Apr 23 2008
St. Adalbert (956-997)
Today’s saint was a great missionary bishop who suffered martyrdom at the hands of pagan priests in Prussia. In 1997 Pope John Paul II visited the Czech Republic where St. Adalbert was bishop to celebrate the millennial anniversary of his death. Reflecting now on the Holy Father’s words at that celebration, let us pray that the future priests in the younger dioceses of the world will have the same missionary zeal of today’s saint.
“As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21). Adalbert heard these words as though addressed to him personally. As the first Bishop of Prague of Bohemian blood, at the end of the first millennium, he was heir to the traditions of holiness of the martyrs who had gone before him…. At the same time he looked towards the future: he spared no effort for the spiritual rebirth of Prague and the homeland, sustained by ardent faith in Christ.Dear friends! To you I entrust the task of making a decisive contribution to the evangelization of your country. Take Christ into the third millennium. Trust him! His promise spans the centuries: “Whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35). Do not be afraid! Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. He alone can give full meaning to life, he alone is the center of history. Live by him! With Mary! With your Saints!Ask Christ for the gift of the Spirit. For it is precisely he, the Spirit, the Divine Person who has the task of healing, purifying, sanctifying men’s consciences, and thus renewing the face of the earth. With all my heart I want this to happen to you, to your nation, to all who share in the thousand year-old heritage of Saint Adalbert, and to the people of the whole world. May the words proclaimed so powerfully by the Church in today’s Liturgy be fulfilled in you: Veni Sancte Spiritus, Come, Holy Spirit! In You is the source of light and life; in You the flame of eternal love; in You the secret of the hope that never disappoints. Come, Holy Spirit! Amen. Today’s Readings: Acts 15:1-6; Psalm 122:1-5; John 15:1-8
