Religious Digital
"The need to reunite with ourselves, to avoid losing ourselves in external fragmentation, to seek and find a meaning that guides our lives and animates our relationships, is a need common to all: today it resurges in diverse ways, even in the haste and dispersion of daily life, especially in the questions of the smallest".
It was the advice offered this afternoon by the Pope in the Italian town of Pavia, in the basilica of Saint Peter in Ciel d'Oro, where he had an encounter with the Augustinian community and venerated in it the relics of Saint Augustine, in his first year of pontificate, two months after traveling to Algeria and visiting the places of Hippo, whose spirituality inspired the creation of the order to which the Augustinian Leo XIV belongs.
"How can we be a living Church here in Pavia today?", asked Robert F. Prevost, before his brothers, the bishops and the faithful of the Italian diocese. "We need a look animated by the spirit of faith, which helps us to read reality with greater depth than what appears at first sight, and to avoid falling into a negative and pessimistic attitude, incapable of generating new life", expressed the Pope in this pastoral visit of the Holy Father Leo XIV to Pavia and Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, which also took him to visit the National Center for Oncological Hydrotherapy (CNAO).
"We are called to be realistic, and we know that in the parish communities and in the life of a diocese there are many urgent matters and commitments that require our presence and multiple activities. However, it is about returning to the center, always building from the cornerstone, avoiding that our actions become dispersed, focusing only on ourselves and on our own efforts", exhorted the Pope Augustinian, urging that "let us cultivate, then, a Church in which we walk together, capable of renewing itself without division, in which we all recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters and work with joy in the service of the Kingdom of God".
"We must learn to be Christian communities centered on what is essential, even if this means giving up some of the structures and certainties of the past", because "what is essential is to live with Christ, and to spread his Gospel is what we must treasure", exhorted the Pope, before venerating with deep recollection the relics of the saint of Hippo.
"We are called, above all, to carry the message of the Gospel, a joyful and liberating message of Jesus Christ, which reveals the beauty of faith for our lives and for our society", expressed the Pope, who assured that "today there is an ever greater need to accompany people in the discovery or rediscovery of faith", a context, he continued, in which "the figure of Saint Augustine shines with a precious light", recalling at this point his thought: "Do not go out of yourself, return to yourself: truth dwells in the inner man".
At this point, Leo XIV put value on the fact that "the Christian way of life, which was new and amazing in its beginnings, compared with the Jewish and pagan worlds, must continue to be so today, in the world of today", for which reason, "beloved, as living stones, we are called to be a Church firmly rooted in the territory".
He recalled that "listening to the Word generates spiritual vitality, stimulates testimony in daily life, even through movements and associations, and encourages us to be close to the poor", emphasizing that, "especially here in Pavia, he stressed the importance of university ministry and dialogue with culture" and also advocated "to continue along this path" of synodality, "learning more and more to walk together, in common discernment and developing shared projects, cultivating fraternity and promoting co-responsibility", affirmed the Pope, before venerating the relics of Saint Augustine and continuing with his pastoral visit, this time already in the Piazza Duomo.
The Pope’s Homily
Your Excellency, dear brothers in the Episcopate,
dear priests and deacons,
dear religious and religious women, and seminarians,
brothers and sisters,
I am glad to be here among you and I thank Bishop Corrado Sanguineti and Father Joseph Farrell, Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, for their words of welcome. I am pleased with what I have heard about this Church in Pavia: a community with an ancient tradition that remains alive and present in the city and its surroundings, attentive to the signs of this time and its challenges, without being discouraged by difficulties, the secularized context and the difficulties in transmitting faith.
To avoid discouragement, we need a look animated by the spirit of faith, which helps us to read reality with greater depth than what appears at first sight, and to avoid falling into a negative and pessimistic attitude, incapable of generating new life. The look that is asked of us —and that the Holy Spirit grants us— is, on the other hand, that of Jesus. In the midst of difficulties and misunderstandings, He sees the provident hand of the Father in the lilies of the field and in the birds of the sky (cf. Mt 6,28-29), nourishes hope in the small seed that grows (cf. Mk 4,30-33) and invites us to lift up our eyes and contemplate the fields already white for the harvest (cf. Jn 4,35). In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis exhorted us to this spiritual reading of reality, saying: « The eye of faith is capable of recognizing the light that the Holy Spirit always diffuses in the midst of darkness […]. Our faith is called to glimpse the wine in which the Holy Spirit is born ». « Water can be transformed, and discover the wheat that grows among the tares» (n. 84).
Illuminated by the hope of the Gospel and inspired by what the apostle Peter told us in the reading (see 1 Peter 2, 4-10), who calls the disciples of the Lord ‘living stones’, let us ask ourselves: How can we be a living Church here in Pavia today?
The first instruction of the apostle is essential: to remain united with Christ, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God. Christ is the foundation of the spiritual building, the cornerstone that serves as the foundation of our ecclesial journey, pastoral action and evangelization (see vv. 4-5).
This being built and building in Christ protects us from the risk of scattering and overburdening ourselves with work on secondary matters, which may be good, but which do not address what is essential. Naturally, we are called to be realistic, and we know that in the parish communities and in the life of a diocese there are many urgent matters and commitments that require our presence and multiple activities. However, it is about returning to the center, always building from the cornerstone, avoiding that our actions become dispersed, focusing only on ourselves and on our own efforts. Since Christ is the center, we all drink from this single source and submit our commitment to the discernment that comes from his light and his Word. Let us cultivate, then, a Church in which we walk together, capable of renewing itself without division, in which we all recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters and work with joy in the service of the Kingdom of God.
This implies what your bishop said at the beginning: we must learn to be Christian communities centered on what is essential, even if this means giving up some of the structures and certainties of the past. What is essential is to live with Christ, and to spread his Gospel is what we must treasure. I recommend this, above all, to priests, who sometimes may suffer a sense of inner dispersion and weariness from their multiple responsibilities: always return to the center, unify everything in your relationship with the Lord and discover in Him the joy of priestly fraternity and pastoral ministry shared with the laity. I also recommend it to religious men and women, who often experience the difficulty of actualizing the charism to which they belong, but who always need to be renewed in Christ and share the talents received both with other religious communities and with the diocesan Church as a whole.
Faithful to faith in Christ, the cornerstone, also allows us to address current problems related to the transmission of faith and religious practice. At a time when many people seem to have lost their spiritual fervor or, for various reasons, no longer find attraction in Christian faith, we are called, above all, to carry the message of the Gospel, a joyful and liberating message of Jesus Christ, which reveals the beauty of faith for our lives and for our society. Today, there is an ever greater need to accompany people in the discovery or rediscovery of faith. Therefore, we must proclaim the core of the Gospel: Jesus, who in his incarnation, death and resurrection reveals to us the mystery of God and, at the same time, the mystery of ourselves. « A pastoral ministry with a missionary approach […] focuses on what is essential, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most attractive and, at the same time, most necessary » (Evangelii Gaudium, 35).
In this context, the figure of Saint Augustine shines with a precious light. His thought, the history of his conversion and his spirituality remind us of the value and the primacy of interiority: « Do not go out of yourself, return to yourself: truth dwells in the inner man » (De vera religione, XXXIX, 72). The need to reunite with ourselves, to avoid losing ourselves in external fragmentation, to seek and find a meaning that guides our lives and animates our relationships, is a need common to all: today it resurges in diverse ways, even in the haste and dispersion of daily life, especially in the questions of the smallest.
When our testimony of faith is constant and passionate, we become ‘living stones’ that compose the spiritual building which is the Church. The Christian way of life, which was new and amazing in its beginnings, compared with the Jewish and pagan worlds, must continue to be so today, in the world of today. United with Christ, we can express our holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices daily (cf. 1 Peter 2,5). Interlaced with prayer and service to others, this adoration transforms our lives into a sign of the Gospel through our choices, actions and relationships.
Beloved, as living stones, we are called to be a Church firmly rooted in the territory.
I, the Church that walks among the struggles and hopes of the people, expert in the art of listening and accompanying, cultivating relationships with families, with those preparing to receive the Sacraments and even with those who are new to the faith or find themselves far from it.
I know that this pastoral passion already impels you and I invite you to cultivate it without becoming discouraged, seeking to reach everyone with the joy of the Gospel, valuing the best of your history —think of the oratories— and exploring new opportunities for encounter. Special attention deserves the commitment to organize networks of small communities that meet in homes around the Gospel, open to the service of the parish or pastoral community. Listening to the Word generates spiritual vitality, stimulates testimony in daily life, even through movements and associations, and encourages us to be close to the poor. And, especially here in Pavia, I emphasize the importance of university ministry and dialogue with culture. The study and scientific research encourage believers to develop a perspective based on faith, capable of illuminating the search for truth, justice and beauty that move the human soul. I know that you have begun to take important steps towards adopting a synodal approach to community life, integrating the traditional parish path with new evangelization initiatives. Therefore, I invite you to continue along this path, learning more and more to walk together, in common discernment and developing shared projects, cultivating fraternity and promoting co-responsibility.
Dear brothers and sisters, may Most Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, obtain for you the burning desire to live and bear witness to the Gospel, in the fraternal charity that makes us one people walking toward God. Venerating the relics of the Holy Father Augustine, I ask him, along with his Patron Saint Siro, to always intercede for this Church and for the city of Pavia. Thank you!