HOMILY AT ECUMENICAL VESPERS, 1/25/08
Dear brothers and sisters,
The feast of the Conversion of St. Paul brings us once again in the presence of this great Apostle, chosen by God to be his 'witness before all men" (Acts 22,15).
For Saul of Tarsus, the moment of encounter with the resurrected Christ on the way to Damascus marked a decisive turn in his life. His complete transformation took place then, a true and proper spiritual conversion.
In one instant, by divine intervention, the dogged persecutor of the Church of God found himself blindly groping in the dark, but from then on, a great light in his heart would bring him shortly to becoming an ardent apostle of the Gospel. The awareness that only divine grace could have realized such a conversion never left Paul.
When he had already given the best of himself, consecrating himself tirelessly to preaching the Gospel, he wrote with renewed fervor: "I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God (that is) with me" (1Cor 15,10).
Indefatigable - as though the work of mission depended entirely on his efforts - St. Paul was nonetheless always animated by the profound persuasion that all his strength came from the grace of God operating in him.
This evening, the words of the Apostle on the relationship between human effort and divine grace re-echo full of a very particular significance. At the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are even more conscious of how much the work of reconstituting our unity, which demands our energy and efforts, is infinitely superior to our possibilities.
Unity with God and with our brothers and sisters is a gift that comes from on high, which comes from the communion of love among Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and grows and perfects itself in such communion. It is not in our power to decide when or how this unity will be fully realized. Only God can do it!
Like St. Paul, we too place our hope and trust "in the grace of God which is with us". Dear brothers and sisters, this calls for us to raise prayers together to the Lord so that He may illuminate and sustain us in our constant quest for unity.
Here is where Paul's exhortation to the Christians of Thessalonia assumes its fullest value: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes 5,17), which was chosen as the theme of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year.
The Apostle knew that community well, which had been born from his missionary activity, and nourished great hopes for it. He knew its merits as well as its weaknesses. Among its members, in fact, behavior, attitudes and debates susceptible o9 creating tensions and conflicts were not lacking, and Paul intervened to help the community walk in unity and peace.
At the end of the epistle, with an almost paternal kindness, he added a series of very concrete exhortations, inviting the Christians to favor the participation of all, to sustain the weak, to be patient, not to answer evil with evil, to always seek the good, to be joyful always, and to give thanks in every circumstance (cfr 1 Thes 5,12-22).
At the center of these exhortations, he places the imperative to "pray without ceasing". The other admonitions would, in fact, lose force and coherence, if they were not sustained by prayer.
Unity with God and others is built, above all, through a life of prayer, in the constant quest for "the will of God for you in Christ Jesus" (cfr 1 Thes 5,18).
The invitation addressed by St. Paul to the Thessalonians is always actual. Before the weaknesses and sins which still impede full communion among all Christians, each of these exhortations have kept their relevance, but this is particularly true for the command to 'pray without ceasing'.
What would become of the ecumenical movement without personal or communal prayer that "so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you" (Jn 17,21)?
Where shall we find the 'supplemental impulse' of faith, charity and hope which our quest for unity has particular need today? Our desire for unity should not be limited to sporadic occasions, but should become an integral part of our life of prayer.
There have been men and women formed in the Word of God and in prayer into artisans of reconciliation and unity in every phase of history. It is the way of prayer that has opened the road to the ecumenical movement as we know it today.
Starting from the mid-18th century, various movements of spiritual renewal emerged, desirous of contributing through prayer to the promotion of unity among Christians. From the beginning, groups of Catholics, inspired by outstanding religious personalities, have participated actively in similar initiatives.
The prayer for unity has been supported even by my venerated predecessors, like Pope Leo XIII, who in 1895, recommended the introduction of a novena of prayers for Christian unity. These efforts, carried out according to the possibilities of the Church in that time, were meant to actualize the prayer pronounced by Jesus himself at the Cenacle "so that they may all be one" (Jn 17,21). There is no genuine ecumenism that is not rooted in prayer.
This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 'Octave for the unity of the Church' which became the 'Week of Prayer for Christian Unity' . A hundred years ago, Fr. Paul Wattson, who was then still an Episcopalian minister, thought up the idea for an octave of prayer for unity, which was celebrated for the first time in Graymoor (New York), from January 18-25, 1908.
Tonight, it is with great joy that I address my greeting to the Minister General and the international delegation of the Franciscan Brothers and Sisters of Atonement, the congregation founded by Fr. Wattson and promoter of his spiritual legacy.
In the 1930s, the Octave of Prayer had important adaptations under the impulse above all of the Abbe Paul Coutourier of Lyons, another great promoter of spiritual ecumenism. His invitation "to pray for the unity of the Church as Christ wanted and according to the means that he wanted" allowed Christians of all traditions to unite together in one single prayer for unity.
Let us give thanks to God for the great prayer movement which, for a hundred years, has accompanied and sustained believers in Christ in their quest for unity. The boat of ecumenism would never have left port if if had not been moved by this ample current of prayer and pushed along by the breath of the Holy Spirit.
In conjunction with the Week of Prayer, many religious and monastic communities have invited and helped their members to 'pray without ceasing' for Christian unity. On this occasion that sees us all gathered together, let us remember in particular the life and testimony of Sister Maria Gabriella dell'Unita (1914-1936), a Trappist nun in the monastery of Grottaferrata (now in Vitorchiano).
When her superior, encouraged by the Abbe Paul Coutourier, invited the sisters to pray and offer themselves for Christian unity, Suor Maria Gabriella immediately felt herself involved and did not hesitate to offer her young life for this great cause. Today is the 25th anniversary of her beatification by my predecessor, John Paul II. That event took place in this Basilica precisely on January 25, 1983, during the celebration of the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Unity.
In his homily on that occasion, the Servant of God underlined the three elements on which the quest for unity is built: conversion, the cross, and prayer. Suor Maria Gabriella's life and testimony were founded on these three elements as well.
Ecumenism has a strong need, today as yesterday, for the great 'invisible monastery' that Abbe Paul Coutourier spoke about, of that vast community of Christians of all traditions who, without clamor, pray and offer their life so that this unity may be realized.
Moreover, exactly 40 years ago, the Christian communities all over the world received, for the Week of Prayer, meditations and prayers that had been prepared by the Commission 'Faith and Constitution' of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
This happy collaboration has permitted widening the vast circle of prayer and to prepare its contents in a more appropriate manner. Tonight, I cordially greet the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, secretary-general of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, who came to Rome to join us on the centenary of the Week of Prayer.
I am happy at the presence of the members of the Mixed Working Group, whom I greet with affection. The Mixed Group is the instrument of cooperation between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in our common quest for unity.
And, as every year, I address my fraternal greeting to the bishops, priests, and pastors of the different churches and ecclesial communities who have representatives in Rome. Your participation in this prayer is a tangible expression of the bonds which unite us in Jesus Christ: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18,20).
In this historic Basilica, next June 28, the year consecrated to the testimony and teaching of the apostle Paul will open. May his tireless fervor in building the Body of Christ in unity help us to pray incessantly for the full unity of all Christians. Amen!