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POPE-PENTECOST May-12-2008 (460 words) With photos. xxxi
Pope says Pentecost renews duty to spread reconciliation, peace
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Having received Christ's gift of peace, the church has a responsibility to bring peace and reconciliation to the world, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Celebrating Pentecost with a May 11 Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Benedict said that it is only by remaining open to the Holy Spirit and faithful to the Gospel that the church can share with the world the peace Christ promised.
When the risen Christ appeared to the disciples and said "Peace be with you," the pope said it was more than a greeting; it was the gift of the peace "promised and won by Christ."
Pentecost is a day to "renew our awareness of the responsibility connected to this gift: the responsibility of the church constitutionally to be a sign and instrument of God's peace for all people," he said.
Pope Benedict said he was acting out of that responsibility when he spoke to the United Nations in April, but high-level meetings do not exhaust the church's obligations.
"The church realizes its service to Christ's peace especially through its ordinary presence and action in the midst of men and women, by preaching the Gospel and through the signs of love and mercy that accompany it," he said.
The sacrament of reconciliation is a particularly important part of its ministry of peace, Pope Benedict said.
"How important and, unfortunately, insufficiently understood is the gift of reconciliation that pacifies hearts," the pope said. "The peace of Christ spreads only through the renewed hearts of men and women who have been reconciled and made servants of justice."
Those who have been forgiven and fortified, he said, are "ready to spread peace in the world with only the force of truth, without bowing to compromises with the mentality of the world because the world cannot give the peace of Christ."
Pope Benedict also spoke about how the first Pentecost demonstrated that the church, although made up only of a small group of Jesus' followers, was already universal.
When the Holy Spirit descended, each of the disciples began speaking in different languages, enabling those around them to understand the Gospel message.
"Only the Holy Spirit, which creates unity in love and mutual acceptance of diversity, can free humanity from the constant temptation of a desire for earthly power that wants to dominate everything and make everything uniform," he said.
As the Gospel spread, the pope said, new communities were formed, but they were always part of the one church of Christ.
"The Catholic Church, therefore, is not a federation of churches, but a unique reality," and without a bond of communion with the whole, a local community cannot be called "church" in the fullest sense, he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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