ROME, MAY 3, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Blessed John Paul II had a message that would have helped our world avoid the recent economic crisis, and can still aid in overcoming it, says Cardinal Seán Brady.
The archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, stated this Monday in Rome at a Mass with Irish pilgrims celebrated in thanksgiving for the beatification of Blessed John Paul II on Sunday.
“As pilgrims from Ireland we are here to give particular thanks for the vision and hope of an extraordinary man, an outstanding disciple of Jesus Christ who came to the shores of our own land as a pilgrim in 1979,” the cardinal recalled.
He continued: “It is extraordinary to realize just how prophetic, just how important and far-seeing his message was to us at that time.
“Perhaps if we had listened to his warnings about excessive greed more carefully and taken to heart his pleas for an end to violence more urgently, some of the worst effects of our current economic crisis and the needless pain of our violent past could have been avoided.”
“In his presentation of the Church’s social teaching, in his prophetic presentation of the path between the excesses of communism and capitalism, in his prioritization of the dignity and service of the person, I believe we will find some useful direction for the future progress of our national and international economic framework as we face a period of recession,” the prelate affirmed.
He added, “In his consistent ethic of respect for life at all its stages and the peaceful pursuit of justice and human rights, I believe we will find a light for our path to a more friendly and peaceful future between all the people of our island and of the world.”
“In his emphasis on the universal call to holiness, lived out in intimate personal union with Christ and in the ordinary, everyday means of the Christian life, including prayer, service of others and the sacraments, I believe we will rediscover the authentic interpretation of the Second Vatican Council and the path to genuine, effective renewal in the Irish Church,” the cardinal stated.
He said, “Today, we give thanks that the Church has confirmed for us that Ireland has yet another friend in heaven in the person of Blessed Pope John Paul II.”
“By setting holiness as the gold standard of the ordinary Christian life,” Cardinal Brady added, “he has shown us the true path to renewal and the way to eternal communion with the Blessed Trinity.”
God’s mercy
On Sunday in Dublin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin also celebrated a Mass in honor of the newly beatified Pope.
In his homily, the prelate recalled how Blessed John Paul II “constantly reminded us of the mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ, who would assist us in our needs and in our weaknesses.”
The archbishop affirmed, “Jesus had taken upon himself the wounds of humankind, and in rising he had healed those wounds and enabled humanity to cope with its own doubts and uncertainties, with its own troubled history.”
He noted that “the faith of Pope John Paul allowed him to achieve remarkable things in remarkable times.”
“His faith was rock-like and gave him the courage to follow intuitions he received from the Lord, which at times were not understood even by his close collaborators,” Archbishop Martin acknowledged.
He noted: “It was Pope John Paul’s faith and his sense of prayer that gave him a special appeal among young people.
"In a youth culture marked by doubt and uncertainty about ultimate values, Pope John Paul stood out as someone who was uncompromising in his proclamation of truth yet outstanding in his witness of love.”
“In our sophisticated culture,” the prelate reflected, “more and more we wish to block out physical weakness and remove from sight the starkness of human death.”
He continued, “In his life, his ministry and in his death Pope John Paul witnessed to the strength which comes despite human weakness when we allow the message of Jesus to be the guide of our lives.”
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On the Net:
Cardinal Brady’s homily: http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2011/05/03/2-2011-homily-cardinal-brady-mass-thanksgiving-rome-beatification-blessed-john-paul-ii/
Archbishop Martin’s homily: http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2011/05/03/1-2011-homily-archbishop-diarmuid-martin-mass-celebrate-beatification-pope-john-paul-ii-st-mary%E2%80%99s-pro-cathedral-dublin/
