“The call to make straight the paths of the Lord is the principal theme of the Advent call”

In the Advent season we hear the words: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Matthew 3:3). We know that the forerunner of the Savior, John the Baptist, described himself in this way, thus distinguishing himself from "him who calls." In other words, he did not mean to identify himself with the one whose voice he claimed to be; and when they came and asked him, "Are you the one or should we wait for another?" he stated very explicitly that he was the voice of the other.

The call to make straight the paths of the Lord is the principal theme of the Advent call which rang out on the banks of the Jordan through the voice of John the Baptist. Many people in Israel, from every social class and walk of life, heard this call and came to ask how they should live; so we can say that that voice which cried in the wilderness, the voice of Christ's forerunner, was undoubtedly compelling.

The celebrations here today in the parish of Myslenice for the blessing of three new bells call to mind these Advent words. Bells are simply voices, and thus their importance lies in making the voice of God ring out and spreading it with their sound; they act as the voice of God which speaks, the voice of Christ which calls.

The three new bells of the parish of Myslenice announce and must transmit to the whole parish the Advent call first made on the banks of the Jordan by John the Baptist: "Make straight the paths of the Lord."

In the life of the Christian community, bells have a special role in that they speak to hearts and consciences. The power of this voice has been proven many times. It is a blessed voice (and this applies to the one we are consecrating today), through which we hear the voice of Christ calling us.

Bells ring out especially when Christ wants to tell us something important: they ring out on the great feasts of the Church, and they ring out every Sunday, announcing the day of the Lord.

Bells are also rung on the most important occasions in human life and mark these events in the life of each Christian; for example, they toll during our last earthly journey, to mark our passage to new, eternal life and to signify that death is in fact our birth to the Lord for all eternity.

Their sound is bound up with the wonderful mystery of the history of the Church, the history of the people of God. As we have just heard in the course of their consecration, bells still ring out in moments of great danger for the community, rather as if in the face of this danger they wanted to use their voice to express the prayer of the troubled human heart and the community which is struck by fear. They also ring in times of natural disaster when people in their fear turn to God in dumb silence.

The role of bells in the age-old tradition of the Church is very beautiful, and I am happy that you in the parish of Myslenice are today becoming a part of this long tradition. Under the leadership of your pastor you have obtained these new bells for your church, and your commitment to this cause was undoubtedly the fruit of your outstanding devotion to Our Lady of Myslenice, who was crowned here eight years ago as a sign of the special devotion of the people of God in this area. The bells are dedicated to her, and they must therefore speak to you of her presence and goodwill and must above all call you to her shrine to offer her your veneration. Together with her, they must pray for you and, together with you, turn to him.

My dear brothers and sisters of Myslenice, I want to express to you and your clergy my joy that you chose this fourth Sunday of Advent for the solemn blessing of these bells for your parish. And I want to express my hope that in this place that has been chosen by Mary as a shrine of her love and devotion these bells may carry out the mission I have just described to you. I hope that these bells - and, through them, you too, inasmuch as they are the expression of your faith and hopes - may fulfill their Advent mission as the voice crying in the wilderness. May they, expressing the spirit of Advent, be the voice of God as he draws near - that God for whom humanity is waiting and whom we sometimes forget even though he is the goal of our whole lives.

My wishes for these bells and for you all is that you may carry out this mission well. May they be eloquent in telling everybody that God is drawing near and in proclaiming his presence, holiness, mercy, and grace. May they be his forerunners, like John in the wilderness, and may they reach even those corners that nobody can reach, where people are alone and forget God. May their voice be accompanied by the grace of God himself, the grace of conversion and repentance, but also the grace of trust, joy and consolation, because this is how the grace they announce comes to us.

We dedicate these bells to the Mother of God, Our Lady of Myslenice, so that these signs of God's presence, which have been blessed today, may provide her with a convincing voice for our generation and for the generations to come, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

18 December 1977