Pope Benedict celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Basilica Sunday morning to mark the final Sunday of the liturgical year – the solemnity of Christ the King. Concelebrating with the Pope were the six new cardinals who received their red hats at the consistory on Saturday.
In his homily the Pope told the new cardinals they had the demanding responsibility of making God’s Kingdom known in the world – not a kingdom of political power obtained through weapons and violence, but a kingdom of truth, love and service.
The Pope said: “We invoke the kingdom daily in the prayer of the ‘Our Father’ with the words ‘Thy kingdom come’; in effect we say to Jesus: Lord, make us yours, live in us, gather together a scattered and suffering humanity, so that in you all may be subjected to the Father of mercy and love.”
Later, in his Angelus the Pope urged the faithful to “prolong God’s saving work by converting ourselves to the Gospel, by placing ourselves with conviction in the footsteps of that King who came not to be served but to serve and to bear witness to the truth.”