The Weekly Benedict

Introduction

The Weekly Benedict is a compilation of documents, speeches, and other texts brought into an ebook format.

The Weekly Benedict was inspired by Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin who came up with the idea to create a weekly link page to the words of the Holy Father.

All texts are © Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Considering the increasing prevalence of electronic book readers and their ease in reading textual documents this provides an ideal format in making available the wonderful and insightful words of Pope Benedict XVI. This ebook compilation is provided as a public service with no associated fees.

Jeff Miller The Curt Jester blog

Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin's blog can be found at JimmyAkin.org

While this ebook publication take it's cue from Jimmy Akin's weekly post with links, it is done without association and any copyright problems or formatting mistakes are entirely my own.

Index of Source Links

List of direct document links on Vatican.va used.

Regina Caeli

- 20 May 2012

General Audience

- 9 May 2012

- 16 May 2012

Speeches

- 10 May 2012 - To the Community of the Pontifical Spanish College of Rome

- 11 May 2012 - To the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies

- 13 May 2012 - Greetings from the window of the Archbishopric of Arezzo

- 13 May 2012 - Meeting with the citizens in Torre di Berta Square in Sansepolcro

- 13 May 2012 - Visit to the Shrine of La Verna

- 13 May 2012 - Visit to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the institution of the “Agostino Gemelli” Department of Medicine and Surgery

- 16 May 2012 - Projection of the film “Mary of Nazareth”

- 21 May 2012 - Luncheon with the Cardinals

Regina Caeli

Regina Caeli, 20 May 2012, Benedict XVI

BENEDICT XVI

REGINA CÆLI

Sunday, 20 May 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Forty days after the Resurrection — according to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles — Jesus ascended into Heaven, that is he returned to the Father, by whom he had been sent into the world. In many countries this mystery is celebrated not on Thursday but today, the following Sunday. The Ascension of the Lord marks the fulfillment of salvation that started with the Incarnation. After he had instructed his disciples for the last time, Jesus was taken up into Heaven (cf. Mk 16:19). He, however, “was not separated from our condition” (cf. Preface); indeed, in his humanity, he took man with him into the intimacy of the Father and thus revealed the final destination of our earthly pilgrimage. As he descended from Heaven for us, and for us suffered and died on the Cross, so for us he rose and ascended to God, who, therefore, is no longer far away.

St Leo the Great explains that with this mystery “not only is the immortality of the soul proclaimed, but also that of the body. Today in fact, not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but in Christ have also penetrated the heights of Heaven” (De Ascensione Domini, Tractatus 73, 2.4: CCL 138 A, 451.453). This is why the disciples, when they saw the Master rise from the ground and ascend upwards, they were not disheartened, as one might expect, instead, they were overcome with joy and felt compelled to proclaim Christ’s victory over death (cf. Mk 16:20). And the Risen Lord worked in each of them, bestowing on each his own charism. St Paul writes further: “He gave gifts to men ... and his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers ... for building up of the body of Christ ... to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:8, 11-13).

Dear friends, the Ascension tells us that in Christ our humanity is brought to the heights of God; thus, every time we pray, earth is united to Heaven. And like incense, burning, its scent is carried on high, hence, when we raise our prayer to the Lord with confidence in Christ, it travels across Heaven and reaches God himself and is heard and answered by Him. In the well-known work by St John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, we read that “in order to obtain the fulfilment of the petitions which we have in our hearts, there is no better way than to direct the energy of our prayer to the thing that most pleases God. For then not only will He give that which we ask of Him, which is salvation, but also that which He sees to be fitting and good for us, although we pray not for it” (Book III, ch. 44, n. 2).

Finally let us beseech the Virgin Mary, that she may help us to contemplate the heavenly goods, which the Lord promises us, and to become ever more credible witnesses of his Resurrection, of true Life.

After the Regina Caeli:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we are celebrating the World Day of Social Communications, on the theme: “Silence and Word: path of evangelization”. Silence and listening is an integral part of communication, it is the privileged place for encountering the Word of God and our brothers and sisters. I invite everyone to pray that communication, in every form, may always serve to establish authentic dialogue with others, founded on mutual respect, listening and sharing.

Thursday, 24 May, is the day dedicated to the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, venerated with great devotion at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai: we join in prayer all the Catholics in China, that they may proclaim with humility and joy Christ’s death and Resurrection, that they may be faithful to the Church and to the Successor of Peter and live their daily life consistently with the faith that they profess. May Mary, Faithful Virgin, sustain the journey of Chinese Catholics, render their prayer ever more intense and precious in the eyes of the Lord, and make the affection and participation of the universal Church grow on the path of the Church which is in China.

I extend a cordial greeting to the thousands of followers of the Italian Pro-life Movement, gathered in the Paul VI Hall. Dear friends, your Movement has always been committed to the defence of human life, according to the teachings of the Church. In line with this line, you have announced a new initiative called “Uno di noi” [One of us], in support of the dignity and the rights of every human being from the moment of conception. I encourage you and I urge you always to be witnesses and builders of the culture of life.

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that he has come so that his joy may be fulfilled in us. Let us ask the Virgin Mary to obtain for us a deeper faith in her Son, so that we may live to the full the spiritual joy which he wills for us. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings.

I greet the various school groups, and here today with sadness I must remember the boys and girls of the school in Brindisi, victims of a vile attack yesterday. Let us pray together for them some of whom are in a serious condition. And let us pray also for the people of the region of Emilia Romagna hit just a few hours ago by an earthquake. To everyone I wish a good Sunday.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Speeches

To the Pontifical Spanish College of Rome, 10 May 2012 - Benedict XVI

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

TO THE COMMUNITY

OF THE PONTIFICAL SPANISH COLLEGE OF ROME

Clementine Hall

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Dear Cardinals,

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,

Dear Mr Rector, Superiors, religious, students of the Pontifical Spanish College of St Joseph in Rome,

It is a joy for me to receive you on the commemoration of the 50 years of the present headquarters of the Pontifical Spanish College of St Joseph, and especially on the liturgical Memorial of St John of Ávila, Patron of the Spanish diocesan clergy, whom I shall soon declare Doctor of the universal Church. I greet Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, whom I thank for his kind words, as well as the Archbishops, members of the Patronage, the Rector, the formators, the women Religious and you, dear students.

This event marks an important stage in the already impressive itinerary of this College, which began at the end of the 19th century, when Bl. Manuel Domingo y Sol, Founder of the Brotherhood of Diocesan Worker Priests, set out to create a College in Rome, with the blessing of Leo XIII, my Venerable Predecessor and the support of the Spanish Episcopate.

Thousands of seminarians and priests have graduated from your College, who have served the Church in Spain with profound love and fidelity to their mission. The specific formation of priests is always one of the main priorities of the Church. On being sent to Rome to further your priestly studies you must think above all, not so much of your own personal good, but of the service to the holy people of God, who need pastors who dedicate themselves to the beautiful service of the sanctification of the faithful with a high standard of training and competence.

But remember that the priest renews his life and draws strength for his ministry from contemplation of the Divine Word and intense dialogue with the Lord. He is aware that he will be unable to take Christ to his brethren or to meet him in the poor and the sick, if he does not first discover him in fervent and constant prayer. It is necessary to nourish a personal relationship with the One, whom one then proclaims, celebrates and communicates. Herein lies the foundation of priestly spirituality, until one becomes a transparent sign and living witness of the Good Shepherd. The itinerary of priestly formation is also a school of missionary communion: with the Successor of Peter, with one’s Bishop, in the presbyterate itself, and always at the service of the particular and the universal Church.

Dear priests, may the life and doctrine of the Holy Teacher John of Ávila illumine and support your stay at the Pontifical Spanish College of St Joseph. His profound knowledge of Sacred Scripture, of the Holy Fathers, of the Councils, of the liturgical sources and of healthy theology, together with his faithful and filial love of the Church, made him an authentic innovator at a difficult time in the history of the Church. Precisely because of this, “he was a clear-sighted and ardent spirit. To denunciation of evils and suggestions for canonical remedies, he added a schooling of intense spirituality” (Paul VI, Homily during the Canonization Mass of John of Ávila, 31 May 1970; L'Osservatore Romano [English edition], 11 June 1970).

The main teaching of the Apostle of Andalusia is the mystery of Christ, Priest and Good Shepherd, lived in harmony with the Lord’s sentiments, in imitation of St Paul (cf. Phil 2:5). “The priest must see himself in this priestly model to conform himself to him in his aspirations and prayer” (Treatise on the Priesthood, 10). The priesthood essentially requires his help and friendship: “This communication of the Lord with the priest… is the relationship of friends”, says the Saint (ibid., n. 9).

Hence, encouraged by the virtues and the example of St John of Ávila, I invite you to carry out your priestly ministry with the same apostolic zeal that characterized him, with the same austerity of life, as well as with the same filial affection that he nourished for the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of priests.

Under the beloved name of “Mater clementissima”, countless students have entrusted to her their vocation, their studies, their most noble efforts and projects, as well as their sadness and concerns. Do not fail to invoke her every day or tire of repeating her name with devotion. Listen to St John of Ávila, when he exhorted priests to imitate her: “Let us look at ourselves, Fathers, from head to toe, soul and body, and we will see that we resemble the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who with her words drew God to her womb… And the priest attracts him with the words of consecration” (Treatise on the Priesthood, 10). The Mother of Christ is the model of that love that leads to giving one’s life for the Kingdom of God, without expecting anything in return.

May the community of the Pontifical Spanish College in Rome, under the protection of Our Lady, be able to continue to fulfil its objectives of the deepening and actualization of ecclesiastical studies, in the climate of profound presbyterial communion and high scientific rigor that distinguishes it, in view of realizing, henceforth, the profound brotherhood requested by the Second Vatican Council “in virtue of their sacred ordination and of their common mission” (Lumen Gentium, n. 28). Thus pastors will be formed who reflect the life of the Triune God-Love, who will serve their brothers with rectitude of intention and total dedication, promoting the unity of the Church and the good of the whole of human society.

With these sentiments, I impart to you a special Apostolic Blessing, which I gladly extend to your relatives, to your communities of origin and to all those who collaborate in your formative journey during your stay in Rome. Thank you very much.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

To the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 11 May 2012 - Benedict XVI

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

TO THE NATIONAL DIRECTORS

OF THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES

Clementine Hall

Friday, 11 May 2012

Your Eminence,

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I extend my cordial greeting to all of you, starting with Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, whom I thank for his kind words and information concerning the work of the Pontifical Mission Societies. I express a grateful thought to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, Secretary, to Archbishop Piergiuseppe Vacchelli, Adjunct Secretary and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, to the National Directors and to all collaborators, as well as to those who devote their generous service to this Dicastery. My thoughts and all of yours go at this time to Fr Massimo Cenci, PIME Undersecretary, who died unexpectedly. May the Lord reward him for all his work done on mission and at the service of the Holy See.

Today’s meeting takes place in the context of the Annual Assembly of the Supreme Committee of the Pontifical Mission Societies, to which is entrusted the missionary cooperation of all the Churches in the world.

Evangelization, which is always an urgent matter, in these times is compelling the Church to work more expeditiously along the paths of the world, to lead every human being to the knowledge of Christ. Only in the Truth, in fact, can humanity discover the meaning of existence, and grow in justice and peace. Every man and woman, every people, has the right to receive the Gospel of Truth. In this regard, your role in the celebration of the Year of Faith, already close at hand, assumes a special kind of meaning, to reinforce commitment to spreading the Kingdom of God and the knowledge of the Christian faith. This requires from those who have already encountered Jesus Christ “an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world” (Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, n. 6). Christian communities “too need to hear anew the voice of the Bridegroom, who invites them to conversion, spurs them on to bold new undertakings and calls forth their commitment to the great task of the ‘new evangelization’” (John Paul II Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, n. 23).

Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is always the centre of proclamation, the reference point for the sequela and for same methodology of the mission of evangelization, because he is the human face of God who wants to meet every man and woman to allow them to enter into communion with God, into his love. To walk the highways of the world to proclaim the Gospel to all peoples of the earth and lead them to the meeting with the Lord, (cf. Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, n. 7) therefore requires the announcer to have a personal and daily relationship with Christ, to know him and to love him deeply. Today the mission needs to renew trust in the action of God; it needs intense prayer so that His Kingdom will be done on earth as in heaven. We need to invoke light and strength from the Holy Spirit, and to commit ourselves with determination, decision and generosity to usher in, in a sense, “a new era of proclamation of the Gospel... because, after two millennia, a major part of the human family still does not acknowledge Christ, but also because the situation in which the Church and the world find themselves... is particularly challenging for religious belief” (John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, n. 29).

I am therefore very pleased to encourage the project of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Mission Societies in supporting the Year of Faith. This project provides for a worldwide campaign, which, through the prayer of the Holy Rosary, will accompany the work of evangelizing the world and, for many of the baptized to rediscover and deepen the faith.

Dear friends, as you know only too well, the proclamation of the Gospel on not a few occasions has entailed difficulty and suffering; the growth of the Kingdom of God in the world, in fact, often comes at the cost of the blood of its servants. In this phase of economic, cultural and political change, where often the human being feels alone, in the grip of anguish and despair, the Gospel messengers, even though they proclaim hope and peace, continue to be persecuted as was their Master and Lord. But, despite the problems and the tragic reality of persecution, the Church is not discouraged, she remains faithful to her Lord's command in the awareness that “throughout Christian history, martyrs, that is, ‘witnesses’, have always been numerous and indispensable to the spread of the Gospel” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, n. 45). The message of Christ, today, as in the past, cannot adapt to the logic of this world, because it is prophecy and deliverance, it is the seed of a new humanity that is growing, and which only at the end of time will have its full realization. To you is entrusted in a special way, the task of supporting the ministers of the Gospel, helping them to “preserve the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow” (Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, n. 80). Your special commitment is to keep alive the missionary vocation of all Christ's disciples, so that each of you, according to the charism you have received from the Holy Spirit, can take part in the universal mission given by the Risen Lord to his Church. Your work of animation and missionary formation is the soul of pastoral care, because the missio ad gentes is the paradigm of all the Church’s apostolic action. Be increasingly a visible and concrete expression of the communion of people and means between the Churches, which, like communicating vessels, live the same vocation and missionary zeal, and in every corner of the world work to sow the Word of Truth in all peoples and cultures. I am sure you will continue to commit yourselves, so that the local Churches assume, always more generously, their share of responsibility in the Church's universal mission.

May the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Missions, accompany you and support all your hard work in promoting awareness and missionary cooperation. With this hope, which I always keep in my prayers, I thank you and all those who cooperate in the cause of evangelization, and I cordially impart the Apostolic Blessing to each of you.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Greeting from the window of the Bishopric of Arezzo

PASTORAL VISIT TO AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO

(MAY 13, 2012)

GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

FROM THE WINDOW OF THE BISHOPRIC OF AREZZO

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Thank you for this beautiful display of your great Renaissance culture.

It has truly touched my heart. Whoever is capable of so perfectly presenting a culture of the past is also capable of opening culture to the future because culture knows man, it loves man who has the great dignity of being not only human, but of the image of God. Thus, this dignity of man compels but also comforts and encourages us: if we are really the imagine of God, we are also able to go forward and to overcome the current problems and to open ways for the new future. Thank you very much for this! May the Lord bless you!.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Meeting with the citizens in Sansepolcro, Benedict XVI, 13 May 2012

PASTORAL VISIT TO AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO

(MAY 13, 2012)

MEETING WITH THE CITIZENS

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

Torre di Berta Square, Sansepolcro

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am pleased to be here in Sansepolcro and to give thanks to God with you for the millenary foundation of the City, for the miracles of grace and all the benefits that, over 10 centuries, Providence has bestowed. In this historic square, let us repeat the words of the today’s Responsorial Psalm: “O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things!... Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!” (Ps 98[97]).

Dear friends of Sansepolcro, I greet you all warmly. I am grateful for your warm welcome. Despite the slightly bad weather, our hearts are full of light, warmth and joy. I greet you all with affection, starting with Archbishop Riccardo Fontana and with him I greet the priests, the consecrated people and lay faithful who are actively involved in the apostolate. My respectful thoughts go to the civil and military authorities, in particular to the Mayor, Dr Daniela Frullani, whom I thank for her kind words and for the lovely gifts. Thank you!

A thousand years ago, on their journey to the Holy Land, the pilgrim Saints Aegidius and Arcanus, in the face of the major changes taking place, began to search for the truth and the meaning of life. On their return, they brought with them not only the stones gathered on Mount Zion but the unique idea they had thought of in the Land of Jesus: building on the Upper Tiber Valley an image of Jerusalem, a civitas hominis which in its very name, recalls justice and peace. A plan that evokes St Augustine’s great view of history in the work “De civitate Dei” [The City of God]. When Alaric and his Visigoths entered Rome and the pagan world accused the God of the Christians of not having saved Rome caput mundi, the holy Bishop of Hippo made clear what we should expect of God: the proper relationship between the political and religious spheres. He sees in history the presence of two loves: “love of self” which leads to contempt for God and for others, and “love of God” which leads to full freedom for others and to build a city of man governed by justice and peace (cf. De civitate Dei, XIV, 28).

Certainly the founders of Sansepolcro were familiar with this vision. They planned a well-structured model for the city, one full of hope for the future, where the disciples of Christ were called to be the engine of society in promoting peace by practising justice. Their courageous challenge became a reality, by persevering on the journey, first with the help of the Benedictine charism then with that of the Camaldolese monks, which continued for generations.

A firm commitment was necessary to found a monastic community and then, around the Abbey church, your City. The project not only influenced the urban plan of the Borgo of Sansepolcro, since the very location of the Cathedral has a strong symbolic value: it is the reference point from which everyone can direct their journey, and especially their lives. It is a powerful call to look on high, to rise above daily routine, to direct our eyes to Heaven in the continual pursuit of spiritual values and of communion with God, which does not alienate us from everyday life, but guides us to live it even more intensely. This prospective is valid even today in order to recover the desire to search for the “truth”, to see life as a journey to come closer to the “truth” and the “just”.

Dear friends, your founders’ ideal has come down to us today and not only constitutes the cornerstone of the identity of Sansepolcro and of the diocesan church, but also presents a challenge to preserve and promote the Christian thought, at the origin of the City. The Millenium is an occasion to reflect that it is, at the same time, an inner journey on the paths of faith and commitment to rediscover the Christian roots, so that the Gospel values may continue to inspire the conscience and your daily history. Today there is the particular need for the service of the Church in the world to be expressed through enlightened faithful lay people, capable of working in the city of man with the will to serve over and above personal interests, beyond partisan views. The common good counts far more than that of the individual and it is up to Christians to contribute to the birth of a new public ethic. The splendid figure of the newly Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo reminds us of this. Christians, especially the youth, are called to counter distrust of the political and social sphere with their commitment and love for responsibility, enlivened by the love of the Gospel which calls us to not to withdraw into ourselves but to take care of others. I invite the youth to think big: may you have the courage to be bold! Be ready to give new flavour to the whole of civil society with the salt of honesty and disinterested altruism. It is necessary to recover a strong motivation to serve the good of citizens.

The challenge before this ancient Borgo is to balance the rediscovery of its thousand-year identity by acceptance and the merging of various cultures and sensibilities. St Paul teaches us that the Church, but also all of society, is like a human body where every part is different from the others but all contribute to the good of the body (cf. 1 Cor 12: 12-26). We thank God that your diocesan community through the centuries developed an ardent missionary openness, as is witnessed by its twinning with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem which I was pleased to learn has borne fruitful collaboration and charitable works to help the neediest brethren in the Holy Land. These ancient bonds led your forefathers to build a replica of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in stone here, in order to give the identity of the people a solid basis and to keep the devotion and prayer for the holy City alive. This bond continues and makes everything concerning the Holy Land appear as a reality that involves you, and likewise Jerusalem. Your name and the presence of the pilgrims of your Diocese nourish the fraternal relationship. In this regard, I am sure that you will be open to new perspectives of solidarity, giving renewed Apostolic momentum to the service of the Gospel. And this will be one of the most significant outcomes of the Jubilee celebrations of your City.

I would like to mention the Cathedral again where I contemplated the beauty of the “Holy Face”. This Basilica is the place for the entire City to give praise to God, a site of newfound harmony between moments of worship and civil life, a reference point for souls to find peace. Just as your forefathers knew how to build the a splendid stone temple, as a sign and appeal to the communion of life, it is up to you to make the meaning of the sacred building visible and credible, living in peace in the ecclesial and civil community. In the middle of the Renaissance, the Biturgensi asked the painter Durante Alberti to depict the humble crib in Bethlehem in the Mother Church, so that no one would forget that God was with them. Mindful of the past and attentive to the present, looking also to the future, you Christians of the Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro know that the spiritual progress of your ecclesial communities and the very promotion of the common good of civil communities requires commitment to an ever more vital integration of your parishes and associations in the area. The path taken and the faith that enlivens you give you courage and strength to continue. Looking at your rich spiritual patrimony, you are a living Church at the service of the Gospel! A hospitable and generous Church, that through her witness makes God’s love present for every human being, especially those suffering and needy.

May the Holy Virgin, venerated in a special way in this month of May, watch over each one of you and support your efforts for a better future. O, Mary, Queen of Peace, hear our prayer, make us witnesses of your Son as well as indefatigable workers for justice and peace. Amen! Thank you!

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Visit to the Shrine of La Verna, Benedict XVI, 13 May 2012

PASTORAL VISIT TO AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO

(MAY 13, 2012)

VISIT TO THE SHRINE OF VERNA

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

Sunday, 13 May 2012

The stop planned in La Verna, where the Pope was to go on Sunday afternoon, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The following is a translation of the Address which the Holy Father intended to give.

Dear Friars Minor,

Dear Daughters of Saint Mother Clare,

Dear Brothers and Sisters: the Lord give you peace!

Contemplating the Cross of Christ! We climbed as pilgrims up to the Sasso Spicco of La Verna where “two years before his death” (Celano, Vita Prima, III, 94: ff, 484) St Francis, received the wounds of the glorious Passion of Christ in his body. His journey as a disciple led him to a union so profound with the Lord that he shared with him even the exterior signs of his supreme act of love on the Cross. A journey which began at San Damiano before the Crucifix, contemplated with mind and heart. The continuous meditation on the Cross, in this holy place, has been a means of sanctification for many Christians, who, throughout eight centuries, have knelt and prayed here in silence and in recollection.

The glorious Cross of Christ takes on the suffering of the world, but it is above all a tangible sign of love, the measure of God’s goodness to mankind. In this place we, too, are called to recover the supernatural dimension of our lives, to raise our eyes from what is contingent, to entrust ourselves totally to the Lord, with a free heart and in perfect joy, contemplating the Crucifix so that it may wounds us with his love.

“Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, all praise is Yours, all glory, honour and blessings (Canticle of the Creatures: ff, 263, written in the vernacular). Only by letting ourselves be illuminated by the love of God, can man and nature as a whole be redeemed, our beauty can finally reflect the splendour of Christ’s face, as the moon reflects the sun. Springing from the glorious Cross, the Blood of the Crucifix returns to give life to the dry bones of Adam who is in us, so that each one may find the joy to walk toward holiness, to climb upward, toward God. Through this blessed place, I join in the prayer of all Franciscans on earth: “We adore you O Christ and we bless you here and in all churches throughout the world, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world”.

Captured by the love of Christ! One does not climb La Verna without being led by the prayer of St Francis of the Absorbeat, which recites: “May the power of your love, O Lord, ardent and sweet power, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of my love” (Prayer of the “Absorbeat”, 1: ff, 277). Contemplation of the Crucifix is a labour of the mind, but it cannot rise freely without the support, without the power of love. In this very place, Friar Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the distinguished son of St Francis, composed his Itinerarium mentis in Deum showing us the way to move forward towards the heights where one encounters God. This great Doctor of the Church communicated to us his own experience, inviting us to prayer. First, the mind must be given to the Passion of the Lord, for it is the sacrifice of the Cross that wipes away our sins, a fault that can only be filled by the love of God: “I urge the reader”, he writes, “above all to beseech in prayer for Christ crucified, by Whose blood we are purged of our sins” (Itinerarium mentis in Deum, Prol. 4). But, in order to be effective, our prayer needs tears, that is an interior movement of our love which responds to the love of God. And it is then necessary to have that admiratio, which St Bonaventure sees in the humble ones of the Gospel, those capable of wonder before the salvific work of Christ. And humility is precisely the door to every virtue. It is actually not possible to reach God with the intellectual pride of a closed search within oneself, but only with humility, according to the famous expression of St Bonaventure: Man “must not believe that it suffices to read without unction, speculate without devotion, investigate without wonder, examine without exultation, work without piety, know without love, understand without humility, be zealous without divine grace, see him without wisdom divinely inspired” (ibid.).

Contemplation of the Crucifix is extraordinarily effective because it makes us pass from the order of things thought, to lived experience; from salvation hoped for to the promised land. St Bonaventure says: “whoever looks at [the Crucifix] with attention... makes the Passover, that is the transit, together with Him” (ibid., VII, 2). This is the heart of the experience of La Verna, of the experience that the Poverello of Assisi made here. On this Holy Mountain, St Francis lived within himself the profound unity sequela, imitatio and conformatio Christi. And this is how he says to us that it is not enough to call oneself Christian to be Christian, nor even to seek to do good deeds. It is necessary to conform oneself to Jesus with a slow, gradual transformation of one’s being into the image of the Lord, so that by Divine Grace, every member of His Body, which is the Church, may show the necessary likeness with the Head, Christ the Lord. And on this journey — as the Medieval masters in line with the great Augustine teach us — one moves from knowledge of oneself, from the humility of looking with sincerity deep inside oneself.

Carry the love of Christ! Many pilgrims have climbed and still climb this Holy Mountain to contemplate the Love of God Crucified and to let themselves be seized by him. Ever so many pilgrims have climbed in search of God, which is the true reason for which the Church exists: to build a bridge between God and mankind. Here they meet you too, sons and daughters of St Francis. Always remember that the consecrated life has the specific duty to witness, by word and by the example of a life according to the evangelical counsels, the fascinating love story between God and humanity, which runs through history.

That Medieval Franciscan left an indelible mark on your Church of Arezzo. The repeated visits of the Poverello of Assisi and the time he spent in your territory are a precious treasure. The events of La Verna are unique and fundamental for the singularity of the stigmata imprinted on the body of the Seraphic Friar Francis, but also for the collective history of his Friars and of your people, who rediscover still, at the Sasso Spicco, the centrality of Christ in the life of the believer. Montauto di Anghiari, Le Celle of Cortona, the Hermitage of Montecasale, and that of Cerbaiolo, and the other minor sites on Franciscan Tuscany continue to mark the identity of the Community of Arezzo, of Cortona and of Biturgense.

Many outstanding figures have shone in these lands, like St Margaret of Cortona, a little-known Franciscan penitent, who was capable of reliving in herself the extraordinary vivacity of the charism of the Poverello of Assisi, combing the contemplation of the Crucifix with charity for the least. The love of God and neighbour continues to animate the valuable work of the Franciscans in your ecclesial community. The profession of the evangelical counsels is a sure way to live the love of Christ. In this blessed place, I ask the Lord to continue to send out workers into his vineyard, and especially to young people I address this urgent appeal, that whoever hears God’s call may respond with generosity and may have the courage to give him/herself to the consecrated life and the ministerial priesthood.

I have become a pilgrim to La Verna, as the Successor of Peter, and I would like every one of us to listen to Jesus’ question to Peter again: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?... Feed my lambs” (Jn 21:15). It is love for Christ which is at the base of the Pastor’s life, as it is for the consecrated: a love which does not fear commitment or work. Carry this love to the people of our time, so often closed in their own individualism; be a sign of God’s immense mercy. Priestly piety teaches priests to live what they celebrate, sharing our own life with those we meet: sharing their sorrow, caring for their problems, accompanying them on their journey of faith.

Thank you, Minister General José Carballo, for your words, and I thank the entire Franciscan family and all of you. Persevere, like your holy forefather, in the imitation of Christ, so that you may encounter St Francis and by encountering St Francis, may you encounter the Lord.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Visit to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome

VISIT TO THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF THE SACRED HEART

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY

OF THE AGOSTINO GEMELLI POLYCLINIC

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI

Thursday, 3 May 2012

Dear Cardinals,

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,

Hon. Mr President of the Chamber and Mr Ministers,

Distinguished Pro-Rector,

Distinguished Authorities, Lecturers, Doctors, Distinguished Health-Care and University Staff,

Dear Students and Dear Patients,

I meet you with special joy today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic. I thank the President of the Istituto Toniolo, Cardinal Angelo Scola and the Pro-Rector, Prof. Franco Anelli, for their courteous words. I greet the President of the Chamber, Hon. Mr Gianfranco Fini, the Ministers, Hon. Mr Lorenzo Ornaghi and Hon. Mr Renato Balduzzi, the numerous authorities, as well as the lecturers, doctors, staff and students of the Polyclinic and of the Catholic University. I address a special thought to you, dear patients.

On this occasion I would like to contribute a few thoughts. Our time is one in which the experimental sciences have transformed the vision of the world and even man’s understanding of himself. The many discoveries and the rapid succession of innovative technologies are a well founded reason for pride but they are frequently not without disturbing implications. Indeed, against the background of the widespread optimism in scientific knowledge is being overcast by the shadow of a crisis in thought. Rich in means but less so in their aims, the men and women of our time are often conditioned by reductionism and relativism, which leads to the loss of meaning of things; blinded, as it were, by technical efficiency, they forget the fundamental horizon of the need for meaning, thereby relegating the transcendent dimension to irrelevance. Against this background thought is weakened and an ethical impoverishment which blurs valuable norms of reference gains ground.

What was the fertile root of European culture and progress seems to have been forgotten. In it the search for the Absolute — the quaerere Deum — included the need to deepen the knowledge of the profane sciences, the entire world of knowledge (cf. Address to the Collège des Bernardins in Paris, 12 September 2008). Scientific research and the question of meaning, even with their specific epistemological and methodological features, in fact flow from one source, the Logos, that presides over creative work and guides the sense of history. A fundamentally technological and practical mindset generates a perilous imbalance between what is technologically possible and what is morally sound, with unforeseeable consequences.

Thus it is important for culture to rediscover the vigour of the meaning and dynamism of transcendence, in a word, to present the horizon of the quaerere Deum decisively. St Augustine’s famous sentence springs to mind: “you have made us for yourself [O Lord] and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I, 1).

It may be said that the impulse of scientific research itself stems from the longing for God that dwells in the human heart: basically, scientists, even unconsciously, strive to attain that truth which can give meaning to life. Yet, however enthusiastic and tenacious human research is, it is incapable merely with its own efforts of reaching a safe landing place, for “man is incapable of fully explaining the strange semi-darkness that overshadows the question of the eternal realities.... God must take the initiative of reaching out and speaking to man” (J. Ratzinger, L’Europa di Benedetto nella crisi delle culture, Cantagalli, Roma 2005, 124).

To restore reason to its native, integral dimension, one must rediscover the source which scientific research shares with the quest for faith, fides quaerens intellectum, according to Anselm’s intuition. Science and faith have a fruitful reciprocity, an almost complementary need for understanding the real. Paradoxically, however, the positivist culture itself, excluding the question on God from scientific discussion, determines the decline of thought and the enfeeblement of the ability to understand this reality.

Yet the human quest for quaerere Deum would lose itself in a maze if it were not to meet illumination and reliable orientation, which is the way of God himself who, with immense love, makes himself close to man: “In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out.... It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word” (John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n. 7).

As the religion of the Logos, Christianity does not relegate faith to the sphere of the irrational, but attributes the origin and sense of reality to creative Reason, which, in the crucified God, is expressed as love and invites us to take the way of the quaerere Deum: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. Here St Thomas Aquinas comments: “For the destination of this way is the end of human desire. Now human beings especially desire two things: first, a knowledge of the truth, and this is characteristic of them; secondly, that they continue to exist, and this is common to all things. These two were already applied to Christ... If then, you ask which way to go, accept Christ, for he is the way” (Esposizioni su Giovanni, chap. 14, Lecture 2).

The Gospel of life thus illuminates man’s uphill journey and when he faces the temptation of absolute autonomy, reminds him: “man’s life comes from God; it is his gift, his image, his imprint, a sharing in his breath of life” (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, n. 39). And it is precisely by taking the path of faith that man is enabled to discern in the very realities of suffering and death, which pass through his life, an authentic possibility for the good and for life. In the Cross of Christ he perceives the Tree of Life, a revelation of God’s passionate love for man. The cure of those who are suffering is thus a daily encounter with the Face of Christ, and the dedication of the mind and the heart become a sign of God’s mercy and of his victory over death.

Experienced fully, the search is enlightened by science and faith and from these two “wings” draws dynamism and an impetus, without ever losing its proper humility, the sense of its own limitations. In this way the quest for God becomes fertile for the mind, a leaven of culture, a champion of true humanism, a search that does not stop at the surface.

Dear friends, always let yourselves be guided by the knowledge that comes from on high, by knowledge illuminated by faith, recalling that wisdom demands the passion and effort of seeking.

The indispensable task of the Catholic University fits in here. It is a place in which the educational relationship is placed at the service of the person in the construction of a qualified scientific skill, rooted in a patrimony of the different branches of knowledge which the evolution of generations has distilled into wisdom of life; a place in which the relationship of treatment is not a profession but a mission; where the charity of the Good Samaritan is the first seat of learning and the face of suffering man is Christ’s own Face: “you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in the daily work of research, teaching and study, lives in this traditio that expresses its own potential for innovation: no progress, less still at the cultural level, is nourished by mere repetition but demands an ever new beginning. Further, it requires the availability for exchange and dialogue that opens the mind and witnesses to the rich fruitfulness of the patrimony of faith. In this way the personality is endowed with a solid structure, in which the Christian identity penetrates daily life and from within expresses an excellent professionalism.

Today the Catholic University, which has a special relationship with the See of Peter, is called to be an exemplary institution that does not limit learning to economic question but rather broadens its scope to the ability to plan. In this the gift of intelligence investigates and develops the gifts of the created world, surmounting a utilitarian vision of existence geared solely to production, because “the human being is made for gift, which expresses and makes present his transcendent dimension” (Caritas in Veritate, n. 34).

Precisely this combination of scientific research and unconditional service to life outlines the Catholic features of the Agostino Gemelli Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, because the perspective of faith is found within — neither superimposed nor juxtaposed — the keen and tenacious search for knowledge.

A Catholic Faculty of Medicine is a place where transcendent humanism is not a rhetorical slogan but a rule of daily devotion put into practice. Dreaming of an authentically Catholic Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Fr Gemelli — and many others with him, such as Prof. Brasca — brought back to the centre of attention the human person in his frailty and greatness, in the ever new resources of passionate research and likewise in the awareness of both the limitation and the mystery of life. For this reason you wished to set up a new university centre for life to support other institutions already in existence, such, as for example, the Paul vi International Scientific Institute. I therefore encourage attention to life in all its phases.

I would now like to address in particular all the patients present here at the Gemelli, to assure them of my prayers and affection and to tell them that here they will always be lovingly cared for because the face of the suffering Christ is reflected in their own faces.

It is truly God’s love that shines out in Christ, that renders the researcher’s gaze acute and penetrating and grasps what no investigation can perceive. Bl. Giuseppe Toniolo had this clearly in mind when he asserted that it is in man’s nature to read in others the image of God Love and his imprint on creation. Without love even science loses its nobility. Love alone guarantees the humanity of research. Thank you for your attention.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Projection of the film Mary of Nazareth, Benedict XVI, 16 May 2012

PROJECTION OF THE FILM "MARY OF NAZARETH"

WORDS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Clementine Hall

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Dear Friends,

Thank you for this moment which through the images and dialogue of the film “Maria di Nazareth” invites us to reflect. I thank in particular the RAI with its Director General, Ms. Lorenza Lei, and the other representatives, as well as Lux Vide, the Bernabei family and the production staff.

I cordially thank the Director of Bayerischen Rundfunks, Prof. Gerhard Fuchs, Producer Martin Choroba of the Tellux-Film-Gesellschaft of Munich, as well as all the collaborators, the actors present and the cameramen for this screening in the Apostolic Palace.

I also thank the representatives of Telecinco of Spain.

It is not easy to outline the figure of a mother because it contains richness of life difficult to describe; thus this task is more challenging when the figure is Mary of Nazareth, a woman who is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God made man.

You have based the film on three female figures whose lives intersect but who make profoundly different decisions. Herodias stays closed in herself, in her own world. She does not succeed in lifting her gaze in order to read God’s signs and does not escape evil. Mary Magdalen has a more complicated story: she succumbs to the appeal of an easy life, based on material things, and uses various means to achieve her goals, until the dramatic moment when she is judged and confronted with her life; here the encounter with Jesus opens her heart and changes her existence. However, at the centre is Mary of Nazareth, in her there is the wealth of a life which was a “here I am” to God: she was a mother who had the desire to keep her Son always at her side, but knows that he belongs to God; her faith and love are so great that she accepts his departure and fulfills his mission, it is a repetition of her “here I am” to God, from the Annunciation to the Cross.

Three experiences, a paradigm of how one can arrange one’s life: based on selfishness, on closing oneself in; on material things, allowing oneself to be guided by evil; or on the meaning of the presence of God who came and remains among us and who waits kindly if we fail and he asks us to follow him and to trust him.

Mary of Nazareth is the woman of the full and complete “here I am” to the divine will and in this “Yes”, also repeated in the face of the pain of the loss of her Son, finds full and deep beatitude. Thank you all for the lovely evening!

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Luncheon with the Cardinals, Benedict XVI, 21 May 2012

WORDS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

AT THE LUNCHEON WITH THE CARDINALS

Hall of Dukes, Apostolic Palace

Monday, 21 May 2012

Your Eminence,

Dear Brothers,

At this moment my words can only be of gratitude. A “thank you” first of all to the Lord for the many years he has given me; years filled with many days of joy, marvelous times but also with dark nights. Yet, in retrospect, one understands that those nights were necessary and good, a cause for thanksgiving.

Today the phrase ecclesia militans is somewhat out of fashion but in fact we can understand ever more so that it is true, that it contains within it the truth. We see how evil wishes to dominate in the world and that it is necessary to fight against evil. We see that it does so in so many ways: cruelty, through the different forms of violence, but even disguised as good and thereby undermining the moral foundations of society.

St Augustine said that all history is a struggle between two loves: love of self to the point of despising God; and love of God to the point of despising oneself, in martyrdom. We are caught up in this struggle and in this struggle it is very important to have friends. And as for myself, I am surrounded by my friends in the College of Cardinals; you are my friends and I feel at home with you, I feel safe in this company of great friends, who are here with me and all together with the Lord.

Thank you for this friendship. Thank you, Your Eminence, for all you have done for this event today and for all that you always do. Thank you for the communion in joys and in troubles. Let us move ahead, the Lord said: courage, I have conquered the world. We are on the Lord’s team, hence on the winning team. I thank you all. May the Lord bless all of you. And let us raise our glasses.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

General Audiences

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 9 May 2012

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter's Square

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I would like to touch upon the last episode in the life of St Peter recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, his imprisonment by order of Herod Agrippa, and his release through the marvelous intervention of the Angel of the Lord on the eve of his trial in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 12:1-17).

The narrative is once again marked by the prayer of the Church. St Luke writes: “So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” (Acts 12:5). And, after having miraculously left the prison, on the occasion of his visit to Mary’s house, the mother of John also called Mark, it tells us “many were gathered together and were praying” (Acts 12:12). Between these two important observations that illustrate the attitude of the Christian community in the face of danger and persecution, is recounted the detainment and release of Peter, during the entire night. The strength of the unceasing prayer of the Church rises to God and the Lord listens and performs an unheard of and unexpected deliverance, sending his Angel.

The account reminds us of the great elements during Israel’s deliverance from captivity in Egypt, the Hebrew Passover. As happened in that major event, here also, the Angel of the Lord performs the primary action that frees Peter. And the actions of the Apostle — who is asked to rise quickly, put on his belt and gird his loins — repeating those of the Chosen People on the night of their deliverance through God’s intervention, when they were invited to eat the lamb quickly with their belts fastened, sandals on their feet, and their staffs in their hands, ready to leave the country (cf. Ex 12:11). Thus, Peter could exclaim: “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his Angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod” (Acts 12:11). The Angel does not only recall the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, but also the Resurrection of Christ. Recounted in the Acts of the Apostles: “and behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him” (Acts 12:7). The light that fills the prison cell, the same action to awaken the Apostle, refers to the liberating light of the Passover of the Lord that triumphs over the darkness of night and evil. Finally, the invitation to “Wrap your mantle around you and follow me” (Acts 12:8) echoes the words of the initial call of Jesus in our hearts (cf. Mk 1:17), repeated after the Resurrection on Lake Tiberias, where on two occasions the Lord says to Peter, “Follow me” (Jn 21:19,22). It is a pressing call to follow him. Only by coming out of ourselves to walk with the Lord and by doing his will can we live in true freedom.

I would also like to highlight another aspect of Peter’s attitude in prison. In fact, we note that while the Christian community is praying earnestly from him, Peter “was sleeping” (Acts 12:6). In a critical situation of serious danger, it is an attitude that might seem strange, but instead denotes tranquility and faith. He trusts God. He knows he is surrounded by the solidarity and prayers of his own people and completely abandons himself into the hands of the Lord. So it must be with our prayer, assiduous, in solidarity with others, fully trusting that God knows us in our depths and takes care of us to the point that Jesus says “even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore” (Mt 10:30-31). Peter lives through that night of imprisonment and release from prison as a moment of his discipleship with the Lord who overcomes the darkness of night and frees him from the chains of slavery and the threat of death. His is a miraculous release, marked by various accurately described steps, guided by the Angel, despite the monitoring of the guards, through the first and second guard posts, up to the iron doors to exit to the city, with the door opening by itself in front of them (cf. Acts 12:10). Peter and the Angel of the Lord make their way together down a stretch of the street until, coming back to himself, the Apostle realizes that the Lord really freed him and, after having reflected on the matter, went to the house of Mary the mother of Mark where many disciples were gathered in prayer. Once again the community’s response to difficulty and danger is to trust in God, strengthening the relationship with Him.

Here it seems useful to recall another difficult situation that the early Christian community experienced. St James speaks of it in his Letter. It is a community in crisis, in difficulty, not so much because of persecution, but because of the jealousies and contentions within it (cf. Jas 3:14-16). The Apostle wonders about the reason for this situation. He finds two primary motives. The first is that they let themselves be carried away by their emotions, by the dictates of their own interests, by selfishness (cf. Jas 4:1-2a). The second is the lack of prayer — “you do not ask” (Jas 4:2b) — or a kind of a prayer that cannot qualify as such — “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jas 4:3). This situation would change, according to St James, if the community all spoke together with God, truly praying assiduously and unanimously. In fact, even talking about God runs the risk of loosing inner strength and the testimony dries up if they are not animated, sustained and accompanied by prayer, by continuity of a living dialogue with the Lord. An important reminder also for us and our communities, both the small ones like the family and the bigger ones like the parish, the diocese and the entire Church. And it makes me think that they prayed in this community of St James, but prayed wrongly, solely for their own passions. We must always learn again how to pray properly, truly pray, moving towards God and not towards our own good.

Instead, the community that is concerned about Peter’s imprisonment is a community that truly prays the entire night, deeply united. And it is overwhelming joy that fills the hearts of all when the Apostle unexpectedly knocks at the door. It is joy and amazement in light of the actions of the God who listens. Thus, from the Church arises the prayer for Peter and to the Church he returns to tell “how the Lord had brought him out of the prison” (Acts 12:17). In that Church where he is set as a rock (cf. Mt 16:18), Peter recounts his “Passover” of liberation. He experiences true freedom in following Jesus. He is enveloped in the radiant light of the Resurrection and can therefore testify to the point of martyrdom that the Lord is Risen and “sent his Angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod” (Acts 12:11). The martyrdom he was to suffer in Rome will definitively unite him with Christ, who had told him: when you are old, another will take you where you do not want to go, to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God (cf. Jn 21:18-19).

Dear brothers and sisters, the episode of the liberation of Peter as told by Luke tells us that the Church, each of us, goes through the night of trial. But it is unceasing vigilance in prayer that sustains us. I too, from the first moment of my election as the Successor of St Peter, have always felt supported by your prayer, by the prayers of the Church, especially in moments of great difficulty. My heartfelt thanks. With constant and faithful prayer the Lord releases us from the chains, guides us through every night of imprisonment that can gnaw at our hearts. He gives us the peace of heart to face the difficulties of life, persecution, opposition and even rejection. Peter’s experience shows us the power of prayer. And the Apostle, though in chains, feels calm in the certainty of never being alone. The community is praying for him. The Lord is near him. He indeed knows that Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Constant and unanimous prayer is also a precious tool to overcome any trial that may arise on life’s journey, because it is being deeply united to God that allows us also to be united to others. Thank you.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 16 May 2012

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter's Square

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In recent catecheses we reflected on prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, today I would like to begin to speak about prayer in the Letters of St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. First of all, I would like to note that it is by no accident that his Letters open and close with expressions of prayer: at the beginning thanksgiving and praise, and at the end the hope that the grace of God may guide the path of the community to whom the Letter is addressed. Between the opening formula: “I thank my God through Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:8), and his final wish: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all” (1 Cor 16:23), the Apostle’s letters unfold. St Paul’s prayer is one which manifests itself in a great many ways that move from thanksgiving to blessing, from praise to petitions and intercessions, from hymns to supplication. He uses a variety of expressions which demonstrate how prayer concerns and penetrates every one of life’s situations, whether they be personal or of the communities, whom he is addressing.

One element that the Apostle would have us understand is that prayer should not be seen simply as a good deed done by us to God, our own action. It is, above all, a gift, the fruit of the living presence, the life-giving presence of the Father and of Jesus Christ in us. In the Letter to the Romans, he writes: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (8:26). And we know how true it is when the Apostle says: “we do not know how to pray as we ought”. We want to pray, but God is far, we do not have the words, the language, to speak with God, not even the thought. We can only open ourselves, set our time at the disposal of God, waiting for him to help us enter into true dialogue. The Apostle says: this very lack of words, this absence of words, even the desire to enter into contact with God is a prayer that the Holy Spirit not only understands, but carries, interprets, to God. It is precisely our weakness which becomes, through the Holy Spirit, true prayer, true contact with God. The Holy Spirit is almost the interpreter who makes God and us ourselves understand what we want to say.

In prayer we experience, more so than in other dimensions of life, our weakness, our poverty, our being created, because we stand before the omnipotence and the transcendence of God. And the more we progress in listening to and dialoguing with God, for prayer becomes the daily breathe of our soul, the more we perceive the meaning of our limits, not just before the concrete situations of every day but in our relationship with the Lord too. Growing within us is the need to trust, to trust ever more in him; we understand that “we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26). And it is the Holy Spirit who helps us in our incapacity, who illuminates our minds and warms our hearts, guiding us to turn to God. For St Paul prayer is above all the work of the Spirit in our humanity, taking charge of our weakness and transforming us from men attached to the material world into spiritual men. In the First Letter to the Corinthians he writes: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit” (2:12-13). With his dwelling in our human frailty, the Holy Spirit changes us, intercedes for us, leads us toward the heights of God (cf. Rom 8:26).

With this presence of the Holy Spirit our union with Christ is realized, for it is the Spirit of the Son of God in whom we are made children. St Paul speaks of the Spirit of Christ (cf. Rom 8:9), and not only the Spirit of God. Clearly: if Christ is the Son of God, his Spirit is also the Spirit of God, and thus if the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, had already become very close to us in the Son of God and the Son of man, the Spirit of God too becomes human spirit and touches us; we can enter into the communion of the Spirit.

It was as if he had said that not only God the Father was made visible in the Incarnation of the Son, but also the Spirit of God is manifest in the life and action of Jesus, of Jesus Christ who lived, was crucified, died and rose again. The Apostle reminds us that “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). Therefore, the Spirit directs our heart towards Jesus Christ, in such a way that “it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us” (cf. Gal 2:20). In his De sacramentis, reflecting on the Eucharist, St Ambrose says: “Whoever is drunk of the Spirit is rooted in Christ” (5, 3, 12: PL 16, 450).

And now I would like to underline three consequences in Christian life when we let work within us not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of Christ as the interior principle of our entire action.

First, with prayer animated by the Spirit we are enabled to abandon and overcome every form of fear and slavery, living the authentic freedom of the children of God. Without prayer which every day nourishes our being in Christ, in an intimacy which progressively grows, we find ourselves in the state described by St Paul in his Letter to the Romans: we do not do the good we want, but the evil we do not want (cf. Rom 7:19). And this is the expression of the alienation of human beings, of the destruction of our freedom, the circumstances of our being because of original sin: we want the good that we do not do and we do what we do not want to do: evil. The Apostle wants to make us understand that it is not primarily our will that frees us from these conditions, nor even the law, but the Holy Spirit. And since “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17), in prayer we experience the freedom given by the Spirit: an authentic freedom, which is freedom from evil and sin for the good and for life, for God. The freedom of the Spirit, St Paul continues, is never identified with licentiousness, nor with the possibility to choose evil, but rather with “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” (Gal 5:22). This is true freedom: actually to be able to follow our desire for good, for true joy, for communion with God and to be free from the oppression of circumstances that pull us in other directions.

A second consequence occurs in our life when we let work within us the Spirit of Christ and when the very relationship with God becomes so profound that no other reality or situation affects it. We understand that with prayer we are not liberated from trials and suffering, but we can live through them in union with Christ, with his suffering, in the hope of also participating in his glory (cf. Rom 8:17). Many times, in our prayer, we ask God to be freed from physical and spiritual evil, and we do it with great trust. However, often we have the impression of not being heard and we may well feel discouraged and fail to persevere. In reality, there is no human cry that is not heard by God and it is precisely in constant and faithful prayer that we comprehend with St Paul that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). Prayer does not exempt us from trial and suffering, indeed — St Paul says — we “groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). He says that prayer does not exempt us from suffering but prayer does permit us to live through it and face it with a new strength, with the confidence of Jesus, who — according to the Letter to the Hebrews — “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him [God] who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear” (5:7). The answer of God the Father to the Son, to his loud cries and tears, was not freedom from suffering, from the cross, from death, but a much greater fulfillment, an answer much more profound; through the cross and death God responded with the Resurrection of the Son, with new life. Prayer animated by the Holy Spirit leads us too to live every day a journey of life with its trials and sufferings, with the fullness of hope, with trust in God who answers us as he answered the Son.

And, the third, the prayer of the believer opens also to the dimensions of humanity and of all creation, in the expectation that “creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19). This means that prayer, sustained by the Spirit of Christ speaking in the depths of each one of us, does not stay closed in on itself. It is never just prayer for me, but opens itself to sharing the suffering of our time, of others. It becomes intercession for others, and like this deliverance from me, a channel of hope for all creation, the expression of that love of God that is poured into our hearts through the Spirit whom he has given to us (cf. Rom 5:5). And precisely this is a sign of true prayer, which does not end in us, but opens itself to others and like this delivers me, and thus helps in the redemption of the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, St Paul teaches us that in our prayer we must open ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who prays in us with sighs too deep for words, to lead us to adhere to God with all our heart and with all our being. The Spirit of Christ becomes the strength of our “weak” prayers, the light of our “darkened” prayer, the fire of our “barren” prayer, giving us true inner freedom, teaching us to live facing the trials of existence, in the certainty of not being alone, opening us to the horizons of humanity and of creation which “has been groaning in travail” (Rom 8:22). Thank you.

To special groups:

I greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. I welcome in particular the pilgrimage groups from Australia. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke the joy and peace of the Risen Lord.

I am pleased to greet Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis, together with Members of the Executive Board and Representative Council. Your presence here today expresses your communion with the Successor of Peter and your readiness to welcome the new juridical framework of your organization. I thank you for this and I am certain that the new structures will support and encourage your important service to those most in need.

My thoughts now turn to young people, the sick and newly weds. The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, which we will celebrate tomorrow, invites us to look to Jesus who, by ascending to Heaven, entrusts to the Apostles the mandate to carry his message of salvation throughout the world. Dear young people, commit yourselves to setting your enthusiasm at the service of the Gospel. You, dear sick people, live out your suffering united to the Lord, to offer your own precious contribution to the spreading of the Kingdom of God. And you, dear newlyweds, witness to the love of Christ with your marital love.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Table of Contents

Introduction

Index of Source Links

Regina Caeli

Regina Caeli, 20 May 2012, Benedict XVI

Speeches

To the Pontifical Spanish College of Rome, 10 May 2012 - Benedict XVI

To the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 11 May 2012 - Benedict XVI

Greeting from the window of the Bishopric of Arezzo

Meeting with the citizens in Sansepolcro, Benedict XVI, 13 May 2012

Visit to the Shrine of La Verna, Benedict XVI, 13 May 2012

Visit to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome

Projection of the film Mary of Nazareth, Benedict XVI, 16 May 2012

Luncheon with the Cardinals, Benedict XVI, 21 May 2012

General Audiences

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 9 May 2012

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 16 May 2012