On Saturday, April 19, 2008, the fifth day of his first apostolic journey to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope ever to celebrate a Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. While the Mass was limited to 2,200 priests and male and female religious, it was, in some ways, even more impressive than the public Masses that the Holy Father held in Nationals Stadium in Washington, D.C., and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The message of Pope Benedict's homily was the central message of his entire trip: Now is the time for "a new Pentecost for the Church in America."
The Unity of the Church and the Joy of Faith
The unity of the Church, the Holy Father declared, flows from the Trinity, Which "constantly brings forth new life in the work of creation and redemption." The Church "is called to proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and to promote a culture of life." This is the message of Christianity: "The proclamation of life, life in abundance, must be the heart of the new evangelization. For true life--our salvation--can only be found in the reconciliation, freedom and love which are God’s gracious gift." Our hope arises from union with God, Who is our life: "in a society where the Church seems legalistic and 'institutional' to many people, our most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of God’s love."The Cathedral as a Symbol of the Church
The dignity and beauty of the setting, as well as of the traditional music accompanying the Mass, showed that past, present, and future are all united in Christ. Archbishop John Hughes, who began the construction of the cathedral, wanted it "to remind the young Church in America of the great spiritual tradition to which it was heir, and to inspire it to bring the best of that heritage to the building up of Christ’s body in this land." Archbishop Hughes chose the true Gothic style, with its imposing spires reaching to the sky, to represent that aspiration. The Holy Father then singled out three aspects of the cathedral to frame the rest of his message.Stained Glass Windows: The Mystery of Light
"The first has to do with the stained glass windows, which flood the interior with mystic light. From the outside, those windows are dark, heavy, even dreary. But once one enters the church, they suddenly come alive; reflecting the light passing through them, they reveal all their splendor. Many writers . . . have used the image of stained glass to illustrate the mystery of the Church herself. It is only from the inside, from the experience of faith and ecclesial life, that we see the Church as she truly is: flooded with grace, resplendent in beauty, adorned by the manifold gifts of the Spirit. . . . we, who live the life of grace within the Church’s communion, are called to draw all people into this mystery of light."Proportion and Order: The Unity of God's Creation
The second is that, "Like all Gothic cathedrals, it is a highly complex structure, whose exact and harmonious proportions symbolize the unity of God’s creation. Medieval artists often portrayed Christ, the creative Word of God, as a heavenly 'geometer,' compass in hand, who orders the cosmos with infinite wisdom and purpose. Does this not bring to mind our need to see all things with the eyes of faith, and thus to grasp them in their truest perspective, in the unity of God’s eternal plan?" Unity, however, requires "constant conversion" and "the cultivation of those virtues which enable each of us to grow in holiness and to bear spiritual fruit within our particular state of life."Unity as Spiritual Renewal
We cannot let disunity distract us from our goal: "For all of us, I think, one of the great disappointments which followed the Second Vatican Council, with its call for a greater engagement in the Church’s mission to the world, has been the experience of division between different groups, different generations, different members of the same religious family. We can only move forward if we turn our gaze together to Christ!" Looking to the history of the Church in America, the Holy Father asked, "Was not this unity of vision and purpose--rooted in faith and a spirit of constant conversion and self-sacrifice--the secret of the impressive growth of the Church in this country?"Dynamic Tension: The Mystical Body of Christ
(Photo by Larry Brownstein/Getty Images)
Third, "The unity of a Gothic cathedral . . . is . . . a unity born of the dynamic tension of diverse forces which impel the architecture upward, pointing it to heaven." It mirrors the Church as Mystical Body of Christ, "a living body composed of many different members, each with its own role and purpose." "You, dear priests, by sacramental ordination have been configured to Christ, the Head of the Body. You, dear deacons, have been ordained for the service of that Body. You, dear men and women religious, . . . have devoted your lives to following the divine Master in generous love and complete devotion to his Gospel. . . . By your personal witness, and your fidelity . . . you prepare a path for the Spirit."
Servants of God and Heralds of Hope
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Concluding his homily, the Holy Father returned to the theme of the renewal: "The spires of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral are dwarfed by the skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline, yet in the heart of this busy metropolis, they are a vivid reminder of the constant yearning of the human spirit to rise to God. . . . And when we leave this great church, let us go forth as heralds of hope in the midst of this city, and all those places where God’s grace has placed us. In this way, the Church in America will know a new springtime in the Spirit, and point the way to that other, greater city, the new Jerusalem, whose light is the Lamb (Rev 21:23). For there God is even now preparing for all people a banquet of unending joy and life."
Date and Time
April 19, 9:15 A.M. EDTOfficial Text of Pope Benedict's Homily at the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral
The official text of the homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI at his Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York for priests and male and female religious, from the Vatican's website.Schedule of Pope Benedict's 2008 Visit to the United States
View the details for all of the significant events during Pope Benedict's April 2008 visit to the United States.Photo Gallery of Pope Benedict's 2008 Visit to the United States
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Relive the stops along Pope Benedict XVI's April 2008 apostolic journey to the United States and follow the Holy Father as he visits Washington, D.C., and New York City. Check back often for new photos!
