ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear brother Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

All day yesterday, you may have noticed, on the television, people gathered in Saint Peter’s Square to pray in commemoration of the life and death of Pope John Paul II. It was his first anniversary: one year ago yesterday our Holy Father left us. The same gathering is taking place today–on this Monday. As a matter of fact, at this very moment, Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating Mass in the presence of thousands upon thousands of people in Saint Peter’s Square. And so we are very pleased to join with the universal Church, to join with brothers and sisters throughout the world in giving thanks and praise to God for having raised up Pope John Paul II to be our chief shepherd, the chief shepherd of the Church for over 26 years. We gather, following our Christian tradition, to pray for his soul, although we are convinced that he is already enjoying the fullness of the beatific vision. We also pray for his canonization, that God may see fit to have him glorified before the whole world as a saint of the Church.

Just yesterday, in his remarks Pope Benedict XVI tried to summarize the life of Pope John Paul II. It is a very difficult task, but he chose two words in particular to emphasize. And the two words that seemed to show forth the entire pattern of his life were fidelity and dedication. Pope Benedict XVI was talking about fidelity to God, fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ, fidelity to the Church. And he was talking about the dedication of Pope John Paul II to his great pastoral mission: the role that had been assigned to him by God’s providence to be the chief shepherd of Christ’s Church.

A year ago, during the funeral in Rome, the Church reflected on the same Gospel that we have just proclaimed today. Jesus, as we have just heard meets with Simon Peter. The meeting is taking place after the Resurrection and Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" And three times Peter insists that the answer is "yes." But three times Jesus insists that there is a proof of love that Peter must show, if his attestation of love is to be authentic. And so Jesus tells Peter three times: "Feed my lambs." "Feed my sheep." In other words, Jesus says, I am making you the chief pastor of the Church, and in your role, in order to show your love for me, you must take care of my sheep, you must take care of my beloved people. And at the end of this Gospel, Jesus gives his last call to Peter, his last challenge to Peter. It is two words: "Follow me." And that was Peter’s vocation— to follow Jesus to the very end. Pope John Paul II, we know, has exemplified in his fidelity and in his dedication the faithful following of Jesus to the very end. And how fully John Paul II, as our Pope, strove to care for the Church, to proclaim Jesus Christ. He traveled throughout the whole world, on one hundred and four international pastoral visits around the world, in order to show his love and Christ’s love for the people of God, in order to proclaim Jesus Christ, the supreme and eternal shepherd of the Church. And how faithful John Paul II was to the command that Jesus gave to Peter: "Follow me." And John Paul II followed Jesus to the very end. He traveled until he could travel no more. He traveled as long as he had energy. And he walked until he could walk no more. And he spoke until he could speak no more. And finally we have that great image of John Paul II last Easter Sunday. Easter is a sign of triumph, and there John Paul II was on Easter Sunday in the fullness of his weakness and yet in the fullness of his strength. He came to his window when he could no longer travel, no longer walk, no longer talk. All he could do was bless his people and offer himself to God in the final stage of immolation. He offered himself for us, for the Church so that we might be faithful to Christ, so that we might follow Jesus our Shepherd, imitating Pope John Paul II in fidelity to God and in dedication to our mission.

And, so, Pope Benedict used these two words—fidelity and dedication—to summarize it all. And all of this in the life of Pope John Paul II was explained in another word and that word was love. Because Pope John Paul II endeavored to love Christ, he also endeavored to imitate Christ’s love for all of us. And one of the most important teachings of his pontificate was a very special aspect of love and that is mercy. John Paul II was the Pope that spoke to us at length about God’s mercy. And God’s mercy, for Pope John Paul II, was simply God’s love in the face of our needs, in the face of our weaknesses, in the face of our sins. And, for John Paul II, this love was Divine Mercy. It was the love of God in our regard.. And John Paul II asked us, asked the Church, to take on the mercy of God and to live the mercy of God. And this, dear friends, brings us to a very practical conclusion as we honor John Paul II on the first anniversary of his death. As we endeavor once again to embrace his teachings, we endeavor to put into practice in our lives his great teaching on God’s mercy. John Paul II spelled it out to the very end, that if you and I have received mercy then we must give mercy, we must show mercy. If we have had the benefit of God’s love in regard to our weaknesses, in regard to our sins, in regard to our needs, then we cannot remain insensitive to the needs and weaknesses and even the sins of others. In a very practical way in the family, how important this is— the whole virtue of forgiveness—the fact that, as Christian people, we do not keep grudges, we do not nourish hurts. Because we have been forgiven, we have been loved and we are called to love.

And, so, today we are deeply grateful for this assembly. We have come here in order to praise and thank God for this great pastor, to remember him in our prayers, to pray for his canonization and also that we ourselves may embrace his fidelity, his dedication and show this by our love and mercy for one another in the community of the Church. Amen.