HOMILIES, ANGELUS, AND OTHER SPIRITUAL TEXTS

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father before and after the Angelus prayer today at the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.



Dear brothers and sisters,

Today the evangelist Mark narrates how Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to a high mountain and was transfigured before them, becoming so luminous that "no cleaner in the world could have made his vestments so white" (cfr Mk 9,2-10). The liturgy today invites us to focus on this mystery of light.

On the transfigured face of Christ shone a ray of the divine light that He kept within Him. Thi same light would blaze from the face of Christ on the day of the Resurrection. In this sense, the Transfiguration was an anticipation of the Paschal mystery.

The Transfiguration invites us to open the eyes of the heart to the mystery of the light of God present in the whole story of salvation. Already at the start of Creation, the Almighty says, "Fiat lux", let there be light! (Jn 1,2) and light separates from darkness.

Like His other creatures, light is a sign that reveals something of God: it is the reflection of His glory which accompanies His manifestations.

When God appears, "His splendor is like the light, flashes of lightning come from His hands" (Ab 3,3f). Light, it is said in the Psalms, is the mantle in which the Lord wraps Himself (cfr Ps 104,2). In the Book of Wisdom, the symbolism of light is used to describe the essence of God itself: wisdom, an effusion of God's glory, is "a reflection of eternal light", superior to any created light (cfr Wis 7,27-29f).

In the New Testament, Christ constitutes the full manifestation of the light of God. His Resurrection has conquered for always the power of the shadows of evil. With the resurrected Christ, truth and love triumph over lies and sin. In Him, the light of God illuminates definitively the life of man and the course of history: "I am the Light of the world," he says in the Gospel. "Whoever follows me shall not walk in the dark but will have the light of life" (Jn 8,12).

How much need we have, even in our day, of emerging from the shadows of evil to experience the joy of the children of the light! May this gift be obtained for us by Mary, whom we remembered yesterday with particular devotion in the annual commemoration of the dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

May the Holy Virgin also obtain peace for the peoples of the Middle East who are in the midst of fratricidal wars. We know very well that peace is above all a gift of God, which we must ask for insistently in prayer. But at this time, we also want to remember that it is a task for all men of good will. May no one avoid this duty!

Meanwhile, in front of the bitter realization that up to now, the voices asking for an immediate ceasefire in that tormented region continue to remain unheard, I feel the urgency of renewing my appeal for it, asking everyone to offer their effective contribution to building a just and lasting peace.

I entrust this renewed appeal to the intercession of our Most Holy Mother.

After the Angelus, he said:

And now I address my customary greetings to the foreign pilgrims who have gathered here to join our prayer.

I cannot but remember on this Sunday of the Feast of the Transfiguration, another similar Sunday on which the pilgrims who had come to Castel Gandolfo for the Sunday Angelus, could not take part in the Marian prayer with Pope Paul VI, because his health conditions had turned for the worse in those hours.

As you know, that great Pope went to His rest with the Lord in the afternoon of that Sunday, August 6, 1978.

We remember him on this anniversary with a spirit grateful to God who gave Him to the Church in the very important years of the Council and the years that followed it.

To the English-speaking visitors, he said later:

With great affection I greet the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration, when Jesus revealed the glory of His divine nature. May this luminous mystery be a source of lasting joy and hope for all who put their trust in the Lord’s promises. God bless you and your families!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/08/2006 4.47]

I managed to watch this on my computer - though the picture kept freezing! It wasn't shown on EWTN, because they have the 25th Anniversary Family Celebration.
The audience today was in the Paul VI Hall. I don't know if it was a "split site" occasion, with some people being in the basilica. Have yet to look up any news items. I can't remember whether any summer audiences last year were indoors because of the heat. Can anyone remember? I'll check back through my saved photos..
I only heard Papa speak in Italian [missed the English greeting], but I think the catechesis was largely about the seriousness of the conflict in the Middle East.
I'm sure one of you will soon have more details and I look forward to these!
Love and peace always - Mary x

First photo from Yahoo News: Papa with Chinese dancers.

[Modificato da maryjos 09/08/2006 13.41]

I've read the catechesis and will post a translation later as I have to leave for work early today.

The Pope resumed the lessons on the individual apostles, devoting today to discussing John the Beloved, who was the last one he 'introduced' before leaving for Les Combes, but today, he concentrated on John as Evangelist. His comments on the Middle East were limited to a paragraph in Italian at the very end.

The Vatican bulletin says the audience was held at Aula Paolo VI, so it was not a 'split' audience.

... I can't remember whether any summer audiences last year were indoors because of the heat. Can anyone remember? ....

It was not because of the heat, this morning in Rome the temperature was 23 C. with some light rain.

Cheers

From today's Vatican bulletin:

The Holy Father held his weekly general audience today at the Vatican's Aula Paolo VI after flying in by helicopter from the Papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.



The Pope resumed his catechesis dedicated to the Apostles, having offered reflections previously on Peter, Andrew, James the Less, James the Greater and John son of Zebedee. Today's catechesis was devoted to the latter's Gospels.

After synthesizing the catechesis in various languages, the Pope renewed his heartfelt appeal for peace in the Middle East.

The audience ended with chanting the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing. The Pope then returned to Castel Gandolfo.

Here is a translation of the Pope's words today -


Dear brothers and sisters,

Before going on vacation, I started describing little portraits of the twelve Apostles. They were travelling companions of Jesus, friends of Jesus, and their journey with him was not only an external one, from Galilee to Jerusalem, but also an interior journey, in which they learned faith in Jesus Christ, not without difficulty because they were men like us.

But precisely because they were travelling companions of Jesus, friends of Jesus who learned the faith during a journey which was not easy, they are also guides for us, helping us to know Jesus Christ, to love Him and to have faith in Him.

I have already spoken about four out of the twelve Apostles: on Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, on James the brother of St. John, and the other James called 'the Less' who wrote a Letter that is found in the New Testament.

And I started to speak about John the Evangelist, summarizing in the last catechesis before going on vacation the essential facts to describe a profile of this Apostle. Now I would like to focus on the content of his teaching.

The writings which we will concern ourselves with today are the Gospel and the Letters which bear his name.

The characteristic theme that emerges from the writing of John is that of love. It was not by chance that I wanted to start my first encyclical with the words of this Apostle: "God is love" - Deus caritas est; he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him." (1 Jn 4,16).

It is very hard to find a similar text in other religions. Therefore such expressions present to us a truly singular given of Christianity.

Certainly, John was not the only author among the early Christians to speak about love. Love being an essential element of Christianity, all the writers of the New Testament spoke of it, although with different emphases.

If we stop to reflect on the theme of love in John, it is because he consistently and incisively defined its principal lines. Therefore, let us entrust ourselves to his words.

One thing is certain: his is not a treatment that is abstract, philosophical, or even theological, on the subject of what love is. True love, in fact, by its nature, is never just a subject of speculation, but must have direct, concrete and verifiable references to real persons.

Well, then, John as apostle and friend of Jesus, makes us see what are the components, or better, the phases of Christian love, which is an action characterized by three moments.

The first concerns the Origin itself of love, which the apostle traces to God, leading him to state, as we have heard, that "God is love". John is the only author in the New Testament who gives us almost a sort of definition of God.

He says, for example, that "God is Spirit" (Jn 4,24) or that "God is light: (1 Jn 2,5). But then he proclaims with brilliant intuition that "God is love." Note well: he does not simply state "God loves", much less that "love is God."

In other words, John does not limit himself to describing divine action but goes to the very roots of it. Moreover, he does not attribute divine quality to generic love which may be impersonal, but he addresses the nature of God directly by defining it with the infinite dimension of love.

By this, John means that the essential constitutive nature of God is love, and therefore, all of God's activities are born out of love and marked with love: everything that God Does, He does out of love and with love, even if we cannot always understand right away that it is love, the true love.

At this point, however, it is indispensable that we take a step farther and specify that God concretely demonstrated His love by entering into human history through the person of Jesus Christ, who was incarnated, died and resurrected for us.

This was the second constituive moment of God's love. He did not limit Himself to verbal declarations but, we could say, pledged Himself and redeemed this pledge in person.

As John wrote, in fact: "God so loved the world (meaning all of us) that He gave [us] His only-begotten Son" (Jn 3,16). The love of God for mankind is made real and manifested in Jesus's love itself. John also writes: Jesus, "having loved those of His who were in the world, will love them to the very end" (Jn 13,1).

By virtue of this oblative (sacrificial) and total love, we have been radically saved from sin. And again, John writes: "My sons...if anyone has sinned, we have an advocate next to the Father - Jesus Christ who is just. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but for those of the whole world." (1 Jn 2, 1-2); cfr 1 Jn 1,7).

And look at where the love of Jesus for us led Him: to shedding His own blood for our salvation! The Christian, contemplating this "excess" of love, can only ask himself what should be his obligatory response. I think that each of us should ask this of ourselves always, again and again.

This question introduces us to the third moment of the dynamic of love: as recipients of a love which precedes and envelops us, we are called to commit ourselves to an active response, which, in order to be adequate, cannot be other than a response of love.

John speaks of one 'commandment,' referring to Jesus's own words: "I give you a new commandment: that you love each other.
As I have loved you, so must you love each other" (Jn 13,34).

Wherein lies the novelty that Jesus refers to? It is in that He is not content to repeat what was already asked in the Old Testament and which we read even in the other Gospels: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Lv 19,18; cfr Mt 22,37-39; Mk 12,29-31; Lk 10,27).

In the old precept, the normative criterion was man himself ("as yourself"), whereas in John's citation, Jesus presents His own person as the reason and standard for love.

And thus, love becomes truly Christian, bearing in itself the newness of Christianity - both in the sense that love should be addressed to all without distinction, but above all, in that it should extend to its extreme consequences, having for its measure the Being who is without measure.

Those words of Jesus, "as I have loved you," are inviting as well as disquieting. They pose a Christologic goal which may seem unreachable, but at the same time, they are a stimulus that will not allow us to rest content with doing less than what we could have done. Those words do not allow us to be satisfied with how we are, but urges us to continue along the road to this ideal goal.

That golden text of spirituality from the late Middle Ages, a little book entitled The Imitation of Christ writes in this respect: "The noble love of Jesus urges us to do great things and inspires us to desire things to be ever more perfect. Love aspires to be elevated and not held down by any baseness. Love wishes to be free and detached from every worldly feeling...Love, in fact, is born of God and can only ultimately rest in God beyond all created things. He who loves flies, runs, rejoices; he is free and not held back by anything. He gives all for all in everything, so that he may find rest in the Only Great One who is above all things, from whom every good derives and comes from" (Book III, chap. 5).

What better commentary on the "new commandment" enunciated by John? Let us pray to the Father that we may be able to live according to this commandment, even though it will always be in an imperfect manner, but to live it so intensely that we may transmit it to whoever we meet along the way.

Later, he said this in English:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our weekly catechesis on the Church’s apostolic ministry, we now turn to the teaching of the Apostle John.

In his Gospel and Letters, Saint John emphasizes the distinctively Christian doctrine that "God is love" (cf. 1 Jn 4:16). John thus defines God’s very nature as an infinite love which is expressed in all that He does.

This love is most clearly shown by the sending of his only-begotten Son into the world. Jesus’s total and sacrificial love has redeemed us from our sins and given us an Advocate before the Father. Love in turn is the "new commandment" which the Lord gives to his disciples: "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (Jn 13:34).

Love becomes truly Christian only when it is given to everyone without counting the cost. This can appear impossible, yet it is a constant summons to grow in our imitation of the Son of God, who loved us "to the end" (cf. Jn 13:1).

In the words of the spiritual classic, The Imitation of Christ, "love has its origin in God and so it can only find its rest in God, above and beyond all created things". May we who have known this love share it joyfully with all whom we meet!

I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today’s audience, including the groups from Scotland, Ghana, China, India, Korea and Canada. May your pilgrimage renew your love for the Lord and his Church, after the example of the Apostle Saint John. May God bless you all!

Towards the end of his messages, the Pope reminded the audience in Italian:

We celebrate today the feast of Saint Teresa Benedetta della Croce [Teresa Benedicta of the Cross], Edith Stein, co-patroness of Europe. May her heroic witness to the Gospel aid each of us to always have trust in Christ and to incarnate His message of salvation in our own lives.


He ended the audience by renewing his appeal for peace in the Middle East:

APPEAL FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

Dear brothers and sisters, my heartfelt thoughts turn once more to the beloved Middle East. In reference to the tragic conflict now going on, I wish to reaffirm the words of Pope Paul VI to the United Nations in October 1965.

He said on that occasion: "Never again, one against the other, never again, never!...If you wish to be brothers, then let the weapons fall from your hands."

In view of the current efforts to obtain a lasting solution, I repeat with my immediate predecessor, the great Pope John Paul II, that it is possible to change the course of events when what prevails is reason, good will, trust in the other, the fulfillment of tasks that have been committed to, and cooperation between responsible partners. (cfr Speech to the Diplomatic Corps, Jan. 13, 2003).

So spoke John Paul II, and what he said then continues to be valid today for everyone. And so to all, I renew my exhortation to intensify our prayers to obtain the desired gift of peace.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/08/2006 21.49]

[This story tells a bit about Papa's interaction with the crowd at his audience.]

Pope: Jesus demonstrated God's love by incarnation, death

By Cindy Wooden
8/9/2006
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - In a way unique among all religions, Jesus demonstrated God's absolute love by his incarnation and death, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Love becomes truly Christian when, in imitation of Christ, one loves "all without distinction" and continues to do so even if it has "extreme consequences," the pope said Aug. 9 at his weekly general audience.

Pope Benedict, who flew by helicopter to the Vatican from his summer residence south of Rome, shook hundreds of hands as he made his way down the main aisle of the Vatican's audience hall. Thousands of hands reached out to grab him, provoking unusually mild rebukes from security officers and forcing the pope continually to push the fisherman's ring back below his knuckle.

Reaching the stage, but before beginning his audience talk, the pope posed for a group photograph with the costume-clad children of Taiwan's Lan Yang Catholic Youth Center dance troupe.

After the audience, the pope continued to work the crowd. One little boy gently lifted the pectoral cross off the pope's chest and kissed it. He received a papal kiss on the forehead in return.

Continuing his series of audience talks about the apostles, Pope Benedict focused on the Gospel and letters of St. John and, particularly, on the evangelist's affirmation that God is love.

"It is very difficult to find texts of this kind in other religions," the pope said. For John, love is the definition of God, he said.

"John does not limit himself to describing divine action," the pope said. "He does not simply affirm that 'God loves' or even less that 'love is God.'"

For St. John, he said, love is God's essence, and every action of God flows from love and is marked by love "even if we cannot always understand immediately that this is love, true love."

But love is not an abstraction, it must be "direct, concrete and even verifiable," the pope said.

In Jesus' incarnation, life, death and resurrection, God's love for all humanity has been verified, he said.

"He did not limit himself to verbal declarations, but committed himself and paid the price in person," Pope Benedict said.

Jesus pushed the commandment to love others, not just as they would want to be loved, but as Jesus has loved them, the pope said.

"We must live this, even if in an imperfect way, in such an intense way that we infect those we encounter on our journey" with a love that will spread, he said.

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at Angelus today in Castel Gandolfo.


Dear brothers and sisters,

In this summer season, many have left the cities and are in tourist destinations or in their hometowns for their annual vacation. To them I wish that this awaited period of rest may serve to refresh the mind and the body, which are subject to daily wear and tear in the frenetic course of modern-day existence.

Vacations constitute a precious opportunity to spend more time with family, to revisit relatives and friends, in short, to give more space for those human contacts that the pace of our daily lives keeps us from cultivating as we wish to.

However, not everyone has the opportunity to take a vacation, and not a few among us are forced by various reasons not to go on vacation.

I think particularly of those who are alone, of older people, and the sick who, at this time specially, may feel even more alone. To these brothers and sisters, I wish to assure my spiritual nearness, with a heartfelt wish that none of them may lack the support and comfort of friendly persons.

Vacation time also becomes for many a fruitful occasion for cultural encounters, for prolonged moments of prayer, and of contemplation either in contact with nature or in monasteries and other religious establishments.

With the free time at our disposal, we can dedicate ourselves more easily to conversations with God, to meditating on Sacred Scripture, and to reading useful formative books. Whoever experiences this spiritual rest knows how useful it is not to reduce vacations to mere leisure and entertainment.

Faithful participation in Sunday Mass helps us to feel part of the church community even when we are outside our own parishes. Wherever we are, we always need to nourish ourselves with the Eucharist. We are reminded of this by today's Gospel in which Jesus is presented to us as the Bread of Life.

He himself, according to the evangelist John, proclaimed Himself to be 'the living bread descended from heaven" (cfr Jn 6, 31), bread which nourishes our faith as well as communion among all Christians.

But vacation time cannot make us forget the grave conflict taking place in the Middle East. The latest developments give us hope that the hostilities will end and that humanitarian assistance to the affected populations may promptly and effectively be guaranteed.

The wish of everyone is that finally peace may prevail over violence and the force of arms. For this we invoke with insistent confidence Mary, who - from her celestial glory, and whose Assumption we celebrate day after tomorrow - is always there to intercede for her children and help us in our needs.

After the Angelus, he said these words in English:

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Angelus. May your time here at Castel Gandolfo and in Rome deepen your faith in our Lord, the living bread, who brings us the gift of eternal life. Upon you and your families I invoke an abundance of God’s blessings of peace and joy!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/08/2006 16.40]

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at the Angelus today in Castel Gandolfo:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Christian tradition has placed in the heart of summer one of the oldest and most suggestive of Marian feasts, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Just as Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, in the same way, Mary, at the end of her earthly existence, was assumed into heaven.

The liturgy today recalls this consoling truth of faith to us, while it sings the praises of she who has been crowned with incomparable glory.

"In Heaven," we read in the passage from Apocalypse that is offered for our meditation today, "a grandiose sign appeared: a woman dressed in the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (12,1)

The Fathers of the Church recognized Mary in this woman bathed in light. In her triumph, the Christian people - pilgrims through history - see the fulfillment of their expectations and the sure sign of their hope.

Mary is an example and a support for all believers: she encourages us not to lose faith in the face of difficulties and of the inevitable problems of everyday. She assures us of her help and reminds us that the essential thing is to search for and think of "the things above, not of this earth" (cfr Col 3,2).

In the grip of our daily concerns, we risk indeed thinking that the ultimate goal of human existence is here, in this world in which we are only passing through. But it is Paradise that is the true goal of our earthly pilgrimage.

How different our days would be if it was that prospect which animates them! That is the way it was for the saints. Their existence is testimony that when one lives with the heart constantly turned to heaven, earthly realities are lived according to their true value in the scale of things because they are illuminated by the eternal truth of divine love.

To the Queen of Peace, whom we contemplate in her celestial glory, I wish to entrust once more the concerns of mankind about every place in the world that is torn apart by violence.

We join our brothers and sisters who, at this time, are gathered at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa for a eucharistic celebration presided by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who went to Lebanon as my special envoy, to bring comfort and concrete solidarity to all the victims of the conflict and to pray for the great goal of peace.

We are also in communion with the priests and the faithful of the Church in the Holy land, who are gathered in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, along with the Pontifical Representative in Israel and Palestine, Archbishop Antonio Franco, to pray for the same intentions.

My prayers also go to the dear nation of Sri Lanka, threatened once more by a deterioration of ethnic conflict, and to Iraq, where the frightening daily trail of bloodshed makes the prospect for reconciliation and reconstruction seem more remote.

May Mary obtain for all sentiments of mutual understanding, the will towards such understanding, and a desire for concord.


After the Angelus prayers, he said this in English:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Angelus. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

May the example of her life of obedience to the will of God, recognised by her exaltation into glory, be for all Christians a source of hope and inspiration!

I wish you a blessed feast day, and a pleasant time in Castel Gandolfo and Rome!

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words at the General Audience today, held in the courtyard of the Papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. His catechesis was a meditation on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated yesterday:



Dear brothers and sisters,

This weekly appointment of ours takes place today in the atmosphere of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And so I would like to invite you to turn your attention once more to our heavenly Mother, whom yesterday's liturgy made us contemplate triumphant with Christ in heaven.

This feast has always been deeply felt by the faithful, from the first centuries of Christianity. As we know, it celebrates the glorification, corporal as well as spiritual, of that creature whom God chose as His Mother, and whom Jesus on the Cross gave to all mankind as our Mother.

The Assumption evokes a mystery that is of interest to each of us, because, as the Second Vatican Council affirmed, Mary "shines from above as a sign of sure hope and consolation for the people of God who are on the way..." (Lumen gentium, 68). But we are often too caught up by the events of everyday that we may forget this consoling spiritual reality which constitutes an important truth of our faith.

So how do we make this luminous sign of hope more perceptible always to our society today? There are those who live today as if they will never die or as if everything ends in death. Some behave as if man were the only maker of his own destiny, as if God did not exist, or even refusing to acknowledge that there is any room for God in our world.

However, the great successes of science and technology, which have notably improved the human condition, leave unresolved the most profound questions of the human spirit. Only an openness to the mystery of God, who is Love, can quench the thirst for truth and happiness in the human heart. Only the prospect of eternity can give authentic value to historic events, and above all, to the mysteries of human fragility, of suffering and of death.

In contemplating Mary in her celestial glory, we understand that even for us, earth is not our definitive home, and that if we live ever aware of eternal good, we will share the same glory one day. Therefore, even amid the thousand dificulties of daily life, we should not lose our calm.

The luminous sign in heaven of the Assumed One shines even more when the sad shadows of suffering and violence appear to accumulate on the horizon. We are sure of this: from on high, Mary follows our steps with tender trepidation, she consoles us in the hours of darkness and of storm clouds, she reassures us with her maternal hand. Supported by this awareness, let us proceed trustfully along our way of Christian commitment towards where Providence is leading us.

Later, he said this in English:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at this audience, including the altar servers from Malta, and the groups from England, Ireland, Canada, Nigeria and the United States of America.

Yesterday we contemplated the Virgin Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. This mystery reminds us that our definitive homeland is not here on earth, and that our longing for fulfilment finds complete satisfaction only in eternal happiness.

May Our Mother in Heaven, who guides us on our way, inspire us with courage and hope through the struggles of our daily life! I wish you a pleasant stay, and may God bless you all!


At the end of the audience, he said:

I would like to conclude our encounter today with a particular prayer for Brother Roger Schutz, founder of Taize, who was assassinated on August 16 last year during evening prayers.

His testimony of Christian faith and ecumenical dialog has been a precious teaching for entire generations of youth. Let us ask the Lord that the sacrifice of his life may contribute to consolidate the commitment to peace and solidarity of all who have the future of mankind at heart.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/08/2006 23.12]

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's message at Angelus in Castel Gandolfo today:



Dear brothers and sisters,

Today the calendar lists among the saints of the day St. Bernard of Claravalls (Clairvaux,Fr.; Chiaravalle,It.) a great doctor of the Church who lived in the 12th century (1091-1153). But his example and his teachings have shown themselves to be even more useful in our time.

Having retired from the world after a period of intense interior work, he was elected abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux at age 25, and remaining so for the next 35 years until his death.

Dedicating himself to silence and contemplation did not keep him from carrying out intense apostolic work. He was also exemplary for the commitment with which he fought to dominate his impetuous temperament, as for the humility with which he recognized his own limitations and failings.

The richness and value of his theology lay not so much in having opened new ways of thought but in succeeding to restate the truths of the faith in a style so clear and incisive as to fascinate his listeners and inspire them to meditation and prayer.

In each of his writings we sense the echo of a rich interior experience which he manged to communicate to others in a surprisingly persuasive manner.

For him, the greatest force in spiritual life was love. God who is love created man to love, and rescued him throguh love. The salvation of all human beings, mortally wounded by original sin and weighed down with our own personal sins, consists in firm adherence to divine charity which is fully revealed in Christ crucified and resurected.

Through His love, God restores health to our will and our intelligence, elevating them to the highest level of union with Him, namely, to holiness and to mystical union. It is this which St. Bernard writes about, among other things, in the brief but substantial Liber de deligendo Deo.

I also wish to point out another writing by him, De consideratione,which was addressed to Pope Eugene III. The dominant theme here was the importance of interior meditation, an essential element of piety.

The saint observes that one must guard against the dangers of any excessive activity, under any condition or office, because this can lead to "hardness of heart"... which is "nothing else but a suffering of the spirit, a waywardness of intelligence, and a dispersion of grace" (II, 3).

His admonition is valid for any kind of occupation, even those concerned with the governing of the Church. The words which Bernard addresses in this respect to the Pope - already his disciple at Clairvaux - are provocative: "Here is where these concerns may lead you if you continue to lose yourselves in them - you will leave nothing of yourself for yourself" (ibid)

How useful even for us this reminder to pray and meditate! May St. Bernard help us to concretize this in our own lives - he who knew how to harmonize the monk's desire fpor solitude in the quiet of the cloister with the urgency of important and complex missions in the service of the Church.

Let us entrust this wish to the intercession of Our Lady, whom he loved from boyhood with a filial and tender devotion that merits him the title of "Marian Doctor." Let us invoke her to obtain the gift of true and lasting peace for the entire world.

St. Bernard, in one of his famous speeches, likened Mary to the star which mariners look to in order not to lose course: "In the rise and fall of events in this world, one feels not to be walking on firm ground but to be buffeted between wind and waves. Do not take off your eyes from the splendor of this star if you do not wish to be swallowed by the waves...Look at the star, pray to Mary...Following her, you will not lose your way...If she protects you, you will not fear; if she guides you, you will not tire; if she favors you, you will reach your goal" (Hom. super Missus est, II, 17).


After the Angelus, he said this in English:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Sunday Angelus. In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals himself as the Bread of Life, who comes down from Heaven. May our celebration of the Lord’s Day be always a time of joyful thanksgiving for the gift of new life in Christ! I wish you all a pleasant stay in Castel Gandolfo and Rome, and a blessed Sunday!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/08/2006 13.39]

At the General Audience held today at the Aula Paolo VI in the Vatican, the Holy Father resumed his catecheses dedicated to the Apostles, returning for the third time to the figure of John the Evangelist, today in his role as the "seer of Patmos".

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis. (Seeing the AsiaNews report on the audience later, I have underscored in this translation those parts indicated by the reporter as having been added extemporaneously by the Holy Father to his prepared text.)





Dear brothers and sisters,

In the last catecheses, we meditated on the figure of the Apostle John. First we sought to see what could be known about his life. Then, in a second catechesis, we meditated on the central content of his Gospel and of his letters: charity or love.

Today we continue to devote our lessoN to him, this time to consider him as the prophet of the Apocalypse. Right away, let us make this observation: while neither the Fourth Gospel nor the Letters attributed to this Apostle never mention his name, the Apocalypse refers to it four times (cfr 1,1.4.9;22.8).

It is evident that the Author, on one hand, had no reason not to give his name, and on the other, he knew that his initial readers could identify him with precision. We also know that, already in the third century, scholars were disputing the true anagraphic identity of the John of the Apocalypse.

For every good reason, we could call him the "seer of Patmos" because his person is linked to the name of this island on the Aegean Sea, where, according to his own autobiographical testimony, he found himself deported "because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Ap, 1.9).

It was in Patmos, "rapt in ecstasy on the day of the Lord" (Ap 1,10) that John had grand visions and heard extraordinary messages which have had no little influence on the history of the Church and of the entire Christian culture.

For example, from the title of his book - Apocalypse or Revelations - the words apocalypse and apocalyptic were introduced to our language, words which evoke, even if improperly, the idea of an impending catastrophe.

The book may be understood in the context of the dramatic experience of the seven Churches of Asia (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatyre, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea) which towards the end of the first century, had to face considerable difficulties - persecutions as well as internal tensions - in bearing witness to Christ.

John addressed himself to these problems with great pastoral sensitivity for the plight of persecuted Christians, whom he exhorted to stay firm in the faith and not to identify themselves with the very powerful pagan world of the time.

His purpose was definitely to reveal - through the death and resurrection of Christ - the sense of human history. In fact, the first and fundamental vision of John was the figure of the Lamb, who is slaughtered but remains on its feet (cfr Ap 5,6), by the throne where God Himself is seated.

With this, John wanted to tell us two things above all. First, that Jesus, although killed through an act of violence, instead of collapsing to the ground, remains paradoxically on His feet, because with the resurrection, he triumphed over death. The other is that Jesus Himself, precisely in having died and resurrected, now fully participates in the kingly and saving power of the Father.

This was John's fundamental vision. Jesus, the Son of God, was on this earth a defenseless Lamb, wounded, killed. Nevertheless, He stands upright, He is on His feet, He is at the throne of God and shares in the divine power. He has in His hands the history of the world.

Thus, the Prophet wants to tell us: Have confidence in Jesus, do not be afraid of opposing powers, of persecution! The wounded and dead Lamb has won! Follow the Lamb Jesus, entrust yourself to Jesus, take His way! Even if in this world He was a Lamb who appeared weak, He is the Victor!

One of the principal visions of the Apocalypse has this Lamb opening a book, which had been closed by seven seals which no one could undo. John is presented weeping because no one could be found worthy to open the book and read it (cfr Ap 5,4). The story remained indecipherable, incomprehensible. No one could read it.

Perhaps John weeping at the mystery of a story so hidden expressed the disconcertment of the Asiatic Churches at the silence of God in the face of the persecutions to which they were exposed at the time.

It is a disconcertment that could well reflect our own dismay at the grave difficulties, incomprehension and hostility which even today the Church suffers in many parts of the world. These are sufferings which the Church certainly does not merit, just as Jesus Himself did not merit His ordeal.

But these sufferings reveal both man's wickedness when he succumbs to the temptations of evil, as well as the superior conduct of events by God Himself.

It turns out that only the immolated Lamb could open the sealed book and reveal its contents, thus making sense of a story that is often so apparently absurd. Only the Lamb could take from the book the instructions and teachings that Christians need for life, to which His triumph over death is both an announcement and a guarantee of the victory which even the beleaguered Churches would doubtless obtain. All the strongly imaginative language that John employs is aimed at offering this comfort.

In the center of the vision which the Apocalypse presents are the very significant images of the Woman who bears a male child, and the complementary image of the Dragon who has been cast from Heaven but remains very strong.

The Woman represents Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, but also represents the Church, the people of God through all time, the Church which, at all times and with great suffering, continues to give birth to Christ ever anew. It is always threatened by the power of the Dragon. It appears defenseless and weak. But while it is threatened, persecuted by the Dragon, it is also protected by the consolation of God. And the Woman triumphs in the end. It is not the Dragon that wins. And this is the great prophecy of this book which gives us confidence!

The Woman who suffers in the story, the Church that is persecuted, appears in the end as the splendid Spouse, the figure of the new Jerusalem where there will no longer be tears nor weeping, an image of the world transformed, the new world in which God Himself is the Light, whose lamp is the Lamb.

For this reason, John's Apocalypse, although pervaded with continuous references to sufferings, tribulations and tears - that is, the dark face of history - is at the same time permeated by frequent songs of praise which represent almost the luminous aspect of history.

Thus, for instance, we read of an immense crowd which sings, almost shouts out: "Alleluia! The Lord has taken possession of His Kingdom - our God, the Omnipotent. Let us rejoice and exult, let us give Him glory, because the wedding of the Lamb is at hand, and His bride is ready" (Ap 19, 6-7).

We have here the typical Christian paradox, in which suffering is never perceived as the last word, but is seen as a point of passage towards happiness, and in itself is already mysteriously suffused with the joy that comes from hope.

Because of this, John, the prophet of Patmos, could close his book with a last aspiration, palpitant with awesome anticipation. He invokes the definitive coming of the Lord: "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Ap 22,20). It is one of the central prayers of nascent Christianity, translated by St. Paul in its Aramaic form "Marana tha!"

This prayer, "Come, Our Lord!" (1 Cor 16,22), has many dimensions. Of course, it is above all an anticipation of the definitive victory of our Lord, of the new Jersualem, of the Lord who comes to transform the world.

But it is also a eucharistic prayer, "Come, Jesus, now!" And Jesus comes, anticipating His definitive arrival. And so, with joy, we are saying at the same time, "Come now, and come definitively."

This prayer has a third meaning: "You have come to us, Lord. We are sure of Your presence among us. It is for us a joyous experience. But come definitively as well."

And so, with St. Paul, and with the prophet of Patmos, with nascent Christianity, let us also pray: "Come, Jesus! Come and transform the world! Come today, and let peace prevail!" Amen.

Later, he synthesized the lesson in English:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our reflections on the teaching of the Apostle John, we now consider the Book of Revelation. The seer of Patmos, identified with the Apostle, is granted a series of visions meant to reassure the Christians of Asia amid the persecutions and trials of the end of the first century.

John’s central vision is that of the Lamb once slain, who now stands victoriously before God’s throne, sharing in the Father’s kingship and power (5:6ff.). He alone is able to open the mysterious book closed with seven seals and to reveal, in the light of his own triumph over persecution and death, the ultimate meaning of history in God’s providential plan.

The certain unfolding of God’s victory is seen in John’s visions of the Woman who gives birth to a Son destined to rule the nations (12:1ff.), the final defeat of the Dragon, and the heavenly Jerusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for the wedding feast (21:2ff).

As his book draws to an end, John invites Christians of every time and place to trust in the victory of the Lamb and to hope for the coming of God’s Kingdom: "Come, Lord Jesus!" (22:20).

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including the pilgrims from Taiwan, Japan and the United States of America. May your visit to Rome renew your faith in the Church, the bride of Christ, and may the Lord’s definitive victory over all evil fill you with hope and courage. I invoke upon you God’s blessings of joy and peace.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/08/2006 4.30]

Very special, lively Angelus today - Papa's voice sounded so sweet, lots of very good singing from the Polish and Italian Pilgrims and a choir from the USA, I think.
And the Regensburger Domspatzen attended this audience, too.

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's message at the Angelus today:




Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we remember Saint Monica, and tomorrow her son Saint Augustine - their Christian witness can be a great comfort and help to so many families even in our time.

Monica, born to a Christian family in Tagaste in what is now Tunisia, lived in exemplary manner her mission as wife and mother, helping her husband Patrick to discover the beauty of faith in Christ and the power of evangelical love, capable of triumphing over evil with good.

After her husband's early death, Monica dedicated herself with courage to raising three children, one of them Augustine, who initially made her suffer because he had a somewhat rebellious temperament.

As Augustine himself would later say, his mother delivered him twice: the second time required a long spiritual labour of prayers and tears, but crowned at the end by the joy of seeing him not only embracing the faith and receiving Baptism, but even dedicating himself entirely to the service of Christ.

How much difficulty there is even today in family relationships and how many mothers are anguished because their children have strayed onto wrong paths!

Monica, a wise woman who was firm in her faith, invites mothers not to be discouraged, but to persevere in their mission as wife and mother, keeping firm their trust in God and holding fast with perseverance to prayer.

As for Augustine, all his existence was a passionate search for truth. At the end, but not without long interior torment, he discovered in Christ the ultimate and full sense of his own life and of the entire human story.

Attracted by earthly life in his adolescence, he 'threw himself' into it - as he himself confided (cfr Confessions 10,27-30) - in an egoistic and possessive manner, behaving in ways that caused not a few sufferings to his pious mother.

But through an effortful route, thanks to her prayers, Augustine started opening up to the fullness of truth and love, until his covnersion which took place in Milan under the guidance of the bishop Saint Ambrose.

And so Augustine became a model for one path to God, the supreme Truth and the highest Good.

"Late did I come to love you," he writes in his famous book of Confessions, "Beauty that is so old and so new, late did I come to love you. But You were within me, and I was outside where I searched for You...You were with me but I was not with You...You called me, you cried out, you broke through my deafness. You blinded me, srurck me with lightning, and finally healed my blindness" (ibid).

May St. Augustine obtain the gift of a sincere and profound encounter with Christ for all the young people who, thirsting for happiness, look for it by going down the wrong pathways and losing themselves in dead ends.

St. Monica and St. Augustine invite us to address ourselves with trust to Mary, Seat of Wisdom. To her, let us entrust Crhstian parents so that like Monica, they may accompany with their example and with their prayers their children's way in the world.

To the Virgin Mother of God, we commend our youth so that, like Augustine, they may always tend towards the fullness of Truth and Love - Christ who alone can satisfy the profound desires of the human heart.

Before proceeding to greet the pilgrims in various languages, the Pope said this:

Next September 1, the Church in Italy celebrates the first Day to Safeguard the Environment - creation which is God's great gift that is now exposed to serious risks by choices and styles of life that can degrade it.

Environmental degradation helps make the life of the poor on earth unsustainable. In dialog with Chistians of other confessions, we should commit ourselves to taking care of nature, without exhausting its resources but sharing them in a spirit of solidarity.

On this occasion, I am happy to welcome today representatives of a pilgrimage that followed the Via Francigena from Switzerland to Rome to promote awareness and respect for the environment.

Later, in English, he said:

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Sunday Angelus including the new students from the Pontifical North American College, and the former All-Ireland Hurling champions from Offaly.

Today’s Gospel invites us to join Peter and profess our complete trust in the Lord, who alone has the words of eternal life. May your stay in Castel Gandolfo and Rome renew your faith in Christ, and may God bless you all!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/08/2006 0.01]

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis at the General Audience held today at the Aula Paolo Vi in the Vatican.




Dear brothers and sisters,

Continuing with the series of portraits of the twelve Apostles whcih we started several weeks ago, today we will consider Matthew.

Actually, to delineate his figure completely is almost impossible because the data about him are few and fragmentary. But what we can do is to sketch not so much his biography but rather the profile which we infer from his Gospel.

He is always present in the list of the Twelve chosen by Jesus (cfr Mt 10,8; Mk 3,18; Lc 6, 15; Acts 1,13). His Hebrew name means "gift of God."

The first canonical Gospel, which bears his name, presents him among the Twelve with a rather precise description, "the publican" (Mtr 10,3). Thus, he is identified with the man who was seated at a tax collector's table whom Jesus called to follow Him: "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax post. He said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him." (Mt 9,9).

Mark (cfr 2, 13-17) and Luke (cfr 5,27-30) also narrate the call to the man seated at the tax table, but they call him 'Levi.'

To imagine the scene described in Mt 9,9, it is enough to remember the magnificent canvas by Caravaggio found in the church of St. Louis of the French in Rome.

From the Gospels, a last biographical detail emerges: immediately preceding the passage describing the call to Matthew, the Gospel refers to a miracle performed by Jesus in Capharnaum (cfr Mt 9,1-8; Mk 2,1-12), which refers to the nearness of the Lake of Tiberias (cfr Mk2,13-14).

One can deduce from this that Matthew was the tax collector in Capharnaum, a village 'near the lake' (Mt 4,13), where Jesus always stayed as a guest at Peter's house.

On the basis of these simple deductions from the Gospel, we may advance a couple of reflections. The first is that Jesus welcomed within his circle of intimates a man who, according to the ideas fashionable in Israel at that time, was considered a "public sinner".

Matthew, in fact, not only handled money which was considered impure because it came from gentiles (not belonging to the 'people of God') but he also worked for a foreign master (the Romans) considered hatefully greedy, who demanded tributes that were often arbitrarily determined. The Gospels also see in publicans an example of meanness (cfr Mt 5,46: 'they only love those who love them'.)

For these reasons, the Gospels speak more than once in a collective way of 'publicans and sinners' (Mt 9,10; Lk 15,1) and of 'publicans and prostitutes' (Mt 21,31), and mention one of them, Zaccheus, as 'chief of the publicans and a rich man' (Lk 19,2), whereas popular opinion associated them with 'thieves, unjust men, adulterers' (Lk 18,11).

One primary fact jumps out at us from these indications: Jesus did not exclude anyone from his own circle of friends. Instead, it was precisely when He was a guest in the house of Matthew-Levi - responding to someone who professed himself scandalized by the fact that He, Jesus, kept company with unworthy people - that He made the important declaration: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the just but the sinners" (Mk 2,17).

The good news of the Gospel consists of this in fact: the offering of God's grace to the sinner. Elsewhere, in the famous parable of the Pharissee and the publican who both came to the Temple to pray, Jesus points to the anonymous publican as an example to be appreciated of humble confidence in divine mercy. While the Pharisee boasted of his own moral perfection, "the publican...did not even dare raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, 'Lord, have mercy on this sinner.'"

And Jesus comments: "I say to you: this man (the publican) went home justified, unlike the other, because whoever exalts himself shall be humiliated, but whoever humbles himself sahll be exalted" (Lk 18, 13-14).

In the figure of Matthew, therefore, the Gospels present us with a true paradox: someone who is apparently farthest from holiness can become a model for receiving the mercy of God and allow us to see the wondrous effetcs of divine mercy in our own life.

In this respect, St. John Chrysostom made a significant annotation: he observes that the work done by those called by Jesus to be His disciples is mentioned for some of them. Peter, Andrew, James and John were called while they were fishing, Matthew while he was collecting taxes.

These are humble occupations, the Chrysostom says: "there is nothing more detestable than a tax collector and nothing more common than fishing" (In Matth. Hom.: PLO 57,363). Thus, Jesus called out to men of low social rank while they were carrying out their ordinary tasks.

Another reflection called forth by the Gospel account is that, at Jesus's call, Matthew responded instantly: "He rose and followed him." The brevity of this places clearly in evidence Matthew's readiness to respond to the call. For him, it meant abandoning evrything, above all the guarantee of a secure living even if it was often thought unjust and dishonorable.

Evdently, Matthew understood that initmacy with Jesus would not allow him to continue in activities that were not pleasing to God. We can easily deduce its application to the present: even today, attachment to things incompatible with following Jesus is not acceptable, such as for esxample, wealth acquired dishonestly.

Once, Jesus said in no uncertain terms: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all you possess, give them to the poor, and you will lay treasures in heaven; then come and follow me" (Mt 19,21). That is what Matthew did: he rose and followed Him.

In this 'rising up', we may legitimately read his detaching himself from a condition of sin and his conscious commitment to a new and correct life in communion with Jesus.

[In the AsiaNews report on the audience, the following line is quoted immediately following the above, presumably an interpellation by the pope during the actual delivery of the catechesis :

Not for nothing is the Greek verb used by the evangelist, anastás, the same used elsewhere in the New Testament to express the resurrection of Jesus!

Let us remember, finally, that the tradition of the ancient Church unanimously attributed to Matthew the authorship of the first Gospel. This was clear from the time of Papia, Bishop of Gerapoli in Frigia, around the year 130. He wrote: "Matthew put together the words of the Lord in the Hebrew language, and everyone interpreted it as they could" (in Eusebius of Caesarea, Hist eccl. III,39,16).

And the historian Eusebius adds this information: "Matthew, who first preached among the Jews, upon deciding to go forth among other peoples, wrote the Gospel announced by him in his mother tongue. In this way, he sought to replace in written form, for those whom he was leaving, what they would have lost with his departure" (ibid III, 24,6).

We no longer have the Gospel written by Matthew in Hebrew or in Aramaic, but in the Greek Gospel which we continue to hear today, we hear the persuasive voice of the publican Matthew, who having become an Apostle, announces the saving mercy of God.

Let us listen to the message of St. Matthew, let us meditate it ever anew so that even we may learn to rise and follow Jesus decisively.

Later, the Pope synthesized the catechesis in English as follows:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our catechesis on the Church’s apostolic ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Matthew.

Matthew, the author of the first of the four Gospels, was a publican – a tax-collector – and the story of his call to become an Apostle reminds us that Christ excludes no one from his friendship.

Tax-collectors were considered public sinners, and we can hear an echo of the scandal caused by the Lord’s decision to associate with such men in his declaration that he came "not to call the just but sinners" (Mt 2:17). This is the heart of the "good news" which Jesus came to bring: the offer of God’s grace to sinners!

The parable of the publican in the Temple makes this same point: by humbly acknowledging their sins and accepting God’s mercy, even those who seem farthest from holiness can become first in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew’s ready response to the Lord’s call also shows that following Christ means leaving behind, sometimes at great cost, everything that is incompatible with true discipleship and embarking upon a new life. Through his example and the words of his Gospel, Saint Matthew constantly invites us to respond with joy to the "good news" of God’s saving mercy.

I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including the group of altar servers from Malta, and the visitors from Denmark, Japan and Australia. May God give you the grace to deepen your love of Christ and his Church, inspired by Saint Matthew. I wish you all a blessed stay in Rome!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/09/2006 3.03]

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at the Angelus today in Castel Gandolfo:



Dear brothers and sisters,

The Roman calendar remembers today, September 3, St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (ca 540-604). His singular figure - I would say almost unique - is an example to point to, both to Pastors of the Church as well as to public administrators. In fact he was first Prefect and then Bishop of Rome.

As an imperial functionary, he distinguished himself for his administrative ability and moral integrity, so that at 30 years of age, he reached the highest civil office of the city as Prefect.

But the vocation for monastic life matured in him, and he finally embraced it in 574 at the death of his father. From that time, the Benedictine Rule became the defining structure of his life.

Even when he was sent by the Pope as his representative to the Emperor of the East, he maintained his monastic lifestyle, simple and poor.

Called back to Rome, he lived in a monastery but became a close collaborator of Pope Pelagius II, and when the latter died, victim of the plague, Gregory was acclaimed by everyone as his successor. He sought in every way to avoid this nomination, but in the end he had to give in, and, leaving the cloister with a heavy heart, he dedicated himself to the community of the Church, knowing he was fulfilling an obligation and that he was a simple "servant of the servants of God."

"He who understands that he must lead others by the decree of divine will but looks down on this pre-eminence is not truly humble," he wrote. "But if instead he submits to the divine disposition, gives up the vice of obstinacy, and has the gifts with which he could help others, when the supreme office of governing souls is imposed on him, he may flee from it in his heart, but he ought to obey even if it is against his will." (Pastoral rule, I, 6).

[P.S. From the AsiaNews account of the Angelus message, here is what appears to be the book translation of the above paragraph:
‘Neither is he truly humble, who understands how the good pleasure of the Supernal Will ought to bear sway, and yet contemns its sway. But, submitting himself to the divine disposals, and averse from the vice of obstinacy, it being already prevented with gifts whereby he may profit others also, he ought, when enjoined to undertake supreme rule, in his heart to flee from it, but against his will to obey’ (Pastoral Rule 1,6).”]

With prophetic foresight, Gregory sensed that a new civilization was arising from the encounter between the Roman legacy and the so-called barbarians, thanks to the cohesive force and moral superiority of Christianity. Monasticism showed itself to be a treasure not only for the Church but for the entire society.

Of questionable health but of strong moral fiber, St. Gregory the Great carried out intense pastoral and civic activity. JHe left a vast epistolary, adamirable homilies, a celebrated commentary on the Book of Job and writings on the life of St. Benedict, in addition to numerous liturgical texts, famous for the reform of chanting which became known as Gregorian from his name.

But his most celebrated work is the Pastoral Rule, which had for priests the same importance that St. Benedict's Rule had for the monks of the Middle Ages.

"The life of a pastor of souls should be a balnced synthesis of contemplation and action, animated by the love which "reachest its highest peaks when one bends mercifully towards the profound troubles of others. The ability to bend down to the miseries of others is a measure of the force of one's striving upwards" (II, 5), he wrote.

This teaching, which is always applicable, inspired the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council to define the image of the Pastor in our days.

Let us pray to the Holy Virgin Mary that the example and teachings of St. Gregory the Great may be followed by the Pastors of the Church and even by responsible authorities in civil institutions.

His greeting later in English:

I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer, including the pilgrims from the Diocese of London in Canada, accompanied by their Bishop.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to purity of heart and sincere obedience to God’s law. May your visit to Rome strengthen you in the love of the Lord and in joyful fidelity to His holy word. God bless you all!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/09/2006 17.46]

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



Dear brothers and sisters,

Continuing with the portraits of the Apostles, as we have done for several weeks, today we meet Phillip. In the list of the Twelve Apostles, he is always mentioned in fifth place (as in Mt 10,3; Mk 3,18; Lk 6,14; Acts 1,13), therefore substantially among the first.

Although Philip was Jewish, his name is Greek, like that of Andrew, and this is a sign of cultural openness that we should not underestimate.

The information we have about him is provided by the Gospel of John. He came from the same place as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida (cfr Jn 1,44), a little town under the tetrarchy of one of the sons of Herod the Great who was also called Philip (cfr Lk 3,1).

The Fourth Gospel tells us that, after having been called by Jesus, Philip encountered Nathaniel and told him: "We have found him about whom Moses wrote in the Laws, and the Prophets (as well), Jesus, son of Joseph, of Nazareth (Jn 1,45).

To the rather skeptical answer of Nathaniel ("But can anything good come out of Nazareth?"), Philip did not yield and answered decisively: "Come and see!" (Jn 1,46).

In this response, dry but clear, Philip manifested the characteristics of a true witness: he does not content himself with making the announcement, like a theory, but directly challenges his interlocutor by suggesting that he himself make a personal experience of what he is being told.

The same verbs were used by Jesus Himself when the two disciples of John the Baptist came to ask Him where He lived. Jesus replied, "Come and see!" (cfr Jn 1,38-39).

We can think that Philip is also addressing us with those two verbs which presume a personal involvement. Even to us, he says as he did to Nathaniel: "Come and see." The Apostle enjoins us to know Jesus from up close. Indeed, frriendship, a true acquaintance with the other, requires nearness, even thrives from such intimacy.

Moreover, we chould not forget that, according to Mark, Jesus chose the Twelve with the primary purpose that "they should be with Him" (Mk 3,14), that is, that they should share His life and behavior, but above all, share who He truly is. In fact, only by participating in His life could they know Him so they could later proclaim Him.

Later, in the Letttr of Paul to the Ephesians, we will read that the important thing is "to learn Crhsit" (4,20), therefore not only to listen to His teachings, His words, but to know Him in person, His humanity and His divinity, His mystery, His beauty.

He in fact is not only a Teacher but a Friend, a Brother. How can we know Him well if we stay far from Him? Intimacy, familiarity, habit make us discover the true identity of Jesus Christ.

And that is what the apostle Philip reminds us. That is why he invites us to 'come' nearer, to 'see,' that is, to enter into a contact that means listening, responding and a communion of life with Jesus day after day.

Later, Philip, at the miracle of the loaves of bread, received from Jesus a specific request, which is somewhat surprising - where, He asked, could enough bread be bought to feed all the people who followed Him (cfr Jn 6.5).

Philip answered realistically: "Two hundred denarii will not suffice even to give each of them a piece" (Jn 6.7). We see here the concreteness and realism of the Apostle, who could estimate the cost required by the situation.

We know how things turned out. We know that Jesus took the bread, and after praying, He distributed it. And the loaves of bread multiplied.

But it is interesting that Jesus turned to Philip for a first indication of how to solve the problem: it is an evident sign that Philip was part of the narrow circle that surrounded Him.

On another occasion, which was very important for future history, just before the Passion, some Greek travelers who were in Jerusalem for the Passover "approached Philip...and said to him, "We want to see Jesus.' Philip went and told Andrew, and then both went to tell Jesus" (Jn q12.20-22).

Once more, we have an indication of Philip's special prestige within that first apostolic college. Above all, in this case, he becomes the intermediary between these Greeks - very likely he spoke Greek and could be their interpreter - and Jesus. Even if he goes to Andrew, the other apostle with a Greek name, it is to him, Philip, that the foreigners first addressed themselves.

This teaches us that even we should always be ready - to receive questions and calls for assistance from whomever these may come from, and to orient them to the Lord, the only one who can give full satisfaction.

It is, in fact, important to realize that we are not the ultimate addressees of any calls for assistance that reach us, it is the Lord, and we should direct whoever finds Himself in need to Him. Each of us should be a way that leads to Him.

There is another very specific situation in which Philip makes the scene. During the Last Supper, after Jesus had declared that to know Him was to know the Father (cfr Jn 14,7), Philip, almost ingenuously, says: "Lord, show us the Father and it will be enough" (Jn 14,8).

Jesus replied to him with benevolent reproach, "Philip, you have been with me so long and still you do not know Me? Whoever sees me sees the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?...Believe me, I am in the Father, and the Father is in me." (Jn 14,9-11).

These words are among the most elevated in the Gospel of John. They contain a true revelation. At the end of the Prologue to his Gospel, John says: "No one has seen God; but it is His only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, who has shown Him to us" (Jn 1,18).

So, that declaration by the evangelist is taken up and confirmed by Jesus Himself. But with a difference. While the
Johannine prologue speaks of knowing who Jesus is through His teachings, Jesus in His response to Philip refers to Himself as such directly, making us understand that it is possible to know Him not only through what He says but even more simply through who He is.

To express it through the paradox of the Incarnation, we can say that God took on a human face, that of Jesus, and from that time on, if we truly want to know the face of God, we only have to contemplate the face of Jesus! In His face, we truly see who God is and how God is!

The evangelist does not tell us if Philip fully understood what Jesus told him at that time. What we know is that he dedicated his entire life to Jesus. According to later accounts (Acts of Philip and others), our Apostle first preached in Greece then in Phrygia where he died in Gerapolis through a torture that has been variously described as crucifixion or stoning to death.

Let us conclude our reflection by recalling the purpose which our life should have: to encounter Jesus as Philip encountered Him, seeking to see in Him God Himself, the celestial Father.

If we lack this commitment, we will see ourselves simply reflected back to us as in a mirror, adn we will always be alone. Philip teaches us to let ourselves be conquered by Jesus, to stay with Him, and to invite others to share His indispensable company. And in seeing and finding God, we find true life.

Later, the Holy Father synthesized his catechesis in English, as follows:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our catechesis on the Church’s apostolic ministry, we now turn to the Apostle Philip.

Philip was a native of Bethsaida, like Peter and Andrew. In the Gospel of John, it was Philip who told Nathaniel about Jesus and then led him to the Lord with the words "Come and see!" (Jn 1:46).

Later, when some Greeks wished to see Jesus, they asked Philip and he immediately brought them to him (Jn 12:20-22). Like every good evangelist, Philip not only spoke to others about Christ, but invited them to meet him personally. Jesus in fact chose his Apostles "to be with him" (Mk 3:14) and in this way to know him and become his friends.

At the Last Supper, Philip asked: "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied", to which Jesus replied: "Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9-11). To know Jesus is to know God. In Jesus, the eternal Son, God takes on a human face.

According to tradition, Philip died a martyr’s death after preaching the Gospel in Greece and Phrygia. By his example and prayers, may we deepen our friendship with Jesus and joyfully invite others to "come and see" the Lord.

I warmly welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present at this audience, including members of the Brothers of Charity services in County Cork, Ireland, and the staff and students from St Joseph’s Institute in Copenhagen. May your time in Rome deepen your love of Christ and his Church. Upon you all I invoke God’s abundant blessings!

Earlier, addressing the German-speaking pilgrims, he referred to his coming trip to Germany which starts Saturday:

I address a most hearty and joyful welecome to the many pilgrims and visitors from the German-speaking countries. I especially greet the large deleagation of Goldhaubenfrauen [this translates literally as 'gold-cap women' so it must be an association] from Bavaria and Austria, who are making a pilgrimage to Rome with their respective Pastors, Bishop Wilhelm Schraml of Passau and Bishop Ludwig Schwarz of Linz.

Dear Goldhauberfrauen, you know how much I love this costume; Wear it for the honor of God, but know also, as the New Testament tells us, that a woman's best decoration comes from her heart.

Likewise, I heartily greet the civic defense teams from Paderborn with Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker and the 400 pilgrims who came on foot from Regensburg. God willing, we will see each other again in Regensburg, even if I will not be coming on foot!

May the Lord grant all of you who are here the grace of meeting Jesus and to lead others to Him, so that through Him they may find the Father.

In the happy anticipation of my pastoral visit to Bavaria which begins soon, I invoke on all of you God's richest blessings.

His last words at the end of the audience, addressing the Italians, also referred to his coming trip:

I trust in the prayers of you all for the Apostolic Voyage which I will be making to Germany starting this Saturday.

I thank the Lord for the opportunity he has offered me to return, for the first time since my election as Bishop of Rome, to Bavaria, the land of my origin.

Accompany me, dear friends, in this visit which I entrust to the Holy Virgin. May she guide my steps. May she obtain for the German people a new spring of faith and of civil progress.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/09/2006 2.58]

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at the Angelus today in Castel Gandolfo. The first part relating to his Bavarian visit and the Regensburg lecture if the official translation provided by the Vatican Press Office.




Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Pastoral Visit which I recently made to Bavaria was a deep spiritual experience, bringing together personal memories linked to places well known to me and pastoral initiatives towards an effective proclamation of the Gospel for today.

I thank God for the interior joy which he made possible, and I am also grateful to all those who worked hard for the success of this Pastoral Visit. As is the custom, I will speak more of this during next Wednesday’s General Audience.

At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words. I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.

Now, before the Marian prayer, I would like to dwell on two recent and important liturgical commemorations: the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated on September 14, and that of Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated the day after.

These two liturgical celebrations my be summarized visually in the traditional image of the Crucifixion, which represents the Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross, according to the description of the Apostle John, the only one of the Apostles who stayed near the dying Jesus.

But what sense is there to exalt the Cross? Is it not perhaps scandalous to venerate an infamous punishment? The Apostle Paul says: "We preach Jesus crucified - this is scandalous to the Jews, stupid to the pagans." (1 Cor 1,23).

But Christians do not exalt just any cross, but that Cross which Jesus sanctified with His sacrifice, fruit and testimony of immense love. Christ on the Cross shed all his blood to liberate humanity from the slavery of sin and of death.

Therefore, from being a sign of damnation, the Cross has been transformed into a sign of blessing, from a symbol of death to the symbol par excellence of Love which triumphs over hate and violence and generates immortal life.

"O Crux, ave spes unica! O Cross, the only hope!" - so the liturgy sings.

The evangelist narrates: at the foot of the Cross was Mary (cfr Jn 19, 25-27). Her sorrow is one with that of her Son. It is a sorrow full of faith and love. The Virgin on Calvary participates in the saving power of Christ's pain, uniting her 'fiat' -Thye will be done - with that of Her Son.

Dear brothers and sisters, united spiritually with Our Lady of Sorrows, let us renew our own Yes to God who chose the way of the Cross to save us. This is a great mystery which is ongoing, to the end of the world, and which also requires our participation.

May Mary help us to take up our Cross daily and follow Jesus faithfully along the way of obedience, sacrifice and love.

Later, he said in English:

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Angelus, and I thank you for your prayers during my pastoral visit to Bavaria.

May your stay here in Castel Gandolfo and Rome be a time of spiritual enrichment, marked by the readiness to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Upon you and your loved ones, I invoke the grace and peace of Christ the Lord!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/09/2006 13.17]

The Holy Father held his weekly general audience as usual today in St. Peter's Square. He devoted this audience to a report on his recent apostolic trip to Bavaria, during which he explained fuirther the context for the quotation he cited in his lecture in Regensburg that has become the flashpoint of so much controversy. Here is a translation of his address today.




Dear brothers and sisters,


I wish today to turn my thoughts back to various moments of my pastoral voyage to Bavaria, which thw Lord allowed me to fulfill last week. In sharing with you the emotions and sentiments that I felt revisiting the places that are dear to me, I feel above all that I must thank God for having allowed me this second visit to my country and my first to Bavaria, the land of my origin.

I am sincerely grateful to all - bishops, priests, pastoral workers, public authorities, organizers and volunteers - who worked with dedication and patience so that each event could take place in the best possible way.

As I said at my arrival in Munich on Saturday, September 9, the purpose of my visit was, in remembering how much my homeland contributed to my personality, to reaffirm and confirm, as the Successor to Peter, the close bonds that unite the Holy See and the Church in Germany.

The trip was therefore not a simple return to the past but a providential occasion to look at the future with hope. "He who believes is not alone", the motto for the visit, came to mean an invitation to reflect on how every baptized person belongs to the only Church of Christ, within which one is never alone but in constant communion with God and all our brothers.

The first stage of my trip was the city of Munich, also called the 'city with a heart' (Weltstadt mit Herz). In its historic center is the Marienplatz, Mary's Square, with Mary's column, crowned on top with a bronze statue of the Madonna.

I wished to start my Bavarian sojourn with a homage to the Patroness of Bavaria, in a place which has had great significance for me. It was there in that place and before that Marian image, where almost 30 years ago,when I was welcomed as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, I began my episcopal mission
with a prayer to Mary. I returned there at the end of my tenure as Archbishop, before leaving for Rome.

This time, I wanted to go back to pray at the Mariensauele to implore the intercession and the blessing of the mother of God
not only for Munich and Bavaria, but for all the Church and the whole world.

The next day, Sunday, I celebrated the Holy Mass in the open area adjoining Munich's New Fair grounds among the faithful who came from various parts of Germany. On the basis of the Gospel text for that day, I reminded everyone that there is a 'deafness to God' from which we suffer particularly today.

It is our task as Christians in a secularized world to proclaim and be witness to the message of hope that our faith offers us: in the crucified Jesus, God the merciful Father calls on us to be His sons and to overcome every form of hate and violence in order to contribute to the definitive victory of love.

"Make yourselves strong in the faith" was the theme of my encounter in the afternoon with First Communicants of Munich and their families and catechists, as well as pastoral workers and others who do pastoral work together in the archdiocese of Monaco

Together we celebrated Vespers at the famous Liebfraauendom, the Cathedral of our Beloved Lady, which houses the relics of St. Benno, patron of Munich, and where I was ordained a bishop in 1977.

I reminded both children and adults, that God is not far form us, in some unreachable part of teh universe. That, on the contrary, through Jesus, He came to us to establish with each of us a friendship.

Every Christian community, and the parish in particular, thanks to the constant commitment of its members, is called on to be a great family able to walk together along the path of true life.

Monday, September 11, was spent mostly in Altoetting, diocese of Passau. This little city is known as Herz Bayerns, the heart of Bavaria, where the Black Madonna is venerated at the Gnadenkapelle (Chapel of Mercy), the object of numerous pilgrimages from Germany and central Europe.

Near it is the Capuchin convent of St. Anne, where St. Konrad Birndorfer lived. He was canonized in 1934 by my venerated predecessor Pius XI.

With the many faithful who attended Holy Mass at the Square in front of the Shrine to Our Lady, we reflected on the role of Mary in the work of salvation, so e may learn from her the lesson of goodness through service, and the humility and generous acceptance of divine will.

Mary leads us to Jesus. This truth was made even more visible after the divine Sacrifice, in the procession with which, carrying the statue of the Medonna, we proceeded to the new Ambetungskappelle (Chapel of Adoration), inaugurated on this occasion.

Finally, the day closed with solemn Marian Vespers at the Basilica of St. Anne, in the presence of all the religious orders and seminarians in Bavaria, as well as members of the Opera per la Vocazione (Works for Vocations)

The following day, in Regensburg, whose diocese was established by St. Boniface in 739 and has as its patron anotther Bavarian saint, Bishop Wolfgang, there were three important events.

In the morning, at the mass in Islinger Field, we reflected once more on the theme of the visit, on the symbol of the faith.

God who is our Father wishes to gather together, through Jesus Christ, all of mankind in one family, the Church. That is why he who believes is never alone. He who believes need not fear coming to a dead end from which there is no way out.

In the afternoon, I was at the Cathedral of Regensbirg, famous for its boys' choir, the Domspatzen (sparrows of the Cathedral) which has more than a thousand years of history and was under the direction of my brother Georg for more than 30 years.

There, we held Ecumenical Vespers, with the participation of many representatives from the different churches and ecclesiastical communities of Bavaria and the members of the Ecumenical Commission of the German bishops conference.

It was a providential occasion to pray together for the day to come nearer for full unity among all the disciples of Christ, and to reiterate our obligation to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ without diminution, but in an integral and clear manner, above all, by our own behavior in showing sincere love.

An experience that was particularly beautiful for me that day was to deliver the opening lecture of the academic year before an audience of professors and students at the University of Regensburg, where I taught as a profesor for several years.

It was with joy that I found myself once more in the university world, which for a long period of my life, had been my spiritual homeland.

I chose as my theme the relationship between faith and reason. To introduce the audience to the drama and the actual relevance of this issue, I quoted some words from a dialog between a Christian and a Muslim in the 15th century. In it, the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologos - in a manner that for us was incomprehensibly blunt - presented to his Muslim interlocutor the problem of the relation between religion and violence.

The quotation, unfortunately, lent itself to being misunderstood. For the attentive reader of my text, however, it would be clear that I never inteded to make mine the words pronounced by the medieval emperor in that dialog, and that its polemical content is not my personal conviction.

My intention was altogether different. Tking off from what Manuel II himself said subsequently in a positive way, with a beautiful sentence about the rationality that should guide the transmission of faith, I wished to show that not religion and violence, but religion and reason, go together.

The topic of my lecture, corresponding to the mission of a university, was therefore the relation between faith and reason. I wished to invite a dialog of the Christian faith with the modern world and a dialog among all cutlrues and religions.

I hope that in various occasions during my visit - for instance, in Monaco, where I underscored how important it is to respect what is sacred to others - had made clear my profound respect for the great religions, particularly that of Muslims, who "adore the one God" and with whom we are committed to "defend and promote together, for all men, social justice, moral values, peace and freedom. (Nostro Aetate, 3).

I trust therefore that after the initial reactions, my words at the Unviersity of Regensburg could constitute an impulse and an encouragement for a positive dialog, even self-critical, among religions as well as beween modern reason and the faith of Christians.

The following morning, Wednesday, September 13, I presided over a brief liturgy to inaugurate a new organ in the Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel) of Regensburg, which houses a miraculous image of the Virgin painted, according to tradition, by St. Luke himself.

Taking note of the structure of an organ which is formed out of tubes of different diameters - but all well harmonized, I recalled the need for all the bishops and all who work together in the ecclesiastical community, to converge, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for the single harmony in praise of God and of love for our fellowmen.

The last stage, Thursday, September 14, was in the city of Freising, to which I feel particularly linked because I weas ordained a priest right in the Cathedral of Freising, dedicated to the Most Holy Mary and to St. Corbinian, the evangelist of Bavaria.

In the Cathedral I had my last scheduled meeting, that with the priests and permanent deacons of the diocese. Reliving the emotions of my own ordination, I reminded my fellow priests of the duty to work with God to inspire more vocations, and called on them to develop an i,ner life as a pastoral priority so as never to lose touch with Christ, the source of joy in the daily efforts of ministry.

In the departure ceremony, thanking once more all who had worked to make the visit possible, I reaffirmed its ultimate purpose: to bring the attention of my fellow Bavarians once more to the eternal truths of the Gospel and confirm among the faithful their adherence to Christ, Son of God incarnate, who died and resurrected for us.

May Mary, Mother of the Church, help us to open our hearts and minds to Him who is "the Way, the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14,16). For this I prayed, and for this I invite all of you, dear brothers and sisters, to continue to pray, as I thank you from the heart for the affection with which you accompany me daily in my ministry. I thank you all.


Later, he said this in English:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I wish to share some recollections of my pastoral visit to Bavaria. More than a journey to my roots, it was an opportunity to look forward with hope. Under the motto "those who believe are never alone" I invited all to reflect on the baptized person’s membership in the Church where, never alone, one is in constant communion with God and others.

In Munich’s central square, I implored the Virgin’s blessing upon the whole world. The following day I spoke of a certain difficulty in hearing God in a secular world which needs so much the Gospel’s message of hope.

At Altötting we reflected on Mary’s generosity in accepting God’s will, recalling how she guides us towards Jesus.
Returning to the theme of the visit, I noted in Regensburg that the Father wishes to gather all humanity into one family, the Church.

Here, at the University where for many years I had taught, I spoke on the relationship between faith and reason. I included a quotation on the relationship between religion and violence.

This quotation, unfortunately, lent itself to possible misunderstanding. In no way did I wish to make my own the words of the medieval emperor. I wished to explain that not religion and violence, but religion and reason, go together.

I hope that my profound respect for world religions and for Muslims, who "worship the one God" and with whom we "promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values for the benefit of all humanity" (Nostra Aetate, 3), is clear. Let us continue the dialogue both between religions and between modern reason and the Christian faith!

I warmly welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present today. In particular, I greet the members of the Society of Missionaries of Africa and the pilgrims from Samoa. Upon you all, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/09/2006 15.17]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/09/2006 5.03]

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus announces for the second time to his disciples his passion, d ath and resurrection (cfr Mk 9,30-31). The evangelist Mark shows clearly the strong contrast between his thinking and that of the 12 Apostles, who not only do not understand the words of the Master and reject the idea that He is going to meet His death (cfr Mk 8,32), but dispute among themselves who among them should be considered "the greatest" (cfr Mk 9, 34).

Jesus explains his logic patiently to them, the logic of a love that gives service to the point of giving oneself : "If one wants to be the first, then let him be last and be the servant of all" (Mk 9, 35).

This is the logic of Christianity which corresponds to the reality of man created in the image of God, but at the same time,opposes his selfishness, a consequence of originalsin.

EVery human being is attracted by love - which is ultimately God himself - but often errs in the concrete ways of loving, and thus, from a tendency which was originally positive but since polluted by sin, bad intentions and actions can arise.

We are reminded of this in today's liturgy by a letter of St. James: "Where there is jealousy and a spirit of contention, there is disorder and all sorts of of bad actions. But the wisdom tfrom above is, first of all, pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy."

The Apostle concludes: "The fruit of justice is sown in peace for those who do works of peace." (Jm 3,16-18).

These words make us think of the testimony of so many Christians, who in humility and silence, offer their lives in the service of others for the Lord Jesus, working concretely as servants of love and therefore 'artisans' of peace.

Some of us are called on to make the supreme testimony with our own blood, as happened a few days ago with the Italian nun Suor Leonella Sgorbati, who fell victim to violence.

This nun, who for many years, served the poor and the little ones in Somalia, died saying the word 'forgiveness - this is an authentic Christian testimony, a peaceful sign of contradiction which demonstrates the victory of love over hatred and evil.

There is no doubt that it is difficult to follow Christ but as He says, only he who loses his life for Him and His Gospel will save it (cfr Mk 8,35) and give full sense to his existence.
There is no other way to be His disciple, no other way to bear witness to his love and to strive for evangelical perfection.

May Mary, whom we invoke today as the Blessed Virgin of Mercies, help us to open our hearts always to the love of God, mystery of joy and holiness.


After the Angelus, he said this in English:

Next Thursday is World Maritime Day and I would like to invite all of you to pray for the men and women involved in seafaring, and for their families.

I thank the Lord for the work of the Apostleship of the Sea, which for many years has offered human and spiritual support to those who live this difficult and challenging way of life.

I welcome particularly the recent initiatives taken by the International Maritime Organization to contribute to the fight against poverty and hunger.

May Our Lady, Star of the Sea, look down in love upon seafarers and their families and upon all those who care for their human and spiritual needs.

To the English-speaking visitors here today, including the group of pilgrims associated with the Acton Institute in America, I extend cordial greetings.

I pray that you may receive many graces during your stay, and that you return home strengthened in faith, hope, and love. I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace upon all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home.

Here is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis at the General Audience held in St. Peter's Square this morning.




Dear brothers and sisters,

Continuing with our encounters with the twelve Apostles directly chosen by Jesus, we dedicate our attention today to Thomas. Always present in the four lists compiled within the New Testament, in the first three Gospels he is mentioned next to Matthew (cfr Mt 10,3; Mk 3,18; Lk 6,15), while in the Acts, he is mentioned next to Philip (cfr Acts 1,13).

His name comes from a Jewish root, 'ta'am, which means "matched" or "twin". In fact, the Gospel of John refers to him several times as "Didymus" (cfr Jn 11,16; 20,24; 21,2), which in Greek also means "twin". It is not clear why he earned this nickname.

Above all, the fourth Gospel offers us some information which traces some significant lines of his personality. The first is the exhortation that he makes to the other Apostles, when Jesus, at a critical moment of His life, decides to go to Bethany to revive Lazarus, thus bringing Himself dangerously close to Jerusalem (cfr Mk 10,32).

On that occasion, Thomas tells his fellow disciples: "Let us go, too, and die with Him" (Jn 11,16). This determination of his to follow the Master is truly exemplary and offers us a precious lesson; it reveals his total readiness to adhere to Jesus, up to identifying his own fate with His and to wish to share with Him the supreme test of death.

In effect, the most important thing is not to detach ourselves from Jesus. Elsewhere, when the Gospels use the verb "follow" it is to signify that wherever He goes, His disciple must also go. In this way, Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life to be lived with Him.

St. Paul writes something similar when he reassures the Christians of Corinth: "You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together" (2 Cor 7,3). What is true between the Apsotle and the Corinthians should obviously be valid above all for the relationship between Christians adn Jesus Himself: to die together, to live together, to be in His heart as He is in ours.

A second intervention by Thomas is recorded during the Last Supper. On that occasion, Jesus, predicting his own imminnent death, announces that He is going to prepare a place for His disciples so that they may also be where He is, and he tells them: "Of the place where I am going, you know the way" (Jn 14,4). It is then that Thomas intervenes and says: "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how can we know the way? (Jn 14,5).

Acctually, with this utterance, he shows a rather low level of understanding, but his words provide Jesus with the occasion to pronounce the celebrated definition: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (Jn 14,6).

It was therefore primarily to Thomas that this revelation was made, but it applies to all of us and for all time. Every time we hear or read these words, we can place ourselves beside Thomas and imagine that the Lord is speaking to us as He did to him.

At the same time, his question also gives us the right, so to speak, to ask explanations from Jesus. Often we do not understand Him. Let us have the courage to say: I don't understand you, Lord, hear me, help me to understand. Thus, with this directness which is the true way to pray, to talk with Jesus, we express the inadequacy of our capacity to understand, and we place ourselves in the trustful attitude of someone who awaits light and strength from He who is able to give these.

Very well-known, of course, so that it has become proverbial is the scene of doubting Thomas, which takes place eight days after the Resurrection. Earlier, he had not believed that Jesus had appeared in his absence, and had said: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (Jn 25,28).

Basically, these words show his conviction that Jesus would henceforth be recognizable not so much by His face as by His wounds. Thomas believes that the qualifying signs of Jesus's identity from now on would be the wounds, which reveal the extent to which He loved us. The Apostle is not wrong about this.

As we know, eight days later, Jesus reappears among His disciples, and this time, Thomas is present. Jesus addresses him: "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe" (Jn 20, 27).

Thomas responds with the most splendid profession of faith in all of the New Testament: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20,28). In this regard, St. Augustine comments: Thomas "saw and touched the Man, but confessed his faith in God whom He neither saw nor touched. But what he saw and touched led him to believe in that which up to now he had doubted" (In Iohan. 121,3).

The evangelist continues with the final words of Jesus to Thomas: "Because you have seen me, you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (Jn 20,29). This sentence applies even today: "Blessed are they who do not see but yet believe."

In any case, Jesus enunciates here a fundamental principle for all Christians who would come after Thomas, therefore for all of us. It is interesting to observe how another Thomas, the great medieval theologian of Aquinas, compares this formula for blessedness an apparently opposite one reported by Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see" (Lk 10,23).

But the man from Aquinas comments: "He who believes without seeing has greater merit than he who, seeing, does not believe"
(In Johann. XX lectio VI § 2566).

In effect, the Letters to the Hebrews, recalling the entire series of ancient biblical Patriarchs who believed in God without seeing the fulfillment of His promises, define faith as "the basis of things hoped for and the proof of things unseen" (11,1).

The case of the apostle Thomas is important for us for at least three reasons: first, it comforts us in our insecurities; second, because it shows us that every doubt can come to a luminous resolution without any uncertainty; and finally, because the words addressed to him by Jesus remind us of the true sense of mature faith and encourage us to proceed, notwithstanding the difficulty, along our way of adherence to Him.

A last remark on Thomas is found in the fourth Gospel, which presents him as the witness of the Resurrected One during the following incident of the miraculous catch of fish on the Lake of Tiberias (cfr Jn 21,2). On that occasion, he is mentioned right after Simon Peter: an evident sign of the remarkable importance that he enjoyed among the first Christian communities.

In effect, the Acts and the Gospel of Thomas would later be written in his name. Both are apocryphal but nevertheless important for the study of Christian origins.

Let us remember finally that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (Origen makes this reference from Eusebius of Caesarea, Hist eccl. 3,1) and later pushed on towards western India (cfr Acts of Thomas 1-2 and 17ff), from where Christianity eventually reached southern India.

With this missionary perspective, let us finish our reflection today, with the hope that the example of Thomas may corroborate ever more our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God.

Later, the Holy Father synthesized the lesson for the English-speaking pilgrims:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Continuing our catechesis on the Apostles, I wish to reflect today on Thomas the twin. It is most especially in John’s Gospel that we learn about Thomas.

At a dangerous time in our Lord’s life, when he decided to visit Lazarus in Bethany, it was Thomas who said: "Let us also go, that we may die with him".

He shows us that the most important thing is never to distance oneself from Jesus. The life of a Christian is one spent together with the Lord.

At the Last Supper it is Thomas who says: "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?". His question leads to the celebrated response: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life". Jesus also proclaims these words to us today.

A further episode in Thomas’ life is well known to us all: that of the ‘doubting Thomas’, who says "unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails … I will not believe". Yet, once Jesus appears to him he utters the most splendid profession of faith in all the New Testament: "My Lord and my God!"

Let us take heart from the life of Thomas: he comforts us in our uncertainty; shows us that doubt can lead to spiritual growth, and he helps us learn from Jesus the true meaning of mature faith, encouraging us to persevere as disciples of Christ!

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present today, including participants in the Pauline Colloquium, Friends of L’Osservatore Romano, and the Villa Maria College choir from Christchurch, New Zealand. I also greet in a special way the Asian Mission Congress Delegates and Pilgrims from Thailand. Upon all of you I invoke God’s blessings of peace and joy!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/09/2006 18.55]