Volentieri pubblichiamo la traduzione in inglese dell'omelia del card. Burke dettata a Vienna lo scorso 4 novembre, nella festa di S. Carlo Borromeo. Il testo, in tedesco, è riportato dal sito Una Voce Austria e da Katholisches.info. Le foto sono reperibili sul profilo facebook del gruppo Una Voce Austria e tramite l'immancabile Rorate Caeli:
FEAST OF
SAINT CHARLES,
BISHOP AND CONFESSOR
KARLSKIRCHE
VIENNA
4
NOVEMBER 2014
Eph 3,
8-12
Mt 25, 14-23
HOMILY
Praised
be Jesus Christ!
It is a
source of particular joy to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the
feastday of Saint Charles Borromeo in this magnificent church dedicated to the
Savior and to His exemplary high priest, Saint Charles. The extraordinary
beauty of this church is a reflection of the even more extraordinary beauty of
the holiness of life of Saint Charles, heroic pastor in the completion of the
extraordinary work of the Council of Trent and in the implementation of its
teaching and discipline for the salvation of countless souls. The church
building itself and its artistic appointments inspire us to contemplate the
life of Saint Charles and to strive to imitate his heroic holiness in the
circumstances of our daily living, most of all, in the offering of worship to God
“in spirit and in truth.”[1]
The
offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest expression of the
life in Christ which we share with Saint Charles and all the saints. In the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, Christ, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father,
descends to the altars of our churches and chapels to make present anew for His
Sacrifice on Calvary. Dwelling with us, He pours forth from His glorious
pierced Heart the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit to inspire and strengthen
us for every good and holy thought, word, and deed.
Contemplating
the life of Saint Charles in the context of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, let us
reflect, in particular, on the praise of the high priest in the Book of Sirach.
The sacred text tells us that “no one has been found like him in glory; he kept
the law of the Most High.”[2] The
greatness of the high priest depends upon his attention to the divine law
written upon the human heart, and articulated and illuminated by the inspired
Word of Christ communicated to us in the Church.
While the
most exalted activities of the high priest are teaching the Mystery of Faith
and making it present through the Sacraments, above all, though the offering of
the Holy Mass, he is first disposed to carry out these most sacred acts by the
discipline of His own life, in accord with the law of God. Saint Charles
Borromeo understood that the Church’s doctrine and discipline were the
irreplaceable conditions for the encounter with Christ and the daily conversion
of life to Christ by following Him on the only way which leads to eternal life,
the way of the Cross.[3] It
was thus that he dedicated himself so heroically to bringing to a good
conclusion the work of the Council of Trent and to implementing the work of the
Council, once it was concluded, in the portion of God’s flock entrusted to his
priestly care, first in Rome and then in Milan.
Saint
Charles understood that the grace of Holy Orders, given to him at a tender age,
had transformed him and his personal gifts, so that he belonged completely to
Christ in the fulfillment of His high-priestly office. To be entrusted with
such a gift of grace demanded that Saint Charles be attentive to even the
smallest aspect of his priestly ministry, so that he might be a faithful,
generous and pure physician of souls. He understood the profound meaning of the
parable by which Our Lord teaches us to be attentive in using our talents – be
they five or two or one – in the service of the Master. Such loving attention
to even the smallest things is our way to joy and peace, both in the present
life and in the life which is to come. Thus we understand the words of the
master to his servant: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been
faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your
master.”[4]
Commenting
on the early call of Saint Charles to assist his uncle, Pope Pius IV, in the
work of the reform of the Church in the wake of the violent upheaval of the
Protestant Revolution, Dom Prosper Guéranger writes:
Charles
did not hesitate. With faith to supply for his want of experience, he understood
that to the torrent of errors which threatened to deluge the world Rome must
first of all oppose, as an embankment, that undivided truth of which she is the
guardian.[5]
Saint
Charles devoted himself to the Church’s discipline, in order that the faithful,
beginning with himself, would be most fully disposed to the fullness of life in
Christ through the teaching of the faith, divine worship and the practice of
the virtues.
Writing
about the service of Saint Charles to Pope Pius IV in the reforms mandated by
the Council of Trent, Dom Guéranger observes:
He caused
the liturgical books to be revised, and the Roman catechism to be compiled. But
first, and in all things, he was himself the living model of the renewed
discipline, and thus acquired the right to exercise his zeal for or against
others. Rome, initiated by him in the salutary reform of which it was fitting
she should set the first example, was in a few months completely transformed.[6]
Once he
had completed his service in Rome, he took up the reform of Church in the
Archdiocese of Milan of which he was Archbishop. He attended with tireless care
to every aspect of Church life, in accord with the mandates of the Council of
Trent.
Offering
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, according to the Extraordinary Form of the
Roman Rite, we think, in particular, of the manner in which Saint Charles
tirelessly worked to preserve the incomparable beauty of the Rite of the Mass,
in accord with the reforms of the Council of Trent. Saint Charles not only
understood that careful attention to the discipline of life was the foundation
of true worship of God, but he also saw in the intricate beauty of the Rite of
the Mass the reflection of the beauty of a virtuous life, of a life of pure and
selfless love of God and of neighbor. In that regard, he also gave detailed
instructions to the faithful regarding the church building, in order that
sacred art and architecture in every way be at the service of the Mystery of
Faith.[7] One
thinks, for example, of the wonderful development of the tabernacle as a
central part of the sanctuary under his careful study and direction.[8]
In these
days of so much turmoil in the world and within the Church, let us pray for our
Bishops, through the intercession of Saint Charles Borromeo that by keeping
“the law of the Most High,” by faithful attention to even the little things of
the pastoral care of the flock, they may lead many souls to eternal life. In a
special way, let us pray that their attention to the Sacred Liturgy may be for
them and for all in their spiritual care the cause of a more pure and selfless
love of God and of neighbor. May Saint Charles intercede for us all, that we
may grow ever more in the likeness of Christ by our devotion to sound Catholic
doctrine and discipline.
Pope
Saint John Paul II, in continuity with his baptismal patron, Saint Charles
Borromeo, reminded us that, before the great challenges of our time, we will
not save ourselves and our world by discovering “some magic formula” or by
“inventing a new programme.”[9] In
unmistakable terms, he declared:
No, we
shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he
gives us: I am with you.[10]
He
reminded us that the program by which we are to address effectively the great
spiritual challenges of our time is, in the end, Jesus Christ alive for us in
the Church. He explained:
The
programme already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living
Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its center in Christ
himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the
life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in
the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a program which does not change with shifts of
times and cultures, even though it takes account of time and culture for the
sake of true dialogue and effective communication.[11]
In short,
the program leading to freedom and happiness is, for each of us, holiness of
life, in accord with our state in life. May Saint Charles Borromeo be our great
teacher and intercessor in pursuing the holiness of life to which we are
called.
Let us
now lift up our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glorious
pierced Heart of Jesus opened for us in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Let us lift
up to the Heart of Jesus all of the intentions of the Church in our time, above
all, the intention of fidelity to doctrine and discipline, even in the smallest
of matters. In the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, our hearts, like the heart of
Saint Charles, will be healed of sin and inflamed with devotion to the
discipline by which we grow daily in love of God and of our neighbor.
Heart of
Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, have mercy on us!
O Mary
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
Saint
Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Confessor, pray for us!
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
[1] Jn 4, 24.
[2] Sir 44,
19-20.
[3] Cf. Mt
16, 24
[4] Mt 25,
21. 23.
[5] “Charles
n’hésita pas. Appelant la foi au secours de son inexpérience, il comprit qu’au
déluge d’erreurs sous lequel le monde menaçait de périr, Rome se devait avant
tout d’opposer comme digue l’intégrale vérité don’t elle est la gardienne; …”.
Prosper Guéranger, L’Année Liturgique, Le Temps après la Pentecôte,
Tome VI, 11ème éd. (Tours :
Maison Alfred Mame et Fils, 1925, p. 210. English translation: Prosper
Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, Time after Pentecost, Book VI, tr.
The Benedictines of Stanbrook Abbey (Fitzwilliam, NH: Loreto Publications,
2000), p. 167.
[6] “La
revision des livres liturgiques, la rédaction du Catéchisme romain l’eurent
pour promoteur. Avant tout, et sur toutes choses, il fut l’exemplaire vivant de
la discipline renouvelée, acquérant ainsi le droit de s’en montrer envers et
contre tous l’infatigable zélateur. Rome, initiée par lui à la réforme
salutaire où il convenait quélle précédât l’armée entière des chrétiens, se transforma
en quelques mois.” Ibid., p. 213. English
translation: Ibid., p. 169.
[7] Carolus
Borromeo, Instructionum Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae,
Liber II, ed. Massimo Marinelli (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000).
[8] Ibid.,
pp. 37-38.
[9] “formulam
veluti «magicam» … excogitando «novo consilio». Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Epistula
Apostolica Novo Millennio Ineunte, “Magni Iubilaei anni MM sub
exitum,” 6 Ianuarii 2001, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 93 (2001),
285, n. 29. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, “At the Close of the Great Jubilee
of the Year 2000,” 6 January 2001, Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2001, p.
39, no. 29.
[10] “Nullo
modo: servabit nos nulla formula, verum Persona una atque certitudo illa quam
nobis Ipsa infundit: Ego vobiscum sum!” Ibid., 285, n. 29. English
translation: Ibid., p. 39, no. 29.
[11] “Iam enim
praesto est consilium seu «programma»: illud nempe quod de Evangelio derivatur
semper vivaque Traditione. Tandem in Christo ipso deprehenditur istud, qui sane
cognoscendus est, diligendus atque imitandus, ut vita in eo trinitaria ducatur
et cum eo historia ipsa transfiguretur ad suam usque in Hierosolymis
caelestibus consummationem. Institutum enim hoc, variantibus quidem temporibus
ipsis atque culturae formis non mutatur quamvis rationem quidem habeat temporis
et culturae, ut verum instituat diverbium efficacemque communicationem.” Ibid.,
285-286, n. 29. English translation: Ibid., pp. 39-40, no. 29.
Fonte: National Catholic Register, Nov. 13, 2014
Fonte: National Catholic Register, Nov. 13, 2014
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