Le ultime parole del ministro Bhatti ricordate dal cardinale Jean-Louis Tauran
Sapeva che l'avrebbero ucciso
di Jean-Louis Tauran
was celebrated yesterday, at the Pontifical College of St. Peter the Apostle, the memorial Mass of the Pakistani Minister of Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, killed by Islamic extremists in Islamabad. We publish the homily delivered by Cardinal President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
The Liturgy of the Word reminds us that being Christian is always to make a choice between light and darkness, between faith and law, between life and death, between God revealed by Jesus and the human wisdom, between serving and dominate. This is not only to hear the Word of God, to receive the sacraments or good knowledge. But he should ask another thing. Want the "say" is accompanied by "doing." "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father."
If we are content to be Christians only sociologically, or worse, Christians whose life is in conflict with what we say of Jesus, then we run the risk of being told one day: "Depart from me, you do not know" . Today we have before us the bright life of Shahbaz Bhatti. He had chosen Christ as Savior, the Church as a mother, every human being as a brother. It was consistent to the end. His life was and will always be a life sacrificed a sacrifice offered to God as he desired, we find him at the foot of the cross of Jesus: "I do not want positions of power, I just want a place at Jesus' feet, I want my life, my character, my actions speak for me and say that I am following Jesus Christ!" .
These words are so strong that silence would agree. But let us take the hand from our friend Shahbaz Bhatti. Let us follow him to the cross of Jesus From there, he says to his captors: "Until my last breath I will continue to serve Jesus in this poor suffering humanity: the Christians, the needy, the poor." Then, with him, we raise our eyes towards the Crucified. It is there that we understand la profondità della perdizione dell'uomo, il mistero di iniquità, di cui parlava Paolo, il potere del male. Ma in Gesù crocifisso, scopriamo anche un po' dell'immensità dell'amore divino che redime. La croce ci rivela il volto misericordioso di Cristo, che ci apre sempre il cammino della speranza. Sant'Agostino ha immaginato un dialogo tra Gesù e il Buon Ladrone.
Sant'Agostino gli chiede: "Come hai fatto per capire il dramma del Calvario? Hai studiato le Scritture tra i tuoi latrocini? Come hai fatto a capire le profezie e confessare la tua fede in Cristo in modo così luminoso, proprio quando i suoi discepoli lo stavano abbandonando?". E poi Agostino presta al Buon Ladrone questa Answer: "No, I did not study the scriptures, I have pondered the prophecies, but Jesus looked at me and I understood everything in his eyes."
As a child and a man, Shahbaz has meant that Jesus' cross his eyes and opened his heart, he no longer had any fear, even had the courage to serve his fellow Christians and non- Christians, their country, to offer its services to the Church, at the risk of their lives. We must thank God for having made our way the genuine "martyr", meaning "witness" of the Christian faith, who knew how to "say" and "doing" and that reminds us that the cross is the true hope: Cross encourages us to give our lives for our brothers, the Cross reminds us that love is stronger than hate, and the Cross makes us better understand that there is more blessed to give than to receive, and the cross means that God is always bigger than us men, and above all that life is stronger than death.
If Jesus said: "Nobody takes my life, but am I the offer" (John 10, 18), Shahbaz Bhatti has been able to say: "I do not words to say, I dedicate my life to Jesus. " There is no Christianity without the cross. Always disturb the message of the Gospel. But the love of Christians for all will always be light, comfort and solidarity in the midst of violence. There will never Christians capable of bringing the light of the gospel in the human without destroying it, but purifying it, as the Holy Father recalled last week, recalling St. Francis de Sales, who wrote: "the man and the perfection of the universe, the spirit is the perfection of human love is that of the spirit, that of love and charity. " Our friend was able to share this love with many Christians in Pakistan that does not exclude anyone. If he has exercised a power, will be "the power of the heart."
I am reminded of the moving images that I have celebrated two Eucharistic in Islamabad and Lahore, in November last year. On Sunday 28 November, the Minister Bhatti came to greet me at the airport in Lahore and told me: "I know that they will kill me. I lay down my life for Christ and for interreligious dialogue."
To all our Catholic brothers and sisters in Pakistan reaches our message of communion in faith, hope and charity. They often feel alone, without protection. Expect a lot from the international community. This morning the Holy Father has recommended them to the prayer of the whole Church.
In this respect, how can we forget that on 1 January, the Pope called "the leaders of major world religions and leaders of nations to renew their commitment to the promotion and protection of religious freedom, especially for the defense of religious minorities, which do not constitute a threat to the identity of the majority, but are instead an opportunity for dialogue and mutual cultural enrichment. Their defense is the ideal way to strengthen the spirit of benevolence, openness and reciprocity which protect the rights and fundamental freedoms in all areas and regions of the world. "
May God make us understand better what means "to give his life for his brothers." After all, sin, the mystery of evil that seems to dominate the world scene, may have very merely to give God the joy of forgiving, and encourages us to be on the roads of life where Jesus goes before us, heralds its presence, convinced him that "now we receive the reconciliation" (cf. Romans 5, 28), to be our turn to reconciliation of men with God through the Cross.
(© L'Osservatore Romano 7 to 8 March 2011)
0 comments:
Post a Comment