"MEN OF COURAGE"

Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II ... were two men of courage, filled with ... the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God's goodness and mercy.

THE POWER OF GOD

They were priests, and bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God ... was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.

"HOPE AND JOY"

In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to His mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on His disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them.

"ETERNAL GRATITUDE"

Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they ... bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.

"THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL"

This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers in Jerusalem ... It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.

RENEWING AND UPDATING

John XXII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church.

OPEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Saint John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader, guided by the Holy Spirit. This was his great service to the Church; for this reason, I like to think of him as the pope of openness to the Holy Spirit.

"THE POPE OF THE FAMILY"

... Saint John Paul II was the pope of the family ... I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.

INTERCEDE FOR US

May these two new saints ... intercede for the Church, so that ... she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.

(Source: Homily, Mass of Canonization, April 27, 2014)