Subject: VISnews 110525
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 98
ENGLISH
WEDNESDAY, 25 MAY 2011
SUMMARY:
- Jacob - Prayer: Battle of Faith, Call for Perseverance
- Interreligious Dialogue Officials in South Korea
- Other Pontifical Acts
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JACOB - PRAYER: BATTLE OF FAITH, CALL FOR PERSEVERANCE
VATICAN CITY, 25 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Continuing with his catecheses on prayer,
Benedict XVI spoke in today's general audience about the Patriarch Jacob and
his fight with the unknown man at the ford of the Jabbok. The audience was
held in St. Peter's Square with 15,000 people in attendance.
The Bible, explained the Pope, describes Jacob as an astute man who
obtains things through deception. At a certain point, he sets out to return
to his homeland and face his brother, whose firstborn birthrights he had
taken. Jacob waits overnight in order to cross the ford safely but something
unforeseen occurs: he is suddenly attacked by an unknown man with whom he
struggles the entire night. The story details their struggle, which has no
clear winner, leaving the rival a mystery. "Only at the end, when the
struggle is finished and that 'someone' has disappeared, only then will
Jacob name him and be able to say that he had struggled with God".
Once the fight is over Jacob says to his opponent that he will only let
him go if he blesses him. Jacob "who had defrauded his brother out of the
first-born's blessing through deceit, now demands [a blessing] from the
unknown man, in whom he perhaps begins to see divine traits, but still
without being able to truly recognize him. His rival, who seems restrained
and therefore defeated by Jacob, instead of bowing to the Patriarch's
request, asks his name. ... In the Biblical mentality, knowing someone's
name entails a type of power because it contains the person's deepest
reality, revealing their secret and their destiny. ... This is why, when
Jacob reveals his name, he is putting himself in his opponent's hands. It is
a form of surrender, a complete giving over of himself to the other".
Paradoxically, however, "in this gesture of surrender, Jacob also becomes
the victor because he receives a new name, together with the recognition of
his victory on the part of his adversary". The name "Jacob", Benedict XVI
continued, "recalls the verb 'to deceive' or 'to supplant'. After the
struggle, in a gesture of deliverance and surrender, the Patriarch reveals
his reality as a deceiver, a usurper, to his opponent. The other, who is
God, however, transforms this negative reality into a positive one. Jacob
the deceiver becomes Israel. He is given a new name as a sign of his new
identity ... the mostly likely meaning of which is 'God is strong, God
wins'. When, in turn, Jacob asks his rival's name, he refuses to say it but
reveals himself in an unmistakable gesture, giving his blessing. ... This is
not a blessing obtained through deceit but one given freely by God, which
Jacob can now receive because, without cunning or deception, he gives
himself over unarmed, accepts surrender and admits the truth about himself".
In the episode of the fight at the ford of Jabbok, the Pope observed, "the
people of Israel speak of their origin and outline the features of a unique
relationship between God and humanity. This is why, as also affirmed in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 'from this account, the spiritual
tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of
faith and as the triumph of perseverance'".
"Our entire lives", concluded the Holy Father, "are like this long night
of struggle and prayer, passed in the desire of and request for God's
blessing, which cannot be ripped away or won over through our strength, but
must be received with humility from Him as a gratuitous gift that allows us,
finally, to recognize the face of the Lord. And when this happens, our
entire reality changes: we receive a new name and God's blessing".
AG/ VIS
20110525 (620)
INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE OFFICIALS IN SOUTH KOREA
VATICAN CITY, 25 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop
Pier Luigi Celata, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue, have been in South Korea since 23 May,
invited by the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism and Interreligious
Dialogue.
According to a communique issued today, meetings with the president of the
Republic, the minister of culture, and the director for Religious Affairs
are planned for these days.
They will visit the Jogye Order, the Korean Buddhist Center, and the
Korean Confucianism Center. It is also planned that they will meet with
representatives of Buddhism, Confucianism, Won Buddhism, Cheondism, the
Association of Native Korean Religions, and Protestant Churches.
Cardinal Tauran will give a conference at Seoul's major seminary on:
"Interreligious Dialogue in the Teachings of Pope Benedict XVI", and will
meet with members of the press.
The visit will conclude on 27 May with the celebration of Holy Mass at the
Jeoldu-san Korean Martyrs' Shrine.
CON-DIR/ VIS
20110525 (150)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 25 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed:
- Appointed Bishop Jose Corazon T. Tala-oc, of Tomblon, as Bishop of
Kalibo (area 1,817, population 565,000, Catholics 525,000, priests 66,
religious 53), the Philippines.
- Appointed Fr. Joao Carlos Hatoa Nunes, pro-vicar general, chancellor of
curia, and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish, as Auxiliary Bishop of
Maputo (area 25,238, population 4,346,000, Catholics 1,030,000, priests 156,
religious 418), Mozambique. The bishop-elect was born in Beira, Mozambique
in 1968 and was ordained a priest in 1995.
NER:NEA/ VIS
20110525 (90)
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