Over this weekend at our Masses, we will spiritually join
over a million young people from all over the world gathered with Pope Francis
in Krakow for the World Youth Day celebrations.
Since Pope St. John Paul II inaugurated the concept of special meetings
between the pope and young people in the 1980’s, World Youth Day has visited
all five continents and Pope’s John Paul, Benedict, and now Francis have met
with millions of young people for prayer, catechesis, and reconciliation.
This WYD is being celebrated in the midst of the Jubilee
Year of Mercy, called by Pope Francis last year. It is taking place in Krakow
near the home of Divine Mercy and in the heart of Pope John Paul’s home city.
There have been very moving scenes of Pope Francis walking through the gates of
Auschwitz where perhaps the worst kinds of evil were perpetrated upon men,
women, and children during World War II. Francis is the third pope to come to
Auschwitz and to simply pray in profound solidarity with survivors and their
families today. Pope John Paul II had personal experiences of Auschwitz during
the war as friends of his were taken there and murdered. Later as archbishop
and then as pope he visited Auschwitz in 1979 and he wrote these words;
“I have come and I kneel on this Golgotha of the modern
world, on these tombs, largely nameless like the great tomb of the Unknown
Soldier. I kneel before all the inscriptions that come one after another
bearing the memory of the victims of Birkenau in languages: Polish, English,
Bulgarian, Romany, Czech, Danish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish,
Flemish, Serbo-Croat, German, Norwegian, Russian, Romanian, Hungarian, and
Italian.
In particular I pause with you, dear participants in this
encounter, before the inscription in Hebrew. This inscription awakens the
memory of the People whose sons and daughters were intended for total
extermination. This People draws its origin from Abraham, our father in faith
(cf. Rom 4:12), as was expressed by Paul of Tarsus. The very people that
received from God the commandment "Thou shalt not kill", itself
experienced in a special measure what is meant by killing. It is not
permissible for anyone to pass by this inscription with indifference.
And one inscription more, a chosen one, the plaque in the
Russian language. I don’t add any comment. We know which nation the inscription
is about. We know about their participation in the last terrible war for the
freedom of peoples. Also this inscription we should not pass with indifference.
Finally, the last inscription: that in Polish. Six million
Poles lost their lives during the second world war: a fifth of the nation. Yet
another stage in the centuries-old fight of this nation, my nation, for its
fundamental rights among the peoples of Europe. Yet another loud cry for the
right to a place of its own on the map of Europe. Yet another painful reckoning
with the conscience of mankind.”
Yesterday, Pope Francis silently
sat in the cell of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest who took the place
of another and died as a martyr in the starvation bunker in Auschwitz. The
scenes of the pope sitting in prayer in the darkness of Kolbe’s cell evokes for
all of us the words of Jesus Christ from John’s Gospel “No greater love can
anyone have than to lay down their lives for their friends.” (John 15:13)
I see Fr. Jacques Hamel’s face
here too. An elderly priest who spent his whole life until the end in the
service of the Gospel. He was murdered
and martyred as he broke open the Word and God for the people and celebrated
the Eucharist. Truly he shared in Jesus Christ’s passion, death, and
resurrection that morning last week.
In a world where we need to draw
strength from the merciful heart of Jesus Christ, we pray that this same
merciful heart will take away from those bent on evil and destruction their
hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh instead. We are fortified by the
enthusiasm of so many young people who this night will pray in vigil with our
Holy Father, Pope Francis and will celebrate the Eucharist -the Mass with him
tomorrow in Krakow. We don’t forget the many people in the face of evil and
bloodshed who try to assist and help to heal wounds and dry the tears. We pray
for peace with justice for all, and especially for the most vulnerable. St.
John Paul II, pray for us. St. Faustina, pray for us. St. Francis of Assisi,
pray for us. Amen.