Before the octave of Christmas draws to a close, here is a short excerpt from Pope Benedict's Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day:

The light of that first Christmas was like a fire kindled in the night. All about there was darkness, while in the cave there shone the true light “that enlightens every man” (Jn 1:9). And yet all this took place in simplicity and hiddenness, in the way that God works in all of salvation history. God loves to light little lights, so as then to illuminate vast spaces. Truth, and Love, which are its content, are kindled wherever the light is welcomed; they then radiate in concentric circles, as if by contact, in the hearts and minds of all those who, by opening themselves freely to its splendour, themselves become sources of light. Such is the history of the Church: she began her journey in the lowly cave of Bethlehem, and down the centuries she has become a People and a source of light for humanity. Today too, in those who encounter that Child, God still kindles fires in the night of the world, calling men and women everywhere to acknowledge in Jesus the “sign” of his saving and liberating presence and to extend the “us” of those who believe in Christ to the whole of mankind.

Thanks be to God for all the fires He lit in 2009, and all that He will light in the coming year.

Labels: pope benedict xvi

In the August 31 edition of America magazine, Bishop D'Arcy, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, asks some questions of the University of Notre Dame and other Catholic universities as well. Some highlights:

It is not about President Obama.... It is not about Democrats versus Republicans.... It is not about whether it is appropriate for the president of the United States to speak at Notre Dame or any great Catholic university on the pressing issues of the day.... The response, so intense and widespread, is not about what this journal called “sectarian Catholicism.” Rather, the response of the faithful derives directly from the Gospel....

Another serious question of witness and moral responsibility before the Notre Dame administration concerns its sponsorship over several years of a sad and immoral play, offensive to the dignity of women, which many call pornographic, and which an increasing number of Catholic universities have cancelled, “The Vagina Monologues,” by Eve Ensler.

Although he spoke eloquently about the importance of dialogue with the president of the United States, the president of Notre Dame chose not to dialogue with his bishop on these two matters [ND commencement and The Vagina Monologues], both pastoral and both with serious ramifications for the care of souls, which is the core responsibility of the local bishop....

I firmly believe that the board of trustees must take up its responsibility afresh, with appropriate study and prayer. They also must understand the seriousness of the present moment. This requires spiritual and intellectual formation on the part of the men and women of industry, business and technology who make up the majority of the board. Financial generosity is no longer sufficient for membership on the boards of great universities, if indeed it ever was. The responsibility of university boards is great, and decisions must not be made by a few. Like bishops, they are asked to leave politics and ambition at the door, and make serious decisions before God....

Where will the great Catholic universities search for a guiding light in the years ahead? Will it be the Land O’Lakes Statement or Ex Corde Ecclesiae? The first comes from a frantic time, with finances as the driving force. Its understanding of freedom is defensive, absolutist and narrow. It never mentions Christ and barely mentions the truth. The second text, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, speaks constantly of truth and the pursuit of truth. It speaks of freedom in the broader, Catholic philosophical and theological tradition, as linked to the common good, to the rights of others and always subject to truth. Unlike Land O’Lakes, it is communal, reflective of the developments since Vatican II, and it speaks with a language enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

The whole article from this wise shepherd is worth a read and some reflection.

Labels: bishop, church, communication, communion, dialogue, human life, moral life, politics, pope benedict xvi, USA

On the memorial of St. John Mary Vianney, patron saint of priests, I've decided to pull a few passages from a letter to priests that was published by Pope John Paul II on Holy Thursday of 1986. In this letter, the Pope reflected on the Curé D' Ars and the value of his example for priests today.

The depth of his love for Christ and for souls

The Cure of Ars is a model of priestly zeal for all pastors. The secret of his generosity is to be found without doubt in his love for God, lived without limits, in constant response to the love made manifest in Christ crucified. This is where he bases his desire to do everything to save the souls ransomed by Christ at such a great price, and to bring them back to the love of God. Let us recall one of those pithy sayings which he had the knack of uttering: "The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus." In his sermons and catechesis he continually returned to that love: "O my God, I prefer to die loving you than to live a single instant without loving you... I love you, my divine Savior, because you were crucified for us... because you have me crucified for you." For the sake of Christ, he seeks to conform himself exactly to the radical demands that Jesus in the Gospels puts before the disciples whom he sends out: prayer, poverty, humility, self-denial, voluntary penance. And, like Christ, he has a love for his flock that leads him to extreme pastoral commitment and self-sacrifice. Rarely has a pastor been so acutely aware of his responsibilities, so consumed by a desire to wrest his people from the sins of their lukewarmness. "O my God, grant me the conversion of my parish: I consent to suffer whatever you wish, for as long as I live." Dear brother priests, nourished by the Second Vatican Council which has felicitously placed the priest's consecration within the framework of his pastoral mission, let us join Saint John Mary Vianney and seek the dynamism of our pastoral zeal in the Heart of Jesus, in his love for souls. If we do not draw from the same source, our ministry risks bearing little fruit!

The specific ministry of the priest

Saint John Mary Vianney gives an eloquent answer to certain questionings of the priest's identity, which have manifested themselves in the course of the last twenty years; in fact it seems that today a more balanced position is being reached. The priest always, and in an unchangeable way, finds the source of his identity in Christ the Priest. It is not the world which determines his status, as though it depended on changing needs or ideas about social roles. The priest is marked with the seal of the Priesthood of Christ, in order to share in his function as the one Mediator and Redeemer. So, because of this fundamental bond, there opens before the priest the immense field of the service of souls, for their salvation in Christ and in the Church. This service must be completely inspired by love of souls in imitation of Christ who gives his life for them. It is God's wish that all people should be saved, and that none of the little ones should be lost (cf. Mt 18:14). "The priest must always be ready to respond to the needs of souls," said the Cure of Ars. "He is not for himself, he is for you." The priest is for the laity: he animates them and supports them in the exercise of the common priesthood of the baptized—so well illustrated by the Second Vatican Council—which consists in their making their lives a spiritual offering, in witnessing to the Christian spirit in the family, in taking charge of the temporal sphere and sharing in the evangelization of their brethren. But the service of the priest belongs to another order. He is ordained to act in the name of Christ the Head, to bring people into the new life made accessible by Christ, to dispense to them the mysteries—the Word, forgiveness, the Bread of Life—to gather them into his body, to help them to form themselves from within, to live and to act according to the saving plan of God. In a word, our identity as priests is manifested in the "creative" exercise of the love for souls communicated by Christ Jesus. Attempts to make the priest more like the laity are damaging to the Church. This does not mean in any way that the priest can remain remote from the human concerns of the laity: he must be very near to them, as John Mary Vianney was, but as a priest, always in a perspective which is that of their salvation and of the progress of the Kingdom of God. He is the witness and the dispenser of a life other than earthly life (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 3). It is essential to the Church that the identity of the priest be safeguarded, with its vertical dimension. The life and personality of the Cure of Ars are a particularly enlightening and vigorous illustration of this.

His intimate configuration to Christ and his solidarity with sinners

Saint John Mary Vianney did not content himself with the ritual carrying out of the activities of his ministry. It was his heart and his life which he sought to conform to Christ. Prayer was the soul of his life: silent and contemplative prayer, generally in his church at the foot of the tabernacle. Through Christ, his soul opened to the three divine Persons, to whom he would entrust "his poor soul" in his last will and testament. "He kept a constant union with God in the middle of an extremely busy life." And he did not neglect the office or the rosary. He turned spontaneously to the Virgin. His poverty was extraordinary. He literally stripped himself of everything for the poor. And he shunned honors. Chastity shone in his face. He knew the value of purity in order "to rediscover the source of love which is God." Obedience to Christ consisted, for John Mary Vianney, in obedience to the Church and especially to the Bishop. This obedience took the form of accepting the heavy charge of being a parish priest, which often frightened him. But the Gospel insists especially on renouncing self, on accepting the Cross. Many were the crosses which presented themselves to the Cure of Ars in the course of his ministry: calumny on the part of the people, being misunderstood by an assistant priest or other confreres, contradictions, and also a mysterious struggle against the powers of hell, and sometimes even the temptation to despair in the midst of spiritual darkness. Nonetheless he did not content himself with just accepting these trials without complaining; he went beyond them by mortification, imposing on himself continual fasts and many other rugged practices in order to "reduce his body to servitude," as Saint Paul says. But what we must see clearly in this penance, which our age unhappily has little taste for, are his motives: love of God and the conversion of sinners. Thus he asks a discouraged fellow priest: "You have prayed..., you have wept..., but have you fasted, have you kept vigil...?" Here we are close to the warning Jesus gave to the Apostles: "But this kind is cast out only by prayer and fasting" (Mt 17:21). In a word, John Mary Vianney sanctified himself so as to be more able to sanctify others. Of course, conversion remains the secret of hearts, which are free in their actions, and the secret of God's grace. By his ministry, the priest can only enlighten people, guide them in the internal forum and give them the sacraments. The sacraments are of course actions of Christ, and their effectiveness is not diminished by the imperfection or unworthiness of the minister. But the results depend also on the dispositions of those who receive them, and these are greatly assisted by the personal holiness of the priest, by his perceptible witness, as also by the mysterious exchange of merits in the Communion of Saints. Saint Paul said: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church" (Col 1:24). John Mary Vianney in a sense wished to force God to grant these graces of conversion, not only by his prayer but by the sacrifice of his whole life. He wished to love God for those who did not love him, and even to do the penance which they would not do. He was truly a pastor completely at one with his sinful people. Dear brother priests, let us not be afraid of this very personal commitment—marked by asceticism and inspired by love—which God asks of us for the proper exercise of our Priesthood. Let us remember the recent reflections of the Synodal Fathers: "It seems to us that in the difficulties of today God wishes to teach us more deeply the value, importance and central place of the Cross of Jesus Christ." In the priest, Christ relives his Passion, for the sake of souls. Let us give thanks to God who thus permits us to share in the Redemption, in our hearts and in our flesh! For all these reasons, Saint John Mary Vianney never ceases to be a witness, ever living, ever relevant, to the truth about the priestly vocation and service. We recall the convincing way in which he spoke of the greatness of the priest and of the absolute need for him. Those who are already priests, those who are preparing for the Priesthood and those who will be called to it must fix their eyes on his example and follow it. The faithful too will more clearly grasp, thanks to him, the mystery of the Priesthood of their priests. No, the figure of the Cure of Ars does not fade.

(from the Letter of Pope John Paul II To All the Priests of the Church for Holy Thursday 1986)

See also:

Letter of Pope Benedict XVI Proclaiming a Year for Priests - June 16, 2009

Encyclical Letter of Pope John XXIII on Saint John Vianney - August 1, 1959

Labels: conversion, John Paul II, mercy, moral life, paschal mystery, pope benedict xvi, priesthood, saints, vocations, Year for Priests

The new encyclical letter from Pope Benedict XVI On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth was released this past Tuesday.

I've uploaded a print-friendly PDF version of the letter. Like all of the documents on my site, it is designed in a two-column format, with footnotes rather than endnotes. You can download it here.

I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, so I'm not going to post about it just yet. There are plenty of people doing that right now; for reactions and opinions, see the Opinionated Catholic linkfest.

There will be plenty of time to examine this encyclical later; I don't feel any need to correspond to a frenzied news cycle.

Instead, I'm gearing up for a slow, methodical treatment of John Paul II's document on priestly formation. I hope to have the first post prepared by the weekend.

Labels: caritas in veritate, church, John Paul II, pastores dabo vobis, pope benedict xvi, priesthood, Year for Priests

I attended the ordination of Bishop Lee Piché yesterday at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and captured some photos and audio on my iPhone.


I'm posting the images and audio recordings here, with apologies in advance for the quality of some of the audio. I was standing at the back of the right transept, which was near an open door, so there are a few patches of noise in the recordings when wind brushed the very sensitive microphone on my phone.

Entrance Procession: Behold, a New Creation - James Biery (2:32)

Liturgy of the Word: Psalm 34 - Howard Hughes, SM (excerpts; 1:20)


Rite of Ordination: Hymn - Veni, Creator Spiritus - Mode VIII Chant (excerpt; 0:31)

Accende lumen sensibus, infundeamorem coribus, informa nostri corporis virtute firman perpeti.

Enkindle your light within our minds, pour love into our hearts; strengthen the weakness of our body by your never failing power.

Rite of Ordination: Apostolic Letter and Consent of the People (3:18)

The mandate from the Apostolic See is read. This authenticates the Holy Father's choice of this priest for ordination to the Episcopate. The letter is formally presented to the Chancellor of the Archdiocese.

Rite of Ordination: Homily (12:07)

Archbishop Nienstedt addresses Bishop-elect Piché and all present on the office of Bishop.

Rite of Ordination: Litany of Supplication (excerpts; 3:32)

The Archbishop invites all present to beg God to grant an abundance of His grace to His chosen servant.

Concluding Rites: Address by the Newly Ordained (4:25)

Bishop Piché speaks to the people present.

The rest of my photos from the ordination are posted on Flickr.

Coverage in The Catholic Spirit may be found here.

Labels: bishop, church, communion, events, Holy Spirit, multimedia, pope benedict xvi, prayer, priesthood, sacraments

Today, Pope Benedict XVI signed his third encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth").

According to a Catholic News Agency article, it may be a week or more before the publication becomes available:

The upcoming social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI "Caritas in veritate" - Charity in truth - will bear the date of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, but will likely become public on July 6 or 7, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera said on Saturday.

An article by Gian Guido Vecchi quotes what he claims are several original paragraphs of the Pope’s third encyclical.

The article goes on to provide some passages that will supposedly be included. Among the citations, this:

According to Vecchi, the encyclical will hardly be “good news to the liberals and bad news to the conservatives,” as claimed by some analysts who have not seen the text of the document.

“The Pope quotes Paul VI’s Populorum progressio, which in 1967 denounced the gap between rich and poor countries, but the encyclical also takes from Humanae vitae in criticizing abortion and contraception,” Vecchi writes.

The encyclical, in fact, is likely to say that “openness to life is at the core of every true development,” and regarding the ambiguous policies aimed at “reducing the need for abortion” by means of other social policies, the Pope warns that “if personal and social sensibility toward the welcoming of a new life is lost, even other forms of welcoming (life) useful to social life become fruitless.”

We'll have to wait and see.

UPDATE (7/7/2009): Caritas in Veritate is now available online.

Labels: caritas in veritate, church, moral life, pope benedict xvi

Each year, on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church invites us to pray for the sanctification of priests.

The solemnity is celebrated on the third Friday after Pentecost and so, this year, we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, June 19.

The celebration takes on a special importance this year because it inaugurates a Year for Priests that was announced by the Pope back in March:

Benedict XVI is proclaiming a Year for Priests on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars.

The Pope announced this today during an audience granted to participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Clergy, a Vatican communiqué reported.

The theme for the priestly year is "Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of Priests." The Pope is scheduled to open the year with a celebration of vespers June 19, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the presence of the relic of the Curé of Ars, to be brought to Rome by Bishop Guy Bagnard of Belley-Ars, the press release stated.

The closing ceremony will take place exactly one year later, with a World Meeting of Priests in St. Peter's Square.

During this year, a directory for confessors and spiritual directors will be published, along with a compilation of texts by the Pope on the core issues of the life and mission of priests in the modern times. As well, Benedict XVI will officially proclaim St. Jean Marie Vianney as "patron saint of all the priests of the world."

The congregation will aim in this year to promote initiatives that will "highlight the role and mission of the clergy in the Church and in modern society."

Another goal will be to address "the need to intensify the permanent formation of priests, associating it with that of seminarians."

I've dedicated quite a bit of this blog in the past to discussing the priesthood, and the pattern will certainly continue over the next twelve months: it will be the central theme of my blog for the duration of this special year.

Today, I'll simply close with a prayer that the Congregation for Clergy released last year.

Prayer for Priests

Lord Jesus, present in the Most Blessed Sacrament,
and living perpetually among us through Your Priests,
grant that the words of Your Priests may be only Your words,
that their gestures be only Your gestures,
and that their lives be a true reflection of Your life.

Grant that they may be men who speak to God on behalf of His people,
and speak to His people of God.
Grant that they be courageous in service,
serving the Church as she asks to be served.

Grant that they may be men who witness to eternity in our time,
traveling on the paths of history in Your steps,
and doing good for all.

Grant that they may be faithful to their commitments,
zealous in their vocation and mission,
clear mirrors of their own identity,
and living the joy of the gift they have received.

We pray that Your Holy Mother, Mary,
present throughout Your life,
may be ever present in the life of Your Priests. Amen.

(source)

Labels: church, events, pope benedict xvi, prayer, vocations, Year of the Priest

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican is launching iPhone and Facebook applications in an effort to help Catholics, especially younger generations, use new technologies to create a culture of dialogue, respect and friendship.

The new applications are part of a brand new Vatican Web site -- www.Pope2You.net -- that was to go live on World Communications Day, which will be celebrated May 24 in most dioceses. (source)

Labels: communication, pope benedict xvi, social networking, technology

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 43rd WORLD DAY OF COMMUNICATIONS

"New Technologies, New Relationships.
Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship."

May 24, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

In anticipation of the forthcoming World Communications Day, I would like to address to you some reflections on the theme chosen for this year - New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship. The new digital technologies are, indeed, bringing about fundamental shifts in patterns of communication and human relationships. These changes are particularly evident among those young people who have grown up with the new technologies and are at home in a digital world that often seems quite foreign to those of us who, as adults, have had to learn to understand and appreciate the opportunities it has to offer for communications. In this year’s message, I am conscious of those who constitute the so-called digital generation and I would like to share with them, in particular, some ideas concerning the extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity. These technologies are truly a gift to humanity and we must endeavor to ensure that the benefits they offer are put at the service of all human individuals and communities, especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

The accessibility of mobile telephones and computers, combined with the global reach and penetration of the internet, has opened up a range of means of communication that permit the almost instantaneous communication of words and images across enormous distances and to some of the most isolated corners of the world; something that would have been unthinkable for previous generations. Young people, in particular, have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities, and they are turning to them as means of communicating with existing friends, of meeting new friends, of forming communities and networks, of seeking information and news, and of sharing their ideas and opinions. Many benefits flow from this new culture of communication: families are able to maintain contact across great distances; students and researchers have more immediate and easier access to documents, sources and scientific discoveries, hence they can work collaboratively from different locations; moreover, the interactive nature of many of the new media facilitates more dynamic forms of learning and communication, thereby contributing to social progress.

While the speed with which the new technologies have evolved in terms of their efficiency and reliability is rightly a source of wonder, their popularity with users should not surprise us, as they respond to a fundamental desire of people to communicate and to relate to each other. This desire for communication and friendship is rooted in our very nature as human beings and cannot be adequately understood as a response to technical innovations. In the light of the biblical message, it should be seen primarily as a reflection of our participation in the communicative and unifying Love of God, who desires to make of all humanity one family. When we find ourselves drawn towards other people, when we want to know more about them and make ourselves known to them, we are responding to God’s call - a call that is imprinted in our nature as beings created in the image and likeness of God, the God of communication and communion.

The desire for connectedness and the instinct for communication that are so obvious in contemporary culture are best understood as modern manifestations of the basic and enduring propensity of humans to reach beyond themselves and to seek communion with others. In reality, when we open ourselves to others, we are fulfilling our deepest need and becoming more fully human. Loving is, in fact, what we are designed for by our Creator. Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow relationships, I am talking about the real love that is at the very heart of Jesus’ moral teaching: "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" and "You must love your neighbor as yourself" (cf. Mk 12:30-31). In this light, reflecting on the significance of the new technologies, it is important to focus not just on their undoubted capacity to foster contact between people, but on the quality of the content that is put into circulation using these means. I would encourage all people of good will who are active in the emerging environment of digital communication to commit themselves to promoting a culture of respect, dialogue and friendship.

Those who are active in the production and dissemination of new media content, therefore, should strive to respect the dignity and worth of the human person. If the new technologies are to serve the good of individuals and of society, all users will avoid the sharing of words and images that are degrading of human beings, that promote hatred and intolerance, that debase the goodness and intimacy of human sexuality or that exploit the weak and vulnerable.

The new technologies have also opened the way for dialogue between people from different countries, cultures and religions. The new digital arena, the so-called cyberspace, allows them to encounter and to know each other’s traditions and values. Such encounters, if they are to be fruitful, require honest and appropriate forms of expression together with attentive and respectful listening. The dialogue must be rooted in a genuine and mutual searching for truth if it is to realize its potential to promote growth in understanding and tolerance. Life is not just a succession of events or experiences: it is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this - in truth, in goodness, and in beauty - that we find happiness and joy. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who see us merely as consumers in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

The concept of friendship has enjoyed a renewed prominence in the vocabulary of the new digital social networks that have emerged in the last few years. The concept is one of the noblest achievements of human culture. It is in and through our friendships that we grow and develop as humans. For this reason, true friendship has always been seen as one of the greatest goods any human person can experience. We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialize the concept or the experience of friendship. It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop on-line friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbors and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation. If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development.

Friendship is a great human good, but it would be emptied of its ultimate value if it were to be understood as an end in itself. Friends should support and encourage each other in developing their gifts and talents and in putting them at the service of the human community. In this context, it is gratifying to note the emergence of new digital networks that seek to promote human solidarity, peace and justice, human rights and respect for human life and the good of creation. These networks can facilitate forms of co-operation between people from different geographical and cultural contexts that enable them to deepen their common humanity and their sense of shared responsibility for the good of all. We must, therefore, strive to ensure that the digital world, where such networks can be established, is a world that is truly open to all. It would be a tragedy for the future of humanity if the new instruments of communication, which permit the sharing of knowledge and information in a more rapid and effective manner, were not made accessible to those who are already economically and socially marginalized, or if it should contribute only to increasing the gap separating the poor from the new networks that are developing at the service of human socialization and information.

I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I ask you to introduce into the culture of this new environment of communications and information technology the values on which you have built your lives. In the early life of the Church, the great Apostles and their disciples brought the Good News of Jesus to the Greek and Roman world. Just as, at that time, a fruitful evangelization required that careful attention be given to understanding the culture and customs of those pagan peoples so that the truth of the gospel would touch their hearts and minds, so also today, the proclamation of Christ in the world of new technologies requires a profound knowledge of this world if the technologies are to serve our mission adequately. It falls, in particular, to young people, who have an almost spontaneous affinity for the new means of communication, to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this "digital continent." Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. Our faith can respond to these expectations: may you become its heralds! The Pope accompanies you with his prayers and his blessing.

From the Vatican, 24 January 2009, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.

BENEDICTUS XVI

Labels: church, communication, communion, pope benedict xvi, social networking, technology

Today's is the 46th World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Pope Benedict XVI has written a reflection for this day that focuses on vocation in two aspects: the divine initiative, and the human response.

Not a word about glossier marketing campaigns, relaxing the discipline of priestly celibacy, redefining priestly identity, or any other misguided 'techniques' that might implemented in an effort to make a vocation to priesthood or religious life more appealing.

Instead, the message seems to be for us to get out of the way, with all of our merely human thinking about the subject, and to allow God to continue to call, as He always has, and to do what we can to encourage a faithful response among those whom He calls.

Our first duty, therefore, is to keep alive in families and in parishes, in movements and in apostolic associations, in religious communities and in all the sectors of diocesan life this appeal to the divine initiative with unceasing prayer. We must pray that the whole Christian people grows in its trust in God, convinced that the "Lord of the harvest" does not cease to ask some to place their entire existence freely at his service so as to work with him more closely in the mission of salvation. What is asked of those who are called, for their part, is careful listening and prudent discernment, a generous and willing adherence to the divine plan, and a serious study of the reality that is proper to the priestly and religious vocations, so as to be able to respond responsibly and with conviction.

After unpacking the distinct dimensions of the call to priesthood and to consecrated life, he encourages those called to confidence in God and co-responsibility:

Who can consider himself worthy to approach the priestly ministry? Who can embrace the consecrated life relying only on his or her own human powers? Once again, it is useful to reiterate that the response of men and women to the divine call, whenever they are aware that it is God who takes the initiative and brings His plan of salvation to fulfilment, is never patterned after the timid self-interest of the worthless servant who, out of fear, hid the talent entrusted to him in the ground (cf. Mt 25:14-30), but rather expresses itself in a ready adherence to the Lord’s invitation, as in the case of Peter who, trusting in the Lord’s word, did not hesitate to let down the net once more even after having toiled all night and catching nothing (cf. Lk 5:5). Without in any sense renouncing personal responsibility, the free human response to God thus becomes "co-responsibility", responsibility in and with Christ, through the action of his Holy Spirit; it becomes communion with the One who makes it possible for us to bear much fruit (cf. Jn 15:5).

He then closes by highlighting Mary as exemplar of faithful response to God's call, and as an intercessor for those called:

Mary, after [her] first "fiat", had to repeat it many times, even up to the culminating moment of the crucifixion of Jesus, when "standing by the cross of Jesus" as the Evangelist John notes, she participated in the dreadful suffering of her innocent Son. And it was from the cross, that Jesus, while dying, gave her to us as Mother and entrusted us to her as sons and daughters (cf. Jn 19:26-27); she is especially the Mother of priests and consecrated persons. I want to entrust to her all those who are aware of God’s call to set out on the road of the ministerial priesthood or consecrated life.

Dear friends, do not become discouraged in the face of difficulties and doubts; trust in God and follow Jesus faithfully and you will be witnesses of the joy that flows from intimate union with him. Imitating the Virgin Mary whom all generations proclaim as blessed because she believed (cf. Lk 1:48), commit yourselves with every spiritual energy, to realise the heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, cultivating in your heart, like her, the ability to be astonished and to adore him who is mighty and does "great things", for Holy is his name (cf. Lk 1:49).

It's a good day to reflect as well upon the initiative recently recommended by the Congregation for Clergy to establish cenacles of adoration for vocations in every diocese.

My previous posts on the topic of vocations may be found here.

Labels: Holy Spirit, pope benedict xvi, prayer, priesthood

Parting of the Red Sea by Arnold Friberg

From the conclusion of Pope Benedict XVI's homily at the Easter Vigil:

There is a surprising parallel to the story of Moses’ song after Israel’s liberation from Egypt upon emerging from the Red Sea, namely in the Book of Revelation of Saint John. Before the beginning of the seven last plagues imposed upon the earth, the seer has a vision of something “like a sea of glass mingled with fire; and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb …” (Rev 15:2f.). This image describes the situation of the disciples of Jesus Christ in every age, the situation of the Church in the history of this world. Humanly speaking, it is self-contradictory. On the one hand, the community is located at the Exodus, in the midst of the Red Sea, in a sea which is paradoxically ice and fire at the same time. And must not the Church, so to speak, always walk on the sea, through the fire and the cold? Humanly speaking, she ought to sink. But while she is still walking in the midst of this Red Sea, she sings – she intones the song of praise of the just: the song of Moses and of the Lamb, in which the Old and New Covenants blend into harmony. While, strictly speaking, she ought to be sinking, the Church sings the song of thanksgiving of the saved. She is standing on history’s waters of death and yet she has already risen. Singing, she grasps at the Lord’s hand, which holds her above the waters. And she knows that she is thereby raised outside the force of gravity of death and evil – a force from which otherwise there would be no way of escape – raised and drawn into the new gravitational force of God, of truth and of love. At present she is still between the two gravitational fields. But once Christ is risen, the gravitational pull of love is stronger than that of hatred; the force of gravity of life is stronger than that of death. Perhaps this is actually the situation of the Church in every age? It always seems as if she ought to be sinking, and yet she is always already saved. Saint Paul illustrated this situation with the words: “We are as dying, and behold we live” (2 Cor 6:9). The Lord’s saving hand holds us up, and thus we can already sing the song of the saved, the new song of the risen ones: alleluia! Amen.

Labels: church, Easter, liturgy, paschal mystery, pope benedict xvi

Jesus does not come to make us comfortable; rather he sets fire to the earth; he brings the great living fire of divine love, which is what the Holy Spirit is, a fire that burns. In Origen, he says: "Whoever comes close to me comes close to the fire." Whoever comes close to him, accordingly, must be prepared to be burned. Especially nowadays, we ought to set these sayings against a vacuous Christianity that renders everything banal, a Christianity that would prefer to be comfortable and undemanding. Christianity is great because love is great. It burns, yet this is not a destructive fire but one that makes things bright and pure and free and grand. Being a Christian, then, is daring to entrust oneself to this burning fire....

If a government tried to avoid all conflict and wanted to suit everyone, or even if an individual did the same, then nothing would work any more. And it's the same in the Church. If she simply aims to avoid conflict, merely to ensure that no disturbances arise anywhere, then her real message can no longer make any impact. For this message is in fact there precisely in order to conflict with our behavior, to tear man out of his life of lies and to bring clarity and truth. Truth does not come cheap. It makes demands, and it also burns. The challenge that we find in Jesus' conflict with his contemporaries is an essential part of his message. Here, a rigid and encrusted form of faith, a self-righteous faith, is not conveniently plastered over; rather he takes up the cudgel against it, so that its encrusted shell can be broken and the truth can reach its mark....

Genuine peace does not fear conflict. That truth is worth pain and even conflict. That I may not just accept a lie in order to have quiet. For it is not the first duty of a citizen, or of a Christian, to seek quiet; but rather it is that standing fast by what is noble and great, which is what Christ has given us and which can reach as far as suffering, as far as a struggle that ends in martyrdom--and exactly in that way brings peace....

Christ embodies the great and undiluted loving-kindness of God. He doesn't want to make things difficult for us; on the contrary, he comes to help us bear the load. He does not do this by simply taking away from us the burden of being human; that remains heavy enough. But we are no longer carrying it on our own; he is carrying it with us. Christ has nothing to do with comfort, with banality, yet we find in him that inner calm which comes from knowing that we are being supported by an ultimate kindness and an ultimate security.

We see that the entire structure of the message of Jesus is full of tension; it is an enormous challenge. Its nature is such that is always has to do with the Cross. Anyone who is not ready to get burned, who is not at least willing for it to happen, will not come near. But we can always be sure that it is there that we will meet true loving-kindness, which helps us, which accepts us--and which does not merely mean well toward us but will in fact ensure that things go well for us.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "What Did Christ Bring to Earth? Good News"

Labels: Holy Spirit, Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi, suffering

God sets against human pride a universal measure, namely, love. Pride is at the heart, and is the content, of every form of sin, in the sense of wanting to be God oneself. Love, on the contrary, does not exalt itself, but stoops down. Love shows that stooping down in that way is the truly exalted thing. That we are sublime when we come down low, when we become simple, when we bend down to the poor and the lowly. God makes himself little in order to bring puffed-up man back into the proper measure. Thus we see that becoming small is the rule, the model of how God acts.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Light"

Labels: charity, communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi

The whole business of constructing a purely historical Jesus, in contrast to the Jesus of faith, which began with the Enlightenment, was already subjected to severe criticism by Albert Schweitzer. He said: We thought we really had him at last, and now he has passed by our age and gone back to being himself.

I think all these attempts are reconstructions in which we can always see the face of the architect. Whether you take Adolf Harnack's Christ—who reflects the typical liberal—or whether you take Bultmann's Christ, who portrays his kind of existential philosophy. All these constructions have been undertaken with one guiding idea: There can be no such thing as God made man. Those events that presuppose his existence cannot therefore have happened. That means that here you are already starting with a presupposition that will, basically, rob the event of its inner force—and, thereby, precisely that which lends it both tension and fullness.

I would think it much more appropriate if just for once we asked: Does the portrayal of this person in the New Testament make sense? And my answer would be: only the way he is there makes any sense at all. Only as shown there has he the greatness to be the originator of such events. I am therefore persuaded that—despite all source criticism, from which we still have much to learn—our trust in the Gospels is fully justified. Even if the details of many traditions have been expanded in later periods, we can trust the Gospels for the essentials and can find in them the real figure of Jesus. It is much more real than the apparently reliable historical reconstructions.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Jesus--An Invention?"

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi, scripture

GIving can never mean primarily giving money, that goes without saying. Of course money is also often most necessary. But when money is the only thing that is given, that is often hurtful for the other person. I have seen that again and again in the Third World. If you send us nothing but money, people tell me, then you often do more harm than good. Money is very easily misused in some way and then makes things worse. You must give more than this. You must come yourselves; you must give of yourselves; and you must help, so that the material gifts you bring are used appropriately, so that they are not just something you pull out of a bag in order to buy your way out of the difficulty we represent, the problem we are for you.

As long as we send only money or know-how, we are giving too little. In that sense the missionaries were an example for us, by giving people God, by making love believable for them; their gift to people was a new way of life; they gave themselves wholly and entirely, going out not just for two or three years as an interesting experience, but for their lifetime, so as to belong to those people for always. Unless we can relearn this capacity for self-giving, those other gifts will be too little.

What we have said about things on a world scale is of course equally true concerning individuals. There is a lovely story told by Rilke. The poet tells how, in Paris, he used always to pass a woman into whose hat someone had thrown a coin. The beggar was always quite unmoved by this, as if she had no feelings at all. One day, Rilke gives her a rose. And in that moment her face glows. He sees for the first time that she does have feelings. She smiles, and then for a week she is no longer there begging, because someone has given her something that is more than money.

I think that is such a lovely little incident, in which you can see that sometimes a rose, a little act of giving, of affection, of acceptance of the other person, can be more than many coins or other material gifts.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Aspects of Love"

Labels: charity, Lent, pope benedict xvi

Isn't it remarkable, how in spite of our deep-rooted longing for love, we regard everything else as being more important: success, sex, status, money, power. We use almost all of our energy in learning how to reach these goals. And we devote hardly any effort at all to learning the art of loving.

Many of the things you mentioned are short-cuts and substitutes. In these ways we try to save ourselves the trouble and risk of losing ourselves and to reach our goal more quickly and easily. That is one thing. Besides that, it is an essential part of man's calling to develop his capabilities—and only thus can he fulfill his mission of loving.

Man is meant to develop and actualize the potential within him; he is meant to do something in this world. That's because learning work skills and setting about a job in no way conflict with his basic task of loving, but give it concrete shape. I am only fulfilling my mission to love, so to speak, when I become the person I am capable of being. When I am giving what I am able to give. When I open up those possibilities in creation and in the network of human relationships that help us to get through life together and together to shape the fertile capacity of the world and of life into a garden, in which we can find both security and freedom.

This basic impulse goes astray whenever this vocational education aims at no more than the acquisition of skills; whenever mastery over our environment, improving our earning capacity, and the pursuit of power become disassociated from the inner task of loving, from everyone's being there for everyone else. Whenever power gets the better of giving. Whenever self-assertion, turning-in upon oneself, the collecting of things around oneself becomes once more the primary aim, and, in this way, man's capacity for loving is choked off. Man is then dominated by things and no longer knows how to value them properly.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "How Do We Learn to Love?"

Labels: communion, Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi

When it comes down to it, everyone has to undergo his own Exodus. He not only has to leave the place that nurtured him and become independent, but has to come out of his own reserved self. He must leave himself behind, transcend his own limits; only then will he reach the Promised Land, so to speak—the sphere of freedom, in which he plays his part in creation. We have come to recognize this fundamental law of transcendence as being the essence of love.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Love: The Meaning of Life"

Labels: communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi

Anger is not necessarily always in contradiction with love. A father, for instance... sometimes has to speak crossly to his son so as to prick his conscience, just because he loves him. And he would fall short of his loving obligation and his will to love if, in order to make things easier for the other person, and also for himself, he avoided the task of putting him right sometimes by making a critical intervention in his life.

We know that spoiled children, to whom everything has been permitted, are often in the end quite unable to come to terms with life, because later on life treats them quite differently....

To put it another way: love, in the true sense, is not always a matter of giving way, being soft, and just acting nice. In that sense, a sugar-coated Jesus or a God who agrees to everything and is never anything but nice and friendly is no more than a caricature of real love. Because God loves us, because he wants us to grow into truth, he must necessarily make demands on us and must also correct us. God has to do those things we refer to in the image of "the wrath of God," that is, he has to resist us in our attempts to fall away from our own best selves and when we pose a threat to ourselves.

...It is important to recognize that true love carries with it a high seriousness. It desires the true good of the other person, and therefore it has the courage to oppose him whenever he does not see what is good, whenever he is running headlong into misfortune.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Love: The Meaning of Life"

Labels: dialogue, Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

These two commandments belong together, and they reach far beyond external and factual matters, touching on our inner thoughts. Here we are told that sin does not begin just at the moment when I commit adultery or unlawfully take away someone else's possessions, but that sins are born of thoughts. It is not enough, then, just to call a halt before the final step, as you might say, because that is not going to be possible unless I have preserved within me an inward respect for the other person, for his marriage, or for his possessions.

Sin, then, does not begin with outwardly perceptible actions, but it begins in that breeding ground of sin, in envious thoughts, in the refusal to seek the good of the other person, in rejecting him. For any human being, a way of life that does not seek to cleanse the inner thoughts is consequently incapable of keeping itself in order on the concrete, factual plane. In consequence this appeals directly to the heart of man. For it is the heart that gives birth to a man's actions. On this ground alone it must be kept, as it were, clear and pure.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Ninth and Tenth Commandments"

Labels: conscience, Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi, respect

The Sabbath is introduced in the account of the creation as a time when man is made free for God. Beyond that, and in connection with the Ten Commandments, it is also a sign of God's Covenant with his people. The original idea of the Sabbath is thus an anticipation of the freedom and equality of everyone.

On the Sabbath, even a slave is not a slave; there is rest even for him. In the tradition of the Church this has always been one of its main aspects. As far as free people were concerned, their activity was not work in the strict sense and could thus be carried on. One further important point is that on this day creation should take its rest. It was originally framed in this way so that the commandment held even for cattle.

Today man would like to have total, sole, and absolute dominion over his time. We have in fact forgotten how important it is to allow God into our time and not merely to use time as an element made available for our own private purposes. It is a matter of standing aside from concepts of what is useful or practical—and thereby becoming available for others and for ourselves.

We have already suggested that on the morning of the Resurrection of Christ the Sabbath was renewed in a different form. It is now the morning on which the Risen One enters in among his own, on which we gather together with him, on which he invites us to share with him—to share in the day of worship and in the meeting with God, wherein he comes to us and seeks us out, and where we can seek him, too.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Third Commandment"

Labels: Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi, prayer

Lies make the best stories, they say, but sometimes even little lies grow so big that they can almost topple the president of a superpower or ruling political parties or great media barons. And the strange thing is: nothing stays hidden.

It seems to me that the significance of truth as a fundamental and precious gift for man is rooted here. All the commandments are commandments of love, or are developments of the command to love. In that sense they all have to do quite explicitly with the precious gift of truth. If I creep quietly away from the truth or distort the truth or fall into untruth, I often do harm to someone else—but without fail I also harm myself.

It is well known that telling a little white lie can easily become a habit, a way of cheating one's way through life, helping oneself out with a lie here, there, and everywhere, and then finding oneself caught in a web of lies and living one's life counter to reality. Also implicit in this is not only the fact that every single offense against the dignity of truth is degrading to man, but that each one is a slap in the face of love. For if I withhold the truth from someone, I withhold from him something essential and precious and lead him up a false path. Truth is love, and if love were to turn against truth, it would be mutilating itself.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Eighth Commandment"

Labels: conscience, Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi

...I wish to extend a particular word of encouragement to fathers so that they may take Saint Joseph as their model. He who kept watch over the Son of Man is able to teach them the deepest meaning of their own fatherhood. In the same way, each father receives his children from God, and they are created in God’s own image and likeness. Saint Joseph was the spouse of Mary. In the same way, each father sees himself entrusted with the mystery of womanhood through his own wife. Dear fathers, like Saint Joseph, respect and love your spouse; and by your love and your wise presence, lead your children to God where they must be (cf. Lk 2:49).

from the homily of Pope Benedict XVI during Mass in Yaoundé Stadium, 19 March 2009

Labels: fatherhood, Lent, marriage and family, pope benedict xvi, respect

There's a story that confuses me: Jesus says, "Do not think I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come, not to abolish, but to fulfill them. Amen, I say to you: 'Until heaven and earth pass away, not the least little letter of the law will pass away, until all things have been fulfilled.'"

Christ does not come as a lawbreaker. He does not come in order to declare the Law invalid or meaningless. Moreover Paul does not do so, even if some people think they can see a tension between Paul's position and the saying of Jesus that is transmitted in Matthew. He says that the old Law, in its smallest details, fulfilled an essential educational function. Christ comes in order to complete it. But that also means, in order to lift the Law up onto a higher level. He fulfills the Law in his suffering, in his life, in his message. And now what happens is that the whole Law finds its meaning in him. Everything that was intended by it, everything it aimed for, is truly realized in his person.

That is why we no longer need to fulfill the Law according to the letter, in the way its prescriptions regulate everything down to the last detail. Our fellowship with Christ means that we are in the sphere where the Law is fulfilled; where it has found its true place; where it is quite literally "lifted up" [aufgehoben] to a higher level, that is, both preserved and at the same time transformed.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Four Laws"

Labels: Lent, moral life, pope benedict xvi

The Bible speaks to the whole of history and gives those lights that are essential to illuminate its path. But God does not do the thinking for us. He does not replace careful learning, does not replace our own spiritual striving. He leaves us the world to argue about, as we said, so that we can come to grips with it ourselves. He does not jump in to plug the gaps of our knowledge, but he does give us wisdom―and naturally the wisdom brings knowledge with it; otherwise it would not be true wisdom. He gives us those directions that man needs so as to live aright. These indications are of course valid for the whole of history, for all places and times, but they do always need to be relearned.

There is a saying of Gregory the Great, which is also quoted in the Catechism, that goes like this: The Word of Scripture grows with the reader. And the reader grows as well, and then the Word really shows its greatness, and at the same time it grows out into history.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Book of Books"

Labels: communication, Lent, pope benedict xvi, prayer

The Old Covenant is the story of God's relation with his Chosen People. God himself gives them a name. It was after he had struggled all night with the patriarch Jacob in the river Jabbok. Jacob would not allow himself to be overthrown even by the Lord of the universe, and thenceforth he was to be known as "Israel," he who fights with God.

But why did God choose one special people at all? And why this people in particular?

In the Old Testament the special significance of this choice is emphasized again and again, in Deuteronomy, for instance. God says to the people through Moses: I did not choose you because you were a great and numerous people, not because you possess this or that quality; but because I love you I have freely chosen you.

We cannot question the motives for this choice by any process of rational thought; it remains God's mystery. But this does imply something: God chooses. Yet he does not make a choice so as to exclude the others, but in order to come to the others by means of the one chosen, and to enter in a concrete fashion into the interplay of history....

God's way of looking at things is different from ours. Being chosen by God does not mean that he will make you great in worldly terms. He does not turn his people into a great power, but he reveals himself in small things and works through them. Political power is not what counts in God's reckoning, but faith.

A people who were always in danger of being ground down between the great powers of Egypt and Babylon, like corn between millstones, was obviously called to have faith. Thus God creates his own history in something that is far from being a worldly power. And the lesson we can draw from this for the Church is that she, too, is not important on account of worldly power or influence but simply because she incorporates and represents God's alternative. Her greatest moments are those in which she is suffering persecution and not those times when she has at her disposal great wealth and worldly power.

Through this we can learn for ourselves the system of values as to what is, or is not, important in life. But to try to work out God's reasons in detail is not our task. He shows us the way, points the direction, and retains his sovereignty.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Old Covenant"

Labels: church, communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi

Let us consider... the Tower of Babel, with which man tries to create a universal civilization by means of technology. He tries to bring about by his own ability and efforts the dream, which in itself is right and good, of one world, of unified humanity, and by means of a tower reaching up to heaven, he tries to seize power and make himself like God. Basically this is the same as the dream of modern technology: possessing divine power, being able to get at the controls of the world itself. In this way, these images truly embody warnings from a primitive knowledge that can still speak to us.

Let's stay with the Tower of Babel. The Bible gives us here a remarkable piece of information: "The Lord said, Behold, they are all one people, and they have one language. But this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing in all their plans will be impossible for them. Very well, let us go down! We will confuse their language down there, so that none of them any longer understands what the other is saying." That sounds rather arbitrary.

Yes, almost as if God were envious and didn't want to let man get too big. What we have here is picture language that makes use of the material then available to Israel. It is still not altogether free of certain pagan elements; only as the interpretation developed were these things set aside. Of course it isn't a matter of God being anxious about man becoming too powerful and wanting his throne, but rather that he sees how man, in assigning to himself an inflated importance, damages his true self.

We can perhaps interpret this image in this way: In Babel, both the unity of mankind and the temptation to become like God, and to reach up to his height, are linked solely with technical ability. But unity on this basis, we are being told here, will not hold and leads to confusion.

In the world of today we could well be following the same pattern. Town centers look the same in South Africa as in South America, as in Japan, in North America, and in Europe. The same jeans are worn everywhere; the same hits are sung; people watch the same things on TV and admire the same stars. In that sense, there is a unity of civilization, right down to the McDonald's and a single menu for mankind.

While at first sight this growth of uniformity seems right and good, as a power to effect reconciliation -- just like the unity of language in the building of the Tower of Babel -- at the same time people are being increasingly alienated from one another. They don't really get any closer to one another. Instead of that, we are experiencing an increase of regionalism, a revolt on the part of the various cultures that just want to be themselves or that feel oppressed by others.

Is that a plea against the uniformity of culture?

Yes, because people are losing their true selves and what belongs to them. Any deeper communication between people is being lost now if it cannot be produced and imparted by these superficial outward forms of relationship and by having mastery of the same technical apparatus. Man is far more profound. If he is united with others merely on this superficial level, at the deeper level within, he will rebel against this uniformity, because he unconsciously recognizes that it reduces him to slavery.

We can say that the story of the Tower of Babel takes a critical view of a certain way of uniting the ways in which man arranges his life and his world, a way that achieves only apparent unity and only seems to make man greater. In reality, it robs him of his depth and of his greatness. Besides this, it makes him dangerous, because, on the one hand, he has great power, but, on the other, his moral capacity lags behind his technical capacity. Moral strength has not grown in correspondence with the power to make or destroy things that man now has. That is why God intervenes to oppose this kind of unification and is creating unity of a quite different kind.

What do you mean by that?

For us Christians, the Old Testament and the New always belong together. The texts of the Old Testament are the first step along the way. We are persuaded that they remain incomprehensible unless one takes the next step in reading. We will be able to look at that later with respect to the connection between Adam and Christ and some other examples. The story of Pentecost, in which God sets in motion his model of unity, also belongs here. This story is the counterpart to that of the Tower of Babel and thereby completes the picture and makes it properly comprehensible. The apostles are not speaking some kind of common language in this story, and yet everyone there understands one another. Multiplicity remains, but is now transformed, by a unity at heart, into an inner unity.

Pentecost shows the opposite pattern to the Tower of Babel: a unity in which all the richness of humanity is preserved. God does wish for unity. It is to that end that his whole activity in history is directed; to that end Christ came into the world; to that end he creates the Church. But he wishes for a unity that is both higher and more profound.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Fundamental Evidence of the Universe"

Labels: church, communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi, technology

Sometimes we feel like saying to God, If you had only made man a little less great, then he would be less dangerous. If you hadn't given him his freedom, then he would not be able to fall so far. And yet, we don't quite dare to say it in the end, because at the same time we are grateful that God did put greatness into man. And if he takes upon himself the risk inherent in man's freedom and all the falls from greatness it involves, then we feel horrified by the thought of what that might mean, and we have to try to summon up all the positive forces at our command, but we also have to share in God's fundamental attitude of putting trust in man. And only by holding fast to this fundamental trust are we able to set ourselves to oppose the dangers that threaten man and to find them bearable.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "The Crown of Creation"

Labels: human life, Lent, pope benedict xvi

...During a visit to the Roman Seminary, I had to interpret and comment on Galatians 5:13-15. I was surprised at the directness with which that passage speaks to us about the present moment: "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another." I am always tempted to see these words as another of the rhetorical excesses which we occasionally find in Saint Paul. To some extent that may also be the case. But sad to say, this "biting and devouring" also exists in the Church today, as expression of a poorly understood freedom. Should we be surprised that we too are no better than the Galatians? That at the very least we are threatened by the same temptations? That we must always learn anew the proper use of freedom? And that we must always learn anew the supreme priority, which is love? The day I spoke about this at the Major Seminary, the feast of Our Lady of Trust was being celebrated in Rome. And so it is: Mary teaches us trust. She leads us to her Son, in whom all of us can put our trust. He will be our guide – even in turbulent times. And so I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to all the many Bishops who have lately offered me touching tokens of trust and affection, and above all assured me of their prayers. My thanks also go to all the faithful who in these days have given me testimony of their constant fidelity to the Successor of Saint Peter. May the Lord protect all of us and guide our steps along the way of peace. This is the prayer that rises up instinctively from my heart at the beginning of this Lent, a liturgical season particularly suited to interior purification, one which invites all of us to look with renewed hope to the light which awaits us at Easter.

From Pope Benedict XVI's letter to the Catholic bishops concerning the remission of excommunication of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre, March 10, 2009

Labels: church, communication, communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi

The wrath of God is a way of saying that I have been living in a way that is contrary to the love of God. Anyone who begins to live and grow away from God, who lives away from what is good, is turning his life toward wrath. Whoever falls away from love is moving into negativity. So that it is not something that some dictator with a lust for power inflicts on you, but is simply a way of expressing the inner logic of a certain action. If I move outside the area of what is compatible with the ideal model by which I am created, if I move beyond the love that sustains me, well then, I just fall into the void, into darkness. I am then no longer in the realm of love, so to speak, but in a realm that can be seen as the realm of wrath.

When God inflicts punishment, this is not punishment in the sense that God has, as it were, drawn up a system of fines and penalties and is wanting to pin one on you: "The punishment of God" is in fact an expression for having missed the right road and then experiencing the consequences that follow from taking the wrong track and wandering away from the right way of living.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "What is God Like?"

Labels: conscience, Lent, pope benedict xvi

One should not... regard the worship of God as an external occupation for man, as if God wanted to be praised or as if he needed to be flattered. That would of course be childish and, as a matter of fact, irritating and ridiculous....

Worship, understood in the correct sense, means that I am truly myself only when I form relationships, that only then am I true to the inner ideal of my being. And my life is then tending toward the will of God, that is to say, toward a life more closely in agreement with truth and with love. It's not a matter of doing something to please God. Worship means accepting that our life is like an arrow in flight. Accepting that nothing finite can be my goal or determine the direction of my life, but that I myself must pass beyond all possible goals. That is, pass beyond them into being inwardly at one with him who wished me to exist as a partner in a relationship with him and who has given me freedom precisely in this.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "God"

Labels: communion, Lent, pope benedict xvi, prayer

More audio from the RCIA Hollywood program: a recording of our class on Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic visit to the United States in April of 2008.

Topics include the contrast between media coverage of the events and what the Pope actually said, and an in-depth look at several of the texts from his visit, including the question-and-answer session held on the plane trip to the US, the Pope's words to the bishops, to leaders of Catholic institutions of higher education, and to ecumenical leaders. Duration: 91 minutes.

Click here for links to the audio, as well as to a PDF document containing the entire collection of the Pope's addresses during his visit.

Labels: hollywood, multimedia, podcasts, pope benedict xvi, RCIA

Augustine and other great Christians say that God gives us what is best for us -- even when we do not recognize this at first. Often, we think exactly the opposite of what he does would really be best for us. We have to learn to accept this path, which, on the basis of our experience and our suffering, is difficult for us, and to see it as the way in which God is guiding us. God's way is often a path that enormously reshapes and remolds our life, a path in which we are truly changed and straightened out.

To that extent, we have to say that this "Ask, and you will receive" certainly cannot mean that I can call God in as a handyman who will make my life easy every time I want something. Or who will take away suffering and questioning. On the contrary, it means that God definitely hears me and that what he grants me is, in the way known only to him, what is right for me.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi, prayer

Man and woman belong to each other. They both have their gifts, which they have to develop so as to realize and to bring to fruition the whole breadth of what it means to be human. That this diversity in unity includes tensions and can lead to attempts to break apart is something we well know. That is the case in every friendship. The closer you are, the easier it is to get in each other's hair.

Love makes a demand that cannot leave me untouched. In love I cannot simply remain myself, but I always have to lose myself by having my rough edges taken off, by being hurt. And it is just this--that it hurts me so as to bring out more of my potential--it seems to me, that constitutes the greatness of love, that is part of its healing power. To that extent we should not think of love just as romantic love, so that, so to speak, heaven comes down to earth for the two lovers when they find each other, and they then live happily ever after.

We must think of love as suffering. Only if we are ready to endure it as suffering and thus ever again to accept each other and once again to take the other to ourselves, only then can a lifelong partnership develop. If, on the contrary, we say when we get to the critical point, I want to avoid that, and we separate, then what we are really renouncing is the true opportunity that is to be found in man and woman being turned toward each other and in the reality of love.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Men and Women"

Labels: communion, friendship, Lent, marriage and family, pope benedict xvi

Q: The emperor demanded of Saint Lawrence in Rome that he should hand over the treasures of the Church. A little while later Lawrence, who was to die as a martyr on this account, came into the presence of the emperor and showed him the great army of poor people in the city, with these words: "This is the greatest treasure of the Church."

A: Holy Scripture tells us, indeed, that Christ came from among the poor of Israel. On the fortieth day after his birth, his Mother brought the gift of the poor and showed us thereby that among these simple people the inner vision had remained clear. They had not lost sight of the whole by splitting it with a thousand distinctions, but had conserved an inner simplicity, a purity, truthfulness, and goodness that can see clearly.

Of course, the Church needs intellectuals too, absolutely. She needs people who will put their spiritual powers at her disposal. She also needs generous wealthy people, who want to place the power of wealth at the service of what is good. But she still lives also on the enormous strength of those people who are humble believers. In this sense the great host of those who need love and who give love is indeed her true treasure: simple people who are capable of truth because, as the Lord says, they have remained children. Through all the changes of history they have retained the perception of what is essential and have kept alive in the Church the spirit of humility and of love.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: church, Lent, pope benedict xvi, saints

Whoever tries to be in the right on the basis of his own resources, whoever believes he can live in such a way as to need no forgiveness, commits an offense. There is an arrogance in that, a pride in one's own achievement and in being self-made, which in the end is inhuman.

The point really is that we should not have this kind of vanity at all. And I should never reach the point of not needing to be forgiven. On the contrary, if I am trying to live more and more according to the will of God, to identify his will with my own, then I know, too, that I shall always be forgiven. I am a being who has the humility to accept the fact that I need forgiveness. In this respect, humility and trust are what make a man truly human.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi

Q: In the course of two thousand years of Christian history, the Church has divided time and again. In the meantime, there are around three hundred distinguishable Protestant, Orthodox, or other churches. There are way over a thousand Baptist groups in the United States. Over against these there is still the Roman Catholic Church with the pope at her head, which claims to be the only true Church. She remains at any rate, and despite every crisis, indeed the most universal, historically significant, and successful Church in the world, with more members today than at any time in her history.

A: I think that in the spirit of Vatican II we ought not to see that as a triumph for our prowess as Catholics and ought not to make much of the institutional and numerical strength we continue to enjoy. If we were to reckon that as our achievement and as our right, then we would step outside the role of a people belonging to God and set ourselves up as an association in our own right. And that can very quickly go wrong. A Church may have great institutional power in a country, but as soon as faith is no longer there to back it up, the institution will break down.

Perhaps you know the mediaeval story of a Jew who traveled to the papal court and who became a Catholic. On his return, someone who knew the papal court well asked him: "Did you realize what sort of things are going on there?" "Yes," he said, "of course, quite scandalous things, I saw it all." "And you still became a Catholic," remarked the other man. "That's completely perverse!" Then the Jew said, "It is because of all that that I have become a Catholic. For if the Church continues to exist in spite of it all, then truly there must be someone upholding her." And there is another story, to the effect that Napoleon once declared that he would destroy the Church. Whereupon one of the cardinals replied, "Not even we have managed that!"

I believe that we see something important in these paradoxical tales. There have in fact always been plenty of human monstrosities in the Catholic Church. That she still holds together, even if she groans and creaks, that she is still in existence, that she produces great martyrs and great believers, people who put their whole lives at her service, as missionaries, as nurses, as teachers, that really does show that there is someone there upholding her.

We cannot, then, reckon the Church's success as our own reward, but we may still say, with Vatican II—even if the Lord has given a great deal of life to other churches and communities—that the Church herself, as an active agent, has survived and is present in this agent. And that can only be explained by the fact that he grants what men cannot achieve.

from an interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: church, Lent, pope benedict xvi

Even a simple person can know God quite well. It is not necessarily the case that a broad acquaintance with the scientific and historical knowledge we now have will make someone capable of understanding God better.

You can drown understanding in facts. Anyone who fails to perceive the mystery at work within the facts of nature or of history is just stuffing his head and his heart with a lot of things that may even make him incapable of any breadth or depth of perception.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi

I always recall the saying of Tertullian, that Christ never said, "I am the custom," but "I am the truth." Christ does not just lend his weight to custom or tradition; on the contrary, he leads us right out of the customary way. He wants us to depart; he urges us to seek out what is true, whatever will bring us into the reality of the One who is the Creator and Redeemer of our own being. To that extent, we must regard circumspection as a serious obligation with respect to any claim to truth, but we must also have the courage not to lose hold of the truth, to stretch toward it and to accept it humbly and thankfully, whenever it is given to us.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: conscience, Lent, pope benedict xvi

...A part of every human love is that it is only truly great and enriching if I am ready to deny myself for this other person, to come out of myself, to give of myself. And that is certainly true of our relationship with God, out of which, in the end, all our other relationships must grow.

I must begin by no longer looking at myself, but by asking what he wants. I must begin by learning to love. That consists precisely in turning my gaze away from myself and toward him. With this attitude I no longer ask, What can I get for myself, but I simply let myself be guided by him, truly lose myself in Christ; when I abandon myself, let go of myself, then I see, yes, life is right at last, because otherwise I am far too narrow for myself. When, so to speak, I go outside, then it truly begins, then life attains its greatness.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, "Faith, Hope and Love"

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi, prayer

...There are indeed powers before whom men worship. Capital, for instance, is one such power and possessions in general. Or let us take the passion for power and status. In many respects, the golden calf has great contemporary relevance in our Western world. The danger is simply there.

But there is more at stake. With increasing frequency, the face of the one God is just obliterated. That happens whenever people say, well, when you come down to it all the gods amount to one and the same God. Each culture has its own particular mode of expression, and it doesn't really matter whether you take God as being a person or as impersonal, whether you call him Jupiter, Shiva, or whatever other name. And it becomes more and more clear that people no longer take God seriously. That they have wandered away from God and now only turn to refracted images in which they see reflected only themselves.

We see that at the moment when man puts God aside, the temptations of idolatry are very great. At present we are in great danger of seeing God as almost superfluous. He is so far away, people say, and worshipping him doesn't seem to bring any results. We pay less attention to the fact that, if we pull away the main supports on which the framework of human life is constructed, then man will gradually disintegrate.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, on the first commandment

Labels: Lent, pope benedict xvi

I believe that helping the conscience to become articulate is most important. In this respect we are obtuse, if only on account of original sin, and want to draw the veil of forgetfulness over it if we behave unsuitably toward our neighbor. We are maybe inclined to swallow lies easily, and so on. This dulling of our conscience is the greatest danger to us. It degrades man. Because of that, being trained to listen to our conscience is quite essential. It is therefore the task of the Church to recognize the sins particularly prevalent in any age and thus help to prevent society from becoming deadened and decayed in this essential area of its existence.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, from God and the World, "Guilt and Reconciliation"

Labels: conscience, Lent, pope benedict xvi