Cardinal Meisner's WYD Homily
An excerpt from the homily of Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Köln, 17th August, 2005.
The Three Wise Men were Christ’s first pilgrims, and for us they are at the same time the great pace-setters in our search for Jesus Christ. – But this is not all! This also makes them the great prayer leaders of Christianity.
Their lives are a clear indication: “When God approaches, it’s decision time”. The three set off on their search for God and follow the star until they have found it. As strong as the impact of the God’s presence is on Man, it does not paralyze him! On the contrary! Through God, people become awake, alive and free. We can see this in Mary in Nazareth at the proclamation, in the way in which she, as a young person aged 16, grew beyond herself so to speak in the face of this dramatic situation. She was not confused and broken. She thinks and she asks. And she answers in an astonishing manner. And in doing, so she decides the Salvation of the World. Never did words come from a human mouth which had a more significant impact. And God expected these all-important words to come from a young person.
The Holy Father John Paul II could not have conceivably given us a better motto for World Youth Day than: “We have come to worship HIM”. As at that time, the three Wise Men stepped out of the darkness of time into the light of Bethlehem, now many young people from 193 countries of the earth with all their positive and negative sides have come to the Epiphany of the Lord to Cologne. And they will return from here to their home countries in a few days’ time – and I have been praying for this for many years – greater, happier and more blessed – as did the Three Wise Men in their turn.
The Three Wise Men were Christ’s first pilgrims, and for us they are at the same time the great pace-setters in our search for Jesus Christ. – But this is not all! This also makes them the great prayer leaders of Christianity.
Their lives are a clear indication: “When God approaches, it’s decision time”. The three set off on their search for God and follow the star until they have found it. As strong as the impact of the God’s presence is on Man, it does not paralyze him! On the contrary! Through God, people become awake, alive and free. We can see this in Mary in Nazareth at the proclamation, in the way in which she, as a young person aged 16, grew beyond herself so to speak in the face of this dramatic situation. She was not confused and broken. She thinks and she asks. And she answers in an astonishing manner. And in doing, so she decides the Salvation of the World. Never did words come from a human mouth which had a more significant impact. And God expected these all-important words to come from a young person.
The Holy Father John Paul II could not have conceivably given us a better motto for World Youth Day than: “We have come to worship HIM”. As at that time, the three Wise Men stepped out of the darkness of time into the light of Bethlehem, now many young people from 193 countries of the earth with all their positive and negative sides have come to the Epiphany of the Lord to Cologne. And they will return from here to their home countries in a few days’ time – and I have been praying for this for many years – greater, happier and more blessed – as did the Three Wise Men in their turn.
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