This is the full text of Pope Francis's homily:
First
of all, he was a tireless missionary. What made Friar Junípero leave
his home and country, his family, university chair and Franciscan
community in Mallorca to go to the ends of the earth? Certainly, it
was the desire to proclaim the Gospel ad gentes, that heartfelt
impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of
encountering Christ: a gift that he had first received and
experienced in all its truth and beauty. Like Paul and Barnabas,
like the disciples in Antioch and in all of Judea, he was filled with
joy and the Holy Spirit in spreading the word of the Lord. Such zeal
excites us, it challenges us! These missionary disciples who have
encountered Jesus, the Son of God, who have come to know him through
his merciful Father, moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit, went out
to all the geographical, social and existential peripheries, to bear
witness to charity. They challenge us! Sometimes we stop and
thoughtfully examine their strengths and, above all, their weaknesses
and their shortcomings.
But
I wonder if today we are able to respond with the same generosity and
courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything in
order to worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of
the poor, to proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and,
therefore, have not experienced the embrace of his mercy. Friar
Junípero’s witness calls upon us to get involved, personally, in
the mission to the whole continent, which finds its roots in
Evangelii Gaudium.
Secondly,
Friar Junípero entrusted his missionary activity to the Blessed
Virgin Mary. We know that before leaving for California, he wanted
to consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for
the grace to open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous
peoples, for the mission he was about to begin. In this prayer we
can still see this humble brother kneeling in front of the "Mother
of the true God", the Morenita, who brought her Son to the New
World. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was and has been present in
the twenty-one missions that Friar Junípero founded along the coast
of California. Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become, in
fact, the Patroness of the whole American continent. You cannot
separate her from the hearts of the American people. She represents
our shared roots in this land. Indeed, today's mission to the
continent is entrusted to her, the first, holy missionary disciple, a
constant presence and companion, our source of comfort and hope. For
she always hears and protects her American children.
Thirdly,
brothers and sisters, let us contemplate the witness of holiness
given by Friar Junípero. He was one of the founding fathers of the
United States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality and
special patron of the Hispanic people of the country. In this way
may all Americans rediscover their own dignity, and unite themselves
ever more closely to Christ and his Church.
With
the universal communion of saints and, in particular, with the
assembly of American saints, may Friar Junípero Serra accompany us
and intercede for us, along with the many other holy men and women
who have distinguished themselves through their various charisms:
• contemplatives
like Rose of Lima, Mariana of Quito and Teresita de los Andes;
• pastors
who bear the scent of Christ and of his sheep, such as Toribio de
Mogrovejo, Francois de Laval, and Rafael Guizar Valencia;
• humble
workers in the vineyard of the Lord, like Juan Diego and Kateri
Tekakwitha;
• servants
of the suffering and the marginalized, like Peter Claver, Martín de
Porres, Damian of Molokai, Alberto Hurtado and Rose Philippine
Duchesne;
• founders
of communities consecrated to the service of God and of the poorest,
like Frances Cabrini, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Katharine Drexel;
• tireless
missionaries, such as Friar Francisco Solano, José de Anchieta,
Alonso de Barzana, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa and Jose Gabriel
del Rosario Brochero;
• martyrs
like Roque Gonzalez, Miguel Pro and Oscar Arnulfo Romero;
and
so many other saints and martyrs, whom I do not mention here, but who
pray before the Lord for their brothers and sisters who are still
pilgrims in those lands.
May
a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas during the
coming Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy! Confident in Jesus’
promise, which we heard today in the Gospel, we ask God for this
special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We
ask the Risen Jesus, Lord of all ages, that the life of our American
continent may be rooted ever more deeply in the Gospel it has
received; that Christ may be ever more present in the lives of
individuals, families, peoples and nations, for the greater glory of
God. We pray too that this glory may be manifested in the culture of
life, brotherhood, solidarity, peace and justice, with a preferential
and concrete love for the poor, through the witness of Christians of
various confessions and communities, together with believers of other
religious traditions, and people of upright conscience and good will.
Lord Jesus, we are merely your missionary disciples, your humble
co-workers so that your Kingdom may come!
With
this heartfelt prayer, I ask Our Lady of Guadalupe, Friar Junípero
and all the American saints to lead me and guide me during my
approaching apostolic journeys to South America and North America. I
ask all of you to keep this intention in your prayers, and to
continue to pray for me. Amen.
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