Seldom do one's fears work it's way through someone's speech, voiced thought or statement and find a place inside of you that is both troubled and confused with the conflict brewing inside. When i read the Homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI at St Peter's Square during his inaugural Mass on April 24 2005, the last two paragraphs did stir me to want to post this here, so that anyone who passes by and feels the same fear would understand that although the fear doesn't cripple us from leading our daily lives, it cripples us from being what we could and can be. Free.
I do subscribe to this thought, i believe it almost manically that we are all free when we are rid of our fears. And as we strive to get there, it is heartening to know that in this maze of human devises and million to one chance of ever knowing whether the utopic unity we all strive for in thought , belief and practice will be acheived - that we are not alone.
And to quote the Homily, "In this way, I too can say with renewed conviction: I am not alone. I do not have to carry alone what in truth I could never carry alone."
The last two paragraphs from the Homily - by Pope Benedict XVI | The Inaugural Mass, Sunday 24 April 2005
"Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great.
No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him,we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ and you will find true life. Amen."
