Subject: VISnews 110310
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 47
ENGLISH
THURSDAY, 10 MARCH 2011
SUMMARY:
- Lent: Experiencing the Regenerating Mercy of God
- Holy Father Meets with Priests of the Diocese of Rome
- Publication of Second Volume of Pope's Book on Jesus
- Other Pontifical Acts
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LENT: EXPERIENCING THE REGENERATING MERCY OF GOD
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, Benedict XVI
presided at the traditional penitential procession from the church of St.
Anselm on Rome's Aventine Hill to the Basilica of Santa Sabina where he
celebrated Mass. The Pope received ashes from Cardinal Jozef Tomko, titular
of the basilica, then himself distributed ashes to the cardinals and bishops
present, as well as to a number of faithful.
"Today we begin the liturgical period of Lent with the emblematic ritual
of the imposition of the ashes by which we intend to take on the task of
turning our hearts towards the horizons of Grace", said the Pope in his
homily. "This is not some superficial or transitory conversion, but a
spiritual itinerary which has a profound effect on our conscience and
involves a sincere intention to amend our lives".
"This means undertaking an authentic conversion to God - returning to Him
- recognising His sanctity, His power, His majesty", the Holy Father went
on. "Such conversion is possible because God is rich in mercy and great in
love. His mercy is regenerating. ... God, in fact, does not want the death
of sinners but their conversion to life. ... He offers us His forgiveness,
... so as to give us a new heart purified from the evil that oppresses it,
so as to lead us to participate in His joy. Our world needs to be converted
by God, it needs His pardon, His love, it needs a new heart".
"'Christ's call to conversion', says the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
'continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This ... is an
uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, clasping sinners to her bosom,
is at once holy and always in need of purification, and follows constantly
the path of penance and renewal'. This struggle for conversion is not an
exclusively human effort. It is the dynamism of the 'contrite heart',
attracted and moved by grace to respond to the mercy of God".
"Everyone can open themselves to the action of God, to His love", the Pope
exclaimed. "With our evangelical testimony, we Christians must be a living
message; indeed, in many cases, we are the only Gospel that the men and
women of today still read. ... One further reason to live Lent properly is
to offer a witness of lived faith to a world in difficulty, a world which
needs to return to God, a world which needs conversion".
Finally, the Holy Father referred to today's Gospel in which Jesus
reiterates the three principle works of piety in Mosaic Law: alms, prayer
and fasting. Christ "highlights how these three works of piety enclose a
shared temptation: ... the desire to be esteemed and admired for a good
action. ... The Lord Jesus does not ask for formal respect to be shown to a
law that is foreign to man; ... on the contrary, He invites us to rediscover
these three works of piety, and to experience them more profoundly, not for
love of self but for love of God, as a means on the journey of conversion to
Him.
"Alms, prayer and fasting, this is the course of divine pedagogy which
accompanies us, and not just during Lent, towards the meeting with the Risen
Lord; a course to be followed without ostentation, in the certainty that the
heavenly Father can read and see into the secret depths of our hearts".
HML/ VIS
20110310 (580)
HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican's Hall of
Blessings, as is traditional at the beginning of Lent, the Pope met with
pastors and priests of the diocese of Rome.
.../ VIS
20110310 (50)
PUBLICATION OF SECOND VOLUME OF POPE'S BOOK ON JESUS
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2011 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this
afternoon, the presentation will take place of the second volume of Benedict
XVI's book on Jesus of Nazareth: "From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the
Resurrection". The press conference will be presented by Cardinal Marc
Ouellet P.S.S. prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and Claudio Magris,
a writer and German scholar.
The book has been published in seven languages - German, Italian, English,
Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish - and has nine chapters and an
epilogue. The chapter headings and subheadings were published in the VIS
bulletin of 2 March.
In an interview published by the "Osservatore Romano" Fr. Giuseppe Costa,
director of the Vatican Publishing House which holds the copyright on the
Pope's works, explains that there will initially be seven editions of the
book with a print run of 1,200,000 copies, and that contracts have been
signed with twenty-two publishing houses throughout the world. The work is
also available in an e-book edition.
Fr. Costa dwells briefly on the history of the publication, recalling how
nearly a year and a half ago Msgr. Georg Gaenswein, private secretary to
Benedict XVI, consigned him the text, the last part of which was written in
pencil "in the Pope's unmistakeable tiny handwriting".
On the subject of the translations, Fr. Costa explains how "the Italian,
in particular, was not easy, because over the decades Joseph Ratzinger's
books have been translated by various individuals and the challenge was to
achieve a certain homogeneity of language. Furthermore, it was important to
avoid the risk of the translations in the various languages failing to
conserve, or even betraying, the author's ideas".
"Not all the publishing houses of the first volume have also printed the
second", Fr. Costa notes. "The choice was made on the basis of various
criteria including editorial and organisational structure, but also
reliability. We chose publishers capable of promoting not just the book but
also its contents".
In his preface the Pope announces a third book, which he intends to
dedicate to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' infancy. This could not enter
directly into the current volume, says Fr. Costa, which focuses on the
figure of Jesus, His words and His actions. But, as the Pope writes in his
preface, "I wish to remain faithful to my promise and present a small work
on this subject, if I am granted the strength to do so".
BXVI-BOOK/ VIS
20110310 (420)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bruno Lilli,
bureau chief of the Vatican's Healthcare Assistance Fund, as director of the
same organisation.
NA/ VIS
20110310 (30)
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