Advent: the visitation of God who enters our lives

Pope on Advent: With Jesus, there is no life without meaning

Vatican City, Nov 29, 2009 / CNA).-

On Saturday night, Pope Benedict XVI officiated a celebration in St. Peter's Basilica of first vespers before the first Sunday of the Advent season. His message in the homily was one of 'silence and hope' during the season of Advent.

The Holy Father ushered the Church into the new liturgical year, telling those in attendance at yesterday evening's celebration of first vespers that "Advent invites us to pause in silence to understand a Presence."

In his homily, Pope Benedict, gave a short lesson on the meaning of 'advent' to those early Christians who adopted the word "to explain their relationship with Jesus Christ." He taught that the word adventus would have been understood by them in that time to mean "God is here, he hasn't retired to his world, he hasn't left us alone." He further explained that an additional definition of the word could be " a visit from God."

His Holiness implored that the faithful put aside the activities, amusements, and multiple societal interests that "possess us" and can "sweep us away" to take the time observe silence and seek to understand signs of God that are present in every day life. These signs, he said, illustrate the presence of His love.

The Pontiff explained that "Advent invites and stimulates us to contemplate the Lord present."

It's also a time of expectation and hope, the Pope said. "It is a favorable occasion for our salvation." But, he continued, one has "hoped too little if beyond the profession or social position he has nothing left to hope in"

"Hope signals the path for humanity, and for Christians," he continued, " this is encouraged by a certainty: the Lord is present in our lives."

Through this relationship, he said, when a person's "time is full of sense, and in each instant we perceive something specific and valid, then the joy of the expectation makes the present more precious."

Pope Benedict called the congregation to "live the present intensely" and to "project it towards the future" with the gifts given to each of them. "In this way," he related, "the Christian Advent becomes occasion for a reawakening of the true meaning of expectation in us, returning to the heart of our faith that the mystery of Christ, the much awaited Messiah... "

"And if Jesus is present there no longer exists any time without meaning and empty," said the Holy Father, "if He is present, we can continue to hope even when others can no longer assure us of support, even when the present becomes difficult."

"Advent is a time of the presence and the expectation in the eternal," he stated. "Exactly for this reason, it is... the time of joy, an internalized joy, that no suffering can negate. Joy because God is made child."

Third phase of Catholic/Anglican dialogue to include cooperative investigation of 'divisive' issues

Vatican City, Nov 27, 2009 / (CNA).-

An interview on Vatican Radio Wednesday morning revealed that the third phase of official dialogue between the the Catholic Church and the Anglican communion, to take place within the next year, will include what Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams deemed last week to be 'divisive' issues.

Discussions will focus on the relationship between the universal church and the local church.

Interviewed for the radio report was Monsignor Mark Langham, responsible for advancing Catholic/Anglican dialogue at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

Msgr. Langham said that the “starting point” of the talks between the two churches would be "the broader question of the relationship between the universal church and the local church." He explained that cooperative investigations into issues that have arisen in the Anglican church in recent years, particularly the ordinations of women and practicing homosexuals as well as same-sex marriage within the church's discipline, could be fruitful.

In a conference last week in Rome, Archbishop Williams noted that these “divisive” issues should be avoided. However, following talks between representatives from the two churches in recent days it appears that it will be precisely those issues that will be discussed in the third, and likely final, phase of ecumenical dialogue.

Langham added that dialogue, intended to further cooperation "on all sorts of levels," is essential to the relationship, but that they would like to make headway beyond the meeting table.

ARCIC, the Anglican—Roman Catholic International Commission, is looking to promote a "wide range of possibilities for encounters," from the parish level all the way up to leadership within both communities.

Despite criticism as to the validity of these dialogues, leaders from both churches are hoping for positive outcomes.

The churches will complete their 40th year since the inauguration of the first phase of these ecumenical dialogues in 2010.

Laity must bear witness to Christ, says Cardinal Bertone

Assisi, Italy, Nov 26, 2009 / (CNA).-

During a Mass this week in Assisi celebrating the 10th anniversary of the reopening of the Basilica of St. Francis, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, reminded the Catholic laity that they must bear “concrete witness that Christ the King, the liberator and savior of every man and all mankind.”

During the Mass celebrated on Sunday, Cardinal Bertone said the laity, in light of their baptism, are called to bear witness to Christ and help the poor and marginalized feel closeness to Him.

The cardinal added that the royalty of Christ, “passed on to you through the Cross, continues to be made manifest to the world today through the community of the redeemed,” that is, through Christians.

For this reason, the laity have the task of “working for the promotion of the human person, animating the temporal realities with the gospel spirit and thus bearing concrete witness that Christ the King is the liberator and savior of every man and all mankind.”

“To serve and to reign, says an ancient formula used for catechetical teaching. Christ the King has reigned on the wood of the cross, after giving an example to the disciples with the washing of the feet. St. Francis reigned loving 'sister poverty,' dressing only in a habit and animated by a sincere love for his Lord and for the poor,” the cardinal said.

“We, dear brothers and sisters, should follow our path of faith to share, on the day of our death, the same crown of glory,” he added.

Pope: Human relations inspired by communion of love

Pope challenges pilgrims to use Holy Trinity as model in relationships

Vatican City, Nov 25, 2009 / (CNA).-

Continuing the theme of Christian culture in the Middle Ages in his weekly catecheses, Pope Benedict chose Hugh and Richard of Saint Victor's Monastery in Paris as the subjects of today's address at his general audience. These 12th century theologians "remind us that theology is grounded in the contemplation born of faith and the pursuit of understanding, and brings with it the immense joy of experiencing the eternal love of the Blessed Trinity."

Hugh of Saint Victor is known for his treatise, “On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith,” which was an influential document in defining the nature of a sacrament. He reached considerable status in his time, to the point of being called "a second St. Augustine." Hugh was known for inculcating the desire in his disciples to constantly seek the truth.

In his famous treatise, he emphasized the institution of sacraments by Christ and the communication of grace through the sacraments. Also proposed in the document was the value of sacraments as outward signs.

Among Hugh's students at the monastery was Richard, a disciple who would later become the prior of Saint Victor. In Richard's teachings there was an emphasis on the allegorical sense of Scripture and on the continuous observance of virtue, both of which were promoted in his instruction as fundamental to achieving human maturity and contemplative wisdom.

Richard's treatise “On the Trinity” studied the mystery of the triune God by analyzing love, whereby the mutual giving and receiving between two persons finds its perfection in the creation of a third.

Pope Benedict XVI said the authors such as these two move us to the contemplation of heavenly realities and the admiration of the Holy Trinity as a perfect model of communion.

"How much the world would change if in families, parishes and any type of community, if relationships had as a model the three divine Persons, that not only live with the others, but for them and in them!" the Holy Father exclaimed.

In closing, the Pontiff extended a welcome to pilgrims from all nations, including those on pilgrimage from Japan to celebrate the first anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Peter Kibe and Companions.

Vatican official explains that Anglican conversions are fruit of authentic ecumenism

Vatican City, Nov 23, 2009 /(CNA).-

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, explained last week that the entrance of Anglicans into the Catholic Church is the fruit of authentic ecumenism inspired by the Second Vatican Council.

On the eve of a scheduled meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Cardinal Kasper commented on the openness of the Catholic Church to Anglicans who asked to be admitted into full communion.

Ecumenism is not an “option” that the Church can accept or reject but is rather “a sacred duty,” he said.

“Ecumenism is not an appendix of our pastoral obligations or a luxury. The principles of the Vatican II decree ‘Unitatis redintegratio,’ that is, ecumenism in truth and love, are also valid for the future. This decree is the magna carta of our ecumenical journey towards the future,” the cardinal said.

The decree "Unitatis redintegratio” states that “promoting the restoration of unity between all Christians is one of the main ends proposed by the sacrosanct Vatican Council II,” he added.

Cardinal Kasper added that the effort to reach out to Anglicans is in complete conformity with the decree, “which distinguishes between conversions and ecumenism as dialogue with the other churches for the purpose of full communion.”

He reiterated that the decree does not represent “a new ecumenism,” but rather the fruit of the ecumenical dialogue of recent decades, “a strong drive to move ahead in our ecumenical commitment.”