Vatican City, Feb 4, 2010 / (CNA).-
Today Pope Benedict XVI made public his Lenten message for 2010 emphasizing “divine justice” which, he noted, “is profoundly different from it's human counterpart.” In his reflection, the Pontiff touched on the fact that modern man has a tendency to focus on alleviating external concerns regarding injustice yet often fails to look internally, where the origin of injustice lies.
The Holy Father began his message on the common, human usage of the term “justice” saying that it is generally defined as every person receiving what is “due” to them.
“In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what 'due' is to be rendered to each person,” explained the Pope. “What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness.”
“Material goods are certainly useful and required - indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine - yet 'distributive' justice does not render to the human being the totality of his 'due,'” Pope Benedict added.
“Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God.”
The Pope also spoke on the roots of injustice and noted that man often mistakenly believes that it originates outside of him, as something that needs to be dealt with externally. “Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes 'from outside,' in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes that prevent it being achieved.”
“This way of thinking - Jesus warns - is ingenuous and short-sighted,” Pope Benedict cautioned. “Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious co-operation with evil.”
“In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice.”
The Holy Father continued to say that the “Christian good news responds positively to man's thirst for justice” but not by human means or understanding. “What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others.”
“God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant,” explained Pope Benedict. “Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully.”
“Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this,” he continued, “to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one's own need - the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, Lent culminates in the Paschal Triduum, in which this year, too, we shall celebrate divine justice - the fullness of charity, gift, salvation,” the Holy Father concluded. “May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfill every justice. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you my apostolic blessing.”
donderdag 4 februari 2010
'Divine justice' focus of Holy Father's Lenten message
woensdag 3 februari 2010
Benedict XVI reflects on life of St. Dominic, model for new evangelization
Vatican City, Feb 3, 2010 / (CNA).-
During his Wednesday General Audience, the Holy Father spoke of St. Dominic, a saint described as the model for new evangelization. In his life, Dominic preached the Gospels to those who did not know Christ and also worked to re-evangelize Christian communities.
The founder of the eventual Order of Preachers, "spoke always with God and of God. In the life of the saints, the love for the Lord and for neighbor, the search for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls always go together," highlighted the Pope.
Young Dominic was known in Spain for his love for the poor and works of charity. When Dominic was ordained, he treated his priestly position as one of "service to render with dedication and humility," taught the Pope.
In his ministry, he was taken by Bishop Diego of Osma to Northern Europe to carry out diplomatic missions in which time he became aware of "two enormous challenges" for the Church. The first was that many people still did not know Christ. Dominic also noticed that there was an existence of a "religious laceration" that was having a negative effect on Christian life, particularly in southern France.
From that point on, continued Benedict XVI, he took on the apostolic goals of "missionary action towards those who did not know the light of the Gospel and the work of re-evangelization of the Christian communities."
"To this mission of preaching the Good News he dedicated the rest of his life."
The Pope reflected on this choice, pointing out that "this great saint reminds us that in the heart of the Church there should always burn a missionary fire, which drives (us) incessantly to take the first announcement of the Gospel and, where necessary, to a new evangelization..."
The Holy Father illustrated that Dominic of Guzman and his followers evangelized through the "concrete testimony" of their preaching whilst promoting community life in poverty and the importance of theological scholarship. They were able to reach the community by being part of the community.
Pope Benedict concluded by making an exhortation to pastors and lay "to cultivate this 'cultural dimension' of the faith, so that the beauty of Christian truth can be better understood and the faith can be truly nourished, reinforced and also defended."
He extended a similar appeal to seminarians and priests in observation of the Year for Priests, to "esteem the spiritual value of study," saying that "the quality of the priestly ministry depends also on the generosity with which we apply ourselves to the study of evealed truths."
St. Dominic, he said, "reminds us that theology has a spiritual and pastoral dimension, which enriches the character and life." Everyone, he summed up, can "find a profound 'interior joy' in contemplating the beauty of the truth that comes from God, truths always current and always alive."
Finally, reflecting on the legacy left by Dominic, the Holy Father recognized his care in providing for a number of women's religious communities. He said of these religious, "only in Paradise will we comprehend how much the prayer of the cloistered accompanies effectively apostolic action!" The Pope then expressed his "thankful and affectionate thought" to them.
Consecrated people serve as 'bridge to God,' Pope says at Vespers
Vatican City, Feb 3, 2010 / (CNA).-
On Tuesday evening, the Holy Father celebrated Vespers at St. Peter's Basilica for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the 14th annual World Day for Consecrated Life. In his homily he called for consecrated people to be "a bridge to God" for the rest of humanity.
"The offering of the Son of God - symbolized by his presentation in the Temple - is a model for every man and woman that consecrates his or her entire life to the Lord," said Pope Benedict, reflecting the on the significance of the observance of the two celebrations together.
The consecrated life, he declared, "witnesses and expresses in a 'strong' way God and man's reciprocal search for one another, the love that attracts them; the consecrated person... represents a 'bridge' to God for all of those that encounter him or her, a call back, a return."
This is only possible through the "mediation" of Jesus Christ between the divine and human worlds, the Pope added, alluding to verses from the Letter to the Hebrews. "It is, in fact, only on the basis of this faith, of this profession of faith in Jesus Christ the one and definitive Mediator, that consecrated life has meaning in the Church, a life consecrated to God through Christ. It has meaning only if He truly is the Mediator between God and us, otherwise it would merely be a form of sublimation or evasion.
"He is the foundation, He who shared our frailty that we might share in His divine nature."
Pope Benedict further laid out the way consecrated people serve as a "bridge," saying that they "carry in their hearts and their prayers the anguish and desires of mankind, especially those who are far from God." Consecrated religious do this by experiencing the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God, he explained.
The life of the consecrated is therefore a "testament to the superabundance of love which stimulates us to 'lose' our own life in response to the superabundance of the love of the Lord, Who first lost his life for us."
The Holy Father then recalled how some consecrated people are afflicted by old age, sickness and even the burden of their daily toils but go unrecognized. "None of them are useless," he said, "rather, they are a precious gift for the Church, and for the world which thirsts for God and His Word."
In closing, Benedict XVI prayed that this Year for Priests might provide a stimulus for all consecrated people to accompany and sustain the priestly ministry with their fervent prayers.
dinsdag 2 februari 2010
Vatican releases first report on religious death toll in Haiti
Vatican City, Feb 2, 2010 / (CNA).-
Twenty days after Haiti was ravaged by the 7.0 earthquake, the Vatican has released its intial assesment of the number of male and female religious who died in the cataclysmic event. The report also lists buildings that were destroyed or damage in the disaster.
According to Fides, the news agency of the Vatican's Congregation for Evangelization, the list of dead religious shows that the quake inflicted “irreparable damage” on the Catholic Church in Haiti, without accounting for the extensive material destruction of the Church's infrastructure.
The preliminary report shows that the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul have suffered damage to their community houses and the loss of one religious sister.
The Daughters of Wisdom suffered the complete destruction of their house and school, and the death of six sisters.
The Daughters of Mary were hit extremely hard, with 13 religious losing their lives to the violent tremor.
The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians had their community house and school leveled, while the Christian Brothers lost their provincial house, three schools and the lives of two brothers.
The teaching community of The Little Sisters of St. Therese suffered the loss of four sisters, seven teachers and 60 students. Two of the order's community houses and five of their schools were flattened.
The Salesians of Don Bosco lost three brothers to the earthquake as well as one community house and one school.
The final religious community to report a death was the Sisters of St. Anne, who lost one sister.
The Franciscan Sisters informed the Vatican congregation that their school was a total loss.
According to the report, there is also extensive material damage to the structures of the Marianists, the Missionaries of Scheut, the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation.
