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Pope Benedict XVI's
reflections on his pilgrimage to America delivered April 30, 2008, at his
Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's Square
Even if a few days have already passed since my return,
I would like to dedicate the catechesis of today, as I normally do, to the
apostolic trip that I made to the United Nations and the United States of
America this past April 15 to 21. Before all, I renew my most
cordial appreciation to the U. S. episcopal conference, as well as
President Bush, for having invited me and for the warm welcome they have
given me. And I would like to extend my thanks to all those in
Washington and New York who came to greet me and manifest their love for
the pope or who have accompanied and supported me with prayer and with the
offering of their sacrifices.
As we know, the occasion of my trip was the
bicentennial of the elevation of the country's first diocese, Baltimore,
to a metropolitan see, and the foundation of the sees of New York, Boston,
Philadelphia and Louisville. On this characteristically ecclesial
anniversary, I have had the joy of personally visiting, for the first time
as the Successor of Peter, the dear people of the United States of America
to confirm the Catholics in their faith, to renew and increase fraternity
with all Christians, and to announce to everyone the message of
"Christ Our Hope," as the theme of the trip said.
In the meeting with the president in his residence I
was able to pay homage to this great country which from the beginning has
been constructed based on a pleasant joining together of religious,
ethical, and political principles and continues to be a valid example of
healthy secularism where the religious dimension in the diversity of its
expressions is not only tolerated but valued as the soul of the nation and
the fundamental guarantee of the rights and duties of the human being.
In this context, the Church can carry out its mission
of evangelization and human promotion with freedom and commitment; and, at
the same time can be a stimulus for a country such as the United States to
which everyone looks as one of the principal agents on the international
scene, so that it is oriented toward global solidarity, ever more
necessary and urgent, and toward the patient exercise of dialogue in
international relations.
Naturally the mission and the role of the ecclesial
community were at the center of the meeting with the bishops that took
place in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. I
n the liturgical context of Vespers, we praised the Lord for the path
traveled by the people of God in the United States, for the zeal of its
pastors, and for the fervor and the generosity of its faithful which
is manifested with a high esteem and openness to the faith and in
innumerable charitable and humanitarian initiatives within the country and
outside it.
At the same time, I was able to support my brothers in
the episcopate in their difficult task of sowing the Gospel in a society
marked by many contradictions which threaten the coherence of the faithful
and of the clergy themselves. I encouraged them to raise their
voices on current moral and social questions and to form the lay faithful
so that they be good leaven in the civil community starting from the
fundamental cell that is the family. In this sense, I exhorted them
to repropose the sacrament of matrimony as a gift and indissoluble
commitment between a man and a woman the natural environment for the
welcoming and education of children. The Church and the family,
together with schools, especially those of Christian inspiration, should
cooperate to offer youth a solid moral education, but in this task the
agents of communication and entertainment also have a great
responsibility.
Thinking of the sorrowful situation of the sexual abuse
of minors committed by ordained ministers, I wanted to express to the
bishops my closeness, encouraging them in the commitment to heal the
wounds and to reinforce their relationships with their priests.
Responding to some questions asked by the bishops, I highlighted a few
important aspects: The intrinsic relationship between the Gospel and
natural law; the healthy concept of freedom which is understood and
fulfilled in love; the ecclesial dimension of the Christian experience;
the demand to announce in new ways, especially to youth, salvation as the
plenitude of life and to educate them in prayer from which sprouts the
generous response to the call of the Lord.
In the great and festive Eucharistic celebration in
Nationals Park stadium in Washington, we invoked the Holy Spirit upon the
Church in the United States of America so that firmly rooted in the faith
transmitted by its fathers, profoundly united and renewed, it will face
present and future challenges with courage and hope -- that hope that
"does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into
our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans
5:5).
One of these challenges is certainly that of education,
and for this reason, in the Catholic University of America, I met with
rectors of universities and Catholic educational centers, with the
diocesan leaders responsible for teaching, and with representatives of
professors and students. The educational task is an integral part of the
mission of the Church, and the U. S. Church community has always been
very committed in this field offering at the same time a great social and
cultural service to the entire country. It is important that this
can continue. And it is in the same way important to take care of the
quality of the Catholic centers of education so that in them is true
formation according to "the extent of the full stature" of
Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:13), joining together faith and reason, truth and
liberty. With joy, therefore, I have confirmed the formators in
their precious commitment to intellectual charity.
In a country like the United States of America, with a
multicultural vocation, the meetings with representatives of other
religions have taken on special importance: In Washington, in the
John Paul II Cultural Center, with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and
Jains; in New York, the visit to the synagogue. Moments, especially
this latter one, which were very cordial have confirmed the common
commitment to dialogue and the promotion of peace and spiritual and moral
values. In that which considers itself the homeland of religious liberty,
I wanted to recall that this should always be defended with a joint effort
so as to avoid any kind of discrimination or prejudice. And I
stressed the great responsibility of the religious representatives both in
teaching respect and nonviolence, and in nourishing the deepest questions
of human consciousness. The ecumenical celebration in the parish
church of Saint Joseph was also characterized by great cordiality.
Together we asked the Lord that He increase in Christians the capacity of
giving reasons, also with an ever greater unity, for their unique hope
(cf. 1 Peter 3:15) based in a common faith in Jesus Christ.
The other principal objective of my trip was the visit
to the central offices of the United Nations Organization, the fourth
visit of a pope after that of Paul VI in 1965 and the two visits of John
Paul II, in 1979 and 1995. In the celebration of the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Providence
permitted me to confirm, in the most great and authoritative supranational
assembly, the value of this Declaration recalling its universal basis;
that is, the dignity of the human person created by God in his image and
likeness to cooperate in the world with his great design of life and
peace.
Respect for human rights is rooted, as well as in
peace, in justice; that is, in an ethical order valid in all times and for
all peoples which can be summarized in the famous maxim: "Do not do
unto others what you would not have them do unto you," or, expressed
positively in the words of Jesus, "Do unto others what you would have
them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12). Upon this base, which
constitutes the characteristic contribution of the Holy See to the United
Nations Organization, I renewed and I renew again today, the commitment of
the Catholic Church in contributing to strengthen international relations
characterized by the principles of responsibility and solidarity.
Other moments of my stay in New York have remained
firmly etched in my spirit. In Saint Patrick's Cathedral, in the
heart of Manhattan, truly a house of prayer for all peoples, I celebrated
Holy Mass for the priests and consecrated persons who had come from all
parts of the country. I will never forget the warmth with which they
congratulated me for the third anniversary of my election to the See of
Peter. It was a moving moment in which I experienced in a tangible
way all of the support of the Church for my ministry. I could say
the same about my meeting with youth and seminarians, which was held
precisely in the diocesan seminary preceded by a very significant meeting
with handicapped boys and girls and their families.
I proposed to youth -- who by their nature are
thirsting for truth and love -- some figures of men and women who have
given an exemplary testimony of the Gospel in the lands of the United
States, the Gospel of the Truth that frees in love, in service, in life
given for others. In seeing the darkness that today threatens their
lives, youth can find in the saints the light that dissipates it: The
light of Christ, hope for all men.
This hope, stronger than sin and death, motivated the
emotion-swelled moment that I spent in silence at the crater of Ground
Zero where I lit a candle praying for all the victims of that terrible
tragedy. Finally, my visit culminated with the celebration of the
Eucharist in Yankee Stadium in New York. I still carry in my heart
that festival of faith and brotherhood with which we celebrated the 200
years of the oldest dioceses of North America. The original little
flock has progressed enormously enriching itself with the faith and the
traditions of successive waves of immigration. To this Church, which now
faces the challenges of the present, I have had the joy of announcing anew
"Christ Our Hope" of yesterday, today and forever.
Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to unite
yourselves with me in thanksgiving for the encouraging results of this
apostolic trip and in the supplication to God, through the intercession of
the Virgin Mary, that it produces abundant fruits for the Church in the
United States and in all parts of the world.
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer at Ground Zero in
New York City on April 20, 2008, at 9:30 A. M.
O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us,
people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather today at this
site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.
We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to
those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries
and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all
who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their
lives with courage and hope. We are mindful as well of those who suffered
death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces
their pain and suffering. God of peace, bring your peace to our violent
world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the
nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred. God of understanding, overwhelmed by the
magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront
such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so
that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and
console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to
work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations
and in the hearts of all.
Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 Urbi et Orbi Message
(To Rome and to the World Message)
Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia! - I
have risen, I am still with you. Alleluia!
Dear brothers and sisters,
Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats this joyful
proclamation to us today: The Easter proclamation. Let us welcome it
with deep wonder and gratitude!
Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum – I have risen,
I am still with you forever.
These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138
(v. 18b), were sung at the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at
the rising of the Easter sun, the Church recognizes the voice of Jesus
himself who, on rising from death, turns to the Father, filled with
gladness and love, and exclaims: "My Father, here I am! I
have risen. I am still with you, and so I shall be forever. Your
Spirit never abandoned me." In this way we can also come to a
new understanding of other passages from the psalm: "If I climb the
heavens, you are there; if I descend into the underworld, you are there
… Even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as clear as day;
for you, darkness is like light" (Ps 138:8,12).
It is true. In the solemn Easter vigil, darkness
becomes light, night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. The
death and Resurrection of the Word of God incarnate is an event of
invincible love. It is the victory of that Love which has delivered
us from the slavery of sin and death. It has changed the course of
history giving to human life an indestructible and renewed meaning and
value.
"I have risen and I am still with you,
forever."
These words invite us to contemplate the risen Christ,
letting his voice resound in our heart. With his redeeming sacrifice,
Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God so that we too can
now take our place in the mysterious dialogue between Him and the Father.
We are reminded of what He once said to those who were listening:
"All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows
the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal
Him" (Mt 11:27).
In this perspective, we note that the words addressed
by the risen Jesus to the Father on this day – "I am still with
you, forever" – apply indirectly to us as well, "children of
God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order
that we may also be glorified with Him" (cf. Rom 8:17).
Through the death and Resurrection of Christ, we too rise to new life
today, and uniting our voice with his, we proclaim that we wish to remain
forever with God, our infinitely good and merciful Father. In
this way we enter the depths of the Paschal mystery.
The astonishing event of the Resurrection of Jesus is
essentially an event of love: The Father’s love in handing over his Son
for the salvation of the world; the Son’s love in abandoning himself to
the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’s love in raising Jesus from
the dead in his transfigured body. And there is more; the Father’s
love which "newly embraces" the Son, enfolding him in glory; the
Son’s love returning to the Father in the power of the Spirit, robed in
our transfigured humanity. From today’s solemnity in which we
relive the absolute, once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’ Resurrection,
we receive an appeal to be converted to Love; we receive an invitation to
live by; rejecting hatred and selfishness, and to follow with docility in
the footsteps of the Lamb that was slain for our salvation, to imitate the
Redeemer who is "gentle and lowly in heart", who is "rest
for our souls" (cf. Mt 11:29).
Dear Christian brothers and sisters, in every part of
the world, dear men and women whose spirit is sincerely open to the truth,
let no heart be closed to the omnipotence of this redeeming love!
Jesus Christ died and rose for all; He is our hope – true hope for every
human being. Today, just as he did with his disciples in Galilee before
returning to the Father, the risen Jesus now sends us everywhere as
witnesses of his hope, and He reassures us: I am with you always,
all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt 28:20). Fixing
the gaze of our spirit on the glorious wounds of His transfigured body, we
can understand the meaning and value of suffering, we can tend the many
wounds that continue to disfigure humanity in our own day. In His glorious
wounds, we recognize the indestructible signs of the infinite mercy of the
God of whom the prophet says, "It is He who heals the wounds of
broken hearts, who defends the weak and proclaims the freedom of slaves,
who consoles all the afflicted and bestows upon them the oil of gladness
instead of a mourning robe, a song of praise instead of a sorrowful heart
(cf. Is 61:1,2,3). If with humble trust we draw near to
Him, we encounter in His gaze the response to the deepest longings of our
heart, to know God and to establish with Him a living relationship in an
authentic communion of love which can fill our lives, our interpersonal
and social relations with that same love. For this reason, humanity
needs Christ. In Him, our hope, "we have been saved" (cf. Rom
8:24).
How often relations between individuals, between groups
and between peoples, are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice,
hatred and violence! These are the scourges of humanity, open and
festering in every corner of the planet although they are often ignored
and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and
bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters. They are waiting to be
tended and healed by the glorious wounds of our Risen Lord (cf. 1 Pet
2:24-25) and by the solidarity of people who, following in his footsteps,
perform deeds of charity in His name, make an active commitment to
justice, and spread luminous signs of hope in areas bloodied by conflict
and wherever the dignity of the human person continues to be scorned and
trampled. It is hoped that these are precisely the places where
gestures of moderation and forgiveness will increase!
Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow the light that
streams forth from this solemn day to enlighten us; let us open ourselves
in sincere trust to the risen Christ so that His victory over evil and
death may also triumph in each one of us, in our families, in our cities
and in our nations. Let it shine forth in every part of the world.
In particular, how can we fail to remember certain African regions, such
as Dafur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land,
Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek
solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good! Let us
invoke the fullness of his Paschal gifts, through the intercession of Mary
who, after sharing the sufferings of the Passion and Crucifixion of her
innocent Son, also experienced the inexpressible joy of His Resurrection.
Sharing in the glory of Christ, may she be the one to protect us and guide
us along the path of fraternal solidarity and peace.
These are my Easter greetings which I address to all
who are present here, and to men and women of every nation and continent
united with us through radio and television.
Happy Easter!
Via Crucis on Good Friday 2008 at the Roman
Colosseum
Meditations and prayers by His Eminence cardinal Joseph
Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B. Bishop of Hong Kong
FOREWORD
When I received the invitation from His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI, conveyed through His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
asking me to prepare the meditations for this year’s Via Crucis on Good
Friday at the Colosseum, I did not have the slightest hesitation in
accepting the task. I recognized that this was the Holy Father’s
way of demonstrating his personal concern for the great Continent of Asia,
and in particular, his way of including in this solemn act of Christian
piety the faithful people of China for whom the Via Crucis is a deeply
felt devotion. The pope wanted me to bring the voice of these distant
sisters and brothers to the Colosseum. Clearly the central figure in
this Via Dolorosa is Our Lord Jesus Christ as he is presented to us by the
Gospels and the Church’s tradition. Yet behind Him there are many
people from the past and the present including ourselves. In our
prayer this evening let us be mindful of the presence of so many brothers
and sisters from times past. They, probably more than ourselves,
experienced in their bodies the Passion of Jesus. In their flesh,
Jesus was newly arrested, maligned, tortured, derided, dragged, and
crushed under the weight of the Cross and nailed to that wood like a
criminal. Obviously we are not alone at the Colosseum this evening.
Present in the Holy Father’s heart and in our own hearts are all the
“living martyrs” of the twenty-first century. “Te martyum
candidatus laudat exercitus”. When we think of persecution, let us also
remember the persecutors. As I was drafting the text of these
meditations, it frightened me to realize how unchristian I am. I had
to make a great effort to purify myself of uncharitable sentiments towards
those who caused Jesus to suffer and those who are causing our brothers
and sisters to suffer in the world today. Only when I confronted my
sins and my own lack of faithfulness, did I succeed in seeing myself among
the persecutors; and, then, I was moved to repentance and gratitude for
the forgiveness of our merciful Master. So let us now begin our
meditation. Let us sing and pray to Jesus, and with Jesus, for those
who suffer on account of His name, for those who cause him and his
brothers and sisters to suffer, and for ourselves, who are sinners and at
times also his persecutors.
OPENING PRAYER
The Holy Father:
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. R. Amen.
Jesus our Saviour we are gathered here on this day, at
this hour, and in this place, remembering your many servants who were torn
to pieces and killed here, centuries ago, amid the roars of the hungry
lions and the cries of the spectators for their faithfulness to your name. Today
we come here to express to you the gratitude of your Church for the gift
of salvation won by your Passion. Colosseums have multiplied down
the centuries wherever our brothers and sisters in different parts of the
world continue to be harshly persecuted today prolonging your Passion. Together
with you and our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, we
begin this journey along the Via Dolorosa with deep emotion the journey
that you once travelled with such great love.
FIRST STATION
Jesus in agony in the Garden of Olives
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
(14:32-36):
And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane,
and Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.” And He
took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed
and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful even
to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther,
He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might
pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, to you all things are
possible; remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you
will.”
MEDITATION
Jesus experienced fear, anguish, and sorrow even to
death. He took with Him three companions, but soon they fell asleep,
and he began to pray alone: “May this hour pass from me, take away
this chalice from me … Yet, Father, may your will be done.” He had
come into the world in order to do the Father’s will, but never before
had he tasted the full depth of the bitterness of sin or felt so helpless.
In his Letter to the Catholics in China, Pope Benedict
XVI recalled the vision in the Apocalypse of Saint John where the apostle
weeps before the sealed book of human history, the “mysterium
iniquitatis.” Only the Lamb that was slain is capable of removing
the seal. In many parts of the world, the Bride of Christ is undergoing
the dark hour of persecution as Esther once did when threatened by Haman,
as did the “Woman” of the Apocalypse, when threatened by the dragon.
Let us be watchful, and let us accompany the Bride of Christ in our
prayer.
PRAYER
Jesus, Almighty God, you chose to become weakness
because of our sins. You recognize the cries of the persecuted which are
the echo of your agony. They ask, "Why this oppression?
Why this humiliation? Why this prolonged servitude? The words
of the Psalm come to mind, “Awake, Lord, why do you sleep?
Awake! Do not cast us off forever! Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For we lie
prostrate in the dust, our body cleaves to the ground. Rise up, come
to our help!” (Psalm 43:24-26). No, Lord! You did not have recourse
to this Psalm in Gethsemane, but you said, “Your will be done!”
You could have summoned twelve legions of angels, but you did not.
Lord, suffering makes us afraid. We are tempted once again to grasp
at easy means of success. Help us not to be afraid of fear.H help us
to trust in you.
All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Stabat mater dolorosa
iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.
SECOND STATION
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and abandoned by his
disciples
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
(14:43a, 45-46, 50-52)
"And immediately while Jesus was still speaking,
Judas came, one of the Twelve. And he went up to Jesus at once and
said, “Master!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on
Him and seized Him. And the disciples all forsook him and fled.
And a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his
body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
MEDITATION
Betrayal and abandonment on the part of those He had
chosen as Apostles, those He had entrusted with the secrets of the
Kingdom, those He had trusted completely! Total failure, then. What
sorrow, what humiliation! Yet all this took place to fulfil the sayings of
the prophets. Otherwise, how could the ugliness of sin have been
exposed which is simply the betrayal of love? Betrayal causes
surprise, especially if it even involves the shepherds of the flock.
How could they do this to him? The spirit is strong, but the flesh
is weak. Temptations, threats, and blackmail bend the will.
Yet what a scandal! What great sorrow in the Lord’s heart! Let us
not be scandalized! Defections are never lacking at times of
persecution. And afterwards people have often returned to the fold.
In that young man who cast away the linen cloth and ran away naked (cf. Mk
14:51-52), authoritative interpreters have seen the future evangelist
Mark.
PRAYER
Lord, those who flee from your Passion are left without
dignity. Have mercy on us who stand naked before your Majesty.
Let us place before you our most shameful wounds. Jesus, to abandon
you is to abandon the sun. If we seek to rid ourselves of the sun,
we fall back into cold and darkness. Father, we have distanced ourselves
from your house. We are not worthy to be received back by you.
Yet you have given orders that we should be washed and robed, supplied
with sandals and a ring on our finger.
Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen
tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in
terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita
nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in
tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et
dolentem pertransivit gladius.
THIRD STATION
Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel
according to Mark (14:55, 61b-62a, 64b)
Now the chief priests and the whole council sought
testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.
The high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am!” And they all condemned him as
deserving death.
MEDITATION
The Sanhedrin was the court of justice of God’s
people. Now this court condemns Christ, the Son of the Blessed One,
and judges Him to be deserving of death. The Innocent One is
condemned, “because He has blasphemed,” say the judges, and they tear
their garments. Yet we know from the Evangelist that they did so
through envy and hatred. Saint John says that ultimately the high
priest had spoken in God’s name. Only by allowing his innocent Son
to be condemned could God the Father save the guilty brothers of Jesus.
Across the centuries, hosts of innocent people have been condemned to
atrocious sufferings. Some cry out against the injustice; but it is
they, the innocent, who, in communion with Christ, the Innocent One, atone
for the sins of the world.
PRAYER
Jesus, you are not concerned to prove your innocence.
You are solely intent upon restoring to man the righteousness that He lost
through sin. We were your enemies. There was no way for us to change our
condition. You let yourself be condemned in order to grant us
forgiveness. Savior, help us to avoid bringing condemnation upon
ourselves on the last day.
"Iudex ergo cum sedebit, quicquid latet apparebit;
nil inultum remanebit. Iuste iudex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante
diem rationis.”
All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. O quam tristis et
afflicta Fuit illa benedicta Mater Unigeniti!
FOURTH STATION
Jesus is denied by Peter
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
(14:66-68, 72)
And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the
maids of the high priest came; and seeing Peter warming himself, she
looked at him, and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But
he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And
immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how
Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me
three times.” And he broke down and wept.
MEDITATION
“Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you”
(Mk 14:31).
Peter was sincere when he said this, but he did not know
himself; he did not know his own weakness. He was generous, but he
had forgotten that he needed the generosity of the Master. He
claimed he would die for Jesus, but it was Jesus who was to die for him to
save him. In making Simon the “rock” on which to build His
Church, Christ involved the Apostle in his initiative of salvation.
Peter naively believed that he could give something to the Master; but
instead, everything was freely given to him by Christ including
forgiveness after his denial. Jesus did not withdraw his choice of Peter
as the foundation of His Church. After repenting Peter was given the
capacity to strengthen His brethren.
PRAYER
Lord, when Peter speaks, enlightened by the Father’s
revelation, he acknowledges you as the Christ, the Son of the living God. When,
on the other hand, he trusts his own reason and good will, he becomes an
obstacle to your mission. Presumption causes him to deny you, his
Master, while humble repentance confirms him once more as the rock on
which you build your Church. Your choice to entrust the continuation
of the work of salvation to weak and vulnerable men manifests your wisdom
and power. Protect the men you have chosen, Lord, so that the gates of the
underworld will never prevail against your servants. Direct your gaze upon
all of us, as you did that night upon Peter, after the cock crowed. All:
Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum
tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum
cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos
dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed
libera nos a malo. Quæ mærebat et dolebat pia mater, cum videbat Nati
poenas incliti. FIFTH STATION Jesus is judged by
Pilate V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel
according to Mark (15:12-15) And Pilate again said to them, “Then what
shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?” And
they cried out, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why,
what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify
him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them
Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. MEDITATION
Pilate appeared powerful, he was in a position to determine the life or
death of Jesus. He enjoyed that ironic reference to the “King of
the Jews”, but in truth he was weak, wretched and servile. He was
afraid of the Emperor Tiberius, he was afraid of the people, he was afraid
of the chief priests, while nevertheless despising them in his heart. He
handed Jesus over to be crucified, knowing that he was innocent. In his
vain attempt to save Jesus, he ended up granting freedom to a dangerous
murderer. To no avail he sought to wash those hands, dripping with
innocent blood. Pilate is the image of all those who wield authority as an
instrument of power, having no regard for justice. PRAYER
Jesus, through your courage in declaring yourself king, you sought to
awaken Pilate to the voice of his conscience. Enlighten the
consciences of the many people in positions of authority, so that they may
recognize the innocence of your followers. Give them the courage to
respect religious freedom. The temptation to cultivate the powerful and
oppress the weak is very widespread. And the powerful are those who
wield authority, those who control trade and the mass media; but there are
also people who allow themselves to be easily manipulated by the powerful
into oppressing the weak. How could those people cry out “Crucify
him!”, after they had known you as a compassionate friend, one who had
only ever done good to everyone? Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Quis est homo qui non
fleret, matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio? SIXTH
STATION Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns V. Adoramus
te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
(15:15b, 17-19) Pilate, having scourged Jesus, delivered him
to be crucified. Then the soldiers clothed him in a purple cloak, and
plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to
salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck his head
with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him. MEDITATION
Scourging as it was practised in those days was a terrible punishment. The
dreadful flagellum used by the Romans tore the flesh to shreds. And
the crown of thorns, apart from causing the most acute pain, was also a
mockery of the divine Prisoner’s kingship, as were the spitting and the
blows. Appalling forms of torture continue to emerge from the cruelty of
the human heart – and psychological tortures are no less terrible than
the physical variety; often the victims themselves become torturers in
their turn. Are all these sufferings meaningless? PRAYER
No, Jesus, you continue to gather together and sanctify suffering of all
kinds: that of the sick, of those who die in hardship, of all who
experience discrimination; but the sufferings which shine out over
all others are those endured for your name. By the sufferings of the
martyrs, bless your Church; may their blood become the seed of new
Christians. We firmly believe that their sufferings, even if at the
time they seem like total defeat, will bring true victory to your Church. Lord,
grant constancy to our persecuted brethren! All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Pro peccatis suæ
gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis et flagellis subditum. SEVENTH
STATION The Cross is placed upon Jesus’s shoulders
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per
sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel
according to Mark (15:20) And when they had mocked him, they stripped him
of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him
out to crucify him. MEDITATION The
Cross, that great symbol of Christianity, from being an instrument of
shameful punishment has become a glorious victory banner. There are
courageous atheists who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the
revolution: they are prepared to embrace the cross, but without
Jesus. Among Christians there are de facto “atheists” who want
Jesus, but without the Cross. Now without Jesus, the cross is
unbearable, and without the Cross, no one can claim to be with Jesus. Let
us embrace the Cross and let us embrace Jesus, and with Jesus let us
embrace all our suffering and persecuted brethren! PRAYER
O divine Redeemer, with what great joy you embraced the Cross, which you
had desired for so long! It weighs heavily upon your wounded
shoulders, but it is held up by a heart filled with love. The great Saints
understood the saving value of the Cross so deeply that they could cry
out: “Either suffer or die!” Give us the grace at least to accept
your invitation to carry our cross behind you. You prepared a
personal cross for each one of us. We have before our eyes the image
of Pope John Paul II, who climbed the “Mount of Crosses” in Lithuania. Every
one of those crosses had a story to tell, a story of suffering and joy, of
humiliation and triumph, of death and resurrection. All:
Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum
tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum
cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos
dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed
libera nos a malo. Quis non posset contristari, piam matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio? EIGHTH STATION
Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross
V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per
sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy
Gospel according to Mark (15:21) And they compelled a
passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father
of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his Cross. MEDITATION
Simon of Cyrene was coming in from the country. He stumbled upon the
procession of death and was pressed into carrying the Cross together with
Jesus. At a later date, he confirmed this act of service, expressing his
satisfaction at having been of assistance to the poor condemned prisoner,
and he became one of the disciples in the early Church. He was surely
the object of admiration and even envy for the special privilege of having
comforted Jesus in his sufferings. PRAYER
Dear Jesus, you would have thanked Simon of Cyrene for his help, even
though the Cross was actually owed to him and to each one of us. In
this way, Jesus, you are grateful to us every time we help our brothers
and sisters to carry their cross, although we are simply doing our duty in
order to atone for our sins. Jesus, you are at the origin of this cycle of
compassion. You bear our cross, thereby enabling us to assist you in
your brothers and sisters to carry the cross. Lord, as members of your
Body, we help one another to carry the cross, and we admire the great
throng of “Simons of Cyrene” who, even if they do not yet have the
faith, generously come to relieve your sufferings in your brothers and
sisters. When we come to the aid of our brethren in the persecuted Church,
make us mindful that in reality it is we who, to an even greater extent,
are being helped by them. All: Pater noster, qui
es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat
voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da
nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus
debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a
malo. Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati poenas mecum divide.
NINTH STATION Jesus meets the women of
Jerusalem V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus
tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A
reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (23:27-28) And
there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who
bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said,
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and
for your children.” MEDITATION
Women, especially mothers, derive from their love an immense capacity for
endurance in suffering. They suffer through the actions of men, they
suffer for their children. Let us think of the mothers of all those
young people who are persecuted and imprisoned in the name of Christ. How
many long nights those mothers spend awake and in tears! Let us think
of the mothers who risk arrest and persecution as they persevere in family
prayer, nourishing in their hearts the hope of better times ahead. PRAYER
Jesus, despite your sufferings, you were anxious to speak to the women
along the Way of the Cross; make your consoling and enlightening voice
heard today by so many suffering women. You urge them not to weep for you,
but for themselves and for their children. Weeping over you, they weep
over sufferings that bring salvation to humanity, and are therefore a
cause of joy. What they should weep for, though, are the sufferings
due to sin, which make them and their children and all of us like dry
wood, worthy only to be tossed onto the fire. Lord, you sent your Mother
to repeat this same message to us at Lourdes and at Fatima: “Do
penance and pray that the wrath of God may be halted”. Move us at
our final hour to accept this urgent appeal with sincere hearts!
All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in
tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Eia, mater, fons amoris, me sentire
vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam. TENTH
STATION Jesus is crucified V. Adoramus
te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel according to
Mark (15:25, 31, 34) And it was the third hour, when they crucified Jesus. The
chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, “He
saved others, he cannot save himself”. And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” MEDITATION
Jesus, stripped of his garments, nailed to the Cross, prey to untold
sufferings, mocked by his enemies, feels abandoned even by the Father. This
is the hell deserved by our sins. Jesus remained on the Cross, he did
not save himself. In him were fulfilled the prophecies of the Suffering
Servant: “He had no form or comeliness … no beauty … we
esteemed him stricken, smitten by God … all we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has
laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb” (Is 53:2,
4, 6-7). PRAYER O crucified Jesus, not only on
Tabor, but even more on Calvary you revealed to us your true face, the
face of a love that endures to the end. Sometimes, out of reverence, you
are represented wearing a royal cloak even on the Cross. But we are
not afraid to show you to the world just as you were, hanging upon the
gibbet that Friday, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. As we
contemplate you on the Cross, we are filled with shame over our
unfaithfulness and with gratitude for your infinite mercy. O Lord,
how much your love for us has cost you! Putting our trust in the power
that comes from your Passion, we promise never more to offend you. We
wish one day to have the honour of being placed upon the cross ourselves,
like Peter and Andrew. We are encouraged by the serenity and the joy
that it has been granted us to see on the faces of your faithful servants,
the martyrs of our age. All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum, ut sibi complaceam. ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus promises his Kingdom to the Good Thief V. Adoramus te,
Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (23:33,
42-43) And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there
they crucified Jesus, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the
left. One of the criminals said, “Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise.” MEDITATION
He was an evil-doer. He represents all evil-doers, that is to say,
all of us. He had the good fortune to be close to Jesus in suffering,
but all of us have this good fortune. Like him, let us say: “Lord,
remember us, when you come into your kingdom.” We will receive the
same reply. And what of those who do not have the good fortune to be close
to Jesus? Jesus is close to them, to each and every one. “Jesus,
remember us”: let us speak these words to him for ourselves, for
our friends, for our enemies, and for the persecutors of our friends. The
salvation of all people is the Lord’s true victory. PRAYER
Jesus, remember me when, conscious of my unfaithfulness, I am tempted to
despair. Jesus, remember me when, after repeated efforts, I once more find
myself deep in the valley of darkness. Jesus, remember me when
everyone is weary of me and no one trusts me any more, and I find myself
alone and abandoned. All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis: sanctificetur
nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in
terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita
nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in
tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Sancta mater, istud agas, Crucifixi
fige plagas cordi meo valide. TWELFTH STATION The
mother of Jesus and the beloved disciple at the foot of the Cross V. Adoramus
te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
(19:25-27) Standing by the Cross of Jesus were his mother, and his
mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When
Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he
said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the
disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple
took her to his own home. MEDITATION Jesus is
not thinking of himself even in that moment of supreme suffering: he
thinks of his Mother and he thinks of us. Does he first of all
entrust his Mother to the disciple, as Saint John seems to suggest, or
does he rather entrust the disciple to his Mother? Be that as it may, for
the disciple Mary will always be the Mother entrusted to him by his dying
Master, and for Mary the disciple will always be the son entrusted to her
by her dying Son; she will remain spiritually close to him, especially at
the hour of death. Alongside all dying martyrs, then, she, their
Mother, will always be standing at the foot of their cross, supporting
them. PRAYER Jesus and Mary, you shared
suffering even to the end: Jesus on the Cross, and Mary at the foot
of the Cross. A spear pierced the Savior’s side and a sword
penetrated the heart of the Virgin Mother. In truth, it is we through our
sins who have caused such suffering. Accept the repentance of us all,
since through our weakness we have always been exposed to the risk of
betraying, denying and deserting. Accept the homage of faithfulness from
all those who have followed the example of Saint John, who remained
courageously at the foot of the Cross. Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart
and my soul. Jesus and Mary, help me in my final agony. Jesus
and Mary, may my last breath be at peace with you. All: Pater noster, qui
es in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat
voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da
nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus
debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a
malo. Fac me vere tecum flere, Crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero. THIRTEENTH
STATION Jesus dies on the Cross V. Adoramus te,
Christe, et benedicimus tibi. R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam
redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (23:46)
Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit!” And having said this, he breathed his last. MEDITATION
Jesus truly dies, because he is truly man. He hands over his last
breath to the Father. O, how precious is that breath! The breath
of life was given to the first man, and it is given to us once more, in a
new way, after the resurrection of Jesus, so that we are able to offer
every breath to him who gave us breath. What fear we have of death
and how enslaved we are by this fear! The meaning and value of a life
are determined by the manner in which it is given away. Even for the
unbeliever it is not acceptable to cling to life, losing all sense of its
meaning. And for Jesus, there is no greater love than that which
leads us to lay down our life for our friends. Those who are attached
to life will lose it. Those who are ready to sacrifice it will keep
it. The martyrs give the supreme testimony of their love. They are
not ashamed of their Master before men. The Master will be proud of
them before all humanity on the last day. PRAYER
Jesus, you assumed human life so that you could give it away. In
taking on our sinful human flesh, you, immortal King, became mortal. In
accepting the most tragic and dark death, the ultimate fruit of sin, you
accomplished the supreme act of complete trust in the Father. “In
manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.” All: Pater noster, qui es
in cælis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas
tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus
nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Vidit
suum dulcem Natum morientem desolatum, cum emisit spiritum. FOURTEENTH
STATION Jesus is taken down from the Cross and placed in the
tomb V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi. > R. Quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. A reading from the holy Gospel
according to Mark (15:46) Joseph of Arimathea bought a linen shroud, and
taking the body of Jesus down from the Cross, wrapped him in the linen
shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. And
he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. MEDITATION
Jesus chose not to come down alive from the Cross, but to rise from the
tomb. True death, true silence, the Word of Life will be silent for
three days. Let us imagine the shock experienced by our first parents upon
seeing the lifeless body of Abel, the first victim of death. Let us think
of Mary’s sorrow, as she embraces the body of Jesus, now reduced to a
heap of wounds, more a worm than a man, no longer capable of returning his
Mother’s loving gaze. Now she must consign him to the cold stones
of the tomb, after hastily washing him and laying him out. It only
remains now to wait. How interminable that wait seems, until the
third day. PRAYER Lord, the three days seem so
long to us. Our stronger brethren grow weary, our weaker brethren
gradually sink lower and lower, while the arrogant hold their heads high. Give
perseverance to the strong, Lord, rouse the weak, and lead the hearts of
all to conversion. Are we right to be in a hurry, to want to see the
victory of the Church straight away? Does our victory not consist rather
in our eagerness to see it? Lord, grant us the perseverance to stand
alongside the Church of silence and to accept that we will disappear and
die like the grain of wheat. Help us always to be mindful of your words,
Lord: “Do not be afraid! I have overcome the world. I
shall never fail you. I am with you always, until the end of the
world.” Lord, increase our faith! All: Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut
in cælo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne
nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Quando corpus morietur,
fac ut anim donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.
Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 Lenten Message
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Each year Lent offers us a providential
opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it
stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become
more merciful toward our brothers and sisters.
In the Lenten period, the Church makes
it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful
concretely in this process of interior renewal. These are prayer,
fasting and almsgiving. For this year's Lenten Message, I wish to
spend some time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving which represents
a specific way to assist those in need; and, at the same time, an exercise
in self denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods.
The force of attraction to material
riches and just how categorical our decision must be not to make of them
an idol, Jesus confirms in a resolute way: "You cannot serve God and
mammon" (Lk 16,13). Almsgiving helps us to overcome this
constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor's needs and to
share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness. This is the
aim of the special collections in favor of the poor which are promoted
during Lent in many parts of the world. In this way, inward
cleansing is accompanied by a gesture of ecclesial communion mirroring
what already took place in the early Church. In his Letters, Saint
Paul speaks of this in regard to the collection for the Jerusalem
community (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27).
According to the teaching of the Gospel,
we are not owners but rather administrators, of the goods we possess.
These, then are not to be considered as our exclusive possession but means
through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His
providence for our neighbor. As the Catechism
of the Catholic Church reminds us, material goods bear a social
value according to the principle of their universal destination (cf. n.
2404)
In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly
admonishes the one who possesses and uses earthly riches only for self. In
the face of the multitudes, who, lacking everything, suffer hunger, the
words of Saint John acquire the tone of a ringing rebuke: "How does
God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or
sister in need and yet refuses to help?" (1 Jn 3,17). In those
countries whose population is majority Christian, the call to share is
even more urgent since their responsibility toward the many who suffer
poverty and abandonment is even greater. To come to their aid is a duty of
justice even prior to being an act of charity.
The Gospel highlights a typical feature
of Christian almsgiving: It must be hidden. "Do not let your left
hand know what your right hand is doing," Jesus asserts, "so
that your alms may be done in secret" (Mt 6,3-4). Just a short
while before He said not to boast of one's own good works so as not to
risk being deprived of the heavenly reward (cf. Mt 6,1-2). The
disciple is to be concerned with God's greater glory. Jesus warns,
"In this way, let your light shine before others so that they may see
your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Mt 5,16).
Everything, then, must be done for God's glory and not our own. This
understanding, dear brothers and sisters, must accompany every gesture of
help to our neighbor avoiding that it becomes a means to make ourselves
the center of attention. If, in accomplishing a good deed, we do not have
as our goal God's glory and the real well being of our brothers and
sisters, looking rather for a return of personal interest or simply of
applause, we place ourselves outside of the Gospel's vision. In today's
world of images, attentive vigilance is required since this temptation is
great. Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy,
rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that
demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor in imitation of
Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us. How
could we not thank God for the many people who silently, far from the gaze
of the media world, fulfill, with this spirit, generous actions in support
of one's neighbor in difficulty? There is little use in giving one's
personal goods to others if it leads to a heart puffed up in vain glory.
For this reason the one who knows that God "sees in secret" and
in secret will reward, does not seek human recognition for works of mercy.
In inviting us to consider almsgiving
with a more profound gaze that transcends the purely material dimension,
Scripture teaches us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving
(cf. Acts 20,35). When we do things out of love, we express
the truth of our being; indeed, we have been created not for ourselves but
for God and our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5,15). Every
time when, for love of God, we share our goods with our neighbor in need,
we discover that the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned
to us as a blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction, and joy.
Our Father in heaven rewards our almsgiving with His joy. What is more,
Saint Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the
forgiveness of sins. "Charity," he writes, "covers a
multitude of sins" (1 Pt 4,8). As the Lenten liturgy
frequently repeats, God offers to us sinners the possibility of being
forgiven. The fact of sharing with the poor what we possess disposes us to
receive such a gift. In this moment, my thought turns to those who realize
the weight of the evil they have committed and, precisely for this reason,
feel far from God, fearful and almost incapable of turning to Him. By
drawing close to others through almsgiving, we draw close to God. It
can become an instrument for authentic conversion and reconciliation with
Him and our brothers.
Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of
love. Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo forthrightly recommends,
"Never keep an account of the coins you give since this is what I
always say. If in giving alms the left hand is not to know
what the right hand is doing, then the right hand, too, should not know
what it does itself" (Detti e pensieri, Edilibri, n. 201). In
this regard, all the more significant is the Gospel story of the widow
who, out of her poverty, cast into the Temple treasury "all she had
to live on" (Mk 12,44). Her tiny and insignificant coin
becomes an eloquent symbol. This widow gives to God not out of her
abundance, not so much what she has, but what she is. Her entire self.
We find this moving passage inserted in
the description of the days that immediately precede Jesus' passion and
death, who, as Saint Paul writes, made Himself poor to enrich us out of
His poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8,9). He gave His entire self for us.
Lent, also through the practice of almsgiving, inspires us to follow His
example. In His school, we can learn to make of our lives a total
gift. Imitating Him, we are able to make ourselves available, not so
much in giving a part of what we possess, but our very selves. Cannot the
entire Gospel be summarized perhaps in the one commandment of love?
The Lenten practice of almsgiving thus becomes a means to deepen our
Christian vocation. In gratuitously offering himself, the Christian
bears witness that it is love and not material richness that determines
the laws of his existence. Love then gives almsgiving its value; it
inspires various forms of giving according to the possibilities and
conditions of each person.
Dear brothers and sisters, Lent invites
us to "train ourselves" spiritually also through the practice of
almsgiving in order to grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ
Himself. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that the Apostle Peter
said to the cripple who was begging alms at the Temple gate: "I have
no silver or gold but what I have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ
the Nazarene, walk" (Acts 3,6). In giving alms, we offer
something material, a sign of the greater gift that we can impart to
others through the announcement and witness of Christ in whose name is
found true life. Let this time, then, be marked by a personal and
community effort of attachment to Christ in order that we may be witnesses
of His love. May Mary, Mother and faithful Servant of the Lord, help
believers to enter the "spiritual battle" of Lent, armed with
prayer, fasting and the practice of almsgiving, so as to arrive at the
celebration of the Easter Feasts renewed in spirit. With these wishes, I
willingly impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Pope Benedict XVI 2008 Christmas Message
Dear brothers and sisters,
As we approach the great feast of
Christmas, the liturgy encourages us to intensify our preparation placing
at our disposal numerous biblical texts from the Old and the New
Testaments which serve to motivate us to focus on the significance and
value of this annual celebration.
On the one hand, Christmas is a
commemoration of the incredible miracle of the birth of God's only son,
born of the Virgin Mary, in a cave in Bethlehem. On the other hand,
Christmas exhorts us to keep watch and pray waiting for our Redeemer who
will come 'to judge the living and the dead.'
Perhaps we today, even we believers,
truly await the Judge. We all await justice. We see so much injustice in
the world, in our small world, at home, in our neighborhoods, as well as
in the large world of states, of societies. And we wait for justice to be
done.
Justice is an abstract concept. We await
the coming of the very one who can effect justice. In this context
we pray, 'Come, Lord, Jesus Christ, as judge, come as you must.' The Lord
knows how to enter the world and bring justice.
We ask the Lord, the Judge, to respond,
to truly effect justice in the world. We await justice, but our
demands with respect to others cannot be the only expression of this
waiting. The Christian significance of waiting for justice implies that we
begin to live under the eyes of the Judge according to the criteria of the
Judge; that we begin to live in his presence rendering justice in our
lives. By being just, putting ourselves in the presence of the Judge, we
await justice.
This is the meaning of Advent, of
vigilance. The vigilance of Advent means to live under the eyes of the
Judge and to prepare ourselves and the world for justice. By living
under the eyes of the God-Judge, we can open the world to the arrival of
His Son, preparing our heart to welcome 'the Lord who comes.'
The Child, adored 2,000 years ago by the
shepherds in a cave in Bethlehem, never stops visiting us in our daily
life, as we, like pilgrims, walk toward the Kingdom. As He waits,
the believer becomes the spokesperson for the hopes of all humankind.
Humanity longs for justice; and thus, though often unaware, waits for God,
waits for the salvation that only God can give us.
For us Christians, the wait is marked by
assiduous prayer as indicated by the particularly evocative series of
invocations that are proposed to us in these days of the Christmas novena,
in the Mass, in the Gospel, and in the celebration of vespers, before the
canticle of the Magnificat. Each appeal that implores the coming of
Wisdom, the Sun of Justice, and God-With-Us, contains a prayer directed to
the Awaited one of the nations so that His arrival be hastened.
To invoke the gift of the birth of the
promised Savior also means to commit myself to prepare the way, to prepare
a worthy home not only in the environment around us, but above all in our
souls. With the guidance of the Evangelist John, we try to turn our
thoughts and hearts to the eternal Word, to the Logos, to the Word that
has become flesh and has given us grace after grace (cf. 1:14,16).
This faith in the Creator Logos, in the
Word that created the world, in the one who came like a Child, this faith
and its great hope seem to be far from our daily public and private
reality. It seems this truth is too great. We manage the best
we can so it seems at least. But the world is becoming more chaotic
and violent. We witness this every day. And the light of God,
the light of Truth, is put out. Life becomes dark and without a
compass.
It is therefore very important that we
are true believers, and as believers, that we reaffirm forcefully, with
our lives, the mystery of salvation that comes with the celebration of
Christ's birth. In Bethlehem, the Light which illumines our life was
made manifest to the world. The Way which leads to the fullness of
our humanity was revealed to us. What sense does it make to celebrate
Christmas if we don't acknowledge that God has become man? The
celebration becomes empty.
Before all else, we Christians have to
reassert with deep and heartfelt conviction the truth of Christ's birth in
order to bear witness before all, the awareness of an unparalleled gift
that enriches not only us, but everyone.
The duty of evangelization is to convey
this eu-angelion, the good news. This was recalled by the
document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith entitled Doctrinal
Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization which I would like to offer for
your reflection and personal as well as communal study.
Dear friends, in these days of
preparation leading up to Christmas, the prayer of the Church intensifies
so that the hopes for peace, salvation, justice, and all that the world
urgently needs, be made a reality. We ask God that violence be defeated by
the power of love, that opposition be replaced by reconciliation, that the
desire to dominate be transformed into desires for forgiveness, justice,
and peace.
May the wishes of kindness and love that
we exchange in these days reach all sectors of our daily lives. May peace
be in our hearts so that we can be open to the action of God's mercy. May
peace live in all families, and may they spend Christmas united before the
crib and the tree decorated with lights. May the Christmas message
of solidarity and welcome contribute to create a deeper sensibility toward
old and new types of poverty and toward the common good that we are all
called to share.
May all family members, especially the
children and the elderly, the weakest ones, feel the warmth of this feast,
and may that warmth spread out through every day of the year. May
Christmas be a celebration of peace and joy, joy for the birth of the
Savior, the Prince of Peace. Like the shepherds, we hasten our steps
toward Bethlehem. In the heart of the Holy Night, we will be able to
contemplate the 'infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger', together with Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:12,16).
We ask the Lord to open our soul so that
we can enter the mystery of his birth. May Mary, who gave her
virginal womb to the Word of God, who contemplated the child between her
arms, and who offers Him to everyone as the Redeemer of the world, help us
make Christmas a moment of growth in the knowledge and love of Christ.
This is the wish that I warmly extend to you all, to your families. and
your dear ones.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Pope Benedict XVI General
Audience
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Trip to Brazil
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In this general audience I would like to reflect on my recent apostolic
journey to Brazil from May 9-14. After the first two years of my
pontificate, I finally had the joy of going to Latin America, a place I
love dearly and where a great number of the world's Catholics live.
The central destination of my journey was Brazil, but I also extended my
embrace to the entire Latin American continent because the ecclesial event
that called me there was the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of
Latin America and the Caribbean.
I wish to reiterate my profound gratitude for the welcome I received from
my dear brother bishops, in particular those of São Paulo and Aparecida.
I thank the president of Brazil and the other civil authorities for their
cordial and generous cooperation; and with great affection I thank the
Brazilian people for the warmth with which they welcomed me - it was great
and moving - and for the attention they paid to my words.
My journey was an act of praise to God for the wonders he has done in the
midst of the peoples of Latin America, for the faith that has animated
their lives and their culture for more than 500 years. It was also a
pilgrimage culminating at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida,
Patroness of Brazil.
The theme of the relationship between faith and culture was always in the
hearts of my venerated predecessors Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. I
also wished to take up this theme to confirm the Church in Latin America
and the Caribbean in their walk of faith that has been and still is a
living history as we see in popular piety, art, in dialogue with the rich
pre-Columbian traditions, as well as numerous European influences, and
influences from other continents.
A look back at a glorious past cannot ignore the shadows that accompanied
the work of evangelization of the Latin American continent. It is
impossible to forget the sufferings and injustices inflicted by colonizers
on the indigenous peoples who often had their basic human rights trampled
on. But the very mention of these unjustifiable crimes, crimes that
were condemned at the time by missionaries such as Bartolomé de Las
Casas, and theologians such as Francisco de Vitoria of the University of
Salamanca, must not stop us from expressing gratitude for the wonderful
work carried out by divine grace among those populations in these past
five centuries.
Brazil is a great country which has deeply rooted Christian values but is
experiencing enormous social and economic problems. To help resolve these
problems, the Church must mobilize all of the moral and spiritual energies
of its communities to find points of convergence with the healthy energies
of the country.
Among the positive elements to point out are the creativity and the
fecundity of the Church there from which many new movements and institutes
of consecrated life are born. No less worthy of praise is the
generous dedication of the many lay faithful who show themselves to be
very active in the various initiatives promoted by the Church.
Brazil is also a country that can offer the world a new model of
development: The Christian culture can facilitate a reconciliation between
men and creation beginning with the recovery of personal dignity in the
relationship to God the Father.
An eloquent example of this is the Fazenda da Esperança, a network of
rehabilitation centers for young people who wish to come out of the dark
tunnel of drug abuse. At the one I visited, taking away a profound
impression that I will keep alive in my heart, I noticed the importance of
the presence of the Poor Clares.
This appeared symbolic for the world of today which is in need of a
psychological and social rehabilitation and an even deeper spiritual
rehabilitation.
Also symbolic was the canonization, celebrated in joy, of the first native
Brazilian saint, Father Antonio de Sant'Ana Galvão. This Franciscan
priest of the 18th century, devoted to the Blessed Virgin, an
apostle of the Eucharist, and of confession, was called while living as a
man of peace and charity. His witness is yet another confirmation that
holiness is the true revolution which can promote the authentic reform of
the Church and society.
In the Cathedral of São Paulo, I met with the Brazilian bishops which is
the largest bishops' conference in the world. Conveying to them the
support of the Successor of Peter was one of the major goals of my mission
because I know the great challenges that the proclamation of the Gospel
faces in that country.
I encouraged my brother bishops to promote and strengthen the task of the
new evangelization exhorting them to develop in a methodical way the
spreading of God's word so that the innate and widespread religiosity of
populations can deepen and become a mature faith adhering personally and
communally to the God of Jesus Christ.
I encouraged them to recover the style of life of the first Christian
community described in the Acts of the Apostles dedicated to catechesis,
the sacramental life, and works of charity.
I know the dedication of these faithful servants of the Gospel, the Gospel
they wish to present without reductions or confusion, keeping watch over
the deposit of faith with discernment, and their constant goal of
promoting social development mainly through the formation of the laity who
are called to assume responsibility in political and economic fields. I
thank God for allowing me to deepen my communion with the Brazilian
bishops, and I continue to remember them in my prayers.
Another important moment of the journey was without a doubt the meeting
with young people; hope not only for the future, but a vital force also
for the present for the Church and for society. This vigil, animated by
them in São Paulo, was a festival of hope, illuminated by Christ's words
to the rich young man who asked Him: "Master, what good must I do to
inherit eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16).
Jesus points out above all the commandments as the way of life, and then
invites him to leave everything to follow Him. The Church does the same
thing today: First of all, it proposes the commandments, the true
education of freedom for personal and social good, and above all, it
proposes the first commandment, that of love, because without love even
the commandments cannot give full meaning to life and procure true
happiness.
Only the person who experiences the love of God in Christ and places
himself on this path to live it among humanity becomes his disciple and
missionary. I invited the young people to be apostles of their peers
and to therefore take great care of their own human and spiritual
formation, to have great esteem for marriage and the way that leads to
marriage in chastity and responsibility, and to be open to the call to
consecrated life for God's kingdom. To summarize, I encouraged them to
take advantage of the great riches of their youth and to be the young face
of the Church.
The high point of the journey was the inauguration of the 5th
General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean in
the sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida. The theme for this important
meeting, which will continue until the end of the month, is Disciples and
Missionaries of Jesus Christ So That Our People Might Have Life in Him --
I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
"Disciples and missionaries" corresponds to what the Gospel of
Mark says concerning the call of the Apostles, "(Jesus) called the
twelve that were with Him and sent them out to preach" (Mark
3:14-15).
The word "disciple" recalls the aspects of formation and
following in communion and friendship with Jesus. The term
"missionary" expresses the fruit of discipleship, that is, the
witness and communication of the lived experience of the truth and love
that is known and assimilated.
To be disciples and missionaries implies a close link with the Word of
God, with the Eucharist, and the other sacraments, living in the Church,
and listening obediently to His teachings. Joyously renewing the
desire to be Jesus' disciples, to stay with him, is the primary condition
for being his missionaries "beginning again with Christ,"
according to Pope John Paul II's mandate to the Church after the Jubilee
of the Year 2000.
My venerated predecessor always insisted on an evangelization that was
"new in its ardor, its methods and its expression," as he said
when speaking to CELAM [Latin American Bishops' Council] on March 9, 1983,
in Haiti (Insegnamenti VI/1 [1983], 698).
With my apostolic journey, I wished to exhort them to continue along this
path holding up the encyclical Deus Caritas Est as a unified perspective,
an inseparable social and theological perspective, summarized in this
expression: "It is love that gives life."
"God's presence, friendship with the Son of God incarnate, the light
of His Word, are always fundamental conditions for the presence and
efficacy of justice and love in our societies" (Inaugural speech of
the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America
and the Caribbean, 4: L'Osservatore Romano, May 14-15, 2007, p. 14).
I entrust the fruits of this unforgettable apostolic journey to the
maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary who is venerated as Our Lady of
Guadalupe and patroness of all Latin America, and to the new Brazilian
saint, Father Antonio of Sant'Ana Galvão.

Pope Benedict XVI
Trip to Bavaria
September, 2006
"I am an old man. I don't
know how much time the Lord will grant me. At least one more time I
am getting to see my homeland."
My wish is that all my countrymen in
Bavaria and Germany together actively participate in the handing down of
the foundational values of the Christian faith to the citizens of
tomorrow."
Pope Benedict XVI General
Audience
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Trip to Bavaria
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I wish to recall again different
moments of the pastoral trip that the Lord allowed me to undertake last
week to Bavaria. On sharing with you the emotions and sentiments felt when
returning to those dearly beloved places, I feel the need first of all to
thank God for having made possible this second visit to Germany and for
the first time to Bavaria my native land.
I also sincerely thank all those who worked with dedication and patience -
pastors, priests, pastoral agents, public authorities, organizers,
security forces and volunteers - so that each one of the events would
unfold in the best possible way. As I said on my arrival at Munich
Airport on Saturday, September 9, the purpose of the trip remembering all
those who contributed to form my personality was to reaffirm and confirm
as Successor of the Apostle Peter the close bonds that unite the See of
Rome with the Church in Germany.
Therefore the trip was not simply a return to the past but also a
providential opportunity to look to the future with hope. Those who
believe are never alone. The motto of the visit was meant to be an
invitation to reflect on every baptized person's membership in the one
Church of Christ within which one is never alone but in constant communion
with God and all brothers.
The first stage was the City of Munich known as "the metropolis with
a heart" ("Weltstadt mit Herz"). In its historical center
is the "Marienplatz," Mary's Square, in which arises the
"Mariensaeule," the Virgin's Column, at the summit of which is
the golden bronze statue of Mary.
I wished to begin my stay with homage to the Patroness of Bavaria because
for me it has a highly significant value. In that Square and before
that Marian image I was welcomed as archbishop some 30 years ago, and I
began my episcopal mission with a prayer to Mary. I returned there at the
end of my mandate before leaving for Rome. This time I wished to place
myself once again at the foot of the "Mariensaeule" to implore
the intercession and blessing of the Mother of God not only for the City
of Munich and for Bavaria but for the whole Church and the entire world.
The following day, Sunday, I celebrated the Eucharist in the esplanade of
the "Neue Messe" (New Fair) of Munich among the faithful
gathered in great numbers from different parts. Allowing myself to be
guided by the Gospel passage of the day, I reminded everyone that
especially today there is suffering from a certain "deafness" to
God. We Christians have the task of proclaiming and witnessing to all in a
secularized world the message of hope that faith offers us. In Jesus
crucified, God, merciful Father, calls us to be his children and to
overcome every form of hatred and violence in order to contribute to the
definitive triumph of love.
"Make Us Strong in the Faith" was the motto of the meeting on
Sunday afternoon with the First Communion children and their young
families with the catechists and the other pastoral agents and persons who
collaborate in the evangelization of the Diocese of Munich. Together we
celebrated Vespers in the historic cathedral, known as "Our Lady's
Cathedral," where the relics of Saint Benno are kept, patron of the
city in which I was ordained bishop in 1977.
I reminded the little ones and adults that God is not far from us in some
unreachable place of the universe; on the contrary, in Jesus, He came to
establish a relationship of friendship with each one of us. Thanks to the
constant commitment of its members, every Christian community, and, in
particular, the parish, is called to become a great family able to advance
united on the path of true life.
The day of Monday, September 11, was
dedicated in large part to the visit to Altoetting, in the Diocese of
Passau. This small city is known as the "Heart of Bavaria"
("Herz Bayerns"), and there is kept the "Black
Virgin," venerated in the "Gnadenkapelle" (Chapel of
Graces), the object of numerous pilgrimages from Germany and nations of
Central Europe.
In the vicinity is the Capuchin monastery of Saint Anne where Saint Konrad
Birndorfer lived and was canonized by my venerated predecessor Pope Pius
XI in the year 1934. With numerous faithful present at the Holy Mass
celebrated in the square next to the shrine, we reflected together on
Mary's role in the work of salvation to learn from her helpful kindness,
humility, and the generous acceptance of the divine will.
Mary leads us to Jesus. This truth was even more visible at the end of the
divine sacrifice with the procession. With the statue of the Virgin, we
went to the chapel of Eucharistic adoration ("Anbetungskapelle")
inaugurated on this occasion. The day closed with solemn Marian Vespers in
the Basilica of Saint Anne of Altoetting with the presence of religious of
Bavaria together with members of the Work for Vocations.
The following day, Tuesday, in Regensburg, a diocese established by Saint
Boniface in 739 and which has Saint Wolfgang as its patron, three
important meetings took place. In the morning, Holy Mass at Islinger Feld
in which taking up again the theme of the pastoral visit, "Those who
believe are never alone," we reflected on the content of the symbol
of faith. God, who is Father, wills to gather through Christ the
whole of humanity in one single family, the Church. For this reason,
those who believe are never alone. Those who believe need not be afraid of
coming to a dead end.
Then, in the afternoon, I was in the Cathedral of Regensburg, known also
for its choir of white voices, the Domspatzen (sparrows of the
cathedral), who take pride in their 1,000 years of activity and which for
30 years was directed by my brother, Georg. The ecumenical celebration of
Vespers took place there in which numerous representatives of different
churches and ecclesial communities in Bavaria and members of the
Ecumenical Commission of the German episcopal conference participated. It
was a providential occasion to pray together to accelerate full unity
among all Christ's disciples and to confirm the duty to proclaim our faith
in Jesus Christ without attenuation but in a total and clear manner above
all in our behavior of sincere love.
It was an especially beautiful experience for me that day to deliver a
conference before a large auditorium of professors and students at the
University of Regensburg at which I was professor for many years.
With joy I was able to once again meet with the university world which was
my spiritual homeland during a long period of my life.
I had chosen as a topic the question of the relationship between faith and
reason. To introduce the auditorium to the dramatic and timely character
of the argument, I quoted some of the words of a Christian-Islamic
dialogue of the 14th century in which the Christian
interlocutor, the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, in an
incomprehensibly brusque way for us, presented to the Islamic interlocutor
the problem of the relationship between religion and violence.
Unfortunately this quotation has given room to a misunderstanding. For the
careful reader of my text, it is clear that I did not wish at any time to
make my own the negative words uttered by the medieval emperor in this
dialogue, and that its controversial content does not express my personal
conviction. My intention was very different, and was based on what
Manuel II affirms afterward in a very positive way, with very beautiful
words, about rationality in the transmission of the faith. I wished to
explain that religion is not united to violence but to reason.
The topic of my conference - responding to the mission of the university -
was therefore the relationship between faith and reason. I wished to
invite the Christian faith to dialogue with the modern world and to
dialogue with all cultures and religions. I hope that on different
occasions of my visit, as for example in Munich where I underlined the
importance of respecting what others consider sacred, my deep respect for
the great religions, in particular for Muslims who adore the one God and
with whom we are engaged in "preserving and promoting together for
all mankind social justice, moral values, peace and freedom"
("Nostra Aetate," No. 3) -- emerged clearly.
Therefore, I trust that, after the reactions of the first moment, my words
at the University of Regensburg will represent an impulse and
encouragement to a positive dialogue including self-critical both among
religions as well as between modern reason and Christians' faith.
In the morning of the following day, September 13, in the "Alte
Kapelle" ("Old Chapel") of Regensburg, in which the
miraculous image of Mary is kept painted according to local tradition by
the Evangelist Luke, I presided over a brief liturgy on the occasion of
the blessing of the new organ.
Making use of the structure of this musical instrument made up of many
pipes of different dimension but all well harmonized among themselves, I
reminded those present of the need for all the various ministries, gifts,
and charisms in the ecclesial community to contribute, under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit, to the formation of a unique harmony in praise of the
Lord and in love for brothers.
The last stage, Thursday, September 14, was the City of Freising. I feel
particularly linked to it as I was ordained priest there precisely in its
cathedral dedicated to Mary Most Holy and Saint Corbinian, the Evangelizer
of Bavaria. And precisely in the cathedral, the last programmed ceremony
was held - the meeting with priests and permanent deacons.
Reliving the emotions of my priestly ordination, I reminded those present
of the duty to collaborate with the Lord to awaken new vocations that
place themselves as the service of the "harvest," which also
today is "plentiful," and I exhorted them to cultivate the
interior life as pastoral priority so as not to lose contact with Christ
source of joy in the daily exertion of the ministry.
In the farewell ceremony, while once again thanking all those who had
cooperated in the realization of the visit, I again confirmed its main
purpose to propose again to my fellow countrymen the eternal truths of the
Gospel and to confirm believers in adherence to Christ, Son of God
incarnated, dead and risen for us.
May Mary, Mother of the Church, help us to open our hearts and minds to
the One who is "The Way, the Truth and the Life" (John 14:16). I
have prayed for this, and that is why I invite you all, dear brothers and
sisters, to continue praying, and I thank you for the affection with which
you support me in my daily pastoral ministry. Thank you all.
Pope Benedict XVI
University of Regensburg
September 12, 2006
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a moving experience for me to stand and give a
lecture at this university podium once again. I think back to those years
when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began
teaching at the University of Bonn. This was in 1959 in the days of the
old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had
neither assistants nor secretaries but in recompense there was much direct
contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves.
We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff.
There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists;
and, naturally, between the two theological faculties.
Once a semester there was a dies academicus when professors from
every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university making
possible a genuine experience of universitas - the reality that
despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to
communicate with each other - we made up a whole, working in everything on
the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing
responsibility for the right use of reason. This reality became a lived
experience.
The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties. It
was clear that by inquiring about the reasonableness of faith, they too,
carried out a work which is necessarily part of the "whole" of
the universitas scientiarum even if not everyone could share the
faith which theologians seek to correlate with reason as a whole. This
profound sense of coherence within the universe of reason was not troubled
even when it was once reported that a colleague had said there was
something odd about our university; namely, it had two faculties devoted
to something that did not exist- God. That even in the face of such
radical skepticism, it is still necessary and reasonable to raise the
question of God through the use of reason, and to do so in the context of
the tradition of the Christian faith. This, within the university as a
whole, was accepted without question.
I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by professor
Theodore Khoury of part of the dialogue carried on, perhaps in 1391 in the
winter barracks near Ankara, by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II
Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and
Islam and the truth of both.
It was probably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue during the
siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402, and this would explain why
his arguments are given in greater detail than the responses of the
learned Persian. The dialogue ranges widely over the structures of faith
contained in the Bible and in the Koran and deals especially with the
image of God and of man while necessarily returning repeatedly to the
relationship of the "three Laws:" The Old Testament, the New
Testament and the Koran.
In this lecture I would like to discuss only one point, itself rather
marginal to the dialogue itself which, in the context of the issue of
"faith and reason," I found interesting, and which can serve as
the starting point for my reflections on this issue.
In the seventh conversation (Diálesis/Controversy) edited by
Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad. The
emperor must have known that Sura 2:256 reads: "There is no
compulsion in religion." It is one of the Suras of the early period
when Mohammed was still powerless, but naturally the emperor also knew the
instructions developed later and recorded in the Koran concerning Holy
War.
Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment
accorded to those who have the "Book" and the
"infidels," he turns somewhat brusquely to his interlocutor with
the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in
general in these words, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was
new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his
command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the
faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is
incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God
is not pleased by blood and by not acting reasonably. Syn logo
is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul not the body.
Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to
reason properly without violence and threats.... To convince a reasonable
soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other
means of threatening a person with death...."
The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is
this: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature.
The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes for the emperor, as a Byzantine
shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim
teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with
any of our categories even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work
of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez who points out that Ibn Hazn went
so far as to state that God is not bound even by His own word and that
nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we
would even have to practice idolatry.
As far as understanding of God, and thus the concrete practice of religion
is concerned, we find ourselves faced with a dilemma which nowadays
challenges us directly. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably
contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and
intrinsically true?
I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek
in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in
God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, John began the
prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the logos."
This is the very word used by the emperor, God acts with logos. Logos
means both reason and word, a reason which is creative and capable of
self-communication precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final
word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often
toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and
synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is
God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the biblical message and
Greek thought did not happen by chance.
The vision of Saint Paul who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream
saw a Macedonian man plead with him, "Com |