Commemorating the Investiture of Pope Benedict XVI

(Editor's note: This is the text of Bishop Hubbard's homily at an April 24 Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, marking that day's investiture of Pope Benedict XVI.)

We join with Catholic Christians and people of goodwill the world over in celebrating the investiture of our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

Just as spring bursts forth all about us with its splendid freshness, we now experience the hope and expectation that a new pontificate augurs for our Church.

As winter gives way to spring, the lengthy and illustrious papacy of John Paul II, which was such a splendid and enduring gift for the Church, yields to the spiritual leadership of his close friend and collaborator, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI.

This transition -- born of the stirring ritual of a pontifical burial and a papal conclave -- gives us a sense both of continuity with the past and of anticipation for the future, as the 265th successor of the Apostle Peter is empowered to guide the Church in this first decade of the third millennium of the Christian era.

From his voluminous writings and well-documented track record as a theologian, archbishop and cardinal prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, we know much of what Cardinal Ratzinger has said and done. But who he will become as Benedict XVI remains open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and the collaboration of God's people, who are, as Sunday's second reading put it, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people the Lord has made His own" (1 Peter 2:9).

Throughout the past week, representatives of the media and almost everybody I encountered have posed the same questions: "What can we expect from this new Pope?...Will he open the priesthood to married men and to women?...Will he change the position of the Church on birth control or abortion?...What will be his response to the scandal of clergy sexual abuse?...Where will he stand on ecumenism and interfaith relationships, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research or the right to die?"

In other words, what will be the Pope's position on the hot-button issues in our contemporary world and society, and on issues where there have been voices within the Church calling either for more adherence to tradition or more openness to change?

I believe his answer will be the one we heard in Sunday's Gospel (John 14:1-12), when, in response to the question of Thomas, "Lord, how can we know the way", Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life."

Indeed, that answer to the questions I have been hearing from the media and others is not speculative on my part; it comes right from Pope Benedict himself. In his first homily following his election, he said to the College of Cardinals: "My task is to make the light of Christ shine before the men and women of today."

Pope Benedict knows well that it is in the light of the truth of Jesus as revealed in the Scripture, and interpreted and explained by the Church down through the centuries, that we as Christ's disciples must face the great questions in our life, as well as the particular problems of our age.

Before all else, then, we must come to know Jesus Christ and His plan of life. Too often, we become so consumed with addressing the practical questions and the contentious issues swirling around us that the person of Jesus gets lost in translation. We must never forget, therefore, that as Christians, first and foremost we are called to be believers, believers in someone and something: namely, Jesus Christ and the Good News He proclaimed.

It is Christ's mission we must be about; it is His message we must communicate to others; and it is His ministry we must extend into the world.

If that is not the case, if the person of Jesus is not the central thread interwoven throughout our Christian lives and activities, and if His Gospel values are not the ultimate norm or standard by which our decisions are made and against which our results are evaluated, then our efforts -- successful as they may be from a fiscal, social or humanitarian point of view -- will in the eyes of the Lord be as the proverbial "sounding brass and tinkling cymbal."

Yes, my friends, our lives as Christians are about discipleship, and discipleship is not primarily about information, knowledge or answers to perplexing questions, important as those may be. Discipleship is about the surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ as the person whom we seek to follow and imitate, because we are convinced firmly that He is "the way, the truth and the life."

Father Gerald Vann, a renowned spiritual writer and preacher, once shocked an audience when he said, "I don't believe in the dogmas, doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church." Then, after pausing, he added, "Rather, I believe through them in the living reality beyond, in the person of Jesus Christ."

That observation of Father Vann underscores, I believe, what our new Holy Father, Benedict XVI, understands his principal task to be: namely, to help the people of our Church and world come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way, and to give a living and joyful response to Christ's invitation to "come follow me."

In fact, the name our new Pope has chosen for his pontificate, Benedict, reflects this understanding, since his namesake and role model, St. Benedict, had as his rule of life, "Prefer nothing to the love of Christ."

So, as the chief shepherd of the universal Church, Pope Benedict will strive to fulfill the perennial mission of the successor of the Apostle Peter:

* to help people enter more fully into the mystery of Jesus' love; and

* to see how His life, His words, His temptations, His facing death and His overcoming death relate to the demands of the day, the needs of God's people, and the fears of our contemporary world and society.

The Pope will seek to guide us all so we can appreciate more fully that Jesus is present to us here and now, just as He was to Peter, Thomas and the other apostles in Sunday's Gospel, and that Jesus continues to walk the path of discipleship together with us in this 21st century.

To most people, it matters little that Jesus walked on water some 2,000 years ago and that Peter walked with Him. What matters to them, however, is to know that when they are sinking, this Jesus in whom they have put their faith and trust will lift them up.

What matters to them is whether they can muster the courage to step out of the boat and into the storm.

What matters to them is whether they can invite others to take bold new steps into unfamiliar territory, with confidence in this same Jesus.

Benedict XVI's foremost responsibility, then, will be to keep before our eyes the person of Jesus Christ and to remind us to ask the question which has become so popular among many today, "What would Jesus do?"

Pope Benedict must seek to fulfill this sacred responsibility in the way he described himself at his introduction on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica this past Tuesday: "As a simple, humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord."

The Second Vatican Council tells us that we must avoid thinking that we have at hand the solutions to all the particular problems of life. But, at the same time, we know that we possess the light in which the solutions to the problems of humanity can be discovered. What is this light? What can it be? Only the truth of Jesus Christ!

Fortunately, Pope Benedict need not assume this awesome responsibility of proclaiming the truth of Jesus by himself. He is enlightened and sustained by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; the grace of office; the example of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II; the communion of saints, living and dead; and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which -- as he stated in his first papal homily -- "must be the compass for the modern Church."

He also noted in that same homily that he desires to collaborate closely with the bishops of the world, since this collegial communion promotes that "unity in faith, on which depends in large measure the effectiveness of the Church's evangelizing efforts in the modern world."

Finally, Pope Benedict XVI has the prayers and best wishes not only of the Roman Catholic community but also of peoples of all faiths to serve as "the wind beneath his wings."

He, in turn, has reassured people of other religions that he seeks to continue an open and sincere dialogue with them, looking for the true good of humanity and society.

As Pope Benedict XVI is invested as the servant of the servants of God, we pray for him and for his pontificate:

* that God will enable him to build upon the gifts and talents of keen intellect, scholarly wisdom, prudential discernment and personal holiness that he has demonstrated throughout his ministry as a priest and bishop, and

* that God will empower him to communicate boldly, confidently and joyfully that Jesus Christ is indeed "the way, the truth and the life," who can bring us happiness, peace and fulfillment here on earth, and, as Sunday's Gospel proclaims, fullness of life in that place that Jesus has already gone ahead to prepare for us.

May God bless you -- and may God bless our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

(4/28/05)