HOMILY DURING THE LITURGY OF THE BEATIFICATION
OF THE VEN. SERVANT OF GOD ZEFFIRINO NAMUNCURA’ (1886-1905)
Chimpay, 11 November 2007
Readings:
Exodus 3,1-9.15
Romans 12,9-21
Luke 10,21-24
1. “Just at this time, Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, and said: ‘I bless you Father Lord of heaven and of earth.’”
The Holy Spirit today fills us too, with Jesus and all his Church, with joy, and we give glory to the Father, Lord of heaven and of earth who has revealed to little children and not to the learned of this world the deep mysteries of his life and of his love.
To little children, to the poor, to those thirsting for justice, to those who work for peace, to the persecuted, to those who commit themselves each day to overcome evil with good, God communicates his life which is holiness.
The dramatic episode of the burning bush, absolutely central to the revelation of the Old Testament, reminds us that there is an abyss, in itself unbridgeable between the creature and the Creator. But in Jesus Christ – the Son of God who made himself a poor little child, and who humbled himself even to death on the cross – the abyss has been filled in, and whoever believes in Him can share in the very life of God.
Today we are celebrating these wonders of grace in a young Araucano, Ceferino Namuncurà, son of the Great Chief of the Pampas: Pope Benedict XVI, to whom go our grateful thoughts, has wished that today this young man of 19 should be inscribed in the List of the Blessed.
But who is Ceferino, and what is “the secret” of his holiness?
2. Ceferino – as we well know – was born into a proud and generous family of the strong tribe of the Araucani Indios, from the land of Patagonia.
If holiness was able to flourish in him it was because it found fertile soil in the human qualities belonging to his land and to his people, qualities that he assumed and perfected.
We are pleased to see in the Blessed Ceferino the whole history, often dramatic, of his people. He sums up in himself the suffering, the anguish and the aspirations of the Mapuches, who precisely during the years of his infancy came into contact with the Gospel and opened themselves to the gift of faith.
Glorifying God today in Blessed Ceferino also means recalling with gratitude the ancient traditions of the Mapuche, proud and undefeated; and at the same time discovering once again the fruitfulness of the Gospel, that never destroys the genuine values of which a culture is the expression, but takes them, purifies them and perfects them.
The life of Ceferino itself is like a “parable” teaching this profound truth. Ceferino never forgot that he was a Mapuche: his highest aim was to be useful to his people. But his coming into contact with the Gospel meant that this fundamental aspiration developed in a new direction: and it became a burning desire to be a Salesian, and a priest, “to show” his Mapuches brothers “the way to heaven.”
3. He chose as his model in life Dominic Savio. This beloved pupil of Don Bosco was proclaimed a saint by Pius XII in 1954, and at the same time, in a sense, this marked the canonisation of the “simple recipe” for holiness that the “father and teacher of youth” one day gave to Dominic. A recipe more or less like this: “Be always cheerful; carry out your duties of study and piety well; help your companions.”
Cheerfulness, above all. “He smiles with his eyes,” his companions used to say about Ceferino. He was the life and soul of the recreations, taking part with imagination and enthusiasm, sometimes even boisterousness. He knew how to perform conjuring tricks that led to him being called “the magician.” He organised competitions and taught his companions the best way to make bows and arrows and then trained them to fire at the target.
Don Bosco used to recommend that Dominic Savio should carry out his duties of study and piety. In the Salesian College of Villa Sora, in Frascati, Ceferino – although he had some difficulty with Italian – in a few months was second in class. In the mark-book his excellent results in Latin stand out: it was an important requirement for someone wanting to be a priest.
Ceferino’s piety was that characteristic of Salesian circles, strongly rooted in the Sacraments, and in particular in the Eucharist, considered “the column” of the preventive system. For this reason Ceferino was very willing to take on the job of sacristan. During the months of his stay in Turin, he was seen to spend hours in the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians, in intimate conversation with Jesus.
Finally, Don Bosco used to recommend that Dominic should help his companions.
In this regard the testimony of the Salesian Fr Iorio is impressive. Three days before Ceferino died, Fr Iorio had gone to visit him in the John of God Hospital on the Island in the Tiber. Our Blessed, almost at the end of his life, said to him: “Father, in a short time I shall be going, but I recommend to you this poor boy in the bed near to mine. Come back often and visit him.. He is suffering so much! During the night he hardly ever sleeps, he keeps coughing …”. And he said this when he himself, Ceferino, was in a much worse state and couldn’t sleep at all.
4. Someone going into the Vatican Basilica, can see way up in the last niche on the right hand side of the central nave, a large statue of Saint John Bosco, pointing to the altar and the tomb of Saint Peter. Beside him are two boys, one with European features, the other with those typical of the people of South America. The reference is obviously to the two holy boys: Dominic Savio and Ceferino Namuncurà. It is the only representation of boys in the Vatican Basilica. In this way, set in marble at the heart of Christianity is the example of youthful holiness, and fixed at the same time is the permanent validity of the pedagogical intuitions of Don Bosco: in a century and a half, in Patagonia, as in Italy and in so many other parts of the world, the preventive system has brought to maturity almost unhoped for fruit, it has formed heroes and saints.
5. Blessed Ceferino, now we turn to your powerful intercession: support us on our journey so that we too in our own day may follow the path of holiness, faithful to the teaching of Don Bosco.
You reached the heights of gospel holiness fulfilling well the duties of every day. You also remind us that holiness is not something exceptional, reserved to the elect few: holiness is the common vocation of all the baptised, and is the demanding gaol of ordinary Christian life.
Help us to understand that when all is said and done, only one thing matters: to be holy just as He the Lord is Holy.
Blessed Ceferino, be our guide with your smiling face. Show us the way to heaven! Accompany all of us to our meeting with your Friend Jesus.
Amen!
