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.

Angelus

- 29 June 2012 - Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

- 1 July 2012 Note 1: Link on Vatican site is incorrect, used text from L'Osservatore Romano instead.

General Audience

- 27 June 2012

Speeches

- 28 June 2012 - To a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

- 30 June 2012 - To Metropolitan Archbishops who received the Sacred Pallium on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

Angelus

Angelus on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, 29 June 2012, Benedict XVI

SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

St. Peter's Square

Friday, 29 June 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are celebrating with joy the liturgical Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, a Feast that accompanies the 2,000-year-old history of the Christian people. They are called the pillars of the nascent Church. Outstanding witnesses of the faith who spread the Kingdom of God with their various gifts and, following the example of the Divine Master, they sealed their Gospel preaching with blood. Their martyrdom is a sign of the Church’s unity, as St Augustine says: “Only one day is consecrated to the Feast of the two Apostles. But they too are only one. Although they were martyred on different days they were one. Peter came first and Paul followed” (Disc. 295, 8: PL 38, 1352).

The Vatican Basilica and this square, so important to Christianity, are an eloquent sign of Peter’s sacrifice. Significant traces even remain in our City of the martyrdom of Paul, especially the Basilica dedicated to him on the Ostian Way. Rome has engraved in its history signs of the glorious life and death of the humble Fisherman from Galilee and the Apostle to the Gentiles, who have been rightly chosen as Protectors. In recalling their luminous testimony, we remember the venerable beginnings of the Church which believes, prays and announces Christ the Redeemer in Rome. But Sts Peter and Paul shine not only in the sky of Rome but also in the hearts of all believers who, illuminated by their teaching and their example, walk in every part of the world on the path of faith, hope and love.

On this path of salvation, the Christian community, supported by the presence of the Spirit of the living God, feels encouraged to move forward with strength and serenity on the road of fidelity to Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel to men and women in every era. On this fruitful route, spiritual and missionary, we situate the conferral of the Pallium on the Metropolitan Archbishops, which I performed this morning in the Basilica. An ever eloquent rite which highlights the intimate communion of Pastors with the Successor of Peter and the deep bond that links us to the Apostolic Tradition. It is a double treasure of holiness where unity and the catholicity of the Church are fused together: a precious treasure to rediscover and to live with renewed enthusiasm and constant commitment.

Dear pilgrims, come here from every part of the world! On this Feast day, we pray with the phrases from the Eastern Liturgy: “Praise to Peter and Paul, two great lights of the Church; may they shine in the firmament of the faith”. In this climate, I would like to address a special thought to the Delegation from the Patriarchate of Constantinople which, as every year, has come to take part in our traditional celebrations. May the Holy Virgin lead all believers in Christ to the goal of full unity!

After the Angelus:

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present in Rome for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul. I extend warm greetings to the Metropolitan Archbishops who received the Pallium in this morning’s celebration, and to all who have travelled to Rome to accompany them on this joyful day. I assure the new Archbishops of my prayers for their pastoral ministry and I encourage all Christians, after the example of Sts Peter and Paul, to let the light of the Gospel shine brightly in their lives. May God bless you all!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish everyone a good Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Happy Feast Day to you all! Thank you!

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Angelus - 1 July 2012 - Reserves of love for the suffering

"Reserves of love" for those who are suffering: this is how the Holy Father described doctors, nurses and all those who guarantee religious assistance through their tireless work beside the sick. Benedict XVI, addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for the prayer of the Angelus on Sunday, 1 July, emphasized the importance of an approach to the sick that is not merely professional, but above all impressed with humanity and love. The following is a translation of the Pope's Reflection, which was given in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday, the Evangelist Mark presents to us the account of two miraculous cures which Jesus worked for two women: the daughter of one of the elders of the synagogue whose name was Jairus, and a woman who was suffering from a haemorrhage (cf. Mk 5:21-43). These two episodes can be interpreted at two levels; the purely physical - Jesus bends over human suffering and heals the body; and the spiritual level: Jesus came to heal human hearts, to give salvation, and asks for faith in him.

In the first episode, in fact, on hearing that Jairus' little daughter was dead, Jesus tells the ruler of the Synagogue. "Do not fear, only believe" (v. 36). He takes the child's father with him to the room where the child is lying and exclaims: "Little girl, I say to you, arise" (v. 41). And she rose and walked. St Jerome commented on these words, underlining Jesus' saving power: "Little girl, stand up for my sake, not for your own merit but for my grace. Therefore get up for me: being healed does not depend on your own virtues (Homily on the Gospel according to Mark, 3).

The second episode, that of the woman with the haemorrhage, highlights once again that Jesus came to save the human being in his totality. Indeed, the miracle takes place in two phases: first comes the physical healing, but this is closely linked with the deeper healing, the healing which God's grace gives to those who open themselves to him with faith. Jesus says to the woman: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease" (Mk 5:34).

This two stories of healing invite us to go beyond a purely horizontal and materialistic vision of life. We ask God to heal so many problems, our practical needs, and this is right, but what we must ask him for insistently is an ever firmer faith, so that the Lord may renew our life, as well as firm trust in his love, in his Providence that never abandons us.

Jesus who is attentive to human suffering also makes us think of all those who help the sick to carry their cross, particularly doctors, health-care workers and all the people who guarantee religious assistance in clinics and hospitals. They are "reserves of love", who bring serenity and hope to the suffering.

In the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est I remarked: in this invaluable service professional competence is essential... training is a primary, fundamental requirement, but it is not sufficient on its own. We are dealing with human beings... who need humanity. They need heartfelt concern. "Consequently, in addition to their necessary professional training, these charity workers need a 'formation of the heart': they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others" (n. 31). Let us ask the Virgin Mary to accompany our journey of faith and our commitment of real love, especially for the needy, as we invoke her motherly intercession for our brothers and sisters experiencing suffering in body or in spirit.

After the Angelus the Pope said:

I welcome the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer. In today's Gospel, Jesus restores life to a little girl in response to the faith-filled prayer of her father. In this miracle may we see an invitation to grow in our own faith, to trust in the Lord's promise of abundant life, and to pray for all those in need of his healing touch. Upon you and your families I invoke God's blessings of wisdom, joy and peace!

I wish everyone a good Sunday and a peaceful month of July, and good holidays to you all.

(©L'Osservatore Romano - 4 July 2012)

Speeches

To the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Benedict XVI, 28 June 2012

GREETINGS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

TO THE DELEGATION

OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Thursday, 28 June 2012

“Glorify the Lord with me, let us together exalt his name” (Ps 34[33]:4)

Dear Brothers in Christ,

In this joyful circumstance of the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, patrons of the city and of the Church of Rome, I am particularly glad to welcome you with the words of the Psalm that will be sung during the solemn Eucharistic liturgy in honour of these two great Apostles and Martyrs. In addressing a warm welcome to you, I ask you to convey to His Holiness Bartholomaios I and to the Holy Synod, my sentiments of fraternal affection and deep gratitude for having deigned to send, this year too, worthy representatives to take part in our celebration, and to pass on a cordial greeting to the clergy, monks and all the faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Your presence here in Rome on the occasion of the liturgical Feast of Sts Peter and Paul affords us a special opportunity to raise our hymn of praise to God for the wonders that divine grace — from which all good comes — brought about in the life of the two Apostles, making them worthy to enter heavenly glory triumphant, having passed through the regeneration of martyrdom. In addition, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul gives us the possibility of thanking the Lord together for the extraordinary feats he has accomplished and continues to accomplish through the Apostles in the life of the Church. It is their preaching, sealed by the witness of their martyrdom, which forms the solid, everlasting basis on which the Church is built. Moreover it is in fidelity to the deposit of the faith transmitted by them that we find the roots of the communion between us which we are already experiencing.

Venerable Brothers, in our meeting today, as we entrust to the intercession of the glorious Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul our entreaty that the Lord, rich in mercy, will grant us to arrive soon at the blessed day when we will be able to share in the Eucharistic banquet, we raise our voices in the hymn to God for the journey of peace and reconciliation that he has granted us to make together.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council which will be solemnly celebrated next 11 October. And it is in conjunction with this Council — at which, as you know well, certain representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate were present as Fraternal Delegates — that a new and important phase in relations between our Churches began.

Let us praise the Lord first of all for the rediscovery of the deep brotherhood that binds us and also for the ground covered in the past few years by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (as a whole), in the hope that progress may also be made in the current phase.

In remembering the anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, it seems to me fitting to commemorate the figure and activity of the unforgettable Ecumenical Patriarch Athenogras, the 40th anniversary of whose death is in a few days’ time. Patriarch Athenagoras, together with Blessed Pope John XXIII and the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, inspired by this passion for the unity of the Church which springs from faith in Christ the Lord, made themselves promoters of courageous initiatives that paved the way to renewed relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Catholic Church. It is a cause of special joy to me to note that His Holiness Bartholomew I is following with renewed fidelity and fruitful creativity the way marked out by his predecessors, Patriarch Athenagoras and Patriarch Dmitrios, and is distinguishing himself at the international level for his openness to inter-Christian dialogue and for his commitment to the service of Gospel proclamation in today’s world.

Your Eminence, dear Members of the Delegation, as I thank you once again for your presence among us, I assure you of my prayers that the Lord will grant holiness and strength to His Holiness Bartholomew I and prosperity and peace to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. May Almighty God grant us the gift of ever fuller communion, so that “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32), we may always exalt his name.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

To the Metropolitan Archbishops who received the Pallium on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, Benedict XVI, 30 June 2012

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

TO THE METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS

WHO RECEIVED THE PALLIUM

ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL

Paul VI Hall

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am glad to address my cordial welcome to all of you who have accompanied to the Tombs of the Apostles in Rome the Metropolitan Archbishops upon whom I had the joy of conferring the Pallium yesterday at a solemn celebration in the Vatican Basilica at which we commemorated the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul. At our meeting let us, as it were, prolong the atmosphere of profound ecclesial communion which we experienced yesterday. Indeed, the presence of the Metropolitan Archbishops who come from different parts of the world visibly demonstrates the universality of the Church, called to make Christ known and to proclaim the Gospel on all the continents and in the various languages.

I greet each one of you with affection, venerable and esteemed Brother Metropolitans, and together with you I greet your relatives, your friends and the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care who have gathered round you during these most important days. I also extend a cordial greeting to the dioceses you come from.

I address my thoughts first of all to you, dear Pastors of the Church in Italy! I greet you, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, Patriarch of Venice; I greet you, Archbishop Filippo Santoro of Taranto — as can be seen you have a large family of friends — and you, Archbishop Arrigo Miglio of Cagliari. I assure you of my constant prayers that you may carry out your episcopal ministry joyfully and faithfully, to build your diocesan communities in charity, sustaining them in the witness of faith and helping them to make more and more evident their renewed enthusiasm in the encounter with the Person of Christ.

I am happy to greet the French-speaking pilgrims who have come with the new Metropolitan Archbishops on whom I have had the joy of conferring the Pallium. I most cordially greet Archbishop Luc Cyr of Sherbrooke, Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau, Archbishop Pascal Wintzer of Poitiers and Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal. The Pallium is the symbol of the unity that binds the Pastors of the particular Churches to the Successor of Peter, Bishop of Rome.

I also remind the Pastors of their responsibility to be exemplary and zealous, full of love for everyone, in order to guide the People of God entrusted to their pastoral care. I warmly impart the Apostolic Blessing to all the priests and faithful of your archdiocese, as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord!

I extend warm greetings to the English-speaking Metropolitan Archbishops upon whom I conferred the Pallium yesterday. From the United States of America: Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Archbishop William Skurla of Pittsburgh, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver. From Papua New Guinea: Archbishop Francesco Panfilo of Rabaul. From the Philippines: Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, Archbishop Jose Advincula of Capiz, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, Archbishop John Du of Palo. From Bangladesh: Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka. From the Antilles: Archbishop Joseph Harris of Port of Spain. From Zambia: Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama. From India: Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta. From Pakistan: Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi. From Australia: Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth and Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane. From Korea: Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo Jung of Seoul. From Nigeria: Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos. I also welcome their family members, their relatives, friends and the faithful of their respective Archdioceses who have come to Rome to pray with them and to share their joy.

I joyfully greet the delegation and guests from Berlin, as well as all the pilgrims from Germany who have accompanied Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki to Rome in order for him to receive the Pallium. Welcome to you all! The Pallium makes visible in a special way the strong union of the metropolitan bishops and their Ecclesiastical Provinces with the Pope and with the See of Peter. At the same time it recalls the mission to follow the lost sheep — like Christ — to carry it on one’s shoulders, to bring it back to the fold and to care for it. In this sense the Pallium is a sign of the caring and responsibility of Pastors for their flock. Precisely because of this common responsibility we are bound to develop and to preserve unity. May you too make your contribution through your prayers in order to encourage and reinforce union in the Church. I cordially impart my blessing to you all.

On the occasion of the conferral of the Pallium I cordially greet Cardinal Francsico Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara; Archbishop Alfredo Horacio Zecca of Tucumán; Archbishop Mario Alberto Molina Palma, of Los Altos, Quetzaltenango-Totonicapán; Archbishop Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón of Ayacucho o Huamanga; Archbishop Ulises Antonio Gutiérrez Reyes of Ciudad Bolívar, Archbishop Jesús Carlos Cabrero Romero of San Luis Potosí, as well as all those who support them with their prayers and affection on this important occasion. I entrust everyone to the faithful custody of St Peter and St Paul, so that the spiritual closeness and bonds of communion of your particular Churches with the Apostolic See may increase among you and so that Gospel proclamation may be intensified. God bless you!

I greet with joy the Brazilian Archbishops: Archbishop Wilson Jönck of Florianópolis; Archbishop José Francisco Dias of Niterói; Archbishop Esmeraldo de Farias of Porto Velho; Archbishop Jaime Rocha, of Natal; Archbishop Airton dos Santos of Campinas; Archbishop Jacinto de Brito Sobrinho of Teresina; Archbishop Paulo Peixoto of Uberaba; and Archbishop Benedito Roberto of Malanje, Angola, who received the Pallium yesterday as a sign of special communion with the Successor of Peter. Dear Archbishops, may you be for your people a sign of Christ the Good Shepherd who guides his flock. I also welcome the priests, the religious and the faithful who have accompanied you and ask them to pray for their Archbishops so that they will not lack strength in fulfilling their mission. In addition, as a pledge of joy and peace in the Lord, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you who are present here and to your archdiocesan communities.

I cordially greet the Metropolitan Archbishops of Poland who received the Pallium yesterday: Archbishop Stanisław Budzik of Lublin, Archbishop Wiktor Skworc of Katowice and Archbishop Wacław Depo of Częstochowa.

With them I greet the faithful who share in their joy, especially the representatives of their metropolitan sees, all their loved ones and all those who support them with prayers. The Pallium is a sign of special unity with Christ and of communion with the Successor of Peter. May this communion also permeate the hearts of the faithful of every metropolis. I entrust this hope to God in my prayers and I wholeheartedly bless you all. Praised be Jesus Christ!

Dear brothers and sisters, take back to your communities the experience of intense spirituality and of authentic Gospel unity of these days, so that it may move believers’ hearts and reverberate throughout society, leaving traces of goodness. May the intercession of the heavenly Mother of God and of the Apostles Peter and Paul obtain for the Christian people the ability to make the word of truth which the Lord Jesus bequeathed to us as a gift shine out in the world through the tenacious and clear witness of individuals. With these sentiments I warmly impart to you the Apostolic Blessing.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

General Audiences

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 27 June 2012

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Paul VI Audience Hall

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

[Video]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Just as we saw over the past Wednesdays, our prayer is composed of silence and words, of singing and of gestures that involve the whole person: from the mouth to the chin, from the heart to the entire body. We find this characteristic in Jewish prayer, especially in the Psalms. Today I would like to speak of one of the most ancient songs or hymns of the Christian tradition which St Paul presents to us in the Letter to the Philippians. In a certain sense this is his spiritual testament. Indeed, it is a Letter that the Apostle dictated while he was in prison, perhaps in Rome. He must have felt that his death was close at hand, for he says that his life will be offered as a libation (cf. Phil 2:17).

In spite of this situation of grave danger to his physical safety, throughout this text St Paul expresses his joy in being a disciple of Christ, of being able to go to meet him even to the point of seeing death not as a loss but rather as a gain. In the last chapter of the Letter, there is a pressing invitation to joy, a fundamental characteristic of being Christian and of our prayer. St Paul writes: “rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil 4:4). But how is it possible to rejoice in the face of a death sentence whose execution is now imminent? From where, or better, from whom did St Paul draw the serenity, strength and courage to go forward to meet martyrdom and the out-pouring of his blood?

We find the answer in the middle of the Letter to the Philippians, in what the Christian tradition calls the carmen Christo, the hymn to Christ, or, more commonly, the “Christological hymn”; it is a hymn in which all the attention is focused on the “mind” of Christ, that is, on his way of thinking and on his practical approach to life.

This prayer begins with an exhortation: “Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). These sentiments are presented in the following verses: love, generosity, humility, obedience to God, the gift of self. It is not only or not merely a matter of following Jesus’ example, as something moral, but of involving one’s whole life in his way of thinking and acting. Prayer must lead Christians to knowledge and union in ever deeper love with the Lord, if they are to be able to think, act and love like him, in him and for him. Putting this into practice, learning the sentiments of Jesus, is the way of Christian life.

I would now like to reflect briefly on several elements of this concentrated hymn which sum up the entire divine and human itinerary of the Son of God and englobe the whole of human history: from being in the form of God to the Incarnation, to death on the Cross and to exaltation in the Father’s glory, the behaviour of Adam, of man, is also implicit from the start.

This hymn to Christ begins with his being “en morphe tou Theou” the Greek text says, that is, with being “in the form of God” or, rather, in the condition of God. Jesus, true God and true man, does not live his “being as God” in order to triumph or to impose his supremacy, he does not see it as a possession, a privilege or a treasure, to be jealously guarded.

On the contrary, he “stripped” himself, he emptied himself, the Greek text says, taking the “morphe doulos”, the “form of a slave”, human reality marked by suffering, poverty and death; he assumed the likeness of men in all things save sin, so as to behave as a servant totally dedicated to serving others.

In this regard Eusebius of Caesarea said: — in the fourth century — “he took upon himself the labours of the suffering members, and made our sicknesses his and suffered on our account all our woes and labours by the laws of love, in conformity with his great love for humanity” (Demonstratio Evangelica [Proof of the Gospel], 10, 1, 22 ).

St Paul continues, delineating the “historical” background in which Jesus’ humbling of himself took place: “he humbled himself and became obedient unto death” (Phil 2:8). The Son of God truly became man and completed a journey of total obedience and fidelity to the Father’s will, even to the point of making the supreme sacrifice of his life. Furthermore the Apostle specifies: “unto death, even death on a cross” On the Cross Jesus Christ attained the greatest degree of humiliation, because crucifixion was the penalty kept for slaves and not for free men: “mors turpissima crucis”, Cicero wrote (cf. In Verrem, V, 64, 165).

Through the Cross of Christ man is redeemed and Adam’s experience is reversed. Adam, created in the image and likeness of God, claimed to be like God through his own effort, to put himself in God’s place and in this way lost the original dignity that had been given to him. Jesus, instead, was “in the form of God” but humbled himself, immersed himself in the human condition, in total faithfulness to the Father, in order to redeem the Adam who is in us and restore to man the dignity he had lost. The Fathers emphasize that he made himself obedient, restoring to human nature, through his own humanity and obedience, what had been lost through Adam’s disobedience.

In prayer, in the relationship with God, we open our mind, our heart and our will to the action of the Holy Spirit to enter into this dynamic of life, as St Cyril of Alexandria — whose feast we are celebrating today — tells us: “the work of the Spirit seeks to transform us by grace into a perfect copy of his humbling” (Festal Letter, 10, 4).

Human logic, instead, often seeks self-fulfilment in power, in domination, in forceful means. Man still wants to build the Tower of Babel with his own efforts, to reach God’s heights by himself, to be like God. The Incarnation and the Cross remind us that complete fulfilment lies in conforming our human will to the will of the Father, in emptying ourselves of our selfishness, to fill ourselves with God’s love, with his charity, and thereby become capable of truly loving others.

Man does not find himself by remaining closed in on himself, by affirming himself. Man finds himself only by coming out of himself; only if we come out of ourselves do we find ourselves. And if Adam wanted to imitate God, this was not a bad thing in itself but he had the wrong idea of God. God is not someone who only wants greatness. God is love which was already given in the Trinity and was then given in the Creation. And imitating God means coming out of oneself, giving oneself in love.

In the second part of this “Christological hymn” of the Letter to the Philippians, the subject changes; it is no longer Christ but God the Father. St Paul stresses that it is precisely out of obedience to the Father’s will that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name” (Phil 2:9).

The one who humbled himself profoundly, taking the condition of a slave, is exalted, lifted up above all things by the Father, who gives him the name “Kyrios”, “Lord”, the supreme dignity and lordship. Indeed it is before this new name which is the very name of God in the Old Testament, “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 10-11).

The Jesus who is exalted and the Jesus of the Last Supper who lays aside his garments and girds himself with a towel, who bends down to wash the Apostles’ feet and asks them: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:12-14). It is important to remember this always, in our prayers and in our life. “The ascent to God occurs precisely in the descent of humble service, in the descent of love, for love is God’s essence, and is thus the power that truly purifies man and enables him to perceive God and to see him” (English edition: Jesus of Nazareth, Doubleday, New York, 2007, p. 95).

The hymn in the Letter to the Philippians offers us important instructions for our prayers. The first is the invocation “Lord”, addressed to Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father: he is the one Lord of our life, among so many “dominant” people who desire to direct and guide it. For this reason it is necessary to have a scale of values in which the primacy is God’s, in order to affirm, with St Paul: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8). The encounter with the Risen One made the Apostle realize that he is the one treasure for which it is worth expending one’s life.

The second instruction is prostration, that “every knee shall bow”, on earth and in heaven. This is reminiscent of words of the Prophet Isaiah, where he points to the worship that all creatures owe to God (cf. 45:23). Genuflection or kneeling in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exactly expresses the attitude of adoration in God’s presence and also with the body. Hence the importance of not doing this action out of habit or hastily but rather with profound awareness. When we kneel before the Lord, we profess our faith in him, we recognize that he is the one Lord of our life.

Dear brothers and sisters, in our prayers let us fix our gaze on the Crucified One, let us pause more often in adoration before the Eucharist to let our life enter the love of God who humbly lowered himself in order to lift us up to him. At the beginning of the Catechesis we asked ourselves how St Paul could rejoice when he was facing the imminent risk of martyrdom and out-pouring his blood.

This was only possible because the Apostle never lifted his gaze from Christ, to the point that he became like him in death, in the hope that “I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:11). As St Francis said before the Crucifix, let us too say: “Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out Your holy and true command” Amen (cf. Prayer before the Crucifix at San Damiano: ff, [276]).

To special groups:

Dear brothers and sisters, I offer a warm welcome to the ecumenical delegation of Christian leaders from Korea. I greet the pilgrimage groups from Nigeria, South Africa and Swaziland. My greeting also goes to the many student groups present. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, including those from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Australia, the Bahamas and the United States of America, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!

Lastly my thoughts go to the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. We have now entered summer, for many people a period of holidays and rest. May it be for you, dear young people, an occasion for useful social and religious experiences; for you, dear newlyweds, an opportune period to develop your union and to deepen your mission in the Church and in society. I also hope that you, dear sick people, will not be without the closeness of your loved ones during these summer months.

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Table of Contents

Introduction

Index of Source Links

Angelus

Angelus on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, 29 June 2012, Benedict XVI

Angelus - 1 July 2012 - Reserves of love for the suffering

Speeches

To the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Benedict XVI, 28 June 2012

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO THE METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS WHO RECEIVED THE PALLIUM ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL

General Audiences

General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, 27 June 2012