Papal Address at Mount Nebo
"Like Moses, We Too Have Been Called by Name"
Here is the text of the discourse Benedict XVI gave on May 9, 2009 today when he
visited the Basilica of the Moses Memorial at Mount Nebo. Tradition
holds that at this spot, God showed Moses the Promised Land.
* * *
Father Minister General,
Father Custos,
Dear Friends,
In
this holy place, consecrated by the memory of Moses, I greet all of you
with affection in our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank Father José Rodríguez
Carballo for his warm words of welcome. I also take this occasion to
renew my gratitude, and that of the whole Church, to the Friars Minor
of the Custody for their age-old presence in these lands, their joyful
fidelity to the charism of Saint Francis, and their generous concern
for the spiritual and material welfare of the local Christian
communities and the countless pilgrims who visit the Holy Land each
year. Here I wish to remember also, with particular gratitude, the late
Father Michele Piccirillo, who devoted his life to the study of
Christian antiquity and is buried in this shrine which was so dear to
him.
 It is appropriate that my pilgrimage should begin on this
mountain, where Moses contemplated the Promised Land from afar. The
magnificent prospect which opens up from the esplanade of this shrine
invites us to ponder how that prophetic vision mysteriously embraced
the great plan of salvation which God had prepared for his People. For
it was in the valley of the Jordan which stretches out below us that,
in the fullness of time, John the Baptist would come to prepare the way
of the Lord. It was in the waters of the River Jordan that Jesus, after
his baptism by John, would be revealed as the beloved Son of the Father
and, anointed by the Holy Spirit, would inaugurate his public ministry.
And it was from the Jordan that the Gospel would first go forth in
Christ's own preaching and miracles, and then, after his resurrection
and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost, be brought by his disciples
to the very ends of the earth.
Here, on the heights of Mount
Nebo, the memory of Moses invites us to "lift up our eyes" to embrace
with gratitude not only God's mighty works in the past, but also to
look with faith and hope to the future which he holds out to us and to
our world. Like Moses, we too have been called by name, invited to
undertake a daily exodus from sin and slavery towards life and freedom,
and given an unshakeable promise to guide our journey. In the waters of
Baptism, we have passed from the slavery of sin to new life and hope.
In the communion of the Church, Christ's Body, we look forward to the
vision of the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, where God will be all
in all. From this holy mountain Moses directs our gaze on high, to the
fulfilment of all God's promises in Christ.
Moses gazed upon the
Promised Land from afar, at the end of his earthly pilgrimage. His
example reminds us that we too are part of the ageless pilgrimage of
God's people through history. In the footsteps of the prophets, the
apostles and the saints, we are called to walk with the Lord, to carry
on his mission, to bear witness to the Gospel of God's universal love
and mercy. We are called to welcome the coming of Christ's Kingdom by
our charity, our service to the poor, and our efforts to be a leaven of
reconciliation, forgiveness and peace in the world around us. We know
that, like Moses, we may not see the complete fulfilment of God's plan
in our lifetime. Yet we trust that, by doing our small part, in
fidelity to the vocation each of us has received, we will help to make
straight the paths of the Lord and welcome the dawn of his Kingdom. And
we know that the God who revealed his name to Moses as a pledge that he
would always be at our side (cf. Ex 3:14)
will give us the strength to persevere in joyful hope even amid
suffering, trial and tribulation.
From
the earliest times, Christians have come on pilgrimage to the sites
linked to the history of the Chosen People, the events of Christ's life
and the nascent Church. This great tradition, which my present
pilgrimage is meant to continue and confirm, is grounded in the desire
to see, to touch, and to savor in prayer and contemplation the places
blessed by the physical presence of our Savior, his Blessed Mother, the
apostles and the first disciples who saw him risen from the dead. Here,
in the footsteps of the countless pilgrims who have preceded us in
every century, we are challenged to appreciate more fully the gift of
our faith and to grow in that communion which transcends every limit of
language, race and culture.
The ancient tradition of pilgrimage
to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the
Church and the Jewish people. From the beginning, the Church in these
lands has commemorated in her liturgy the great figures of the
Patriarchs and Prophets, as a sign of her profound appreciation of the
unity of the two Testaments. May our encounter today inspire in us a
renewed love for the canon of Sacred Scripture and a desire to overcome
all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual
respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word
of God calls us!
Dear friends, gathered in this holy place, let
us now raise our eyes and our hearts to the Father. As we prepare to
pray the prayer which Jesus taught us, let us beg him to hasten the
coming of his Kingdom so that we may see the fulfilment of his saving
plan, and experience, with Saint Francis and all those pilgrims who
have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, the gift of untold
peace - pax et bonum - which
awaits us in the heavenly Jerusalem.
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