Celebration of the Word at the Field of Mars, Guatemala City (7 March 1983)

On 7 March 1983, the Holy Father presided at a celebration of the Word at the “Field of Mars” in Guatemala City. His homily centered on faith in the revealed Word, without which faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).  

Mr Cardinal,
Beloved Brothers in the Episcopate, dear brothers and sisters

1. With what anxiety I awaited this day when, a pilgrim of peace and love for the countries of Central America, Belize and Haiti, I arrive in this historic city of Asunción in Guatemala, to celebrate with you and for you this holy Eucharist, a sign of unity and bond of charity, in which we will be nourished, as God's family, with the body and blood of the Lord.

I would like to greet first of all the Cardinal Archbishop of Guatemala and the brother Bishops of this beloved country. I also greet you all with deep affection, precisely because I know that you are suffering; I bless you in the name of God and I implore you for all the gifts of peace, the fruit of justice, of justice, the radiation of love; and of a concord that, overcoming every barrier of separation, makes you a family of true brothers and children of God by adoption.

2. My reflection, following the revealed Word that we have just heard, will center on faith; that faith without which it is impossible to please God (cf. Heb . 11:6); this faith that removes mountains (cf. Mt. 17, 20); this faith capable of performing miracles (cf. Mt. 15, 21); this faith that leads to blessedness (cf. Lc . 6, 20-22); this faith, the principle of salvation: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" ( Mk 16, 16); that faith, finally, which is the soul of the Latin American people and the light that guides their destinies from discovery, conquest and independence to current generations; this faith that will become encouragement for the love and promotion of man.

The Church was the Mother and Teacher who gave it to you and nourished it with the ministry of the Popes, Successors of Saint Peter; with the constant effort of your zealous Bishops; with the generous action of your priests; with the selfless dedication of hundreds of religious men and women, catechists, delegates of the Word and fathers of families who, traveling beaches, valleys and mountains, taught you to believe, and with you professed faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of the Lord's mandate "Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature" ( Mk 16, 15).

3. This faith, first of all, is faith in the FATHER, giver of all good and creator of everything that exists; who can do everything, knows everything and sees everything. A merciful God who wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); who does not want the death of the sinner, but rather that he be converted and live (cf. Ez . 33, 11), but who will give to each one according to his works (cf. Mt . 25, 31-46), and to whom all honor and all glory is due ( Heb . 13, 21).

Faith in the SON conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, as we profess in the Creed; that she went through the world doing good (cf. Acts 10, 18); who had compassion on the multitudes (cf. Mt. 9, 36), who solemnly promulgated the commandment of love (cf. Jn . 13,13), who built his Church on Peter (cf. Mt. 16, 18), who when he died on the cross he rescued us and opened the doors to eternal life for us and when he was resurrected by his own power he ascended to heaven as the firstborn from the dead (cf. Col. 1:18), from where he sent the Holy Spirit that he had promised us (cf. Luke 24, 49).

Faith in the HOLY SPIRIT that we worship with the Father and the Son (cf. Creed ); who teaches all things (cf. Jn . 14, 26); who dwells in souls in grace as in a temple (cf. 1 Cor. 3.16); whom we grieve over our sins (cf. Eph . 4:30); and who is the glorious soul of the Church.

4. But our faith must extend to the Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic, as we confess in the Creed. Church that is built by Christ on the rock of Peter (cf. Mt. 16, 18), of whom I am humble successor and will be the Pope until the end of the age (cf. Mt. 28, 20); whose apostles are chosen by Christ: "You did not choose me, but I chose you" ( John 15, 16); who teaches us with authority in the name of Jesus: "He who hears you hears Me" ( Luke 10, 16); who received the power to forgive sins: "Those whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they will be retained" ( John 20, 23); who vivifies us with the Eucharist and the other sacraments (cf. 1 Cor . 10,16; Rom . 6, 4); and with which Christ will always be to confirm the truth: "And I will be with you always, even to the end of the world" ( Mt. 28, 20).

You must always love this Church, which, with the effort of its best children, contributed so much to forging your personality and freedom; who was present at the most glorious events in your history; who was and continues to be by your side, when luck smiled at you or pain oppressed you; who tried to dispel ignorance, projecting the light of education onto the minds and hearts of his children through his schools, colleges and universities; who has raised and continues to raise his voice to condemn injustices, to denounce affronts, especially against the poorest and most humble, not in the name of ideologies, whatever their shade, but in the name of Jesus Christ, his Gospel, the its message of love and peace, of justice, truth and freedom.

Love the Church, because she always invites you to do good and to hate sin; to reject vice and corruption, to live in holiness; to make Christ, the way, truth and life, the perfect model of your personal and social conduct; to follow paths of greater justice and respect for human rights; to live more as brothers than as adversaries.

5. This faith in the Church and this love for her must show her fruitfulness in life; must be translated into works.

This is the teaching of Jesus: "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven" ( Mt. 7, 21). We have just heard the Apostle Saint James: faith, without works, is dead. What good is it for someone to say "I have faith" if they have no works? Man is justified by works and not by faith alone (cf. James 2:14ff.).

Faith teaches us that man is the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen. 1:27); This means that he is endowed with immense dignity, and when a man is despised, when his rights are violated, when flagrant injustices are committed against him, when he is subjected to torture and violence is used against him through kidnapping or his right to life, a crime is committed and a very serious offense to God; then, Christ returns to walk the path of passion and suffers the horrors of crucifixion in the helpless and oppressed.

Men of all positions and ideologies who listen to me: heed the plea I address to you; listen to it, because I give it to you from the depths of my faith, my trust and my love for the man who suffers; Answer it, because I do it to you in the name of Christ. Remember that every man is your brother and become respectful defenders of his dignity. And above all social, political, ideological, racial and religious differences, may the life of your brother, of all men, always be assured first.

6. Let us remember, however, that a brother can be killed little by little, day by day, when he is prevented from accessing the goods that God created for the benefit of all and not just for the benefit of a few. This human promotion is an integral part of evangelization and faith.

My predecessor Paul VI, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi , spoke with great clarity about this: "Between evangelization and human promotion — development, liberation — there are in fact deep ties: ties of an anthropological order, given that the man who has to be evangelized, it is not an abstract being, but rather a being conditioned by a set of social and economic problems; ties of a theological order, because one can never dissociate the plan of Creation from the plan of Redemption, both of which encompass the two. very concrete situations of injustice that must be combatted and justice to be restored; ties of that eminently evangelical order, which is the order of charity: how could one really proclaim the new commandment without promoting the true in justice and peace? and the authentic progress of man? Is it impossible to accept that the work of evangelization can and should neglect the extremely serious problems, which are extremely agitated today, regarding justice, liberation, development and peace in the world. If this were to happen, it would be ignoring the Gospel doctrine about love for others who suffer or are in need" (n. 31).

I urge you, therefore, to start with lucidity and courage from your own faith, to practice charity, especially towards those who need it most or cannot help themselves, such as the elderly, the disabled, the disabled and the occasional victims of the elements of nature. And with those who can stand on their own, always maintain relationships of respect and justice.

To the leaders of the people, especially those who feel within themselves the flame of the Christian faith, I strongly invite them to commit themselves with all determination to effective and urgent measures, so that the resources of justice reach the most unprotected sectors of society. And may these be the first beneficiaries of appropriate legal protections.

To prevent any extremism and consolidate authentic peace, there is nothing better than restoring dignity to those who suffer injustice, contempt and misery.

7. Faith in Christ, which obliges us to love God and our neighbors as brothers, teaches us to see them in all the depth of their transcendent value. It should therefore be the great impetus to work towards their full promotion. Starting from a clear identity of their own condition as children of God and the Church, without ever allowing this vision to be obscured or resorting to ideological premises that are contrary to it.

This is the essence of the Church's social doctrine. A Christian must be guided towards its faithful application, as a concrete path to solving so many problems that affect our society. To this end, it will be necessary to disseminate this teaching and train those who must present it faithfully. This will provide a great service to today's man, because in this doctrine he will find the stimulus to awaken consciences, promote greater justice, encourage better communication of goods, favor more widespread access to the benefits of culture and consolidate this way for a more peaceful coexistence.

This is an aspect on which the Church continues to insist "to corroborate the principles of justice and equity, postulated by right reason both in individual and social life and in international life" ( Gaudium et spes , 63). Here is a large field open to the generous initiative of Bishops, priests, men and women religious and of all those — men and women — who seek with good will the dignification of man. Here, governments, legislators, businesspeople, traders, industrialists, farmers, workers will find inspiration to create an urgent climate of justice in Central American and Guatemalan society. In this way, secular wounds will be definitively eliminated and social harmony will be established, in a climate of development that — according to Paul VI — is the new name of peace and an indispensable requirement of faith.

8. Dear brothers: may faith in Jesus Christ shine in this way in your lives, like the sun in the waters of your seas, over the craters of your magnificent volcanoes, on the wings of your swift quetzals.

May this Christian faith, the glory of your nation, the soul of your people and the Central American peoples, be manifested in well-defined practical attitudes, especially towards the poorest, weakest and most humble of your brothers.

This faith must lead to justice and peace. No more divorce between faith and life! If we accept Christ, let us perform the works of Christ; Let us treat each other as brothers, and let us walk the paths of the Gospel. Let us ask in this Eucharist, source of grace and faith, that Christ truly teaches us his ways. Paths of sacrificial love for others, of depth of life and of hope, to which the Church invites us with the example of Jesus, particularly in this time of Lent in which we find ourselves.

And may Saint Mary of the Assumption obtain for you from her Son the grace to be faithful to this program, and always be our guide, life, sweetness and hope. So be it.

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