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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
ANNO XXII - N° 42
DATA 23-02-2012
Summary:
- REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY, WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE RESURRECTION
- HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME
- CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
___________________________________________________________
REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY, WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE RESURRECTION
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Ash Wednesday,
Benedict XVI presided over the traditional penitential procession from the
church of St. Anselm on Rome's Aventine Hill to the nearby basilica of Santa
Sabina where he celebrated
Mass. Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, the Benedictine monks of St. Anselm,
the Dominican Fathers of Santa Sabina and lay faithful participated in the
event.
Following the procession, Benedict XVI celebrated the Eucharist and the rite
of the imposition of the ashes. He received ashes from Cardinal Jozef Tomko,
titular of the basilica, then distributed ashes to the cardinals and bishops
present, as well as to
various members of the faithful. Following the Gospel reading the Pope
pronounced his homily, explaining that ashes are "an element of nature which
through the liturgy become a sacred symbol, one of great importance on this
day which marks the beginning
of the Lenten journey".
"Ashes are one of those material signs which bring the cosmos into the
liturgy", he said. "Although they are not a sacramental sign, they are
nonetheless associated with prayer and the sanctification of Christian
people". In fact, before imposing them
on the heads of the faithful, the priest blesses the ashes, and one of the
formulae he may use to do so refers to a passage from Genesis: "You are dust
and to dust you shall return", the words with which God concludes His
judgement after the original
sin.
Because of that sin, God cursed the earth whence Adam had come. Indeed,
following the creation of the world, God had "formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became
a living being". Thus,
the Holy Father explained, "the sign of the ashes leads us into the great
narrative of the creation in which, through the image of the dust of the earth
moulded by God and animated by His breath, it is recounted that human beings
are a unique
combination of matter and divine breath. ... In the narrative of Genesis, we
see how the symbol of dust undergoes a negative transformation because of sin.
Before the fall, the earth had a potential which was entirely good", recalling
"God's creative
act which was entirely open to life". Following sin and the subsequent divine
curse, "it became a sign of the inexorable destiny of death: 'You are dust and
to dust you shall return'".
The earth, then, shares man's destiny and only concedes him its fruits in
exchange for much "toil" and "the sweat of his brow". Nonetheless, "this curse
of the earth has a medicinal function for man, whom the earth’s
recalcitrance helps to
maintain within his own limits, to recognise his own nature. ... This means
that God's intentions, which are always benign, are more profound that any
curse. The curse, in fact, was due not to God but to sin; yet God could not
but inflict it because He
respects man's freedom and its consequences, even its negative consequences".
However the Lord, along with "just punishment, also wished to announce the way
of salvation, which passed by way of the earth, by way of that 'dust', that
'flesh' which was
assumed by the Word".
The liturgy of Ash Wednesday uses the words of Genesis in this perspective of
salvation, "as an invitation to penance and humility, to remember our own
mortality; not so as to give way to desperation but to accept, as part of that
mortality, the
inconceivable closeness of God Who, beyond death, opens the way to
resurrection, to heaven finally and ultimately rediscovered".
"The possibility we have for divine forgiveness essentially depends on the
fact that God Himself, in the person of His Son, chose to share our condition,
but not the corruption of sin. God caused His Son to rise again with the power
of the Holy Spirit
and Jesus, the new Adam, became ... the first fruit of the new creation".
"The God Who drove our first ancestors from the Garden of Eden", Benedict XVI
affirmed in conclusion, "sent His Son to our earth devastated by sin, ... so
that we, prodigal children, might return to our true homeland, penitent and
redeemed by His mercy.
Thus may it be for each of us, for all believers, for all men and women who
humbly recognise their need for salvation".
___________________________________________________________
HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican's Paul VI
Hall, as is traditional at the beginning of Lent, the Holy Father met with
pastors and priests of the diocese of Rome. The audience took the form of a
"lectio divina" by the
Pope on a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The event came
to an end with the Our Father and the apostolic blessing.
___________________________________________________________
CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations
of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that at 11 a.m. on Sunday 26 February
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation
of Peoples, will take
possession of the diaconate of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di
Dio, Largo Nostra Signora di Coromoto 2, Rome.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the
resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Calcutta, India,
presented by Archbishop Lucas Sirkar S.D.B., upon having reached the age
limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor
Archbishop Thomas D'Souza.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
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Content-type: text/html; CHARSETUS-ASCII
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VISnews120223
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE ANNO XXII - N° 42DATA 23-02-2012
Summary: - REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY,
WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE
RESURRECTION - HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME - CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE - OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY, WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE RESURRECTION
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Ash Wednesday,
Benedict XVI presided over the traditional penitential procession from the
church of St. Anselm on Rome's Aventine Hill to the nearby basilica of Santa
Sabina where he
celebrated Mass. Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, the Benedictine monks of St.
Anselm, the Dominican Fathers of Santa Sabina and lay faithful participated in
the event.
Following the procession, Benedict XVI celebrated the Eucharist and the
rite of the imposition of the ashes. He received ashes from Cardinal Jozef
Tomko, titular of the basilica, then distributed ashes to the cardinals and
bishops present, as well as
to various members of the faithful. Following the Gospel reading the Pope
pronounced his homily, explaining that ashes are "an element of nature which
through the liturgy become a sacred symbol, one of great importance on this
day which marks the
beginning of the Lenten journey".
"Ashes are one of those material signs which bring the cosmos into the
liturgy", he said. "Although they are not a sacramental sign, they are
nonetheless associated with prayer and the sanctification of Christian
people". In fact, before imposing
them on the heads of the faithful, the priest blesses the ashes, and one of
the formulae he may use to do so refers to a passage from Genesis: "You are
dust and to dust you shall return", the words with which God concludes His
judgement after the
original sin.
Because of that sin, God cursed the earth whence Adam had come. Indeed,
following the creation of the world, God had "formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became
a living being". Thus,
the Holy Father explained, "the sign of the ashes leads us into the great
narrative of the creation in which, through the image of the dust of the earth
moulded by God and animated by His breath, it is recounted that human beings
are a unique
combination of matter and divine breath. ... In the narrative of Genesis, we
see how the symbol of dust undergoes a negative transformation because of sin.
Before the fall, the earth had a potential which was entirely good", recalling
"God's creative
act which was entirely open to life". Following sin and the subsequent divine
curse, "it became a sign of the inexorable destiny of death: 'You are dust and
to dust you shall
return'".
The earth, then, shares man's destiny and only concedes him its fruits in
exchange for much "toil" and "the sweat of his brow". Nonetheless, "this curse
of the earth has a medicinal function for man, whom the earth’s
recalcitrance helps to
maintain within his own limits, to recognise his own nature. ... This means
that God's intentions, which are always benign, are more profound that any
curse. The curse, in fact, was due not to God but to sin; yet God could not
but inflict it because He
respects man's freedom and its consequences, even its negative consequences".
However the Lord, along with "just punishment, also wished to announce the way
of salvation, which passed by way of the earth, by way of that 'dust', that
'flesh' which was
assumed by the Word".
The liturgy of Ash Wednesday uses the words of Genesis in this perspective
of salvation, "as an invitation to penance and humility, to remember our own
mortality; not so as to give way to desperation but to accept, as part of that
mortality, the
inconceivable closeness of God Who, beyond death, opens the way to
resurrection, to heaven finally and ultimately rediscovered".
"The possibility we have for divine forgiveness essentially depends on the
fact that God Himself, in the person of His Son, chose to share our condition,
but not the corruption of sin. God caused His Son to rise again with the power
of the Holy
Spirit and Jesus, the new Adam, became ... the first fruit of the new
creation".
"The God Who drove our first ancestors from the Garden of Eden", Benedict
XVI affirmed in conclusion, "sent His Son to our earth devastated by sin, ...
so that we, prodigal children, might return to our true homeland, penitent and
redeemed by His
mercy. Thus may it be for each of us, for all believers, for all men and women
who humbly recognise their need for salvation".
HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican's Paul
VI Hall, as is traditional at the beginning of Lent, the Holy Father met with
pastors and priests of the diocese of Rome. The audience took the form of a
"lectio divina" by the
Pope on a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The event came
to an end with the Our Father and the apostolic blessing.
CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical
Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that at 11 a.m. on Sunday
26 February Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, will
take possession of the diaconate of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni
di Dio, Largo Nostra Signora di Coromoto 2, Rome.
Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the
resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Calcutta, India,
presented by Archbishop Lucas Sirkar S.D.B., upon having reached the age
limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor
Archbishop Thomas D'Souza.
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio del
VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che ne
hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vi
/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_MAQO4vbUIoO1aJ6Shrgr+A)--
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