ٍolemnity of All Saints
Consecration into Ordo Virginum of Maria Ruiz Rodriguez
Homily of H. B. Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa
Co Cathedral of the most Holy Name of Jesus – November 1st 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Lord give you peace. We are celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints with this special occasion of the consecration of Maria Ruiz in the Ordo Virginum. We are celebrating the triumphant Church: those who are already in heaven and are rejoicing now, living in the presence of God. They are preceding us. This will be also our destiny. We want to go there.
We should not confuse the Saints with the heroes. It is not the same. Sometimes, when we read in the hagiographies, it seems that these saints are so perfect, so wonderful, so far from our lives, that it is impossible to live according to their example. This is not the case, of course. Saints are not heroes. They are normal persons like us: sinners, like all of us. But they were able to live, to become a kind of mirror of the wonderful experience of God that they had in their life. They are persons who placed God at the center of their life and tried to live accordingly.
The passage of the Gospel of Beatitudes we just heard is a kind of Vademecum for all the saints and for all of us, even if we cannot immediately understand it, because it is far from our human understanding or our thoughts. The Beatitudes, in fact, present a way of life which we barely understand. We do not want to be poor; we want to have money. We want to do justice according to our criteria. It is difficult to have mercy with others, and so on.
So, what is written here in this passage of the Gospel is, in a way, what we think about the Saints: beautiful, wonderful, but something that does not really touch our life, and which is not humanly achievable. This is the first impression we have when we read this passage.
We cannot understand this passage if we do not change our way of thinking.
Before proclaiming the passage of the Beatitudes on the mountain, Jesus went through all of Galilee preaching and saying: “Convert yourselves and believe the Gospel” (Mt 4:17). Convert yourselves. The famous word used by Jesus and that everyone here (we are all priests and sisters) knows is metanoeite, which means “change your way of thinking”. If you do not convert yourself, if you do not change your way of thinking, you cannot understand how beautiful this passage is, how possible this way of life is.
Another aspect of this passage that we need to mention here concerns the word “blessed”. Different languages translate it differently. It is not just “blessed”, it also means happy. “Happy” is more than blessed. Those among you who speak Hebrew can understand this better. In Hebrew “blessed” is “ashrei”. The root word is “osher” which means “happiness”. Jesus does not only say “blessed are you”, but also “happy are you”. You are happy when you are meek. You are happy when you are merciful, and so on.
So, how is it possible to live this happiness?
-What does it mean to be poor, when in reality we do not want to be poor, as I said before. To be poor, according to Jesus, means to become kind of beggars; in the sense that you do not retain everything for yourself, but live everything as a gift.
-Blessed, happy are those who are mourning: means that they accept their frailty. You are fragile and you do not need to cover yourself behind a mask, to show a different image of yourself.
-Happy those who want justice. We want justice according to our way, sometimes confusing justice with revenge, but justice means to put things according to the order of God, according to the will of God. If you live and want justice, you become a cooperator of the will of God.
-Blessed, happy are those who are pure of heart. Pure of heart means being able to see the beauty around us. The good things in the others. It means that they do not become possessive in the relationship with others.
We could continue. These are beautiful aspects of our lives. But how can we live all this, how could we translate these beautiful words in real life?
Sometimes, I have the impression that when we read this passage of the Gospel or when we think about Christian life - do not forget that before being a religion, Christianity is a way of life; it is a style of life – I have the impression that we transform our life of faith into an endeavor, in striving or in an effort.
We risk living as if everything were an effort that we have to make, to be good and to be like what is written in the Gospel. This is an impossible struggle, an impossible endeavor if it only comes from you. You won’t be able to do it alone. You may resist for one week or struggle for a month, but after that you may fall down.
Yet, this is possible.
This passage of the Gospel and Christian life are possible only if you have something so big in your heart that it is bigger than anything else. Something so big, so beautiful, that enlightens this passage of the Gospel and our life in a new and different way.
In our life it happens sometimes that you encounter a person, or a passage of the Gospel, something that changes your way of thinking, that changes your life. Something that suddenly gives you new perspective in your life. What was difficult becomes understandable. What was understandable is no longer interesting to you. This is what I mean when I say that we need to have something big, different new in our heart, that changes our vision.
This reality, for us, has a name: it is Jesus Christ.
Only if you encounter Jesus Christ, only if Jesus Christ is the center of your criteria, of your life, of what you do, of your way of thinking, you can understand this passage of the Gospel. This passage of the Gospel remains a struggle, but it becomes significant, something that acquires a meaning. You now can understand it and because of that, you become able to live according to it. With all our sins, with all our frailty, with all our limitations, it becomes possible, and not anymore an impossible task.
This is the meaning of the conversion Jesus was preaching in Galilee.
The idea of conversion may also often seem difficult to us, as if it were something that we need to do for ourselves: a daily struggle. What we said for the beatitudes applies also for the conversion: you cannot convert by yourself. Alone, you cannot change your life, if you do not have someone who attracts you out of love. Only love can change things. Only love can make lasting changes and give the strength of a new orientation in our life.
So now, Maria, this passage of the Gospel and the day you have chosen for this celebration, are quite significant.
Jesus is the center of your life. It took some time to find the way to implement it. However, all the difficulties, everything in our lives, positive or problematic, becomes part of this relationships. Especially after the difficult moments, the misunderstandings, this relationship becomes stronger and more solid. This is what happened to you and to many others. Live everything as a grace, as important moments in your life, as stations of a life journey. Nothing is lost in this relationship.
The first thing to consider is this: to live this consecration means to live this donation of yourself out of love, for the One who, out of love, gave His life for you and for all of us. This is the first thing, important, essential. But this also something that can be realized everywhere in the world.
This consecration, in fact, also has another important aspect: it is a consecration in the Church of Jerusalem.
It happens in this place, in this city, in this Church. Jerusalem is not only a place; Jerusalem is also a way of life. You chose this picture: in the image of your invitation, and in the booklet, you described Jerusalem. After many spiritual struggles, Jerusalem became a part of your life and a part of your consecration. Jerusalem is more than a place: as I said, it is a style of life. It is a way of being in the world. What does it mean?
Allow me to read what you painted. First of all, there is the Lamb, as described in the Book of Revelation. “For the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof … for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.” (Rev. 21,22-23) For us, those who live in Jerusalem, should be always clear this passage, which describes well our vocation as Christians of Jerusalem: that we live in the light of the Lamb. We do not see the light itself, but we see because the light is present. Our own light here in Jerusalem is the Lamb and we should see everything in this special light. The Lamb means Easter: the death and resurrection of Jesus. So, this means that we should be able to see everything that happens here, all the relationships, all the struggles, all the challenges, all the fascinating things - they are so many! - in this light.
Especially nowadays, when we are living difficult troubles, in which fear is the common refrain, as we hear everywhere, we are called to live everything in this life, in the light of the one who gave his life out of love and is risen. He is alive. He is alive.
The entire world is represented here in our city.
We think in this moment of what our church is living, in her activities and mission: the relation with the other churches of Jerusalem and the reality of the ecumenical dialogue, the interreligious dialogue with Jews and Muslims. But also the beautiful differences we encounter here, as well as the many wounds and much hate, so much pain, the many difficulties and misunderstandings.
We, you are called to live all this, with your life, in the light of the Lamb, and to bear to all this in your heart. To become like a mirror. You are not the Lamb, we are not the Lamb. The Lamb is Jesus, the Risen One. Yet, we need to bring this light and to help everyone to see everything according to this light. This is the mission we have as Church in Jerusalem.
This is what you are also called to do now as a person consecrated here in this city: to bring this light in your relationships and activities. To be able to talk about this. Sometimes to remain silent, and to carry everything in your heart and to live it as a donation to Jesus. There are many things we do not understand, many things we cannot do. In our heart we can carry all these things and ask the Risen one to enlighten what for us is difficult to understand. You are asked to donate the light that you receive. This is a wonderful mission, a challenging mission, but not an impossible mission, because nothing is impossible in God.
My prayer for you, Maria, is that you may be able to be a new light a new life for this our Church of Jerusalem. A Church that is full of blessings, full of happiness, but also full of wounds. So, be among all of us the one who will bring the light of the Risen one. Amen.
