Jan Paweł II
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Homilie
Homilie Jana Pawła II
Funeral Mass for Cardinal Jan Pieter SchotteHOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II Friday, 14 Januray 2005
1. "Blessed are the peacemakers..." (Mt 5: 9). Christ's words enlighten and comfort us at this solemn liturgy with which we take our leave of our venerable Brother, dear Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte. He was a man of peace! He made the value of peace one of the qualities of his long and busy service to the universal Church, and especially to the Holy See. He was so profoundly convinced that Christians must witness to peace that he chose as his episcopal motto: "Parare viam Domino pacis" (Prepare the way for the Lord of peace). We can recognize in his motto the reference to St John the Baptist, Patron of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to which he belonged. The task of the Baptist, in fact, was to "prepare the way for the Lord" (cf. Lk 1: 76). Cardinal Schotte chose to add the explicit mention of peace, juxtaposing it with the name "Lord" - "Parare viam Domino pacis" - almost as if to underline that only by accepting Christ and his Gospel is it possible to attain true peace (cf. Wis 3: 3).
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