HOMILIES, ANGELUS, AND OTHER SPIRITUAL TEXTS

Here is a translation of the words spoken by the Holy Father at the Angelus today -
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The Gospel of Mark, which constitutes the guideline for the Sunday celebrations of this liturgical year, offers a catechumenal itinerary which guides the disciple to recognize in Jesus the Son of God. By a happy coincidence, today’s Gospel is on the subject of fasting. As you know, next Wednesday, the Lenten season begins with the Rite of the Ashes and penitential fasting. This gospel page therefore is particularly appropriate.

It recounts that when Jesus found himself seated at a meal in the house of Levi, the publican, the Pharisees and the followers of John the Baptist asked him why his disciples were not fasting like they were.

Jesus answered that the persons invited to a wedding cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, but they will fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them (cfr Mk 2, 18-20). In saying that, Jesus revealed his identity as the Messiah, bridegroom of Israel, who has come to be wed to his people.

Those who recognize and accept him in faith are celebrating. But he would be rejected and killed by his own people, and during his passion and death would be the time for mourning and fasting.

As I said, this Gospel anticipates the significance of Lent. This season in its entirety constitutes a great memorial to the passion of Christ, in preparation for the Paschal Feast of his Resurrection. During this period, we abstain from singing Allelulia and we are urged to practice appropriate forms of penitential renunciation (to make sacrifices).

Lent should not be considered in the “old” spirit, in which it was thought to be an imposition that was too onerous and bothersome, but we must face it in the spirit of someone who has found in Jesus and his Paschal mystery the sense of life, and has realized that from here on, he is the reference point for everything.

This was the attitude of the apostle Paul who declared that he had left everything behind him in order to know Christ, “to know him and the power of his resurrection and (the) sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. “ (Ph 3, 110-11).

In our Lenten itinerary, may the Most Holy Mary be our guide and teacher, she who followed Jesus with total faith when he headed to Jerusalem to undergo his Passion. Like a “new jar,” she received the “new wine” brought by her Son for the Messianic wedding (cfr Mk 2, 22). And so, that grace which she herself, with a mother’s instinct, had requested for the bridal couple in Cana, she received first under the Cross, flowing from the pierced heart of her Son, the incarnation of God’s love for man (cfr Deus caritas est, 13-15).

After the Angelus, the Holy Father added these words in Italian:

These days have been filled with news of the tragic violence in Iraq in which killings have taken place even in the mosques. These are actions which sow mourning, feed hate, and seriously impede the already difficult task of reconstructing that nation.

In Nigeria, encounters between Christiams and Muslims have been going on for days, with many victims and the destruction of churches and mosques.

While I firmly condemn the violation of places of worship, I entrust to the Lord all the dead and those who mourn them. I invite everyone to intense prayer and penitence during the Lenten season so that the Lord may save those dear nations, and many other places on earth, from the menace of similar conflicts!

The fruits of faith in God should not be devastating antagonisms, but a spirit of brotherhood and collaboration for the good of all. God, Creator and Father of us all, will call to account more severely those who spill their brother’s blood in His name.

May everyone, through the intercession of the Holy Virgin, find themselves in Him, who is the true peace.

He said the following greeting in English:
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors. This Wednesday the Church begins her annual Lenten pilgrimage of prayer and penance, in preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. May this holy season be a time of profound spiritual renewal for you and your families. Upon all of you I cordially invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/02/2006 17.35]

Mercoledi delle Cinere!
Just watched my recording of the Audience - back out in the square and I am worried in case Papa was cold!!!! It was so cold here in England - it's been snowing again this morning - I could hardly believe it when I saw the Audience was in the square.
Our beloved Papa was wearing his white overcoat and looked extremely fetching in it! But, he should have worn his cloak over it and - um, possibly his camauro? Oh dear - no gloves! As I said before Christmas, I was worried about his hands getting cold. I really don't think it's quite time to come out of the Paul VI Hall yet. Are the arrangements up to Georg G.? I feel all this needs a woman's touch.....and yes, that's ME, of course!!!!
Seriously now, Papa's message for Lent was very thought-provoking and easy to understand - I even understood it in Italian. I expect someone will post the whole thing elsewhere: I hope so.I can't remember the details.
Papa had a mark in the middle of his chin [no - not ashes in the wrong place!] and I think he could have had a little contretemps with his razor or electric shaver this morning! Couldn't see it close up enough to tell! The question is: is it bad enough to warrant a quick flight to Rome with a box of plasters?
Love and a prayerful and fruitful Lent to everyone!
Mary x

Photomontage by Sylvie; Photos from http://www.catholicpressphoto.com/servizi/2006-03-01-udienza-generale/page2.htmm

Today's general audience took place in St. Peter's Square. Here is a translation of the Pope's discourse -
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The Liturgy of Ash Wednesday today begins the Lenten itinerary of 40 days which will lead us to the Paschal Triduum, memory of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, heart of the mystery of our salvation. This is a favorable time for the Church to invite all Christians to have a more vivid awareness of Christ’s redemptive work and to live one’s own baptism with greater depth. In this liturgical season, the people of God since earliest times have nourished themselves abundantly on the word of God in order to strengthen their faith, going back over the entire history of creation and redemption.

In its course of 40 days, Lent has an undoubtedly evocative force. Indeed it means to recall some of the events that have marked the life and history of ancient Israel, re-proposing even to us their value as paradigms. We think, for example, of the 40 days of the universal deluge, which led to the pact of alliance between God and Noah, and therefore with humanity; to the 40 days when Moses stayed on Mt. Sinai, which was followed by the gift of the Tablets of the Law.

The Lenten period invites us above all to re-live with Jesus the 40 days he spent in the desert, praying and fasting, before undertaking his public mission. We undertake today a journey of reflection and prayer with all the Christians in the world so we may spiritually direct ourselves towards Calvary, meditating on the central mysteries of our faith. Thus we prepare ourselves to experience, after the mystery of the Cross, the joy of the Resurrection.

In all parochial communities today, an austere and symbolic gesture is carried out: the imposition of the ashes, a rite that is accompanied by two pregnant sentences which constitute an urgent appeal for us to recognize ourselves as sinners and to return to God. The first formulation says: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return” (cfr Gn, 3,19). These words, taken from the book of Genesis, evoke the human condition marked by transience and limitation, and are meant to encourage us to place every hope only in God.

The second formulation goes back to the words pronounced by Jesus at the start of his itinerant ministry: “Be converted and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1,15). It is an invitation to make our firm and faithful adherence to the Gospel the foundation of our personal and communal renewal. The Christian life is a life of faith founded on the word of God, by which it is nourished.

In the trials of life and in every temptation, the secret of victory is in listening to the word of truth and in decisively rejecting lies and evil. This is the true and central program of the Lenten season: to listen to the word of truth, to live, speak and act the truth, to reject the lies that poison humanity and lead to all evils.

It is urgent during this 40 days to listen again to the Gospel, the word of the Lord, word of truth, so that in every Christian, in each of us, the consciousness of truth that is given to each one, given to us, may be strengthened, so that we may live it and bear witness to it. Lent inspires us to let our life be penetrated by the word of God and to recognize thereby the fundamental truths: who are we, where did we come from, where should we go, what is the road to take in life.

So the period of Lent offers us an ascetic and liturgical path, which helps open our eyes to our weakness but at the same time opens our hearts to the merciful love of Christ.

The Lenten journey, bringing us closer to God, allows us to look with new eyes on our brothers and their needs. Whoever begins to see God, to look at the face of Christ, also sees with new eyes his brother, discovers his brother: what is good about him, what is bad about him, his needs.

Lent, as an act of listening to the truth, is a favorable moment to be converted to love, because profound truth, the truth of God, is at the same time love. Converting ourselves to the truth of God, we necessarily convert ourselves to love - a love that knows how to take on the Lord’s attitude of compassion and mercy, as I wished to remind everyone in the Message for Lent, which has as its theme the Gospel words, “Jesus, seeing the crowds, felt compassion” (Mt 9,36).

Aware of its mission in the world, the Church does not cease proclaiming the merciful love of Christ, who continues to look with compassionate eyes on the men and people of every era.

“In facing the terrible challenges of poverty in so many parts of the world,” I wrote in that Lenten message, “indifference and imprisonment in our own egoism form an intolerable contrast to the ‘look of Christ.’ Fasting and alms-giving, which together with prayer, the Church urges specially during the period of Lent, are propitious occasions to conform ourselves to that ‘look’" (L’Oss Roman 1 Feb 2006, p. 5), to the look Christ gives us, and to see ourselves, mankind, others, with his look.

In this spirit we enter the austere and prayerful climate of Lent, which is really a climate of love for our brother.

May these be days of reflection and intense prayer, in which we allow ourselves to be guided by the word of God which the liturgy proposes to us abundantly. Beyond that, may Lent be a time of fasting, of penitence, and of self-vigilance, knowing that the struggle against sin enver ends, because temptation is the reality of everyday, and fragility and illusion are experiences common to us all.

Finally, may Lent be, through alms-giving, doing good to others, an occasion of sincere sharing of the gifts we receive with our brothers, and of attention to the needs of the poorest and the abandoned.

In this penitential itinerary, may we be accompanied by Mary, mother of the Redeemer, who is a master of listening and of faithful adherence to God. May the most holy Virgin help us to arrive – purified and renewed in mind and spirit – to the celebration of the great mystery of Easter and Christ’s Resurrection. With these thoughts, I wish you all a good and fruitful Lent.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/03/2006 4.59]

These words of the Holy Father are truly beautiful and profound. I feel as though I'm for the first time understanding what the Lenten-days are about. Thanks for the translation, Teresa. I can now watch/ listen to the audience when it reaches us in South Africa, via RAI International, with much more comprehension of Papa's Italian communication.

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's main message at the Angelus today -
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Dear brothers and sisters!

Last Wednesday, we began Lent and today we celebrate the first Sunday of this liturgical period which invites Christians to commit themselves in preparation for Easter.

Today, the Gospel reminds us that Jesus, after having been baptized in the river Jordan, urged on by the Holy Spirit which had settled above him to reveal him as the Christ, retired for 40 days in the desert of Judea, where he overcame the temptations of Satan (cfr Mk 1,12-13).

Following their Master and Lord, Christians too, in order to face “the combat against the spirit of evil” together with him, enter spiritually into the desert of Lent.

The image of the desert is a rather eloquent metaphor for the human condition. The book of Exodus tells of the experience of the people of Israel who, coming out of Egypt, wandered in the dedert of Sinai for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land. During that long journey, the Jews experienced all the force and insistence of the tempter, who urged them to lose trust in the Lord and to go back; but at the same time, thanks to the mediation of Moses, they learned to listen to the voice of God, who called on them to become his holy people.

Meditating on this Biblical page, we understand that in order to realize fully a life in freedom, one must overcome the trial that the same freedom carries with it, namely, temptation. Only when liberated from the slavery of lies and of sin will the human being – thanks to the obedience of faith which opens him to the truth – find the full sense of his existence and attain peace, love and joy.

Because of this, Lent is a favorable time for a careful examination of our life through meditation, prayer and penitence. The spiritual exercises which traditionally take place here in the Apostolic Palace, starting this evening until next Saturday, will help me and my co-workers in the Roman Curia to enter with more awareness into the characteristic atmosphere of Lent.

Dear brothers and sisters, while I ask you to accompany me with your prayers, I assure you my prayers to the Lord so that Lent may be for all Christians an occasion of conversion and a more courageous incentive to holiness. For this we invoke the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary.

After the Angelus, the Pope announced in Italian:

Next Saturday, March 11, at 5 p.m., a Marian vigil organized by the university students of Rome will take place at the Aula Paolo VI. Thanks to radio-TV satellite links, students from other countries in Europe and Africa will also take part. It will be a propitious occasion to pray to the Holy Virgin that the Gospel may open up new ways of cooperation between Europe and Africa. Dear young people, I expect to see you in numbers!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/03/2006 16.07]

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words at the Angelus today-

Photomontage by Sylvie- www.catholicpressphoto.com/servizi/2006-03-12-angelus/default.htm

Yesterday morning we concluded a week of Spiritual Exercises which the Patriarch Emeritus of Venice, Cardinal Marco Ce, preached here at the Apostolic Palace. These were days dedicated completely to listening to the word of God, who always speaks to us, but expects greater attention from us, especially in this time of Lent.

We are reminded of this even in today’s Gospel which recounts the story of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor. While they looked on, amazed, at the sight of the transfigured Lord in discourse with Moses and Elijah, the disciples Peter, Jacob and John were then enveloped in a cloud from which a voice proclaimed: “This is my Beloved Son; listen to him.” (Mc 9,7).

When one has the grace of having a strong experience of God, it is as though one lives through something like what happened to the disciples during the Transfiguration: for a moment, one has a foretaste of the beatitude of Paradise. These are usually brief experiences, which God sometines concedes, especially during hard trials. But no one is granted (the gift of) living “on Mt. Tabor” while one is on earth.

Human existence, is, in fact, a way of faith, and as such, takes place more in shadow than in full light, not without moments of obscurity and even of full darkness. As long as we are here on earth, our relationship with God takes place more in listening than in seeing; such contemplation is realized through closed eyes, one might say, thanks to the interior flame lit in us by the word of God.

The Virgin Mary herself, although she was the closest to God among all human creatures, walked every day in a pilgrimage of faith (cfr Lumen gentium, 58), guarding within and meditating constantly in her heart the words that God addressed to her, either through Sacred Scriptures or through events in the life of her Son, events in which she recognized and accepted the mysterious voice of the Lord.

This, therefore, is the gift and challenge for each of us in the Lenten season: to listen to Christ, as Mary did. Listen to him in his words, preserved in Holy Scripture. Listen to him in the events of our own life, trying to read in these the messages of Providence. Listen to him, finally, in our brothers, especially the humble and the poor, for whom Jesus himself asks us to show our love in concrete ways. To listen to Christ is to obey Him: this is the master way, the only way which leads to the fullness of joy and love.

Later, in English, he said:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Angelus, especially the group of pilgrims from Ontario, Canada. On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Gospel of Saint Mark presents to us an account of the Transfiguration. God the Father instructs us to listen to Jesus, his beloved Son. Let us pray that our Lenten journey will open our hearts to Christ and his saving message! He leads us through his suffering and death, to a share in his glorious Resurrection. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings and wish you a good Sunday!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/03/2006 22.10]

Here is a translation of the Pope's discourse at the general audience today held in St. Peter's Square.


Photo: Osservatore Romano

Dear brothers and sisters!

After the catecheses on the psalms and canticles of praise and vespers, I would like to dedicate the next several Wednesday encounters to the mystery of the relationship between Christ and the Church, considered through the experiences of the Apostles in the light of the mission entrusted to them.

The Church was founded on the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity. Through the Apostles, we reach Jesus himself. The Church began to constitute itself when some fishermen of Galilee encountered Jesus, allowed themselves to be conquered by his look, his voice, and his warm and strong invitation, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mk 1,17); Mt 4, 19).

My beloved predecessor John Paul II proposed to the Church at the start of the third millenium to contemplate the face of Christ (cfr Novo millennio ineunte, 16 ss). Moving in the same direction, I would like to show in the catecheses that start today how the light of that face is reflected on the face of the Church (cfr Lumen gentium, 1), despite the limits and the shadows cast by our fragile and sinful humanity.

After Mary, pure reflection of Christ’s Light, it was the Apostles, with their words and their witness, who gave us the truth of Christ. Their mission was not an isolated task, but one framed within the mystery of communion which involves the entire people of God and which is realized in stages from the old to the new Alliance.

Let it be said that the message of Jesus is completely misunderstood if if it is separated from the context of the faith and hope of the Chosen People. Like the Baptist, his immediate precursor, Jesus adressed himself most of all to Israel (cfr Mt 15,,24), in order to “harvest” eschatological*** time together with Israel. And like that of John, the preaching of Jesus was at the same time called from grace and a sign of contradiction and judgment for the entire people of God.

From the first moment of his redemptive activity, Jesus of Nazareth intended to reunite the people of God. Even if his preaching was always an appeal for personal conversion, he was really looking continuously at constituting the people of God whom he had come to unite and to save. Therefore an individualistic interpretation of the announcement Jesus made of the Kingdom - as summarized for instance by Adolf von Hamack in his lectures on “The essence of Christianity” - is unilateral and devoid of basis. (Hamack said): “The Kingdom of God comes (individually), insofar as it comes to single individuals, finds access in their hearts and is welcomed therein. The Kingdom of God is the lordship of God, certainly, but it is his lordship in individual hearts.” (Third Lesson, 100s).

Actually, this individualistic interpretation is a typically modern emphasis. In the perspective of Biblical tradition and the horizons of Judaism, to which Jesus’s teachings, for all their newness, relate, it is clear that the mission of the Son made man has a communitarian object because it looks towards bringing together in unity the eschatologic [ultimate] people of God.

One evident sign that the Nazarene intended to reunite the poeple of the Alliance, in order to manifest in them the fulfillment of the promises made to their fathers, was his institution of the Twelve: “Go forth on the mountains and call towards you those who would and they will come to you. He chose twelve who would be with him and whom he would order to go preach and would have the power to drive out demons…” (Mk 3, 13-16; Mt 10, 1-4; Lk 6, 12-16).

On the site of revelation, the “mountain,” Jesus, in an initiative that showed absolute awareness and determination, constituted the Twelve so that they could be witnesses with Him, heralds to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God.

There is no doubt as to the historicity of this call, not only because of its antiquity and the multitude of attestations, but also for the simple reason that among the Twelve appears the name of Judas, the apostle traitor, notwithstanding the difficulties which his inclusion could mean for the nascent church.

The number twelve, which evidently comes from the 12 tribes of Israel, already reveals the significance of the prophetic-symbolic action implicit in the new institution (of the Church). The system of the 12 tribes having declined for some time, the hope of Israel awaited their reconstitution as a sign of the coming of eschatological time (think of the conclusions of the Book of Ezechiel: 37, 15-19, 39, 23-29; 40-48).

Choosing the Twelve, introducing them to a community of life with him and making them participants of his mission to announce the Kingdom in word and action (cfr Mk 6,7-13, Mt 10,5-8; Lk 9,1-6; Lk 6,13), Jesus wanted to say that the definitive time had come for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

With their existence, the Twelve – called from different origins – became a call to all Israel to convert and to make itself be gathered into the new Alliance, full and perfect fulfillment of the old. That he entrusted to them during the Last Supper before his Passion the task of celebrating his memorial demonstrates how Jesus wished to transfer to the entire community in the person of his “chiefs” the mandate of being the sign and instrument in history of the ultimate eschatologic assembly begun by him.

In this light, we understand how the Resurrected One conferred on them, through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, the power to remit sins (cfr Jn 20,23). The twelve Apostles therefore are the most evident sign of what Jesus wished regarding the existence and mission of his Church, the guarantee that nothing should come between Christ and his Church.

And so, a slogan that was in fashion some years ago saying ‘Jesus, Yes; the Church, No” is completely incompatible with the intention of Christ. Between the Son of God made man and his Church there is a profound, inseparable and mysterious continuity, through which Jesus is present today in his people particularly in those who are the successors to the Apostles.

Later, he synthesized his discourse in English:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In coming weeks, our catechesis will focus on the mystery of Christ and the Church. Jesus willed to found his Church upon the Apostles, and it is through their witness that we continue to encounter him.

The mission of the Apostles must be seen in the context of the mystery of communion of God’s People, spanning both the old and the new Covenant. Jesus’s entire ministry took place against the backdrop of Israel’s faith and hope, and was aimed at gathering into one the eschatological People of God.

Far from a purely individualistic summons to conversion, his mission was directed to the establishment of the community of the new and eternal Covenant. Jesus’s conscious decision to choose the Twelve Apostles was a prophetic sign announcing the eschatological renewal of the twelve tribes of Israel, the dawn of salvation and the fulfilment of God’s promises.

In the person of the Apostles, charged with the celebration of the Eucharist and the forgiveness of sins, the Church has been made the sign and instrument of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Christ can never be separated from the Church; through the Church he remains ever present in his people, and in a special way in the successors of the Apostles.

I welcome the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, and in particular the pilgrims from England, Wales, Finland, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. Upon all of you I cordially invoke God’s abundant blessings.
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***Inasmuch as the Holy Father uses the term "eschatological" several times during the discourse, I thought the following information might be useful for understanding it: In theology, eschatology refers to the study of the final end of man and the world. So "eschatological" as an adjective may have the sense of ultimate, final, eventual; and the phrase "eschatologic people of God" may mean “the ultimate people of God”, i.e., those who are meant to be saved for eternity.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/03/2006 15.42]

Papa doesn't "speak down" in baby talk when communicating with all these pilgrims. I like that VERY much. He's not speaking above our heads, at the same time also not insulting the intelligence of his hearers. Can't wait for the continuation of his theme: Christ and His Church.

I was only able to watch the English part of yesterday's audience and i thought Papa looked sick and tired..:(:( im worried

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at Angelus today-


Today, March 19, is the solemn feast of St. Joseph, but since it coincides this year with the third Sunday of Lent, its liturgical celebration will take place tomorrow. Nevertheless, the Marian context of the Angelus invites us to a moment of veneration for the figure who was the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron of the universal church.

It makes me happy to recall that even John Paul II was very devoted to St. Joseph, to whom he dedicated the apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos – Guardian of the Redeemer – and who most certainly assisted him at the time of his death.

The figure of this great saint, although his story is for the most part hidden, invests the story of salvation with a fundamental importance. Above all, since Joseph belonged to the tribe of Judah, he linked Jesus to the Davidic descent, such that, in fulfillment of the promise about the Messiah, the Son of the Virgin Mary could be truly called “son of David.” The Gospel of Matthew, in particular, emphasizes the messianic prophecies which founds fulfillment through Joseph: the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (2,1-6); the flight to Egypt, where the Holy Family found refuge (2,13-15); the nickname “Nazarene” (2,22-23).

In all this, Joseph showed himself, like his spouse Mary, an authentic heir of the faith of Abraham: faith in God who guides the events of history according to his mysterious redemptive plan. Joseph’s greatness, like Mary’s, is even more striking because he carried out his mission in humility and hidden from view in the house at Nazareth. God himself, in the person of his incarnated Son, chose this life and this life style for his terrestrial existence.

St. Joseph’s example brings us all a strong invitation to carry out – with faithfulness, simplicity and modesty – the task that Providence assigns us. I think above all of fathers and mothers, and I pray that they may always appreciate the beauty of a simple and productive life, cultivating the conjugal relationship with care, and complying with enthusiasm with the great and not-easy mission to educate their children.

For the priests, who exercise fatherhood of their ecclesiastical communities, may St. Joseph obtain for them the grace to love the Church with affection and full dedication, and may he sustain all consecrated persons in the joyous and faithful observance of the evangelical counsel to poverty, obedience and chastity.

May he protect the workers of the world so that they may contribute through their various professions and occupations to the progress of all mankind, and may he help every Christian carry out, with trust and love, the will of God, cooperating threby with the fulfillment of the works of salvation.

After the Angelus, he added in Italian:

This year we mark the fifth centenary of the Vatican Museums, which has been defined by my beloved predecessor John Paul II as “one of the most important doors of the Holy See open to the world.” This institution indeed offers an important contribution to the mission of the Church, communicating Christian truths to millions of persons in the language of art. I offer my best wishes for the various cultural manifestations programmed to mark this anniversary and wish to assure all the workers at the Vatican Museums as well as its visitors that I have them in my prayers.

In English, he said:

On this Third Sunday of Lent I am happy to welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for the Angelus, including a group of Syro-Malabar Catholics from the United States of America. May our Lenten practices lead us more deeply into the life of the Church, so that she may become an ever clearer sign of our hope, which is salvation in Jesus Christ! Upon you and your families I invoke God’s abundant blessings of strength and peace.

Here is a translation of the catechesis given by the Pope at his General Audience today at St. Peter's Square. Radio Vatican said there were about 35,000 in attendance.:
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"The Apostles: Witnesses and Messengers of Christ"

Dear brothers and sisters!

In the letter to the Ephesians, the Church is presented as a construction built “on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the keystone” (2,29). In the Apocalypse, the role of the Apostles, more specifically, that of the Twelve, is clarified in the eschatological perspective of the heavenly Jerusalem, presented as a city whose walls “rest on 12 foundations, on which are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (21,14).

The Gospels agree, in referring to the calling of the Apostles, that this marked the first steps in the ministry of Jesus, after the baptism from (John) the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan. According to the accounts of Mark (1, 16-20) and Matthew (4, 18-22), the scene of the calling of the first Apostles was the lake of Galilee.

Jesus had just started to preach about the Kingdom of God when his eyes fell on two pairs of brothers: Simon and Andrew, Jacob and John. They were fishermen, engaged in their daily work. They cast their nets, then set them up again. But a different kind of fishing awaited them.

Jesus called them with decision and they followed him promptly: from then on they would be “fishers of men” (cfr Mk 1,17; Mt, 4,19). Luke, while following the same tradition, has a more detailed account(5,1-11). He shows the way of faith followed by the first disciples, specifying that they received the invitation to follow (Jesus) after they had heard his first preaching ahd seen the first miraculous signs worked by him. In particular, the miraculous catch of fish was the immediate context, offering a symbol of the mission as fishers of men that was entrusted to them. The destiny of these “men who were called”, from that moment on, would be intimately linked to that of Jesus. The apostle is a messenger, but first of all, he must be an “expert” on Jesus.

It is this aspect that is placed in evidence by the Evangelist John from the very first encounter of Jesus with his future Apostles. Here, the setting is different. The meeting takes place on the banks of the Jordan. The presence of the future disciples, who, like Jesus, had come from Galilee to have the experience of baptism as administered by John, casts light on their spiritual world. They were men waiting for the Kingdom of God, desirous to know the Messiah whose coming had been announced as imminent. It was enough for them that John had indicated Jesus was the "Lamb of God" (cfr Jn 1,36) to awaken in them the desire to personally meet the Master.

The exchanges that Jesus had with the first two of his future Apostles are very indicative. To the question, “What are you looking for?”, they answered with another question: “Rabbi (which means Master or Teacher), where do you live?” Jesus’s answer was an invitation: “Come and you will see” (cfr Jn 1, 38-39).

The adventure of the Apostles started that way - as an encounter between persons who opened up to each other reciprocally. A direct getting-to-know the Master thus started for the disciples. In fact, they were not to be the heralds of an idea so much as witnesses of a person. Before being commanded to evangelize, they were obliged to “be” with Jesus (cfr Mk 3,14), establishing a personal relationship with him. On this basis, evangelization would not be anything else but an announcement about what one had experienced and an invitation (for others) to enter the mystery of communion with Christ (cfr 1 Jn 13).

To whom would the Apostles be sent? In the Gospels, Jesus seems to limit his mission only to Israel: “I have been sent for none but the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15, 24). In the same way he seemed to circumscribe the mission entruested to the Twelve: “These Twelve Jesus sent out after having isntructed them thus: ‘Do not go among the pagans and do not enter the cities of the Samaritans; rather address yourself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 10,5s).

Some modern interpreters with rationalistic inspiration see in these expressions the lack of a universal consciousness by the Nazarene. In reality, his words are to be understood in the light of his relation with Israel, the people of the alliance. According to the messianic expectation, the divine promises would come to pass when God himself, through his Chosen One, would have gathered his people like a shephered gathers his flock: “I will save my sheep and they will no longer be objects of prey… I will give them a shepherd who will pasture them, David my servant. He will conduct them to pasture, he will be their shepherd; I, the Lord, will be their God, and David, my servant, will be a prince among them” (Ez 34,22-24).

Jesus is the eschatologic shepherd, the ultimate shepherd, who assembles the lost sheep of the house of Israel and goes out to seek them, because he knows them and loves them (cfr Lk 15,4-7 and Mt 18,12-14;cfr also the figure of the Good Shepherd in Jn 10,11ss). Through this gathering together, the Kingdom of God is announced to all the peoples: “Among the peoples he will manifest my glory and all the peoples will see the justice I will have done and the hand I will have placed on them” (Ez 39,21).

Thus, the Twelve, taken on to participate in the mission of Jesus, cooperate with the ultimate Shepherd, going forth themselves among the lost sheep of the house of Israel, addressing themselves this way to the people of the promise, whose gathering together is the sign of salvation for all peoples. Far from contradicting the universal scope of the Nazarene’s messianic action, the initial restriction to Israel of his mission and that of the Twelve thus became the most effective sign of the prophecy.

After the passion and resurection of Christ, this sign would be made clear: the universal character of the Apostles’ mission would become explicit. Christ would send the Apostles “to all the world” (Mk 16,15), to “all the nations” (Mt 28,19; Lk 24,47), “up to the extreme ends of the earth” (Acts 1,8).

Later, in English, the Pope synthesized the lesson this way:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on Christ and the Church, we have seen how the Church is built "on the foundation of the Apostles". The Gospels show how Jesus, at the beginning of his public ministry, chose the Twelve to become "fishers of men". Saint John in particular presents the calling of the Apostles as the fruit of a life-changing, personal encounter with the Lord.

More than just the proclamation of a message, the preaching of the Gospel is seen as a witness to the person of Jesus Christ and an invitation to enter into communion with him. Jesus sent his Apostles first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel".

This prophetic act should be understood in the light of Israel’s messianic expectation, according to which God, through his Chosen One, would gather his people like a shepherd his flock. This "gathering" is the sign of the coming of God’s Kingdom and the extension of his saving power to every nation and people.

After the Resurrection, the universality of the mission entrusted to the Apostles would become explicit. The Risen Lord would send them forth to make disciples of every nation, even "to the ends of the earth"!

I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including the various student groups. May your time in Rome strengthen your love of the universal Church and deepen your commitment to witness to the ‘good news’ of Jesus Christ. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.

After greeting the Italians in the Audience (traditionally the last group to be greeted in their own language), the Pope made this special appeal:

The day after tomorrow, on March 24, will be the World Day for the Fight against tuberculosis, promoted by the United Nations. It is the proper occasion to ask for a renewed commitment on a global level in order that the resources necessary to cure our brothers from this ailment may be available, especially since most of them usually live in conditions of extreme poverty. I encourage all initiatvies for aid and solidarity in their behalf, with the hope that they may always be assured of dignified living conditions.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/03/2006 20.00]

I wish Vatican TV would employ the split screen or picture in picture technique. This morning especially I would love to have seen Papa's face when the two bands (from Bavaria, I think) played for him. I am sure we are missing some great expressions when the camera is not on him.

Sylvia

NUMBERS

For those who are interested in the numbers, ANSA News said that although 35,000 people had gotten tickets to today's audience, another 15,000-20,000 people "just showed up" so the total was over 50,000 like last week's audience. Popular Papa!!!

I'm glad ANSA corrected the numbers. Radio Vatican is usually reliable with audience numbers, so when I read on their release 35,000 this morning, I said, "Oh, a drop from last week's 50,000!"

And Sylvia, as to what we do not see because no one appears to have sense enough at CTV (and at whatever office oversees Vatican media matters) to keep the camera on the Pope during those interminable announcements by the priests who introduce the various language groups: After last week's general audience, Ratzigirl posted some of Photogallery's papal reaction shots in FOTO DA PAPA just to show us what we are missing - and the liveliness and delight in his eyes and his entire body language are infinitely captivating!

When I watch a telecast of the audiences or of other events involving Papa, I always imagine myself marching angrily into the TV directors' control room to plug in a headset to talk to the cameramen myself and tell them what shots to take, and start punching the control buttons so that the monitors showing Papa are the images that get to be transmitted. It's all simple common sense and nobody at CTV seems to have it! For all Papa's modesty, I cannot imagine the Pope telling them, "You know what? After I have given my catechesis or homily or message, don't take any more pictures of me!" He knows they have a job to do.

No doves were released from the Apostolic Palace today. A dove just happened to flutter by the Pope's window at Angelus time. Photos from actualidad.terra.es
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Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father before praying the Angelus today at St. Peter's Square.

Dear brothers and sisters!

The Consistory that was held in recent days to name 15 new Cardinals has been an intense ecclesiastical experience which has allowed us to enjoy the spiritual riches of collegiality, to find ourselves once more among brothers from different origins, all united by love for Christ and his Church.

We re-lived in some measure the reality of the first Christian community, assembled around Mary, Mother of Jesus, and Peter, in order to receive the gift of the Spirit and commit themselves to spread the Gospel to the whole world.

Loyalty to this mission, even unto sacrificing one’s life, is a distinctive characteristic of the cardinals, as they affirm in their oaths and as symbolized by red, which is the color of blood.

By providential coincidence, the Consistory took place on March 24th, on which day we commemorated the missionarees who died last year on the frontiers of evangelization and human service in various aprts of the globe. The Consistory was therefore an occasion, more than ever, to feel ourselves even more close to all Christians who suffer persecution because of their faith. Their witness, about which we receive news daily, and above all, the sacrifice of those who have been killed, edifies us and spurs us to an evangelical commitment that is ever more sincere and generous.

My thoughts turn especially to the Christian communites who live in countries where there is no religious freedom or where, despite such freedom being affirmed on paper, it is in fact subject to multiple restrictions. To them I send a warm encouragement to persevere in patience and in Christ’s charity, seed of the Kingdom of God which is not only forthcoming but is already in this world.

To all those who work in the service of the Gospel under such difficult situations, I wish to express the strongest solidarity in the name of all the Church, and assure them as well that I remember them in my daily prayers.

The Church advances in history and spreads itself across the world accompanied by Mary, Queen of the Apostles. As at the Pentecost, the Holy Virgin always represents for Christians the living memory of Jesus. It is she who animates our prayers and sustains our hopes. We ask her to guide us in our daily course and to protect with special favor those Christian communities who toil in conditions of greatest dificulty and suffering.

After the Angelus, the Pope said in English:

I am pleased to greet the English-speaking visitors gathered here today. On this Laetare Sunday, we are filled with joyful hope as we look forward to our celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, and we deepen our commitment to live these final weeks of Lent following closely in the footsteps of Christ our Saviour.

I welcome especially those who have come to Rome in order to be present at the recent Consistory, in which I had the joy of creating fifteen new Cardinals. I ask you to remember them in your prayers. Upon all of you and upon your families and loved ones I invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/03/2006 19.44]

Photo: Osservatore Romano


Here is a translation of the catechesis given by the Holy Father at his General Audience held in St. Peter's Square this morning.
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THE GIFT OF COMMUNION

Through the apostolic ministry, the Church – the assembled community of the Son of God made flesh - lives through time, building and nourishing communion in Christ and the Spirit, to whom all are called, and in which everyone may experience the salvation given by the Father.

The Twelve – as Pope Clement, third Successor to Peter, said at the end of the first century – took care to provide themselves with successors (cfr Clem 42,4) so that the mission entrusted to them would continue after their death.

In the course of centuries, the Church, organically structured under the guidance of legitimate Pastors, has thus continued to live on in the world as a mystery of communion, which mirrors to some degree the Trinitarian communion itself, the mystery of God itself.

Already the apostle Paul points to this supreme Trinitarian source when he wishes his Christians “May the grace of the Lrod Jesus Christ, the love fo God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 13,13). These words, probably an echo of a practice in the nascent Church, show how the free gift of the Father is realized in Jesus Christ and is expressed in the communion carried out by the Holy Spirit.

This interpretation, based on the close parallelism which the text extablishes between the three genitives (“the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ…the love of God…and the communion of the Holy Spirit” ) presents communion as a specific gift of the Holy Spirit, fruit of the gift of God the Father and the grace offered by the Lord Jesus.

Moreover, the immediate context, characterized by the emphasis on fraternal communion, orients us to see in the koinonia of the Holy Spirit not only “participation” in divine life singularly, each one for himself, but even logically the ‘communion” among believers that the Spirit himself evokes as its author and and principal agent (cfr Phil 2,1).

One can say that grace, love and communion, attributed respectively to Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit, are different aspects of the single divine action for our salvation, an action (through which) the Church creates and makes – as St. Cyprian said in the 3rd century – “a people united by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (De Orat. Dom.,23; Pl 4,536, cit. in Lumen gentium, 4).

The idea of communion as participation in the Trinitarian life is illuminated with particular intensity in the Gospel of John, where the communion of love that links the Son to the Father and to mankind is at the same time the model as well as the source of fraternal communion which should unite the disciples among themselves: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15,12; cfr 13,34). “That you may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17,21,22). Therefore, communion of men with the Trinitarian God and communion of men among themselves.

During his earthly pilgrimage, the disciple, through his communion with the Son, can already participate in the divine life of the Son and the Father: “Our communion is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1,3).

This life of communion with God and among ourselves is the proper end of the announcement of the Gospel, the goal of conversion to Christianity: “What we have seen and heard, we announce to you so that you too may be in communion with us” (1 Jn 1,2). So this double communion with God and among ourselves is inseparable. Where communion with God – which is communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – is destroyed, so also the root and the source of communion among ourselves is destroyed. And where communion among ourselves is not lived, then communion with the Trinitarian God is not true nor alive, as we heard.

Now let us take a step further. Communion – fruit of the Holy Spirit – is nourished by the Eucharistic bread (cfr 1 Cor 10, 16-17) and is expressed in fraternal relations, in a way anticipating the world of the future. In the Eucharist, Jesus feeds us, unites us to Him, to the Father, to the Holy Spirit and among ourselves, and this network of unity which embraces the world is an anticipation of the world of the future in our time.

As such, communion is a gift which has very real consequences – it makes us emerge from our loneliness, from being closed in on ourselves, and makes us participants in the love that unites us to God and to each other.

It is easy to understand how great this gift is, if we only think of the fragmentation and the conflicts which afflict relations between individuals, between groups and between entire peoples. Without the gift of unity in the Holy Spirit, the fragmentation of humanity is inevitable.

Communion is truly the “good news,” the remedy given to us by the Lord against the loneliness which threatens everyone today, the precious gift which makes us feel received and loved by God, in the unity of his people assembled in the name of the Trinity. It is the light which makes the Church shine as a light set among peoples: “If we say that we are in communion with him yet walk in shadows, we are lying and are not putting truth into practice. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we are in communion one with the other.“ (1 John 1,6s).

The Church thus reveals itself in this manner - notwithstanding all the human weaknesses attached to its historic face – as a marvellous creation of love, made to render Christ near to every man and woman who genuinely wishes to encounter him, to the end of time.

It is in the Church that the Lord always remains contemporaneous with us. Scripture is not a thing of the past. The Lord does not speak in the past but speaks in the present, he speaks with us today, he gives us light, he shows us the way of life, he gives us communion and in this way, prepares us and opens us to peace.

Later, in English he said:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Through the apostolic ministry, the Church perseveres in that saving communion with the Blessed Trinity to which all people have been called. The Twelve Apostles, in fact, took care to provide successors who would continue their mission after them. Thus the Church in every age, organically structured under the leadership of her legitimate Pastors, dwells in the world as "a people gathered together by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (cf. Lumen Gentium, 4).

When Saint Paul speaks of the "fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor 13:13), he is referring not only to this participation in the life of the Trinity, but also to the Spirit-filled communion which unites those who believe in Christ. For Saint John, the communion of love between the Son and the Father is the model and source of all Christian fellowship (cf. Jn 17:21-22).

Through this mystery of communion, the Church is revealed as a wondrous creation of God’s love. By her preaching of the Gospel and her celebration of the Eucharist, she invites men and women in every age to share in the mystery of God’s own life and love.

I am pleased to greet the English-speaking pilgrims present at this Audience, particularly those from Japan and the United States of America. I also extend a special welcome to the priests from the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical North American College and to the members of the National Conference of Vicars for Religious. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s blessings of peace and joy.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/03/2006 13.54]

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words at the Angelus today -

Dear brothers and sisters!

During these hours on April 2 last year, the beloved John Paul II was living the last phase of his earthly pilgrimage, a pilgrimage of faith, love and hope which has left a profound mark on the history of the Church and of humanity.

His agony and death constituted an extension almost of the Paschal Triduum. Everyone remembers the images of his last Via Crucis on Good Friday last year. Unable to go to the Colosseum, he followed it from his private chapel, holding the cross in his hands. On Easter he imparted his blessing Urbi et Orbi without being able to say a word, but simply through hand gestures. It was the most moving benediction that he left us, an extreme proof of his will to comply with his ministry up to the very end.

Thus John Paul II died as he had always lived, animated by the indomitable courage of faith, abandoning himself to God and entrusting himself to the most Holy Mary. Tonight we will remember him with a vigil of Marian prayer here at St. Peter’s Square, where tomorrow afternoon I will celebrate the Holy Masss for him.

One year since his passage from earth to the house of the Father, we can ask ourselves: what has this great Pope left us, what has he introduced to the Church of the third millennnium? His legacy is enormous, but the message of his very long pontificate may be summarized in the words with which he inaugurated it here in St. Peter’s Square on October 22, 1978: “Open, rather, throw wide the doors open for Christ!”

John Paul II incarnated this unforgettable appeal with all his being and all his mission as the Successor of Peter, especially with his extraordinary program of apostolic voyages. Visiting the nations of the entire world, meeting the people, the eccleciastical communities, those who govern, religious heads and various social realities, he carried out all this as one great act to affirm his initial words. He preached Christ to all always - as did the Second Vatican Council - Christ as the response to humanity’s expectations of liberty, justice and peace. Christ is the redeemer of man – he loved to repeat – the only authentic savior of every man and of the entire human species.

In his last years, the Lord gradually divested him of everything in order to assimilate him fully into Himself. And when he could no longer travel, then he could no longer walk, and finally could not even talk, his gesture, his message was reduced to the essential: the gift of himself up to the very end. His death was the fulfillment of a consistent testimony of faith which moved the hearts of so many men of good will.

John Paul II left us on a Saturday dedicated particularly to Mary for whom he always nourished a filial devotion. Now let us ask the celestial mother of God to help us treasure what this great Pope has given us and taught us.

After the Angelus, the Pope made two announcements:

The Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, and the Iraqi bishops have called on the faithful, believers and men of good will to join them in prayer and fasting on April 3-4 (tomorrow and day after tomorrow) in order to ask God for the gift of peace and concord in Iraq and the entire world. I invite everyone to join this initiative of our brothers in that martyred nation, entrusting our intentions to the intercession of the Most Holy Mary, Queen of Peace.

Besides this evening, we have another appointment to remember the Servant of God John Paul II. I refer to the meeting of the youth, especially those of Rome and Lazio, which will take place next Thursday afternoon, April 6, at St. Peter’s Square. Together we will prepare for the 2st World Youth Day which will be celebrated in all the dioceses of the world on Palm Sunday.

Later, he said in English:

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors gathered for this Lenten Angelus. My special greeting goes to the delegation of librarians from Ukraine. On this, the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, let us commend his noble soul to God’s loving mercy and pray that his tireless service to the Gospel will bear ever more abundant fruit for the Church’s growth in faith, hope and love. Upon all of you I invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end, addressing the Italians in the crowd, the Pope said a few words about Tommaso Onofri, the 18-month-old epileptic baby who was kidnapped March 2 in Parma and whose body was found yesterday after his killers confessed:

And now a word to the Italian pilgrims. We have all been struck by the news that little Tommaso was barbarously killed: let us pray for him and for all the victims of violence.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 15.57]

Here is a translation of the catechesis delivered by the Holy Father at the general audience held at St. Peter's Square today:

Dear brothers and sisters!

In the new catechism series which we started a few weeks ago, we want to consider the origins of the Church, in order to understand Christ’s original design and therefore grasp the essence of the Church, that which remains permanent through changes over time. We want to understand thereby the “why” of our being in the Church and how we should commit ourselves to living in the Church at the start of a new Christian millenium.

Considering the Church at the time it was starting, we can discover two aspects: the first was strongly brought to light by St. Irineus of Lyons, martyr and great theologian at the end of the 11th century, the first to have given us a theology that was in some way systematic.

St. Irineus wrote: “Where the Church is, there the spirit of God is also; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and every grace, because the Spirit is truth”. (Adversus haereses, III,24,1:Pg 7,966). Thus, there exists an intimate link between the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit builds the Church and gives it truth, and as St. Paul says, instills it in the hearts of believers.

This intimate link with the Holy Spirit does not cancel out our humanity with all its weaknesses, so the community of disciples recognizeded from the beginning that not only the joy of the Holy Spirit, grace in truth and love, but also trials, constituted the contrasts found withn the circle of faith, with consequent lacerations in the communion among members.

Just as the communion of love was there from the beginning and will be to the end (cfr 1 Jn , 1ss), unfortunately division is also implied from the beginning. We should not be surprised that it continues to the present: “They came out from among us,” says John’s First Lettter, “but they were not ours; if they were ours, they would have remained with us; but it should be clear that not all are of us.” (2,19).

Therefore there is always the danger, through the events of this world and even through the weaknesses of the Church, of losing the faith, and thus losing also love and brotherhood. And so it is a precise obligation of whoever believes in the Church of love and wants to live in it, to recognize this danger and accept that communion is not possible with whoever strays from the doctrine of salvation (cfr 2 Jn, 9-11).

That the infant Church was well aware of these possible tensions in the experience of Christian communion is shown well in John’s First letter – no voice in the New Testament is raised more forcefully to point to reality and to the duty of fraternal love among Christians. But the same voice is addressed with drastic severity towards adversaries who were members of the community but no longer are.

The Church of love is also the Church of truth, understood above all to mean faithfulness fo the Gospel entrusted by Jesus Christ to his disciples. Christian brotherhood is born out of our being constituted together as sons of the same Father of the Spirit of truth: “All those in fact who are guided by the Spirit of God – they are the sons of God.” (Rm 8.14)

But the family of the sons of God, in order to live in unity and peace, need someone to keep them in the truth and to guide them with wise and authoritative discernment: someone who is called to carry out the ministry of the Apostles.

And here we arrive at an important point. The Church is of the Spirit, but it has a structure, the apostolic succession, which takes on the responsibility of guaranteeing that the truth given by Christ, from which comes the capacity to love, remains permanently in the Church.

The first summary of the Acts of the Apostles expresses with great effect the convergence of these values in the life of the infant Church: “They were assiduous in listening to the teachings of the apostles and in fraternal union (koinonia), in the breaking of the bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2,42). Communion born out of the faith inspired by apostolic preaching is nourished by the breaking of bread and prayer, and is expressed in brotherly charity and service.

We are given here a description of communion in the infant Church in all the richness of its internal dynamism and its visible expressions: the gift of communion is safeguarded and promoted in particular by the apostolic ministry, which is in its turn, a gift for all the community.

The Apostles and their successors are the guardians and authoritative witnesses of the deposit of truth entrusted to the Church, as as they are ministers of charity – two aspects which go together. They must always think of the inseparability of this double service which is actually just one: truth is charity, revealed and given by our Lord Jesus.

Their ministry is above all a service of love: the charity that they should live and promote is inseparable from the truth which they guard and transmit. Truth and love are two faces of the same gift from God, which though the apostolic ministry has been kept in the Church and has reached us in our day.

Through the service of the Apostles and their successors, the love of the Triune God reaches us to communicate the truth that will make us free (cfr Jn 8, 32). All that we see in the infant Church inspires us to pray for the successors of the Apostles, for all the bishops and the Successors of Peter, so that together they may truly be custodians of truth and charity, so that in this sense they may truly be apostles of Christ, (who will isnure) that the light of truth and of charity shall never be extinguished in the Church and in the world.

Later, in English he said:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Holy Spirit is the source of the communion uniting Christ’s disciples among themselves and with God. In the fine phrase of Saint Irenaeus: "Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit is, there is the Church and all grace" (AH, III, 24:1).

The presence of the Spirit, however, does not eliminate human weakness, and thus, from the beginning, the Church’s communion in love has coexisted with human division and disunity. The ministry of the Apostles, by maintaining the Church in God’s saving truth and leading her with authority, is ultimately a service to her communion in love.

As we see in the Book of Acts, truth and love converged in the life of the early Church: the first Christians "devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). Thanks to the apostolic ministry, this communion in truth and love is constantly preserved in the Church. Through the Apostles and their successors, we encounter the love of the Triune God and the truth that makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32)!

I am happy to offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including the class from the NATO Defence College, and the groups from England, Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and the United States of America. May your time in Rome strengthen your faith and renew your love for the Lord and his Church. May God bless you all!

The Pope had a special message today for Spanish-speaking pilgrims:
On April 7 we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary who preached the Gospel in the countries of Asia, opening many doors to Christ. I join the celebrations and thank the Lord for this great gift to the Church. I have sent Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela to preside at the rites in the Sanctuary of Javier, in Navarra, Spain. (Spiritually) I join him and all pilgrims who will be travelling to his important missionary shrine.

In contemplating the figure of St. Francis Xavier, we are called on to pray for those who have dedicated their lives to the mission of evangelization, proclaiming the beauty of the redemptive message of Jesus.

At the same time, I invite you to pray that through the intercession of St. Francis, everyone may intensify their efforts to consolidate the horizons of peace that seem to be opening up in the Basque region and in all of spain and be able to overcome all the obstacles that will present themselves along this road to peace.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/04/2006 16.03]

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words before saying the Angelus today:

Brothers and sisters!

A delegation of German youth will shortly turn over to their Australian colleagues the Cross of World Youth Day. It is the Cross which the beloved John Paul II entrusted to the youth in 1984 so that they may carry it through the world as a sign of Christ’s love for humanity.

I greet Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, and Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, who wanted to be present at this very significant moment.

Handing over the Cross after each world encounter, has become a tradition in the true sense of traditio, a transmission that is highly symbolic, to be lived with great faith, committing oneself to a pilgrimage of conversion in the footsteps of Christ.

This faith is taught us by the Most Holy Mary who was the first to “believe” and who bore her own Cross together with her Son, to share with Him thereafter the joy of Resurrection. And so the Cross is accompanied by an icon of the Virgin, which reproduces that of Maria Salus Populi Romani (Mary health of the Roman peoples) venerated in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the oldest basilica in the West that is dedicated to the Madonna.

The Cross and the Marian Icon of the World Youth Days, after making stops in some countries of Africa – to show the nearness of Christ and his Mother to the peoples of that continent who have been tried by so much suffering – will be welcomed next February in various regions of Oceania, after which it will visit all the dioceses of Australia before finally reaching Sydney in July 2008. It is a spiritual pilgrimage that involves the entire Christian community but especially the youth.

After the Angelus, he said the following in English:

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here this Palm Sunday, when we acclaim Jesus, model of humility, our Messiah and King. In a special way I greet Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, and the young Australians with him. May they be assured of the support and spiritual accompaniment of all of us, as they prepare to host World Youth Day 2008. Upon each of you present and your families, I invoke God’s blessings of strength and wisdom.