General Audience: January 23, 2013
With today's audience, the Holy Father officially started his catechesis on the Creed. Up until now, we have been looking primarily at the preambula fidei, the steps that come before faith. So, we have examined the act of faith, God's gift of faith as well as our free response. We have also looked at Revelation and how Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh, is the pinnacle of revelation; in Him, God's revelation is completed and forever fulfilled.
Our act of faith depends on hearing the word of God so that we may respond to His call. We hear that word in Sacred Scripture, which recounts for us God's gradual revelation of Himself to humanity. The Bible teaches us about faith and also shows us to be faith-filled people.
Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews speaks in a singular way about faith and also shines a light on the most important people in the Bible who let themselves be guided and God and responded to Him in faith. Abraham is especially a great model of faith.
Why is Abraham still a model for us? Sustained by God’s blessing and trusting in his promises, Abraham set off into
the unknown. Like Abraham, we too are called to let faith shape our thoughts and
actions in accordance with God’s saving word, even when this runs contrary to
the thinking and ways of this world. With the eyes of faith, we discern God’s
presence and his promise of eternal life beyond the realities of this present
existence. In opening ourselves to God’s blessing, we become in turn a blessing
for others.
Like Abraham, faith allows us to persevere in a paradoxical path: we are blessed, but not always with visible signs that we can see. When we affirm: "I believe in God" we also mean that we trust in God and in His promises. It doesn't matter what the world or other people may think or say about us. We are children of God. Like Abraham, we walk in faith toward our true homeland.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Angelus
January 20, 2013
Blessed
Week of Christian Unity! This past
Sunday, the Holy Father greeted all of the pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square and
prayed with them the Angelus.
In his
message this week, the Holy Father reflected a bit on Sunday's Gospel passage –
the wedding feast at Cana. He mentioned
that the reason why the Church meditates on this Gospel right now is because it
is a part of the “Epiphany Triology”, along with the arrival of the Magi and
the Baptism of the Lord. It is another
of event of the manifestation of Christ, and, it is “the first miracle
that Jesus worked with which he showed his glory in public, inspiring faith in
his disciples”.
Recalling
the events of the Gospel passage, the Holy Father taught that with the sign of
Jesus in which He turns the six jars of water into wine, even better wine, He
is revealing Himself,
as the messianic Bridegroom come to
establish with his people the new and eternal covenant, in accordance with the
prophets' words: 'as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God
rejoice over you' (Is 62:5). Moreover,
wine is a symbol of this joy of love; but it also alludes to the blood that
Jesus was to pour out at the end to seal his nuptial pact with humanity.
Pope
Benedict XVI then related this to the Church, how Christ's grace makes her holy
and pure. However, the Church, formed by
human beings, needs to be constantly purified.
One of the greatest sins is the division which undermines her visible unity. These have taken place due to historical circumstances and their consequences that have yet to be healed
and resolved. The Holy Father mentioned
that this week, January 18-25, is the annual Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity, and he will be celebrating Vespers on January 25 (Feast of the
Conversion of Saint Paul) with the different Ecclesial Communities and other
Churches. The theme of the week is about
achieving “what the Lord requires of us” (cf. Mic 6:6-8), and he asked all to
pray to overcome discrimination, to achieve visible unity, and to pray for
peace. Through the intercession of Mary
Most Holy, Mediatrix of Grace, pray for us!
Also, this past week, on the Feast of Saint Agnes, the Holy
Father was presented with blessed lambs!
The wool from the lambs is used to make the Palliums given by the Holy
Father to certain archbishops and bishops as a sign of unity with the Bishop of
Rome.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Angelus
Baptism of the Lord
January 13, 2013
Blessed Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord! Last Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI baptized many
infants according to a long-standing tradition! At
noon, he prayed the Angelus with all pilgrims present at Saint Peter’s Square,
and gave his weekly reflection. Meditating particularly on Luke’s
Gospel, in which a voice came from heaven, saying, “Thou art my beloved Son;
with Thee I am well-pleased”, the Holy Father commented:
This Jesus is the
Son of God who is totally immersed in the will of the Father’s love. This Jesus
is the One who will die on the cross and rise again through the power of the
same Spirit who now descends upon him and consecrates him. This Jesus is the
new man who wills to live as the son of God, that is, in love; the man who in
the face of the evil of the world, by choosing the path of humility and
responsibility he chooses not to save himself but to offer his own life for
truth and justice. Being Christian means living like this, but this kind of
life involves a rebirth: to be reborn from on high, from God, from Grace. This
rebirth is the Baptism, which Christ gives to the Church in order to regenerate
men and women to new life.
Concluding,
the Holy Father reminded us and asked us all to remember and reflect upon our
own baptism, the “spiritual rebirth that opened the way to eternal life to us”.
“May every Christian, in this Year of Faith, rediscover the beauty of
being reborn from on high, from the love of God, and live as a child of God.”
After
the Angelus, the Holy Father reminded all that it was the World Day of Migrants
and Refugees. He sent all migrants and
refugees his greeting, with a special prayer and blessing.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
As one with Christ, we stand in the light of truth.
The following entry is from the Holy Father's annual address to the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia. It took place on December 21, 2012. In it, the Holy Father addresses issues most pertinent to the role of the Church in the world today, and he speaks with candor, loving concern, and clarity of vision.
Top image from http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/NxGJYPQkNgj/Pope+Benedict+XVI+Receives+Roman+Curia+Christmas/M6zFnBopeyT
Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI
on the Occasion of Christmas Greetings
to the Roman Curia
December 21, 2012
Gathered
together in San Clementine Hall, Pope Benedict XVI met with all of the members
of the College of Cardinals, Representatives of the Roman Curia and the
Governorate to extend his Christmas greeting to all. In his message this year, particularly
pertinent to our time and our culture, he reflected upon some of the events
from this past year, along with the different challenges posed to the Church
today. More specifically, he reflected
upon the breakdown of the family, reflected in the misunderstanding of the
human person and God-given dignity and identity of the human person, along with
the question and need for dialogue and proclamation of the Word of God in our
world today.
To
begin, Pope Benedict, reflecting upon this past year, mentioned the importance
of his journeys to both Mexico and Cuba, which he called “unforgettable
encounters with the power of faith” even amidst the countries' economic
problems and violent struggles. He
recalled with great joy the liturgies that took place in both countries. Further, he mentioned the Meeting of Families
which took place in Milan, as well as his visit to Lebanon where he consigned
the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation which offers signposts pointing to peace
and unity to the churches and societies in the Middle East. Lastly, he mentioned the Synod on the New
Evangelization which took place in October and the opening of the Year of
Faith, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican
Council. The Holy Father mentioned how
all of these various events spoke to several fundamental themes of our time,
two of which he brought to light: the theme of the family and the nature of
dialogue, with an observation of the question of the new evangelization.
First,
the Holy Father commented upon the joy of the gathering in Milan which
reflected that the family is still strong and vibrant today, but he did not
neglect the difficulties and the crisis threatening the very structure and
foundation of family life today, especially in the West. He noticed from the Synod in October that the
importance of the family for the transmission of the faith and of the family “as
the authentic setting in which to hand on the blueprint of human existence”
was highly emphasized. In light of this,
he argued that the family is not just about a social construct, but is about
man himself, “about what he is and what it takes to be authentically
human”. Of course, he argued, the challenges are manifold, beginning with
the question of man's capacity to make a commitment or to avoid commitment. The Holy Father stated:
Man's refusal to make any commitment – which is
becoming increasingly widespread as a result of a false understanding of
freedom and self-realization as well as the desire to escape suffering – means
that man remains closed in on himself and keeps his “I” ultimately for himself,
without really rising above it. Yet only
in self-giving does man find himself, and only by opening himself to the other,
to others, to children, to the family, only by letting himself be changed
through suffering, does he discover the breadth of his humanity. When such commitment is repudiated, the key
figures of human existence likewise vanish: father, mother, and child –
essential elements of the experience of being human are lost.
The
Holy Father went on to say that the very notion of being itself, of what it
means to be a human being, is being challenged today. A new philosophy entrenched in our culture
speaks of gender today not as an element of nature given by God as a gift, but
rather what the individual makes it to be and what the individual chooses for
him or herself. People today are denying
their nature and their identity. God no
longer creates, but the person creates for oneself what one is. The complementarity of man and woman is called
into question and the creation story is no longer seen as valid. If this is so, than the creation of the
family is also no longer a reality and the dignity of each of the spouses, and likewise
the child, is lost. Pope Benedict
explained:
When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to
create oneself, then necessarily the Maker Himself is denied and ultimately man
too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the
core of his being. The defense of the
family is about man himself. And it
becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.
The
next question His Holiness addressed involved the question of dialogue and
proclamation. Beginning with dialogue,
Pope Benedict XVI directed that he sees three main areas of dialogue for the
Church today: dialogue with states, dialogue with society, and dialogue with
religions. The Church speaks on the
basis of the light given her by faith, but also from the memories of human
experience and human condition from history – revelation and human
experience. This does not exclude her or
make her unable to speak to our world today, but rather, “By entering
into the thinking and understanding of mankind, this knowledge broadens the
horizon of reason and thus it speaks also to those who are unable to share the
faith of the Church”. The Church
does not have answers for individual questions arising from the state or the
society, but she will wrestle for answers that best correspond to the truth of
the human condition, upholding the fundamental values of the human condition
clearly, and this can stimulate political action.
In
speaking about dialogue of religions, the Holy Father argued that it is “a
necessary condition for peace in the world and it is therefore a duty for
Christians as well as other religious communities”. This dialogue involves a dialogue simply
about life, which includes the concrete problems of coexistence and shared
responsibility for the society, state, and for humanity. He exhorted all that it is necessary to learn
to accept the other in his otherness and his otherness of thinking. The dialogue needs to be about the shared
responsibility for justice and peace, and this is bound to go beyond the
practical and into the ethical struggle for the truth, for the human
being.
Today,
the Holy Father mentioned that there are two fundamental rules for
interreligious dialogue, which he believes are correct but still superficial:
1) dialogue aims at understanding, not conversion, and 2) both parties must
remain consciously within their identity.
The truth is key, and it is important for both parties to be searching
and always drawing closer to the truth, which is one. The Holy Father beautifully stated:
I would say that the Christian can afford to be
supremely confident, yes, fundamentally certain that he can venture freely into
the open sea of the truth, without having to fear for his Christian
identity. To be sure, we do not possess
the truth, the truth possesses us: Christ, who is the truth, has taken us by
the hand, and we know that his hand is holding us securely on the path of our
quest for knowledge. Being inwardly held
by the hand of Christ makes us free and keeps us safe: free – because if we are
held by him, we can enter openly and fearlessly into any dialogue – because he
does not let go of us, unless we cut ourselves off from him. At one with him, we stand in the light of
truth.
Lastly,
the Holy Father ended his message by prayerfully looking at Saint John's Gospel
1:35-39 in regards to the subject of proclamation, or evangelization. First, he explained, the calling of the
disciples here begins with a simple proclamation, “Behold the Lamb of God”,
which is followed by listening and following behind Jesus, which is not yet
discipleship but rather a curiosity or a movement of seeking. The third act is when Jesus turns around to
them and asks them what they are seeking.
They give their response and show their openness and readiness to
continue further, and Jesus replies, “Come and see”, inviting them to come with
Him and have their eyes opened with Him.
The Holy Father concluded, saying:
The word of proclamation is effective in situations
where man is listening in readiness for God to draw near, where man is inwardly
searching and thus on the way towards the Lord.
His heart is touched when Jesus turns towards him, and then his
encounter with the proclamation becomes a holy curiosity to come to know Jesus
better. As he walks with Jesus, he is
led to the place where Jesus lives, to the community of the Church, which is
His Body. That means entering into the
journeying community of catechumens, a community of both learning and living,
in which our eyes are opened as we walk.
“Come and see!”
Bottom image from http://communio.stblogs.org/B16%20blesses%20Curia%2021%20Dec%202012.jpg
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Epiphany
This Angelus message is from a few weeks ago, but we thought you might still like to see it...
In speaking about the magi from the
East, he taught that they represent peoples, the civilizations, the nations,
that are on their way toward God and searching for His Kingdom. Mary and Joseph represent the “remnant” of
Israel foretold by the prophets.
Embodied by Mary, there was a nucleus of Israel who knew and believed in
the God who revealed Himself to the patriarchs.
She becomes the Mother of God and the model of faith for the
Church. As can be seen, however, by the
Magi, the People of the New Covenant is universal. Pope Benedict declared, “...the light
of Christ is so clear and strong that it makes both the language of the cosmos
and of the Scriptures intelligible, so that all those who, like the Magi, are
open to the truth can recognize it and come to contemplate the Savior of the
world”. Quoting Saint Leo the
Great, he continued, “Let the full number of nations now take their place
in the family of the patriarchs... let all people adore the Creator of the
universe; let God be known, not only in Judea, but in the whole world”.
Angelus
Epiphany of
the Lord – January 6, 2013
This morning, His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI, during the Holy Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica, ordained four new
bishops. Following the Mass, the Holy
Father prayed the Angelus with all the pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's
Square. He spoke about the faith of the
magi. At Christmas, we see the faith of
Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, and on the Epiphany, we contemplate the mystery
of the faith of the wise men from the East.
He pointed out that in the Eastern Churches following the Julian
calendar celebrate Christ's birth on this day, and he asked all to keep them in
prayer.
In speaking about the magi from the
East, he taught that they represent peoples, the civilizations, the nations,
that are on their way toward God and searching for His Kingdom. Mary and Joseph represent the “remnant” of
Israel foretold by the prophets.
Embodied by Mary, there was a nucleus of Israel who knew and believed in
the God who revealed Himself to the patriarchs.
She becomes the Mother of God and the model of faith for the
Church. As can be seen, however, by the
Magi, the People of the New Covenant is universal. Pope Benedict declared, “...the light
of Christ is so clear and strong that it makes both the language of the cosmos
and of the Scriptures intelligible, so that all those who, like the Magi, are
open to the truth can recognize it and come to contemplate the Savior of the
world”. Quoting Saint Leo the
Great, he continued, “Let the full number of nations now take their place
in the family of the patriarchs... let all people adore the Creator of the
universe; let God be known, not only in Judea, but in the whole world”.
Blessed Epiphany!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Jesus Christ: mediator and fullness of Revelation
January 17, 2013
This line from Dei Verbum was the nucleus of Pope Benedict XVI's audience yesterday:
Revelation takes a turn which no human being could have expected in the Incarnation, which we have been learning about the past few weeks. In the Gospel according to John, we read, "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known (1,18)." And yet, we have such a strong desire to see the face of God. Think of Philip at the Last Supper: Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied. The Old Testament talks over 100 times about seeking the face of God! This is a recurring theme in Scripture because it is a recurring, even essential, theme in the life of man.
To desire to see the face of God also implies that even though we cannot imagine what God looks like (and to make pictures or images of God was absolutely prohibited in the Old Testament), there is a call to relationship. We cannot make God an object, but we can believe in Him and love Him because He is calling us to do just that. He comes near to us so that we might come to Him.
However, the newness of the Incarnation is that in Jesus we do see the face of God. If we go back to Philip, Jesus' response to him is shocking: He who has seen me has seen the Father. This is why we talk about Jesus as the fullness of Revelation. He is the perfect Word of God, and therefore in Him we find the completion of Revelation. He reveals and is revelation itself.
The desire to truly know God, what we called above the desire to seek His face, is within every person, even atheists. Simply put, we just want to know Who He is, and Who He is for us. The desire is not in vain. It is met by following Christ, who has revealed the face of God to us, and still does so, particularly through Sacred Scripture and the Sacraments. If you want to get to know someone, though, you have to spend a little time with him or her. The same is true for God. If we want to know Christ and then begin to see Him in those around us (for He truly is present in those we meet), then we must go to the sources of that relationship and spend time with God. Ask questions and wait for answers. Go deeper into your knowledge of the faith and participation in the Sacraments, the life of the Church, especially the Most Holy Eucharist. Try it, and see what happens.
This line from Dei Verbum was the nucleus of Pope Benedict XVI's audience yesterday:
...the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.The Old Testament narrates the story of how God, after creation and the fall of man, still offers men and women the possibility of friendship with him. The history of the people of Israel is the beginning of this. They are set apart--truly chosen by God--but their election is in view of the salvation of all peoples. Pope Benedict makes an interesting point here: "being chosen" or "elected" is not so that God can take some and exclude others. The one who is chosen is actually chosen for the sake of the others. This is what we call mediation.
 |
| Philip the Apostle from Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper |
To desire to see the face of God also implies that even though we cannot imagine what God looks like (and to make pictures or images of God was absolutely prohibited in the Old Testament), there is a call to relationship. We cannot make God an object, but we can believe in Him and love Him because He is calling us to do just that. He comes near to us so that we might come to Him.
However, the newness of the Incarnation is that in Jesus we do see the face of God. If we go back to Philip, Jesus' response to him is shocking: He who has seen me has seen the Father. This is why we talk about Jesus as the fullness of Revelation. He is the perfect Word of God, and therefore in Him we find the completion of Revelation. He reveals and is revelation itself.
The desire to truly know God, what we called above the desire to seek His face, is within every person, even atheists. Simply put, we just want to know Who He is, and Who He is for us. The desire is not in vain. It is met by following Christ, who has revealed the face of God to us, and still does so, particularly through Sacred Scripture and the Sacraments. If you want to get to know someone, though, you have to spend a little time with him or her. The same is true for God. If we want to know Christ and then begin to see Him in those around us (for He truly is present in those we meet), then we must go to the sources of that relationship and spend time with God. Ask questions and wait for answers. Go deeper into your knowledge of the faith and participation in the Sacraments, the life of the Church, especially the Most Holy Eucharist. Try it, and see what happens.
It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. "Look out!" we cry, "it's alive." ...An "impersonal God"--well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads--better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap--best of all. But God himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband--that is quite another matter... There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (Man's search for God!") suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? ...Worse still, supposing He had found us?
So it is a sort of Rubicon. One goes across; or not. But if one does, there so manner of security against miracles. One may be in for anything.
--C. S. Lewis, Miracles, as quoted in J. Pieper's Faith, Hope, Love
Thursday, January 10, 2013
He became man
General Audience - January 9, 2013
In yesterday's audience, Pope Benedict XVI went through a few more reflections on the mystery of the Incarnation. In Jesus, God became incarnate and opened the way to heaven for all of us.
Perhaps because we say so often "God became incarnate" it has lost some of its meaning and mystery. Let's try to re-discover it a little.
"Incarnate" comes from the Latin word incarnatio, and we use it particularly because of the Prologue of the Gospel according to John (1,14): And the Word became flesh. "Flesh", in the way Saint John is using it here, goes back to the Hebrew understanding of human life. It is man in his wholeness (not just the body, but vivified flesh, body and spirit). It also encompasses the falleness of man, that is, our temporality, poverty, and contingency.
Therefore, when we talk about Jesus as the Word made flesh, we mean that salvation through and in the person of Jesus touches man in whatever situation and concrete reality he is in. God took upon himself human life--all of it--so that he could heal everything that keeps us away from him. This quote from Saint Irenaeus (CCC 460) sums up this idea:
At Christmastime, we often exchange gifts with the people we love. When we do this, we are imitating the gift of God's Son given to us. Not only that, we recognize the truth that if we give a gift and give nothing of ourselves to the other, we have given him or her too little. God teaches us to give ourselves to others because that is exactly what He did and does all the time...it's what his life is all about.
The Incarnation should drive home for us how much God loves us. He doesn't just tell us that he loves us, although those words are in Sacred Scripture. He dives into our history and literally takes up a human existence just like ours. Think about how God is acting here! This reality should be a challenge and stimulus to our faith. If you want to understand it better, then live into the mystery. Believe in God, pray, go to the sacraments regularly, and do his will with the help of us grace.
In the baby Jesus, we truly see the face of God. We also truly see the face of a human being. Only by opening ourselves to his grace and striving to follow him everyday will we understand who we are and who we are to become. Let your faith be a reality and your life an experiment of his love!
In yesterday's audience, Pope Benedict XVI went through a few more reflections on the mystery of the Incarnation. In Jesus, God became incarnate and opened the way to heaven for all of us.
Perhaps because we say so often "God became incarnate" it has lost some of its meaning and mystery. Let's try to re-discover it a little.
"Incarnate" comes from the Latin word incarnatio, and we use it particularly because of the Prologue of the Gospel according to John (1,14): And the Word became flesh. "Flesh", in the way Saint John is using it here, goes back to the Hebrew understanding of human life. It is man in his wholeness (not just the body, but vivified flesh, body and spirit). It also encompasses the falleness of man, that is, our temporality, poverty, and contingency.
Therefore, when we talk about Jesus as the Word made flesh, we mean that salvation through and in the person of Jesus touches man in whatever situation and concrete reality he is in. God took upon himself human life--all of it--so that he could heal everything that keeps us away from him. This quote from Saint Irenaeus (CCC 460) sums up this idea:
The truth of the Incarnation and the corresponding greatness of our lives is only accessible to us through faith. In faith, Jesus continues to accompany us and allows the light of his Incarnation to illumine our lives and give them meaning, even in the most mundane, stressful, tragic, or joyful circumstances.The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1,4): For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.
St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
bio
At Christmastime, we often exchange gifts with the people we love. When we do this, we are imitating the gift of God's Son given to us. Not only that, we recognize the truth that if we give a gift and give nothing of ourselves to the other, we have given him or her too little. God teaches us to give ourselves to others because that is exactly what He did and does all the time...it's what his life is all about.
The Incarnation should drive home for us how much God loves us. He doesn't just tell us that he loves us, although those words are in Sacred Scripture. He dives into our history and literally takes up a human existence just like ours. Think about how God is acting here! This reality should be a challenge and stimulus to our faith. If you want to understand it better, then live into the mystery. Believe in God, pray, go to the sacraments regularly, and do his will with the help of us grace.
In the baby Jesus, we truly see the face of God. We also truly see the face of a human being. Only by opening ourselves to his grace and striving to follow him everyday will we understand who we are and who we are to become. Let your faith be a reality and your life an experiment of his love!
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