Entry 0299: Reflections on the Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary
Time by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on 18 September 2005, 24 September 2006, 23 September 2007, 21 September 2008, 20 September 2009, 19 September 2010, 18 September 2011, and 23 September 2012. Here are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and three homilies delivered on these occasions.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As the Year of
the Eucharist draws to a close, I would like to return to a particularly
important subject that was also very dear to my Predecessor, John Paul II: the
relationship between holiness, the way and destination of the Church and of
every Christian, and the Eucharist.
I am thinking in
particular today of priests, in order to emphasize that the secret of their
sanctification lies precisely in the Eucharist. By virtue of sacred Orders, the
priest receives the gift of and commitment to repeating in the Sacrament the
gestures and words with which Jesus instituted the memorial of his Pasch at the
Last Supper.
This great
miracle of love, which the priest is called ever more faithfully to witness and
proclaim (see Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine, no. 30), is renewed
in his hands. This is the reason why the priest must be first and foremost an
adorer who contemplates the Eucharist, starting from the very moment in which
he celebrates it.
We are well
aware that the validity of the Sacrament does not depend on the holiness of the
celebrant, but its effectiveness for him and for others will be all the greater
the deeper the faith, the more ardent the love and the more fervent the spirit
of prayer with which he lives it.
Throughout the
year, the liturgy presents to us as examples holy ministers of the Altar who
have drawn strength from the imitation of Christ in daily intimacy with him in
the celebration and adoration of the Eucharist.
A few days ago,
we commemorated St John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople at the end of
the fourth century. He was described as “golden mouthed” because of his
extraordinary eloquence; he was also called “Doctor of the Eucharist” because
of the vastness and depth of his teaching on the Most Holy Sacrament. The “Divine
liturgy” which is most frequently celebrated in the Eastern Church and which
bears his name as well as his motto: “a man full of zeal suffices to transform
a people”, shows the effectiveness of Christ’s action through his ministers.
In our own age,
the figure of Padre Pio, St Pius of Pietrelcina, whom we will commemorate this
Friday [23 September], stands out. When he celebrated Holy Mass he relived the
mystery of Calvary with such intensity so as
to edify the faith and devotion of all. Moreover, the stigmata, which God gave
to him showed how closely he was conformed to the Crucified Jesus.
Thinking of
priests in love with the Eucharist, we cannot in addition forget St John Mary
Vianney, the humble parish priest of Ars at the time of the French Revolution.
With the holiness of his life and his pastoral zeal, he succeeded in making
that little village a model Christian community, enlivened by the Word of God
and by the sacraments.
Let us now
address Mary, praying especially for priests across the world that they may
find in this Year of the Eucharist the fruit of renewed love for the Sacrament
which they celebrate. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God, may
they always live and witness to the mystery that is placed in their hands for
the world’s salvation.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this Sunday’s
Gospel, for the second time Jesus proclaims his passion, death and Resurrection
to the disciples (see Mk 9: 30-31). The Evangelist Mark highlights the
strong contrast between his mindset and that of the Twelve Apostles, who not
only do not understand the Teacher’s words and clearly reject the idea that he
is doomed to encounter death (see Mk 8: 32), but also discuss which of
them is to be considered “the greatest” (Mk 9: 34).
Jesus patiently
explains his logic to them, the logic of love that makes itself service to the
point of the gift of self: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all
and servant of all” (Mk 9: 35).
This is the
logic of Christianity, which responds to the truth about man created in the
image of God, but at the same time contrasts with human selfishness, a
consequence of original sin. Every human person is attracted by love - which
ultimately is God himself - but often errs in the concrete ways of loving;
thus, an originally positive tendency but one polluted by sin can give rise to
evil intentions and actions.
In today’s
Liturgy, this is also recalled in the Letter of St James: “Wherever jealousy
and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But
the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,
full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity”. And the
Apostle concludes: “The harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who
make peace” (Jas 3: 16-18).
These words call
to mind the witness of so many Christians who humbly and silently spend their
lives serving others for the sake of the Lord Jesus, behaving in practice as
servants of love, and hence, “artisans” of peace.
Sometimes,
certain people are asked for the supreme testimony of blood, which also
happened a few days ago to the Italian Religious, Sr Leonella Sgorbati, who
died a victim of violence. This Sister, who served the poor and the lowly in Somalia
for many years, died with the words “I forgive” on her lips: this is the most
genuine Christian witness, a peaceful sign of contradiction that demonstrates
the victory of love over hatred and evil.
There is no
doubt that following Christ is difficult, but, as he says, only those who lose
their life for his sake and the Gospel’s will save it (see Mk 8: 35),
giving full meaning to their existence. There is no other way of being his
disciples, there is no other way of witnessing to his love and striving for
Gospel perfection. May Mary, whom we call upon today as Our Lady of Mercy, open
our hearts ever wider to the love of God, a mystery of joy and holiness.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Papal
Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo , Sunday, 23
September 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This morning I
made a Visit to the Diocese of Velletri of which I had been titular Cardinal
for a number of years. It was a friendly meeting that allowed me to relive
moments of the past, rich with spiritual and pastoral experiences.
During the
solemn Eucharistic celebration, by commenting on the liturgical texts, I was
able to pause and reflect on the correct use of earthly goods, a theme the
Evangelist Luke reproposes for our attention this Sunday in various ways.
Telling the
Parable of the dishonest but very crafty administrator, Christ teaches his
disciples the best way to use money and material riches, that is, to share them
with the poor, thus acquiring their friendship, with a view to the Kingdom of Heaven
Money is not “dishonest”
in itself, but more than anything else it can close man in a blind egocentrism.
It therefore concerns a type of work of “conversion” of economic goods: instead
of using them only for self-interest, it is also necessary to think of the
needs of the poor, imitating Christ himself, who, as St Paul wrote: “though he
was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might
become rich” (II Cor 8: 9).
It seems
paradoxical: Christ has not enriched us with his richness but with his poverty,
with his love that brought him to give himself totally to us.
Here one could
open up a vast and complex field of reflection on the theme of poverty and
riches, also on a world scale, in which two logics of economics oppose each
other: the logic of profit and that of the equal distribution of goods, which
do not contradict each other if their relationship is well ordered.
Catholic social
doctrine has always supported that equitable distribution of goods is a
priority. Naturally, profit is legitimate and, in just measure, necessary for
economic development.
In his
Encyclical Centesimus Annus, John Paul II wrote: “The modern
business economy has positive aspects. Its basis is human freedom exercised in
many other fields” (no. 32). Yet, he adds that capitalism must not
be considered as the only valid model of economic organization (see ibid.,
no. 35).
Starvation and
ecological emergencies stand to denounce, with increasing evidence, that the
logic of profit, if it prevails, increases the disproportion between rich and
poor and leads to a ruinous exploitation of the planet.
Instead, when
the logic of sharing and solidarity prevails, it is possible to correct the
course and direct it towards an equitable, sustainable development.
May Mary Most
Holy, who in the Magnificat proclaimed: the Lord “has filled the hungry
with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away” (Lk 1: 53), help
Christians to use earthly goods with Gospel wisdom, that is, with generous
solidarity, and inspire politicians and economists with farsighted strategies
that favour the authentic progress of all peoples.
PASTORAL
VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO
THE SUBURBICARIAN DIOCESE OF VELLETRI-SEGNI
EUCHARISTIC
CONCELEBRATION
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Clement’s Square, Sunday, 23 September 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I willingly
return among you to preside at this solemn Eucharistic celebration, responding
to one of your repeated invitations. I have come back with joy to meet your
diocesan community, which for several years has been mine, too, in a special
way, and is always dear to me. I greet you all with affection. In the first
place, I greet Cardinal Francis Arinze who has succeeded me as titular Cardinal
of this Diocese; I greet your Pastor, dear Bishop Vincenzo Apicella, whom I
thank for his beautiful words of welcome with which he has desired to greet me
in your name. I greet the other Bishops, priests and men and women religious,
the pastoral workers, young people and all who are actively involved in
parishes, movements, associations and the various diocesan activities. I greet
the Commissioner of the Prefecture
of Velletri-Segni Bavaria ,
from Germany ,
to join us on this festive day. Bonds of friendship bind my native Land to
yours, as is testified by the bronze pillar presented to me in Marktl am Inn in
September last year on the occasion of my Apostolic Visit to Germany . As has
been said, 100 municipalities of Bavaria
have recently given me, as it were, a “twin” of that pillar which will be set
up here in Velletri as a further sign of my affection and goodwill. It will be
the sign of my spiritual presence among you. In this regard, I would like to
thank the donors, the sculptor and the mayors whom I see present here with
numerous friends. I thank you all!
Dear brothers
and sisters, I know that you have prepared for my Visit today with an intense
spiritual itinerary, adopting a very important verse of John’s First Letter as
your motto: “We know and believe the love God has for us” (4: 16). Deus
caritas est, God is love: my first Encyclical begins with these words that
concern the core of our faith: the Christian image of God and the consequent
image of man and his journey. I rejoice that you have chosen these very words to
guide you on the spiritual and pastoral journey of the Diocese: “We know and
believe the love God has for us”. We have believed in love: this is the essence
of Christianity. Therefore, our liturgical assembly today must focus on this
essential truth, on the love of God, capable of impressing an absolutely new
orientation and value on human life. Love is the essence of Christianity, which
makes the believer and the Christian community a leaven of hope and peace in
every environment and especially attentive to the needs of the poor and needy.
This is our common mission: to be a leaven of hope and peace because we believe
in love. Love makes the Church live, and since it is eternal it makes her live
for ever, to the end of time.
Last Sunday, St
Luke the Evangelist, who was more concerned than others to show Jesus’ love for
the poor, offered us various ideas for reflection on the danger of an excessive
attachment to money, to material goods and to all that prevents us from living
to the full our vocation to love God and neighbour. Today too, through a
parable that inspires in us a certain surprise since it speaks of a dishonest
steward who is praised (see Lk 16: 1-13), a close look reveals that here the
Lord has reserved a serious and particularly salutary teaching for us. As
always, the Lord draws inspiration from the events of daily life: he tells of a
steward who is on the point of being dismissed for dishonest management of his
master’s affairs and who, to assure a future for himself, cunningly seeks to
come to an arrangement with his master’s debtors. He is undoubtedly dishonest
but clever: the Gospel does not present him to us as a model to follow in his
dishonesty, but rather as an example to be imitated for his farsighted guile.
The short parable ends, in fact, with these words: “The master commended the
dishonest steward for his prudence” (Lk 16: 8).
But what does
Jesus wish to tell us with this parable? And with its surprising conclusion?
The Evangelist follows the parable of the dishonest steward with a short series
of sayings and recommendations on the relationship we must have with money and
the goods of this earth. These short sentences are an invitation to a choice
that presupposes a radical decision, a constant inner tension. Life is truly
always a choice: between honesty and dishonesty, between fidelity and
infidelity, between selfishness and altruism, between good and evil. The
conclusion of this Gospel passage is incisive and peremptory: “No servant can
serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other”. Ultimately, Jesus says, “You
cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16: 13). Mammon is a term of Phoenician
origin that calls to mind economic security and success in business; we might
say that riches are shown as the idol to which everything is sacrificed in
order to attain one’s own material success; hence, this economic success
becomes a person’s true god. As a result, it is necessary to make a fundamental
decision between God and mammon, it is necessary to choose between the logic of
profit as the ultimate criterion for our action, and the logic of sharing and
solidarity. If the logic of profit prevails, it widens the gap between the poor
and the rich, as well as increasing the ruinous exploitation of the planet. On
the other hand, when the logic of sharing and solidarity prevails, it is
possible to correct the course and direct it to a fair development for the
common good of all. Basically, it is a matter of choosing between selfishness
and love, between justice and dishonesty and ultimately, between God and Satan.
If loving Christ and one’s brethren is not to be considered as something
incidental and superficial but, rather, the true and ultimate purpose of our
whole existence, it will be necessary to know how to make basic choices, to be
prepared to make radical renouncements, if necessary even to the point of
martyrdom. Today, as yesterday, Christian life demands the courage to go
against the tide, to love like Jesus, who even went so far as to sacrifice
himself on the Cross.
We could then
say, paraphrasing one of St Augustine’s thoughts, that through earthly riches
we must procure for ourselves those true and eternal riches: indeed, if people
exist who are prepared to resort to every type of dishonesty to assure
themselves an always unpredictable material well-being, how much more concerned
we Christians must be to provide for our eternal happiness with the goods of
this earth (see Discourses, 359, 10). Now, the only way of bringing our
personal talents and abilities and the riches we possess to fruition for
eternity is to share them with our brethren, thereby showing that we are good
stewards of what God entrusts to us. Jesus said: “He who is faithful in a very
little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is
dishonest also in much” (Lk 16: 10).
Today, in the
First Reading, the Prophet Amos speaks of the same fundamental decision to be
made day by day. Using strong words, he stigmatizes a lifestyle typical of
those who allow themselves to be absorbed by a selfish quest for profit in
every possible form and which is expressed in the thirst for gain, contempt for
the poor and their exploitation, to one’s own advantage (see Am 8: 5). The
Christian must energetically reject all this, opening his heart on the contrary
to sentiments of authentic generosity. It must be generosity which, as the
Apostle Paul exhorts in the Second Reading, is expressed in sincere love for
all and is manifested in prayer. Actually, praying for others is a great act of
charity. The Apostle invites us in the first place to pray for those who have
tasks of responsibility in the civil community because, he explains, if they
aspire to do good, positive consequences derive from their decisions, assuring
peace and “a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way” (I Tm
2: 2). Thus, may our prayer never be lacking, a spiritual contribution to
building an Ecclesial Community that is faithful to Christ and to the
construction of a society in which there is greater justice and solidarity.
Dear brothers
and sisters, let us pray in particular that your diocesan community, which is
undergoing a series of transformations due to the transfer of many young
families from Rome to the development of the “service sector” and to the
settlement of many immigrants in historical centres, may lead to an
increasingly organic and shared pastoral action, following the instructions
that your Bishop continues to give you with outstanding pastoral sensitivity.
His Pastoral Letter of last December proved more timely than ever in this
regard, with the invitation to listen with attention and perseverance to God’s
Word, to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and to the Church’s
Magisterium. Let us place your every intention and pastoral project in the
hands of Our Lady of Grace, whose image is preserved and venerated in your
beautiful Cathedral. May Mary’s maternal protection accompany the journey of
you who are present here and all those who have been unable to participate in
our Eucharistic celebration today. May the Holy Virgin watch over the sick, the
elderly, children, everyone who feels lonely or neglected or who is in
particular need. May Mary deliver us from the greed for riches and ensure that
in raising to Heaven hands that are free and pure, we may glorify God with our
whole life (see Collect). Amen!
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Papal
Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo , Sunday, 21
September 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
You may remember
that when I addressed the crowd in St Peter’s Square on the day of my election
it came naturally to me to introduce myself as a labourer in the vineyard of
the Lord. Well, in today’s Gospel (see Mt 20: 1-16), Jesus recounted the very
same parable of the owner of the vineyard who at different hours of the day
hires labourers to work in it. And in the evening he gives them all the same
wages, one denarius, provoking protests from those who began work early. That
denarius clearly represents eternal life, a gift that God reserves for all.
Indeed those who are considered the “last”, if they accept, become the “first”,
whereas the “first” can risk becoming the “last”. The first message of this
parable is inherent in the very fact that the landowner does not tolerate, as
it were, unemployment: he wants everyone to be employed in his vineyard.
Actually, being called is already the first reward: to be able to work in the
Lord’s vineyard, to put oneself at his service, to collaborate in his work, is
in itself a priceless recompense that repays every effort. Yet only those who
love the Lord and his Kingdom understand this: those who instead work only for
the pay will never realize the value of this inestimable treasure.
It is St Matthew
who recounts this parable, an apostle and an evangelist, whose liturgical feast
day we are celebrating on this very day. I like to emphasize that Matthew lived
this experience in the first person (see Mt 9: 9). Indeed, before Jesus called
him he worked as a tax collector and was therefore seen as a public sinner,
excluded from “the Lord’s vineyard”. But everything changed when Jesus passed
by his table, looked at him and said to him: “Follow me”. Matthew rose and
followed him. From a publican he immediately became a disciple of Christ. From
being “last” he found himself “first”, thanks to God’s logic, which - for our
good fortune! - is different from the logic of the world. “My thoughts are not
your thoughts”, the Lord says, speaking through the mouth of Isaiah, “neither
are your ways my ways” (Is 55: 8). St
Paul , for whom we are celebrating a special Jubilee
Year, also experienced the joy of feeling called by the Lord to work in his
vineyard. And what a lot of work he accomplished! Yet, as he himself confessed,
it was God’s grace which worked in him, that grace which from persecutor of the
Church transformed him into an Apostle to the Gentiles, to the point of saying:
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” However he immediately added:
“If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which
I shall choose I cannot tell” (Phil 1: 21-22). Paul clearly understood that
working for the Lord is already a reward on this earth.
The Virgin Mary,
whom I had the joy of venerating in Lourdes
a week ago, is the perfect branch of the Lord’s vine. In her germinated the
blessed fruit of divine love: Jesus, our Saviour. May she help us to respond
constantly and joyously to the Lord’s call and to find our happiness in toiling
for the Kingdom
of Heaven
EUCHARISTIC
CELEBRATION AND DEDICATION OF THE NEW ALTAR
IN
THE CATHEDRAL OF ALBANO
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Pancratius’ Cathedral, Albano , Sunday, 21
September 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s
celebration is particularly rich in symbols and the Word of God that has been
proclaimed helps us to understand the meaning and value of what we are doing.
In the First Reading we heard the account of the purification of the Temple and
of the dedication of the new altar of burned offering built by Judas Machabee
in 164 B.C., three years after the profanation of the Temple by Antiochus
Epiphanes (see 1 Mc 4: 52-59). The Feast of Dedication which lasted eight days
was established to commemorate the event. This feast, initially associated with
the Temple to which the people would go in procession
to offer sacrifices, was observed with manifestations of joy with the
illumination of houses and in this form survived the destruction of Jerusalem .
The holy author
rightly stresses the joy and gladness characteristic of this event. Yet, dear
brothers and sisters, how much greater must be our joy in knowing that on the
altar we are preparing to dedicate the sacrifice of Christ that will be offered
every day. On this altar he will continue to sacrifice himself in the sacrament
of the Eucharist, for our salvation and for that of the whole world.
Jesus makes
himself truly present in the Eucharistic Mystery, which is renewed on every
altar. His is a dynamic presence that takes hold of us to make us his, to liken
us to him. He attracts us with the force of his love, bringing us out of
ourselves to be united with him, making us one with him.
The Real
Presence of Christ makes each one of us his “house” and all together we form
his Church, the spiritual building of which St Peter speaks. “Come to him, to that
living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious”; the
Apostle writes, “and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual
house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ” (1 Pt 2: 4-5). St Augustine remarks, developing, as it
were, this beautiful metaphor that through faith people are like the wood and
stones collected in the forests and on the mountains for building; then through
Baptism, catechesis and preaching they are rough-shaped, squared, and polished;
but they become houses of the Lord only when they are put together with love.
When believers are interconnected in accordance with a specific order, mutually
close and cohesive, when they are joined by love, they truly become a dwelling
of God that is in no danger of collapsing (see Serm., 336).
Thus the love of
Christ is the love that “never ends” (1 Cor 13: 8), the spiritual energy that
unites all who share in the same sacrifice and are nourished by the one Bread,
broken for the world’s salvation. Indeed, how is it possible to communicate
with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another? How can we present
ourselves divided, distant from one another, at God’s altar? May this altar on
which the Lord’s sacrifice will shortly be renewed, be a constant invitation to
you, dear brothers and sisters, to love; you will always approach it disposed
to accept love in your hearts, to spread it and to receive and grant
forgiveness.
In this regard
the Gospel passage that has just been proclaimed offers us an important lesson
for life (see Mt 5: 23-24). It is a brief but pressing and incisive appeal for
brotherly reconciliation, a reconciliation that is indispensable if we are to
present the offering at the altar with dignity; an appeal that takes up the
teaching already clearly present in the preaching of the prophets. Indeed, the
prophets also forcefully denounced the uselessness of acts of worship that are
not accompanied by a corresponding moral approach, especially in relations with
others (Is 1: 10-20; Am 5: 21-27; Mi 6: 6-8). Thus, every time you approach the
altar for the Eucharistic Celebration, may your soul be open to forgiveness and
fraternal reconciliation, ready to accept the apologies of those who have
injured you and ready, in turn, to forgive others.
In the Roman
liturgy, when the priest has made the offering of the bread and the wine, he
bows to the altar and prays quietly: “Lord God, we ask you to receive us and be
pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with humble and contrite hearts”. In
this way, together with the whole assembly of the faithful, he prepares to
enter into the heart of the Eucharistic Mystery, into the heart of that
heavenly liturgy to which the Second Reading from Revelation refers. St John presents an Angel
who offers “much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the
golden altar before the throne” of God (see Rv 8: 3). The altar of the
sacrifice becomes in a certain way the meeting point between Heaven and earth;
the centre, we might say, of the One Church that is heavenly yet at the same
time a pilgrim on this earth where, amidst the persecutions of the world and
the consolations of God, disciples of the Lord proclaim his Passion and his
death until he comes in glory (see Lumen Gentium, no. 8). Indeed,
every Eucharistic Celebration already anticipates Christ’s triumph over sin and
over the world and in the mystery shows the radiance of the Church, “the
spotless spouse of the spotless Lamb. It is she whom Christ loved and for whom
he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her’“ (ibid., no. 6).
These
reflections generate within us the rite we are preparing to celebrate in this
cathedral of yours which today we admire in its renewed beauty, and which you
rightly wish to continue to make ever more welcoming and decorous. This is a
commitment that involves you all and, in the first place, asks the entire
diocesan community to increase in charity and in apostolic and missionary
dedication. In practice, it is a question of witnessing with your lives to your
faith in Christ and to the total trust that you place in him. It is also a
question of fostering ecclesial communion, which is first and foremost a gift,
a grace, a fruit of God’s freely given love, something, that is, which is
divinely effective, ever present and active in history, over and above anything
that might appear to the contrary. Ecclesial communion, however, is also a task
entrusted to the responsibility of each person. May the Lord grant that you
live an ever more convinced and active communion in collaboration and
co-responsibility at every level: among priests, consecrated men and women and
lay people, among the different Christian communities in your territory and
among the various lay associations.
I now address my
cordial greeting to your Pastor, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, whom I thank for his
invitation and for the courteous words of welcome with which he received me on
behalf of you all. I would also like to express to him my sentiments of fervent
good wishes on the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination. I address a
special thought to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals,
titular of your Suburbicarian Diocese, who joins in our joy today. I greet the
other Prelates present, the priests, the consecrated people, the young and the
elderly, the families, the children and the sick, embracing with affection all
the faithful of the diocesan community who are spiritually united here. I also
extend a greeting to the Authorities who have honoured us with their presence,
and in the first place to the Mayor of Albano, to whom I am also grateful for
his courteous words at the beginning of holy Mass. Upon everyone I invoke the heavenly
protection of St Pancratius from whom this cathedral takes its name, and of the
Apostle Matthew, who is commemorated in today’s liturgy.
In particular, I
invoke the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, which
crowns your efforts, sacrifices and hard work to endow the cathedral with a
renewed space for the liturgy by means of the appropriate renovation of the
episcopal throne, the ambo and the altar, may Our Lady obtain that you write
another page of daily and popular holiness in our time, to add to those that
have marked the life of the Church of Albano through the centuries. Of course,
as your Pastor recalled, difficulties, challenges and problems are not lacking,
but there are also great hopes and opportunities to proclaim and to witness to
God’s love. May the Spirit of the Risen Lord, who is the Spirit of Pentecost,
open you to his horizons of hope and nourish within you a missionary impetus to
the vast horizons of the new evangelization. Let us pray for this as we
continue our Eucharistic celebration.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Courtyard
of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo ,
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, for the
customary Sunday Reflection I am drawing inspiration from the passage of the
Letter of James which is offered to us in today’s Liturgy (3: 15-4, 3) and I
linger in particular over a phrase whose beauty and timeliness are striking. It
is the description of true wisdom, with which the Apostle counters false
wisdom. Whereas the latter is “earthly, unspiritual, devilish”, and can be
recognized by the fact that it provokes jealousy, disputes, disorder and every
vile practice (see 3: 16), on the contrary, “the wisdom from above is first
pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,
without uncertainty or insincerity” (3: 17). These seven qualities are listed
in accordance with biblical usage; among them stand out the perfection of
authentic wisdom and the positive effects it produces. St James mentions “purity”
that is, holiness, the transparent reflection, so to speak, of God in the human
soul as the first and principal quality, placed almost as a premise of the
others. And, like God from whom it comes, wisdom does not need to be forcefully
imposed for it possesses the invincible power of truth and love that are assertive
in themselves. It is therefore peaceful, gentle and compliant. It has no use
for partiality, nor even less does it resort to lies; it is indulgent and
generous, it is recognized from the fruits of good which it generates in
abundance.
Why not stop and
contemplate the beauty of this wisdom every now and then? Why not draw from the
uncontaminated source of God’s love that wisdom of heart which purges us from
the scum of falsehood and selfishness? This applies to one and all, but in the
first place to those who are called to be advocates and “weavers” of peace in
religious and civil communities, in social and political affairs and in
international relations. In our day, perhaps also because of certain dynamics
proper to the mass society, not infrequently we note a lack of respect for the
truth and the word given, together with a widespread tendency to aggression,
hatred and revenge. “The harvest of righteousness is sown in peace” St James
writes, “by those who make peace” (Jas 3: 18). But to do deeds of peace
it is necessary to be people of peace, learning from “wisdom... such as
comes down from above” in order to assimilate its qualities and produce its
effects. If each one in his own environment were to succeed in rejecting
falsehood and violence in his intentions, words and actions, taking pains to
foster sentiments of respect, understanding and esteem for others, perhaps not
all the problems of daily life would be solved but it would be possible to deal
with them more serenely and effectively.
Dear friends,
once again Sacred Scripture has led us to reflect on the moral aspects of human
existence, but on the basis of a reality that precedes morality itself, that
is, on the basis of true wisdom. Let us ask God with confidence for wisdom of
heart through the intercession of the One who welcomed and conceived in her
womb Wisdom incarnate, Jesus Christ Our Lord. Mary, Seat of Wisdom, pray for
us!
APOSTOLIC
JOURNEY TO THE UNITED
KINGDOM
(SEPTEMBER
16-19, 2010)
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Brothers and Sisters in Jesus
Christ,
I am pleased to
send my greetings to the people of Seville
where, just yesterday, Madre María de la Purísima de la Cruz was beatified. May
Blessed María be an inspiration to young women to follow her example of
single-minded love of God and neighbour.
When Blessed
John Henry Newman came to live in Birmingham ,
he gave the name “Maryvale” to his first home here. The Oratory that he founded
is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. And the
Catholic University of Ireland he placed under the patronage of Mary, Sedes
Sapientiae. In so many ways, he lived his priestly ministry in a spirit of
filial devotion to the Mother of God. Meditating upon her role in the unfolding
of God’s plan for our salvation, he was moved to exclaim: “Who can estimate the
holiness and perfection of her, who was chosen to be the Mother of Christ? What
must have been her gifts, who was chosen to be the only near earthly relative
of the Son of God, the only one whom He was bound by nature to revere and look
up to; the one appointed to train and educate Him, to instruct Him day by day,
as He grew in wisdom and in stature?” (Parochial and Plain Sermons, ii,
131-2). It is on account of those abundant gifts of grace that we honour her,
and it is on account of that intimacy with her divine Son that we naturally
seek her intercession for our own needs and the needs of the whole world. In
the words of the Angelus, we turn now to our Blessed Mother and commend
to her the intentions that we hold in our hearts.
APOSTOLIC
JOURNEY TO THE UNITED
KINGDOM
(SEPTEMBER
16-19, 2010)
MASS
WITH THE BEATIFICATION
OF
VENERABLE CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ,
This day that
has brought us together here in Birmingham
is a most auspicious one. In the first place, it is the Lord’s day, Sunday, the
day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and changed the course of
human history for ever, offering new life and hope to all who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death. That is why Christians all over the world come
together on this day to give praise and thanks to God for the great marvels he
has worked for us. This particular Sunday also marks a significant moment in
the life of the British nation, as it is the day chosen to commemorate the
seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain. For me as one who lived and
suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany , it is deeply moving to be
here with you on this occasion, and to recall how many of your fellow citizens
sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil
ideology. My thoughts go in particular to nearby Coventry , which suffered such heavy
bombardment and massive loss of life in November 1940. Seventy years later, we
recall with shame and horror the dreadful toll of death and destruction that
war brings in its wake, and we renew our resolve to work for peace and reconciliation
wherever the threat of conflict looms. Yet there is another, more joyful reason
why this is an auspicious day for Great Britain ,
for the Midlands, for Birmingham .
It is the day that sees Cardinal John Henry Newman formally raised to the
altars and declared Blessed.
I thank
Archbishop Bernard Longley for his gracious welcome at the start of Mass this
morning. I pay tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to
promote the cause of Cardinal Newman, including the Fathers of the Birmingham
Oratory and the members of the Spiritual Family Das Werk. And I greet
everyone here from Great Britain ,
Ireland ,
and further afield; I thank you for your presence at this celebration, in which
we give glory and praise to God for the heroic virtue of a saintly Englishman.
Cardinal Newman’s
motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, or “Heart speaks unto heart”, gives us an
insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness,
experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate
communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer
gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his
many fine sermons, “a habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the
unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency – prayer, I
say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualizing and elevating
the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually … he has imbibed a
new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles” (Parochial and
Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231). Today’s Gospel tells us that no one can be the
servant of two masters (see Lk 16:13), and Blessed John Henry’s teaching
on prayer explains how the faithful Christian is definitively taken into the
service of the one true Master, who alone has a claim to our unconditional
devotion (see Mt 23:10). Newman helps us to understand what this means for our
daily lives: he tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to
each one of us, a “definite service”, committed uniquely to every single
person: “I have my mission”, he wrote, “I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion
between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do
his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place …
if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling” (Meditations
and Devotions, 301-2).
The definite
service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen
intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing “subjects of the
day”. His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the
vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a
broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound
importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten
many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision
for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving
force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any
reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational
environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious
commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic
University in Ireland
provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the
collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University
holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can
continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set
themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent,
well-instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not
disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just
where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their
creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history
that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England,
ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I
pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the
task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the
vision he so clearly sets before us.
While it is John
Henry Newman’s intellectual legacy that has understandably received most
attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this
occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor
of souls. The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral
ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: “Had Angels
been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you,
sympathized with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and
made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and
guides, and have led you on from your old selves into a new life, as they can
who come from the midst of you” (“Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel”, Discourses
to Mixed Congregations, 3). He lived out that profoundly human vision of
priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the
years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor,
comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his
death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken
to its place of burial not half a mile from here. One hundred and twenty years
later, great crowds have assembled once again to rejoice in the Church’s solemn
recognition of the outstanding holiness of this much-loved father of souls.
What better way to express the joy of this moment than by turning to our
heavenly Father in heartfelt thanksgiving, praying in the words that Blessed
John Henry Newman placed on the lips of the choirs of angels in heaven:
Praise to the
Holiest in the height
And in the depth
be praise;
In all his words
most wonderful,
Most sure in all
his ways!
(The Dream of
Gerontius).
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear brothers and sisters!
In today’s liturgy we have the beginning of St. Paul ’s Letter to the Philippians, that is, to the
members of the community that the Apostle himself established at Philippi, an
important Roman colony in Macedonia ,
present day northern Greece Aegean Sea .
That was the Gospel’s first entrance into Europe .
We are near the year 50, so about 20 years after the death and resurrection of
Jesus. And yet, in the Letter to the Philippians there is a hymn to Christ that
already presents a complete synthesis of his mystery: incarnation, “kenosis,”
that is, humiliation unto death on the cross, and glorification.
This mystery itself became one with the life of
the Apostle Paul, who wrote this letter while he was in prison, awaiting a
sentence of life or death. He writes: “For me to live is Christ and die is gain”
(Philippians 1:21). It is a new sense of life, of human existence, that
consists in living communion with the living Jesus Christ; not only with a
historical person, a master of wisdom, a religious leader, but with a man in
whom God dwells personally. His death and resurrection are the Good News that,
starting from Jerusalem
Dear friends, the Gospel has transformed the
world, and it is still transforming it, like a river that waters a great field.
Let us turn in prayer to the Virgin Mary that in the whole Church priestly,
religious and lay vocations ripen in service to the new evangelization.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On our way
through St Mark’s Gospel last Sunday we entered the second part, that is, the
last journey towards Jerusalem
and towards the culmination of Jesus’ mission. After Peter, on the disciples’
behalf, had professed his faith in him, recognizing him as the Messiah (see Mk
8:29), Jesus began to speak openly of what was going to happen to him at the
end. The Evangelist records three successive predictions of his death and
resurrection in chapters 8, 9 and 10. In them Jesus announces ever more clearly
the destiny that awaits him and the intrinsic need for it. This Sunday’s
passage contains the second of these announcements. Jesus says: “The Son of man”
— an expression that designates himself — will be delivered into the hands of
men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will
rise” (Mk 9:31). “But” the disciples “did not understand the saying, and they
were afraid to ask him” (v. 32).
In fact, on
reading this part of Mark’s account the great inner distance that existed
between Jesus and his disciples is clearly apparent; they are, so to speak, on
two different wavelengths so that the Teacher’s discourses are either not understood,
or are only superficially understood. Straight after professing his faith in
Jesus, the Apostle Peter takes the liberty of reproaching the Lord because he
predicted that he was to be rejected and killed.
After the second
prediction of the passion, the disciples began to discuss with one another who
was the greatest among them (see Mk 9:34), and after the third, James and John
asked Jesus to sit one at his right hand and one at his left when he would come
into glory (cf Mk 10:35-40). However, there are various other signs of this
gap: for example, the disciples do not succeed in healing an epileptic boy whom
Jesus subsequently heals with the power of prayer (see Mk 9:14-29); and when
children are brought to Jesus the disciples admonish them; Jesus on the
contrary is indignant, has them stay and says that only those who are like them
will enter the Kingdom of God (see Mk 10:13-16).
What does all
this tell us? it reminds us that, the logic of God is always “different” from
ours, just as God himself revealed through the mouth of Isaiah: “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, / neither are your ways my ways” (Is 55:8). For
this reason following the Lord always demands of human beings — of all of us —
a profound con-version, a change in our manner of thinking and living, it
demands that the heart be opened to listening, to let ourselves be illuminated
and transformed from within.
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González
