Pope's Address to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy


Here is the translation of the Holy Father's address to the members of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.




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Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear priests, dear sisters, friends

I extend a warm welcome to all of you! I affectionately greet your President, Archbishop Beniamino Stella, and I thank him for the kind words he addressed to me on your behalf, remembering the welcome visits that I have made in the past to your Casa. I also remember the friendly insistence with which Bishop Stella convinced me, now two years ago, to send to the Academy a priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires! Archbishop Stella knows how to knock at the door! The problem was on my end, because I did not find a priest to send, and I chose a marathoner . . . I sent him. A grateful thought goes also to his colleagues and to the Sisters and staff, who offer their generous service in your community.

Dear friends, you are preparing for a particular ministry of commitment, which will place you in the direct service of the Successor of Peter, of his charism of unity and communion, and of his solicitude for all the Churches. The work that is done in the Pontifical diplomatic service requires, like any type of priestly ministry, a great inner freedom. Live these years of your preparation with commitment, generosity, and greatness of soul, so that this freedom can really take shape in you!

But what does it mean to have this interior freedom? First of all it means being free from personal projects, being free from personal projects: from some of the concrete ways in which perhaps one day, you had thought of living your priesthood, from the possibilities of planning for the future; from the perspective of remaining for a long time in a your place of pastoral action. It means freeing yourself, in some way, even with respect to the culture and mindset from which you came, not by forgetting it, much less by denying it, but by opening yourself up, in charity, to understanding different cultures and meeting with people even from worlds very far from your own.

Above all, it means vigilance in order to be free from ambition or personal aims, which can cause so much harm to the Church, taking care to always put in the first place not your own self-fulfillment, or the recognition that you could get whether inside and outside of the ecclesial community, but the greater good of the cause of the Gospel and the fulfillment of the mission that has been entrusted to you. This freedom from ambition or personal aims, for me, is important, its important! Careerism is leprosy! Leprosy! Please, no careerism! For this reason, each of you must be willing to integrate your vision of the Church, however legitimate, every personal idea or assessment, within the horizons seen by Peter, of his particular mission at the service of communion and the unity of the flock of Christ, of his pastoral charity which embraces the whole world, and that, thanks also to the action of the Pontifical diplomatic service, wishes to make itself present especially in those places, often forgotten, where the needs of the Church and of humanity are greatest.

In a word, the ministry for which you are preparing because you are being prepared for a ministry, not a profession: it is a ministry! This ministry calls you to go out of yourself, to a detachment from self that can only be achieved through an intense spiritual journey and a serious unification of your life around the mystery of the love of God and of the inscrutable plan of His call. In the light of the faith, we are able to live the freedom from our own projects and our own will, not as a cause of frustration or emptying, but as an opening to the superabundant gift of God, that makes our priesthood fruitful. Living the ministry in service to the Successor of Peter and to the Church to which you are called may appear demanding, but it will allow you, so to say, to be and to breathe within the heart of the Church, of its catholicity. And this constitutes a special gift, because, as Pope Benedict recalled when speaking to your community, wherever there is openness to the objectivity of catholicity, there is also the principle of authentic personalization (Speech to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, 10 June 2011).

Have great care for the spiritual life, which is the source of inner freedom. Without prayer, there is no interior freedom. You can make a precious treasure of the instruments of conforming your priestly spirituality to Christ Himself, cultivating a life of prayer and making your daily work the gymnasium of your sanctification. Here I am happy to recall the figure of Blessed John XXIII, the fiftieth anniversary of whose death we celebrated a few days ago: his work in the Pontifical diplomatic service was one of the places, and not the least significant, in which his sanctity was formed. Rereading his writings, one is impressed by the care he always took in guarding his soul, in the midst of the most varied ecclesial and political occupations. Here was born his inner freedom, the joy that he conveyed outwardly, and the effectiveness of his pastoral and diplomatic action. As he said in his Journal of a Soul, "the more mature I become in years and in experience, the more I recognize that the surest means for my personal sanctification and for the greater success of my service to the Holy See, remains the vigilant effort to reduce everything principles, speeches, positions, affairs, to the greatest simplicity and calmness; in my vineyard, always to prune that which is simply useless foliage . . . and to go directly to that which is truth, justice, charity, above all charity. Any other [way] of doing things, is nothing but posturing and grasping at personal affirmation, which betrays itself and becomes cumbersome and ridiculous." (Cinisello Balsamo 2000, p. 497). He wanted to prune his vineyard: to chase out the foliage, to prune. . . And some years later, joined to the end of his work in the Pontifical diplomatic service, when he was already Patriarch of Venice, he wrote, "Now I find myself completely in the ministry of souls. Truly I have always held that for an ecclesiastic, diplomacy, so to say, should always be permeated by a pastoral spirit; otherwise, it counts for nothing, and makes a holy mission ridiculous (ibid., pp. 513-14)." But this is important! Listen well: When in the Nunciature there is a secretary or a nuncio that doesnt go along the way of sanctity, and gets involved in so many forms, in so many kinds of spiritual worldliness, he looks ridiculous, and everyone laughs at him! Please don't be ridiculous: either [be] saints or go back to the diocese and be a pastor, but don't be ridiculous in the diplomatic [service], in the diplomatic life, where there is so much danger of becoming worldly in spirituality.

I would also like to say something to the Sisters thank you for coming! Who undertake their daily service among you with a religious and Franciscan spirit. They are good Mothers who accompany you with prayer, with their simple and essential words, and above all by the example of loyalty, dedication and love. Along with them I would like to thank the lay staff who work in Casa. Their hidden, but important presence, allows you to spend your time in the Academy with serenity and commitment.

Dear priests, I hope that you will undertake the service to the Holy See with the same spirit as Blessed John XXIII. I ask you to pray for me, and I commend you to the safekeeping of the Virgin May and of Saint Anthony the Abbot, your patron. May the assurance of my prayers and of my blessing which I cordially extend to all your loved ones go with you. Thank you!

(June 06, 2013) © Innovative Media Inc.



Pope Francis to Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy: "Careerism is a Leprosy"

On Christ's Second Coming

On Christ's Second Coming
Vatican City, April 24, 2013

Here is the translation of the Holy Father’s weekly General Audience address in St. Peter’s Square where he continued the cycle of catechesis dedicated to the Year of Faith.


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Dear brothers and sisters,

Good morning!

In the Creed we profess that Jesus "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." Human history begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and ends with the final judgment of Christ. Often these two poles of history are forgotten, and, above all, faith in the return of Christ and the last judgment sometimes is not so clear and steadfast in the hearts of Christians. Jesus, during his public life, often focused on the reality of his last coming. Today I would like to reflect on three Evangelical texts that help us enter this mystery: that of the ten virgins, the talents and the final judgment. All three are part of the Jesus' discourse on the end of times, in the Gospel of St. Matthew.

First of all remember that, with the Ascension, the son of God brought to the Father our humanity that he took on and he wants to draw all men to himself, to call the whole world to be welcomed into the open arms of God, so that, at the end of history, all of reality will be handed over to the Father. There is, though, this "intermediate time" between the first coming of Christ and the last, which is precisely the time that we are living. The parable of the ten virgins is placed within this context (cf. Mt 25:1-13). It involves ten girls who are waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom, but he delays and they fall asleep. At the sudden announcement that the bridegroom is coming, all prepare to welcome him, but while five of them, who were wise, have oil to trim their lamps, the others, who are foolish, are left with unlit lamps because they have no oil; and while they go out to find some, the groom arrives and the foolish virgins find the door closed that leads to the bridal feast. They knocking persistently, but it is too late, the groom replies: I do not know you. The groom is the Lord, and the waiting time of arrival is the time He gives us, all of us with mercy and patience, before his final coming, it is a time to be vigilant; a time in which we need to keep lit the lamps of the faith, hope and charity, a time in which to keep the heart open to the good, to beauty and to the truth; a time to live according to God, because we know neither the day nor the hour of Christ's return. What is asked of us is to be prepared for this encounter – prepared for an encounter, for a beautiful encounter, the encounter with Jesus - which means being able to see the signs of his presence, to keep alive our faith through prayer, with the sacraments, to be vigilant in order not to sleep, not to forget God. The Christian life asleep is a sad life, it isn’t a happy life. The Christian must be happy, have the joy of Jesus. Let’s not fall asleep!

The second parable, that of the talents, makes us reflect on the relationship between how we use the gifts received from God and his return, when he will ask how we used them (cf. Mt 25:14-30). We know the parable: before departure, the master gives each servant some talents, to use well during his absence. To the first he gives five, to the second, two, and to the third, one. During the period of his absence, the first two servants multiply their talents - ancient coins -, while the third prefers to bury his and deliver it intact to the master. Upon his return, the master judges their work: he commends the first two, while the third is kicked out into the darkness, because he kept his talent hidden out of fear, closing in on himself. A Christian who closes in on himself, who hides everything that the Lord has given him as a Christian that is…he isn’t a Christian! He is a Christian that does not thank God for all that he has given him! This tells us that the time of waiting for the Lord's return is the time of action, - we are in the time of action - the time in which to put to use the gifts of God not for ourselves, but for Him, for the Church, for others, the time during which always to try to increase the good in the world. And especially now, in this time of crisis, it is important not to close in upon oneself, burying one's talent, one’s own spiritual, intellectual, material riches, everything that the Lord has given us, but to open oneself, to be in solidarity, to be attentive to the other. In the square, I saw today there are many young people. Is it so? Are there very many young people? Where are they? To you, who are at the beginning of the journey of life, I ask: have you thought about the talents that God has given you? Have you thought about how you can put them at the service of others? Don't bury your talents! Bet on big ideals, those ideals that enlarge the heart, those ideals that will make your talents fruitful. Life is not given to us so that we can keep it jealously for ourselves, but is given to us so that we may donate it. Dear young people, have a great soul! Don't be afraid to dream great things!

Finally, a word on the passage of the final judgement, that describes the second coming of the Lord, when He will judge all humans, living and dead (cf. Mt 25:31-46). The image used by the Evangelist is that of the Shepherd separating sheep from goats. On the right are those who acted according to the will of God, helping their neighbor who was hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, imprisoned, thus following the Lord himself; while on the left are those who haven't come to the aid of their neighbour. This tells us that we will be judged by God on charity, on how we loved him in our brothers, especially the weakest and neediest. Of course, we must always keep in mind that we are justified, we are saved by grace, by an act of God's gratuitous love which always precedes us; we alone can do nothing. Faith is first of all a gift that we have received. But to bear fruit, God's grace always requires our openness, our free and concrete response. Christ comes to bring us the mercy of God who saves. We are asked to trust him, to match the gift of his love with a good life, with actions animated by faith and love.

Dear brothers and sisters, may we never be afraid to look to the final judgment; may it push us rather to live better lives. God gives us with mercy and patience this time so that we may learn every day to recognize him in the poor and in the little ones, may we strive for good and we are vigilant in prayer and love. May the Lord, at the end of our existence and history, may recognize us as good and faithful servants. Thank you!

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

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Speaker:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the Creed, we now consider the article which deals with Christ’s second coming: "He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead". Just as human history began with the creation of man and woman in the image of God, so it will end with Christ’s return and the final judgment. The parables of Jesus help us to understand our responsibility before God and one another in this present age. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins reminds us that we must be spiritually prepared to meet the Lord when he comes. The parable of the talents emphasizes our responsibility to use wisely God’s gifts, making them bear abundant fruit. Here I would ask the many young people present to be generous with their God-given talents for the good of others, the Church and our world. Finally, the parable of the final judgement reminds us that, in the end, we will be judged on our love for others and especially for those in need. Through these parables, our Lord teaches us to await his coming with fear but confident trust, ever watchful for the signs of his presence and faithful in prayer and works of charity, so that when he comes he will find us his good and faithful servants.

Pope Francis (in italian):

I am pleased to greet the Vietnamese pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Hochiminh City, led by Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man. I also greet the group of Marist Brothers taking part in a program of spiritual reunion. My cordial welcome also goes to the visitors from Cambridge Muslim College in England. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Ireland, Norway, Australia, South Korea and the United States, I invoke the joy and peace of the Risen Lord.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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I extend a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, i greet the faithful of the various diocesan pilgrimages, accompanied by their respective bishops, gathered at the See of Peter on the occasion of the Year of Faith. I also greet the priests, the religious - especially the daughters of our Lady of Monte Calvario at 10 years after the canonization of their Founder Virginia Centurione Bracelli -, the seminarians, the parochial groups, the faithful of the eleventh Deanery of Naples and several elders of the National Association of Retired Persons. May the visit to the tombs of the Apostles strengthen in all the faith in the Risen Christ! A special thought goes out to the Archbishop of Sassari and to the workers of the company "E.ON", (I see that today the plane arrived on time ....) and I hope that the severe employment situation may find a rapid and equitable solution, respecting the rights of all, especially families. The situation in Sardinia and in the whole country is particularly difficult. It is important that there be a strong commitment to open avenues of hope.

Finally, an affectionate thought for young people, the sick and the newlyweds. May Christ the good Shepherd give certainty to each of you, dear young people, especially so many students, so that by following his voice you may not go wrong; may he sustain you, dear sick people, in bearing your everyday cross; and may he help you, dear newlyweds, to build your family on the love of God. Thank you.

APPEAL OF THE HOLY FATHER

The kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and Siro-Orthodox Metropolitans of Aleppo, about which there are conflicting news releases, is a further sign of the tragic situation that is enveloping the dear Syrian nation, where violence and weapons continue to sow death and suffering. While I remember in prayer the two bishops, praying that they may return to their communities soon, I ask God to enlighten the hearts and I renew the pressing invitation that I made on the day of Easter to stop the bloodshed, that the necessary humanitarian assistance may be given to the population and that a political solution to the crisis be found as soon as possible.

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

Pope Francis' Address to Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission

Pope Francis' Address to Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission
Vatican City, April 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) | 1165 hits

Here is the translation of the address delivered by Pope Francis to the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission earlier today. The commission concluded their Plenary Assembly under the theme: “Inspiration and Truth of the Bible.”


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Venerable Brother,

Dear Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission,

I am happy to welcome you at the end of your annual Plenary Assembly. I thank the president, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, for his greeting and his concise exposition of the topic which was the object of attentive reflection in the course of your works. You came together again to reflect on a very important argument: the inspiration and truth of the Bible. It is a topic that concerns not only the individual believer, but the whole Church, because the life and mission of the Church are founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology and, at the same time, the inspiration of all Christian existence.

As we know, the Sacred Scriptures are the written testimony of the Divine Word, the canonical memorial that awaits the event of Revelation. Hence the Word of God precedes and exceeds the Bible. It is because of this that our faith does not only have a book at the center, but a history of salvation and above all a Person, Jesus Christ., Word of God made flesh. Precisely because the horizon of the Divine Word embraces and extends beyond Scripture, to understand it adequately the constant presence of the Holy Spirit is necessary, who “guides all to the truth” (John 16:13). We must place ourselves in the current of the great Tradition that, under the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Magisterium, has recognized the canonical writings as Word addressed by God to his people and has never ceased to meditate on them and discover in them inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council confirmed this with great clarity in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: “For all of what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject finally to the judgment of the Church, which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God.” (n. 12).

As the aforementioned Constitution reminds us, there is an indissoluble unity between Sacred Scripture and Tradition, because both come from the same source: “There exists a close connection and communication between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.” (Ibid., 9).

Hence the exegete must be attentive to perceiving the Word of God present in the biblical texts, placing them within the faith itself of the Church. The interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always be compared, inserted and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church. This norm is decisive in specifying the correct and reciprocal relation of exegesis and the Magisterium of the Church. The texts inspired by God have been entrusted to the community of believers, to the Church of Christ, to nourish the faith and guide the life of charity. Respect for this profound nature of the Scriptures conditions the very validity and efficacy of the biblical hermeneutic. This highlights the insufficiency of every subjective interpretation or simply limited analysis incapable of receiving in itself that global sense that in the course of the centuries has constituted the Tradition of the whole People of God, which “in credendo falli nequit” (Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 12).

Dear Brothers, I wish to end my address expressing to you all my gratitude, encouraging you in your precious work. May the Lord Jesus Christ, Word of God Incarnate and Divine Teacher, who opened the mind and heart of his disciples to the intelligence of the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:45), always guide and sustain your activity. May the Virgin Mary, model of docility and obedience to the Word of God, teach you to receive fully the inexhaustible richness of Sacred Scripture not only through intellectual research, but in prayer and in all your life of believers, above all in this Year of Faith, so that your work contributes to make the light of Sacred Scripture shine in the heart of the faithful. Wishing you a fruitful continuation of your activities, I invoke upon you the light of the Holy Spirit and I impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.

[Translation by ZENIT]

(April 12, 2013) © Innovative Media Inc.

Pope's Lectio Divina at Visit to Rome's Major Seminary

Pope's Lectio Divina at Visit to Rome's Major Seminary
"Peter speaks: It is almost a first encyclical, with which the first Apostle, vicar of Christ, speaks to the Church of all times"

Rome, February 14, 2013 (Zenit.org) | 1950 hits

Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave last Friday, when he visited Rome's major seminary on the occasion of Saturday's feast of Our Lady of Confidence, patron of the seminary.


The reflection draws from 1 Peter 1:3-5.

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Eminence,

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,

Dear Friends!

It is a great joy for me to be with you every year, to see so many young men who walk toward the priesthood, who are attentive to the voice of the Lord, who wish to follow this voice and seek the way to serve the Lord in this our time.

We heard three verses of the First Letter of Saint Peter (cf. 1:3-5). Before going into this text, it seems important to me to be attentive to the fact that it is Peter who is speaking. The first two words of the Letter are "Petrus apostolus" (cf. v. 1): he speaks, and he speaks to the Churches in Asia and calls the faithful "chosen and exiles of the Dispersion" (ibidem). Let us reflect a bit on this. Peter speaks, and he speaks – as we hear at the end of the Letter – of Rome, which he calls "Babylon" (cf. 5:13). Peter speaks: it is almost a first encyclical, with which the first Apostle, vicar of Christ, speaks to the Church of all times.

Peter, apostle. Hence, he speaks who has found Christ Jesus the Messiah of God, who has spoken as the first in the name of the future Church: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (cf. Matthew 16:16). He is speaking who has introduced us to this faith. He speaks to whom the Lord said: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Matthew 16:19), to whom he entrusted his flock after the Resurrection, saying to him three times: "Feed my lambs, tend my sheep" (cf. John 21:15-17). Speaking also is the man who fell, who denied Jesus and who had the grace to see Jesus' glance, to be touched in his heart and to have found forgiveness and a renewal of his mission. However, it is important that this man, full of passion, of desire for God, of desire for the kingdom of God, for the Messiah, that this man who found Jesus, the Lord and the Messiah, is also the man who sinned, who fell, and yet he remained under the eyes of the Lord and thus remains responsible for the Church of God, he remains entrusted by Christ to be the bearer of his love.

Peter the apostle is speaking, but the exegetes tell us: it is not possible that this Letter is of Peter, because the Greek is so good that it cannot be the Greek of a fisherman of the Lake of Galilee. And not only the language, the structure of the language is optimal, but also the thought is now quite mature, there are already concrete formulas in which the faith and the reflection of the Church is condensed. Hence, they say: it is already a state of development that cannot be Peter's. How to respond? There are two important positions: first, Peter himself – namely the Letter – which gives us a key because at the end of the writing he says: "I have written to you through Silvanus – by Silvanus." This through [by] can mean several things: it can mean that he [Silvanus] transports, transmits; it can mean that he helped in the writing; it can mean that he was really the practical writer. In any case, we can conclude that the Letter itself tells us that Peter was not alone in writing this Letter, but expresses the faith of a Church that is already on the path of faith, an ever more mature faith. He does not write by himself, an isolated individual, he writes with the help of the Church, of the persons who help to deepen the faith, to enter into the profundity of its thought, of its reasonableness, of its profundity. And this is very important: Peter does not speak as an individual, he speaks ex persona Ecclesiae, he speaks as man of the Church, certainly as a person, with his personal responsibility, but also as a person who speaks in the name of the Church: not just his private ideas, not as a genius of the 19th century who wished to express only personal, original ideas, which no one was able to express before. No. He does not speak as an individualistic genius, but speaks in fact in the communion of the Church. In Revelation, in the initial vision of Christ, it is said that the voice of Christ is the sound of many waters (cf. Revelation 1:15). This means that the voice of Christ gathers all the waters of the world, he bears in himself all the living waters that give life to the world; he is Person, but in fact this is the greatness of the Lord, who bears in himself the whole river of the Old Testament, in fact of the wisdom of the peoples. And what is said here about the Lord is true, in another way, also for the apostle, who does not wish to say his own word, but really bears in himself the waters of the faith, the waters of the whole Church, and thus, in fact, of fertility, of fecundity and precisely because of this, he is a personal witness that opens to the Lord, and so becomes open and wide. Therefore, this is important.

Then it also seems important to me that in the conclusion of the Letter Silvanus and Mark are named, two persons who also belong to Saint Paul's friendships. Thus, through this conclusion, the worlds of Saint Peter and Saint Paul go together: it is not an exclusively Petrine theology against a Pauline theology, but it is a theology of the Church, of the faith of the Church, in which there is diversity – certainly – of temperament, of thought, of style -- in speaking between Paul and Peter. It is good that these diversities exist, also today, diverse charisms, diverse temperaments; however, they are not conflicting and are united in the common faith.

I would also like to say one thing: Saint Peter writes from Rome. It is important that we already have the Bishop of Rome, we have the beginning of the succession, we have already the beginning of the concrete primacy located in Rome, not only consigned by the Lord, but located here, in this city, in this capital of the world. How did Peter come to Rome? This is a serious question. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that, after his escape from Herod's prison, he went to another place (cf. 12:17) – eis eteron topon – it is not known to which other place; some say Antioch, some say Rome. In any case, in this chapter, it is also said that, before escaping he entrusted the Judeo-Christian Church, the Church of Jerusalem, to James and, though entrusting it to James, he still remained Primate of the universal Church, of the Church of the pagans, but also of the Judeo-Christian Church. And here in Rome he found a large Judeo-Christian community. The liturgists tell us that in the Roman Canon there are traces of the typically Judeo-Christian language; thus we see that both parts of the Church were in Rome: the Judeo-Christian and the pagan-Christian, united, expression of the universal Church. And certainly for Peter the passage from Jerusalem to Rome is the passage to the universality of the Church, the passage of the Church of the pagans and of all times, to the Church which is also always of the Jews. And I think that, going to Rome, Saint Peter not only thought of this passage: Jerusalem/Rome, Judeo-Christian Church/universal Church. He certainly also remembered the last words Jesus addressed to him, reported by Saint John: "At the end, you will go where you do not wish to go. You will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you" (cf. John 21:18). It is a prophecy of the crucifixion. The philologists show us that it is a precise, technical expression, this "stretching out the hands," for the crucifixion. Saint Peter knew that his end would be martyrdom, that it would be the cross. And thus, he would be in the complete following of Christ. Hence, by going to Rome he was certainly going also to martyrdom: martyrdom awaited him in Babylon. Therefore, the primacy has this content of universality, but also a martyrological content. From the beginning, Rome was also a place of martyrdom. Going to Rome, Peter accepts again this word of the Lord: go to the Cross, and he also invites us to accept the martyrological aspect of Christianity, which can have many different forms. And the cross can have many different forms, but no one can be a Christian without following the Crucified One, without also accepting the martyrological moment.

After these words on the sender, a brief word also on the persons to whom it is written. I have already said that Saint Peter describes those to whom he writes with the words "eklektois parepidemois," "to the chosen that are dispersed exiles" (cf. 1 Peter 1:1). We have again this paradox of glory and cross: chosen but dispersed and exiles. Chosen: this was Israel's title of glory: we are the chosen, God has chosen us little people not because we are great – says Deuteronomy – but because He loves us (cf. 7:7-8). We are chosen: Saint Peter now transfers this to all the baptized, and the content itself of the first chapters of his First Letter is that the baptized enter in the privileges of Israel, they are the new Israel. Chosen: it seems to me worthwhile to reflect on this word. We are chosen. God has always known us, before our birth, our conception. God willed me to be a Christian, a Catholic; He willed me to be a priest. God has thought of me, has sought me among millions, among so many. He has seen me and chosen me, not for my merits, of which there were none, but because of his goodness; He wanted me to be bearer of his election, which is always also a mission, above all a mission, and responsibility for the others. Chosen: we must be grateful and joyful for this fact. God has thought of me, has chosen me as a Catholic, as bearer of his Gospel, as priest. It seems to me worthwhile to reflect several times on this, and to re-enter again in this fact of his election: He has chosen me, He has willed me. Now I respond.

Perhaps today we are tempted to say: you do not want to be joyful for being chosen, it would be triumphalism. It would be triumphalism if we thought that God chose me because I am so great. This would really be mistaken triumphalism. However, to be happy because God has willed me is not triumphalism, but gratitude, and I think that we must learn this joy again: God willed that I be born so, in a Catholic family, that I know Jesus from the beginning. What a gift to be willed by God, so that I have been able to know his face, I have been able to know Jesus Christ, the human face of God, the human history of God in this world! To be joyful because he chose me to be Catholic, to be in this Church of his, where subsistit Ecclesia unica; we must be joyful because God has given us this grace, this beauty of knowing the fullness of the truth of God, the joy of his love.

Chosen: it is at the same time a word of privilege and of humility. But "chosen" is – as I said – accompanied by "parapidemois," dispersed, exiles. As Christians we are dispersed and exiles; we see that today Christians are the most persecuted group in the world because they do not conform, because they are a stimulus against the tendencies of egoism, materialism, of all these things.

We Christians are certainly not only exiles; we are also Christian nations, we are proud of having contributed to the formation of a culture, there is a healthy patriotism, a healthy joy of belonging to a nation that has a great history of culture, of faith. Yet, as Christians, we are always exiles – the fate of Abraham, described in the Letter to the Hebrews. As Christians we are in fact today always exiles. In work places Christians are a minority, they are in a situation of exile; it is a wonder that one can still believe and live like this today. This also belongs to our life: it is a way of being with Christ Crucified, this being exiles, not living in the way that everyone lives, but living – or at least trying to live – according to his Word, in great difference from what everyone says. And this is in fact characteristic of Christians. All say: "but everyone does so, why not I?" No, not I, because I want to live according to God. Saint Augustine said once: "Christians are those that do not have their roots down here as do the trees, but they have their roots above, and they live not in the natural gravitation towards below." Let us pray to the Lord that He help us to accept this mission of living as dispersed persons, as a minority, in a certain sense; of living as exiles and yet of being responsible for others and, precisely in this way, giving strength to the good of our world.

We come finally to the three verses of today. I would only like to stress or, let us say, interpret as well as I can, three words: the word regenerated, the word inheritance, the word custodians of the faith. Regenerated – anaghennesas, says the Greek text – means: to be Christian is not simply a decision of my will, an idea of mine. I see that it is a group that please me, so I become a member of this group, I share their objectives, etc. No: to be Christian is not to enter in a group to do something, it is not just an act of my will, not primarily of my will, of my reason: it is an act of God. Regenerated does not concern only the sphere of the will, of thought, but the sphere of being. I am reborn: this means that to become Christian is first of all passive; I cannot make myself a Christian, but I come to be reborn, I come remade by the Lord in the profundity of my being. And I enter this process of rebirth, I let myself be transformed, renewed, regenerated. This seems very important to me: as a Christian I do not have an idea that I share with some others, and if I no longer like them, I can leave. No: in fact it concerns the depth of my being, that is, to become a Christian begins with an action of God, above all an action of His, and I let myself be formed and transformed.

It seems to me this is matter for reflection, for meditation, precisely in a year in which we reflect on the Sacraments of Christian initiation. To meditate on this passive and active depth of the regenerated being, of the becoming of a whole Christian life, of letting myself be transformed by his Word, for the communion of the Church, for the life of the Church, for the signs with which the Lord works in me, works with me and for me. And to be reborn, to be regenerated, indicates also that I thus enter into a new family: God, my Father, the Church, my Mother, other Christians, my brothers and sisters. Hence, to be regenerated, to let oneself be regenerated also implies letting oneself be inserted willingly in this family, to live for God the Father and from God the Father, to live from communion with Christ his Son, who regenerates me by his Resurrection, as the Letter says (cf. 1 Peter 1:3), to live with the Church letting myself be formed by the Church in so many senses, in so many ways, and to be open to my brothers, to really recognize in others my brothers, who are regenerated with me, transformed, renewed; one bears responsibility for the other. Hence a responsibility of Baptism which is a process of a whole lifetime.

Second word: inheritance. It is a very important word in the Old Testament, where Abraham is told that his seed will inherit the earth, and this was always his promise to his own: You will have the earth, you will be heirs of the earth. In the New Testament, this word becomes a word for us: we are heirs, not of a determined country, but of God's land, of God's future. Inheritance is something of the future, and so above all, this word says that as Christians we have the future: the future is ours, the future is God's. And thus, being Christians, we know that the future is ours and the tree of the Church is not a dying tree, but a tree that always grows again. Therefore, we have reason not to let ourselves be affected --as Pope John said – by the prophets of gloom, who say: well, the Church is a tree that came from the mustard seed, which grew in two millennia, which now has time behind her, and now is the time in which she dies." No. The Church always renews herself, is always reborn. The future is ours. Of course, there is a false optimism and a false pessimism. A false pessimism that says: the time of Christianity has ended. No: it begins again! The false optimism was that after the Council, when convents were closing, seminaries were closing, and they said: but … nothing is wrong, everything is all right … No! Everything is not all right. There are also grave, dangerous falls, and we must acknowledge them with healthy realism, that this is not right, it is not all right when things are mistaken. But at the same time we must also be certain that if here and there the Church is dying because of men's sins, because of their unbelief, at the same time she is reborn. The future is truly God's: this is the great certainty of our life, the great, true optimism that we know. The Church is the tree of God who lives in eternity and bears in herself eternity and the true inheritance: eternal life.

And, finally, custodians of the faith. The text of the New Testament, of the Letter of Saint Peter, uses here a strange word, phrouroumrnoi, which means: there are "the guardians," and the faith is as "the guardian" that guards the integrity of my being, of my faith. This word interprets above all the "guardians" of the doors of a city, where they are and guard the city, so that it is not invaded by powers of destruction. In this way the faith is "guardian" of my being, of my life, of my inheritance. We must be grateful for this vigilance of the faith that protects us, helps us, guides us, gives us security: God does not let me fall out of his hands. Custodians of the faith: so I end. Speaking of the faith I must always think of that sick Syro-Phoenician woman who, in the midst of the crowds, found access to Jesus, touches him to be cured, and is cured. The Lord says: "Who touched me?" They say to him: "But Lord, everyone touches you, how can you ask, who has touched me?" (cf. Mark 7:24-30). But the Lord knows: there is a way of touching Him, superficial, external, which has really nothing to do with a real encounter with Him. And there is a way of touching Him profoundly. And this woman really touched him: touched Him not only with her hand, but with her heart and thus she received the healing strength of Christ, touching Him really from within, from faith. This is faith: to touch with the hand of faith, to touch Christ with our heart and thus enter into the strength of his life, the healing strength of the Lord. And we pray to the Lord that we will be able to touch Him ever more and so be healed. We pray that He not let us fall, that He hold us always by the hand and so guard us for the true life. Thank you.

[Original text: Italian]

At the end the Holy Father stayed at the Seminary for dinner. Then he returned to the Vatican.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Benedict XVI's Homily at Ash Wednesday Mass

Benedict XVI's Homily at Ash Wednesday Mass
"The true disciple does not serve himself or the 'public,' but his Lord"
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Vatican City, February 13, 2013 (Zenit.org). | 842 hits

Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave at this evening's Ash Wednesday Mass, held in St. Peter's Basilica. Because this was the last public liturgy to be celebrated by Benedict XVI, the Mass was moved from the traditional location of Santa Sabina to St. Peter's.


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Venerable Brothers,

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today, Ash Wednesday, we begin a new Lenten journey, a journey that extends for forty days and leads us to the joy of Easter, the victory of Life over death. Following the ancient Roman tradition of Lenten stationes, we have gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist. The tradition says that the first statio should take place in the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill. The circumstances have suggested that we gather in St. Peter's Basilica. Tonight we are great in number around the tomb of the Apostle Peter, also to request his intercession for the Church's journey at this particular time, renewing our faith in the Supreme Pastor, Christ the Lord. For me it is a good opportunity to thank everyone, especially the faithful of the Diocese of Rome, as I prepare to conclude my Petrine ministry, and ask for a special remembrance in prayer.

The readings that have been proclaimed provide us with ideas that, with the grace of God, we are called to make concrete attitudes and behaviors during this Lent. The Church proposes to us, first, the strong appeal that the prophet Joel addressed to the people of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (2:12). Please note the phrase "with all my heart," which means from the center of our thoughts and feelings, from the roots of our decisions, choices and actions, with a gesture of total and radical freedom. But is this return to God possible? Yes, because there is a force that does not reside in our hearts, but that emanates from the heart of God. It is the power of his mercy. The prophet says, further: "Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, ready to repent of evil" (v. 13). The return to the Lord is possible as a 'grace', because it is the work of God and the fruit of that faith that we place in His mercy. But this return to God becomes a reality in our lives only when the grace of God penetrates to our inmost being and shakes it, giving us the power to "rend our hearts." The same prophet causes these words from God to resonate: "Rend your hearts and not your garments" (v. 13). In fact, even today, many are ready to "rend their garments" before scandals and injustices - of course, made by others - but few seem willing to act on their own "heart", on their own conscience and their own intentions, letting the Lord transform, renew and convert.

That "return to me with all your heart," then, is a reminder that involves not only the individual, but the community. We have heard, also in the first reading: "Play the horn in Zion, proclaim a solemn fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, convoke a solemn assembly, call the old, gather the children and the infants at the breast; let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her bridal chamber"(vv.15-16). The community dimension is an essential element in faith and Christian life. Christ came "to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (cfr. Jn 11:52). The "we" of the Church is the community in which Jesus brings us together (cf. Jn 12:32): faith is necessarily ecclesial. And this is important to remember and to live in this time of Lent: each person is aware that he or she does not face the penitential journey alone, but together with many brothers and sisters in the Church.

Finally, the prophet focuses on the prayers of the priests, who, with tears in their eyes, turn to God, saying: "Do not expose your heritage to the reproach and derision of the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "(v.17). This prayer makes us reflect on the importance of the testimony of faith and Christian life of each of us and our community to show the face of the Church and how that face is sometimes disfigured. I am thinking in particular about sins against the unity of the Church, the divisions in the ecclesial body. Living Lent in a more intense and evident ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry, is a humble and precious sign for those who are far from the faith or indifferent.

"Behold, now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2). The words of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth resonate for us, too, with an urgency that does not allow omission or inaction. The word "now" repeated several times says that we cannot let this time pass us by, it is offered to us as a unique opportunity. And the Apostle's gaze focuses on the sharing that Christ chose to characterize his life, taking on everything human to the point of bearing the very burden of men's sins. The phrase St. Paul uses is very strong: "God made him sin for our sake." Jesus, the innocent one, the Holy One, "He who knew no sin" (2 Cor 5:21), bears the burden of sin, sharing with humanity its outcome of death, and death on the cross. The reconciliation offered to us has cost a high price, that of the cross raised on Golgotha, on which was hung the Son of God made man. In this immersion of God in human suffering and in the abyss of evil lies the root of our justification. The "return to God with all your heart" in our Lenten journey passes through the cross, following Christ on the road to Calvary, the total gift of self. It is a way on which to learn every day to come out more and more from our selfishness and our closures, to make room for God who opens and transforms the heart. And St. Paul recalls how the announcement of the Cross resounds to us through the preaching of the Word, of which the Apostle himself is an ambassador; it is a call for us to make this Lenten journey characterized by a more careful and assiduous listening to the Word of God, the light that illuminates our steps.

In the Gospel of Matthew, to which belongs the so-called Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to three fundamental practices required by Mosaic Law: almsgiving, prayer and fasting; they are also traditional indications in the Lenten journey to respond to the invitation to "return to God with all your heart." But Jesus emphasizes that it is both the quality and the truth of the relationship with God that determines the authenticity of each religious gesture. For this reason He denounces religious hypocrisy, the behavior that wants to be seen, attitudes seeking applause and approval. The true disciple does not serve himself or the "public", but his Lord, in simplicity and generosity: "And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you" (Mt 6:4.6.18). Our witness, then, will always be more effective the less we seek our own glory, and we will know that the reward of the righteous is God himself, being united to Him, here below, on the journey of faith, and, at the end of life, in the peace and light of coming face to face with Him forever (cf. 1 Cor 13:12).

Dear brothers and sisters, we begin our Lenten journey, trusting and joyful. May the invitation to conversion resonate strongly in us, to "return to God with all your heart", accepting His grace that makes us new men, with the surprising novelty that is sharing in the very life of Jesus. Let none of us, therefore, be deaf to this appeal, that is addressed to us also in the austere rite, so simple and yet so beautiful, of the imposition of ashes, which we will perform shortly. May the Virgin Mary accompany us in this time, the Mother of the Church and model of every true disciple of the Lord. Amen!

[Original text: Italian]

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

(February 13, 2013) © Innovative Media Inc.

Pope's Homily on the Feast of the Presentation

Pope's Homily on the Feast of the Presentation

Vatican City, February 03, 2013 (Zenit.org).


Here is the translation of Pope Benedict's homily at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica commemorating the Feast of the Presentation as well as the 27th World Day for Consecrated Life.


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Dear brothers and sisters!

In his account of Jesus’ childhood, St. Luke stresses how faithful Mary and Joseph were to the Law of the Lord. With profound devotion they perform everything that is prescribed after the birth of a male child. There are 2 very ancient prescriptions: one regards the mother and the other the newborn baby. For the woman it is prescribed that she abstain for 40 days from ritual practices and afterward offer a twofold sacrifice: a lamb as a holocaust and a turtledove or pigeon for sin; but if the woman is poor, she can offer 2 turtledoves or 2 pigeons (cf. Leviticus 12:1-8). St. Luke notes that Mary and Joseph offer the sacrifice of the poor (cf. 2:24) to show that Jesus was born in a family of simple folk, humble but strong in faith: a family belonging to the poor ones of Israel who form the true people of God. For the first born son, who, according to the Law of Moses, belongs to God, a ransom was prescribed, consisting in an offering of 5 shekels to be paid to a priest in any place. This was done in perennial remembrance of the fact that at the time of the Exodus, God spared the firstborn of the Hebrews (cf. Exodus 13:11-16).

It is important to observe that it was not necessary that these 2 acts – the purification of the mother and the ransoming of the son – be performed in the Temple. But Mary and Joseph wish to do them in Jerusalem, and St. Luke makes us see how the whole scene converges on the Temple, and he thus focuses on Jesus, who enters the Temple. And precisely through the prescriptions of the Law, the principal event becomes something else, namely, the “presentation” of Jesus in the Temple of God, which signifies the act of offering the Son of the Most High to the Father who sent him (cf. Luke 1:32, 35).

The words of the prophet Malachi that we heard in the first reading is confirmed this narrative of the evangelist: “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will send you a messenger to prepare the way before me and immediately the Lord whom you seek will enter his temple; the angel of the covenant, whom you seek, see he is coming ... He will purify the sons of Levi ... that they might offer a just sacrifice to the Lord’” (3:1, 3). Clearly here we are not talking about a child and nevertheless these words are fulfilled in Jesus, because, thanks to the faith of his parents, he was “immediately” brought to the Temple; and in the act of his “presentation,” or of his personal “offering” to God the Father, the theme of sacrifice and priesthood shines forth, as in the passage from Malachi. The child Jesus, who is immediately presented in the Temple, will be that adult who will purify the Temple (cf. John 2:13-22; Mark 11:15, 19) and above all will be the sacrifice and the high priest of the new covenant.

This is also the perspective of the Letter to the Hebrews, from which a passage was proclaimed in the second reading, so that the theme of the new priesthood is reinforced: the priesthood inaugurated by Jesus is an existential priesthood: “Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18). And here we also see the theme of suffering, which is very clear in the Gospel passage in which Simeon pronounces his prophecy about the Child and the Mother: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword will pierce – so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). The “salvation” that Jesus brings to his people, and which he incarnates in himself, passes through the cross, through the violent death that he will overcome and transform with his sacrifice of his life for love. This oblation is announced beforehand in the presentation in the Temple, a gesture that is, of course, motivated by the traditions of the old covenant, but that is intimately animated by the fullness of faith and love that corresponds to the fullness of time, to the presence of God and his Holy Spirit in Jesus. The Spirit, in effect, hovers above the whole scene of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, especially above the figures of Simeon and Anna. It is the Spirit, the “Paraclete,” that brings the “consolation” of Israel and guides the steps and hearts of those who await it. It is the Spirit that suggests the prophetic words to Simeon and Anna, words of benediction, of praise to God, of faith in the one he has consecrated, of thanksgiving because finally our eyes can see and our arms can hold “his salvation” (cf. 2:30).

“A light to reveal you to the gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel” (2:32): thus Simeon defines the Messiah of the Lord at the end of his song of blessing. The theme of light, which echoes the first and second songs of the Servant of the Lord in Deutero-Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 42:6, 49:6), is forcefully present in this liturgy. This liturgy, in fact, was opened with a suggestive procession, in which the superiors general of the institutes of consecrated life represented here participated, carrying lit candles. This sign, specific to the liturgical tradition of this feast, is very expressive. It manifests the beauty and the value of the consecrated life as a reflection of the light of Christ; a sign that recalls the entrance of Mary into the Temple: the Virgin Mary, the consecrated person par excellence, carried the Light Itself in her arms, the Incarnate Word, who had come to disperse the darkness of the world with God’s love.

Dear consecrated brothers and sisters, you are all represented in that symbolic pilgrimage, which in the Year of Faith expresses all the more your own entry into the Church to be confirmed in faith and renewed in the offering of yourselves to God. To each of you and your institutes I offer my most cordial greeting with affection and I thank you for your presence. In the light of Christ, with the many contemplative and apostolic charisms, you cooperate in the life and the mission of the Church in the world. In this spirit of gratitude and communion, I would like to make 3 proposals to you so that you might enter fully into that “door of faith” that is always open for us (cf. “Porta fidei,” 1).

I invite you first to nourish a faith that will be able to enlighten your vocation. I exhort you in this regard to recall to your mind, as in an interior pilgrimage, the “first love” with which the Lord Jesus Christ warmed your heart, not out of nostalgia but to nourish that flame. This is why it is necessary to be with him, in the silence of adoration, and in this way reawaken the will and the joy of sharing life, decisions, the obedience of faith, the blessedness of the poor, the radicality of love. Always beginning again from this meeting of love, you leave everything to be with him and, like him, place yourselves in the service of God and the brethren (cf. John Paul II, “Vita consecrata,” 1).

Second, I invite you to a faith that knows how to recognize the wisdom of weakness. In the joys and sufferings of the present time, when the difficulty and weight of the cross make themselves felt, do not doubt that the kenosis of Christ is already the paschal victory. Precisely in human limits and weakness we are called to live conformation to Christ, in a totalizing tension that anticipates, in the measure possible in time, eschatological perfection (ibid., 16). In the society of effectiveness and success, your life, marked by the humility and weakness of little ones, by empathy with those who do not have a voice, becomes an evangelical sign of contradiction.

Finally, I invite you to renew the faith that leads you as pilgrims toward the future. By its nature the consecrated life is a pilgrimage of the spirit in search of the Face that shows itself and hides itself: “Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram” (Psalm 26:8) (We seek your face, O Lord). This is the constant longing of your heart, the fundamental criterion that orients your journey, whether in the small steps of daily life or in the most important decisions. Do not join with the prophets of misadventure who proclaim the end of or the meaninglessness of the consecrated life of the Church in our time; rather, put on Jesus Christ and arm yourselves with the weapons of light, as St. Paul says (cf. Romans 13:11-14) – remaining awake and vigilant. St. Chromatius of Aquileia wrote: “May the Lord remove such a danger from us so that we are never lulled into the sleep of infidelity; but may he grant his grace and his mercy so that we can always be vigilant in fidelity to him” (Sermon 32, 4).

Dear brothers and sisters, the joy of consecrated life necessarily passes through participation in the cross of Christ. This is how it way for Mary Most Holy. Hers is the suffering of the heart that is wholly one with the Heart of the Son of God, pierced for love. From that wound poured forth God’s light and from the sufferings, sacrifices, gift of self of consecrated persons who live for the love of God and others there also shines the same light, the light that evangelizes the nations. On this feast I pray in a special way for you who live the consecrated life that your life always have the flavor of evangelical “parrhesia” (boldness) that in you the Good News is lived, witnessed to, announced and manifested as the Word of truth (cf. “Porta fidei,” 6).

Amen.

[Translation by Joseph Trabbic]

(February 03, 2013) © Innovative Media Inc.

ON GOD THE ALMIGHTY FATHER

"Despite the Crisis of Fatherhood in Many Societies, the Scriptures Show us Clearly what it Means to Call God 'Father'"

VATICAN CITY, January 30, 2013 (Zenit.org).

Here is a translation of the General Audience Pope Benedict XVI gave today in Paul VI Hall.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In last Wednesday's catechesis we focused on the words of the Creed: "I believe in God." But the profession of faith specifies this statement: God is the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I should like to reflect with you now on the first, fundamental definition of God that the Creed gives us: He is Father.

It is not always easy today to talk about fatherhood. Especially in the West, the broken families, the increasingly absorbing work commitments, the worries and often the effort to balance the family budget, the distracting invasion of the media into daily life are some of the many factors that can prevent a peaceful and constructive relationship between fathers and their children. Communication becomes difficult at times, trust is weakened and the relationship with the father figure can become problematic; and thus it also becomes difficult to imagine God as a father, not having adequate models of reference. For those who have had the experience of a father who was too authoritarian and inflexible, or indifferent and lacking in affection, or even absent, it is not easy to think calmly of God as Father and surrender to Him with confidence.

But the biblical revelation helps to overcome these difficulties, telling us about a God who shows us what it means to truly be "father", and it is especially the Gospel which reveals the face of God as a Father who loves even to the giving of his own Son for the salvation humanity. The reference to the father figure therefore helps to understand something of the love of God which however remains infinitely greater, more faithful, more total than that of any man. "Is there anyone among you", says Jesus, to show the disciples the Father's face, "who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"(Mt 7:9-11; cf. Lk 11:11-13). God is our Father because He has blessed and chosen us before the foundation of the world (cf. Eph 1:3-6), he has truly made us his children in Jesus (cf. 1 Jn 3:1). And, as Father, God accompanies our lives with love, giving us His Word, His teachings, His grace, His Spirit.

He - as revealed in Jesus - is the Father who feeds the birds of the sky without them having to sow and reap, and bedecks the flowers of the field in wonderful colors, with clothes more beautiful than those of King Solomon (cf. Mt 6.26-32 and Lk 12:24-28); and we - adds Jesus - are worth far more than flowers and the birds of the sky! And if He is good enough to make "his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and ... send the rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Mt 5:45), we can always, without fear and with total confidence, trust in the forgiveness of Father when we lose our way. God is a good Father who welcomes and embraces the lost and repentant son (cf. Lk 15:11ff), He gives himself freely to those who ask (cf. Mt18:19, Mk 11:24, Jn 16:23) and offers the bread from heaven and the living water that gives life forever (cf. Jn 6:32.51.58).

Therefore, the one praying in Psalm 27, surrounded by enemies, besieged by evil and slanderers, while he seeks help from the Lord and calls upon Him, can give his testimony full of faith, saying: "My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up"(v. 10). God is a Father who never abandons his children, a loving Father who supports, helps, welcomes, forgives, saves, with a fidelity that immensely surpasses that of men, opening onto the dimensions of eternity. "For his steadfast love endures forever," as Psalm 136 continually repeats in every verse, as a litany, retracing the history of salvation. The love of God the Father never fails, He never tires of us; He is love that gives to the extreme, even to the sacrifice of His Son. Faith gives us this certainty, which becomes a secure rock in constructing our lives: we can face all the moments of difficulty and danger, the experience of the darkness of crisis and of times of pain, supported by our faith that God does not leave us alone and is always near, to save us and bring us to eternal life.

It is in the Lord Jesus that the benevolent face of the Father who is in heaven shows itself fully. It is in knowing Him that we can know the Father (cf. Jn 8:19; 14:7); it is by seeing Him that we can see the Father, because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (cf. Jn 14:9.11). He is the "image of the invisible God" as the hymn of the Letter to the Colossians defines Him, "the firstborn of all creation ... the firstborn from the dead", "through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" and reconciliation of all things, "whether in heaven or on earth, having made peace through the blood of his cross" (cf. Col 1:13-20).

Faith in God the Father asks us to believe in the Son, under the action of the Spirit, recognizing in the Cross that saves the final revelation of divine love. God is our Father by giving us his Son; God is our Father by forgiving our sins and bringing us to the joy of the risen life; God is our Father giving us the Spirit that makes us sons and allows us to call Him, in truth, "Abbà, Father "(cf. Rom 8:15). Therefore Jesus, teaching us to pray, invites us to say "our Father" (Mt 6:9-13; cf. Lk 11:2-4).

The fatherhood of God, then, is infinite love, tenderness that stoops over us, weak children, in need of everything. Psalm 103, the great hymn of divine mercy, proclaims: "As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him, for he knows how we were made, he remembers that we are dust" (vv. 13-14). It is precisely our littleness, our weak human nature, our fragility that becomes an appeal to the Lord's mercy for Him to manifest His greatness and tenderness as a Father by helping us, forgiving us and saving us.

And God responds to our appeal, sending His Son, who died and rose again for us; He enters our fragility and does that which man alone could never do: He takes upon Himself the sin of the world, as an innocent lamb, and re-opens the way for us to communion with God, He makes us true children of God. It is there, in the Paschal Mystery, where the definitive face of the Father is revealed in all its luminosity. And it is there, on the glorious Cross, where the full manifestation occurs of the greatness of God as "Father Almighty."

But we might ask: how is it possible to imagine an omnipotent God looking at the Cross of Christ? At this power of evil, that goes so far as to kill the Son of God? We would like an omnipotence of God according to our mental schemes and our desires: an "omnipotent" God who solves the problems, who intervenes to save us from every difficulty, who defeats all the harmful powers, changes the course of events and cancels out pain. Thus, today various theologians say that God cannot be omnipotent, otherwise there would not be so much suffering, so much evil in the world. In reality, in the face of evil and suffering, for many, for us, it becomes difficult to believe in God the Father and to believe Him to be almighty; some seek refuge in idols, yielding to the temptation to find an answer in an alleged "magical" omnipotence and its illusory promises.

But faith in the Almighty God takes us through very different paths: to learn to recognize that God's thoughts are different from our thoughts, that God's ways are different from our ways (cf.Is 55:8), and even his omnipotence is different: it is not expressed as an automatic or arbitrary force, but is marked by a loving and fatherly freedom. In reality, God, by creating free creatures, giving them freedom, has renounced a part of his power, empowering our freedom. In this way He loves and respects our free response of love to his call.  Like a Father, God want us to be his children and to live as such in his Son, in communion, in full intimacy with Him. His omnipotence is not expressed in violence, it is not expressed in the destruction of every adverse power as we would like, but is expressed in love, in mercy, in forgiveness, in accepting our freedom and in the untiring call to conversion of heart, in an attitude that is only apparently weak – God seems weak, if we think of Jesus Christ who prays, who lets himself be killed. An apparently weak attitude, consisting of patience, gentleness and love, shows that this is the true way of being powerful! This is the power of God! And this power will win! The wise man of theBook of Wisdom addresses God in this way: "You are merciful to all, for you can do all things; you overlook people's sins, so that they may repent. For you love all things that exist ... You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living"(11:23-24a.26).

Only one who is truly powerful can endure evil and show compassion; only one who is truly powerful can fully exercise the power of love. And God, to whom all things belong because all things were made by Him, reveals his strength by loving everyone and everything, in a patient waiting for the conversion of us men, whom he wants to have as children. God awaits our conversion.  God's all-powerful love knows no bounds, so much so that "he did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us" (Rom 8:32). The omnipotence of love is not that of the power of the world, but that of total gift, and Jesus, the Son of God, reveals to the world the true omnipotence of the Father, giving his life for us sinners. This is the real, authentic and perfect divine power: to respond to evil with good, to insults with forgiveness, to murderous hatred with the love that gives life. Then evil is really defeated, because washed by the love of God; then death is finally defeated, because transformed into the gift of life. God the Father raises the Son: death, the great enemy (cf. 1  Cor 15:26), is swallowed up and deprived of its poison (cf. 1 Cor15.54-55), and we, freed from sin, can access our reality of being God's children.

So when we say "I believe in God the Father Almighty," we express our faith in the power of the love of God who in his Son dead and risen defeats hatred, evil, sin and opens us to eternal life, that of children who want to be always in the "Father's House". To say “I believe in God the Father Almighty”, in his power, in his way of being Father, is always an act of faith, of conversion, of transformation of our mind, of all our affection, of our entire way of life.

Dear brothers and sisters, we ask the Lord to sustain our faith, to help us truly discover faith and to give us the strength to proclaim Christ crucified and risen and to bear witness to him in the love of God and neighbor. And God grant that we may receive the gift of our "sonship", to live fully the reality of the Creed, in trusting abandonment to the love of the Father and His merciful omnipotence that saves. Thank you.

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our continuing catechesis during this Year of Faith, we now reflect on the Creed’s description of God as “the Father Almighty”.  Despite the crisis of fatherhood in many societies, the Scriptures show us clearly what it means to call God “Father”.  God is infinitely generous, faithful, and forgiving; he so loves the world that he has given us his only Son for our salvation. 

As “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), Jesus reveals God as a merciful Father who never abandons his children and whose loving concern for us embraces even the Cross.  In Christ, God has made us his adopted sons and daughters.  The Cross shows also us how God our Father is “almighty”.  His omnipotence transcends our limited human concepts of power; his might is that of a patient love expressed in the ultimate victory of goodness over evil, life over death, and freedom over the bondage of sin.  As we contemplate the Cross of Christ, let us turn to God the almighty Father and implore the grace to abandon ourselves with confidence and trust to his merciful love and his saving power.  

I offer a warm welcome to the priests taking part in the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical North American College.  Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from the Republic of Korea, Canada and the United States of America, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.

[Original text: English]

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana 

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I extend a cordial greeting to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, I greet the Bishops, friends of the Focolare Movement. Dear Brothers, along with you, I also greet all those who will participate in the meetings organized in different regions of the world. Assuring you of my prayers, I hope that the charism of unity which is particularly dear to you, may support you and encourage you in your apostolic ministry. And I greet the faithful of the Archdiocese of Potenza-Lucano-Marsiconuovo, accompanied by their Shepherd Mons. Agostino Superbo. Dear friends, continue to devote every effort so that, in equal manner in the cities and small towns, a solid religious education may be built up, so that all may be prepared to receive the Sacraments fruitfully, the essential nourishment for growth in the faith. The presence at this meeting of the civil authorities of Basilicata, to whom I extend a respectful greeting, gives me the opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all those who have labored for the preparation of the charming nativity scene, located in this Square, which has been admired by many pilgrims, and also by me with great joy, as an expression of Lucan art.

Finally, I address an affectionate thought to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Tomorrow marks the liturgical memorial of St. John Bosco, priest and educator. Look at him, dear young people, as a true master of life. You, dear sick people, learn from his spiritual experience to confide in every circumstance in Christ crucified. And you, dear newlyweds, have recourse to his intercession to live with generous commitment your mission as spouses. Thank you. 

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

ON CHRIST AS MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN

'Jesus [] is Truly God Among Us, 'The Mediator and the Fullness of All Revelation'"

VATICAN CITY, January 16, 2013 (Zenit.org).

Here is a translation of the General Audience Pope Benedict XVI gave today in Paul VI Hall.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Second Vatican Council, in its Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, says that the intimate truth of the revelation of God shines for us "in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation"(no. 2). The Old Testament tells us how God, after the creation, despite original sin, despite man's arrogance in wanting to take the place of his Creator, again offers the possibility of his friendship, especially through the covenant with Abraham and the journey of a small nation, that of Israel, whom he chooses not according to the criteria of earthly power, but simply out of love. It is a choice that remains a mystery and reveals God's style, who calls some not to exclude others, but so that those called will act as bridge leading to Him: election is always an election for the other. In the history of the people of Israel we can retrace the stages of a long journey in which God makes himself known, reveals himself, enters into history with words and actions. For this work He uses mediators, such as Moses, the Prophets, the Judges, who communicate his will to the people, they remind them of the need for fidelity to the covenant and keep alive the expectation of the full and definitive realization of the divine promises.

And it is precisely the fulfillment of these promises that we contemplated in Christmas: God's revelation reaches its peak, its fullness. In Jesus of Nazareth, God truly visits his people, he visits humanity in a way that exceeds all expectation: he sends his only begotten Son, who becomes man, God himself. Jesus does not simply tell us something about God, he does not simply talk about the Father, because he is God, and thus he reveals to us the face of God. In the Prologue of his Gospel, John writes: "No one has ever seen God: it is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known" (Jn 1:18).

I want to focus on this "revealing the face of God." In this regard, St. John, in his Gospel, relates to us a significant fact. Approaching the passion, Jesus reassures his disciples, inviting them not to be afraid and to have faith; then he initiates a dialogue with them in which he speaks of God the Father (cf. Jn 14:2-9). At one point, the apostle Philip asks Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied" (Jn 14:8). Philip is very practical and concrete: he says what we, too, want to say: “we want to see, show us the Father”; he asks to "see" the Father, to see his face. Jesus' answer is an answer not only for Philip, but also for us and leads us into the heart of the Christological faith of the Church; the Lord affirms: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). This expression contains a synthesis of the novelty of the New Testament, that novelty that appeared in the cave of Bethlehem: God can be seen, he has shown his face, he is visible in Jesus Christ.

Throughout the Old Testament the theme of "seeking the face of God" is ever present, so that the Hebrew term panîm, which means "face", occurs no less than 400 times, 100 of which refer to God, it means to see the face of God. Yet the Jewish religion, by forbidding all images, since God cannot be depicted - as instead occurred among their neighbors with the worship of idols; therefore, with this prohibition of imagery, the Old Testament seems to totally exclude "seeing" from worship and piety. What does it mean then, for the pious Israelite, to seek the face of God, while recognizing that there can be no image of Him? The question is important: on the one hand, it is said that God cannot be reduced to an object, to a simple image, nor can anything be put in the place of God; on the other, however, it is affirmed that He has a face, that is, He is a "You" that can enter into a relationship, who isn't closed in his Heavens looking down upon humanity. God is certainly above all things, but he turns to us, hears us, sees and speaks, makes covenants, is capable of love. The history of salvation ishistory of God with humanity, it is the history of this relationship of God who progressively reveals himself to man, letting him see his face.

Right at the beginning of the year, on January 1, we heard in the liturgy the beautiful prayer of blessing over the people: "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face to you and give you peace" (Num.6:24-26). The splendor of the divine face is the source of life, it is what allows us to see reality, and the light of his countenance is the guide to life. In the Old Testament there is a figure connected in a very special way to the theme of the "face of God": Moses, whom God chose to free the people from slavery in Egypt, to give them the Law of the covenant and to lead them to the Promised Land. Well, in chapter 33 of the Book of Exodus, it says that Moses had a close and confidential relationship with God: "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as one speaks with his friend" (v. 11). By virtue of this confidence, Moses asks God: "Show me your glory," and the Lord's answer is clear: "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name ... But you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live ... Here is a place near me ... you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen "(vv. 18-23). On the one hand, then, there is the face to face dialogue as among friends, but on the other, there is the impossibility, in this life, of seeing the face of God, which remains hidden; the vision is limited. The Fathers say that these words, “you shall only see my back”, mean: you can only follow Christ and in following you see from behind the mystery of God;God can be followed seeing his back.

Something new happens, however, with the incarnation. The search for the face of God undergoes an unthinkable change, because now this face can be seen: that of Jesus, the Son of God who became man. In Him the path of God's revelation finds fulfillment, which began with the call of Abraham; He is the fullness of this revelation because he is the Son of God, he is both "the mediator and fullness of all revelation" (Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 2), and in Him the content of Revelation and the Revealer coincide. Jesus shows us the face of God and makes known to us the name of God. In the priestly prayer at the Last Supper, He says to the Father: "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world ... I made your name known to them" (cf. Jn 17:6,26). The expression "name of God" means God as He who is present among men. To Moses at the burning bush, God had revealed his name, had made it possible to invoke him, had given a concrete sign of his "existence" among men. All this finds fulfillment and completeness in Jesus: He inaugurates a new way of God's presence in history, because he who sees Him, sees the Father, as he says to Philip (cf. Jn 14:9). Christianity - says Saint Bernard - is the "religion of the Word of God"; not, however, "a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word" (Hom. super missus est, IV, 11: PL 183, 86B). In the Patristic and Medieval traditions, a special formula is used to express this reality: Jesus is the Verbumabbreviatum (cf. Rom 9:28, referring to Isaiah 10:23), he is the short, abbreviated and substantial Word of the Father, who has told us everything about Him. In Jesus the whole Word is present.

In Jesus even the mediation between God and man finds its fullness. In the Old Testament, there is a host of figures who have performed this task, particularly Moses, the deliverer, the guide, the "mediator" of the covenant, as also the New Testament defines him (cf. Gal 3:19;Acts 7:35, Jn 1:17). Jesus, true God and true man, is not simply one of the mediators between God and man, he is "the mediator" of the new and everlasting covenant (cf. Heb 8:6; 9:15, 12:24); "For there is one God", Paul says, "and one mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5, Gal 3:19-20). In Him we see and meet the Father; in Him we can invoke God as "Abbà, Father"; in Him we are given salvation.

The desire to know God truly, that is, to see the face of God, is in every man, even atheists. And we perhaps unwittingly have this desire to see simply who He is, what He is, who He is for us. But this desire is realized by following Christ, so we see his back and finally also see God as a friend, his face in the face of Christ.

The important thing is that we follow Christ not only when we are in need and when we find  space for it in our daily affairs, but with our lives as such.The whole of life should be directed towards encountering Him, towards loving Him; and, in it, a central place must also be given to the love of one's neighbor, that love that, in the light of the Crucified One, enables us to recognize the face of Jesus in the poor, the weak, the suffering. This is only possible if the true face of Jesus has become familiar to us in listening to His Word, in interior dialogue, in entering into this Word in such a way as to really encounter him,and naturally in the Mystery of the Eucharist. In the Gospel of St. Luke there is the significant passage of the two disciples of Emmaus, who recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, thought after being prepared by the journey with Him, prepared by the invitation they made Him to remain with them, prepared by the dialogue that made their hearts burn; so, in the end, they see Jesus.For us, too, the Eucharist is the great school in which we learn to see the face of God, we enter into an intimate relationship with Him, and we learn at the same time to turn our gaze towards the final moment of history, when He will satisfy us with the light of his face. On earth we walk towards this fullness, awaiting the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Thank you.

[Translation by Peter Waymel] 

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

During the Christmas season we celebrated the mystery of the Incarnation as the culmination of God’s gradual self-revelation to Israel, a revelation mediated by those great figures such as Moses and the Prophets who kept alive the expectation of God’s fulfillment of his promises. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is truly God among us, "the mediator and the fullness of all revelation" (Dei Verbum, 2). In him, the ancient blessing is fulfilled: God has made his face to shine upon us (cf. Num 6:25). As the Incarnate Son, the one mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim 2:5), Jesus does not simply speak to us about God; he shows us the very face of God and enables us to call him our Father. As he says to the apostle Philip, "whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). May our desire to see the Lord’s face grow through our daily encounter with him in prayer, in meditation on his word and in the Eucharist, and thus prepare us to contemplate forever the light of his countenance in the fullness of his eternal Kingdom.

I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including the pilgrimage groups from Australia and the United States of America. My particular greeting goes to the pilgrims from the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. I also welcome the deacons from Saint Paul Seminary and the many college and university students present. May the light of the Lord’s face shine upon all of you and fill you with his richest blessings of joy and peace!

[Original text: English]

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana 

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I extend a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular I greet the faithful of the Diocese of Civita Castellana, accompanied by Bishop Romano Rossi. Dear friends, may the example of Blessed Cecilia Eusepi help each one of you, especially the young people, to persevere in your generous adherence to Christ and in joyful witness to the Gospel.
I greet the students from the Diocese of Caserta: may this encounter strengthen each of you in your faith and your commitment to the Christian life. I greet with affection the young patients at the National Institute for Research and Treatment of Cancer in Milan, and assure you of my prayers that the Lord will sustain each of you with his grace.

I turn, finally, to the young, the sick and the newlyweds. Tomorrow we celebrate the liturgical memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot, the famous father of monasticism, spiritual teacher and sublime model of Christian life. May his example help you, dear young people, to follow Christ without compromise; may it sustain you, dear sick people, in times of distress and trial; and may it urge you, newlyweds, not to neglect prayer in everyday life. Thank you!

APPEAL OF THE HOLY FATHER

The day after tomorrow, Friday, January 18, begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which this year has the theme: "What Does God Require of Us," inspired by a passage from the prophet Micah (cf. Micah 6:6-8). I invite everyone to pray, insistently asking God for the great gift of unity among the Lord's disciples. May the inexhaustible power of the Holy Spirit encourage us to a sincere commitment to seeking unity, so that we may all profess together that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

[Translation by Peter Waymel]