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Ultimo Aggiornamento: 22/02/2009 21:58
25/02/2007 23:15
 
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For those who are interested - Just a note to say that I finally finished translating the Pope's Q&A with the Roman clergy on 2/22/07 (preceding page, next to the last post).

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/02/2007 23.17]

03/03/2007 16:34
 
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REMARKS AT END OF LENTEN RETREAT, 3/3/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words at the conclusion this morning of the weeklong Lenten spiritual exercises held at the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace. The remarks were addressed to Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, Archbishop emeritus of Bologna, who prepared and led the meditations this year. He performed the same service for Pope John Paul II in 1989.

My Lord Cardinal:

In the name of all of us gathered here, I wish to tell you, with all my heart, thank you, for the marvelous anagogy [mystical interpretation] that you have given us this week.

In the Holy Mass, before the Eucharistic Prayer, everyday we respond to the invitation 'Lift up your hearts' saying 'We have lifted them up to the Lord'. But I am afraid this response may often be more ritual than experiential.

But you have taught us this week to lift and elevate our hearts towards the invisible on high, towards true reality. And you have also given us the key to respond to everyday reality.

During your first meditation, I noticed that the marquetry on my prie-dieu shows the Risen Christ surrounded by flying angels. And I thought to myself: Angels fly because they are not held down by the gravitational force of earthly things, that they move instead within the gravitational field of the Risen Lord. And that we ourselves can fly if we rise a bit above material gravitation to enter into the new gravitation of the Lord's love.

You have shown us how to overcome this earthly gravitation in order to rise and enter into the Risen Lord's sphere. For this, we thank you.

I would also like to thank you for giving us very acute and precise diagnoses of our situation today, and above all, you have shown us how behind so many phenomena of our times, even if apparently very remote from religion and from Christ, there is a question, an expectation, a desire, and to which omnipresent desire the only answer is Christ.

Thus you teach us to follow Christ with greater courage and to love the Church even more, the «Immaculata ex maculatis», she who is immaculate out of the sinful, as St. Ambrose has taught us.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your realism, your humor, and your concreteness, even up to the rather daring theology of one of your housekeepers: I would not dare refer her words 'The Lord perhaps had his defects' to the judgment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith!

In any case, we have learned from your thoughts, Your Eminence, and they will accompany us in the coming weeks.

Our prayers go with you. Thank you.


==============================================================

The Holy Father also sent Cardinal Biffi a written message of thanks, translated here:


To our Venerated Brother
the Lord Cardinal Giacomo Biffi
Archbishop Emeritus of Bolgona

As the Spiritual Exercises draw joyfully to a close, I wish to attest to you, Venerated Brother, with this message, my cordial recognition and sincere appreciation of the service you have given me and my co-workers in the Roman Curia, guiding us with your stimulating meditations.

With the richness and depth of thought that we know so well, you have impelled us to turn our thoughts to "what is above" (Col 3, 1-2), as our Pauline-inspired theme indicates, during these days of prayer and reflection.

Taking off from the two liturgical invitations which, so to speak, lead the way to the Lenten journey, "Repent and believe in the Gospel," you have helped us to meditate on the Lordship of Christ over the cosmos and over history, on His blessed Passion, on the mystery of the Church and the Eucharist, as well as with the relationship of these supernatural realities to the world.

To complete and confirm the theological and spiritual reflections of each day, You have also wisely presented some figures of 'testimony' who, in different ways and styles, have oriented and sustained our itinerary towards Christ, who is the fullness of life or every person and for the entire universe.

How can I thank you, dear Cardinal, for such a precious gift? Only the Lord will know how and can reward you worthily. On my part and, I am sure, of all those who benefited from the meditations you proposed to us, we wish to assure you of our fervid prayers for yourself and for the intentions that are closest to your heart.

So that this prayerful link may be more valid and effective, I entrust it to the heavenly intercession of the Most Belessed Mary.

"May the spirit of Mary be in everyone" - this beautiful exhortation which you, echoing St. Ambrose, used to culminate these Exercises, I would like in turn to address to you as a heartfelt wish, venerated brother, while, from my heart, I renew an Apostolic Bklessing, extending it to all who are dear to you.


The Vatican
Mar 3, 2007

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2007 12.28]

09/03/2007 21:19
 
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PLACEHOLDER FOR PENDING TRANSLATIONS
09/03/2007 21:24
 
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ADDRESS TO COMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL, 3/9/07
Here is the text of the address delivered in English by the Holy Father to participants in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at 12:30 today in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace:


Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am glad to welcome you to the Vatican today on the occasion of the annual Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

My thanks go first to Archbishop Foley, President of the Council, for his kind introductory comments. To all of you, I wish to express my gratitude for your commitment to the apostolate of social communications, the importance of which cannot be underestimated in our increasingly technological world.

The field of social communications is fast-changing. While the print media struggles to maintain circulation, other forms of media such as radio, television and the internet are developing at an extraordinary rate.

Against the backdrop of globalization, this ascendancy of the electronic media coincides with its increasing concentration in the hands of a few multinational conglomerates whose influence crosses all social and cultural boundaries.

What have been the outcomes and effects of this rise in the media and entertainment industries? I know this question is one that commands your close attention. Indeed, given the media’s pervasive role in shaping culture, it concerns all people who take seriously the well-being of civic society.

Undoubtedly much of great benefit to civilization is contributed by the various components of the mass media. One need only think of quality documentaries and news services, wholesome entertainment, and thought-provoking debates and interviews.

Furthermore, in regard to the internet it must be duly recognised that it has opened up a world of knowledge and learning that previously for many could only be accessed with difficulty, if at all. Such contributions to the common good are to be applauded and encouraged.

On the other hand, it is also readily apparent that much of what is transmitted in various forms to the homes of millions of families around the world is destructive.

By directing the light of Christ’s truth upon such shadows the Church engenders hope. Let us strengthen our efforts to encourage all to place the lit lamp on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the home, the school, and society (cf. Mt 5:14-16)!

In this regard, my message for this year’s World Communications Day draws attention to the relationship between the media and young people.

My concerns are no different from those of any mother or father, or teacher, or responsible citizen. We all recognise that "beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behaviour" (No. 2).

The responsibility to introduce and educate children and young people into the ways of beauty, truth and goodness is therefore a grave one. It can be supported by media conglomerates only to the extent that they promote fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity.

I appeal again to the leaders of the media industry to advise producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family. And in encouraging all of you gathered here today, I am confident that care will be taken to ensure that the fruits of your reflections and study are effectively shared with particular Churches through parish, school and diocesan structures.

To all of you, your colleagues and the members of your families at home I impart my Apostolic Blessing.

12/03/2007 13:26
 
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ROSARY WITH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, 3/10/07
On Saturday afternoion, a prayer vigil was held at the Aula Paolo VI by university students of Rome on the 5th European Day of University Students promoted by the Council of European bishops conferences and the office for university ministry of the Vicariate of Rome.

The students were linked by satellite to their colleagues gathered in Turin, Bologna, Manchester, Coimbra, Cracow, Prague, Tirana, HongKong, Calcutta, Manila and Islamabad.

The students were joined after one hour by the Holy Father who led them in the Rosary. Here is a translation of his words to them afterwards:



Dear young universitarians,

I am very happy to greet you at the end of this Marian vigil which the Vicariate of Rome has promoted in connection with the Day for University Students.

I thank Cardinal Camillo Ruini and Mons. Lorenzo Leuzzi, as well as all those who have cooperated in the initiative: the academic institutions, the music conservatories, the ministry for the university and research, the ministry of communications. I congratulate the orchestras and the choirs, the musicians and the singers.

As I welcome you, my friends here in Rome, my thoughts go with equal affection to your colleagues who, thanks to radio-TV linkage, have been able to participate in this moment of prayer and reflection from some cities of Europe and Asia: in Prague, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bologna, Cracow, Turin, Manchester, Manila, Coimbra, Tirana and Islamabad-Rawalpindi.

This 'network' is truly a sign of the times, a sign of hope, that has been realized with the help of CTV, Vatican Radio and Telespazio.

It is a 'network' that demonstrates all its value when we consider the theme of the vigil today: "Intellectual charity, the way for a new cooperation between Europe and Asia."

We can think of intellectual charity as a force of the human spirit, capable of unifying the formative itineraries of the new generations.

More globally, intellectual charity can unite the existential paths of youth who, although living far away from each other, succeed in feeling bound together by interior reflection and Christian witness.

Tonight, we are actualizing an ideal bridge between Europe and Asia, continents of rich spiritual traditions, where the oldest and most noble cultural traditions of mankind have developed. That is why our meeting is so significant.

The young universitarians of Rome are promoters of brotherhood in the name of intellectual charity and follow a solidarity that is not motivated by economic or political interests, but by the study and research into truth.

In short, this is the true 'university' perspective, that of the community of knowledge which has been one of the constitutive elements of Europe. Thank you, dear young people!

And now I will address those who are linked to us in the other cities and nations.

Dear ones who are assembled in Prague! May friendship with Christ illuminate always your studies and your personal growth.

Dear university students from Calcutta, Hong Kong, Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Manchester and Manila! May you bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ takes nothing away from us but brings to fulfilment our deepest longings for life and truth!

Dear friends of Cracow! Always treasure the teachings that the venerated Pope John Paul II has left for the youth, and in a special way, to universitarians.

Dear students of the University of Coimbra! May the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, be your guide to turn into true disciples of Christ and witnesses for Christian wisdom.

Dear young people of Tirana! Commit yourselves as protagonists in building a new Albania that draws from the Crhistian roots of Europe.

Dear students of the Universities of Bologna and Turin! Do not fail to make ypur original and creative contributions to constructing the new humanism based on the fruitful dialog between faith and reason.

Dear friends, we are now in the season of Lent, and the liturgy exhorts us continually to be more firm in following Christ. Even this vigil, in the tradition of the World Youth Days, can be considered a stage in the spiritual pilgrimage guided by the Cross.

The mystery of the Cross cannot be detached from the theme of intellectual charity but rather illuminates it. Christian knowledge is the wisdom of the Cross. Students, and for more reason, Christian professors, interpret every reality in the light of the mystery of God's love which has its highest and most complete revelation in the Cross.

Once more, dear young people, I entrust the Cross to you: welcome it, embrace it, follow it. It is the tree of life. At its foot you will always find Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Together with her, Seat of Wisdom, turn your eyes on Him who was pierced for our sake (cfr Jn 19,7), contemplate the inexhaustible spring of love and truth, so that even you can become disciples and witnesses full of joy.

That is my wish for each of you. I accompany you with prayers in my heart and with my blessing, which I gladly extend to those who are dear to you.

19/03/2007 16:13
 
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ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO THE FEDERATION FOR TRANSPORT OF THE SICK TO LOURDES (OFTAL)
AND THE APOSTOLIC MOVEMENT FOR THE BLIND (MAC)

St Peter's Basilica
Saturday, 17 March 2007


Dear Friends of OFTAL and of the Apostolic Movement for the Blind,

I meet you with great joy in the Vatican Basilica, where you have taken part in the Eucharistic celebration at which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State, to whom I offer a cordial greeting, has presided.

I greet Archbishop Angelo Comastri, Vicar General for Vatican City and Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, and your Chaplains. I greet each one of you, and in particular Mons. Franco Degrandi, President of OFTAL, and Dr Francesco Scelzo, Vice-President of MAC, whom I thank for presenting to me your respective Associations, which came into being more or less at the same time.

In fact, the Apostolic Movement for the Blind was founded in 1928 through the insight and apostolic dynamism of Maria Motta, a sightless teacher from Monza endowed with profound faith and great strength of mind.

The Federation for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes (OFTAL), on the other hand, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. In fact, founded in 1913 by Mons. Alessandro Rastelli, a priest of the Diocese of Vercelli, it officially came into being in 1932, promoted by the Archbishop of that particular Church.

Your joint presence here today is providential, because both Associations, although they have many different aspects, have a fundamental one in common which I would like to highlight straightaway.

I refer to the fact that both MAC and OFTAL represent experiences of fraternal sharing based on the Gospel and capable of enabling people in difficulty, in this case the sick and the visually impaired, to participate fully in the life of the Ecclesial Community and to be builders of the civilization of love.

They are two institutions which, as the theme of the recent Ecclesial Convention in Verona said, bear witness to the Risen Christ, the hope of the world, demonstrating that faith and Christian friendship make it possible to overcome every condition of frailty together.

In this regard, the experience of the two Founders, Fr Rastelli and Maria Motta, is emblematic. The former went to Lourdes after an accident which confined him to a hospital for a month. The experience of sickness rendered him particularly sensitive to the message of the Immaculate Virgin, who called him to return to the Grotto of Massabielle, first in the company of a single sick person -- and this is very important! --, and then at the head of the first diocesan pilgrimage with more than 300 people, of whom 30 were sick.

For Maria Motta, sightless from birth, the visual limitation was not a hindrance to her vocation; indeed, the Spirit made her an apostle of those who cannot see and later caused her project to become more successful than she herself expected.

From that spiritual "network" which she had created, a proper association formed by diocesan groups present in every part of Italy developed and was approved by Blessed John XXIII with the name of "Apostolic Movement for the Blind". In this movement, learning the style of reciprocity and sharing, both the non-seeing and the seeing were committed to formation, to devote themselves to serving the Church's Apostolic Mission.

Each of the two associations contributed to building the Church with its own specific charism.

You, friends of OFTAL, offer the experience of the pilgrimage with the sick, a strong sign of faith and solidarity among people who come out of themselves and from the closed environment of their own problems to set out for a common goal, a spiritual place: Lourdes, the Holy Land, Loreto, Fatima and other shrines.

Thus, you help the People of God to keep alive the awareness of their nature as pilgrims in Christ's footsteps, which stands out clearly in Sacred Scripture.

Let us think of the Book of Exodus upon which the liturgy makes us meditate this Lenten Season: let us think of Jesus' public life which the Gospels present as a great pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where his "exodus" is to take place.

You, friends of MAC, are messengers in your turn of a typical experience which is your very own; that of walking together, the non-seeing side by side with the seeing. It is proof of how Christian love makes it possible to overcome handicaps and to live diversity positively, as an opportunity for openness to others, as attention to their problems but first of all to their gifts, and to mutual service.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Church is also in need of your contribution to respond faithfully and without reserve to the Lord's will. And of civil society one can likewise say: humanity needs your gifts, which are a prophecy of the Kingdom of God.

May limitations and scant resources not alarm you: God likes to carry out his works using poor means. He therefore asks you to make a generous faith available to him!

Basically, this is why you have come here: to implore at Peter's tomb the gift of a sounder faith.

Tomorrow you will be ending your pilgrimage at two of Rome's Marian sites: MAC at the Basilica of St Mary Major, and OFTAL at the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love. Set out, therefore, from this moment of grace, enlightened by the faith of Peter and Mary!

And with this faith, continue on your way, also accompanied by my prayers and my Blessing, which I impart with affection to those of you who are present here and to all your members and your loved ones.

[Translation distributed by the Holy See
and published by ZENIT 3/29/07]
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana


I always welcome it when there's a 'readymade' translation to English of a Vatican text because it saves me the time of having to do it, but I'm not generally happy about what I see.
With at least 18 months behind me now of having to translate more than a few stories everyday almost, I have become critically conscious of translations, especially of papal texts.

I don't believe in slavish translations. I think translations, while staying faithful to the original intention of the author/writer, should read and sound like the language into which they are being translated. Therefore, to follow the word order of another language, or to translate certain idiomatic expressions directly - instead of looking for an equivalent idiomatic expression that there might be in English for the same thing - just sounds very stilted to me.

And we should all learn the perils of false translation from the recent lesson of the Vatican translator with a personal agenda, who doctored the translation of what the Pope meant when he was talking about giving a Latin its proper place in the liturgy [the translation said Latin 'could be' used, i.e., sense is simply permissive, rather than the recommendatory 'it would be good' to use Latin, as it was translated in all the other languages].

But what am I to say about the translator of Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house, who in the following translation, renders the word 'Fabbrica' in Fabbrica di San Pietro (literally, St. Peter's Factory - but since it is really not a factory - it specializes in restoring and reproducing, if need be, the Vatican's cultural treasures - I have usually translated it by saying "Fabbrica the S, Pietro, the Vatican's workshop for art restoration"], into "fabric" so that his title for the Pope' message reads:


ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO THE WORKERS OF THE FABRIC OF ST PETER'S

Wednesday, 14 March 2007

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
dear Friends,

I am very pleased to have this meeting with you at the headquarters of an ancient and distinguished Papal Institution: the Fabric of St Peter's. I first greet Archbishop Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of St Peter's Basilica and your President, who has expressed your common sentiments. I then greet Bishop Vittorio Lanzani, Delegate of the Fabric, and each one of you.

You work in the Apostle's venerable Basilica which is the heart of the Catholic Church, a vibrant heart, thanks to the Holy Spirit who always keeps it alive but also thanks to the activity of those who daily ensure it fulfils its role.

As Archbishop Comastri recalled, just over 500 years have passed since the foundation stone of the second Vatican Basilica was laid: yet, it is still alive and young, it is not a museum, it is a spiritual organism and even the stones feel its vitality!

You who work here, first among others, are the "living stones", as the Apostle Peter wrote, living stones of the spiritual edifice which is the Church.

I am happy to have this meeting with you, even if it is brief, to close the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the Vatican Basilica, where you carry out your duties.

I would like to take this opportunity to recall at this moment all your colleagues who preceded you in the past 500 years. I express my gratitude to you for all that you do with commitment and competence to enable this "heart" of the Church, as I said above, to continue to beat with perennial vitality, attracting men and women of the whole world and helping them to have a spiritual experience that marks their life.

In fact, thanks to your contribution, almost always unseen but always appropriate, a great many people, pilgrims from all parts of the world, are able to make the most of their pilgrimage or simply their visit to the Vatican Basilica, and take back with them in their hearts a message of faith and hope: a certainty of having seen not only great works of art but of being in contact with the Church alive, with the Apostle Peter and in the end, with Christ.

Once again, I thank and encourage you: always do your work as an act of love for the Church, for St Peter and hence, for Christ.

I entrust you all, you and your loved ones, to the special protection of St Peter and, as I assure you of my remembrance in prayer and ask you to reciprocate by praying for me, I cordially bless you all.

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Published by ZENIT on 3/19/07

==============================================================

I think someone at the Vatican should come up with proper English terms for Vatican offices, such as that for instance of the "Apostolic Penitentiary" - translated that way directly from the Latin and Italian, one would think it was a jail for apostles, when in fact, it deals with excommunications and indulgences. And its head is called the Major Penitentiary (as in he who does penance more than anyone, maybe??? - really weird terms!).

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/03/2007 1.50]

19/03/2007 19:38
 
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HOMILY AND ADDRESS TO YOUNG DETAINEES, 3/18/07
At 9:00 on Sunday morning, the Holy Father arrived at the Penal Institute for Minors in Casal del Marmo, Rome.

He was welcomed there by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his Vicar-General for the Diocese of Rome; Auxiliary Bishop Mons. Benedetto Tuzia; the Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella; the chief of the department of juvenile justice Melita Cavallo; the director of the center for juvenile justice Donatella Caponetti; the director of the institute, Maria Laura Grifoni; and the Commandant of the police detachment at the penitentiary, Inspector Francesco D'Ortenzi.

At 9:30, the Holy Father presided at a concelebration of the Mass in the Chapel of the Merficul Father. Before the Mass, the Holy Father was greeted with words of homage from the prison chaplains. At the end of the Mass, Justice Minister Mastella addressed words of thanks to the Holy Father.

Here is a translation of the homily that the Pope delivered extemporaneously after the Gospel:



THE HOMILY

Dear brothers and sisters,
dear boys and girls!

I came here gladly to visit you, and the most important moment in our encounter is the Holy Mas in which God's gift of love to us is renewed - a love that comforts us and gives us peace especially in the most difficult moments of life.

In this climate of prayer, I wish to address my greetings to each of you: to the Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella, to whom I address a special acknowledgement; to the head of the department for juvenile justice, all the other authorities, the responsible officials, workers, teachers and other personnel of this institution, as well as the volunteers, and the family members of everyone present.

I greet the Cardinal Vicar for Rome and Auxiliary Bishop Benedetto Tuzia. I specially greet Mons. Giorgio Caniato, Inspector-General of chaplains for penal institutions, and your chaplain, whom I thank for expressing sentiments in your behalf before the Mass began.

In the eucharistic celebration, it is Christ himself who is present among us. He comes to teach us to enlghten us with his teaching - in the Liturgy of the Word - and to nourish us with His Body and Blood - in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and Communion.

He comes to teach us to love, He comes to make us able to love, and therefore able to live. You may well ask, how difficult can it be to love, or to live well?

But what is the secret of love, the secret of life? Let's turn back to the Gospel we just heard.

There are three characters in this Gospel - a father and his two sons. Both sons live in peace, both are farmers who are well off, they sell their crop well, and life seems good.

Nevertheless the younger son gradually finds this life boring and unsatisfactory. This can't be all there is to life, he tells himself: getting up every day, maybe at 6 am., and then following the Jewish tradition, a prayer and a reading of the Holy Bible, and then, to work, and at the end of the day, another prayer.

And so, day after day, he thinks, "But there has to be more in life, I should go out and find some other life where I can be really free, where I can do whatever I please - a life that will be free of this discipline, these standards set by the commandments of God, or by my father's orders. I'd like to be by myself, for a change, and have a life that is totally just for me, with all its pleasures. Because now, all I have is work."

And so he decides to get all the patrimony due him and to leave home. The father is very respectful and generous, and respects his son's freedom - let he himself find his own plan for life.

So the son goes, according to the Gospel, to a faraway place.
Geographically far, probably, because he wants a change. But also internally, because he wants a completely different life.

His idea of that life is: freedom, doing whatever he wishes, not to have to live by the standards of a remote God, to do everything that seems beautiful to him, what pleases him, to enjoy life in all its richness and fullness.

In fact, for a time - possibly for several months - everything seemed to go his way. He was happy he was finally able to to 'live', he felt happy. and then gradually, he started to feel bored. It was the same thing all over. Which in the end remains a void that is ever more disquieting. He feels increasingly that this still is not 'the life' , that even going forward with all these new things, life seemed even
farther away.

Everything becomes empty, and even now, he feels once again the slavery of routine. and ultimately, his money is gone,and he finds out that he has been reduced to a state of life even worse than pigs in their sty.

So he starts to reflect, asking himself whether the way to living fully was through freedom, in the sense of doing whatever I want, to live just for myself. Or was it better to live for others, contribute to building a better world, to the growtn of the human community...

So he embarks on a new road, an internal journey. The young man reflects and considers all these new aspects of the problem and begins to see that he was much more free at home - as a proprietor himself, he could contribute to the wellbeing of his own family and of society, in communion with the Creator. He begins to recognize the purpose of his life, seeing the plan that God has for him.

In this interior joruney, in the maturation of a new plan for life, the young man then sets out on the exterior journey, to go back home, to start his life anew. Because now he understands that he took the wrong track. I must start anew with a completely different idea, he tells himself.

And he arrives at the house of his father, who had given him the freedom to go, to give him the possibility of learning what it means to live and how not to live. The father, with all his love, embraces him, offers him a feast, and life can start again with this feast.

The son now understands that it is work, humility, the discipline of every day, that create true feasting and true freedom. And so he has come back home, matured and purified within. He has learned what it means to live.

Certainly, his life was not always going to be easy, the temptations would return, but at least, he is now aware that a life without God does not work - it lacks essence, it lacks light, it lacks the why, the great sense of human existence.
He has understood that we can only understand God on the basis of His own words. We Christians may add that we know God in Jesus, who has shown us the face of God.

The young man understands now that the commandments of God are not an obstacle to freedom and the good life, but they are pointers for the road one must take in order to find true life.

He understands that even work, discipline, commitment to others instead of only to oneself, broadens our life. Because this very commitment to work, to do what we have to do, gives depth to our life - it makes us feel ultimately the satisfaction of having helped to make this world better, more free and more beautiful.

I will not now talk about the other son who remained at home, but in his envious reaction, we see that perhaps interiorly, he too had felt it might have been better to leave home and take all the liberties he wants to. But he, too, in his interior homecoming - he had been out in the fields working -
would have understood that one can truly live only with God, with His Word, in communion with one's own family, in communion with others, in the great Family of God.

I will not now go into further detail - let each of us find our own way of applying this Gospel to ourselves. We all have different circumstances and everyone has his own way. But it concerns all of us, and each of us can follow our own interior way to the profoundness of the Gospel.

But just a few small observations. The Gospel helps us to understand who God truly is: He is the merciful Father who, in Jesus, loves us beyond all measure. The errors we make, no matter how big, do not erode the faithfulness of His love.

In the sacrament of confession, we can always start life anew - He welcomes us always, He restores dignity to his children. So let us rediscover this sacrament of forgiveness which makes joy gush forth from a heart that is reborn into the true life.

This parable also makes us understand what man is: he is not a 'monad', an isolated entity that lives for himself alone and could have a life all by himself and all to himself. On the contrary, we live with others, we were created together with all others, and only in being with others, in giving ourselves to each other, can we find true life.

Man is a creature on which God has stamped His own image, a creature who is drawn into the horizon of His grace. But even if he is also a fragile creature, exposed to evil, he is still capable of doing good.

Finally, man is a free being. But we have to understand what is freedom and what is simply the appearance of freedom. We could say that freedom is like a trampoline to launch us towards the infinite sea of divine goodness. But it can also be a slippery slope down which we can easily plunge toward the abyss of sin and evil, and thus lose both our freedom and our dignity.

Dear friends, we are in the season of Lent, the 40 days before Easter. At this time, the Church helps us to make our interior journeys and invites us to repentance which, before it is seen as an effort that is always important in order to change our behavior, should be considered an opportunity to decide to get up and begin anew, abandoning sin and choosing to return to God.

Together let us make this journey of interior liberation - and this is the imperative of Lent. Every time, like today, that we participate in the Eucharist - source and school of love - we become capable of living this love, of announcing it and of being witness to it in our own life.

But we must decide to go towards Christ, just as the prodigal son went back, interiorly and exteriorly, to his father. At the same time, we must avoid the selfish attitude of the older son, so sure of himself, so ready to condemn others, and who closes his heart to understanding, welcoming and forgiving his younger brother, forgetting that he too is in need of pardon.

May the Virgin Mary obtain this gift for us, and St. Joseph, my patron saint, whose feast we celebrate tomorrow, and whom I now invoke specially for each of you and for the persons who are dear to you.

THE HOLY FATHER'S CLOSING WORDS TO THE YOUTH

After the mass, the Holy Father proceeded to the gymnasium to meet with his young hosts and the agents in charge of the penitentiary. After welcome addresses by prison officials and a young man who spoke for his fellow wards, the Holy Father said the following:

Dear boys and girls,

First I would like to thank you all for your joy, and for your preparationa. It has been a great joy for me to be able to bring you some light with this visit. And now, my brief but very intense visit must come to an end.

As they have pointed out, it is my first contact with the world of prisons since I became Pope. I have listened carefully to the words of your director, to the Commandant, and to your spokesman whom I thank for presenting me with your warm sentiments, as well as the greetings you have extended to me on the occasion of my name day.

I have also heard how the memory of Cardinal Agostino Casaroli - who was familiarly called Padre Agostino by all - lives on in this institution. He spoke to me on several occasions about his experiences here, and how he always felt very much a friend and intimate of all the boys and girls who have come to these quarters.

My dear boys and girls, you have come from different nations, and I would love to be able to stay longer with you, but my time is limited, unfortunately. Perhaps we shall have a longer encounter on another day. But I want you to know that the Pope loves you and follows you with affection.

And I would like to take this occasion to thank all who now find themselves in detention, and to all those who work in the penitentiary system.

Dear boys and girls, today is a big day for you because we are all here for you: the pope, the Minister of Justice, many civil authorities, the Cardinal Vicar, the auxiliary bishop, your chaplain, so many other persons and friends.

So it is a day of joy. And the liturgy itself for this Sunday begins with an invitation to joy: Rejoice! is the first word that begins today's Mass.

But how can one rejoice when one suffers, when one is deprived of freedom, when one feels abandoned?

During the Mass, we were reminded that God loves us. He is the spring of true joy. Because even when one has all that one wants, one may still be unhappy. On the other hand, one may be deprived of everything, including freedom or health, and still feel peace and joy, if God is within our heart.

And so that is the secret; God must always occupy first place in our life. And Jesus has revealed to us the true face of God.

Dear friends, before I leave you,I assure you with all my heart that I will continue to remember you before God, You will always be in my prayers.

I give you my advance wishes for the coming Easter, and I bless all of you. May the Lord always accompany you with His grace and guide you in your future life.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/03/2007 18.37]

24/03/2007 20:28
 
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PLACEHOLDER FOR ADDRESS TO THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR HEALTH CARE MINISTRY

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/03/2007 20.37]

24/03/2007 20:35
 
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REMARKS TO TUEBINGEN THEOLOGIANS, 3/21/07
Here is a translation of the remarks made by the Holy Father extemporaneously to a delegation from the Theological Faculty of the University of Tuebingen, whom he met after the General Audience on Wednesday, March 21.



My dear Bishop,
Respected Dean,
My honorable colleagues, if I may call you that!

I thank you all for this visit and I must say that I truly rejoice in my heart. An encounter with one's own past is always beautiful because there is something youthening about it. But this is more than just a nostalgic encounter.

You, dear Bishop, said yourself that it is also a sign of how much theology means to me - how can it be otherwise, when I truly saw it my calling to be a professor, although the dear Lord then suddenly willed something else for me.

But likewise, it is a sign on your part that you see the inner unity between theological research, theological learning and work, with pastoral service in the Church, and thereby the entirety of the Church's efforts in behalf of mankind, the world and our future.

Naturally, I began yesterday to rummage through my memories in preparation for this meeting. And something came to mind that goes well with what you, Dear Dean, have expressed, namely, remembering the Great Senate. I don't know if today, all academic nominations still go through the Great Senate.

It was very interesting then when, let us say, a chair for mathematics had to be filled, or for Assyriology or Solid-State Physics, or whatever, other faculties had little to say about it, and everything was resolved fast because hardly anyone dared to speak out.

But it was different with the the spiritual sciences. And in the theological chairs in both faculties, everyone had a say and one could see that every professor in the University considered himself to have some competence about theology, so they felt they could and should participate in the decision-making; that theology was really so close to their own heart that you would think, on the one hand, that our colleagues from the other faculties considered theology the centerpiece of the University, and on the other, that theology was something that seemed to concern and involve everyone and for which they all believed they had some competence.

In other words, when I think about it, the very dispute over a professorial chair in theology was in itself an experience of the university as university. I am happy to note that these cooptations [in this sense, it means 'election of new members into a body by the members of that body itself'] still exist, stronger than ever, although Tuebingen has always been very good at this.

I don't know whether Leibniz College to which I belonged still exists, but in any case, there is a risk that the modern university becomes just a collection of faculties, which are bound more by external institutional ties, than by that inner unity of which a universitas should build on.

Theology was obviously a subject in which universitas was present, which demonstrated that everything belongs together, with an underlying common question, common task, and common purpose. One can see in this, I think, a high respect for theology.

In these days - when in some Latin states, the secularism of the State and state institutions is emphasized to the extreme, excluding everything that has to do with Church, Christianity and faith - I think it is obvious that there is a nexus from which the complex we call theology (which fundamentally has to do with church and faith and Christianity) cannot be separated, and that Christian questions, Christian thought and Christian answers must be made clear in the context of our present realities in Europe, as secular as they may and should be, in certain aspects.

And so, while on the one hand, theology must continue to contribute to what universitas really means, it also has the enormous task of satisfying expectations, of being up to fulfilling the task that it is entrusted with.

I am happy to learn that meanwhile, the cooptation system makes concrete - much more than before - how intra-university discussion lets the university be what it should be, held together by a process of questioning and answering together.

But it is also an occasion to consider how capable we theologians are, not only in Tuebingen but elsewhere, to do what is expected of us. Because the university, society, mankind need to ask questions but they also require answers.

And I believe that, not only for theology, there must be a certain dialectic between the strictly scientific and the always insistent and transcendent larger questions about truth.

I would like to make this clear with an example. An exegete who interprets Sacred Scripture must look at it as a historical work 'secumdum artem', that is according to the strict science that we know, according to its historical components as required, and with all the methodology necessary. But all that together still does not make him a theologian.

If that was all there was to it, then theology, or at least, Bible interpretation, would be similar to Egyptology or Assyriology or similar specialization.

In order to be a theologian and render the service to the university - and I daresay, to mankind - that is expected of a theologian, he must also ask: Is that really true, what it says? And if it is, does it concern us? How does it concern us? And how can we know that it is true and that it concerns us?

I think that in this sense, theology, while remaining a science, is answerable for things over and beyond the concerns of science. The university, humanity, needs questions.

If there are no questions asked - those that touch on the essential and transcend any specialization - then we will not come up with answers. Only when we ask questions and in a radical way - as radical as theology should be, beyond specialization - can we hope to get answers to the fundamental questions that concern us all. But first we must ask. He who does not ask will not get annswers.

But I must add that in theology, the courage to ask must be accompanied by the humility to listen to the answers that our Christian faith gives us, the humility to understand the reason in these answers, so that we in turn can make these answers accessible to others for our time. And so, not only do we help constitute the university, we also help others to live. And in this task, I wish you all God's blessings.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/04/2007 1.09]

24/03/2007 20:36
 
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ADDRESS TO THE BISHOPS OF EUROPE, 3/24/07
At 11:15 today, in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father greeted the participants of a Congress on the theme "50 years after the Treaty of Rome: Values and perspectives for the Europe of tomorrow", promoted by the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of Europe [COMECE from its Italian acronym].



Here is a translation of his address to them:




Lord Cardinals,
Venerated brothers in the Episcopate,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am particularly happy to receive so many of you today, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome
in 1957.

It marked an important new stage for Europe, which was just coming out of the extreme effects of a world war and which was desirous of constructing a future of peace and better social and economic wellbeing, without dissolving or denying its diverse national identities.

I greet Mons. Adrianus Herman van Luyn, Bishop of Rotterdam and president of your Commission, and thank him for the kind words he addressed to me earlier. And I greet all the other prelates, personages and participants in the discussions held by the COMECE these days to reflect on Europe.

From that March day 50 years ago, this Continent has gone a long way, which has led to reconciling its two 'lungs' - East and West - which are linked by a common history but were arbitrarily divided by a curtain of injustice.

Economic integration has stimulated a policy and a still arduous search for an institutional structuree that would be adequate for a European Union which now has 27 member nations and wishes to take a leading role on the world stage.

Through these years, the need has been increasingly felt to establish a healthy balance between the economic and social dimensions, through policies which could produce wealth and increase Europe's competitiveness, without neglecting the legitimate expectations of the poor and the marginalized.

But demographically, one must unfortunately take note that Europe appears to be on a path that could lead to writing itself out of history.

Besides placing economic growth at risk, this could cause enormous problems for social cohesion and, above all, favor a dangerous individualism which is heedless of the consequences for the future. One would think that the European continent is, in fact, losing faith in its own future.

Moreover, insofar for example as respect for the environment or the systematic access to energy resources and investments, solidarity is hardly given an incentive, not just internationally, but even internally within nations.

The process itself of European unification does not appear to be agreed to by everyone, the widespread impression being that various 'chapters' of the European project have been formulated without taking into account the expectations of the citizens themselves.

It emerges quite clearly from all this that one cannot think of building an authentic 'common house' for Europe by ignoring the identity of the peoples on our Continent. This is a historical cultural and moral identity that precedes geographic, economic or political identity - an identity made up of a sum of universal values which Christianity helped forge, acquiring thereby not only a historic role, but a foundational one with respect to Europe.

Such values, which constitute the very soul of Europe, should be safeguarded in Europe during this third millennium to serve as a ferment for civilization. If these values were to play a lesser role, how can the 'old' Continent continue to be 'yeast' for the whole world?

If, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the governments of the Union wish to get close to their ciizenry, how can they exclude an essential element of European identity like Christianity, with which a great majority of Europeans continue to identify themselves?

Is it not a cause for surprise that Europe today, while it aims to propose itself as a community of values, seems to dispute increasingly that there are any absolute universal values at all?

Does not this singular form of 'apostasy' of itself, even before it is a denial of God, lead it to doubt its own identity?

In this way, it will end up spreading the belief that a 'consideration of benefits' is the only criterion for moral discernment and that the common good is synonymous to compromise.

But although compromise may represent a legitimate balance among conflicting interests, it becomes a common evil every time it means sanctioning agreements that offend human nature.

A community that builds itself without due respect for the authentic dignity of man - forgetting that every person is created in the image of God - ends up by doing good to no one.

That is why it becomes even more indispensable that Europe guards against a purely pragnatic attitude, widespread today, that systematically justifies compromise on essential human values as an inevitable acceptance of a presumed lesser evil.

Such pragmatism, presented as balanced annd realistic, is really not, essentially, precisely because it denies that ideal dimension of values which is inherent in human nature.

When such pragmatism is exercised in the context of secularistic and relativistic tendencies, it ends up by denying Christians their very right to engage in public discourse as Christians, or at the very least, their contributions are rejected on the grounds that they simply wish to retain unjustified privileges.

In the present historical moment and in the face of the many challenges that characterize our time, the European Union - in order to be a valid guarantor of rights and an effective promoter of universal values, cannot but recognize clearly the existence of a stable and permanent human nature, which is the source of common rights for every person, including those who would deny those rights. In this context, the right to conscientious objection must be safeguarded every time fundamental human rights are violated.

Dear friends, I know how difficult it is for Christians to defend the truth about man strenuously. But do not tire of doing so, and do not be discouraged!

You know you have the task to contribute to build, with the help of God, a new Europe which is realistic but not cynical, rich with ideals and free from ingenuous illusions, inspired by the perennial and life-giving truth of the Gospel.

Therefore, be actively present in the public debate at the European level, knowing that it is also part of national debates, and couple such mission with effective cultural action. Never yield to the logic of power for its own ends.

Let Christ's own advice be your constant stimulus and support when He said: "If salt loses its taste...it is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot" (Mt 5,13).

May the Lord make fruitful every effort of yours and help you to recognize and value the postiive elements in our civilization today while courageously renouncing everything that is contrary to the dignity of man.

I am sure the Lord will not fail to reward the generous efforts of all who, in a spirit of service, work to build a common home for Europe where every cultural, social and political contribution must be aimed at the common good.

To you, who are already engaged in various ways in this important human and evangelical undertaking, I express my support and my most sincere encouragement. Above all, I assure you of remembrance in my prayers, and as I invoke the maternal protection of Mary, Mother of the Incarnate WOrd, I impart to you all, to your families and to your communities, my affectionate blessing.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/03/2007 4.50]

25/03/2007 07:30
 
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ADDRESS TO THE C&L ASSEMBLY , 3/24/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words to the assembly of Comunione e Liberazione in St. Peter's Square to mark the 25th anniversary of pontifical recognition of the movement.


Dear brothers and sisters,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you today at St. Peter's Square on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of pontifical recognition of the Brotherhood of Communione e Liberazione.

I extend my heartfelt greeting to each of you, especially to the prelates, the priests and the officers who are present here today. I greet most especially Don Julian Carron, president of your brotherhood, and I thank him for the beautiful and profound words that he addressed to me in the name of all of you.

My first thought goes to your founder, Mons. Luigi Giussani, to whom I am linked by so many memories, and who became for me a true friend. Our last encounter, as Mons. Carron indicated, was at the Cathedral of Milan two years ago, when our beloved John Paul II sent me to preside at his funeral.

The Holy Spirit has inspired in the Church, through him, a movement, yours, that bears witness to the beauty of being Christian at a time when the prevailing opinion is that Christianity is something tedious and too oppressive as a way of life.

Don Giussani then committed himself to reawaken in the youth a love of Christ - the Way, the Truth and the Life - reaffirming that only He is the way towards realizing the most profound desires in man's heart, and that Christ does not save us by ignoring our humanity but through it.

As I recalled in my homily for his funeral, this courageous priest, who grew up in a home that was materially poor but rich in music, as he often liked to say, was moved from the very beginning - 'wounded' we might even say - by the desire for beauty, but not just any beauty. He sought Beauty itself, the infinite Beauty that he found in Christ.

How can we not remember as well the many encounters and contacts between Don Giussani and my venerated predecessor John Paul II? In an event that is dear to you all, the Pope reaffirmed that the original pedagogical intuition that Comunione e Liberazione was reproposing - in a fascinating way that was in tune with contemporary culture - the Christian happening, perceived as a source of new values and capable of orienting one's entire existence.

This 'happening' that changed the life of your founder, also 'wounded' so many of his spiritual children and has given rise to multiple religious and ecclesiastical experiences which make up the history of your vast and well articulated spiritual family.

Comunione e Liberazione is a community experience of faith, born in the Church, not through the will of the hierarchy, but from a renewed encounter with Christ and therefore, we might say, from an impulse ultimately coming from the Holy Spirit.

Even today, it offers itself as a possibility of living the Christian faith profoundly and concretely - on the one hand, with total loyalty and communion with the Successor of Peter and with the bishops who assure the governance of the Church, and on the other hand, with a spontaneity and freedom that allow new and prophetic realizations of apostolic and missionary work.

Dear friends, your movement takes its place amid that vast flowering of associations, movements and new ecclesiastical entities inspired providentially by the Holy Spirit after the Second Vatican Council. Every gift of the Holy Spirit must originally and necessarily be in the service of the Body of Christ, proof pf the immense love God has for the life of every man.

The reality of the ecclesiastical movements is a sign of the fecundity of the Lord's Spirit, in order that the victory of the resurrected Christ may be made manifest in the world and that the missionary mandate entrusted to the entire Church may be fulfilled.

In his message to the World Congress of Ecclesiastical Movements in May 1988, the Servant of God John Paul II took the occasion to repeat that, in the Church, there is no opposition between its institutional and charismatic dimensions, of which the movements are a significant expression, because both are co-essential to the divine constitution of the People of God.

In the Church, even the ecclesiastical institutions are charismatic, while on the other hand, charisms should be institutionalized one way or the other in order to have consistency and continuity.

That way, both dimensions, originated by the same Holy Spirit for the same Body of Christ, work together to manifest the mystery and saving work of Jesus to the world.

This explains the attention which the Pope and his ministers give to the wealth of charismatic gifts in our time. In this respect, during my recent encounter with the parish priests and clergy of Rome, recalling St. Paul's admonition in the First Letter to the Thessalonians not to extinguish charisms, I said that if the Lord gives us new gifts, we should be grateful even if these may sometimes be inconvenient.

At the same time, because the Church is one, if the movements are truly a gift of the Holy Spirit, they should position themselves within the ecclesiastical community and serve it so that, in a patient dialog with their ministers, they can be edifying elements for the Church of today and tomorrow.

Dear brothers and sisters, our lamented John Paul II, on another occasion that was very significant for you, entrusted you with this assignment: "Go forth into the world to bring the truth, the beauty and the peace which are found in Christ the Redeemer."

Don Giussani made those words the program for your Movement; and for Communione e Liberazione, it was the beginning of a missionary phase that has now brought you to 80 countries.

Today, I invite you to continue along that road, with a profound faith that is personalized and firmly rooted in the living Body of Christ, the Church, which guarantees Jesus's contemporary presence among us.

Let us end our encounter by turning our thoughts to Our Lady, in reciting the Angelus. Don Giussani had a great devotion to her, nourished by the invocation 'Veni Sancte Spiritus, veni per Mariam' and by reciting Dante Alighieri's Hymn to the Virgin, which you recited here earlier today.

May the Virgin Mary accompany you and help you to say generously your YES to the will of God in any situation. Dear friends, you may count on constant remembrance in my prayers, as I affectionately bless all of you present here today and your entire spiritual family.

26/03/2007 00:30
 
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HOMILY AT SANTA FELICITA E FIGLI, 3/25/07
The Holy Father today made a pastoral visit to the Parish of Santa Felicita e Figli martiri (St. Felicity and Sons, martyrs) in the Fidene district, northern sector of the Diocese of Rome. At 9:30, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass at the parish church, and after the Gospel, he delivered a homily translated here:





Dear brothers and sisters of this parish!


I am very glad to visit you today on the fifth Sunday of Lent. I address a heartfelt greeting to each of you. Above all, I greet the Cardinal Vicar and the Auxiliary Bishop Mons. Enzo Dieci. I greet affectionately the Vocationist fathers to whom the parish has been entrusted since it was born in 1958, and in a very special way, your parish priest, Eusebia Mosca, whom I thank for the kind words with which he has given me a brief picture of the reality in your community.

I greet the other priests, religious, catechists and committed laymen, and all who offer in different ways their contribution to the multiple activities of the parish - pastoral, educational and in the promotion of the human being - which are directed with priority attention to children, youth and families.

I salute the Filipino community which is quite numerous in your district, and who gather here every Sunday for Mass said in their own language. I extend my greeting to all the residents of the Fidene district, who are increasingly made up of people coming from other regions of Italy and from foreign countries.

Here, as elsewhere, you do not lack for difficulties, whether material or moral - situations which demand of you, dear friends, a constant commitment to testify that the love of God, which is fully manifested in the crucified and risen Christ, embraces everyone concretely without distinction of race or culture.

This is basically the mission of every parochial community, which is called on to announce the Gospel and to be a place of welcoming and listening, of formation and fraternal sharing, of dialog and forgiveness.

How can a Christian community be faithful to its mandate? How can it become increasingly a family of brothers animated by love?

The word of God, which we just heard, and which echoes with singular eloquence in our hearts during this Lenten season, reminds us that our eartly pilgrimage is fraught with difficulties and trials, like the journey of the Chosen People through the desert before reaching the Promised Land.

But divine intervention, Isaiah assures us in the first Reading, can make it easy, transforming arid country into a land of comfort that is rich with waters (cfr Is 43,19-20).

The responsorial psalm echoes the prophet: As it recounts the joy of returning from the Baylonian exile, it invokes the Lord to intervene in favor of the 'prisoners' who weep as they walk, but coming back, are full of jubilation because God is present, and as in the past, will once again fulfill 'great things for us."

This same knowledge should animate every Christian community that is given by the Lord abundant spiritual provisions to traverse the desert of this world and to transform it into a fertile garden.

These provisions are obedient listening to His word, the Sacraments, and every other spiritual resource of liturgy and personal prayer. But above all, the true provision is His love -the love that impelled Jesus to immolate Himself for us, which transforms us and makes us capable of following Him
faithfully.

Following what the liturgy proposed last Sunday, today's Gospel helps us undertand that only the love of God can change man's existence, from within, and consequently, every society, because only His infinite love liberates man from sin, which is the root of every evil.

If it is true that God is justice, we should not forget that He is above all, love: if he hates sin, it is because he loves each human being infinitely. He loves each of us and His faithfulness is so profound that He is not discouraged even by our rejection.

In particular, today Jesus urges us to an internal conversion: he explains to us why He forgives us, and teaches us to make of the forgiveness we receive from and give to our brothers the 'daily bread' of our existence.

The Gospel passage narrates the episode of the adulterous woman in two evocative scenes: In the first, we witness a dispute between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees about a woman who was surprised in flagrant adultery, and according to what is prescribed in the Book of Leviticus (cfr 20,10), would be condemned to be stoned to death.

In the second scene, we witness a brief and moving dialog between Jesus and the sinner. Her pitiless accusers, citing Mosaic law, provoke Jesus - they all him "Master" (Didaskale) - asking Him if it is right to stone her. They know His mercy and His love for sinners and are curious to see how He would deal with a case of this kind, which under Mosaic law, admitted no doubt.

But Jesus immediately put Himself on the side of the woman - first, writing mysterious words on the ground, which the evangelist does not reveal to us, and then saying that famous sentence: "Whoever among you is without sin [he uses the term anamartetos, which is used in the New Testament only in this instance) may cast the first stone" (Jn 8,7).

St. Augustine notes that "The Lord, in asnwering, respects the law and does not abandon his usual gentleness." He adds that with those words, Jesus obliges the woman's accusers to look into themselves and in doing so, find out that they are also sinners. And therefore, "struck by these words as by an arrow broad as a beam, one by one, they left"(In Io. Ev. tract 33,5).

One after the other, then, the accusers who had wanted to provoke Jesus, went away "starting with the oldest to the youngest." And when they had all left, the divine Master was left alone with the woman. Augustine's comment is concise and effective: "Relicti sunt duo: misera et misericordia" - only the two of them remained - the miserable and the merciful[or literally, misery and mercy].

Let us pause, dear brothers and sisters, to contemplate this scene where human misery confronts divine mercy - a woman accused of a grave sin and Him, who is sinless himself but who has taken on the sins of the entire world.

He, who had stayed bent down, writing in the dust, now raises His eyes and meets those of the woman. He does not ask for explanations, he does not demand excuses. He is not being ironic when He asks, "Woman, where are they? Has anyone condemned you?" (8,10). And He gives an astounding reply to His own question: "Then neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more" (8,11).

St. Augustine, in his comment, remarks: "The Lord condemns the sin, not the sinner. If he had tolerated sin, he would have said, 'Go, live as you please - no matter how great your sins are, I release you from every penalty and from every suffering.' But that is not what He says"(Io. Ev. tract. 33,6).

Dear friends, concrete indications for our life emerge from the word of God that we heard today. Jesus did not get into a theoretical discussion with His interlocutors. He was not interested in winning a dispute over the interpretation of Mosaic law. His objective was to save a soul and to reveal that salvation is only found in God's love.

That is why He came to earth, why he would die on the Cross, and why the Father would resurrect Him on the third day. Jesus came to tell us that He wants us all in Paradise, and that Hell - of which very little is spoken these days - exists, and is eternal for those who close off their hearts to His love.

Even in this episode, we understand that the true enemy is attachment to sin, which can lead us to the failure of our existence. Jesus sends off the adulterous woman with the advice, "Go, and sin no more." He grants forgiveness so that "from now on", she would no longer sin.

In an analogous episode, that of the repentant woman which we find in the Gospel of Luke (7,36-50), Jesus welcomes and sends away in peace a woman who has repented. But in today's Gospel episode, the adulterous woman received unconditional forgiveness.

In both cases - for the repentant sinner and for the adulterer - the message is unique. In the first case, it is stressed that there is no forgiveness without repentance. In the second, it is made clear that only divine pardon and His love, received with an open and sincere heart, gives us the strength to resist evil and 'sin no more'.

Jesus's attitude thus becomes a model to be followed by each community, called on to make love and forgiveness the beating heart of community life.

Dear brothers and sisters, in the Lenten journey that we are making, and which is coming rapidly to its end, we are accompanied by the certainty that God will never abandon us, and that His love is a spring of joy and peace - it is a force that urges us powerfully onto the road of sainthood, and if necessary, up to martyrdom.

That is how it was for the sons and later their courageous mother Felicity, patrons of your parish. Through their intercession, may the Lord grant that you may encounter Christ ever more profoundly and follow Him with obedient faithfulness so that, as with the Apostle Paul, you too may sincerely prolaim: "I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3,8).

May the example and the intercession of these saints be for you a constant encouragement to follow the path of the Gospel without hesitation or compromise. May this generous loyalty be obtained for you by the the Virgin Mary - whom we remember tomorrow in the mystery of the Annunciation, and to whom I entrust all of you and the population of this district of Fidene. Amen!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/03/2007 1.32]

26/03/2007 22:39
 
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VATICAN MESSAGE FOR A NEW PALESTINE-ISRAEL DIALOG, 3/22/07
The following is the text of the statement delivered in English for the Holy See by the Undersecretary of State for Relations with Other States, Mons. Pietro Parolin, at the two-day International Conference on March 22-23 in Rome called by the United Nations committee for the exercise of the inalienable rights of tHE Palestinian people. Mons. Parolin addressed the conference on March 22.

The message quotes extensively from Pope Benedict's recent letter to Catholics in the Middle East.



Mr President,

I have the honour of bringing the Holy See’s greetings and good wishes to all who are taking part in this International Conference, being held here in Rome at the headquarters of the FAO.

This Conference, organized by the United Nations Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, is aimed at giving fresh impetus to the reflection and the involvement of the international community, religious confessions, parliamentary groups and civil society, in order to determine the challenges which must be faced and the approach which should be adopted so as to contribute to the building of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

This Conference is taking place as the Government of National Unity set up by the Palestinian Authority on Saturday last, 17 March, takes its first steps. It is surely positive that this Government is the product of a compromise between the principal Palestinian political groups.

It brings to an end several months of severe, armed and violent conflict, which resulted in many victims, often innocent ones, among the Palestinian people who have already suffered so much.

The international community is hopeful that the new Government will be an authoritative and trustworthy interlocutor, capable of leading its people, with a sense of responsibility and realism, to the conclusion of a just peace with the Israelis – who have the right to live in peace in their own State (cf. Address of Pope Benedict XVI to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, 8 January 2007) – and to the setting up of the free, independent and sovereign State which all hope to see established for the Palestinians.

The Holy See has always followed with particular attention the events of recent decades: thousands of Catholics live in this land, which we like to call the "Holy Land" since it preserves the living memory of the events which have marked our history of salvation. Millions of Catholics and Christians throughout the world look to this land, with the hope of being able to travel there on pilgrimage.

Recently Pope Benedict XVI himself wished to emphasize this attentiveness by addressing a letter to the Catholics who live in the Middle East. He noted that "in the present circumstances, marked little by light and too much by darkness, it is a cause of consolation and hope for me to know that the Christian communities in the Middle East, whose intense suffering I am well aware of, continue to be vital and active communities, resolute in bearing witness to their faith with their specific identity in the societies in which they are situated. They wish to contribute in a constructive manner to the urgent needs of their respective societies and the whole region."

In this letter, the Pope sets out in concrete detail how this constructive contribution should take place. I take the liberty of quoting the relevant passages, since these contain very useful recommendations as to the spirit in which the work of creating the conditions for a true and just peace between Israelis and Palestinians should be undertaken:

"The daily news coming from the Middle East shows a growth of alarming situations, seemingly with no possible escape. They are events which naturally give rise, in those involved, to recriminations and rage, leading them to thoughts of retaliation and revenge.

"We know that these are not Christian sentiments; to give in to them would leave us callous and spiteful, far from that ‘gentleness and lowliness’ which Jesus Christ proposed to us as the model of behaviour. Indeed, we could lose the opportunity to make a properly Christian contribution to the solution of the grave problems of our time.

"It would not be at all wise, especially now, to spend our time asking who has suffered the most or presenting an account of injustices suffered, listing the reasons which reinforce one’s own argument. This has often happened in the past, with results which to say the least were disappointing.

"Suffering in the end affects everyone, and when one person suffers he should first of all wish to understand how much someone else in a similar situation suffers. Patient and humble dialogue, achieved through listening to each other and being intent upon understanding someone else’s situation has already borne positive results in many countries previously devastated by violence and revenge.

"A little more trust in the compassion of others, especially those suffering, cannot but bear efficacious results. Today, many parties rightly plead for this interior disposition....

"Through you, my dearly beloved, I wish to make an appeal to your fellow citizens, men and women of the different Christian confessions, of different religions and all who honestly seek peace, justice and solidarity by listening and sincere dialogue.

"I say to you all: persevere with courage and trust! I appeal to those who hold positions of responsibility in guiding events to cultivate that sensitivity, attentiveness and closeness which surpass schemes and strategies so that they can build societies that are more peaceful and just, truly respectful of every human being."

I conclude my brief greeting by wishing every success to this Conference. In the name of the Holy See, I wish to state my firm conviction that the different religious confessions present in the Holy Land can make a decisive contribution to the relaunching of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, precisely by working to promote among their members the attitudes which I mentioned.

30/03/2007 14:33
 
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HOMILY AT PENITENTIAL LITURGY, 3/29/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's homily at the Penitential Liturgy held in St. Peter's Basilica yesterday.


Dear friends,

We meet this evening a few days before the XXII World Youth Day which, as you know, has for its theme the commandment Jesus left us the night He was betrayed: "As I have loved you, so should you love each other" (Jn 13,34).

I extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you who have come from the various parishes of Rome. I greet the Cardinal Vicar for Rome, the Auxiliary Bishops and the priests here, with a special thought for the confessors who will be at your service shortly.

Today's appointment, as your spokesman already said - whom I thank for the words she adrerssed to me in your behalf at the start of our celebration - has a deep as well as elevated significance.

It is, in fact, an encounter around the Cross, a celebration of the mercy of God, which in the Sacrament of confession, each of you will be able to experience personally.

In the heart of every man - a beggar for love - is a thirst for love. My beloved predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, wrote in his first encyclical, Redemptoris hominis: "Man cannot live without love. He would remain incomprehensible to himself, his life would be devoid of sense, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, experience it and make it his own, if he does not fully participate in it" (n. 10).

Even more so, the Christian cannot live without love. Indeed, if he does not encounter true love then he cannot even call himself fully Christian, because as the encyclical Deus caritas est says, "Being Christian does not start from an ethical decision or a great idea, but rather with an event, an encounter with a Person who gives life a new horizon, and with this, its decisive orientation." (n. 1).

God's love for us, which began with the Creation, is made visible in the mystery of the Cross, in that kenosis of God - the emptying and humiliating degradation of the Son of God - which we heard the apostle Paul proclaim in the first Reading, in his magnificent hymn to Christ in the Letter to the Philippians.

Yes, the Cross reveals the fullness of God's love for us. Love that was crucified, that did not end with the scandal of Good Friday but culminates in the joy of the Resurrection and the Ascension to Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of love through which, even tonight, sins are remitted and forgiveness and peace are granted.

God's love for man, which is expressed in its fullness on the Cross, can be described by the word agape, the sacrificing love which seeks exclusively only the good of the other," but it can also be described as eros.

In fact, while it is a love that offers man all that God is, as I noted in the message for Lent this year, it is also a love in which "the heart of God Himself, the Omnipotent, awaits the Yes of his creature as a bridegreoom awaits that of his bride."

Unfortunately, "from its very beginnings, mankind has been seduced by the lies of the Evil One and has closed himself off from the love of God in the illusion of an impossible self-sufficiency" (cfr Jn 3,1-7).

But in the sacrifice of the Cross, God continues to re-offer His love, His passion for man, with a force that, as the Pseudo-Dionisius says, "does not allow the lover to remain in himself but impels him to be united to the beloved" (De divinis nominibus, IV, 13; PG 3, 712), leading him to come and 'beg' for love from His creature.

This evening, in approaching the sacrament of confession, you can experience the "free gift that God gives us of His life, which is infused into our soul by the Holy Spirit to heal it of sin and sanctify it" (CCC, 1999) so that, in union with Christ, we may become new creatures (cfr 2 Cor 5,17-18).

Dear young people of the Diocese of Rome, with Baptism you were born into a new life by virtue of God's grace. But since this new life has not suppressed the weakness of human nature nor the inclination to sin, we are given the opportunity of the sacrament of confession.

Everytime that you do it with faith and devotion, then God's love and mercy will direct your heart, after an attentive examination of conscience, towards Christ's ministry.

To God, and therefore to Christ Himself, express your sorrow for the sins you have committed, with the firm intention not to sin again in the future and with the readiness to accept with joy the acts of penance that He indicates for the reparation of the damages caused by sin.

This way, you will experience "the forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Church; the recovery - if lost - of a state of grace; the remission of eternal judgment merited by mortal sins and, at least in part, of the temporal sufferings that are a consequence of sin; peace and serenity of conscience and consolation of the spirit; the growth of the spiritual forces necessary for the Christian struggle of everyday" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 310).

With the penitential cleansing of this Sacrament, we are readmitted into full communion with God and the Church, a companion to be trusted because it is "the universal sacrament of salvation" (Lumen gentium, 48).

In the second part of His new commandment, the Lord says: "Love one another" (Jn 13,34). Certainly, He expects us to be attracted to His love and to experience all its grandeur and beauty, but that is not enough! Christ draws us to Him to unite with each of us, so that, in our turn, we may learn to love our brothers as He loves us.

Today, as always, there is so much need for a renewed capacity to love our brothers. As you leave tonight's celebration, your hearts filled with an experience of God's love, be prepared to 'dare' to love in your families, in your relationship with friends, and even with those who have offended you. Be prepared to make a mark through bearing authentically Christian testimony in school and at home, to involve yourselves in parish activities, in groups, movements, associations, every field of society.

And to those of you who are engaged, live your engagement in true love which always means reciprocal respect that is chaste and responsible. If the Lord calls some of you, dear young friends, to a life of special consecration, be ready to respond with a generous Yes without any compromises.

In giving yourself to God and your brothers, you will experience a joy which does not fold in on itself in asphyxiating selfishness. All this, of course, has a price, the price that Christ was the first to pay, and that each of his disciples - although in a way far inferior to the Master's - must also pay: the price of sacrifice and abnegation, of faithfulness and perseverance, without which there is not and there cannot be true love that is fully free and a spring of joy.

Dear boys and girls, the world awaits your contribution to building the 'civilization of love.' "The horizon of love is truly boundless - it is the whole world!" (Message for the XXII World Youth Day)

The priests who guide you and your educators are sure that, with the grace of God and the constant help of His divine mercy, you will succeed in measuring up to the difficult task to which the Lord calls us. Do not lose spirit and always have trust in Christ and His Church.

The Pope is close to all of you and assures you of daily remembrance in his prayers, entrusting you particularly to the Virgin Mary, mother of mercy, so that she may accompany and support you always. Amen!

===============================================================
This was first released in multiple languages last January, and promptly posted on this thread, but so I don't forget to re-post it on Palm Sunday when the XX WYD is actually marked, I am holding it here. It is one of the most beautiful messages the Holy Father has addressed to the youth, and a great reading and learning experience for anyone who reads.

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD
ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 22nd WORLD YOUTH DAY, 2007



“Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another” (Jn 13:34).


My dear young friends,

On the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day that will be celebrated in the dioceses on Palm Sunday, I would like to propose for your meditation the words of Jesus: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).

Is it possible to love?

Everybody feels the longing to love and to be loved. Yet, how difficult it is to love, and how many mistakes and failures have to be reckoned with in love! There are those who even come to doubt that love is possible. But if emotional delusions or lack of affection can cause us to think that love is utopian, an impossible dream, should we then become resigned? No! Love is possible, and the purpose of my message is to help reawaken in each one of you - you who are the future and hope of humanity-, trust in a love that is true, faithful and strong; a love that generates peace and joy; a love that binds people together and allows them to feel free in respect for one another. Let us now go on a journey together in three stages, as we embark on a “discovery” of love.

God, the source of love

The first stage concerns the source of true love. There is only one source, and that is God. Saint John makes this clear when he declares that “God is love” (1 Jn 4: 8,16). He was not simply saying that God loves us, but that the very being of God is love. Here we find ourselves before the most dazzling revelation of the source of love, the mystery of the Trinity: in God, one and triune, there is an everlasting exchange of love between the persons of the Father and the Son, and this love is not an energy or a sentiment, but it is a person; it is the Holy Spirit.

The Cross of Christ fully reveals the love of God

How is God-Love revealed to us? We have now reached the second stage of our journey. Even though the signs of divine love are already clearly present in creation, the full revelation of the intimate mystery of God came to us through the Incarnation when God himself became man. In Christ, true God and true Man, we have come to know love in all its magnitude. In fact, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, “the real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those conceptsCan unprecedented realism” (n. 12). The manifestation of divine love is total and perfect in the Cross where, we are told by Saint Paul, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rm 5:8). Therefore, each one of us can truly say: “Christ loved me and gave himself up for me” (cf Eph 5:2). Redeemed by his blood, no human life is useless or of little value, because each of us is loved personally by Him with a passionate and faithful love, a love without limits. The Cross, - for the world a folly, for many believers a scandal-, is in fact the “wisdom of God” for those who allow themselves to be touched right to the innermost depths of their being, “for God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor 1:25). Moreover, the Crucifix, which after the Resurrection would carry forever the marks of his passion, exposes the “distortions” and lies about God that underlie violence, vengeance and exclusion. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sins of the world and eradicates hatred from the heart of humankind. This is the true “revolution” that He brings about: love.

Loving our neighbour as Christ loves us

Now we have arrived at the third stage of our reflection. Christ cried out from the Cross: “I am thirsty” (Jn 19:28). This shows us his burning thirst to love and to be loved by each one of us. It is only by coming to perceive the depth and intensity of such a mystery that we can realise the need and urgency to love him as He has loved us. This also entails the commitment to even give our lives, if necessary, for our brothers and sisters sustained by love for Him. God had already said in the Old Testament: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18), but the innovation introduced by Christ is the fact that to love as he loves us means loving everyone without distinction, even our enemies, “to the end” (cf Jn 13:1).

Witnesses to the love of Christ

I would like to linger for a moment on three areas of daily life where you, my dear young friends, are particularly called to demonstrate the love of God. The first area is the Church, our spiritual family, made up of all the disciples of Christ. Mindful of his words: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35), you should stimulate, with your enthusiasm and charity, the activities of the parishes, the communities, the ecclesial movements and the youth groups to which you belong. Be attentive in your concern for the welfare of others, faithful to the commitments you have made. Do not hesitate to joyfully abstain from some of your entertainments; cheerfully accept the necessary sacrifices; testify to your faithful love for Jesus by proclaiming his Gospel, especially among young people of your age.

Preparing for the future

The second area, where you are called to express your love and grow in it, is your preparation for the future that awaits you. If you are engaged to be married, God has a project of love for your future as a couple and as a family. Therefore, it is essential that you discover it with the help of the Church, free from the common prejudice that says that Christianity with its commandments and prohibitions places obstacles to the joy of love and impedes you from fully enjoying the happiness that a man and woman seek in their reciprocal love. The love of a man and woman is at the origin of the human family and the couple formed by a man and a woman has its foundation in God’s original plan (cf Gen 2:18-25). Learning to love each other as a couple is a wonderful journey, yet it requires a demanding “apprenticeship”. The period of engagement, very necessary in order to form a couple, is a time of expectation and preparation that needs to be lived in purity of gesture and words. It allows you to mature in love, in concern and in attention for each other; it helps you to practise self-control and to develop your respect for each other. These are the characteristics of true love that does not place emphasis on seeking its own satisfaction or its own welfare. In your prayer together, ask the Lord to watch over and increase your love and to purify it of all selfishness. Do not hesitate to respond generously to the Lord’s call, for Christian matrimony is truly and wholly a vocation in the Church. Likewise, dear young men and women, be ready to say “yes” if God should call you to follow the path of ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life. Your example will be one of encouragement for many of your peers who are seeking true happiness.

Growing in love each day

The third area of commitment that comes with love is that of daily life with its multiple relationships. I am particularly referring to family, studies, work and free time. Dear young friends, cultivate your talents, not only to obtain a social position, but also to help others to “grow”. Develop your capacities, not only in order to become more “competitive” and “productive”, but to be “witnesses of charity”. In addition to your professional training, also make an effort to acquire religious knowledge that will help you to carry out your mission in a responsible way. In particular, I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the Church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments, and brave in your initiatives, so that you will be able to offer your contribution to the building up of the “civilisation of love”. The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!

“Dare to love” by following the example of the saints

My dear young friends, I want to invite you to “dare to love”. Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (cf Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilisations. This is shown to us in the lives of the saints. They are true friends of God who channel and reflect this very first love. Try to know them better, entrust yourselves to their intercession, and strive to live as they did. I shall just mention Mother Teresa. In order to respond instantly to the cry of Jesus, “I thirst”, a cry that had touched her deeply, she began to take in the people who were dying on the streets of Calcutta in India. From that time onward, the only desire of her life was to quench the thirst of love felt by Jesus, not with words, but with concrete action by recognising his disfigured countenance thirsting for love in the faces of the poorest of the poor. Blessed Teresa put the teachings of the Lord into practice: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). The message of this humble witness of divine love has spread around the whole world.

The secret of love

Each one of us, my dear friends, has been given the possibility of reaching this same level of love, but only by having recourse to the indispensable support of divine Grace. Only the Lord’s help will allow us to keep away from resignation when faced with the enormity of the task to be undertaken. It instills in us the courage to accomplish that which is humanly inconceivable. Above all, the Eucharist is the great school of love. When we participate regularly and with devotion in Holy Mass, when we spend a sustained time of adoration in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, it is easier to understand the length, breadth, height and depth of his love that goes beyond all knowledge (cf Eph 3:17-18). By sharing the Eucharistic Bread with our brothers and sisters of the Church community, we feel compelled, like Our Lady with Elizabeth, to render “in haste” the love of Christ into generous service towards our brothers and sisters.

Towards the encounter in Sydney

On this subject, the recommendation of the apostle John is illuminating: “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth” (1 Jn 3: 18-19). Dear young people, it is in this spirit that I invite you to experience the next World Youth Day together with your bishops in your respective dioceses. This will be an important stage on the way to the meeting in Sydney where the theme will be: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). May Mary, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, help you to let that cry ring out everywhere, the cry that has changed the world: “God is love!” I am together with you all in prayer and extend to you my heartfelt blessing.

From the Vatican, 27 January 2007

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/04/2007 1.14]

31/03/2007 09:05
 
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ADDRESS TO THE NEW AMBASSADOR FROM THE UKRAINE, 3/30/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's address, delivered in French, after the presentation of credentials by the new ambassador of the Ukraine to the Holy See, H.E. Tetiana Izhevska:

Madame Ambassador,

It is with pleasure that I welcome Your Excellency on the occasion of the presentation of the letters accrediting you as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ukraine to the Holy See.

I thank you for the kind words you addressed to me, as well as for the greetings which you have conveyed from His Excellency Viktor Yuchenko, President of the Republic.

I would be most grateful to you for conveying to him in return the heartfelt wishes I have for him, as well as my thanks for his warm invitation for me to visit your beautiful country, as I recall the pastoral visit made by my predecessor Pope John Paul II in 2001. Through you, I also happy to extend to the Ukrainian people my best wishes for their happiness and prosperity.

Fifteen years have passed since the Holy See and your country established diplomatic relations, and we have come ani mportant way.

The Ukraine - which has always been called on to be a door between East and West, because of its location at the eastern edge of the European continent - has undertaken and intensified, during these years, a policy of openness and collaboration with the other nations on the continent.

The Holy See appreciates this perspective which has contributed to give Europe its true dimension, in assuring conditions of fruitful exchange between East and West, between the two cultural lungs that have forged the history of Europe and which have particularly characterized its Christian history.

I am sure that the Ukrainian nation, whose life, culture and institutions are profoundly impregnated by the Gospel, since its baptism more than a thousasnd years ago in Kiev, wish to bring other nations the dynamism of its identity while keeping its original characteristics.

Indeed, it is important in our world, which is increasingly constrained by the urgencies of globalization, to promote a necessary and profound dialog among cultures as well as among religions, not to level them all into an impoverishing syncretism, but to allow them to develop with reciprocal respect, and to work together, each according to its own charism, for the common good.

This perspective would surely allow the reduction of possible sources of tension and of confrontation between groups or between nations, and it also guarantees to all the conditions for lasting peace and development.

In this respect, I am happy over the good climaye of relations between the public authorities and the churches and ecclesiastical communities who live in the Ukraine.

In your country, believers enjoy religious freedom, which is an essential dimension of man's freedom and therefore a major expression of his dignity.

According to a correct distinction of responsibilities that are proper to the religious and the civil spheres, respectively, the State recognizes the different cults and religious confessions, and assures them of equal rights before the law, thus also permitting each one to find its place in Ukrainian society and play in it their specific roles for the good of the entire nation.

One of the callings properly belonging to the Church is indicatesd by the importance she has always given to the education of children, especially through the apostolate of numerous religious institutions which, int/he course of history, have been dedicated to this work.

The Church believes youing people should be allowed to receive a solid and integral formation, founded on the principles of Christian ethics, and therefore on the fundamental dignity of the human being, who is created in the likeness of God.

This way, they would find a path for personal, noral and spiritual flowering, and will moreover be in a position to take up their mission in society with the permanent concern of promoting respect for human dignity through its manifold expressions, in the domains of politics, economy and bioethics.

The Catholic Chruch wishes to participate actively in this great educative, by placing its experience in the service of all, with respect to the other Christian confessions, as demonstrated by the collaboration undertaken and carried out successfully within the framework of the Pan-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, in order to develop together a program for the teaching of Christian ethics in public schools.

I also want to express my satisfaction for the right recently given by the Ministry of Education to the Catholic University of Ukraine to award degrees in theology. It is an important event for the church inUkraine because bythis decision, Ukrainian authorities have given theology the status of a univesity discipline.

Allow me once again, Madam Ambassador, to greet through you the Catholic community in Ukraine. It belongs to both the Byzantine and the Latin rites, and so carries at heart a concern for a permanent dialog between the eastern adn western traditions which are part of the Catholic Church and which have fashioned the history of the European continent as well as thatof your country.

I particularly thank the President of your Republicfor his cordial attention to the bishops of the Latin Episcopal Conference of Ukraine whom met recently, and I am sure of the commitment by all Catholics in the Ukraine to service for the common good of the nation.

I know that they wish to bear witness daily to the Gospel by their solidarity with the least of their fellowmen, their will to build the peace, and the desire4 to further consolidate the values of a family based on the institution of marriage.

Likewise, I know their desire to advance along the road to unity with their Orthodox brothers as weell as their brothers in the other Christian confessions. I therefore encourage them to always be ready to consolidate the ecumenicaldialog, so necessary to oversome many difficuklties and to arrive at that much-awaited unity, so wee can gibve the world truer witness of the Good News.

At this time when Your Excellency officially begin your functions, I give you my best wishes for the happy accomplishment of your mission. Be assured, Madame Ambassador, that you will always find among the different services of the Holy See warm attention and understanding.

On yourself, your family, your co-workers in the Embassy, and on the Ukrainian authorities and people, I heartily invoke an abundance of divine blessings.


01/04/2007 13:07
 
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PLACEHOLDER FOR ADDRESS TO ITALIAN WORKERS GUILDS
01/04/2007 14:23
 
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HOMILY ON PALM SUNDAY, 4/1/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's homily today at the Mass of Palm Sunday and the Passion of Our Lord, celebrated at St. Peter's Square.



Dear brothers and sisters,

In the procession of Palm sunday we identify ourselves with the crowd of disciples, who with festive joy, accompanied the Lord on His entry into Jerusalem. And like them, we praise the Lord aloud for all the wonders that we have seen.

Because even we have seen and continue to see the wonders of Christ: how He brings men and women to renounce the comfort of their lives and place themselves totally in the service of those who suffer; how He gives courage to men and women to oppose violence and lies in order to make place for truth in this world; How He, in secret, induces men and women to do good to others, to inspire reconciliation where there was hate, to create peace where there was enmity.

The procession is above all the joyous testimony that we render to Jesus Christ, in whom the Face of God has become visible to us, and thanks to Whom the heart of God is open to all of us.

In the Gospel of Luke, the account of the gathering that formed at the outskirts of Jerusalem is composed in parts literally from the description of the coronation rites with which, according to the First Book of Kings, Solomon was invested with the kingship of David (cfr 1 Kings 1,33-35).

And so the Procession of Palm Sunday is also the procession of Christ the King: We profess the kingship of Jesus Christ, we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of David, the true Solomon - King of peace and justice.

To recognize Him as King means to accept Him as He who shows us the way, He whom we trust and whom we follow. It means accepting His word every day as the valid criterion for our lives. It means seeing in Him the authority to whom we are subject. We subject ourselves to Him, because His authority is the authority of truth.

The Procession of Palms - like it was that time for the disciples - is an expression of joy that we are able to acknowledge Jesus, because He has granted that we can be friends with Him and because He has given us the key to life.

This joy, which is just beginning, is also an expression of our Yes to Jesus and our readiness to go wherever He brings us. The exhortation that was at the beginning of our liturgy today rightly interprets the procession also as a symbolic representation of that which we call 'the following of Christ.'

"We ask for the grace to follow," we said. The expression 'the following of Christ' describes the entire Christian existence, in general. What does it consist of? What does it mean, in concrete terms, 'to follow Christ'?

At the beginning, with the first disciples, the sense was very simple and immediate: it meant that these persons hadd decided to leave their work, their business, all of their personal life, in order to go with Jesus.

It meant undertaking a new profession: that of disciple. The basic content of this profession was to go with the Master, to entrust oneself totally to His guidance. And therefore, following Christ was an external manifestation but, at the same time, an interior one.

The exterior aspect was to walk behind Him in his travels throughout Palestine. The interior aspect was a new orientation of existence, which no longer had its points of reference in personal affairs, in the work by which one made a living, in one's personal wishes, but which abandons itself totally to the will of Another.

To be available to Him had become the reason to live. What this renunciation meant - of everything that pertained to each one, of such detachment from the self - is something we can appreciate clearly in some episodes of the Gospel.

But this also makes clear what 'following' means for us and what is its true essence for us: it means an interior mutation of our existence. It asks that I should no longer stay closed in whtin my "I" , considering my self-realization to be the main reason for living. It asks that I give myself freely to the Other - for truth, for love, for God who, in Jesus Christ, precedes me and shows me the way.

It means making the fundamental decision to cease considering utility and profit, career and success, as the ultimate purpose of my life, but instead to recognize truth and love as the genuine criteria.

It means choosing between living just for myself or giving msyelf for a greater cause. And let us not forget that truth and love are not abstract values - they are personified in Jesus Christ. So, following Him, I enter into the service of truth and love. And in losing myself, I find myself anew.

Let us get back to the liturgy and the Procession of Palms. The liturgy proposes as hymn Psalm 24[23], which was, even in ancient Israel, a processional hymn used during the ascent to Temple Mount.

The Psalm describes the interior ascent which the exterior ascent symbolizes, and therefore explains to as, yet again, what it means to ascend with Christ.

"Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?" asks the Psalm, and then indicates two essential conditions. Those who are making the ascent and who truly wish to reach the top, to the true heights, should be people who ask themselves about God. Persons who look around them to search for God, to find His face.

Dear young friends, how important this is today! Don't allow yourselves to be simply carried along willy-nilly by life. Don't be content with what everybody thinks and says and does. To scrutinize God, or the idea of God, is to look for God. Never allow this question of God to leave our souls: (it is) the desire for that which is greater, the desire to know Him, His face...

The other very concrete condition for this ascent with Jesus is this: 'only he who has innocent hands and a pure heart' may be in the sacred place.

Innocent hands - hands that have not been used for acts of violence. They are hands that have not been soiled by corruption, by bribes.

A pure heart. When is a heart pure? A pure heart is one that does not pretend and is not stained by lying and hypocrisy. A heart that remains as transparent as spring water because it does not know duplicity.

A heart is pure that is not hostage to the inebriation of pleasure; a heart in which love is true and not simply a passion of the moment.

Innocent hands and a pure heart! If we walk with Jesus, we will ascend and find the purification that comes to us at that elevation to which man is destined - friendship with God Himself.

Psalm 24[23] which speaks of the ascent ends with a liturgy of entry at the doors of the temple: "Lift up your heads, O gates; rise up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may enter."

In the old liturgy for Palm Sunday, the priest, upon reaching the door of the Church, would strike the closed Church door with the staff of the Cross carried in the procession, after which the door would open.

It was a beautiful image for the mystery of Jesus Christ who, with the wood of His Cross, with the power of the love that He gives us, has knocked from the side of the world on God's door, from the side of a world that had not succeeded in finding access to God.

With the Cross, Jesus has thrown wide open the door of God, the door between God and men. Now it is open. But even from the other side now, our Lord still knocks with his Cross: He knocks on the doors of the world, on the doors of our hearts, that very often and among so many of us, remain closed to God.

And what He tells us is this: If the proofs God gives you about His existence through His creation have not opened you up to Him; if the word of Scriptures and the message of the Church leave you indifferent - then look at me, your Lord and God. [NB: The AsiaNews account of the homily indicates the Pope improvised on the last clause of the sentence, to say, "... then look to me, to the God who made himself flesh to suffer for you and with you - see that I suffer for your love and open yourself to me and God the Father”.]

This is the appeal that we should allow to penetrate our hearts at this time. The Lord helps us to open the door of the heart, the doors of the world, so that He, the living God, through His Son, may arrive in our day and join us in our lives. Amen.


After the Mass, the Pope addressed greetings to the pilgrims present [he apparently did not say the Angelus this time].

Before concluding this celebration, I wish to address an affectionate greeting to all the numerous pilgrims who have taken part.

What he said in English is what he said in the other languages:

I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here this Palm Sunday, when we acclaim Jesus, model of humility, our Messiah and King.

In a special way I greet all the young people gathered in Rome and around the world to celebrate World Youth Day. May the great events of Holy Week, in which we see love unfold in its most radical form, inspire you to be courageous ‘witnesses of charity’ for your friends, your communities and our world.

Upon each of you present and your families, I invoke God’s blessings of peace and wisdom.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/04/2007 15.59]

02/04/2007 22:27
 
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HOMILY AT MEMORIAL MASS FOR JOHN PAUL II, 4/2/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's homily at the memorial Mass he celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica this afternoon to mark the second death anniversary of Pope John Paul II.




Venerated brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear brothers and sisters!

Two years ago today, at around this time, our beloved Pope John Paul II left this world to go to the house of the Lord. With this celebration, we wish above all to renew to God our thanks for having given him to us for 27 years as father and secure guide in the faith, zealous pastor and courageous prophet of hope, indefatigable witness and passionate servant for the love of God.

At the same time, we offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice in remembrance of his privileged soul, in the indelible memory of the great devotion with which he celebrated the holy mysteries and adored the Sacrament on the altar, the center of his life and of his tireless apostolic mission.

I wish to express my acknowledgement to all of you who have come to take part in this Mass. I address a special greeting to Cardinal Stanislaw Dsiwisz, Archbishop of Cracow, imagining all the feelings that must crowd his heart today.

I greet the other cardinals, bishops, priests and religious present here; all the pilgrims who came here specially from Poland; all the young people whom John Paul II loved with singular passion; and the numerous pilgrims who have come from other parts of Italy and from all over the world to keep an appointment today here at St. Peter's.

The second anniversary of the pious departure of this beloved Pontiff comes in a climate that is very propitious for prayer and meditation. Yesterday, with Palm Sunday, we entered Holy Week, and the liturgy makes us relive the last days of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus.

Today it leads us to Bethany, where, 'six days before Passover", as the evangelist John tells us, Lazarus, Martha and Mary offered a dinner for the Master. The Gospel account confers an intense Paschal climate on our meditation.

The supper at Bethany is the prelude to the death of Jesus, in the sign of unction that Mary performed in tribute to the Lord, and which He accepted in the context of His coming burial (cfr Jn 12,7).

But it is also an announcement of the Resurrection, through the very presence of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, an eloquent testimony to Jesus's power over death.

Beyond its pregnancy in Paschal meaning, the story of the dinner at Bethany brings us a consuming resonance, full of affection and devotion. It is a mixture of joy and sorrow - festive joy over the visit of Jesus and His disciples, for the resurrection of Lazarus, and for the approaching Passover. But a profound sorrow that this could be the last one for Jesus, threatened by the plotting of those Jews who wanted Him dead and their threats against Lazarus himself, whom they wanted to eliminate.

But there is a gesture, in this gospel episode, that draws our attention, and which even today, speaks in a singular way to our hearts: Mary of Bethany, at one point, "took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair" (Jn 12,3).

It is one of those details of the life of Jesus that St.John gleaned from his heart's memory and which carry an inexhaustibly expressive weight. This one speaks of love for Christ, an overwhelming love, prodigious, like the precious perfume that was poured on His feet. A fact that symptomatically scandalized Judas Iscariot - the logic of love coming up against the logic of the bookkeeper..

For us, who are gathered in prayer in memory of my venerated predecessor, the gesture of unction by Mary of Bethany is rich with spiritual echoes and suggestions. It evokes the luminous testimony John Paul II offered of a love for Christ that was without reservations, unsparing. The 'perfume' of his love 'filled the house' (Jn 12,3), in this case, the whole church.

Surely, we profited from it, those of us who were near him, and for this, we thank God, but even those who only knew him from afar, also partook of it, because Papa Wojtyla's love for Christ had spilled over, we might say, to every region of the world, so strong and intense was it.

The esteem, the respect, the affection that believers and non-believers expressed at his death are eloquent testimony. St. Augustine, commenting on this Gospel pasasge, wrote: "The house was filled with its fragrance, which means, the world was filled with a good reputation. The good odor is a good reputation...and the Lord is praised through the merit of good Christians "(In Io. evang. tr. 50, 7).

How true that is! The intense and fruitful pastoral ministry, and later, the Calvary of his agony and the serene passing away of our beloved Pope made known to all men of our time that Jesus Christ was truly "all" to him.

The fecundity of his testimony, we know, comes from the Cross. In the life of Karol Wojtyla, rhe word 'cross' was not just a word. From infancy and youth, he knew sorrow and death. As priest and as bishop, and above all, as Supreme Pontiff, he took very seriously that last call the Risen Jesus made to Simon Peter on the shore of Galilee: "Follow me - you follow me." (v 21, 19,22).

Then, especially with the slow but implacable progress of his illness, which little by little, stripped him of everything, his existence became entirely an offering to Christ, a living announcement of His Passion, but in the faith-filled hope of Resurrection.

His Pontificate unfolded in the sign of prodigality, of giving himself generously without reservation. What else moved Him but his love for Christ, for Him who on October 16, 1978, sent him a call, with the ritual words: "Magister adest et vocat te" - the Master is here and calls you.

And on April 2, 2005, the Msster returned, this time without an intermediary, to call him and bring him home, to the Father's house. And he, once again, answered readily, with his intrepid heart, whispering "Let me go to the Lord" (cfr S. Dziwisz, Una vita con Karol, p. 223).

For a long time, he had been preparing himself for this last encounter with Jesus, as the different drafts of his testament show. During long hours in his private chapel, he spoke to Him, abandoning himself totally to His will, entrusting himself to Mary, repeating Totus tuus. Like His divine Master, He lived his agony in prayer.

On the last day of his lfie, eve of the Sunday of Divine Mercy, he asked to be read the Gospel of John. Assisted by those around him, he wanted to take part in all the prayers of the day and at the Liturgy of the Hours, to make Adoration, to meditate.

The perfume of the Pope's faith and hope and love filled his house, filled St. Peter's Square, filled the Church and spread throughout the whole world. He died praying. Truly, he went to sleep in the Lord.

What happened after his death was - to believers - the effect of that fragrance that had reached everyone, near and far, and drew them towards a man whom God had progressively conformed to Christ. And so we can apply to him the words of the first verse of the Servant of the Lord that we heard in the first Reading: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations,..." (Is 42,1).

Servant of God: that he was ,and that is how we call him now in the Church, as the process for his beatification progresses expeditiously, and for which we closed today the diocesan investigation into his life, his virtues and his reputation for saintliness.

Servant of God: A title particularly appropriate for him. Tthe Lord called him to His service in the priesthood and gradually opened ever wider horizons to him: from his diocese to the universal Church.

This dimension of universality reached its maximum expansion at the moment of his death - an avent which the entire world lived through with a participation never before seen in history.

Dear brothers and sistes, the Responsorial Psalm has given us words full of faith. In the communion of saints, we seem to hear the voice of of our beloved John Paul II, who from the house of the Father - we can be sure - does not cease to accompany the journey of this Church. "Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. (Ps 26. 13-14).

Yes, dear brothers and sistere, our hearts are encouraged, and burn with hope! With this invitation in our hearts, let us continue the Eucharistic celebration, already looking forward to the light of the Resurrrection of Christ, which will shine again in the Easter Vigil after the darkness of Good Friday.

May the Totus tuus of our beloved Pontiff inspire us to follow him on the road of giving ourselves to Christ, through the intercession of Mary, and may she obtain it for us, the Blessed Virgin, in whose maternal hands we entrust our father. brother and friend so that he may rest with God and rejoice in peace. Amen.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2007 22.38]

05/04/2007 12:36
 
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HOMILY AT THE CHRISMAL MASS, 4/5/07
Here is a translation of the homily delivered by the Holy Father at the Mass of the Chrism in St. Peter's Basilica this morning.



Dear brothers and sisters,

The Russian writer Leo Tolstoi has a short story in which a stern king asks his priests and wise men to show him God, so he could see Him. The wise men were not able to satisfy the king's desire.

Then, a shepherd who had just returned from the fields, offered to take on the task. He told the king that his eyes were inadequate to see God.

Well, then, the king at least wanted to know what God does. "To respond to your question," said the shepherd, "we should exchange clothes."

Reluctantly, but impelled by curiosity, the king agreed. He took off his kingly garments and put on the simple garment of the shepherd.

Now, he had his answer. "This," said the shepherd, "is what God has done."

Indeed, the Son of God - true God from true God - left behind his divine splendor: "...he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" cfr Phil 2,6ff).

As the Fathers said, God underwent the sacrum commercium, the sacred exchange: he assumed that which is ours, so that we could receive that which is His, to become like Him.

St. Paul, to describe what takes place at Baptism, explicitly uses the image of garment: "When you are baptized in Christ, then you become clothed in Christ" (Gal 3,27). This is what happens in Baptism: we are clothed again in Christ - He gives us His vestments, and these are not exterior. It means we enter into an existential communion with Him, that His being and ours flow together and compenetrate each other.

"No longer I, but Christ, lives in me" - Paul says in his Letter to the Galatians (2,20), describing his own Baptism.

Christ has put on our garments: the sorrows and the joys of being man, the thirst, the hunger, the tiredness, the hopes and disappointments, fear of death, all human anguish including death. And He has given us His 'garments.'

What he presents in the Letter to the Galatians as the simple 'fact' of Baptism - the gift of new being - Paul describes in the Letter to the Ephesians as a permanent task: "... you should put away the old self of your former way of life... and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin..." (Eph 4, 22-25).

This theology of Baptism returns in a new way and with new insistence in priestly ordination. As in Baptism, there is an 'exchange of garments', a change of life, a new existential communion with Christ. In the priesthood, one undergoes a change: in administering the sacraments, the priest acts and speaks in persona Christi.

In the sacred mysteries, the priest does not represent himself, he does not speak to express himself, he speaks for the Other - for Christ. So the Sacraments make dramatically visible what being a priest means, in general: what we expressed by our "Adsum" - I am here, I am ready - during our priestly consecration: I am here so you may dispose of me.

We make ourselves available to Him who "died for everyone, so that those who live no longer live for themselves" (2 Cor 5,15). To put ourselves at the disposition of Christ means we allow ourselves to be drawn into His 'for everyone' - being with Him, we can truly be 'for everyone'.

In persona Christi – at the moment of sacerdotal ordination, the Church made visible and tangible for us the reality of 'new garments' even externally, through being clothed in liturgical vestments. In this external fact,she wants to make evident the interior event and the task that comes from it: to be clothed in Christ, to give ourselves to Him as he gave Himself to us.

This event, this clothing ourselves in Christ, is represented anew every time we vest ourselves for Holy Mass. To put on the liturgical vestments should mean more than the external fact: it means entering anew into the Yes of our responsibility, that "no longer I" in Baptism which priestly ordination re-confers on us but at the same time demands of us.

The fact that we are at the altar, dressed in liturgical vestments, should make visibly clear to to those present that we are there "in the person of Another." Priestly vestments, as they have developed in the course of time, are a profound symbolic expression of what the priesthood means.

Therefore, dear brother priests, I would like to explain on this Maundy Thursday, the essence of the priestly ministry by interpreting the liturgical vestments which, precisely, are meant to illustrate what it means to be 'clothed in Christ', to talk and to act in persona Christi.

Putting on the priestly garments was at one time accompanied by prayers which help us to better understand the single elements of the priestly ministry.

Let us start with the amice. In the past - and even today, among the monastic orders - it was first placed on the head, like a hood, as a symbol for the discipline of the senses and thought that is necessary for the proper celebration of the Mass.

My thoughts should not wander to and fro among the concerns and expectations of my daily routine. My senses should not be drawn to anything within the Church that may casually catch the eye or the ear. My heart should open itself obediently to the Word of God and reflect on the prayers of the Church, so that my thought may be oriented by the words of the Gospel and the prayers.

And the eye of my heart should look to the Lord who is in our midst: that is what ars celebrandi means - the proper way of celebration. If I am with the Lord, then my listening, speaking and acting will also draw the faithful into communion with Him.

The texts of the prayers interpreting the alb and the stole are along the same line. They recall the festive garment that the Father gave the prodigal son when he returned home in dirty rags. When we take part in liturgy to act in the person of Christ, we all become mindful of how far we are from Him - how much filth there is in our lives. Only He can give us the festive garment, make us worthy to preside at His table, to be in His service.

So the prayers also recall the words of the Apocalypse according to which the robes of the 144,000 elected ones were worthy of God, but not through their merit. The Apocalypse says that they had washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and in this way, the garments had become as candid as the light (cfr Ap 7, 14).

As a child, I asked: But when one washes something in blood, it certainly does not become white. The answer is that 'the blood of the Lamb' is the love of the crucified Christ. That love makes our dirty garments clean and white, it enlightens our shadowed spirit, so that notwithstanding all our personal shadows, it transforms us to be 'light in the Lord'.

When we put on the alb, we should remember: He suffered for me. And only because His love is greater than all of my sins am I able to represent Him and be a witness of His light.

But in the garment of light that the Lord gives us in Baptism and once again in priestly ordination, we can also think of the nuptial garment that he talks about in the parable of the wedding feast.

In the homilies of St. Gregory the Great, I found a reflection worthy of note. Gregory compares Luke's version of the parable to that of Matthew. He is convinced that the parable inLuke refers to the eschatological wedding feast, whereas, the version transmitted by Matthew refers to the anticipation of that wedding feast in liturgy and in the life of the Church.

In Matthew, and only in Matthew, the king comes into the crowded hall to see his guests. And among the multitude, there is one who is not in wedding clothes and is thrown out into the shadows.

So Gregory asks: " What garment was he lacking? Everyone who has been received into the Church has received the new garment of baptism and the faith; otherwise, they would not be in the Church. What then was lacking? What nuptial garment must be added?" Pope Gregory answers: "The garment of love."

And unfortunately, among the guests to whom he had earlier given new garments, the white garments of rebirth, the king found some who did not have the red robes signifying love for God and for one's neighbor.

"In what condition do we wish to approach the heavenly feast," asks Pope Gregory, "if we do not put on the wedding garment - love, which alone can make us beautiful?"

A person without love is dark within. The outer shadows that the Gospel speaks of are only a reflection of the interior darkness of the heart (cfr Hom. 38,8-13). And as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the Holy Mass, we should ask ourselves if we have this garment of love.

We ask the Lord to drive away every hostility from our spirit, to rid us of any sense of self sufficiency, and to clothe us truly in the garment of love, so that we become creatures of light rather than belonging to the shadows.

Finally, a brief word about the chasuble. The traditional prayer when one is putting it on sees it as a representation of the yoke which the Lord imposes on us as priests. And it recalls the words of Jesus when He invites us to carry His yoke, and to learn from Him, who 'mild and meek of heart' (Mat 11,29).

To carry the yoke of the Lord means above all to learn from Him.
To be always ready to 'go to school' by Him. From Him we should learn gentleness and humility - the humility God showed in becoming man.

St. Gregory Nazianzene once asked why God wanted to become a man. For me, the most important and moving part of his answer was: "God wanted to experience what obedience means to man, and to measure everything according to His own suffering out of love for us. In this way, he would experience directly what we experience - what is asked of us, how much indulgence we deserve - measuring our weakness according to the measure of his suffering" [Dicourse 30: Disc. teol. IV,6).

At times, we want to say to Christ: Lord, your yoke is by no means light. Rather, it is a very heavy one in this world. But then, looking at Him who has borne everything - who in Himself knew obedience, weakness, pain, all possible darkness - then, we stifle our cry. His yoke is for us to love with Him. The more we love Him, and with Him, become persons who love, then the lighter the yoke becomes, even if it seems heavy.

Let us pray to Him to help us become, with Him, persons who love, so that we may experience ever anew how beautiful it is to bear His yoke. Amen.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/04/2007 14.51]

06/04/2007 14:27
 
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HOMILY AT THE MASS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 4/5/07
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's homily at the Mass of the Lord's Supper in St. John Lateran Basilica on Maundy Thursday:



Dear brothers and sisters,

The reading from the Book of Exodus that we just heard describes the celebration of the Jewish Passover in its definitive form as laid down in Mosaic law.

Its origin could have been a spring feast among nomads. But for Israel, it was transformed into a feast of commemoration, of thanksgiving, and at the same, time, of hope.

At the center of the Paschal supper, prescribed by liturgical rules, was the lamb as the symbol of liberation from slavery in Egypt. That is why the Paschal Haggadah was an integral part of the supper of the lamb - (the Haggadah is) the narrative record of the fact that it was God Himself who liberated Israel 'with raised hands.'

He, the mysterious and hidden God, showed Himself stronger than the Pharaoh, with all the forces that the latter had at his disposition. So Israel should not forget that God personally took the story of her people into His hands and that this story was continuously based on communion with God. Israel should not forget God.

The words of commemoration are surrounded by words of praise and thanksgiving taken from the Psalms. Thanking and blessing God reached its culmination in the berakha, which in Greek is called eulogy or eucharist: blessing God becomes a blessing for those who bless Him. The offering given to God returns blessed to man. All this erected a bridge from the past to the present and towards the future: the liberation of Israel was not yet complete.

The nation still suffered as a small entity caught in the conflicts among great powers. Therefore to remember with gratitude how God acted in the past was at the same time, supplication and hope: "Bring to fulfillment what You have begun. Give us the final freedom!"

Jesus celebrated this supper of multiple meanings with His disciples the night before His passion. It is in this context that we should understand the new Passover that He gave us in the Holy Eucharist.

In the accounts of the evangelists, there is an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of John, on the one hand, and what Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us.

According to John, Jesus died on the Cross precisely at that moment when, in the Temple, the Paschal lambs were immolated. His death and the sacrifice of the lambs coincided.

But this would mean that He died on the eve of Passover and therefore, could not have personally celebrated the Paschal supper - that, at least, is what it would appear to be (according to John).

According to the three synoptic Gospels, however, the Last Supper was a Paschal supper, into which traditional form Christ introduced the novelty of offering His Body and Blood.

This contradiction seemed insolvable until quite recently. Most of the exegetes thought that John did not wish to communicate the true historic date of the death of Jesus, but chose a symbolic date to make evident the most profound truth: that Jesus is the new and true Lamb who shed His blood for all of us.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran has meanwhile led us to a possible convincing solution which, although not yet accepted by all (Biblical scholars), does have a high degree of probability.

We can now say that what John said was historically precise. Jesus really did shed His blood on the eve of Passover at the moment of the immolation of the lambs. However He probably celebrated Passover with His disciples according to the calendar of Qumran, namely, at least a day earlier - and He celebrated it without a lamb, as did the Qumran community* who did not recognize the Temple of Herod and who were awaiting the new Temple.

So, Jesus celebrated Passover without a lamb - but not really without a lamb, because in place of the lamb, He gave Himself, His body and Blood. And so he anticipated His death consistent with His own words: "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own" (Jn 10,18).

At the moment when He offered His disciples His Body and His Blood, He carried out the true fulfillment of that statement. He Himself offered His life. Only that way would the ancient Passover achieve its real sense.

St. John Chrysostom, in his eucharistic catecheses, once wrote: "What are you saying, Moses? That the blood of a lamb can purify men? That it can save them from death? How can the blood of an animal purify men, save men, have power over death? In fact," he continued, "the lamb could only be a symbolic gesture, and therefore, the expression of waiting and hope for Someone who would be able to fulfill that which the sacrifice of an animal could not."

Jesus celebrated Passover without a lamb and without a temple, but nevertheless, not without a lamb or without a temple. He Himself was the awaited Lamb, the true one, as John the Baptist had announced at the beginning of Jesus's public ministry: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who will take away the sins of the world!" (Jn 1,29).

And He Himself is the true Temple, the living Temple, in which God dwells and in which we can encounter God and adore Him. His Blood, the love of Him who is at the same time Son of God and true man, one of us - that Blood can save. His love, that love in which He gave Himself freely for us, is that which saves us.

The nostalgic gesture, somewhat devoid of effectiveness, which was the immolation of an innocent and immaculate lamb, found its answer in Him who for us became at the same time Lamb and Temple.

Therefore, at the center of Jesus's new Passover was the Cross. From it came the new gift that He brought us. And so, the Cross remains always in the Holy Eucharist, in which, with the Apostles, we can celebrate the new Passover through the course of time.

The gift comes from the Cross of Christ. "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own". Now He offers it to us.

The Paschal Haggadah, the commemoration of God's saving action, has become the memory of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ - a memory that does not only remember the past but draws us into the presence of Christ's love.

And therefore the berakha, Israel's prayer of benediction and thanksgiving, has become our Eucharistic celebration, in which the Lord blesses our offerings - bread and wine - to give us Himself in them.

Let us pray to Him to help us not to live our life for our own self, but to give it to Him and so work together with Him, so that men may find life - the true life that can only come from Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.



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