Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity 2012
Papa Benedetto was in Milan for the 7th World Meeting of Families.
Pope Benedict XVI's homily at Holy Mass in Milan
at VII World Meeting of Families on Trinity Sunday
Bresso Park, 3 June 2012 - also in French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish
"Venerable Brothers, Distinguished Authorities, Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is a great moment of joy and communion that we are living this morning, celebrating the eucharistic Sacrifice. A great assembly, reunited with the Successor of Peter, made up of the faithful coming from many nations. It offers an expressive image of the Church, one and universal, founded by Christ and fruit of that mission which, as we heard in the Gospel, Jesus entrusted to his Apostles: go and make disciples of all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28, 18-19). I greet with affection and gratitude Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the principal architects of this VII World Meeting of Families, as well as their collaborators, the auxiliary bishops of Milan and all the other prelates. I am pleased to greet all the Authorities present. And my warm embrace today goes above all to you, dear families! Thank you for your participation!
In the second reading, the Apostle Paul reminded us that in Baptism we have received the Holy Spirit, the one who unites us to Christ as brothers [and sisters]/siblings and relates us to the Father as children, so that we can cry out: “Abba, Father!” (cf Rom 8, 15,17). In that moment was given to us a germ of new, divine life, which grows all the way to its definitive fulfilment in celestial glory; we became members of the Church, the family of God, “sacrarium Trinitatis” - St Ambrose defined it - “the people that - as the Second Vatican Council teaches - derives its unity from the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Lumen Gentium, 4). The liturgical Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, that we are celebrating today, invites us to contemplate this mystery, but it also urges us to a commitment to live communion with God and with one another on/by the model of this Trinitarian communion. We are called to welcome and to transmit/pass on in accord with the truths of faith; to live love reciprocally and towards everyone, by/in sharing joys and sufferings, by learning to ask for and grant forgiveness, by valuing the different charisms under the guidance of the Pastors. In a word, the task is entrusted to us of building ecclesial communities that are always more/more and more families/homes/familial, capable of reflecting the beauty of the Trinity and of evangelizing not only with the word, but I would say by “radiation”, with the force of love lived.
It is not only the Church that is called to be image of the One God in Three Persons, but also the family, founded on the marriage between a man and a woman. In the beginning, in fact, “God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’” (Gen 1, 27-28). God created the human being male and female, with equal dignity, but also with their own and complementary characteristics, so that the two were a gift for each other, appreciating/enhancing/valuing each other reciprocally and realising a community of love and of life. Love is that which/It is love that makes the human person an authentic image of the Trinity, image of God. Dear spouses, in living marriage you are not giving to each other some thing or some activity, but the whole of life/your entire life. And your love is fruitful first of all for you yourselves, because you desire and realise the good for each other, by/in experiencing the joy of receiving and giving. And it is fruitful then in the generous and responsible procreation of children, in thoughtful care for them and in attentive and wise education. And it is fruitful lastly for society, because family life is the first and irreplaceable school of the social virtues, such as respect for persons, gratuity, trust, responsibility, solidarity, cooperation. Dear spouses, take care of your children and, in a world dominated by technology, transmit to them, with serenity and trust, the reasons to live, the strength of faith, by showing them high goals and supporting them in their fragility. But also you children, know always to maintain a rapport of deep affection and thoughtful care towards your parents, and also the relationships between brothers and sisters are opportunities to grow in love.
God's plan for the human couple finds its fullness in Jesus Christ, who elevated marriage to a Sacrament. Dear spouses, with a special gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ makes you participate in his spousal love, rendering you the sign of his love for the Church: a love faithful and total. If you know [how] to welcome this gift, renewing each day your “yes” with faith, with the strength that comes from the grace of the Sacrament, then your family will live of the love of God, on/by the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Dear families, in prayer ask often for the help of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, that they may teach you to welcome God’s love as they welcomed it. Your vocation is not easy to live, especially today, but that vocation of love is a wonderful reality, it is the unique/only strength/force that can truly transform the cosmos, the world. You have before you the witness of so many families, which indicate the ways to grow in love: to maintain a constant rapport with God and participate in ecclesial life, to cultivate dialogue, to respect the other’s point of view, to be ready to serve, to be patient with the faults of others, to know how to forgive and to ask for forgiveness, to overcome with intelligence and humility eventual conflicts, to agree on educational guidelines, to be open to other families, attentive to the poor, responsible in civil society. These are all elements that build up the family. Live them with courage, certain that, with the support of divine grace, in the measure to which you live your love for each other and for all, you will become a living Gospel, a true domestic Church (cf Familiaris Consortio, 49). I should also like to dedicate a word to the faithful who, while agreeing with the Church’s teachings on the family, are marked by painful experiences of failure and separation. Know that the Pope and the Church support you in your difficulty/fatigue/effort. I encourage you to remain united to your communities, while I hope that the dioceses are realising suitable initiatives to welcome and accompany you.
In the Book of Genesis, God entrusts his creation to the human couple, for them to guard it, cultivate it, direct it according to his project (cf Gen 1, 27-28; 2, 15). In this indication of Sacred Scripture, we can read the task of man and woman to collaborate with God so as to transform the world, through work, science and technology. Man and woman are the image of God also in this precious work, which they must accomplish with the same love as/very love of the Creator. We see that, in modern economic theories, a utilitarian concept of work, production and the market often prevails. The project of God and experience itself show, however, that it is not the unilateral logic of utility alone and maximum profit that can contribute to a harmonious development, to the good of the family and to building up a just society, because it brings with it exacerbated competition, major inequalities, environmental degradation, a race in consumption, hardship in families. Indeed, the utilitarian mentality tends also to extend into personal and family relationships, reducing them to a precarious convergence of individual interests and undermining the solidity of the social fabric.
A last element. Man, as the image of God, is also called to the rest and to the feast. The account of creation concludes with these words: “God, on the seventh day, had completed the work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done. God blessed the seventh day and consecrated it” (Gen 2, 2-3). For us Christians, the day of the feast is Sunday, the day of the Lord, the weekly Paschal feast. It is the day of the Church, the assembly convened by the Lord around the table of the Word and of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, as we are doing today, to nourish ourselves on Him, to enter into his love and to live of his love. It is the day of man and of his values: conviviality, friendship, solidarity, culture, contact with nature, play, sport. It is the day of the family, on which to live together a sense of the feast, of encounter, of sharing, as well as in participation at Holy Mass. Dear families, despite the fast pace of our epoch, do not lose the sense of the Lord’s Day! It is like an oasis in which to stop so as to savour the joy of encounter and to quench our thirst for God.
Family, work, feast: three gifts of God, three dimensions of our existence which must find a harmonious balance. To harmonize the times of work and the exigencies of the family, profession and fatherhood and motherhood, work and feast, is important for constructing society with a human face. In this, always favour the logic of being over that of having: the first builds up, the second ends up destroying. We must be educated to believe, first of all in the family, in authentic love, which comes from God and unites us to Him and for which “we are transformed into a We, which overcomes our divisions and makes us become one (single thing), until, in the end, God is ‘all in all’ (1 Cor 15, 28)” (Deus Caritas Est, 18). Amen."
Papa Benedetto's words at the Angelus on Trinity Sunday
Sunday 3 June 2012 - in Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Polish Portuguese & Spanish
"Cari fratelli e sorelle!
Non trovo parole per ringraziare per questa Festa di Dio, per questa comunione della Famiglia di Dio che noi siamo. Alla fine di questa celebrazione, un grande grazie a Dio che ci ha donato questa grande esperienza ecclesiale. Da parte mia, rivolgo un sentito ringraziamento a tutti coloro che hanno lavorato per questo evento, a partire dal Cardinale Ennio Antonelli, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per la Famiglia – grazie, Eminenza! -, e dal Cardinale Angelo Scola, Arcivescovo di Milano – grazie!. Anche per questo bel tempio di Dio che ci ha donato. Ringrazio tutti i responsabili dell’organizzazione e tutti i volontari. E sono lieto di annunciare che il prossimo Incontro Mondiale delle Famiglie avrà luogo nel 2015, a Filadelfia, negli Stati Uniti d’America. Saluto l’Arcivescovo di Filadelfia, Mons. Charles Chaput, e lo ringrazio fin d’ora per la disponibilità offerta.
Je salue affectueusement les familles de langue française et surtout celles qui se sont déplacées à Milan. Je confie toutes les familles à la Sainte Famille de Nazareth afin qu’elles soient des lieux où s’épanouisse la vie, des familles où Dieu trouve toute sa place! Aujourd’hui, je participe aussi spirituellement à la joie des fidèles de l’Archidiocèse de Besançon qui sont rassemblés pour la célébration de Béatification du Père Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, prêtre de l’Ordre des Prêcheurs, apôtre de la miséricorde et «apôtre des prisons». Je suis heureux de vous annoncer que la prochaine Rencontre Mondiale des Familles aura lieu dans la ville de Philadelphie, aux États-Unis d’Amérique, en 2015. Que par l’intercession de la Vierge Marie vous puissiez ouvrir vos cœurs et vos foyers au Christ!
As we conclude this celebration by turning in prayer to the Virgin Mary, I wish to extend my thanks to all who have contributed to the success of this World Meeting of Families, particularly to Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, to Cardinal Angelo Scola, to the Archdiocese and City of Milan, and to the many people from Italy and abroad who have prayed and worked so hard to make this Meeting a time of grace for all. I now have the joy of announcing that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in 2015 in Philadelphia in the United States of America. I send my warm greetings to Archbishop Charles Chaput and to the Catholics of that great city, and look forward to meeting them there along with numerous families from all around the world. May God bless you all!
Herzlich grüße ich alle Pilger und Familien aus den Ländern deutscher Sprache. Ich danke euch für eure Teilnahme an diesem Weltfamilientreffen in Mailand. Die Familie ist – wir wissen es – für die Gesellschaft lebenswichtig. Nach Gottes Schöpfungsplan ist sie der bevorzugte Ort, an dem der Mensch heranwachsen und das rechte Menschsein lernen kann. Ihr Beitrag für die ganzheitliche Entwicklung des Menschen ist unerläßlich. Tun wir also alles, um auch heute ein familienfreundliches Klima zu schaffen, und beten wir um gute Familien und ihren Zusammenhalt. Schon heute lade ich euch zum nächsten Weltfamilientreffen in Philadelphia im Jahr 2015 ein. Der Herr segne und behüte die Familien und uns alle.
Saludo con particular afecto a los fieles de lengua española, que con gran entusiasmo participan en este Encuentro Mundial de las Familias, así como a aquellos que se unen espiritualmente al mismo a través de los medios de comunicación. Que la Santísima Trinidad, Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo, haga crecer a todos interiormente en la sabiduría del amor y de la entrega, de modo que siguiendo el ejemplo de la Virgen María, modelo perfecto de hija, madre y esposa, los hogares sean cada vez más templos de Dios y verdaderas Iglesias domésticas por la copiosidad de sus virtudes y la belleza de la mutua unión y la constante fidelidad. Con alegría os anuncio que el próximo Encuentro Mundial de las Familias del 2015 tendrá lugar en la ciudad de Filadelfia, en los Estados Unidos de América. Feliz domingo.
Saúdo as famílias dos diversos países de língua portuguesa, aqui presentes ou em comunhão connosco, a todas recordando o olhar da Trindade divina que, desde a aurora da criação, se pousou sobre a obra feita e com ela se alegrou: «Era muito boa!» Queridas famílias, sois o trabalho e a festa de Deus! Reservando o domingo para Deus, fazei festa com Deus e repousai, juntos, na Fonte donde brota a vida para construir o presente e o futuro. As forças divinas são bem mais poderosas que as vossas dificuldades! Não tenhais medo! Sede fortes de Deus! Com alegria, vos anuncio que o próximo Encontro Mundial será em 2015 na cidade americana de Filadélfia.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie polskie rodziny obecne tu w Mediolanie i te, które łączą się z nami przez środki przekazu. Niech podjęte tutaj kwestie: „Rodzina, praca, świętowanie” umocnią was w miłości, wierności i uczciwości małżeńskiej, zachęcą młodych, by pragnęli bardziej „być” aniżeli „mieć”, pomogą wszystkim przeżywać niedzielę jako spotkanie z Chrystusem w radości rodzinnego świętowania. Na następne Światowe Spotkanie Rodzin zapraszam was do Filadelfii w Stanach Zjednoczonych – jeśli Bóg pozwoli – za trzy lata. Wasze rodziny zawierzam Maryi, Królowej Rodzin.
Care famiglie milanesi, lombarde, italiane e del mondo intero! Vi saluto tutte con affetto e vi ringrazio per la vostra partecipazione. Vi incoraggio ad essere sempre solidali con le famiglie che vivono maggiori difficoltà, penso alla crisi economica e sociale, penso al recente terremoto in Emilia. La Vergine Maria vi accompagni e vi sostenga sempre! Grazie!"