RITE OF BEATIFICATION OF PADRE PIO DA PIETRALCINA
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Saint Peter's Square - Sunday, 2 May 1999
"Sing to the Lord a new song!".
1. The invitation of the entrance antiphon well expresses the joy of so many faithful, who for a long time have awaited the elevation to the honors of the altars of Padre Pio da Pietrelcina. This humble Capuchin friar has astonished the world with his life entirely dedicated to prayer and to listening to his brothers.
Countless people went to meet him in the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo and the pilgrimage, even after his death, has not ceased. When I was a student here in Rome, I myself had the opportunity to know him personally and I thank God who gives me today the possibility to inscribe him in the register of the Blessed.
This morning, let us retrace the salient features of his spiritual experience guided by the texts of the Liturgy of this fifth Sunday of Easter, within which the rite of his beatification is placed.
2. "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God and believe also in me" (Jn 14:1). In the Gospel page, just proclaimed, we have heard these words of Jesus to his disciples, in need of encouragement. The reference, in fact, to his imminent departure had thrown them into dismay. They feared being abandoned, of remaining alone and the Lord lifts them up with a precise promise: "I go to prepare a place for you", and then "I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (Jn 14:2-3).
To this assurance the Apostles reply through the mouth of Thomas: "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (Jn 14:5). The observation is pertinent and Jesus does not evade the question implicit in it. The answer he gives will remain through the centuries as a clear light for the generations to come: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6).
The "place" that Jesus goes to prepare is in the "Father's house"; there the disciple will be able to be eternally with the Master and participate in his same joy. To reach the goal, however, there is only one road: Christ, to whom the disciple must progressively conform himself. Holiness consists precisely in this: it is no longer the Christian who lives, but Christ himself lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20). An exhilarating goal, accompanied by an equally consoling promise: "Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father" (Jn 14:12).
3. We listen to these words of Christ and our thought goes to the humble Capuchin friar of the Gargano. With what evidence they have been realized in Blessed Pio da Pietrelcina!
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe...". What has been the life of this humble son of Saint Francis, if not a constant exercise of faith, strengthened by the hope of Heaven, where he could be with Christ?
"I go to prepare a place for you... that where I am you may be also". What other purpose has the harsh asceticism to which Padre Pio subjected himself from his early youth had, if not the progressive identification with the divine Master, to be "there where he was"?
Whoever went to San Giovanni Rotondo to participate in his Mass, to ask him for advice or to confess, saw in him a living image of the suffering and risen Christ. On the face of Padre Pio shone the light of the resurrection. His body, marked by the "stigmata", showed the intimate connection between death and resurrection, which characterizes the paschal mystery. For the Blessed of Pietrelcina the sharing in the Passion had tones of special intensity: the singular gifts granted to him and the interior and mystical sufferings that accompanied them allowed him to live an involving and constant experience of the sufferings of the Lord, in the unchanging awareness that "Calvary is the mountain of the Saints".
4. No less painful, and perhaps even more stinging from a human point of view, were the trials he had to endure as a consequence, one might say, of his singular charisms. In the history of sanctity it sometimes happens that the elect, by a special permission of God, becomes the object of misunderstandings. When this occurs, obedience becomes for him a crucible of purification, a path of progressive assimilation to Christ, a strengthening of authentic sanctity. In this regard, the new Blessed wrote to one of his superiors: "I act only to obey you, the good God having made known to me the only thing most acceptable to him and for me the only means of hoping for salvation and singing victory" (Epist. I, p. 807).
When the "storm" broke upon him, he made the exhortation of the first Letter of Saint Peter, which we heard a short while ago, the rule of his existence: Cling to Christ, the living stone (cf. 1 Pt 2, 4). In this way, he too became a "living stone", for the construction of the spiritual edifice which is the Church. And for this we give thanks to the Lord today.
5. "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house" (1 Pt 2, 5). How pertinent these words appear when applied to the extraordinary ecclesial experience that grew up around the new Blessed! Many, meeting him directly or indirectly, rediscovered the faith; at his school, "prayer groups" multiplied in every corner of the world. To those who came to him he proposed holiness, repeating to them: "It seems that Jesus has no other care at hand but that of sanctifying your soul" (Epist. II, p. 155).
If divine Providence willed that he act without ever moving from his convent, almost "planted" at the foot of the Cross, this is not without meaning. The divine Master one day consoled him, in a moment of particular trials, telling him that "under the Cross one learns to love" (Epist. I, p. 339).
Yes, the Cross of Christ is the eminent school of love; indeed the very "source" of love. Purified by suffering, the love of this faithful disciple drew hearts to Christ and to his demanding Gospel of salvation.
6. At the same time, his charity poured forth like balm upon the weaknesses and sufferings of his brothers. Padre Pio thus united zeal for souls with attention to human suffering, promoting at San Giovanni Rotondo a hospital structure which he called the "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza". He wanted it to be a first-class hospital, but above all he ensured that truly "humanized" medicine was practiced there, in which the relationship with the patient was marked by the warmest solicitude and the most cordial welcome. He knew well that one who is ill and suffering needs not only the correct application of therapeutic means, but also and above all a human and spiritual climate that enables him to rediscover himself in the encounter with the love of God and the tenderness of his brothers.
With the "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza" he wished to show that the "ordinary miracles" of God pass through our charity. It is necessary to make oneself available for sharing and generous service to our brothers, availing oneself of every resource of medical science and technology.
7. The echo that this beatification has aroused in Italy and throughout the world is a sign that the fame of Padre Pio, son of Italy and of Francis of Assisi, has reached a horizon embracing all the Continents. I am happy to greet all those gathered here, beginning with the high Italian Authorities who wished to be present: the President of the Republic, the President of the Senate, the President of the Council of Ministers, who leads the official Delegation, numerous Ministers and Dignitaries. Italy is truly worthily represented! But also numerous faithful from other Nations have gathered here to pay homage to Padre Pio.
To all who come from near and far goes my affectionate greeting, together with a special thought for the Capuchin Fathers. To all a heartfelt thanks!
8. I would like to conclude with the words of the Gospel of this Mass: "Let not your heart be troubled. Have faith in God." This exhortation of Christ is echoed by the advice that the new Blessed used to repeat: "... Abandon yourselves completely to the divine heart of Jesus, like a child in the arms of the mother." May this invitation also penetrate our spirit as a source of peace, serenity, and joy. Why be afraid, if Christ is for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Why not trust in God who is Father, our Father?
"Santa Maria delle Grazie", whom the humble Capuchin of Pietrelcina invoked with constant and tender devotion, help us to keep our eyes fixed on God. May she take us by the hand and urge us to seek with every effort that supernatural charity which flows from the pierced side of the Crucified.
And you, Blessed Padre Pio, turn your gaze from Heaven upon us gathered in this Square and upon those gathered in prayer in Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano and in San Giovanni Rotondo. Intercede for all those who, in every part of the world, unite themselves spiritually to this event by raising their supplications to you. Come to the aid of each one and grant peace and comfort to every heart. Amen!
