On Helping Jesus in His Mission

On Helping Jesus in His Mission

"Priests Become Instruments of Salvation"

INTROD, Italy, JULY 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the text of the address Benedict XVI gave before reciting the Angelus at midday today with the faithful gathered at Les Combes in northern Italy's Aosta Valley where the Pope is vacationing.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters!

A good Sunday to you! We meet here in Les Combes, near the welcoming house that the Salesians have placed at the Pope's disposition, where I am ending the period of rest among the beautiful mountains of the Aosta Valley. I am grateful to God that he has conceded me the joy of these days marked by true relaxation -- despite the little accident about which you know well. I would like to take this occasion to affectionately thank those who eagerly accompanied me with discretion and with great dedication. I greet Cardinal Poletto and the bishops present here, especially the Bishop of Aosta, Monsignor Giuseppe Anfossi, whom I thank for the words that he spoke to me. I cordially greet the curate of Les Combes, the civil and military authorities, the police, and all of you, dear friends, as also those who are joined to us by radio and television.

Today, on this splendid Sunday on which the Lord shows us all the beauty of his creation, the liturgy provides the beginning of Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John as the Gospel passage. Here we have the miracle of the loaves -- when Jesus feeds thousands of persons with only five loaves and two fish; then the other prodigy of the Lord walking on the waters of the stormy lake; and finally the sermon in which he reveals himself as "the bread of life."

Narrating the "sign" of the loaves, the evangelist emphasizes that Christ, before distributing them, blessed them with a prayer of thanksgiving (cf. 6:11). The [Greek] verb is "eucharistein" and points directly to the account of the Last Supper, in which, in effect, John does not treat the institution of the Eucharist but rather the washing of the feet. Here the Eucharist is anticipated as the great sign of the bread of life.

In this Year for Priests, how can we not recall that we priests can be especially reflected in this Johannine text, identifying ourselves with the Apostles, where it says: Where can we find bread for all these people? And reading about that anonymous boy who has five loaves and two fish, we too spontaneously say: But what is this for such a multitude? In other words: What am I? How can I, with my limitations, help Jesus in his mission? And the Lord gives the answer: Precisely by putting into his "holy and venerable" hands the little that they are, priests become instruments of salvation for many, for all!

Another point for reflection comes to us from today's Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary and, therefore, grandparents of Jesus. This feast makes us think about the topic of education, which has such an important place in the pastoral work of the Church. In particular, it invites us to pray for grandparents, who, in the family, are the depositaries and the witnesses of the fundamental values of life. The educational task of grandparents is always very important, and it becomes even more so when, for different reasons, the parents are not able to ensure an adequate presence to their children, while they are growing up.

I entrust to the protection of Anne and Joachim all the grandparents of the world, giving them a special blessing. May the Virgin Mary, who, according to certain beautiful artistic renderings, learned to read sacred Scriptures at the knee of her mother, Anne, help grandparents to always nourish their faith and hope at the font of the Word of God.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[After the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted the people in several languages. In English, he said:]

I greet all the English-speaking visitors present today. Thank you for joining me here in Les Combes to pray the Angelus. I hope that your holidays may be a time of great joy, spent together as families, and of deep spiritual renewal, as you rest in the marvel of God's gift of creation. May the Almighty abundantly bless each of you and your loved ones.

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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On the Economic Crisis and Cultural Values

On the Economic Crisis and Cultural Values

"Providence Always Helps Those Who Do Good"

ROMANO CANAVESE, Italy, JULY 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the public address Benedict XVI gave today before praying the midday Angelus in Romano Canavese, close to Les Combes in the Aosta Valley of northern Italy where he is spending some vacation days.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters!

I have come with great joy to your beautiful city, to your beautiful church, the native city of my chief colleague, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state, with whom I had already worked for many years in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

As you see, because of my accident, I am a bit limited in my movements, but my heart is fully present, and I am here with you with great joy!

At this moment I would like to say thank you with my whole heart to everyone: many have shown me, at this time, their closeness, their warmth, their affection and have prayed for me, and in this way they have reinforced the network of prayer that unites us in every part of the world.

First of all, I would like to say thank you to the doctors and the medical personnel of Aosta who have treated me with such diligence, with such competence and friendship and -- as you see -- with success -- we hope!

I would also like to say thank you to all the government and Church officials and to all the simple people who wrote me or showed me their affection and their closeness.

I would then like above all to greet your bishop, Bishop Arrigo Miglio, and thank him for the kind words, full of friendship, that also taught me a little about the historical and present situation of this city of yours. And I would also like to thank his Excellency Luigi Betazzi for his presence. I greet the mayor, who gave me a beautiful gift, [and] the civil and military authorities; I greet the pastor and the other priests, the men and women religious, the heads of the ecclesiastical associations and movements and all of the citizenry, with a special thought for the children, the young people, the families, the sick, the persons in need. To all and to each my most lively gratitude goes out for the welcome that you have reserved for me in this brief sojourn with you.

This morning you celebrated the Eucharist and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has certainly already explained the Word of God to you, which the liturgy offers for our meditation on this 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time. As the Lord invites the disciples to come away to listen to him in a more intimate setting, I also would like to be engaged with you, recalling that precisely listening to and welcoming the Gospel is what brought your local community about, whose name recalls the relationship of two millennia that the Canavese have with Rome. As his Excellency said, your land was bathed in the blood of martyrs at an early date. Among them was St. Solutore -- I must confess that until now I did not know his name but I am always grateful to discover new saint intercessors! -- and together with St. Peter the Apostle, he is the patron of your church.

Your imposing parish church is an eloquent witness to a long history of faith. This church dominates a large part of the Canavese landscape, whose inhabitants are known for their love and attachment to work. Presently, however, I know that here too, in Ivrea, many families are experiencing a difficult economic situation because of the scarcity of jobs. In regard to this problem -- as his Excellency also recalled -- I have spoken many times and I wanted to treat it more deeply in my recent encyclical "Caritas in Veritate." I hope that it will be able to mobilize forces to renew the world!

Dear friends, do not be discouraged! Providence always helps those who do good and dedicate themselves to justice; it helps those who do not think only of themselves but of those who are worse off. And you know this well, because your grandparents had to emigrate because there was a lack of work, but then economic development brought well-being and others immigrated here from [other parts of] Italy and from foreign countries. The fundamental values of the family and respect for human life, sensibility for social justice, the capacity to endure toil and sacrifice, the strong link to Christian faith through parish life and especially through participation at Holy Mass, have been your strength over the centuries. These same values will permit today's generations to build their future with hope, giving life to a true solidarity and a fraternal society, in which all the various spheres, institutions and economy are permeated by an evangelical spirit.

I address the young people in a special way, who must think about education. Here, as everywhere, you must ask what sort of culture is emerging around you; what examples and models are proposed to you, and you must determine whether they are such as to encourage you to follow the ways of the Gospel and authentic freedom. Youth is full of resources, but it must be helped to overcome the temptation of easy and illusory ways, to find the road of true and abundant life.

Dear brothers and sisters! In this land of yours, rich in Christian traditions and human values, numerous vocations have flourished among men and women, especially for the Salesian family, like that of Cardinal Bertone, who was born in this very parish of yours, was baptized in this church, and grew up in a family where he assimilated a genuine faith. Your diocese owes much to the sons and daughters of Don Bosco, to their widespread and fruitful presence in this whole area from the time when the holy founder was still alive. May this be a further encouragement to your diocesan community to commit itself more and more to the field of education and vocational accompaniment. For this let us invoke the protection of Mary, the Virgin Assumed, Patroness of the Diocese, Help of Christians, a mother loved and venerated in a special way in numerous shrines dedicated to her among the mountains of the Gran Paradiso and on the plain of the Po. May her maternal presence show the way of hope to all and lead them along it as the star led the Magi. May the Madonna of the Star watch over all you from the hill that dominates Ivrea, Monte Stella, which is dedicated to her and to the Magi Kings. Let us now entrust ourselves to the Madonna with filial confidence, invoking her with the prayer of the Angelus.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

The Gloria, from the special Dominican rite liturgy celebrated by Fr. Augustine Thompson, OP last November.

Cardinal Cordes on "Caritas in Veritate"

Cardinal Cordes on "Caritas in Veritate"

"The Heart of Social Doctrine Remains the Human Person"

VATICAN CITY, JULY 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unam, gave July 7 at the press conference that marked the release of Benedict XVI's encyclical "Caritas in Veritate."

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I have been asked to situate the Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" within the context of the thought and magisterium of Benedict XVI. His first Encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," on the theology of charity, contained indications on social doctrine (nn. 26-29). Now we have a text dedicated entirely to this subject.

What strikes me from the outset is that the central concept remains caritas understood as divine love manifested in Christ. This is the source that inspires the thinking and behavior of the Christian in the world. In its light, truth becomes "gift …, not produced by us, but rather always found or, better, received" (n. 34). It cannot be reduced merely to human goodwill or philanthropy. In my intervention, I wish to comment first on social doctrine within the mission of the Church, and then treat one of its principles: the centrality of the human person.

1. Social Doctrine in the Mission of the Church

1.1. The Church's task is not to create a just society

The Church was constituted by Christ to be a sacrament of salvation for all men and women (LG 1). This specific mission subjects her to a constant misunderstanding: secularization to the point of making her a political agent. The Church inspires, but does not do politics. Drawing on "Populorum Progressio," the new Encyclical states clearly: "The Church does not have technical solutions to offer and does not claim to meddle in the politics of the State" (n. 9). The Church is neither a political party, nor a politicizing actor. Woe to those who reduce the Church's mission to a worldly pressure movement to obtain political results. Cardinal Ratzinger himself opposed this possible misunderstanding in the 80's as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the face of certain theologies of liberation. (Instructio of 6.8.1984).

This implies in turn that the social doctrine of the Church is not a "third way," that is a political program to be implemented in order to attain a perfect society. Whoever thinks in this way risks -- paradoxically -- creating a theocracy, in which the valid principles concerning faith become tout court principles to be applied for social life, both for believers and unbelievers, embracing even violence. In the face of such errors, the Church safeguards, together with religious freedom, the rightful autonomy of the created order, as assured by the Second Vatican Council.

1.2. Social Doctrine as an element of evangelization

Of course, the Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" expresses the import of the Church social doctrine in various places, for example number 15, which treats the relationship between evangelization and human promotion, from the starting point of "Populorum Progressio." Whereas, up until now, social doctrine emphasized action to promote justice, now the pastoral side is broached: social doctrine is affirmed as an element of evangelization. That is to say: the Church's perennial announcement of Christ dead and risen has a consequence also for social living. This affirmation contains two aspects.

We cannot read social doctrine outside the context of the Gospel and its proclamation. Social doctrine, as this Encyclical demonstrates, is born from and is interpreted in the light of Revelation.

On the other hand, social doctrine cannot be identified with evangelization, but is one element. The Gospel deals with human acting also in social relations and institutions born from them, but cannot limit man to his social life. John Paul II vigorously defended this concept in "Redemptoris Missio" (n.11). Hence, the Church's social doctrine cannot take over the announcement of the Gospel in the person-to-person encounter.

1.3. Social Doctrine: not without revelation

A brief historical overview: as a result of the industrial revolution (19th century) and its negative consequences, the Church's leaders urgently pressed the State for a response in order to reestablish social justice and the dignity of the human person in philosophical terms. Later, with "Pacem in Terris," John XXIII focused largely on the horizon of faith and spoke of sin and victory over it through the divine work of salvation. John Paul II then introduced the concept of "structures of sin" and applied salvation also to the fight against human misery. His "Sollicitudo Rei Socialis" integrated social doctrine within moral theology: "This belongs, therefore, not to the field of ideology, but theology, and especially moral theology" (n. 41). With this step, social doctrine enters clearly into the theological domain. The principles of social doctrine have not remained merely philosophical, therefore, but have their origin in Christ and His word. In "Deus Caritas Est," Benedict XVI writes that faith purifies reason and thus helps it to create a just order in society; this is where social doctrine is inserted (cfr. 28a).

This proceeds, then, upon the foundation of a discussion accessible to all reason, and hence on the basis of natural law. But it recognizes its dependence on faith.

The new Encyclical treats more explicitly and more decisively all of this, with charity as the foundation. It teaches, "charity is the supreme path of the Church's social doctrine" (n. 2). Charity understood here as "received and given" by God (n. 5).

The love of God the Creator Father and His Redeemer Son, poured out in us through the Holy Spirit, empowers the social life of man on the basis of certain principles. It affirms for development the "centrality … of charity" (n. 19). Wisdom -- it also says -- capable of orienting man "must be 'mixed' with the 'salt' of charity" (n. 30). These simple -- apparently obvious -- affirmations conceal some important implications. When it is loosed from Christian experience, social doctrine becomes that ideology which John Paul taught it should not be. A political manifesto without a soul. Social doctrine rather, in the first place, commits the Christian to "incarnating" his faith. As the Encyclical claims: "Charity manifests always, even in human relations, the love of God, it gives theologal and salvific value to every worldly task" (n. 6). To the oft-formulated question: "What contribution does the Christian make to the edification of the world?" social doctrine provides the answer.

2. An anthropocentric approach

The heart of social doctrine remains the human person. I already said that, in a first phase, the attention of this discipline was oriented, rather, to problematic situations within society: regulation of work, right to a just wage, worker representation. Later, these problems were dealt with at an international level: the disparity between rich and poor, development, international relations. With the theological emphasis, John XXIII treats more decisively the question of all this in terms of the human person -- we are in a second phase in the evolution of this discipline. John Paul II then reinforced this understanding centering social reflection on the anthropological. This aspect is present in a striking way in the document: "The first capital to be defended and valued is man, the human person, in his entirety" (n. 25); "The social question has become radically the anthropological question" (n. 75). Progress, to be truly so, must, therefore, enable man to grow in his entirety: in the text, we find references to the environment, market, globalization, the ethical question, culture, that is, the various places where man carries out his activity. This end remains a precious heritage in social doctrine from its beginnings. But, more deeply, the anthropological question implies answering a central question: which man do we wish to promote? Can we consider true development a development that imprisons man in an earthly horizon, formed only by material well-being, ignoring the question of values, meaning, the infinite to which he is called? Can a society survive without foundational reference points, without looking at eternity, denying man and woman an answer to their deepest questions? Can there be true development without God?

In the logic of this Encyclical, we find then a further stage, perhaps a third phase in the reflection on social doctrine. It is not by chance that charity is placed as a key link: divine charity responds, as a human act, through a theological virtue, as I said at the beginning. Man is not considered only as the object of a process, but as the subject of this process. The man, who has known Christ, makes himself the agent of change in order that social doctrine does not remain a dead letter. Pope Benedict writes: "Development is impossible without upright men and women, without economical actors and politicians who do not live strongly in their consciences the call to the common good" (n. 71). Here, we are in perfect continuity with the Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," which, in its second part, treats the characteristics of those who work in charitable organizations. And the horizon widens to the public world, where often, in the north and south, we experience phenomena that are all too well-known, preventing the growth of people: corruption and illegality (cfr. n. 22), the lust for power (cfr. DCE 28). The "original sin," as the text recalls in n. 34, prevents the construction of society in many places. Also in those who guide society. We cannot confront the social question without the ethical. The Encyclical refers to the "new man" in the biblical sense (n. 12). There can be no new society without new men and women. Social doctrine will not remain a treatise or an ideology only if there are Christians prepared to live it in charity, with the help of God. Authenticity on the part of all the actors is needed. Formulated without any twist of words: "Far from God, man is troubled and sick" (n. 76). It is very significant that the last paragraph of the Encyclical (n. 79) is dedicated to prayer and the call to conversion: God renews the heart of man so that he may dedicate himself to living in charity and justice. Christians, therefore, do not simply stand at the window to watch or protest, infected by the modern culture of denouncing others, but they allow themselves to be converted to build, in God, a new culture. This is true also for the Church's members, both as individuals and groups.

3. Progress

I wish to end with a reflection on the concept of progress. Paul VI -- this Encyclical also recalls -- spoke about it in a succinct way ("Populorum Progressio," n. 21). Unfortunately, human growth has often been conceived as independent from the question of faith, as if human promotion is one thing, and the proclamation of the faith another. In addition to unifying the two dimensions, this document introduces a further element in the concept of progress: hope (n. 34).

As Pope Benedict XVI stressed in "Spe Salvi," hope cannot be that of progress constructed for well-being in this world (n. 30), since this does not coincide with human freedom (nn. 23-24); the foundation of Christian hope is the gift of God (n. 31). Hence, hope helps us not to enclose progress in the edification of an earthly kingdom, but it opens us to the gift: in God, we find the crowning of the desire for man's good. It is always within this optic that the Church formulates social doctrine and Christians find in it inspiration for their engagement in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen: There is great interest in this Encyclical. When read well, Benedict XVI's text is a light for society and, last but not least, for us Christians.

Papal Homily at Close of Pauline Year

Papal Homily at Close of Pauline Year

"The World Cannot Be Renewed Without New People"

VATICAN CITY, JULY 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave June 28 at the celebration of first vespers for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to mark the conclusion of the Pauline Year.

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Your Eminences,

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,

Distinguished Members of the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I address my cordial greeting to each one of you. In particular, I greet the Cardinal Archpriest of this Basilica and his collaborators, I greet the Abbot and the Benedictine monastic community; I also greet the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The commemorative year for the birth of St Paul ends this evening. We have gathered at the tomb of the Apostle whose sarcophagus, preserved beneath the papal altar, was recently the object of a careful scientific analysis. A tiny hole was drilled in the sarcophagus, which in so many centuries had never been opened, in order to insert a special probe which revealed traces of a precious purple-coloured linen fabric, with a design in gold leaf, and a blue fabric with linen threads.

Grains of red incense and protein and chalk substances were also found. In addition, minute fragments of bone were sent for carbon-14 testing by experts unaware of their provenance. The fragments proved to belong to someone who had lived between the first and second centuries. This would seem to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition which claims that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul. All this fills our hearts with profound emotion.

In recent months, many people have followed the paths of the Apostle the exterior and especially the interior paths on which he travelled in his lifetime: the road to Damascus towards his encounter with the Risen One; the routes of the Mediterranean world which he crossed with the torch of the Gospel, encountering contradiction and adherence until his martyrdom, through which he belongs for ever to the Church of Rome. It was to her that he also addressed his most important Letter.

The Pauline Year is drawing to a close but what will remain a part of Christian existence is the journey with Paul with him and thanks to him getting to know Jesus, and, like the Apostle, being enlightened and transformed by the Gospel. And always, going beyond the circle of believers, he remains the "teacher of the Gentiles", who seeks to bring the message of the Risen One to them all, because Christ has known and loved each one; he has died and risen for them all.

Therefore let us too listen to him at this time when we are solemnly beginning the Feast of the two Apostles who were bound to one another by a close bond.

It is part of the structure of Paul's Letters always in reference to the particular place and situation that they first of all explain the mystery of Christ, they teach faith. The second part treats their application to our lives: what ensues from this faith? How does it shape our existence, day by day?

In the Letter to the Romans, this second part begins in chapter 12, in which the Apostle briefly sums up the essential nucleus of Christian existence in the first two verses. What does St Paul say to us in that passage?

First of all he affirms, as a fundamental thing, that a new way of venerating God began with Christ a new form of worship. It consists in the fact that the living person himself becomes adoration, "sacrifice", even in his own body. It is no longer things that are offered to God. It is our very existence that must become praise of God. But how does this happen?

In the second verse we are given the answer: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God..." (12: 2).

The two decisive words of this verse are "transformed" and "renewal". We must become new people, transformed into a new mode of existence. The world is always in search of novelty because, rightly, it is always dissatisfied with concrete reality.

Paul tells us: the world cannot be renewed without new people. Only if there are new people will there also be a new world, a renewed and better world. In the beginning is the renewal of the human being. This subsequently applies to every individual. Only if we ourselves become new does the world become new. This also means that it is not enough to adapt to the current situation.

The Apostle exhorts us to non-conformism. In our Letter he says: we should not submit to the logic of our time. We shall return to this point, reflecting on the second text on which I wish to meditate with you this evening.

The Apostle's "no" is clear and also convincing for anyone who observes the "logic" of our world. But to become new how can this be done? Are we really capable of it? With his words on becoming new, Paul alludes to his own conversion: to his encounter with the Risen Christ, an encounter of which, in the Second Letter to the Corinthians he says: "if anyone is in Christ, he is in a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (5:17).

This encounter with Christ was so overwhelming for him that he said of it: "I... died..." (Gal 2:19; cf. Rm 6).

He became new, another, because he no longer lived for himself and by virtue of himself, but for Christ and in him. In the course of the years, however, he also saw that this process of renewal and transformation continues throughout life. We become new if we let ourselves be grasped and shaped by the new Man, Jesus Christ. He is the new Man par excellence. In him the new human existence became reality and we can truly become new if we deliver ourselves into his hands and let ourselves be moulded by him.

Paul makes this process of "recasting" even clearer by saying that we become new if we transform our way of thinking. What has been introduced here with "way of thinking" is the Greek term "nous". It is a complex word. It may be translated as "spirit", "sentiments", "reason", and precisely, also by "way of thinking".

Thus our reason must become new. This surprises us. We might have expected instead that this would have concerned some attitude: what we should change in our behaviour. But no: renewal must go to the very core. Our way of looking at the world, of understanding reality all our thought must change from its foundations. The reasoning of the former person, the common way of thinking is usually directed to possession, well-being, influence, success, fame and so forth. Yet in this way its scope is too limited. Thus, in the final analysis, one's "self" remains the centre of the world. We must learn to think more profoundly. St Paul tells us what this means in the second part of the sentence: it is necessary to learn to understand God's will, so that it may shape our own will.

This is in order that we ourselves may desire what God desires, because we recognize that what God wants is the beautiful and the good. It is therefore a question of a turning point in our fundamental spiritual orientation. God must enter into the horizon of our thought: what he wants and the way in which he conceived of the world and of me. We must learn to share in the thinking and the will of Jesus Christ. It is then that we will be new people in whom a new world emerges.

Paul illustrates the same idea of a necessary renewal of our way of being human in two passages of his Letter to the Ephesians; let us therefore reflect on them briefly.

In the Letter's fourth chapter, the Apostle tells us that with Christ we must attain adulthood, a mature faith. We can no longer be "children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine..." (4:14).

Paul wants Christians to have a "responsible" and "adult faith". The words "adult faith" in recent decades have formed a widespread slogan. It is often meant in the sense of the attitude of those who no longer listen to the Church and her Pastors but autonomously choose what they want to believe and not to believe hence a do-it-yourself faith. And it is presented as a "courageous" form of self-expression against the Magisterium of the Church.

In fact, however, no courage is needed for this because one may always be certain of public applause. Rather, courage is needed to adhere to the Church's faith, even if this contradicts the "logic" of the contemporary world. This is the non-conformism of faith which Paul calls an "adult faith". It is the faith that he desires.

On the other hand, he describes chasing the winds and trends of the time as infantile. Thus, being committed to the inviolability of human life from its first instant, thereby radically opposing the principle of violence also precisely in the defence of the most defenceless human creatures is part of an adult faith.

It is part of an adult faith to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for the whole of life as the Creator's ordering, newly re-established by Christ. Adult faith does not let itself be carried about here and there by any trend. It opposes the winds of fashion. It knows that these winds are not the breath of the Holy Spirit; it knows that the Spirit of God is expressed and manifested in communion with Jesus Christ.

However, here too Paul does not stop at saying "no", but rather leads us to the great "yes". He describes the mature, truly adult faith positively with the words: "speaking the truth in love" (cf. Eph 4:15).

The new way of thinking, given to us by faith, is first and foremost a turning towards the truth. The power of evil is falsehood. The power of faith, the power of God, is the truth. The truth about the world and about ourselves becomes visible when we look to God. And God makes himself visible to us in the Face of Jesus Christ.

In looking at Christ, we recognize something else: truth and love are inseparable. In God both are inseparably one; it is precisely this that is the essence of God. For Christians, therefore, truth and love go together. Love is the test of truth. We should always measure ourselves anew against this criterion, so that truth may become love and love may make us truthful.

Another important thought appears in this verse of St Paul. The Apostle tells us that by acting in accordance with truth in love, we help to ensure that all things (ta pánta) the universe may grow, striving for Christ.

On the basis of his faith, Paul is not only concerned in our personal rectitude nor with the growth of the Church alone. He is interested in the universe: ta pánta. The ultimate purpose of Christ's work is the universe the transformation of the universe, of the whole human world, of all creation.

Those who serve the truth in love together with Christ contribute to the true progress of the world. Yes, here it is quite clear that Paul is acquainted with the idea of progress. Christ his life, his suffering and his rising was the great leap ahead in the progress of humanity, of the world. Now, however, the universe must grow in accordance with him. Where the presence of Christ increases, therein lies the true progress of the world. There, mankind becomes new and thus the world is made new.

Paul makes the same thing clear from yet another different perspective. In chapter three of the Letter to the Ephesians he speaks to us of the need to be "strengthened... in the inner man" (3:16). With this he takes up a subject that earlier, in a troubled situation, he had addressed in the Second Letter to the Corinthians.

"Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day" (4:16). The inner person must be strengthened this is a very appropriate imperative for our time, in which people all too often remain inwardly empty and must therefore cling to promises and drugs, which then result in a further growth of the sense of emptiness in their hearts. This interior void the weakness of the inner person is one of the great problems of our time.

Interiority must be reinforced the perceptiveness of the heart; the capacity to see and to understand the world and the person from within, with one's heart. We are in need of reason illuminated by the heart in order to learn to act in accordance with truth in love.

However, this is not realized without an intimate relationship with God, without the life of prayer. We need the encounter with God that is given to us in the sacraments. And we cannot speak to God in prayer unless we let him speak first, unless we listen to him in the words that he has given us.

In this regard Paul says to us: "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3:17ff.).

With these words Paul tells us that love sees beyond simple reason. And he also tells us that only in communion with all the saints, that is, in the great community of all believers and not against or without it can we know the immensity of Christ's mystery.

He circumscribes this immensity with words meant to express the dimensions of the cosmos: breadth, length and height and depth. The mystery of Christ has a cosmic vastness; he did not belong only to a specific group. The Crucified Christ embraces the entire universe in all its dimensions. He takes the world in his hands and lifts it up towards God.

Starting with St Irenaeus of Lyons thus from the second century the Fathers have seen in these words on the breadth, length and height and depth of Christ's love an allusion to the Cross.

In the Cross, Christ's love embraced the lowest depths the night of death as well as the supreme heights, the loftiness of God himself. And he took into his arms the breadth and the vastness of humanity and of the world in all their distances. He always embraces the universe all of us.

Let us pray the Lord to help us to recognize something of the immensity of his love. Let us pray him that his love and his truth may touch our hearts. Let us ask that Christ dwell in our hearts and make us new men and women who act according to truth in love. Amen!

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Papal Homily at Close of Pauline Year

"The World Cannot Be Renewed Without New People"

VATICAN CITY, JULY 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave June 28 at the celebration of first vespers for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to mark the conclusion of the Pauline Year.

* * *

Your Eminences,

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,

Distinguished Members of the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I address my cordial greeting to each one of you. In particular, I greet the Cardinal Archpriest of this Basilica and his collaborators, I greet the Abbot and the Benedictine monastic community; I also greet the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The commemorative year for the birth of St Paul ends this evening. We have gathered at the tomb of the Apostle whose sarcophagus, preserved beneath the papal altar, was recently the object of a careful scientific analysis. A tiny hole was drilled in the sarcophagus, which in so many centuries had never been opened, in order to insert a special probe which revealed traces of a precious purple-coloured linen fabric, with a design in gold leaf, and a blue fabric with linen threads.

Grains of red incense and protein and chalk substances were also found. In addition, minute fragments of bone were sent for carbon-14 testing by experts unaware of their provenance. The fragments proved to belong to someone who had lived between the first and second centuries. This would seem to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition which claims that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul. All this fills our hearts with profound emotion.

In recent months, many people have followed the paths of the Apostle the exterior and especially the interior paths on which he travelled in his lifetime: the road to Damascus towards his encounter with the Risen One; the routes of the Mediterranean world which he crossed with the torch of the Gospel, encountering contradiction and adherence until his martyrdom, through which he belongs for ever to the Church of Rome. It was to her that he also addressed his most important Letter.

The Pauline Year is drawing to a close but what will remain a part of Christian existence is the journey with Paul with him and thanks to him getting to know Jesus, and, like the Apostle, being enlightened and transformed by the Gospel. And always, going beyond the circle of believers, he remains the "teacher of the Gentiles", who seeks to bring the message of the Risen One to them all, because Christ has known and loved each one; he has died and risen for them all.

Therefore let us too listen to him at this time when we are solemnly beginning the Feast of the two Apostles who were bound to one another by a close bond.

It is part of the structure of Paul's Letters always in reference to the particular place and situation that they first of all explain the mystery of Christ, they teach faith. The second part treats their application to our lives: what ensues from this faith? How does it shape our existence, day by day?

In the Letter to the Romans, this second part begins in chapter 12, in which the Apostle briefly sums up the essential nucleus of Christian existence in the first two verses. What does St Paul say to us in that passage?

First of all he affirms, as a fundamental thing, that a new way of venerating God began with Christ a new form of worship. It consists in the fact that the living person himself becomes adoration, "sacrifice", even in his own body. It is no longer things that are offered to God. It is our very existence that must become praise of God. But how does this happen?

In the second verse we are given the answer: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God..." (12: 2).

The two decisive words of this verse are "transformed" and "renewal". We must become new people, transformed into a new mode of existence. The world is always in search of novelty because, rightly, it is always dissatisfied with concrete reality.

Paul tells us: the world cannot be renewed without new people. Only if there are new people will there also be a new world, a renewed and better world. In the beginning is the renewal of the human being. This subsequently applies to every individual. Only if we ourselves become new does the world become new. This also means that it is not enough to adapt to the current situation.

The Apostle exhorts us to non-conformism. In our Letter he says: we should not submit to the logic of our time. We shall return to this point, reflecting on the second text on which I wish to meditate with you this evening.

The Apostle's "no" is clear and also convincing for anyone who observes the "logic" of our world. But to become new how can this be done? Are we really capable of it? With his words on becoming new, Paul alludes to his own conversion: to his encounter with the Risen Christ, an encounter of which, in the Second Letter to the Corinthians he says: "if anyone is in Christ, he is in a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (5:17).

This encounter with Christ was so overwhelming for him that he said of it: "I... died..." (Gal 2:19; cf. Rm 6).

He became new, another, because he no longer lived for himself and by virtue of himself, but for Christ and in him. In the course of the years, however, he also saw that this process of renewal and transformation continues throughout life. We become new if we let ourselves be grasped and shaped by the new Man, Jesus Christ. He is the new Man par excellence. In him the new human existence became reality and we can truly become new if we deliver ourselves into his hands and let ourselves be moulded by him.

Paul makes this process of "recasting" even clearer by saying that we become new if we transform our way of thinking. What has been introduced here with "way of thinking" is the Greek term "nous". It is a complex word. It may be translated as "spirit", "sentiments", "reason", and precisely, also by "way of thinking".

Thus our reason must become new. This surprises us. We might have expected instead that this would have concerned some attitude: what we should change in our behaviour. But no: renewal must go to the very core. Our way of looking at the world, of understanding reality all our thought must change from its foundations. The reasoning of the former person, the common way of thinking is usually directed to possession, well-being, influence, success, fame and so forth. Yet in this way its scope is too limited. Thus, in the final analysis, one's "self" remains the centre of the world. We must learn to think more profoundly. St Paul tells us what this means in the second part of the sentence: it is necessary to learn to understand God's will, so that it may shape our own will.

This is in order that we ourselves may desire what God desires, because we recognize that what God wants is the beautiful and the good. It is therefore a question of a turning point in our fundamental spiritual orientation. God must enter into the horizon of our thought: what he wants and the way in which he conceived of the world and of me. We must learn to share in the thinking and the will of Jesus Christ. It is then that we will be new people in whom a new world emerges.

Paul illustrates the same idea of a necessary renewal of our way of being human in two passages of his Letter to the Ephesians; let us therefore reflect on them briefly.

In the Letter's fourth chapter, the Apostle tells us that with Christ we must attain adulthood, a mature faith. We can no longer be "children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine..." (4:14).

Paul wants Christians to have a "responsible" and "adult faith". The words "adult faith" in recent decades have formed a widespread slogan. It is often meant in the sense of the attitude of those who no longer listen to the Church and her Pastors but autonomously choose what they want to believe and not to believe hence a do-it-yourself faith. And it is presented as a "courageous" form of self-expression against the Magisterium of the Church.

In fact, however, no courage is needed for this because one may always be certain of public applause. Rather, courage is needed to adhere to the Church's faith, even if this contradicts the "logic" of the contemporary world. This is the non-conformism of faith which Paul calls an "adult faith". It is the faith that he desires.

On the other hand, he describes chasing the winds and trends of the time as infantile. Thus, being committed to the inviolability of human life from its first instant, thereby radically opposing the principle of violence also precisely in the defence of the most defenceless human creatures is part of an adult faith.

It is part of an adult faith to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for the whole of life as the Creator's ordering, newly re-established by Christ. Adult faith does not let itself be carried about here and there by any trend. It opposes the winds of fashion. It knows that these winds are not the breath of the Holy Spirit; it knows that the Spirit of God is expressed and manifested in communion with Jesus Christ.

However, here too Paul does not stop at saying "no", but rather leads us to the great "yes". He describes the mature, truly adult faith positively with the words: "speaking the truth in love" (cf. Eph 4:15).

The new way of thinking, given to us by faith, is first and foremost a turning towards the truth. The power of evil is falsehood. The power of faith, the power of God, is the truth. The truth about the world and about ourselves becomes visible when we look to God. And God makes himself visible to us in the Face of Jesus Christ.

In looking at Christ, we recognize something else: truth and love are inseparable. In God both are inseparably one; it is precisely this that is the essence of God. For Christians, therefore, truth and love go together. Love is the test of truth. We should always measure ourselves anew against this criterion, so that truth may become love and love may make us truthful.

Another important thought appears in this verse of St Paul. The Apostle tells us that by acting in accordance with truth in love, we help to ensure that all things (ta pánta) the universe may grow, striving for Christ.

On the basis of his faith, Paul is not only concerned in our personal rectitude nor with the growth of the Church alone. He is interested in the universe: ta pánta. The ultimate purpose of Christ's work is the universe the transformation of the universe, of the whole human world, of all creation.

Those who serve the truth in love together with Christ contribute to the true progress of the world. Yes, here it is quite clear that Paul is acquainted with the idea of progress. Christ his life, his suffering and his rising was the great leap ahead in the progress of humanity, of the world. Now, however, the universe must grow in accordance with him. Where the presence of Christ increases, therein lies the true progress of the world. There, mankind becomes new and thus the world is made new.

Paul makes the same thing clear from yet another different perspective. In chapter three of the Letter to the Ephesians he speaks to us of the need to be "strengthened... in the inner man" (3:16). With this he takes up a subject that earlier, in a troubled situation, he had addressed in the Second Letter to the Corinthians.

"Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day" (4:16). The inner person must be strengthened this is a very appropriate imperative for our time, in which people all too often remain inwardly empty and must therefore cling to promises and drugs, which then result in a further growth of the sense of emptiness in their hearts. This interior void the weakness of the inner person is one of the great problems of our time.

Interiority must be reinforced the perceptiveness of the heart; the capacity to see and to understand the world and the person from within, with one's heart. We are in need of reason illuminated by the heart in order to learn to act in accordance with truth in love.

However, this is not realized without an intimate relationship with God, without the life of prayer. We need the encounter with God that is given to us in the sacraments. And we cannot speak to God in prayer unless we let him speak first, unless we listen to him in the words that he has given us.

In this regard Paul says to us: "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3:17ff.).

With these words Paul tells us that love sees beyond simple reason. And he also tells us that only in communion with all the saints, that is, in the great community of all believers and not against or without it can we know the immensity of Christ's mystery.

He circumscribes this immensity with words meant to express the dimensions of the cosmos: breadth, length and height and depth. The mystery of Christ has a cosmic vastness; he did not belong only to a specific group. The Crucified Christ embraces the entire universe in all its dimensions. He takes the world in his hands and lifts it up towards God.

Starting with St Irenaeus of Lyons thus from the second century the Fathers have seen in these words on the breadth, length and height and depth of Christ's love an allusion to the Cross.

In the Cross, Christ's love embraced the lowest depths the night of death as well as the supreme heights, the loftiness of God himself. And he took into his arms the breadth and the vastness of humanity and of the world in all their distances. He always embraces the universe all of us.

Let us pray the Lord to help us to recognize something of the immensity of his love. Let us pray him that his love and his truth may touch our hearts. Let us ask that Christ dwell in our hearts and make us new men and women who act according to truth in love. Amen!

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Pope's Homily at Mass to Bestow Palliums to Archbishops

Pope's Homily at Mass to Bestow Palliums to Archbishops

"In Seeing From God's Viewpoint, One Has an Overall Vision"

VATICAN CITY, JULY12, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI delivered June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, at the Mass during which he celebrated the 58th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood and conferred the pallium on 34 Metropolitan Archbishops.

* * *

Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I address my cordial greeting to you all with the words of the Apostle by whose tomb we stand: "May grace and peace be multiplied to you" (1 Pt 1: 2). I greet in particular the Members of the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the numerous Metropolitans who will receive the pallium today. In the opening prayer of this solemn day we ask the Lord that the Church may always follow the teaching of the Apostles from whom she first received the announcement of the faith.

The request we address to God at the same time calls us into question: are we following the teaching of the great founder Apostles? Do we really know them? In the Pauline Year that ended yesterday, we endeavoured to listen anew to him, the "teacher of the Gentiles", hence to learn anew the alphabet of faith. We endeavoured to recognize Christ with Paul and through Paul, and thus to find the way to an upright Christian life. In the Canon of the New Testament, in addition to the Letters of St Paul, there are also two other Letters under the name of St Peter. The first ends with an explicit greeting from Rome, which, however, appears under the apocalyptic pseudonym of Babylon: "She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings" (1 Pt 5: 13).

By calling the Church of Rome "likewise chosen", he sets her within the great community of all the local Churches in the community of all those whom God has gathered, so that in the "Babylon" of this world's time they might build up his People and introduce God into history.

St Peter's First Letter is a greeting addressed from Rome to the Christendom of all epochs. It invites us to listen to "the teaching of the Apostles", which shows us the way to life.

This Letter is a very rich text that wells up from the heart and touches the heart. Its centre is and how could it be otherwise? the figure of Christ who is illustrated as the One who suffers and loves, as Crucified and Risen: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten.... By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Pt 2: 23f.).

Then starting from the centre that is Christ, the Letter is also an introduction to the fundamental Christian Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist and a discourse addressed to priests in which Peter describes himself as a fellow priest with them. He speaks to Pastors of all generations as one who was personally made responsible by the Lord for tending his sheep and has thus received a specific priestly mandate.

So what does St Peter tell us precisely in the Year for Priests about the priest's task? First of all he understands the priestly ministry as being based totally on Christ. He calls Christ the "Shepherd and Guardian of... souls" (2: 25). Where the Italian [and the English] translation speak of "Guardian", the Greek text uses the word episcopos (bishop). A little further on, Christ is described as the chief Shepherd: archipoimen (5: 4). It is surprising that Peter should call Christ himself a Bishop, Bishop of souls. What did he mean by this? The Greek term "episcopos" contains the verb "to see"; for this reason it is translated as "guardian", in other words "supervisor". Yet external supervision, as might befit a prison guard, is certainly not what is meant here. Rather it means watching over, from above seeing from the lofty position of God.

Seeing from God's perspective is seeing with love that wants to serve the other, wants to help him to become truly himself. Christ is the "Bishop of souls", Peter tells us. This means: he sees us from the perspective of God. In seeing from God's viewpoint, one has an overall vision, one sees the dangers as well as the hopes and possibilities. From God's perspective one sees the essential, one sees the inner man. If Christ is the Bishop of souls, the objective is to prevent the human soul from becoming impoverished and to ensure that the human being does not lose his essence, the capacity for truth and love; to ensure that he becomes acquainted with God; that he does not get lost in blind alleys; that he does not end in loneliness but remains altogether open.

Jesus, the "Bishop of souls", is the prototype of every episcopal and presbyteral ministry. To be a Bishop, to be a priest, means in this perspective to assume the position of Christ. It means thinking, seeing and acting from his exalted vantage point. It means starting from Christ in order to be available to human beings so that they find life.

Thus the word "Bishop", is very close to the term "Shepherd"; indeed the two concepts become interchangeable. It is the shepherd's task to feed and tend his flock and take it to the right pastures. Grazing the flock means taking care that the sheep find the right nourishment, that their hunger is satisfied and their thirst quenched. The metaphor apart, this means: the word of God is the nourishment that the human being needs.

Making God's word ever present and new and thereby giving nourishment to people is the task of the righteous Pastor. And he must also know how to resist the enemies, the wolves. He must go first, point out the way, preserve the unity of the flock. Peter, in his discourse to priests, highlights another very important thing. It is not enough to speak. Pastors must make themselves "examples to the flock". (5: 3). When it is lived, the word of God is brought from the past into the present. It is marvellous to see how in saints the word of God becomes a word addressed to our time.

In such figures as Francis and then again, as Padre Pio and many others, Christ truly became a contemporary of their generation, he emerged from the past to enter the present. This is what being a Pastor means a model for the flock: living the word now, in the great community of holy Church.

Very briefly, I would like to call your attention further to two other affirmations in the First Letter of St Peter which concern us in a special way in our time.

There is first of all the sentence, today discovered anew, on the basis of which medieval theologians understood their task, the task of the theologian: "in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you". (3: 15). Christian faith is hope. It paves the way to the future. And it is a hope that possesses reasonableness, a hope whose reason we can and must explain. Faith comes from the eternal Reason that entered our world and showed us the true God.

Faith surpasses the capacity of our reason, just as love sees more than mere intelligence. But faith speaks to reason and in the dialectic confrontation can be a match for reason. It does not contradict it but keeps up with it and goes beyond it to introduce us into the greater Reason of God.

As Pastors of our time it is our task to be the first to understand the reason of faith. It is our task not to let it remain merely a tradition but to recognize it as a response to our questions.

Faith demands our rational participation, which is deepened and purified in a sharing of love. It is one of our duties as Pastors to penetrate faith with thought, to be able to show the reason for our hope within the debates of our time. Yet although it is so necessary thought alone does not suffice. Just as speaking alone does not suffice. In his baptismal and Eucharistic catechesis in chapter 2 of his Letter, Peter alludes to the Psalm used by the ancient Church in the context of communion, that is, to the verse which says: "O taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Ps 34[33]: 8; 1 Pt 2: 3). Tasting alone leads to seeing.

Let us think of the disciples of Emmaus: it was only in convivial communion with Jesus, only in the breaking of the bread that their eyes were opened. Only in truly experienced communion with the Lord were they able to see. This applies to us all; over and above thinking and speaking, we need the experience of faith, the vital relationship with Jesus Christ.

Faith must not remain theory: it must be life. If we encounter the Lord in the Sacrament, if we speak to him in prayer, if in the decisions of daily life we adhere to Christ then "we see" more and more how good he is; then we experience how good it is to be with him. Moreover the capacity to communicate faith to others in a credible way stems from this certainty lived. The Curé d'Ars was not a great thinker; but he "tasted" the Lord. He lived with him even in the details of daily life, as well as in the great demands of his pastoral ministry. In this way he became "one who sees". He had tasted so he knew that the Lord is good. Let us pray the Lord that he may grant us this ability to taste, and that we may thus become credible witnesses of the hope that is in us.

Lastly, I would like to point out another small but important statement of St Peter. Right at the beginning of his Letter he tells us that the goal of our faith is the salvation of souls (cf. 1: 9). In the world of language and thought of the Christianity of today this is a strange, and for some, perhaps even shocking assertion.

The word "soul" had fallen into discredit. It is said that this could lead to a division of man into spiritual and physical, body and soul, whereas in reality he would be an indivisible unit. In addition, "the salvation of souls" as a goal of faith seems to indicate an individualistic Christianity, a loss of responsibility for the world overall, in its corporeity and in its materiality. Yet none of this is found in St Peter's Letter. Zeal for the witness in favour of hope and responsibility for others characterizes the entire text. To understand what he says on the salvation of souls as a destination of faith, we must start from another angle. It remains true that the lack of care for souls, the impoverishment of the inner man, not only destroys the individual but threatens the destiny of humanity overall.

Without the healing of souls, without the healing of man from within there can be no salvation for humanity. To our surprise, St Peter describes the true ailment of souls as ignorance, that is, not knowing God. Those who are not acquainted with God, or at least do not seek him sincerely, are left outside true life (cf. 1 Pt 1: 14).

Yet another word from the Letter could be useful to understand better the formula "salvation of souls". "Purify your souls by obedience to the truth" (cf. 1: 22). It is obedience to the truth that purifies the soul and it is coexistence with falsehood that pollutes it. Obedience to the truth begins with the small truths of daily life that can often be demanding and painful. This obedience then extends to obedience without reservations before the Truth itself that is Christ. This obedience not only purifies us but above all also frees us for service to Christ and thus for the salvation of the world, which nevertheless always begins with the obedient purification of one's own soul through the truth.

We may point out the way towards the truth only if by obedience and patience we let ourselves be purified by the truth.

And now I address you, dear Brothers in the Episcopate, who will shortly receive the pallium from my hands. It was woven from the wool of lambs which the Pope blesses on the Feast of St Agnes. In this way it also recalls the lambs and sheep of Christ, which the Risen Lord entrusted to Peter with the task of tending them (cf. Jn 21: 15-18). The pallium recalls the flock of Jesus Christ which you, dear Brothers, must tend in communion with Peter. It reminds us of Christ himself, who, as the Good Shepherd, took the lost sheep, humanity, on his shoulders to bring it home. It reminds us that he, the supreme Pastor, wanted to make himself the Lamb, to take upon himself from within the destiny of us all; to carry us and to heal us from within. Let us pray the Lord that he will grant us to be just Pastors following in his footsteps, "not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it... eagerly... examples to the flock" (1 Pt 5: 2f). Amen.

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Commemorating the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia

Commemorating the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia

Interview With the Archabbot of Monte Cassino

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, JULY 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- To commemorate the memorial of St. Benedict of Nursia on Saturday, we present this interview by Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the chief executive officer of Salt and Light Catholic Television Network in Canada, with the Archabbot of Monte Cassino, Benedictine Father Pietro Vittorelli.

The interview took place during the abbot's recent visit to Canada and aired on the Salt and Light Catholic Television Network in Canada

Father Rosica: Abbot Pietro Vitorelli, you are Father Abbot of an abbey that is famous around the world -- Monte Cassino. When one thinks of Monte Cassino, one think of the Great War, of the battle of Monte Cassino and the long, rich history of this abbey. You are a very young Father Abbot, how is this possible?

Archabbot Pietro: Well, when the need arises to elect a new abbot, the Holy Spirit is invoked and the brothers decide, autonomously, according to what the what needs of community are at that time. Then there is the need to respond to another vocation. Saying "yes" after an election is a vocation within a vocation.

I was born in Rome. I met the Benedictines because my family comes from the land of St. Benedict, which is the area around the Abbey of Monte Cassino. This little town is called San Vittorio del Lazio. That's where my grandparents were born and in the summers I would often go visit them in the town. My great-grandmother spoke to me often about the Abbey of Monte Cassino because in southern Italy there's a saying that goes, "Whoever doesn't see Monte Cassino, doesn't believe in Paradise." I never would have thought that one day I'd be in that paradise that is Monte Cassino

Father Rosica: You saw and you also believed! Let's go back to rediscover the appeal of St. Benedict. Ever since April 19, 2005, Benedict is a well-known name. The Holy Father explained the influence that St. Benedict had on his life. Who was Benedict of Nursia?

Archabbot: In his Second Book of Dialogues, St. Gregory the Great tells us about Benedict of Nursia who knew even as a young man, the attraction of a calling. After completing his studies in Rome as was common in the sixth century, Benedict moves towards answering his calling as a hermit. First he goes to the grotto of Subiaco, close to Rome, then wanting to bring to fruition his vision of a monastic life that still needed to be fleshed out, he moves to Cassino and at Monte Cassino. There he finds an ancient Roman building that became the first monastery. There he gives life to a great adventure, the Benedictine Family, writing a short rule for novices that consists of 73 chapters and he calls it the "Regula Monacorum" or the Rule for Monks.

Father Rosica: Benedict constructed the first monastery in 529, if I've read my history correctly, and from that moment to the present day that monastery has had several reincarnations. It's had a very interesting history. Talk to us a little bit about the principle of "Ora et Labora" (Prayer and Work), in the Benedictine life. Talk to us about this motto of Benedictine life.

Archabbot: It's a winning motto, I would say, especially in these times. The younger generations tend to underline whatever is extraordinary, exceptional, outside the normal experience. In the sixth century Benedict was already saying, and continues to say, that what's important is the ordinary, the daily, the normal.

Today, whatever is normal is an exception. And we, in the normality of a life lived in prayer and work, reaffirm that Christ died and rose again to save humanity. This is, I think, what Benedict wanted to pass on to his monks as a unique way of living the Gospel, to give it flesh day after day. Monte Cassino is, in a way, the icon of all of this. It's an abbey with almost 1,500 years of history, the essence of its strength is summarized in a motto that reads "Succisa virecit;" that is, the plant that is cut is reborn again, like a great oak. Since 1529, Monte Cassino has been destroyed four times, but has always been rebuilt. The last time was in 1944 when it seemed impossible to rebuild.

Father Rosica: We could say that God truly wanted the existence of this nucleus of culture and religious life!

Archabbot: I think I can say yes. Today especially, with such a rich history behind it, especially because even today I see how an energy radiates from this place not just through the Italian territory, but around the world. Also because today the Benedictine confederation is present in all corners of the world with almost 370 monasteries around the world.

Father Rosica: Where in the Benedictine world are you seeing growth and where are you seeing, perhaps, a drop in vocations?

Archabbot: Well, just like the rest of the church, there is a drop in vocations in Europe and the West, while there's a great effervescence in the East and in South America where we're seeing many vocations, just like in Africa where we're seeing a new season of the Holy Spirit. There are some monasteries in old Europe, the big monasteries, are suffering from a lack of vocations, while in the Philippines and South America I can think of some monasteries that are not big enough for all the monks they have and we need to build new monasteries.

Father Rosica: What about at Monte Cassino? Are there vocations?

Archabbot: At this time we have vocations following the crisis of vocations that happened right after the Second Vatican Council when there was that great transformation in the way of thinking about and living the Church. Today, following a trend that started about ten years ago, there is a slow resurgence in our community at Monte Cassino and we have six young men in formation -- all Italians!

Their backgrounds are quite varied. Because Monte Cassino is known internationally, we attract vocations from all of Italy, but we also have a constantly growing cultural life and of these six young men four of them have university degrees from different parts of Italy, each with a different background. We have an engineer, an architect, one with a degree in literature, an accountant and a land surveyor.

Father Rosica: Another important component of your monastic life is the liturgy. You give great dignity to liturgy in the Benedictine world. Why is the liturgy and the care given to it so important?

Archabbot: Because the Benedictines treat the Lord as Lord. There is a place of honor given to the "opus Dei," as St. Benedict called it in his rule, the work of God, the first work of God is prayer. Benedictine monks have always given much attention to this primary aspect of their lives, which feeds everything else. The "labora" the work gets it strength and energy from the "ora," prayer and one cannot be separated from the other. This way even work becomes prayer itself, because it becomes part of that praying without ceasing, as St. Benedict says in the rule, that unceasing prayer of the heart that is so dear especially in the Eastern tradition and which St. Benedict proposed to his monks in the sixth century.

Father Rosica: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is not a stranger to your life or to your monastery because he has a special place in his life for the Benedictine rule. Tell me about your friendship with Cardinal Ratzinger.

Archabbot: I had the honor of assisting him during one of his longer visits to the monastery, when he stayed for about eight days while writing one of his books. That time he stayed quite awhile and I was able to be close to him for an extended period of time.

On April 19, 2005, Father Abbot gave us permission to watch the television -- we don't normally watch television -- and we were all gathered around the television when it was announced that Cardinal Ratzinger had been elected Pope and had chosen the name Benedict, there was an explosion of joy that the austerity of monasticism had never seen before: bells rang, people were making phone calls to get more details about the event. The joy was great. Very soon after we asked Pope Benedict XVI to come in pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Benedict, this time as Pope.

Father Rosica: Benedict XVI, has allowed the life and teachings of Benedict to permeate his life, his though, his theology.

Archabbot: I have been most impressed by Pope Ratzinger's ability to enter deeply into the Benedictine spirituality, even though he is not a Benedictine himself, and interpret it with modern eyes. This can be seen in an extraordinary way during his last apostolic voyage to France, at the Collège des Bernardins, where the Pope addressed the world of culture and gave a splendid speech on monastic spirituality.

Father Rosica: Father Abbot, you live at Monte Cassino, and in addition to being the Father Abbot you're also in a certain sense a bishop of the place. You’re not a bishop, but it is a territorial abbey, a diocese itself. You're dressed like a bishop, with the pectoral cross which is also used by a Father Abbot, you wear the mitre just like a bishop. What does it mean to be Father Abbot and pastor of this flock that is around you?

Archabbot: St. Benedict has always suggested that we proceed with evangelization of the territory. The Benedictines would found a small house, but around this house, which would slowly become a nucleus of interest because they would teach how to work the land, or they would teach plumbing techniques, or they would teach prayer, or how to read and write. All of this created a nucleus of interest that was filtered through the Gospel message, the message of Jesus Christ, and also the message of St. Benedict. This slowly created clusters; this is why many European cities have names that recall their monastic roots, like Monaco, but also many of the great cities in England, France, and even Italy.

Father Rosica: The territory of Monte Cassino includes Cassino.

Archabbot: Yes, there are 53 parishes, it's a small diocese that's all around the Abbey of Monte Cassino, and all the towns have a saint's name because they are all founded by monks, so we have San Vittore, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Elia, are all towns of our diocese.

Father Rosica: So the influence of the monastery extends into these towns and parishes, we can say it's a diocese with a Benedictine spirit. The monastic life today has many different forms and takes on many different incarnations, but it is still important to the heart of this world. The world is in difficulty in many regions and the monastic life, as is said in the theme of the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse, "the world turns and the cross remains." How do you see the world from inside the monastery? There are many difficulties in Italy when it comes to the practice of the faith, the crises in the Church, instead your life is prayer and work, and there is a calm and peace.

Archabbot: I think, just like Paul VI said in his famous speech for the reconsecration of the Basilica on Oct. 24, 1964, that modern man needs to stand before the Benedictine cloister once again to experience peace, silence and prayer. I always think of the monk as a missionary in reverse, in the sense that his mission is to give witness through a life lived in silence, in prayer, in calm and peace, so that whoever arrives at the monastery -- they generally arrive full of stress and tiredness, spiritual or psychological confusion -- can find an environment that lends itself to healing, to rest for the soul, and can return to the world recharged but also calm and above all full of God.

Father Rosica: You touched on something very important, because another part of Benedictine life is hospitality. Wherever I've been in the world, in France, in Italy, in South America, in many countries, I've always visited Benedictine Monasteries and I've enjoyed this hospitality. What type of person comes to do spiritual exercises, to spend a weekend, a few days? Where do these people come from and why are they coming to the monastery?

Archabbot: It's people from various backgrounds who are coming for many different reasons. Sometimes they're, obviously many are priests or religious who come to make retreat, to pray, but atheists come to us too, or people who don't believe in God or in religion but are curious about monastic life. Monasticism has an easy relationship with other Christian denominations but also with other religions, and we get visits from representatives of various levels from other Christian denominations or even other religions. For example, it's been three years in a row that Lutheran pastors from Sweden have come to spend Holy Week with us, and I see that there is a very profound spiritual participation. I think monasticism offers great possibilities in this area.

Father Rosica: Is there such a thing as a profile of monk? When a young man presents himself at the door of the monastery, what are you, as Father Abbott looking for in that young man?

Archabbot: I can easily answer with the words of St. Benedict to the master of novices; he says that one must see if the candidate si revera deum querit is truly seeking God. I think this is the only thing asked of the monk. There are no specific human characteristics he must have, but if his heart truly seeks God it will be evident in his desire to explore this life and renew himself through the Gospel, through the way of life taught by St. Benedict. Today even monasticism is called to challenge our times, because the young people who knock on our door don't come from the moon, they don't come fully formed as Christians or as monks. They bring with them all the contradictions, difficulties and wounds of our times, and we are called to rise to this challenge and say that God's call was true 1500 years ago it is true today, and monk -- like the rest of the Church -- are asked to understand the language of the young generation in order to respond to them in that same language.

Father Rosica: The tomb of St. Benedict is with you, his mortal remains are in your church if I remember correctly from when I visited as a student. What does it mean to be that close to this great founder of this movement that has been so important in the history of the Church?

Archbbot: It's a very big commitment and responsibility. Every day after the singing of Vespers, in Gregorian chant, the community goes to the tomb of St. Benedict and his sister Scholastica, and we sing a beautiful hymn- every day- called Signifer Invictissime, that is O Strongest Flag-Bearer, a reference to the person who, in battle, carried the flag. And we feel that like St. Benedict we are called to carry high our one and only standard -- the cross. Paul VI said, in the Apostolic Brief in which he proclaimed St. Benedict patron of Europe, “He and his monks Christianized Europe with the book, the cross and the plow. The book is a symbol of prayer, the cross the symbol of the Christian faith which was being spread throughout Europe, and the plow was the symbol of manual labour with which the monks sanctify their day.”

Father Rosica: We have only a few minutes left, I'd like to conclude with that marvelous scene of Benedict and his sister, Scholastica. What is the significance of this last scene between Benedict and Scholastica?

Archbbot: In the foothills of the mountains of Monte Cassino still stands the place where, according to tradition, St. Benedict and St. Scholastica met. And on the seventh of February, three days before the feast of St. Scholastica -- that's what St. Gregory the Great tells us -- everyone at the Abbey of Monte Cassino comes down to that place to celebrate a mass, with many other people. The significance I give to this profound event in the lives of Benedict and Scholastica is that it's all linked to the freedom of female genius. Because Scholastica, according to tradition, observed the rule that Benedict had given to his monks. At a certain point she asks her brother to stay with her to talk, because she felt that she was going to die. But her brother, we men are a little more tied to the firmness of rules, said "no, I have to go back because I've written in the rule that monks must return to the monastery." Scholastica asks God to do something. A great downpour begins and St. Benedict is forced to stay and he asks, "Sister of mine, what have you done?" she says, "I prayed to God and he listened to me, you didn’t listen to me." St. Gregory the Great writes that Scholastica could do more because she loved more. This, in my view, is a lesson that beyond the written rule there is a higher rule, that of love, because sometimes even the laws of man can be unfair and unjust, but the law of God is never unjust.

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Full interview: http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_slprog_witness_popup_0905_vittorelli.html

Keynote Address at Catholic Bible Conference

"God's Word Has the Power to Change Hearts and History"

DENVER, Colorado, JULY 2, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is an address by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver presented June 26 at the National Catholic Bible Conference in his archdiocese.

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In his book A New Song for the Lord, Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Ratzinger) shared the following reflection, "The fact that God's words, something that God has said and is saying to us, are accessible in the world is truly the most exciting news I can imagine at all. [But] we are too dulled through everyday use to grasp the awesomeness of this statement." (Benedict XVI, A New Song for the Lord, 169).

Many things make the news. From the stock market to the sports field, many of us eagerly follow the daily headlines. But too few of us think of God's Word as exciting or newsworthy enough to be sought out every day. And therefore too many of us miss the most newsworthy event in life - the experience of God, the creator of the universe, speaking to us through His Word. But it is exactly the Word of God that is so needed for renewal, in our personal lives and in the culture around us.

Renewal is usually the fruit of some type of recovery. Today we hear a lot of talk about economic recovery. We understand -- some of us from unhappy experience -- the need for data recovery when a computer crashes. Or when someone is ill, we pray for a speedy recovery. In all these cases, we seek a recovery of something valuable that was lost.
So too, over the centuries, when God's people strayed from Him, renewal was needed. Time and again, in the history of the Chosen People and God's Church, renewal has come about by the recovery of God's Word. God's Word has the power to change hearts and history. And by recalling such periods of renewal in salvation history we can learn important lessons for our own day.

Josiah

In the Old Testament, the most dramatic example of renewal through God's Word is the story of Josiah, which is found toward the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Josiah was perhaps the greatest of the Davidic Kings of Judah; a man who, amazingly, is too little known by Christians today. The story of Josiah is a story of the renewal of God's people through the recovery of God's Word, at a time in which the leaders and the majority of God's people had assimilated to the worst elements of the pagan culture surrounding them.

Josiah's grandfather was King Manasseh, whose 55 years of leadership over Israel marked one of the darkest periods for the people of God. Scripture tells us that Manasseh "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" which not only included pagan idolatry but also child sacrifice. He offered up even his own sons in sacrifice in the valley of Hinnom, and since the word in Hebrew for valley is "Ge" it was known as the valley of Ge-henna, a name that the New Testament uses as the metaphor for hell.

It's sobering that God's own people could so degraded by a pagan culture that they would sacrifice their own children. But obviously we don't need to look far to find modern parallels. Manasseh's son Amon continued the sins of his father, and was murdered by his own servants after only two years of rule. That left Amon's son, Josiah, as the ruler of Israel at the very young age of eight years old. Josiah had everything going against him, a culture that had imbibed for almost two generations the worst of pagan culture, a family that was far from the Lord, and immense responsibilities and almost limitless power handed to him at a very young age.

Yet, Scripture tells us that "while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father" (2 Chron 34:3). Here's the first lesson that I want to highlight. To renew the Church and the world we need to begin with ourselves. It's tempting to see the moral problems of the wider culture and want to begin there, outside ourselves, focused on others. But all authentic reform begins within our own hearts.

Josiah purged the pagan altars from Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. Much of the Temple had been abandoned by his forbearers. Some of it had been adapted for various pagan cults. Josiah ordered that the Temple be cleansed and renovated. While cleaning out the Temple, the high priest Hilkiah discovered the "book of the law" (2 Kgs 22:8), referring to God's Word, specifically Deuteronomy and perhaps the rest of the Pentateuch. When the book was read to the king and the people, it was the first hearing of the Torah for that generation. In other words, things had become so perverse that Israel had completely lost the Word of God, this last copy being found in the nearly abandoned Temple.

When the "book of the law" was read, Josiah responded with humility and penance, and rent his clothes (2 Kgs 22:11). The people were moved by his example. They renewed the covenant and turned away from the paganism they had accepted. Josiah's reforms succeeded. He destroyed the pagan shrines in the valley of Hinnom, "that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech" (2 Kgs 23:10), he restored the Temple and its worship, and by his leadership the rift between God and His people was healed.

Renewal happened because Josiah recovered God's Word and made it available to everyone, as Scripture says he read Scripture to "all the people, both small and great" (2 Kgs 23:2). This is why in our own day Vatican II said that "The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful . . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jess Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures." (CCC, 133; DV 25). We need to remember the lesson of Josiah's witness; that is, that we need to hear God's Word, not just one day a week but everyday, until it soaks deeply into our souls. This is what Josiah did, and any personal and ecclesial renewal requires that each of us recover the daily practice of praying with and hearing God's Word.

Another key lesson to draw from Josiah is the need for hope in the midst of darkness. The culture of Josiah's day had capitulated to the worst forms of paganism. His personal pursuit of holiness flew in the face of his own family's wickedness. The Temple of Jerusalem itself had been converted into a pagan shrine, and all of this profanity had gone on for more than a generation. The God of Israel was abandoned so completely that the book of the Torah was lost.

To put it simply, Josiah found himself in a black time. Yet, as Ben Sira observes, "He set his heart upon the Lord; in the days of wicked men he strengthened godliness" (Sirach 49:3). Josiah did all this "in the days of wicked men." In other words, Josiah refused to despair in the face of the overwhelming task of reforming God's people. Instead he put his trust in the Lord and pressed on against the odds. Thus the Old Testament can say that "The memory of Josiah is like a blending of incense prepared by the art of the perfumer; it is sweet as honey to every mouth, and like music at a banquet of wine" (Sirach 49:1). The sweetness of honey is typically compared to God's Word, as is seen in Psalm 19 (Psalm 19:10), but since Josiah imbibed God's Word so deeply into his heart the memory of him retains the flavor of God's sweet Word. Our lives too must be infused with the sweet fragrance God's Word and the bright hope that it brings us in the midst of our own dark times!

Ezra

The Old Testament recalls a similar great renewal in the time of the priest Ezra, who led the Jewish exiles back from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The return from exile was a bleak time for the Jews. They remained under the political control of the Persian Kingdom, and back home the Samaritans and others in the land opposed their plans for rebuilding Jerusalem and its Temple. Indeed, those who returned were largely impoverished from the Babylonian captivity and had few resources for the daunting task of rebuilding Jerusalem and Judah, which had been completely destroyed by the Babylonians. Intermarriage had become a problem, and a perplexing one from Ezra's perspective because it illustrated the people's lack of religious commitment, even after all they had suffered in the Babylonian captivity.

As the remnant of exiles gathered in Jerusalem Ezra read, as Josiah did generations before, the "book of the law of Moses" to all the assembly "both men and women and all who could hear with understanding" (Nehemiah 8:2). Once again, the reading of God's Word precipitated a renewal of God' people, and this Word was intended to be heard by all God's people, not just the professional religious or experts.

I'd like to offer three lessons from Ezra's renewal of Israel through Scripture. The first lesson regards the kind of piety required to hear God's Word. When Ezra opened the book to read it, "all the people stood" in honor of God whose words were being spoken in their hearing (Nehemiah 8:5). The people's standing while hearing God's Word is much like our practice of standing during the reading of the Gospel, at the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both these acts of piety illustrate a vital point, that if we want to properly "hear" or "read" God's Word in Scripture we must do so with reverence. Augustine said that a sincere and humble piety is the precursor to understanding Scripture; we shouldn't forget this.

Second, when Ezra read the Word of God to the people he sent out leaders from the Levites who "helped the people to understand the law" and who "gave the sense so that the people understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:7-8). God's Word, throughout Scripture, is always given within the context of the believing community. If we take Scripture out of its ecclesial context, the Church, we will not "understand" and catch the full "sense" of God's Word.

This recalls the story of Philip in the Acts of the Apostles which we recently read during the Easter season (Acts 8:26-40). On a road through Gaza, Philip encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, the treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia. As Philip approached the eunuch's chariot, Philip heard him reading from Isaiah, in the very place that spoke of the Lord's suffering servant. Philip asked the Ethiopian if he understood what he was reading (and it is worth noting that this official was reading the text in Hebrew while he was returning from a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem). The response of this court official was both honest and humble: "How can I, unless some one guides me?" (Acts 8:31). This was a favorite story of St. Jerome and many of the Church Fathers, who used the Ethiopian's answer to illustrate the need to have members of the Church, like Ezra's Levites, who can guide our reading of Scripture.

This doesn't mean you need an expert at your side in order to read Scripture. As Augustine says, the Bible's "plain language and simple style make it accessible to all" (Confessions 12.30). St. Gregory famously described Scripture as a river that has enough shallows that a lamb could cross and yet enough depth to submerge an elephant. In other words the plain sense of Scripture is open to all, but to grasp its depths we need good guides to help us navigate its riches.

This is why I strongly recommend that you find good and trustworthy guides for your study of Scripture. It's why the Denver Catholic Biblical School has teachers who have studied the Scriptures both academically and from the heart and mind of the Church. I think our Biblical School here is so successful because people find their "Philip" who can help open up the Bible and make it come alive for them. Look for these kinds of teachers, like the ones we have here at this conference, and learn the Word so that you too can help guide others. The Church desperately needs many such guides to bring about the recovery of Scripture.

The third lesson from Ezra's reform of Israel is that after he finished reading the Torah of Moses to the people, he summarized for them the narrative shape of Israel's Scriptures (Nehemiah 9). Starting with the call of Abraham, to the Exodus, through the time of the kings and prophets, and all they way down to his own present-day return from exile, Ezra grasped the story shaped contours of what we call salvation history. It is precisely the story of God that guides our own stories, and thus to discern the meaning of our moment in history and of our own lives means we must first grasp the plot of God's story.

The scholar Christopher Thompson described this point well when he commented on Augustine's famous insight that God has made us for himself:
The overriding motif of any narrative of Christian experience is the claim that ‘God has made us for himself.' . . . This is the drama of the revelatory narratives: that I find in them, not confirmation of myself, but the very constitution of myself. I do not place the actions of God within the horizon of my story; rather, I place my story within the action of God.
(Christian Doctrine, Christina Identity: Augustine and the Narratives of Character, University Press of America, p. 99)

This means that we can't approach Scripture as if it were something that needs to be interpreted by us, but rather quite the opposite -- we need to let Scripture interpret us, our lives, and our world. To read the world in light of Scripture, as opposed to Scripture in light of the world, is the hallmark of a Christian reading.

In short, if we can discern Scripture's story we can begin to see how the drama of that story continues today. The narrative thread of Scripture's story can then thread its way into our lives, weaving within us the text and texture of a life that is formed by God's Word. Augustine is right, God has made us for Himself, so any account of our own stories, our own lives, that does not make God the author and aim is just another idolatrous myth.

Francis of Assisi

In addition to examples in the Old Testament, other examples abound throughout salvation history of the Church being plunged into dark times where a few faithful souls rediscover the heart of Scripture and bring about the authentic reform that comes through the recovery of God's Word. As a Capuchin, I keep the example of St. Francis of Assisi near to my heart. Francis heard the Sermon on the Mount, not as God's Word in the past, not as a word to others, but he heard it as God's Word spoken to him personally.

This set Francis off on an adventure of recovery and renewal. Called to rebuild the Church in his day, Francis had a special devotion to Scripture. Indeed, it was the only book he would allow the early Franciscans to own and in his early movement any new members spent their first three years studying God's Word, so that they would be faithful heralds of God's good news. Scripture set Francis's heart aflame with the love of God, and with that fire he rekindled the faith and love of many who had strayed. This is our task today. As Francois Mauriac admonished, "The day on which you no longer burn, many others will die of cold." The best way to evangelize is to burn, like St. Francis did, for the love of God; and to sustain that kind of zeal you need constant contact with the fire of God's Word.

Second Vatican Council - Renewal in Our Own Day through God's Word

In our own day, the Second Vatican Council met to bring about a Catholic renewal in many areas, but one very particular focus was renewal of the Church through recovery of the Word of God. In every gathering of the council the assembly was led by a procession headed by the carrying of the Sacred Scriptures, adorned in a beautiful case. The Scriptures were then enthroned upon the altar in St. Peter's Basilica where the council gathered. The Word of God then, from the perspective of the bishops gathered from around the world, presided over the entire council. The point was that everything the Church teaches or does is in response to God's Word.

The Second Vatican Council produced many documents, but there were four that were given the title "constitutions" and thus were the primary areas of focus for the council. One of these four documents, entitled Dei Verbum, which means the Word of God, was on the subject of Scripture. One of the aims of the Council's constitution on the Word of God was to bring about a recovery of the primacy of Scripture in the life of the Church and all her children. This is illustrated in one of the famous lines from that document:

The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of the life from the table both of God's word and of Christ's body. (Dei Verbum, 21).

Here is one of the most profound statements of Vatican II: putting Scripture virtually on par with the Eucharist. And yet there is a profound parallel here, as the council recognized, for the Eucharist is the body of the Lord made flesh, and Scripture is the Word of the Lord made written. We must, as the Catholic Tradition makes clear, reverence both.

Just this past October Benedict XVI summoned bishops from around the world to discuss in a special synod how to better implement the renewal in Scripture that the council called for some four decades ago. Again, the aim of this synod was the recovery of Scripture in the life of the Church, which was the title for the synod and also the title for this conference. The Church is giving a clarion call to recover the ancient Christian practice of reading Scripture, of knowing God through His Word.

Conclusion

The Word of God listened to with obedience and lived with simplicity can still make news for those willing to hear, as it did in the days of Josiah, Ezra, and Francis. Indeed, it is precisely the recovery of God's Word that the Church is calling us to in our day, through the Second Vatican Council and the recent Synod on Scripture.

The Second Vatican Council concluded its Constitution on Divine Revelation with the words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, words especially fitting as we come to the end of the Holy Year dedicated to St. Paul, quoting: "that the Word of the Lord may speed on and triumph" (2 Thess. 3:1). Dei Verbum took these words of Paul as its closing prayer, in order that "we may hope for a new stimulus for the life of the Spirit from a growing reverence for the word of God, which "lasts forever" (Is. 40:8)." (DV, 26).

It's now our job to help the Church make the "Word of God" spread vigorously in our culture - a culture that desperately needs light to dispel its present darkness. So this is your task, beginning today: Be witnesses of the one, true, and loving God. Be faithful sons and daughters of the Church. And like Josiah, Ezra, and St. Francis, be disciples of the Word.