Dear brothers and sisters,

We have an advocate before God: Jesus Christ, the righteous one (cf. 1 Jn 2:1-2).  With these words, the Apostle John helps us to understand the mystery of salvation.  In our weakness, weighed down by the burden of sin that marks our human condition, incapable by our own efforts of embracing the fullness of life and happiness, God himself approaches us through his Son Jesus Christ.  The Apostle tells us that Jesus, as a sacrificial victim, took upon himself the evil found in humanity and in the world, that he carried it with us and for us, and that he has overcome this evil, transforming it and freeing us forever.

Christ is the living center, the heart of our faith, and it is with this in mind that I address you.  I cordially greet His Highness Prince Albert, His Excellency Archbishop Dominique-Marie David, and the priests and religious present.  To each of you, I say that it is a joy for me to be here and to share in your ecclesial journey.

Regarding the reading we have just heard, I would like to offer you some reflections on Jesus as our “advocate.”

The first point concerns the gift of communion.  Christ, the righteous one, interceding for humanity before the Father, reconciles us with the Father and with one another.  Jesus did not come to pronounce a judgment that condemns, but to offer to everyone his mercy that purifies, heals, transforms and makes us part of the one family of God.  His compassion and mercy make him an “advocate” in defense of the poor and sinners, not in order to pander to evil, but to free them from oppression and slavery, and to make them children of God and brothers and sisters to each other.  It is not the case that Jesus’ actions are limited only to physical or spiritual healing.  For they also include an important social and political dimension, for healed persons are reintegrated, with all their dignity, into the human and religious community from which – often because of illness or sin – they were excluded.

This communion is the sign par excellence of the Church, called to be a reflection in this world of the love of God which shows no favoritism (cf. Acts 10:34).  In this regard, I would like to say that your Church, here in the Principality of Monaco, possesses a great richness.  For it is truly a place where all find welcome and hospitality, marked by a social and cultural mix that is characteristic of your society.  Indeed, although the Principality of Monaco is a small State, it is inhabited by people from Monaco, France, Italy and people of many other nationalities.  It is a small cosmopolitan State, in which the diversity of origins are also complemented by socio-economic differences.  In the Church, such variety should never become the occasion of division into social classes.  On the contrary, everyone is welcomed as persons and children of God.  Moreover, all are recipients of a gift of grace that fosters communion, fraternity and love of neighbor.  This is the gift that comes from Christ, our advocate before the Father.  For we have all been baptized in him and, thus, as Saint Paul states, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male nor female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

At the same time, it seems necessary to emphasize a second point: the proclamation of the Gospel in defense of the human person.  Jesus desires that everyone welcomes the good news of the Father’s love.  Moreover, as an “advocate,” he speaks up especially in defense of those who were considered abandoned by God and were forgotten and marginalized.  He thereby made himself the voice and face of the merciful God who “works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed” (Ps 103:6).

I think thus of a Church called to make herself an “advocate,” namely a defender of the human person, of every man and woman.  This involves a crucial and prophetic path of discernment aimed at promoting “the ‘integral development’ of humanity, which respects its dignity and authentic identity, as well as its ultimate goal, which refers to a mystery of full communion with the Triune God and among ourselves” (International Theological Commission, Quo vadis, humanitas?, 22).

The first service that the proclamation of the Gospel must render is to shine a light on the human person and society so that, illuminated by Christ and his word, they may discover their own identity, the meaning of human life, the value of relationships and social solidarity, the ultimate purpose of our existence and our final destiny.

In this regard, I would like to encourage you to give passionate and generous service to the work of evangelization.  Proclaim the Gospel of life, hope and love.  Bring the light of the Gospel to everyone so that the life of every man and woman may be defended and promoted from conception until natural death.  Offer new pathways capable of stemming the tide of secularism, which risks reducing humanity to individualism and basing social life on the production of wealth.

How important it is that the proclamation of the Gospel and the practice of the faith, which are embedded in your identity and society, guard themselves from the risk of being reduced to mere habit, even if it is good.  A living faith is always prophetic, capable of responding to questions and being thought provoking.  Are we truly defending human beings?  Are we safeguarding the dignity of the person by protecting life in all its stages?  Is the current economic and social model truly just and marked by solidarity?  Does it possess an ethic of responsibility, which assists and goes beyond the “mere logic of the exchange of equivalents, of profit as an end in itself” (Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 38) so as to build a more equitable society?

Dear friends, by keeping your gaze fixed upon Jesus Christ, our advocate with the Father, you will develop a faith rooted in a personal relationship with him, a faith that bears witness, and is capable of transforming life and renewing society.  This faith needs to be proclaimed through a fresh language and by new tools, including those that are digital.  Everyone must be introduced to this faith and continuously formed in it using creative means.  This is especially the case for those who are learning how to encounter God, and I urge you to give particular attention to catechumens and those rediscovering their faith.

May your holy patron Saint Devota, virgin and martyr, inspire you by her example, and may the Immaculate Virgin, Mary Most Holy, intercede for you and guide you always.