Pope: in memory of Wojtyla's legacy, reject relativism
From the same square in Warsaw where John Paul II had launched Poland's revival, Benedict XVI warned against "people or groups" that "seek to falsify the Word of Christ and to remove from the Gospel those truths which in their view are too uncomfortable for modern man."
Warsaw (AsiaNews) Do not yield to relativism, to those who claim that the truths of the faith "depend on the historical situation and on human evaluation", and who would like to have "uncomfortable" truths "removed" from the Gospel. Today, the words of Benedict XVI were rich with concrete allusions to history as he exhorted all not to forget those who gave their lives for the truth. He was speaking in the same square of Warsaw where, in 1979, John Paul II launched an invitation to Poland to revive, following Gospel teaching, an appeal that was to pave the way for Solidarnosc and the consequent fall of Communist regimes.
Now, as then, the square was full of people. Back then, the crowd was said to number over one million people; today, there were hundreds of thousands, in spite of insistent rain. And now, as then, Vatican and Polish flags fluttered together everywhere and the army was present, because among the trees of the large square, there is also a monument to the unknown soldier. But since then, the square has changed its name: it used to be dedicated to Victory, that of the Soviet army, and now it marks the memory of Marshall Pilsudski, a hero of Polish independence from the Russians. And on one Polish flag, there was written in German: "wir bleiben treue", "let us remain faithful".
Benedict XVI remembered that day in his homily: "Here, on the eve of Pentecost, Pope John Paul II uttered the significant words of the prayer 'Let your Spirit descend, and renew the face of the earth.' And he added: 'The face of this land.' This very place witnessed the solemn funeral ceremony of the great Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, whose twenty-fifth anniversary occurs during these days. God united these two men not only through the same faith, hope and love, but also through the same human vicissitudes, which linked each of them so strongly to the history of this people and of the Church that lives in their midst.
"How can we not thank God today for all that was accomplished in your native land and in the whole world during the Pontificate of John Paul II? Before our eyes, changes occurred in entire political, economic and social systems. People in various countries regained their freedom and their sense of dignity. 'Let us not forget the great works of God' (cf. Ps 78:7)."
An exhortation - "Stand firm in your faith!" followed, and remembrance of many preachers of the Gospel who "gave their lives specifically because of their faithfulness to the truth of the word of Christ. And so solicitude for the truth gave birth to the Church's Tradition. As in past centuries, so also today there are people or groups who obscure this centuries-old Tradition, seeking to falsify the Word of Christ and to remove from the Gospel those truths which in their view are too uncomfortable for modern man. They try to give the impression that everything is relative: even the truths of faith would depend on the historical situation and on human evaluation. Yet the Church cannot silence the Spirit of Truth. The successors of the Apostles, together with the Pope, are responsible for the truth of the Gospel, and all Christians are called to share in this responsibility, accepting its authoritative indications. Every Christian is bound to confront his own convictions continually with the teachings of the Gospel and of the Church's Tradition in the effort to remain faithful to the word of Christ, even when it is demanding and, humanly speaking, hard to understand. We must not yield to the temptation of relativism or of a subjectivist and selective interpretation of Sacred Scripture. Only the whole truth can open us to adherence to Christ, dead and risen for our salvation.
In fact, faith "does not just mean accepting a certain number of abstract truths about the mysteries of God, of man, of life and death, of future realities. Faith consists in an intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship based on love of him who loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:11), even to the total offering of himself. What other response can we give to a love so great, if not that of a heart that is open and ready to love? But what does it mean to love Christ? It means trusting him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis, in the hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come. Entrusting ourselves to Christ, we lose nothing, we gain everything. In his hands our life acquires its true meaning."
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