Dear brothers and sisters,

With great joy I begin my visit by praying Midday Prayer together with you in this Cathedral.

The Second Vatican Council defines the Divine Office as “the voice of the bride herself addressed to her bridegroom” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 84) and “the prayer which Christ himself together with his body addresses to the Father” (ibid.). The reading we have just heard also emphasizes that “in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:13). We can therefore allow ourselves to be guided in our reflection precisely by these two images: the bride and the body.

The first reminds us that the Church — and in particular this assembly, rich in gifts and charisms and in the diversity of each person’s story — is above all a beloved bride. God has willed you to be here, because in you and in your being together he loves a unique and sacred beauty and goodness. He has chosen you to represent today the “communion of saints” (cf. 1 Cor 1:2) that is in Barcelona. It is with this awareness that I invite you to renew, in harmony, your resolve to walk together — all of you, faithful and pastors alike — in the footsteps of Christ, toward the fullness of life. The Church is the fruit of an act of love that precedes her and comes from God. Above all, she grows by allowing herself to be loved by him, united, with a humble and grateful heart, because only those who allow themselves to be loved by God can build, together with others, the works of love.

In this regard, not many years ago Pope Francis recommended that this diocesan community begin “from the encounter with Christ” in order to grow “in fraternity, in the proclamation of the Good News of the Gospel” (Video Message on the Occasion of the Inauguration of the Tower of the Virgin Mary in the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, 8 December 2021). A year later, he repeated to the seminarians of this Archdiocese on pilgrimage in Rome: “Never cease to savor and remember this love of predilection which pours and will pour itself abundantly into your heart […]. Never extinguish that fire which will make you fearless preachers of the Gospel” (Address to the Community of the Seminary of Barcelona, 10 December 2022).

His words point to the atmosphere we are called to foster in our communities, in our families, in our parishes, in our workplaces and places of learning, within the Curia and in every other sphere of life. It must be a family atmosphere, where we live together, mindful of our status as children of God and our common calling, showing solidarity, openness, and a capacity for mercy, sacrifice, mutual care and forgiveness.

Dear friends: Barcelona, in this regard, has a great ecclesial tradition. Saint John Paul II recalled this when, during his visit here, he praised the “welcoming spirit that throughout history has led the people of Barcelona and Catalonia — you — to share human and Christian citizenship with countless people” (Angelus, Barcelona, 7 November 1982). He encouraged you to “proclaim before the Church that this city and this region are a spacious home open to Christian fraternity” (ibid.).

In his words, we see the faces of so many brothers and sisters among you who have dedicated and continue to dedicate themselves to building harmony and communion, beyond all polarization. Even today his words find fulfilment in the vitality of the numerous works of proclamation, formation and charity which all of you encourage and practice.

This brings us to the second image we wish to consider: that of the body, the subject of the reading we have just heard (cf. 1 Cor 12:12–13). If Christ is the bridegroom who loved us first, he is also the head to whom we are united as members of a single body, each at the service of the other, people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev 5:9), all animated by the action of the same Spirit, all called to the same holiness. This, too, is important, because it reminds us that for us, working together is not a matter of “style,” but a physiological necessity, founded on the grace granted to each of us “according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7). We must respond to that gift by putting into practice the charisms we have received in respect for the ministries entrusted to us. It is the Spirit who impels us, as parts of a single living structure, not only to give ourselves unreservedly wherever Providence calls us, but to do so according to God’s designs, in obedience and trust.

Just as in a body, so too among us there are members who are stronger and others who are weaker; some are visible, performing functions that are evident to the outside world, while others are hidden, working from within — in some cases without ceasing and carrying out vital functions without anyone taking notice.

There are countless contrasts with which we could illustrate the variety and importance of the roles and missions we find among ourselves, but the message is always the same. That is, in the richness of the gifts we have received, we are strong because we are united, and we are united because we are animated by the same Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of communion for the salvation of all (cf. Eph 4:4). Therefore, it is important for each of us not to allow anything to destroy the unity in which God has established us and toward whose fullness he leads us day by day.

Barcelona is called “Cap i Casal de Catalunya,” which gives this community — all of you, the people of Barcelona and Catalonia — a special vocation and a responsibility to become, with God’s help, builders of unity.

Soon we will venerate the relics of Saint Eulalia, co-patroness of this Cathedral, the Archdiocese, and the city.

Speaking of the Martyrs, Saint Augustine said: “It should not seem a small matter to us, that we are members of the same person’s body as they are too, even though we cannot compare with them […] we obey the same Lord […], we pursue the same charity, and we embrace the same unity” (Sermon 280, 6).

Dear brothers and sisters: it is in this spirit that we too, in a world torn apart by wars and divisions, in a society that is increasingly fragmented and individualistic, wish to be “martyrs” — that is, witnesses and prophets of unity, of welcome, of harmony and of peace, even at the cost of sacrifice and renunciation. Like the virgin Eulalia and so many other martyrs, we wish to say our “yes,” ready if necessary to die to ourselves, to lose ourselves in order to find ourselves again, to renounce the superfluous in order to build upon what is essential and lasts forever (cf. Mt 16:24–26).

This is what the crucified One teaches us; this is what the Apostle Paul and the examples of the saints invite us to do. This is what we wish to do together, in accordance with Jesus’ prayer to the Father during the Last Supper: “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and that you have loved them even as you have loved me” (Jn 17:23).

May Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of unity, help us to be faithful to this commitment and this mission: Santa Maria de la Mercè, pregueu per nosaltres.