Cardinal George Pell

You can access all Cardinal Pell’s addresses by clicking HERE .  You can also access all Cardinal Pell’s homilies by clicking HERE. 

The following transcripts, courtesy of www.sydney.catholic.org.au  are below.

Homily For WYD08 Opening Mass

At Barangaroo
Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 23. Gal. 5:16-17, 22-25; Lk. 8:4-15

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
15/7/2008

We all know that Christ Our Lord is often described as the Good Shepherd of today’s responsorial psalm.  We are told that he leads us near restful waters, revives our flagging spirits, enables us to rest peacefully.

In developing this image on one occasion, Jesus explained that such a shepherd was prepared to leave the ninety-nine sheep to search out the one who was lost.

Few countries today have a shepherd who cares for only 20 or 30 sheep, and in Australia with large farms and huge flocks Our Lord’s advice is not very practical.  If the lost sheep was valuable and probably healthy, it might make sense to take the time to search for it.  More usually it would be left behind or its absence not even noticed.

Jesus was saying that both He and His Father are not like this, because He knows each one of His sheep and like a good father he goes searching for the lost one he loves, particularly if he is sick, or in trouble, or unable to help himself.

Earlier in this Mass I welcomed you all to this World Youth Day week and I repeat that welcome now.  But I do not begin with the ninety-nine healthy sheep, those of you already open to the Spirit, perhaps already steady witnesses to faith and love.  I begin by welcoming and encouraging anyone, anywhere who regards himself or herself as lost, in deep distress, with hope diminished or even exhausted.

Young or old, woman or man, Christ is still calling those who are suffering to come to him for healing, as he has for two thousand years.  The causes of the wounds are quite secondary, whether they be drugs or alcohol, family breakups, the lusts of the flesh, loneliness or a death.  Perhaps even the emptiness of success.

Christ’s call is to all who are suffering, not just to Catholics or other Christians, but especially to those without religion.  Christ is calling you home; to love, healing and community.

Our first reading today was from Ezekiel, with Isaiah and Jeremiah one of the three greatest Jewish prophets.  Many parts of Australia are still in drought, so all Australians understand a valley of dry bones and fleshless skeletons.  But this grim vision is offered first of all to any and all of you who are even tempted to say “our hope is gone, we are as good as dead”.

This is never true while we can still choose.  While there is life there is always the option of hope and with Christian hope come faith and love.  Until the end we are always able to choose and act.

This vision of the valley of the dry bones, the most spectacular in the whole of the Bible, was given when the hand of God came upon Ezekiel while the Jews were in captivity in Babylon, probably earlier rather than later in the sixth century B.C.  For about 150 years the political fortunes of the Jewish people had been in decline, first of all at the hands of the Assyrians.  Later in 587 B.C. came the final catastrophic defeat and their transportation into exile.  The Jewish people were in despair, powerless to change their situation.

This is the historical background to Ezekiel’s dramatic vision where the dead were well dead, whitened skeletons as the birds of prey had long finished their ghastly business of stripping off the flesh.  It was an immense battlefield of the unburied.

A hesitant and reluctant Ezekiel was urged by God to prophesy to these bones and as he did so the bones rushed together noisily, accompanied by an earthquake.  Sinews knitted them together, flesh and then skin clothed the corpses.

Another stage was needed and the breath, or Spirit, came from the four corners of the earth as the bodies came “to life again and stood up on their feet, a great and immense army”.

While we now see this vision as a pre-figuration of the resurrection of the dead, the Jews of Ezekiel’s time did not believe in such a conception of the afterlife.  For them the immense resurrected army represented all the Jewish people, those from the northern kingdom taken off to Assyria, those at home and those in Babylon.  They were to be reconstituted as a people in their own land and they would know that the one true God alone had done this.  And all this came to pass.

Over the centuries we Christians have used this passage liturgically at Easter, especially for the baptism of catechumens on Holy Saturday night and it is, of course, a powerful image of the one true God’s regenerative power for this life and eternity.

Secular wisdom claims that leopards do not change their spots, but we Christians believe in the power of the Spirit to convert and change persons away from evil to good; from fear and uncertainty to faith and hope.

Believers are heartened by Ezekiel’s vision, because we know the power of God’s forgiveness, the capacity of Christ and the Catholic tradition to cause new life to flourish even in unlikely circumstances.

That same power glimpsed in Ezekiel’s vision is offered to us today, to all of us without exception.  You young pilgrims can look ahead to the future stretching out before you, so rich in promise.  The Gospel parable of the sower and the seen reminds you of the great opportunity you have to embrace your vocation and produce an abundant harvest, a hundredfold crop.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all place this story of the sower at the beginning of their collection of Jesus’ parables.  It explains some fundamental truths about the challenges of Christian discipleship and lists the alternatives to a fruitful Christian life.  Fidelity is not automatic or inevitable.

One detail makes the parable more plausible, because it seems the Jews in Our Lord’s time threw the seed on the ground before they ploughed it, so explaining a little better the seed being in unlikely places rather than just in the furrows.

Are we amongst those whose faith has already been snatched away by the devil, as Our Lord explained the image of the birds of the sky gobbling up the seed?  No one at this Mass would be in that category.  Some might be like the seed on rocky ground which could not put down roots.  Those here in this second category are likely to be striving to start again in the spiritual life, or at least examining the possibility of doing so.  But most of us are in the third and fourth categories, where the seed has fallen on good soil and is growing and flourishing; or we are in danger of being choked off by the worries of life.  All of us, including those who are no longer young, have to pray for wisdom and perseverance.

I have no problem in believing that Our Lord spelt out the meaning of this parable to his closest followers and that he would have been asked by them regularly to do so.  But the disciples’ enquiries provoked a disconcerting response, when Our Lord divides his listeners into two groups; those to whom the mysteries of the Kingdom are revealed and the rest for whom the parables remain only parables.  This second group is described in words from the prophet Isaiah as those who “may see but not perceive, listen but not understand”.  Probably the background to this is the amazement of Our Lord’s disciples at the large number who did not accept his teaching.

Why is this still so?  What must we do to be among those for whom the mysteries of the Kingdom are revealed?

The call of the one true God remains mysterious, especially today when many good people find it hard to believe.  Even in the time of the prophets many of their hearers remained spiritually deaf and blind, while any number over the ages have admired the beauty of Jesus’ teaching, but never been moved to answer his call.

Our task is to be open to the power of the Spirit, to allow the God of surprises to act through us.  Human motivation is complex and mysterious, because sometimes very strong Catholics, and other strong Christians, can be prayerful and regularly good, but also very determined not to take even one further step.  On the other hand, some followers of Christ can be much less zealous and faithful, but open to development, to change for the better because they realize their unworthiness and their ignorance.  Where do you stand?

Whatever our situation we must pray for an openness of heart, for a willingness to take the next step, even if we are fearful of venturing too much further.  If we take God’s hand, He will do the rest.  Trust is the key.  God will not fail us.

How can we work to avoid slipping from the last and best category of the fruit bearers into those “who are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life” and so do not produce much fruit at all?

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians points us in the correct direction, reminding us all that each person must declare himself in the age-old struggle between good and evil, between what Paul calls the flesh and the Spirit.  It is not good enough to be only a passenger, to try to live in “no-mans land” between the warring parties.  Life forces us to choose, eventually destroys any possibility of neutrality.

We will bring forth good fruit by learning the language of the Cross and inscribing it on our hearts.  The language of the Cross brings us the fruits of the Spirit which Paul lists, enables us to experience peace and joy, to be regularly kind and generous to others.  Following Christ is not cost free, not always easy, because it requires struggling against what St. Paul calls “the flesh”, our fat relentless egos, old fashioned selfishness.  It is always a battle, even for old people like me!

Don’t spend your life sitting on the fence, keeping your options open, because only commitments bring fulfilment.  Happiness comes from meeting our obligations, doing our duty, especially in small matters and regularly, so we can rise to meet the harder challenges.  Many have found their life’s calling at World Youth Days.

To be a disciple of Jesus requires discipline, especially self discipline; what Paul calls self control.  The practice of self control won’t make you perfect (it hasn’t with me), but self control is necessary to develop and protect the love in our hearts and prevent others, especially our family and friends, from being hurt by our lapses into nastiness or laziness.

I pray that through the power of the Spirit all of you will join that immense army of saints, healed and reborn, which was revealed to Ezekiel, which has enriched human history for countless generations and which is rewarded in the after-life of heaven.

Let me conclude by adapting one of the most powerful sermons of St. Augustine, the finest theologian of the first millennium and a bishop in the small North African town of Hippo around 1600 years ago.

I expect that in the next five days of prayer and celebration that your spirits will rise, as mine always does, in the excitement of this World Youth Day.  Please God we shall all be glad that we participated, despite the cost, hassles and distances travelled.  During this week we have every right to rejoice and celebrate the liberation of our repentance, the rejuvenation of our faith.  We are called to open our hearts to the power of the Spirit.  And to the young ones I give a gentle reminder that in your enthusiasm and excitement you do not forget to listen and pray!

Many of you have travelled such a long way that you may believe that you have arrived, indeed, at the ends of earth!  If so, that’s good, for Our Lord told his first apostles that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.  That prophesy has been fulfilled in the witness of many missionaries to this vast southern continent, and it is fulfilled yet again in your presence here.

But these days will pass too quickly and next week we shall return to earth.  For a time some of you will find the real world of home and parish, work or study, flat and disappointing.

Soon, too soon, you will all be going away.  Briefly we are now here in Sydney at the centre of the Catholic world, but next week the Holy Father will return to Rome, we Sydneysiders will return to our parishes, while you, now visiting pilgrims, will go back to your homes in places near and far.

In other words during next week we shall be parting from one another.  But when we part after these happy days, let us never part from our loving God and his Son Jesus Christ.  And may Mary, Mother of God, whom we invoke in this World Youth Day as Our Lady of the Southern Cross, strengthen us in this resolution.

And so I pray.  Come, come O Breath of God, from the four winds, from all the nations and peoples of the earth and bless our Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.

Empower us also to be another great and immense army of humble servants and faithful witnesses. 

And we make this prayer to God our Father in the name of Christ his Son.  Amen.  Amen.

Papal Welcome at Barangaroo

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
17/7/2008

Holy Father,

Catholic Sydney has not provided a welcome like you received today as we travelled up the Harbour, since the first Irish Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Patrick Francis Moran arrived on September 8, 1884.  With a population of only 270,000 in those days, 20 steamers carrying thousands of Catholics, and decked with banners and flowers left Circular Quay to accompany his ship the Liguria arriving from Europe.  Tens of thousands also lined the shores of the harbour.  Archbishop Moran in his first homily explained that in Australia he had found “the same piety, the same love for religion, the same generosity and spirit of sacrifice” as marked “the old Church at home” in Europe.

Holy Father we hope you can arrive at the same conclusion during your time with us.

In our short history Australian Catholics generally have been strong supporters of the Pope.  We rejoice in this.

We welcome you among us as a man of faith and prayer, a man of learning and a famous teacher, who for decades has entered into dialogue with the other voices of our pluralist democracies.  We welcome you as a priest and bishop.

But most of all we welcome you as the successor of St. Peter, the man of rock on whom Jesus founded the Church.  In loyalty and prayer we welcome you as Pope and bishop of Rome.

The papacy is ancient.  Not as ancient as our aboriginal peoples who lived on this harsh continent for tens of thousands of years even before the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  They have already welcomed you to our land.

But more than 900 years before there was a King of England there was a Pope in Rome.  St. Peter was leading the small persecuted Christian community in Rome more than 1700 years before European settlement on the East Coast here.

As Pope you follow in the footsteps of your beloved predecessor Pope John Paul the Great, who founded the World Youth Day tradition and visited us twice in Australia.  We remember him with great admiration and love.

Holy Father you are among friends.  Not merely your children, brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith, but friends from the length and breadth of our continent and especially from the other Christian communities.

You are welcome among us and we pray that your visit will strengthen us, just as Our Lord prayed that the faith of Peter would not fail because he must continue strengthen his brothers (Lk. 22:31-2)

Interfaith Meeting

Chapter Hall of Saint Mary’s Cathedral

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
18/7/2008

MOST HOLY FATHER:

This year we mark the tenth anniversary of the encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) published on the twentieth anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul the Great. As your beloved predecessor’s close collaborator, that encyclical benefitted from your many years in theological research and teaching.

Since your election as Bishop of Rome, you have deepened that argument, reminding us that not only do faith and reason both lead to the truth, but that reason needs faith to expand its horizons and to give a full account of the human experience. The presence here today of leaders from other faiths is an acknowledgement that this wisdom is not limited to Christians alone, but to all believers whose faith can contribute to our knowledge about God and about ourselves.

There are a few today, noisier in the English-speaking world perhaps than elsewhere, who reject that wisdom. They see in the world of faith a cauldron of fundamentalism, fanaticism and violence. Faith is a threat to genuine freedom, an incitement to violence, and an obstacle to understanding.
 
The good relations we enjoy in Australia between different faiths ought to put the lie to that. But it is not only a matter of good manners, or friendly encounters. Together, as fellow believers, we must demonstrate that true faith in God is a cause for unity and comity, not division and hatred. Our meeting here today is surely a significant sign in that regard.

The century just begun will be a more religious one than the one just concluded. Whether Australia will contribute to that future a reasonable faith – one which enriches rather than degrades our common life – depends very much on the religious leaders who have come to meet you today. The future of Australian society in turn depends very much on whether our culture will embrace the deepest aspirations of our people, or restrict itself merely to the here and now, a flat world inhospitable to the human spirit. In this room this morning, we have allies in the struggle to avoid that outcome, and to build a better Australia instead.

Your Holiness, it is a joy to welcome our fellow believers in God to this Cathedral Chapter Hall, and for them to share our joy in your visit.

Papal Welcome at St Mary’s Cathedral  

Mass for the Dedication of the Altar
Saint Mary’s Cathedral

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
19/7/2008

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

MOST HOLY FATHER:

In this year dedicated to the great apostle to the nations, the Archdiocese of Sydney greets you with the words of Saint Paul. Our city has welcomed pilgrims this week from all the nations, professing the same faith preached by Saint Paul. They are united around the Successor of Saint Peter – the same Apostle Peter who, together with Saint Paul, planted the faith in the Eternal City. 

I welcome you to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, the mother church of Australia, a beautiful building which evokes the transcendent, made holy by the prayers of generations.

The stones of this Cathedral tell the story of the Catholic Church in Australia, a story of determined effort in the face of difficulties. This Cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1865, but was rebuilt to even greater glory, a testament to the enduring faith of Australian Catholics, originally a poor, migrant minority. The spires, which summon the attention of the city to the higher things, were added only eight years ago. This is a living building for a living Church. This Cathedral and our Church in Australia are full of hope this morning with the presence of so many young seminarians and members of religious orders.

The great mystery at the heart of Christianity is that our life and hope come from the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The suffering is only a prelude to the victory of the resurrection. Jesus conquered death by His death so that we might live in the fullness of His life. At the heart of this Cathedral then is the altar of sacrifice, adorned with the very image of the Christ who died for us and for our salvation.

We pray that future generations who will pass by this magnificent building – whether they hearken to its bells or only glimpse the imposing silhouette from afar – will realise that this Cathedral exists for what takes place upon the altar. This Cathedral, like the Church as a whole, draws its very life and mission from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I am deeply grateful that this new altar will be consecrated for the spiritual benefit of the Catholic faithful of Sydney, and in the presence of so many young people from around the world. Their presence around this new altar turns our hearts to the venerable prayer of the Catholic priest:

Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam!

Your Holiness, lead us now to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to our youth!

Address at the Beginning of WYD Final Mass

Closing Mass for WYD
Randwick Racecourse

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
21/7/2008

BENEDICTUS qui venit in nomine Domini!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

MOST HOLY FATHER:

This morning the Church of Sydney rejoices, the Church throughout Australia rejoices and the Church universal rejoices.

Your Holiness, we rejoice to pray with you and for you, and we are grateful that you pray with us and for us.

Just a few days after your election as Bishop of Rome, you said that the historic days of April 2005 taught us that “the Church is not old and immobile; she is young”.

We look out upon this vast congregation and see that what you said is indeed true. The Church is alive, and the Church is young. We are blessed to be together for World Youth Day 2008, and we are blessed that you have come to us in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The Church too comes in the name of the Lord. She proclaims the Lord Jesus and she has no other task, no other agenda, no other mission. Yet as she makes her way through history, in the ancient lands of the Mediterranean or the new frontiers of the Pacific, it can be difficult to see the Church as she truly is. Too often she is weighed down and burdened with the sins and failings of her children; too often she appears disfigured and discouraged.

So we give thanks for the World Youth Day, which is a gift for the Church as a whole, for those both old and young.  At World Youth Day the Church appears as she truly is, alive with evangelical energy. This morning in Sydney, we see the Church not only with the eyes of faith, but manifest before us.

Gathered together with the Vicar of Christ, we see the College of Bishops, united around and under its head, the Successor of Saint Peter. We see so many young priests, eager to preach anew the ancient faith.
We see eager seminarians, generously responding to the Lord’s invitation to labour in the vineyard. We see the radiant young women religious, holy Sisters who lift our spirits and make the Church beautiful.
 
We see young couples who love each other and love Christ, setting out together on the blessed path of Christian marriage. We see families, parents and children, who teach us that life is a gift to be welcomed. We see young men and women who are just now discovering their mission in life. One mission is better than a thousand options, and we are encouraged by their high ideals in embracing the mission the Lord has chosen for them. We see faithful disciples of all generations who show us that to be a Catholic is a joyful and happy thing. This morning in Sydney, we are truly at the heart of the Church!

We therefore pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. May it begin with the young men and women who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at your hands. But may it not end there. May it not end with those here present, who will soon renew their baptismal promises. May it not end with these pilgrims, who will carry new graces home with them. May it not end in this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit.

May this new outpouring continue from Sydney to the ends of the earth, that we might be more faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ!

Address at Conclusion of WYD Final Mass

Closing Mass for WYD
Randwick Racecourse

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
20/7/2008

MOST HOLY FATHER:

In the name of all the pilgrims here present, and those many more united to us by television, radio and internet, I give profound thanks to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the graces of World Youth Day. May it bear much spiritual fruit in Australia and in the Church universal.

As Archbishop of Sydney, I have seen for three years the immense efforts that have been required to host this World Youth Day. I thank Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko and the Pontifical Council for the Laity for their wise guidance. I thank my brother Australian bishops for their unflagging support in making this a truly national endeavour. All Australian Catholics are grateful for the generous support of our Commonwealth and State and local governments. A special reward in heaven must be reserved for our local World Youth Day team, led by the cheerful and formidable Bishop Anthony Fisher and Mr. Danny Casey – my heartfelt thanks to them all.
 
To all the pilgrims, we are grateful that you came to help us strengthen our faith. We hope in turn that you will carry home fond memories not only of our hospitality, but of our Christian witness. Australia is a vast country and it not easy to travel to Sydney, particularly from overseas.  I know that many of you made great sacrifices to share these days with us. You have honoured Australia with your presence and your enthusiasm. We are humbled and grateful. We assure you that your witness here will not be forgotten. You have planted a seed here in Great South Land that will, please God, yield a hundredfold harvest.

Your Holiness, the World Youth Days were the invention of Pope John Paul the Great. The World Youth Day in Cologne was already announced before your election. You decided to continue the World Youth Days and to hold this one in Sydney. We are profoundly grateful for this decision, indicating that the World Youth Days do not belong to one pope, or even one generation, but are now an ordinary part of the life of the Church. The John Paul II generation – young and old alike – is proud to be faithful sons and daughters of Pope Benedict.

Thank you Holy Father!

Meeting with WYD Volunteers

The Domain

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
21/7/2008

MOST HOLY FATHER:

At the conclusion of these days of grace, I am filled with gratitude. The words of the Apostle Paul written to the young Timothy describe what you have done here this past week: “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the message fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it” (2 Timothy 4:17). In our city, you have preached to the nations in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord stand by you always, that you might proclaim His message fully.

At this, our last meeting together, I am honoured to present to you our volunteers and World Youth Day ambassadors. Many of them have made heroic sacrifices to contribute to the success of World Youth Day. All of them have given of their talents and time because they shared our hope and prayer that in these days the finger of God would write a new chapter in the history of Australia. I salute them and congratulate them, and pray that the Lord may reward them for their generosity.
 
Your Holiness, I repeat again the gratitude of all Australian Catholics, and indeed all Australians, for your presence here. Long after you depart, we shall be studying your words and reflecting in our hearts upon all that you did here to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.

As you will soon depart our country, we pray that Our Lady of the Southern Cross will guide you safely through the skies back to Rome.

In your message to us before you arrived, you quoted Saint Augustine: “If you wish to remain young, seek Christ.” Your Holiness, in fifty-seven years as a priest and more than eight decades as a Christian disciple, you have sought friendship with Jesus Christ. You have sought Christ, you have found Him, and you have remained young! We too hope to remain young in the Spirit. We will see you in Madrid!

(I invite all present now to join me in reciting the World Youth Day prayer, after which I invite the Holy Father to speak to us again.)