Archdiocese offers a glorious Mass for a Pope who treasured beauty

Hundreds of the faithful gathered in Holy Rosary Cathedral Thursday to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI and to thank God for his many contributions to the life of the Church.  

The Mass was a fitting tribute to the deceased Pontiff, and the liturgy reflected his theological acumen, care for liturgical practice, humble pastoral example, and desire for inter-religious dialogue.

Nearly two dozen archdiocesan clergy concelebrated, with several permanent deacons attending as well.

The Mass was a glorious homage to the late Pope, reflecting his love of the sacred liturgy with abundant incense, candles, and chant.

In his homily, Archbishop Miller gave thanks for “the gift that this servant (of God) was to the Church” and offered a broad sketch of the Pontiff’s life. “Early in his life as a humble labourer of the Gospel in the Lord's Vineyard and as a brilliant young theologian committed to the Church's renewal at the Second Vatican Council, which was the defining event of his life; then as a professor of international renown, who combined deep piety with encyclopedic knowledge and creative scholarship; next as Archbishop of Munich, before becoming a friend and close "co-worker in the truth" [the moto of Benedict XVI] with John Paul II from 1981 until 2005; then as a reluctant Successor to the Apostle Peter entrusted with shepherding the universal Church and, finally, living his last days in prayer and reflection.”

The Archbishop offered reflections on Benedict’s major contributions to the faith, including his resignation from the papacy, "an act," the Archbishop said "of profound humility, courage, and great spiritual freedom. This gesture was truly radical. Without any sentimentality or posturing, Benedict handed back the papal office to the One who founded it, to the Lord Jesus himself.”

He described the concern that Pope Benedict had for the emerging “’dictatorship of relativism’ engulfing the increasingly secularized Western world,” and how he believed the greatest cure for this problem was the beauty of truth.

“Moreover, Benedict insisted on the harmonious relationship between faith and reason,” the Archbishop said.. “For him, a passionate faith if untempered by critical reasoning, is just as dangerous as a rationality which ignores our transcendent nature. Faith is strengthened, not threatened, by the proper use of reason.”

Archbishop Miller described the Pontiff’s love of liturgy saying, “in the words of Benedict, ‘the beauty of our [liturgical] celebrations can never be sufficiently cultivated, fostered, and refined, for nothing can be too beautiful for God, who is himself infinite Beauty.”

Earthly liturgies “will never be more than a pale reflection of the liturgy celebrated in the Jerusalem on high, the goal of our pilgrimage on earth,” said the Archbishop. “Nonetheless, he wished that our celebrations here below should resemble that liturgy as closely as possible and grant us a foretaste of it.”

Finally, the Archbishop spoke about Benedict XVI’s belief that “’Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person’ – Jesus Christ.”

“For Benedict, friendship with Jesus Christ was the sine qua non of the Christian life,” said Archbishop Miller, “and fostering that friendship was the whole purpose of the Church.”

In keeping with the Benedict’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue, Archbishop Miller extended an invitation to local faith communities, several of which sent delegates to offer their spiritual support and pay respects to the deceased Pontiff.

Bishop John Stephens, the 10th Bishop of New Westminster told The B.C. Catholic, “there have been a lot of conversations between Catholics and the Anglican Communion in recent years, and Pope Benedict was instrumental in keeping those conversations going, particularly with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Those have been really important conversations within the Christian Church as a whole.”

“It is important for me to be here to give thanks for his leadership and his ministry within the [Roman Catholic Church], but also within the worldwide Church.”

Father Armia Aziz Gerges, pastor of St. George’s Coptic Church in Surrey, accepted Archbishop Miller’s invitation to attend the Mass in reciprocity for the support the archdiocese showed his community when their church was burned to the ground by an arsonist in the summer of 2021.

“We came today because the Catholic Church supported us when our church burned down,” he said.

Doctor Kala Singh, Vancouver assistant secretary for the Global Sikh Council and the Vice Chair of the Multi-Faith Summit Council of British Columbia, told The B.C. Catholic he came to represent his Sikh faith in the spirit of his Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak.

“I came because the Sikh faith is all about interfaith conversations,” he said, “our founder went around the world 500 years ago having conversations with interfaith leaders of the world.”

Click here to send us a letter to the editor about this or any other article.