I wrote earlier that the Dutch bishops’ delegation to the beatification was a bit slim – only Cardinal Simonis was in Rome, while the other bishops concelebrated a Mass to mark the sixth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Now I understand that sometimes things are planned in advance, before other major events are scheduled elsewhere, and no one is to blame, of course, of the date that the pope was elected. So the fact that bishops have prior engagements is only understandable. Add to that the fact that I was not completely correct in saying that all the other bishops would be in The Hague for said Mass – Bishop de Korte and Bishop Woorts were in Lourdes, the former in his function as honorary chaplain of the Order of Malta, and the latter with a group of pilgrims from the archdiocese.
Be that is as all may, Bishop Ad van Luyn, Apostolic Administrator of Rotterdam, managed to combine both events into a homily (English translation here) which focusses on the personal encounter and relationship with Christ as the right way towards the true meaning and destiny of our human existence. He extensively uses the two parts of Pope Benedict’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, as well as his encyclical Deus Caritas Est and Blessed John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte.
Photo credit: Peter van Mulken
In Caelo et in Terra 