Synod: Cardinal Grech’s homily for Mass of the Holy Spirit – Full text

Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit
October 21, 2024
HOMILY OF CARDINAL MARIO GRECH
Secretary General of the Synod

Dear brothers and sisters,

We have reached the home stretch of the work of our Synodal Assembly, which brings together the fruits of a long journey begun in October 2021. At this moment, the Gospel passage shows us the path to “gather” and Jesus invites us to be wary of all. lust, and this can concern not only material goods, but also the good and the beauty that Jesus entrusts to us in this Synod.

Jesus’ parable is inspired by a question asked of him. A man asks him to be judge – this is the function that the rabbis of Jesus’ time could have had – between him and his brother to “divide” the inheritance. But Jesus does not respond positively to his interlocutor’s question. This may seem strange to us. Isn’t it right to share the inheritance between brothers? Isn’t it right for everyone to do their part and go their own way? Of course, for us this is normal; this is what we are tempted to do, but not for Jesus. For him, the ideal is not that the inheritance is divided, but that it is kept intact, with a shared administration. Jesus refuses to divide, but invites us to seek communion, as he identifies greed and the pursuit of possession as the root of division. Jesus rejects all logic of partisanship and division in the search for communion between brothers and sisters. This is why he then tells the parable, so that everyone can realize the “madness” behind the desire to accumulate in barns. The parable shows us how to prepare ourselves in these days to reap the fruits of our synodal path and our assembly, without dividing ourselves, but seeking communion.

Let’s follow the parable. “Once upon a time there was a rich man who had a good harvest.” The parable begins with a positive fact: there is a bountiful harvest to rejoice in. We too, during these three years and during the two sessions of the Synodal Assembly, can say that we have been able to discover “abundant fruits”. We rejoiced at the signs of vitality in each phase of the synodal journey, starting with the listening which characterized the first phase and involved all our communities. Our journey has been rich in fruit: it has helped us to see the gifts that flourish today in the people of God, without hiding our fragilities and our wounds. But as disciples of the risen Lord, we have been able to recognize that it is precisely in our weakness that the strength of God is manifested (cf. 2 Cor 12:9).

Faced with this abundant harvest, the owner of the field asks himself: “What should I do, since I have nowhere to put my crops?” The owner wonders how to manage the fruits of his fields and realizes that he does not have suitable or large enough stores. He is confronted with a new situation; he discovers that he possesses riches that he could not have predicted and it seems to him that he does not have the means to accumulate and store them safely. We too, faced with the abundant fruits of the synodal path, could ask ourselves the same question: what to do now? What should we do with the abundant fruits we have harvested over the years? Perhaps we too, like the man in the parable, might realize that we do not have the proper means to protect the gifts we have discovered. Or perhaps, like the man in the parable, we see it as the fulfillment of a goal: now there is nothing more to do, we just have to enjoy the fruits we have received.

In fact, he said to himself: “I will demolish my warehouses, build bigger ones and collect all my grain and goods there.” This is the solution for someone who feels fulfilled. His solution is: build bigger warehouses. Not only does he use an old and familiar solution, even if slightly modified – he had small warehouses, he built bigger ones – but he reasons according to the logic of someone who feels fulfilled. You just need to build a bigger warehouse. He is someone who wants to live from his earnings. He does not think that, perhaps, in order to use the goods he has, it is necessary to continue working, to explore new solutions, to see how the field evolves. For the man in the parable, the harvested fruit is the end point. He is partly right, but not entirely. They are also the starting point. Human beings die when they feel arrived and fulfilled.

He said to himself: “My soul, you have plenty of good things in store for many more years; rest, eat, drink, have fun. He does not think about investing, broadening his horizons, making his assets grow, but simply living off his earnings. He rejoices in its completeness! We too could take the risk of doing like this man: hoarding what we have collected, the gifts of God that we have discovered, without reinvesting them, without experiencing them as gifts received which must now be returned to the Church. and to the world. , to feel that we have arrived!

We too can be content, without looking for new ways to further multiply our harvest; we too can risk remaining confined within our known limits, without continuing to enlarge the space of our tent, as the prophet Isaiah invites us to do: “Enlarge the space of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitation be spread ; do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes” (Is 54, 2). We too can run the risk of living off our income. But the understanding of truths and pastoral choices continue, consolidate over the years, develop over time, deepen with age.

But how can we avoid falling into the error of the man in the parable, so as not to try to live off our earnings? Dear brothers and sisters, to do this there is one thing to avoid and one way to follow. First of all, we must listen to the words of Jesus: “Watch and beware of all covetousness, for a man’s life is not assured by what he has, even if he has more than what he has. he needs. » As we close the work of our Assembly and look to the path before us, we must guard against covetousness, the desire to keep everything to ourselves, to possess, to amass, to define, to enclose. We must overcome the temptation to believe that the fruits we have harvested are our work and our possession: we must receive everything as a gift from God.

And what is the way forward? We celebrate the votive mass of the Holy Spirit. The way to follow is that of the Spirit of God. In fact, only the Holy Spirit can keep us open to the newness of God. The Holy Father already reminded us at the beginning of the synodal journey: “the Synod is not a parliament nor an opinion poll; The Synod is an ecclesial event and its protagonist is the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is not present, there will be no Synod” (Speech of October 9, 2021). The man in the parable only listens and speaks alone. We, on the other hand – individually and in community, as in a continuous Pentecost – we must “dialogue” with the Holy Spirit, let ourselves be enlightened by him, while waiting for this “overflow” which is the sign of his intervention If we only listen to each other, if we withdraw. on ourselves, we will live on our gains, without hope, little by little, what we have gathered will begin to disappear, without being replaced by the new things that the Lord will continue to send us. If, on the contrary, we listen to it. voice of the Spirit, we will then be able to identify new paths and “as pilgrims of hope, let us continue to advance on the synodal path towards those who still await the announcement of the Good” (IL 112) If we listen to the voice of the Spirit, the conclusion of this synodal assembly will not be the end of something, but a new beginning, so that “the Word of God may spread and be glorified” (2 Thess 3:1).

Dear brothers and sisters, with Mary, to whom we have entrusted from the beginning the work of our Assembly, if we know how to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and live in the freedom of the Spirit, we will be able to sing to the Lord the hymn of praise that the prophet Isaiah points out to us: “This is our God; we were waiting for him to save us. This is the Lord we have been waiting for; let us be happy and rejoice in his salvation” (Is 25:9; IL 112).