Celebration of taking possession of the Co-Cathedral
The 8th of March we celebrated the elevation of the Saint Nicholas basilica to co-cathedral of tthe diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam. At this occasion a message from the Holy Father, pope Francis was sent from the Vatican. It was read at the beginning of the solenn Holy Mass (see prior article). Here you find the homily in English
Homily
Through your own life...
Your Eminence, Excellencies, Mr Commissioner, brothers and sisters,
I am grateful that you are present today to celebrate this special moment; yes, this is a day of joy and gratitude; in that spirit, I will today take possession
of the bishop's seat of this co-cathedral.
Pope Francis
Of course, my thoughts today go out in a special way to Pope Francis who has been going through a difficult time of illness and suffering these past few days and weeks. Our prayers have been with him during these weeks; many, many people worldwide have been thinking of him in their prayers. And I have written to the Holy Father that we are united with him and that we are praying for him.
During the pope's period of illness it became even more apparent that we as the Catholic Church are a worldwide community, which is particularly embodied in the spiritual fatherhood of the Holy Father, as the shepherd of the universal Catholic Church.
Grateful
We are especially grateful to Pope Francis and the Dicastery for Bishops for the elevation of this St Nicholas Basilica to co-cathedral in this year in which we celebrate a Holy Year and the 750th anniversary of the city of Amsterdam.
Our History...
For centuries, Catholics were second-class citizens: they were not allowed to hold public office, the Catholic Church could not own property, churches were confiscated, Catholics gathered in clandestine churches, converted private homes, where they were usually tolerated in exchange for a lump sum.
Even halfway through the nineteenth century, the April Movement resisted
the Catholic faith and religious freedom and opposed the restoration of the dioceses. Yet even before that - almost two hundred years ago - plans had been made for a diocese of Amsterdam with a cathedral on the Nieuwmarkt. This was also the wish of King Willem I who signed a concordat with the Holy Father in 1827.
In 2008, under my predecessor, Bishop Punt, the name Amsterdam was added
to the name of the diocese and now Amsterdam has its co-cathedral.
So today we look back on a long history and we are grateful that we can conclude it in this way.
Bearing witness
This day may be a sign that as a Catholic church we would like to participate fully in society, particularly in this colourful capital with its many cultures and rich history and that we would like to bear witness here to and commit ourselves to what is at the core of our faith: love of God and love of our neighbour, spirituality, repentance and reflection on the one hand and active commitment to our fellow human beings on the other, while within our own Catholic community we see the diversity represented of the many cultures that Amsterdam has to offer in the numerous migrant communities and actually in all our church buildings. This co-cathedral is also the home base of the Spanish parish.
We want to commit ourselves for the message of the gospel in this society.
That message certainly includes values, standards and religious beliefs, always based on respect for the dignity of every human being, in whom we see an image of God himself.
We see this image and likeness in every human being, but especially in the poor and suffering, because God himself in Jesus Christ wanted to become poor for all of us.
We were reminded of this today in the gospel: it is the mission of everyone
who is a disciple of Jesus Christ to go out and proclaim the gospel.
How to proclaim the gospel?
How do you proclaim the gospel? Firstly through your own life, secondly: through your own life; in the third place: through your own life.
There is no Christian testimony without the testimony of your own life.
Being a Christian, being a Catholic must be rooted in our hearts; whereby the aspect of being Catholic emphasises unity with the Holy Father and universality, being open to all races and languages.
Not just a label
Being a Christian, being a Catholic cannot be about a label, it must be about the goodness of one's heart and the desire to live the love of Jesus Christ and to pass it on. For Him, that love meant that He became the least of us all, took up a lowly place, that of a rejected criminal, condemned to a slave's death, on the cross.
Sign of love
The cross of Jesus Christ is a sign of love, love that goes very far, to the very end. For Him, that love meant that He saw a human being in every sinner,
that He comforted the sorrowful, that He healed the sick, that He gave food to the hungry and that He did not forget the poor. So when He tells us at the end of the gospel - His last words! -: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’, then that does not only mean that they must accept a certain doctrine, but that they allow their hearts to be converted and inspired by the love of His Heart: being a disciple is doing what He has done, maintaining what He commanded, living like Jesus Christ.
The path of a disciple
That means, with all our weaknesses and failures: nurture and strengthen love,love for God and love for our neighbour. It is a comfort to us that we heard in this gospel that some disciples went completely for it - they threw themselves down in worship -but others still had doubts.That too is part of the path of the disciple: it is a search to live in His lightthrough doubts and difficulties, but He does not let you go! For, these were His very last words: ‘Behold, I am with you until the end of the world’.May the elevation of the Saint Nicholas Basilica to co-cathedral contribute tothat message always resounding in Amsterdam!
