Entry 0294: Reflections on the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary
Time by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on 14 August 2005, 20 August 2006, 19 August 2007, 17 August 2008, 16 August 2009, 15 August 2010, 14 August 2011, and 19 August 2012. Here are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and one homily delivered on these occasions.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On this 20th
Sunday of Ordinary Time, the liturgy presents a rare example of faith to us: a
Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to heal her daughter who was “terribly troubled
by a demon”. The Lord resisted her insistent entreaties and seemed impervious
to them even when the disciples themselves interceded for her, as the
Evangelist Matthew relates.
In the end,
however, confronted by the perseverance and humility of this unknown woman,
Jesus consented: “Woman, you have great faith! Your wish will come to pass” (see
Mt 15: 21-28).
“Woman, you have
great faith!”. Jesus singles out this humble woman as an example of indomitable
faith.
Her insistence
in imploring Christ’s intervention is an encouragement to us never to lose
heart and not to despair, even in the harshest trials of life.
The Lord does
not close his eyes to the needs of his children, and if he seems at times
insensitive to their requests, it is only in order to test them and to temper
their faith.
This is the
witness of saints, this is especially the witness of martyrs, closely
associated with the redeeming sacrifice of Christ.
In recent days,
we have commemorated some of them: the Pontiffs, Pontianus and Sixtus II,
the priest Hippolytus, Lawrence the Deacon with his companions, killed in Rome at the dawn of
Christianity.
We have also
commemorated a martyr of our time, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith
Stein, Co-Patroness of Europe, who died in a concentration camp; and on this
very day the liturgy presents to us a martyr of charity who sealed his witness
of love for Christ in the bunker of starvation at Auschwitz: St Maximilian
Maria Kolbe, who willingly sacrificed himself in place of a father with a
family.
I invite every
baptized person and especially the young people who will be taking part in World Youth Day to look at this shining example
of Gospel heroism. I invoke upon them all their protection and in particular,
that of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who spent several years of her life
at the Carmelite convent in Cologne .
May Mary, Queen
of Martyrs, whom we will contemplate tomorrow in her glorious Assumption into Heaven,
watch over each one.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, the
calendar mentions among the day’s saints Bernard of Clairvaux, a great Doctor
of the Church who lived between the 11th and 12th centuries (1091-1153). His
example and teachings are proving more useful than ever, even in our time.
Having withdrawn
from the world after a period of intense inner travail, he was elected abbot of
the Cistercian Monastery of Clairvaux at age 25, remaining its guide for 38
years until his death. His dedication to silence and contemplation did not
prevent him from carrying out intense apostolic activity.
He was also
exemplary in his commitment to battle against his impetuous temperament, as
well as his humility by which he recognized his own limitations and
shortcomings.
The riches and
merits of his theology do not lie in having taken new paths, but rather in
being able to propose the truths of the faith in a style so clear and incisive
that it fascinated those listening and prepared their souls for recollection
and prayer. In every one of his writings, one senses the echo of a rich
interior experience, which he succeeded in communicating to others with a
surprising capacity for persuasion.
For him, love is
the greatest strength of the spiritual life. God, who is love, creates man out
of love and out of love redeems him. The salvation of all human beings,
mortally wounded by original sin and burdened by personal sins, consists in
being firmly attached to divine love which was fully revealed to us in Christ
Crucified and Risen.
In his love, God
heals our will and our sick understanding, raising them to the highest degree
of union with him, that is, to holiness and mystical union. St Bernard deals
with this, among other things, in his brief but substantial Liber de
Diligendo Deo.
There is then
another writing of his that I would like to point out, De Consideratione, addressed
to Pope Eugene III. Here, in this very personal book, the dominant theme is the
importance of inner recollection - and he tells this to the Pope -, an
essential element of piety.
It is necessary,
the Saint observes, to beware of the dangers of excessive activity whatever one’s
condition and office, because, as he said to the Pope of that time and to all
Popes, to all of us, many occupations frequently lead to “hardness of heart”, “they
are none other than suffering of spirit, loss of understanding, dispersion of
grace” (II, 3).
This warning
applies to every kind of occupation, even those inherent in the government of
the Church. In this regard, Bernard addresses provocative words to the Pontiff,
a former disciple of his at Clairvaux: “See”, he writes, “where these accursed
occupations can lead you, if you continue to lose yourself in them... without
leaving anything of yourself to yourself” (ibid).
How useful this
appeal to the primacy of prayer and contemplation is also for us! May we too be
helped to put this into practice in our lives by St Bernard, who knew how to
harmonize the monk’s aspiration to the solitude and tranquillity of the
cloister with the pressing needs of important and complex missions at the
service of the Church.
Let us entrust
this desire, not easy to find, that is, the equilibrium between interiority and
necessary work, to the intercession of Our Lady, whom he loved from childhood
with such a tender and filial devotion as to deserve the title: “Marian Doctor”.
Let us now invoke her so that she may obtain the gift of true and lasting peace
for the whole world.
In one of his
famous discourses, St Bernard compares Mary to the Star that navigators seek so
as not to lose their course: “Whoever you are who perceive yourself during this
mortal existence to be drifting in treacherous waters at the mercy of the winds
and the waves rather than walking on firm ground, turn your eyes not away from
the splendour of this guiding star, unless you wish to be submerged by the
storm!... Look at the star, call upon Mary.... With her for a guide, you will
never go astray; ...under her protection, you have nothing to fear; if she
walks before you, you will not grow weary; if she shows you favour you will
reach the goal (Hom. Super Missus Est, II, 17).
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
Papal Summer Residence, Castel
Gandolfo , Sunday, 19 August 2007
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
In this
Sunday’s Gospel there is an expression of Jesus that always attracts our
attention and needs to be properly understood.
While
he is on his way to Jerusalem ,
where death on a cross awaits him, Christ asked his disciples: “Do you think
that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division”.
And he adds: “[H]enceforth in one house there will be five divided, three
against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and
son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law” (Lk 12: 51-53).
Anyone
who has even the slightest knowledge of Christ’s Gospel knows that it is a
message of peace par excellence; as St Paul wrote, Jesus himself “is our peace”
(Eph 2: 14), the One who died and rose in order to pull down the wall of enmity
and inaugurate the Kingdom of God which is love, joy and peace.
So how
can his words be explained? To what was the Lord referring when he said he had
come - according to St Luke’s version - to bring “division” or - according to
St Matthew’s - the “sword” (Mt 10: 34)?
Christ’s
words mean that the peace he came to bring us is not synonymous with the mere
absence of conflicts. On the contrary, Jesus’ peace is the result of a constant
battle against evil. The fight that Jesus is determined to support is not
against human beings or human powers, but against Satan, the enemy of God and
man.
Anyone who
desires to resist this enemy by remaining faithful to God and to good, must
necessarily confront misunderstandings and sometimes real persecutions.
All,
therefore, who intend to follow Jesus and to commit themselves without
compromise to the truth, must know that they will encounter opposition and that
in spite of themselves they will become a sign of division between people, even
in their own families. In fact, love for one’s parents is a holy commandment,
but to be lived authentically it can never take precedence over love for God
and love for Christ.
Thus,
following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, in accordance with St Francis of
Assisi’s famous words, Christians become “instruments of peace”; not of a peace
that is inconsistent and only apparent but one that is real, pursued with
courage and tenacity in the daily commitment to overcome evil with good (see
Rom 12: 21) and paying in person the price that this entails.
The
Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, shared until his martyrdom her Son Jesus’ fight
with the Devil and continues to share in it to the end of time. Let us invoke
her motherly intercession so that she may help us always to be witnesses of
Christ’s peace and never to sink so low as to make compromises with evil.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Papal
Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo , Sunday, 17
August 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, the 20th
Sunday in Ordinary Time, the liturgy offers to us for reflection the words of
the Prophet Isaiah: “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to
minister to him... these will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful
in my house of prayer... for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all
peoples” (Is 56: 6-7). In the Second Reading the Apostle Paul also refers to
the universality of salvation, as does the Gospel passage that recounts the
episode of the Canaanite woman, a foreigner for the Jews, whose wish was
granted by Jesus because of her great faith. The Word of God thus gives us an
opportunity to reflect on the universality of the mission of the Church which
is made up of people of every race and culture. From precisely this stems the
great responsibility of the ecclesial community which is called to be a
hospitable home for all, a sign and instrument of communion for the entire
human family.
How important it
is, especially in our time, that every Christian community increasingly deepens
its awareness of this in order also to help civil society overcome every
possible temptation to give into racism, intolerance and exclusion and to make
decisions that respect the dignity of every human being! One of humanity’s
great achievements is in fact its triumph over racism. However, unfortunately
disturbing new forms of racism are being manifested in various Countries. They
are often related to social and economic problems which can, however, never
justify contempt and racial discrimination. Let us pray that respect for every
person everywhere will increase, together with a responsible awareness that
only in the reciprocal acceptance of one and all is it possible to build a
world distinguished by authentic justice and true peace.
Today, I would
like to suggest another prayer intention, given the current news of numerous
serious road accidents - especially in this period. We must not resign
ourselves to this sad reality! Human life is too precious a good and death or
incapacitation by causes which in most cases could have been avoided is most
unworthy of man. A greater sense of responsibility is certainly essential,
first and foremost on the part of drivers since accidents are often due to
excessive speed or rash conduct. Driving a vehicle on public roads demands a
moral and a civic sense. To encourage the latter, the constant work of
prevention, watchfulness and penalization by the authorities in charge is
indispensable. On the other hand, we as Church feel directly challenged on the
ethical level: Christians must first of all make a personal examination of
conscience regarding their own behaviour as car-drivers. Furthermore, may
communities teach every man and woman to consider driving as another area in
which to defend life and put love of neighbour into practice.
Let us entrust
the social problems I have mentioned to the motherly intercession of Mary, whom
we shall now call upon together with the recitation of the Angelus.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Courtyard
of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo ,
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Yesterday we
celebrated the great Feast of Mary taken up into Heaven, and today we read
these words of Jesus in the Gospel: “I am the living bread which came down from
heaven” (Jn 6: 51).
One cannot but
be struck by this parallel that rotates around the symbol of “Heaven”: Mary was
“taken up” to the very place from which her Son had “come down”. Of course,
this language, which is biblical, expresses in figurative terms something that
never completely coincides with the world of our own concepts and images. But
let us pause for a moment to think! Jesus presents himself as the “living bread”,
that is, the food which contains the life of God itself which it can
communicate to those who eat it, the true nourishment that gives life, which is
really and deeply nourishing. Jesus says: “if any one eats of this bread, he
will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world
is my flesh” (Jn 6: 51). Well, from whom did the Son of God take his “flesh”,
his actual, earthly humanity? He took it from the Virgin Mary. In order to
enter our mortal condition, God took from her a human body. In turn, at the end
of her earthly life, the Virgin’s body was taken up into Heaven by God and
brought to enter the heavenly condition. It is a sort of exchange in which God
always takes the full initiative but, in a certain sense, as we have seen on
other occasions, he also needs Mary, her “yes” as a creature, her very flesh,
her actual existence, in order to prepare the matter for his sacrifice: the
Body and the Blood, to offer them on the Cross as a means of eternal life and,
in the sacrament of the Eucharist, as spiritual food and drink.
Dear brothers
and sisters, what happened in Mary also applies in ways that are different yet
real to every man and to every woman because God asks each one of us to welcome
him, to put at his disposal our heart and our body, our entire existence, our
flesh the Bible says so that he may dwell in the world. He calls us to be
united with him in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Bread broken for the life of
the world, to form together the Church, his Body in history. And if we say “yes”,
like Mary, indeed to the extent of our “yes”, this mysterious exchange is also
brought about for us and in us. We are taken up into the divinity of the One
who took on our humanity. The Eucharist is the means, the instrument of this
reciprocal transformation which always has God as its goal, and as the main
actor. He is the Head and we are the limbs, he is the Vine and we the branches.
Whoever eats of this Bread and lives in communion with Jesus, letting himself
be transformed by him and in him, is saved from eternal death: naturally he
dies like everyone and also shares in the mystery of Christ’s Passion and
Crucifixion, but he is no longer a slave to death and will rise on the Last Day
to enjoy the eternal celebration together with Mary and with all the Saints.
This mystery,
this celebration of God, begins here below: it is the mystery of faith, hope
and love that is celebrated in life and in the liturgy, especially that of the
Eucharist, and is expressed in fraternal communion and in service for our
neighbour. Let us pray the Blessed Virgin to help us always to nourish
ourselves faithfully with the Bread of eternal life, so that, already on this
earth, we may experience the joy of Heaven.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Courtyard
of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo ,
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, on the
Solemnity of the Assumption into Heaven of the Mother of God, we celebrate the
passage from the earthly condition to heavenly blessedness of the One who
engendered in the flesh and received in faith the Lord of Life. The veneration
of the Virgin Mary has accompanied the path of the Church from the beginning;
Marian feast days began to appear already in the fourth century: in some the
role of the Virgin in the History of Salvation is exalted; in others the
principal moments of her earthly life are celebrated. The meaning of today’s
Feast is contained in the final words of the dogmatic definition, proclaimed by
Venerable Pius XII on 1 November 1950, the 60th anniversary of which is
celebrated this year: “the Immaculate Mother of God, the Ever Virgin, having
completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into
heavenly glory” (Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus, AAS
44 [1950], 770).
Artists of every
epoch have painted and sculpted the sanctity of the Lord’s Mother adorning
churches and shrines. Poets, writers and musicians have paid tribute to the
Virgin with liturgical hymns and songs. From the East to the West the All Holy
is invoked as Heavenly Mother, who holds the Son of God in her arms and under
whose protection the whole of humanity finds refuge, with the very ancient
prayer, “We shelter under your protection, Holy Mother of God: despise not our
petitions in our needs, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and
Blessed Virgin”.
And in the
Gospel of today’s Solemnity, St Luke describes the fulfilment of Salvation
through the Virgin Mary. She, in whose womb the Almighty became small, after
the Angel’s announcement, without any hesitation, makes haste to visit to her
cousin Elizabeth to bring to her the Saviour of the world. And, in fact, “when Elizabeth heard the
greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and [she] was filled with the
Holy Spirit” (Lk 1: 41). She recognized the Mother of God in the One “who
believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the
Lord” (Lk 1: 45). The two women, who were waiting for the fulfilment of the
Divine Promises, had already a foretaste of the joy of the coming of the Kingdom of God
Dear Brothers
and Sisters, let us trust in the One who as the Servant of God Paul VI affirmed
“having been assumed into Heaven, she has not abandoned her mission of
intercession and salvation” (Apostolic Exhortation, Marialis Cultus, no.
18). To her, guide of the Apostles, support of Martyrs, light of the Saints,
let us address our prayers, imploring that she accompany us in this earthly
life, that she help us look to Heaven and that she welcome us one day together
with her Son Jesus.
HOLY
MASS ON THE SOLEMNITY
OF
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Your
Eminence, Your Excellency, Distinguished Authorities,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today the Church
is celebrating one of the most important feasts of the Liturgical Year
dedicated to Mary Most Holy: the Assumption. At the end of her earthly life
Mary was taken up, body and soul, into Heaven, that is, into the glory of
eternal life, into full and perfect communion with God.
It is 60 years
since Venerable Pope Pius XII, on 1 November 1950, solemnly defined this Dogma
and although it is somewhat complicated I would like to read the formula of
dogmatization. The Pope says: “Hence the revered Mother of God, from all
eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of
predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her
divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a
complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the
supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from
the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death,
she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of Heaven where, as Queen, she
sits in splendour at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the
Ages” (Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, no. 40, 1950).
This then is the
nucleus of our faith in the Assumption: we believe that Mary, like Christ her
Son, overcame death and is already triumphant in heavenly glory, in the
totality of her being, “in body and soul”.
In today’s
Second Reading St Paul helps us to shed a little more light on this mystery
starting from the central event of human history and of our faith: that is, the
event of Christ’s Resurrection which is “the first fruits of those who have
fallen asleep”. Immersed in his Paschal Mystery, we are enabled to share in his
victory over sin and death. Here lies the startling secret and key reality of
the whole human saga. St Paul
tells us that we are “incorporated” Adam, the first man and the old man, that
we all possess the same human heritage to which belong suffering, death and
sin. But every day adds something new to this reality that we can all see and
live: not only are we part of this heritage of the one human being that began
with Adam but we are also “incorporated” in the new man, in the Risen Christ,
and thus the life of the Resurrection is already present in us. Therefore this
first biological “incorporation” is incorporation into death, it is an
incorporation that generates death. The second, new “incorporation”, that is
given to us in Baptism is an “incorporation” that gives life. Again, I cite
today’s Second Reading: St Paul
says: “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of
the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming, those
who belong to Christ” (1 Cor 15: 21-24).
Now, what St Paul says of all human
beings the Church in her infallible Magisterium says of Mary in a precise and
clear manner: the Mother of God is so deeply integrated into Christ’s Mystery
that at the end of her earthly life she already participates with her whole
self in her Son’s Resurrection. She lives what we await at the end of time when
the “last enemy” death will have been destroyed (see 1 Cor 15: 26); she already
lives what we proclaim in the Creed: “We look for the Resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come”.
We can then ask
ourselves: what are the roots of this victory over death wonderfully
anticipated in Mary? Its roots are in the faith of the Virgin of Nazareth, as
the Gospel passage we have heard testifies (Lk 1: 39-56): a faith that is
obedience to the word of God and total abandonment to the divine action and
initiative, in accordance with what the Archangel announced to her. Faith,
therefore, is Mary’s greatness, as Elizabeth
joyfully proclaims: Mary is “blessed among women” and “blessed is the fruit of
[her] womb”, for she is Mother of the Lord” because she believed and lived
uniquely the “first” of the Beatitudes, the Beatitude of faith. Elizabeth confesses it in
her joy and in that of her child who leaps in her womb: “And blessed is she who
believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the
Lord” (v. 45). Dear friends, let us not limit ourselves to admiring Mary in her
destiny of glory, as a person very remote from us. No! We are called to look at
all that the Lord, in his love, wanted to do for us too, for our final destiny:
to live through faith in a perfect communion of love with him and hence to live
truly.
In this regard I
would like to reflect on an aspect of the affirmation of the dogma where
assumption into heavenly glory is mentioned. All of us today are well aware
that by the term “Heaven” we are not referring to somewhere in the universe, to
a star or such like; no. We mean something far greater and far more difficult
to define with our limited human conceptions. With this term “Heaven” we wish
to say that God, the God who made himself close to us, does not abandon us in
or after death but keeps a place for us and gives us eternity. We mean that in
God there is room for us. To understand this reality a little better let us
look at our own lives. We all experience that when people die they continue to
exist, in a certain way, in the memory and heart of those who knew and loved
them. We might say that a part of the person lives on in them but it resembles
a “shadow” because this survival in the heart of their loved ones is destined
to end. God, on the contrary, never passes away and we all exist by virtue of
his love. We exist because he loves us, because he conceived of us and called
us to life. We exist in God’s thoughts and in God’s love. We exist in the whole
of our reality, not only in our “shadow”. Our serenity, our hope and our peace
are based precisely on this: in God, in his thoughts and in his love, it is not
merely a “shadow” of ourselves that survives but rather we are preserved and
ushered into eternity with the whole of our being in him, in his creator love.
It is his Love that triumphs over death and gives us eternity and it is this
love that we call “Heaven”: God is so great that he also makes room for us. And
Jesus the man, who at the same time is God, is the guarantee for us that the
being-man and the being-God can exist and live, the one within the other, for
eternity.
This means that
not only a part of each one of us will continue to exist, as it were pulled to
safety, while other parts fall into ruin; on the contrary it means that God
knows and loves the whole of the human being, what we are. And God welcomes
into his eternity what is developing and becoming now, in our life made
up of suffering and love, of hope, joy and sorrow. The whole of man, the whole
of his life, is taken by God and, purified in him, receives eternity. Dear
Friends! I think this is a truth that should fill us with deep joy.
Christianity does not proclaim merely some salvation of the soul in a vague
afterlife in which all that is precious and dear to us in this world would be
eliminated, but promises eternal life, “the life of the world to come”. Nothing
that is precious and dear to us will fall into ruin; rather, it will find
fullness in God. Every hair of our head is counted, Jesus said one day (see Mt 10:
30). The definitive world will also be the fulfilment of this earth, as St Paul says: “Creation
itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious
liberty of the children of God” (Rom 8: 21). Then we understand that
Christianity imparts a strong hope in a bright future and paves the way to the
realization of this future. We are called, precisely as Christians, to build
this new world, to work so that, one day, it may become the “world of God”, a
world that will surpass all that we ourselves have been able to build. In Mary
taken up into Heaven, who fully shares in the Resurrection of the Son, we
contemplate the fulfilment of the human creature in accordance with “God’s
world”.
Let us pray the
Lord that he will enable us to understand how precious in his eyes is the whole
of our life; may he strengthen our faith in eternal life; make us people of
hope who work to build a world open to God, people full of joy who can glimpse
the beauty of the future world amidst the worries of daily life and in this
certainty live, believe and hope. Amen!
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Courtyard
of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo ,
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This Sunday’s
Gospel passage begins by indicating the district to which Jesus was going: Tyre and Sidon , to the
north-west of Galilee , a pagan land. And it
was here that he met a Canaanite woman who spoke to him, asking him to heal her
daughter who was possessed by a demon (see Mt 15:22).
In her
supplication we can already discern the beginning of a journey of faith, which
in her conversation with the divine Teacher grows and becomes stronger.
The woman was
not afraid to cry to Jesus “Have mercy on me”, an expression that recurs in the
Psalms (see 50:1), she calls him “Lord” and “Son of David” (see Mt 15:22), thus
showing a firm hope of being heard. What was the Lord’s attitude to this cry of
anguish from a pagan woman?
Jesus’ silence
may seem disconcerting, to the point that it prompted the disciples to
intervene, but it was not a question of insensitivity to this woman’s sorrow. St Augustine rightly
commented: “Christ showed himself indifferent to her, not in order to refuse
her his mercy but rather to inflame her desire for it” (Sermo 77, 1: PL
38, 483).
The apparent
aloofness of Jesus who said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel ”
(v. 24), did not discourage the Canaanite woman who persisted: “Lord, help me”
(v. 25). And she did not even desist when she received an answer that would
seem to have extinguished any hope: “it is not fair to take the children’s
bread and throw it to the dogs” (v. 26). She had no wish to take anything from
anyone; in her simplicity and humility a little was enough for her, crumbs
sufficed, no more than a look, a kind word from the Son of God. And Jesus was
struck with admiration for an answer of such great faith and said to her: “Be
it done for you as you desire” (v. 28).
Dear friends, we
too are called to grow in faith, to open ourselves in order to welcome God’s
gift freely, to have trust and also to cry to Jesus “give us faith, help us to
find the way!”. This is the way that Jesus made his disciples take, as well as
the Canaanite woman and men and women of every epoch and nation and each one of
us.
Faith opens us
to knowing and welcoming the real identity of Jesus, his newness and oneness,
his word, as a source of life, in order to live a personal relationship with
him. Knowledge of the faith grows, it grows with the desire to find the way and
in the end it is a gift of God who does not reveal himself to us as an abstract
thing without a face or a name, because faith responds to a Person who wants to
enter into a relationship of deep love with us and to involve our whole life.
For this reason
our heart must undergo the experience of conversion every day, every day it
must see us changing from people withdrawn into themselves to people who are
open to God’s action, spiritual people (see 1 Cor 2:13-14), who let themselves
be called into question by the Lord’s word and open their life to his Love.
Dear brothers
and sisters, let us therefore nourish our faith every day with deep attention
to the word of God, with the celebration of the Sacraments, with personal
prayer as a “cry” to him, and with charity to our neighbour.
Let us invoke
the intercession of the Virgin Mary, whom we shall contemplate tomorrow in her
glorious Assumption into Heaven in body and soul, so that she may help us
proclaim and witness with our lives to the joy of having encountered the Lord.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This Sunday’s
Gospel (see Jn 6:51-58) is the concluding part and culmination of the discourse
given by Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum after he had fed thousands of
people with five loaves and two fishes the previous day. Jesus reveals the
meaning of this miracle, namely that the promised time had come; God the
Father, who had fed the Israelites in the desert with manna, now sent him, the
Son, as the true Bread of life; and this bread is his flesh, his life, offered
in sacrifice for us. It is therefore a question of welcoming him with faith,
not of being shocked by his humanity, and it is about eating his flesh and
drinking his blood (see Jn 6:54) in order to obtain for ourselves the fullness
of life. It is clear that this address was not given to attract approval. Jesus
knew this and gave this speech intentionally. In fact it was a critical moment,
a turning point in his public mission. The people, and the disciples
themselves, were enthusiastic when he performed miraculous signs; the
multiplication of the loaves and fishes was a clear revelation that he was the
Messiah, so that the crowd would have liked to carry Jesus in triumph and
proclaim him King of Israel. But this was not what Jesus wanted. With his long
address he dampens the enthusiasm and incites much dissent. In explaining the
image of the bread, he affirms that he has been sent to offer his own life and
he who wants to follow him must join him in a deep and personal way,
participating in his sacrifice of love. Thus Jesus was to institute the
Sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, so that his disciples themselves
might share in his love — this was crucial — and, as one body united with him,
might extend his mystery of salvation in the world.
In listening to
this address the people understood that Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted,
one who would aspire to an earthly throne. He did not seek approval to conquer Jerusalem ; rather he wanted to go to the Holy City
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González