servorum Dei."
--Pope John Paul II (Ut Unum Sint, no. 88)
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the powers of death
shall not prevail against it."
--Matthew 16:18
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