living movements and made almost tangible the inexhaustible vitality of holy
Church, the presence and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit. And if we look at
the people from whom these fresh currents of life burst forth and continue to
burst forth, then we
see that this new fruitfulness requires being filled with the joy of faith,
the radicalism of obedience, the dynamic of hope and the power of love".
"I would like briefly to touch on two more key phrases from the renewal of
ordination promises, which should cause us to reflect at this time in the
Church’s life and in our own lives. ... At the meeting of cardinals on
the occasion of the
recent consistory, several of the pastors of the Church spoke, from
experience, of the growing religious illiteracy found in the midst of our
sophisticated society. The foundations of faith, which at one time every child
knew, are now known less and
less. But if we are to live and love our faith ... we need to know what God
has said to us - our minds and hearts must be touched by His word. The Year of
Faith, commemorating the opening of Vatican Council II fifty years ago, should
provide us with an
occasion to proclaim the message of faith with new enthusiasm and new joy. We
find it of course first and foremost in Sacred Scripture, which we can never
read and ponder enough. Yet at the same time we all experience the need for
Subject: VISnews120411
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
help in accurately expounding it in the present day, if it is truly to touch
our hearts. This help we find first of all in the words of the teaching
Church: the texts of Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church are essential tools
which serve as an authentic guide to what the Church believes on the basis of
God’s word. And of course this also includes the whole wealth of
documents given to us by Pope John Paul II, still far from being fully
explored.
"All our preaching must measure itself against the saying of Jesus Christ:
“My teaching is not mine”. We preach not private theories and
opinions, but the faith of the Church, whose servants we are. Naturally this
should not be taken to
mean that I am not completely supportive of this teaching, or solidly anchored
in it. ... If we do not preach ourselves, and if we are inwardly so completely
one with Him who called us to be His ambassadors, that we are shaped by faith
and live it, then
our preaching will be credible. I do not seek to win people for myself, but I
give myself".
"The last keyword that I should like to consider is “zeal for
souls”. ... It is an old-fashioned expression, not much used these days.
In some circles, the word “soul” is virtually banned because -
ostensibly - it expresses a
body-soul dualism that wrongly compartmentalises the human being. Of course
the human person is a unity, destined for eternity as body and soul. And yet
that cannot mean that we no longer have a soul, a constituent principle
guaranteeing our unity in
this life and beyond earthly death. And as priests, of course, we are
concerned for the whole person, including his or her physical needs - we care
for the hungry, the sick, the homeless. And yet we are concerned not only with
the body, but also with
the needs of the soul: with those who suffer from the violation of their
rights or from destroyed love, with those unable to perceive the truth, those
who suffer for lack of truth and love. We are concerned with the salvation of
men and women in body and soul. And as priests of Jesus Christ we carry out
our task with enthusiasm. ... A priest never belongs to himself. People must
sense our zeal, through which we bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ".
___________________________________________________________
HOLY THURSDAY: JESUS RESOLVES THE FALSE OPPOSITION BETWEEN OBEDIENCE AND
FREEDOM
Vatican City, 5 April 2012 (VIS) - At 5.30 p.m. today in the Basilica of
St. John Lateran, cathedral of Rome, Benedict XVI presided at the Mass of the
Lord's Supper, thus beginning the Eater Triduum of 2012. During the
celebration, imitating the
gesture of the Lord towards the Apostles, the Pope washed the feet of twelve
priests.
Holy Thursday, the Holy Father said in his homily, "is not only the day of
the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, whose splendour bathes all else and
in some ways draws it to itself. To Holy Thursday also belongs the dark night
of the Mount of
Olives, to which Jesus goes with His disciples; the solitude and abandonment
of Jesus, Who in prayer goes forth to encounter the darkness of death".
"The disciples, whom Jesus wanted to have close to Him as an element of
human support in that hour of extreme distress, quickly fell asleep. Yet they
heard some fragments of the words of Jesus’ prayer and they witnessed
His way of acting. Both
were deeply impressed on their hearts and they transmitted them to Christians
for all time. Jesus called God “Abba”. The word means - as they
add - “Father”. Yet it is not the usual form of the word
“father”, but
rather a children’s word - an affectionate name which one would not have
dared to use in speaking to God. It is the language of the one who is truly a
“child”, the Son of the Father, the one who is conscious of being
in communion with
God, in deepest union with Him.
"If we ask ourselves what is most characteristic of the figure of Jesus in
the Gospels, we have to say that it is His relationship with God. ... Now we
know God as He truly is. He is Father, and this in an absolute goodness to
which we can entrust
ourselves. ... The One Who is Goodness is at the same time Power; He is
all-powerful. Power is goodness and goodness is power. We can learn this trust
from Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives".
Luke, the Holy Father went on, "tells us that Jesus prayed on His knees. In
the Acts of the Apostles, he speaks of the saints praying on their knees. ...
In this way Luke has sketched a brief history of prayer on one’s knees
in the early
Church. Christians, in kneeling, enter into Jesus’ prayer on the Mount
of Olives. When menaced by the power of evil, as they kneel, they are upright
before the world, while as sons and daughters, they kneel before the Father.
Before God’s
glory we Christians kneel and acknowledge His divinity; by that posture we
also express our confidence that He will prevail.
"Jesus struggles with the Father. He struggles with Himself. And He
struggles for us. He experiences anguish before the power of death. First and
foremost this is simply the dread natural to every living creature in the face
of death. In Jesus,
however, something more is at work. His gaze peers deeper, into the nights of
evil. He sees the filthy flood of all the lies and all the disgrace which He
will encounter in that chalice from which He must drink. His is the dread of
one who is completely
pure and holy as He sees the entire flood of this world’s evil bursting
upon Him. ... The Letter to the Hebrews describes the struggle of Jesus on the
Mount of Olives as a priestly event. In this prayer of Jesus, pervaded by
mortal anguish, the
Lord performs the office of a priest: He takes upon Himself the sins of
humanity, of us all, and He brings us before the Father.
"Lastly", Pope Benedict concluded, "we must also pay attention to the
content of Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives. Jesus says:
“Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet
not what I want, but what you
want”. The natural will of the man Jesus recoils in fear before the
enormity of the matter. He asks to be spared. Yet as the Son, He places this
human will into the Father’s will: not I, but you. In this way He
transformed the stance of
Adam, the primordial human sin, and thus heals humanity. The stance of Adam
was: not what you, O God, have desired; rather, I myself want to be a god. ...
This is the fundamental rebellion present throughout history and the
fundamental lie which
perverts life. When human beings set themselves against God, they set
themselves against the truth of their own being and consequently do not become
free, but alienated from themselves. We are free only if we stand in the truth
of
our being, if we are united to God. Then we become truly “like
God” - not by resisting God, eliminating Him, or denying Him. In His
anguished prayer on the Mount of Olives, Jesus resolved the false opposition
between obedience and freedom,
and opened the path to freedom".
___________________________________________________________
THE MYSTERY OF THE PASSION INSPIRES US TO CONTINUE IN HOPE
Vatican City, 6 April 2012 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 5.30 p.m.
today, Good Friday, the Pope presided at the celebration of the Lord's
Passion. The Liturgy of the Word, in which the Passion according to St. John
was read out, was followed by
the homily, after which the ceremony continued with the universal prayer, the
veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion.
At 9 p.m. the Holy Father travelled to the Colosseum where he led the "Via
Crucis" or Way of the Cross which was transmitted live all over the world. The
meditations this year were prepared by members of the "Focolari" Movement. Two
young people from
the diocese of Rome carried torches on either side of the cross which was
borne by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, by
two Franciscan friars from the Custody of the Holy Land, and by families from
Italy, Ireland, Burkina
Faso and Peru.
At the end of the ceremony, the Holy Father addressed the following words
to those present.
"Once more in meditation, prayer and song, we have recalled Jesus’
journey along the way of the cross: a journey seemingly hopeless, yet one that
changed human life and history, and opened the way to “new heavens and a
new earth”.
Especially today, Good Friday, the Church commemorates with deep spiritual
union the death of the Son of God on the cross; in His cross she sees the tree
of life, which blossoms in new hope.
"The experience of suffering and of the cross touches all mankind; it
touches the family too. How often does the journey become wearisome and
difficult! Misunderstandings, conflicts, worry for the future of our children,
sickness and problems of
every kind. These days too, the situation of many families is made worse by
the threat of unemployment and other negative effects of the economic crisis.
The Way of the Cross which we have spiritually retraced this evening invites
all of us, and
families in particular, to contemplate Christ crucified in order to have the
force to overcome difficulties. The cross of Christ is the supreme sign of
God’s love for every man and woman, the superabundant response to every
person’s need for
love. At times of trouble, when our families have to face pain and adversity,
let us look to Christ’s cross. There we can find the courage and
strength to press on; there we can repeat with firm hope the words of St. Paul:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us”.
"In times of trial and tribulation, we are not alone; the family is not
alone. Jesus is present with His love, He sustains them by His grace and
grants the strength needed to carry on, to make sacrifices and to overcome
every obstacle. And it is to
this love of Christ that we must turn when human turmoil and difficulties
threaten the unity of our lives and our families. The mystery of
Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection inspires us to go on in hope:
times of trouble and testing, when
endured with Christ, with faith in Him, already contain the light of the
resurrection, the new life of a world reborn, the passover of all those who
believe in His word.
"In that crucified Man Who is the Son of God, even death itself takes on
new meaning and purpose: it is redeemed and overcome, it becomes a passage to
new life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single
grain; but if it dies, it produces much fruit”. Let us entrust ourselves
to the Mother of Christ. May Mary, who accompanied her Son along His way of
sorrows, who stood beneath the cross at the hour of His death, and who
inspired the Church at its
birth to live in God’s presence, lead our hearts and the hearts of every
family through the vast 'mysterium passionis' towards the 'mysterium
paschale', towards that light which breaks forth from Christ’s
resurrection and reveals the
definitive victory of love, joy and life over evil, suffering and death.
Amen".
___________________________________________________________
EASTER SATURDAY: EASTER IS THE FEAST OF THE NEW CREATION
Vatican City, 7 April 2012 (VIS) - At 9 p.m. today in St. Peter's Basilica,
the Pope presided at the solemn Easter vigil, which began in the atrium of the
basilica where he blessed the new fire and lighted the Easter candle. This was
followed by the
procession towards the altar with the singing of the "Exultet". Then came the
Liturgy of the Word and the Baptismal and Eucharistic Liturgies which the Holy
Father concelebrated with cardinals.
During the course of the vigil, the Holy Father administered the Sacraments
of Baptism and Confirmation to eight catechumens from Italy, Albania,
Slovakia, Germany, Turkmenistan, Cameroon and the U.S.A.
Following the Gospel reading, the Holy Father delivered his homily, which
focused on the triumph of light over darkness.
"Easter is the feast of the new creation", he said. "Jesus is risen and
dies no more. He has opened the door to a new life, one that no longer knows
illness and death. He has taken mankind up into God Himself. ... Creation has
become greater and
broader. Easter Day ushers in a new creation, but that is precisely why the
Church starts the liturgy on this day with the old creation, so that we can
learn to understand the new one aright. ... Two things are particularly
important here in connection
with this liturgy. On the one hand, creation is presented as a whole that
includes the phenomenon of time. The seven days are an image of completeness,
unfolding in time. They are ordered towards the seventh day, the day of the
freedom of all creatures
for God and for one another. Creation is therefore directed towards the coming
together of God and His creatures; it exists so as to open up a space for the
response to God’s great glory, an encounter between love
and freedom. On the other hand, what the Church hears on Easter night is above
all the first element of the creation account: “God said, ‘let
there be light!’”".
"What is the creation account saying here?", the Holy Father asked. "Light
makes life possible. ... Evil hides. ... To say that God created light means
that God created the world as a space for knowledge and truth, as a space for
encounter and
freedom, as a space for good and for love. Matter is fundamentally good, being
itself is good. And evil does not come from God-made being, rather, it comes
into existence through denial. It is a “no”.
"At Easter, on the morning of the first day of the week, God said once
again: “Let there be light”. The night on the Mount of Olives, the
solar eclipse of Jesus’ passion and death, the night of the grave had
all passed. Now it is
the first day once again - creation is beginning anew. ... Jesus rises from
the grave. Life is stronger than death. Good is stronger than evil. ... But
this applies not only to Him, not only to the darkness of those days. With the
resurrection of Jesus,
light itself is created anew. He draws all of us after Him into the new light
of the resurrection and he conquers all darkness".
"Through the Sacrament of Baptism and the profession of faith, the Lord has
built a bridge across to us, through which the new day reaches us. The Lord
says to the newly-baptised: 'Fiat lux' - let there be light. God’s new
day - the day of
indestructible life, comes also to us".
"The darkness enshrouding God and obscuring values is the real threat to
our existence and to the world in general. ... Today we can illuminate our
cities so brightly that the stars of the sky are no longer visible. Is this
not an image of the
problems caused by our version of enlightenment? With regard to material
things, our knowledge and our technical accomplishments are legion, but what
reaches beyond, the things of God and the question of good, we can no longer
identify. Faith, then,
which reveals God’s light to us, is the true enlightenment, enabling
God’s light to break into our world, opening our eyes to the true
light".
"On Easter night, the night of the new creation, the Church presents the
mystery of light using a unique and very humble symbol: the Paschal candle.
This is a light that lives from sacrifice. The candle shines inasmuch as it is
burnt up. ... Thus the
Church presents most beautifully the paschal mystery of Christ, Who gives
Himself and so bestows the great light. Secondly, we should remember that the
light of the candle is a fire. ... Here too the mystery of Christ is made
newly visible. Christ, the
light, is fire, flame, burning up evil and so reshaping both the world and
ourselves. ... And this fire is both heat and light: not a cold light, but one
through which God’s warmth and goodness reach down to us".
In conclusion, Benedict XVI recalled that the the candle "has its origin in
the work of bees. So the whole of creation plays its part. In the candle,
creation becomes a bearer of light. But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle
also in some sense
contains a silent reference to the Church. The cooperation of the living
community of believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity of
bees. It builds up the community of light. So the candle serves as a summons
to us to become involved in
the community of the Church, whose raison d’etre is to let the light of
Christ shine upon the world".
___________________________________________________________
EASTER MESSAGE: THE POPE CALLS FOR PEACE IN SYRIA, NIGERIA AND PALESTINE
Vatican City, 8 April 2012 (VIS) - Given below are extracts from the
message which His Holiness Benedict XVI read out during the course of the
Easter Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord, celebrated this morning in St.
Peter's Square in the presence
of more than 100,000 faithful.
"Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world! ... May the
jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient
hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen
Jesus on Easter morning.
... “I have seen the Lord!”".
"Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an
encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man Who lets us
experience all God’s goodness and truth, Who frees us from evil not in a
superficial and
fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our
dignity. ... All my yearnings for goodness find in Him a real possibility of
fulfilment: with Him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for
God Himself has
drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity".
"In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is
not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy
and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in
order to open a path
to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had
invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty
word.
"And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty.
... The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death,
love over hatred, mercy over vengeance".
"If Jesus is risen, then - and only then - has something truly new
happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then He,
Jesus, is someone in Whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not
only in His message but in
Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present
today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those
Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of
discrimination and persecution. And He
is present as a force of hope through His Church, which is close to all human
situations of suffering and injustice.
"May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the
ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to
advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria,
may there be an end to
bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and
reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many
refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the
acceptance and
solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal
victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of
stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians
courageously take up anew
the peace process.
"May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian
communities of the African continent; may He grant them hope in facing their
difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the
societies to which they
belong.
"May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of
Africa and favour their reconciliation; may He help the Great Lakes Region,
Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness.
In Mali, now experiencing
delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and
stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist
attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the
building of a society
which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of its citizens.
Happy Easter to all!"
Following his Message, the Pope extended Easter greetings in sixty-five
languages before imparting the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world)
blessing.
___________________________________________________________
POPE HIGHLIGHTS THE SPECIAL BOND WOMEN HAVE WITH JESUS
Vatican City, 9 April 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday evening the Holy Father
travelled to his residence at Castelgandolfo outside Rome for a brief period
of rest. At midday today he appeared on the balcony of the apostolic palace
there to pray the Regina
Coeli with faithful gathered below in the building's internal courtyard. The
Regina Coeli replaces the Angelus during the Easter season.
"In many countries Easter Monday is a holiday. People make trips to the
countryside, or mover further afield to visit relatives and to be together as
a family. However I would like Christians to keep the reason for this holiday
in their minds and
hearts: the Resurrection of Christ, the definitive mystery of our faith", the
Pope said.
"The moment of the resurrection per se is not described by the Evangelists.
It remains a mystery, not in the sense that it is less real, but that it is
hidden, beyond the scope of our understanding, like a light so bright that we
cannot look at it
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