THE PAPAL VISIT : Excerpts From Pope John Paul’s Sermon at Mass in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. —  Following are excerpts from the prepared text of Pope John Paul II’s Mass homily Sunday:

In the eucharist, our lives are touched by Christ’s own radical victory over sin--sin which is the death of the soul, and--ultimately--the reason for bodily death. “That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of the dead” (cf. Romans 14:9)--that he might give life again to those who are dead in sin or because of sin.

And so, the eucharist begins with the penitential rite. We confess our sins in order to obtain forgiveness through the cross of Christ, and so receive a part in his resurrection from the dead.

In different parts of the world there is a great neglect of the sacrament of penance. This is sometimes linked to an obscuring of the religious and moral conscience, a loss of the sense of sin, or a lack of adequate instruction on the importance of this sacrament in the life of Christ’s church. At times the neglect occurs because we fail to take seriously our lack of love and justice, and God’s corresponding offer of reconciling mercy. Sometimes there is a hesitation or an unwillingness to accept maturely and responsibly the consequences of the objective truths of faith.

For these reasons it is necessary to emphasize once again that “with regard to the substance of the sacrament there has always remained firm and unchanged in the consciousness of the church the certainty that, by the will of Christ, forgiveness is offered to each individual by means of sacramental absolution given by the ministers of Penance” (Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 30).

Again I ask all my brother bishops and priests to do everything possible to make the administration of this sacrament a primary aspect of their service to God’s people. There can be no substitute for the means of grace which Christ himself has placed in our hands. The Second Vatican Council never intended that this sacrament of penance be less practiced; what the council expressly asked for was that the faithful might more easily understand the sacramental signs and more eagerly and frequently have recourse to the sacraments (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59).

And just as sin deeply touches the individual conscience, so we understand why the absolution of sins must be individual and not collective, except in extraordinary circumstances as approved by the church. I ask you, dear Catholic brothers and sisters, not to see confession as a mere attempt at psychological liberation--however legitimate this too might be--but as a sacrament, a liturgical act.

Confession is an act of honesty and courage; an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God. . . .

To those who have been far away from the sacrament of reconciliation and forgiving love I make this appeal: come back to this source of grace; do not be afraid! Christ himself is waiting for you. He will heal you, and you will be at peace with God! To all the young people of the church, I extend a special invitation to receive Christ’s forgiveness and his strength in the sacrament of penance. It is a mark of greatness to be able to say: I have made a mistake; I have sinned, Father; I have offended you, my God; I am sorry; I ask for pardon; I will try again, because I rely on your strength and I believe in your love. . . . God’s inexhaustible mercy to us obliges us to be reconciled among ourselves. This makes practical demands on the church in Texas and the Southwest of the United States. . . . Your history registers a meeting of cultures, indigenous and immigrant, sometimes marked by tensions and conflicts, yet constantly moving toward reconciliation and harmony.

People of different races and languages, colors and customs, have come to this land to make it their home. Together with the indigenous peoples of these territories, there are the descendants of those who came from almost every country in Europe . . . even from my own native Poland--for it was to Texas, and Panna Maria, that the first Polish immigrants came to the United States. There are descendants of those who came in chains from Africa; and from every Latin American country, especially from Mexico.

This land is a crossroads, standing at the border of two great nations, and experiencing both the enrichment and the complications which arise from this circumstance. You are thus a symbol and a kind of laboratory testing America’s commitment to her founding moral principles and human values. These principles and values are now being reaffirmed by America, as she celebrates the bicentennial of her Constitution and speaks once more about justice and freedom, and about the acceptance of diversity within a fundamental unity--a unity arising from a shared vision of the dignity of every human person, and a shared responsibility for the welfare of all, especially of the needy and the persecuted.

Against this background one may speak of a current phenomenon here and elsewhere--the movement of people northwards, not only from Mexico but from other southern neighbors of the United States. On this matter also there is work of reconciliation to be done. Among you there are people of great courage and generosity who have been doing much on behalf of suffering brothers and sisters arriving from the south. They have sought to show compassion in the face of complex human, social and political realities. Here human needs, both spiritual and material, continue to call out to the church with thousands of voices, and the whole church must respond by the proclamation of God’s word and by selfless deeds of service. Here too there is ample space for continuing and growing collaboration among members of the various Christian communions.

In all of this the Hispanic community itself faces the greatest challenge. Those of you of Hispanic descent--so numerous, so long present in this land, so well equipped to respond--are called to hear the word of Christ and take it to heart: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other” (John 3:34).

And Jesus specified that this love embraces the entire range of human needs from the least to the greatest: “I promise you that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these lowly ones . . . will not want for his reward” (Matthew 10:42). The Hispanic community also needs to respond to its own needs, and to show generous and effective solidarity among its own members. I urge you to hold fast to your Christian faith and traditions, especially in defense of the family.