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In Silence, We Are Better Able To Listen To And Understand Ourselves; Ideas Come To Birth And Acquire Depth... Deeper Reflection Helps Us To Discover The Links Between Events That At First Sight Seem Unconnected... For This To Happen, It Is Necessary To Develop An Appropriate Environment, A Kind Of 'eco-system' That Maintains A Just Equilibrium Between Silence, Words, Images And Sounds.

-Pope Benedict XVI

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In Silence, We Are

Pope Benedict XVI

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In Silence, We Are Better Able To Listen To And Understand Ourselves; Ideas Come To Birth And Acquire Depth... Deeper Reflection Helps Us To Discover The Links Between Events That At First Sight Seem Unconnected... For This To Happen, It Is Necessary To Develop An Appropriate Environment, A Kind Of 'eco-system' That Maintains A Just Equilibrium Between Silence, Words, Images And Sounds.

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We Cannot But Recognize That, In Practical Terms, Defending Human Life Has Become More Difficult Today, Because A Mentality Has Been Created That Progressively Devalues Human Life And Entrusts It To The Judgement Of Individuals. A Consequence Deriving Therefrom Is Lessened Respect For The Human Person, A Value That Lies At The Foundation Of Any Form Of Civil Coexistence, Over And Above The Faith A Person May Profess.

Beauty, Then, Is Not Mere Decoration, But Rather An Essential Element Of The Liturgical Action, Since It Is An Attribute Of God Himself And His Revelation. These Considerations Should Make Us Realize The Care Which Is Needed, If The Liturgical Action Is To Reflect Its Innate Splendour.

The Fundamental Human Right, The Presupposition Of Every Other Right, Is The Right To Life Itself. This Is True Of Life From The Moment Of Conception Until Its Natural End. Abortion, Consequently, Cannot Be A Human Right – It Is The Very Opposite. It Is “a Deep Wound In Society”.

Our World Has Grown Weary Of Greed, Exploitation And Division, Of The Tedium Of False Idols And Piecemeal Responses, And The Pain Of False Promises.

The Church Is Not An Association That Wishes To Promote A Certain Cause. It Is Not About A Cause. It Is About The Person Of Jesus Christ.

When, For Example, In The Name Of Non-discrimination, People Try To Force The Catholic Church To Change Her Position On Homosexuality Or The Ordination Of Women, Then That Means That She Is No Longer Allowed To Live Out Her Own Identity And That, Instead, An Abstract, Negative Religion Is Being Made Into A Tyrannical Standard That Everyone Must Follow. That Is Then Seemingly Freedom — For The Sole Reason That It Is Liberation From The Previous Situation.

Advent's Intention Is To Awaken The Most Profound And Basic Emotional Memory Within Us, Namely, The Memory Of The God Who Became A Child. This Is A Healing Memory; It Brings Hope. The Purpose Of The Church's Year Is Continually To Rehearse Her Great History Of Memories, To Awaken The Heart's Memory So That It Can Discern The Star Of Hope.

Faith Was Intended Precisely For The Simple, But The Quest For Certainty And Simplicity Becomes Dangerous When It Leads To Fanaticism And Narrow-mindedness. When Reason As Such Becomes Suspect, Then Faith Itself Becomes Falsified.

The Gospel Purifies And Renews, It Bears Fruit, Wherever The Community Of Believers Hears It And Receives God’s Grace In Truth And Charity. This Is My Confidence, This Is My Joy.

Dear Young People, Do Not Be Satisfied With Anything Less Than Truth And Love, Do Not Be Content With Anything Less Than Christ

Again And Again It Astonishes Us That God Makes Himself A Child So That We May Love Him, So That We May Dare To Love Him, And As A Child Trustingly Lets Himself Be Taken Into Our Arms. It Is As If God Were Saying: I Know That My Glory Frightens You, And That You Are Trying To Assert Yourself In The Face Of My Grandeur. So Now I Am Coming To You As A Child, So That You Can Accept Me And Love Me.

Purity Of Heart Is What Enables Us To See.

In The Current Economic Situation, The Temptation For The More Dynamic Economies Is That Of Chasing After Advantageous Alliances That, Nevertheless, Can Have Harmful Effects For Poorer States, Prolonging Situations Of Extreme Mass Poverty Of Men And Women And Using Up The Earth's Natural Resources, Entrusted To Man By God The Creator-as Genesis Says-that He Might Cultivate And Protect It.

Liberty Isn't Liberalism, Arbitrariness, But It's Connected; It's Conditioned By The Great Values Of Love And Solidarity And In General By The Good.

In The Face Of Horror ... There Is No Other Answer Than The Cross Of Christ: Love That Descends To The Abyss Of Evil.

The Discernment Of A Vocation Is Above All The Fruit Of An Intimate Dialogue Between The Lord And His Disciples. Young People, If They Know How To Pray, Can Be Trusted To Know What To Do With God's Call.

Only From God Does True Revolution Come... The Definitive Way To Change The World.

Children Truly Are The Family's Greatest Treasure And Most Precious Good. Consequently, Everyone Must Be Helped To Become Aware Of The Intrinsic Evil Of The Crime Of Abortion. In Attacking Human Life In Its Very First Stages, It Is Also An Aggression Against Society Itself. Politicians And Legislators, Therefore, As Servants Of The Common Good, Are Duty Bound To Defend The Fundamental Right To Life, The Fruit Of God's Love.

Greatest Treasure

With The Eucharist, Therefore, Heaven Comes Down To Earth, The Tomorrow Of God Descends Into The Present And It Is As If Time Remains Embraced By Divine Eternity.

In A World Where There Is So Much Noise, So Much Bewilderment, There Is A Need For Silent Adoration Of Jesus Concealed In The Host. Be Assiduous In The Prayer Of Adoration And Teach It To The Faithful. It Is A Source Of Comfort And Light, Particularly To Those Who Are Suffering.

The Extermination Of Millions Of Unborn Children, In The Name Of The Fight Against Poverty, Actually Constitutes The Destruction Of The Poorest Of All Human Beings.

Enough With The Slaughters. Enough With The Violence. Enough With The Hatred In Iraq!

The Jesus Who Makes Everything Okay For Everyone Is A Phantom, A Dream, Not A Real Figure.

With The Synod Assembly, Therefore, I Heartily Recommend To The Church's Pastors And To The People Of God The Practice Of Eucharistic Adoration, Both Individually And In Community

Respecting The Environment Does Not Mean Considering Material Or Animal Nature More Important Than Man. Rather, It Means Not Selfishly Considering Nature To Be At The Complete Disposal Of Our Own Interests, For Future Generations Also Have The Right To Reap Its Benefits And To Exhibit Towards Nature The Same Responsible Freedom That We Claim For Ourselves. Nor Must We Overlook The Poor, Who Are Excluded In Many Cases From The Goods Of Creation Destined For All.

Love Is The Very Process Of Passing Over, Of Transformation, Of Stepping Outside The Limitations Of Fallen Humanity - In Which We Are All Separated From One Another And Ultimately Impenetrable To One Another - Into An Infinite Otherness.

One Of The Most Serious [challenges] Is Increased Military Spending And The Cost Of Maintaining And Developing Nuclear Arsenals. Enormous Resources Are Being Consumed For These Purposes, When They Could Be Spent On The Development Of Peoples, Especially Those Who Are Poorest. For This Reason I Firmly Hope That, During The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference To Be Held This May In New York, Concrete Decisions Will Be Made Towards Progressive Disarmament, With A View To Freeing Our Planet From Nuclear Arms

I Have A Mustard Seed; And I Am Not Afraid To Use It.

Ultimately, In The Battle Against Lies And Violence, Truth And Love Have No Other Weapon Than The Witness Of Suffering.

It Is Important Always To Know That The First Word, The True Initiative, The True Activity Comes From God And Only By Inserting Ourselves Into The Divine Initiative, Only Begging For This Divine Initiative, Shall We Too Be Able To Become - With Him And In Him - Evangelizers.

Love Alone Makes Us Happy, Because We Live In Relation, And We Live To Love And To Be Loved.

This World In Which We Live Needs Beauty In Order Not To Sink Into Despair. Beauty, Like Truth, Brings Joy To The Human Heart, And Is That Precious Fruit Which Resists The Erosion Of Time, Which Unites Generations And Enables Them To Be One In Admiration. And All This Through The Work Of Your Hands . . . Remember That You Are The Custodians Of Beauty In The World.

In This Regard, I Reiterate That The Prohibition Against Torture Cannot Be Contravened Under Any Circumstances.

During The Season Of Lent Which Begins Today, We Renew Our Commitment To The Path Of Conversion, Making More Room For God In Our Lives.

In Silence, We Are Better Able To Listen To And Understand Ourselves; Ideas Come To Birth And Acquire Depth; We Understand With Greater Clarity What It Is We Want To Say And What We Expect From Others; And We Choose How To Express Ourselves.

The World Needs More Than Just Itself. Amid The Dreariness, People Do Not Need A Distraction That Will In The End Become Dreary Itself; They Are Asking For Mystery, Even If They Do Not Realize This Themselves. They Need The Sign Of The Wholly Other, The Living Word Of God, Entering Into This Our Age In Unadulterated Trustworthiness And Dynamism.

Wherever Politics Tries To Be Redemptive, It Is Promising Too Much. Where It Wishes To Do The Work Of God, It Becomes Not Divine, But Demonic.

The Story Of Mary Of Magdalene Reminds Us All Of A Fundamental Truth...a Disciple Of Christ Is One Who, In The Experience Of Human Weakness, Has Had The Humility To Ask For His Help, Has Been Healed By Him And Has Set Out Following Closely After Him, Becoming A Witness Of The Power Of His Merciful Love That Is Stronger Than Sin And Death.

In Silence, We Are Better Able To Listen To And Understand Ourselves; Ideas Come To Birth And Acquire Depth... Deeper Reflection Helps Us To Discover The Links Between Events That At First Sight Seem Unconnected... For This To Happen, It Is Necessary To Develop An Appropriate Environment, A Kind Of 'eco-system' That Maintains A Just Equilibrium Between Silence, Words, Images And Sounds.

No Law Made By Man Can Overturn That Of The Creator Without Dramatically Affecting Society In Its Very Foundation.

Friends, Do Not Be Afraid Of Silence Or Stillness. Listen To God. Adore Him In The Eucharist.

Est Autem Fides Sperandarum Substantia Rerum, Argumentum Non Apparentium. – Faith Is The Hypostasis Of Things Hoped For; The Proof Of Things Not Seen.

We Become New If We Let Ourselves Be Grasped And Shaped By The New Man, Jesus Christ. He Is The New Man Par Excellence. In Him The New Human Existence Became Reality And We Can Truly Become New If We Deliver Ourselves Into His Hands And Let Ourselves Be Moulded By Him.

We Can Not Communicate With The Lord If We Do Not Communicate With Each Other. If We Want To Present Ourselves To Him, We Must Take A Step Towards Meeting One Another. To Do This We Must Learn The Great Lesson Of Forgiveness: We Must Not Let The Gnawings Of Resentment Work In Our Soul But Must Open Our Hearts To The Magnanimity Of Listening To Others, Open Our Hearts To Understanding Them, Eventually To Accepting Their Apologies, To Generously Offering Our Own.

Listening To Others

The Essence Of Christianity...is An Ever-new Encounter With... The God Who Speaks To Us, Who Approaches Us And Who Befriends Us!

For In This World, Marked By Sin, The Gravitational Pull Of Our Lives Is Weighted By The Chains Of The "i" And The "self." These Chains Must Be Broken To Free Us For A New Love That Places Us In Another Gravitational Field Where We Can Enter New Life.

It Is True That The Muslim World Is Not Totally Mistaken When It Reproaches The West Of Christian Tradition Of Moral Decadence And The Manipulation Of Human Life. ... Islam Has Also Had Moments Of Great Splendor And Decadence In The Course Of Its History.

Nourishment Is A Factor Which Touches On The Fundamental Right To Life.

While We Too Always Seek Other Signs, Other Wonders, We Do Not Realize That He Is The Real Sign, God Made Flesh; He Is The Greatest Miracle Of The Universe: All The Love Of God Hidden In A Human Heart, In A Human Face.

Forgiveness Does Not Replace Justice.

Everything Is A Gift From God: It Is Only By Recognizing This Crucial Dependence On The Creator That We Will Find Freedom And Peace.

Anyone Who Has Discovered Christ Must Lead Others To Him. A Great Joy Cannot Be Kept To Oneself. It Has To Be Passed On.

Those Who Allow Themselves To Be Led By The Spirit Understand That Placing Oneself At The Service Of The Gospel Is Not An Optional Extra, Because They Are Aware Of The Urgency Of Transmitting This Good News To Others...i Assure You That The Spirit Of Jesus Today Is Inviting You Young People To Be Bearers Of The Good News Of Jesus To Your Contemporaries.

Guilt Must Not Be Allowed To Fester In The Silence Of The Soul, Poisoning It From Within. It Needs To Be Confessed. Through Confession We Bring It Into The Light, We Place It Within Christ's Purifying Love. In Confession, The Lord Washes Our Soiled Feet Over And Over Again And Prepares Us For Table Fellowship With Him.

It Is The Beautiful Task Of Advent To Awaken In All Of Us Memories Of Goodness And Thus To Open Doors Of Hope.

Deeply Saddened By The News Of The Terrorist Attacks In Central London, The Holy Father Offers His Fervent Prayers For The Victims And For All Those Who Mourn.

God Does Not Have A Fixed Plan That He Must Carry Out; On The Contrary, He Has Many Different Ways Of Finding Man And Even Of Turning His Wrong Ways Into Right Ways...the Feast Of Christ The King Is Therefore Not A Feast Of Those Who Are Subjugated, But A Feast Of Those Who Know That They Are In The Hands Of The One Who Writes Straight On Crooked Lines.

Grant That We May Be One Flock And One Shepherd! Do Not Allow Your Net To Be Torn, Help Us To Be Servants Of Unity!

At The Time Of Galileo The Church Remained Much More Reasonable Than Galileo Himself. The Process Against Galileo Was Reasonable And Just.

Let Us Put Our Hands Today Again At (god's) Disposition And Pray That He Takes Our Hands To Guide Us. Let His Hand Take Ours So We Won't Sink, But Will Serve Life Which Is Stronger Than Death, And Love Which Is Stronger Than Hatred.

Both Strength Of Mind And Body Are Necessary, Strengths Which In The Last Few Months Have Deteriorated In Me To The Extent That I Have Had To Recognize My Incapacity To Adequately Fulfill The Ministry Entrusted To Me.

Reason Always Stands In Need Of Being Purified By Faith

A Just Laicism Allows Religious Freedom. The State Does Not Impose Religion But Rather Gives Space To Religions With A Responsibility Toward Civil Society, And Therefore It Allows These Religions To Be Factors In Building Up Society.

The Freedom To Kill Is Not A True Freedom, But A Tyranny That Reduces Human Beings To Slavery.

One Doesn't Begin To Be A Christian Because Of An Ethical Decision Or A Great Idea, But Rather Because Of An Encounter With An Event, With A Person, Who Gives New Horizons To Life, And With That, A Decisive Orientation.

Silence 'is So Lacking In This World Which Is Often Too Noisy, Which Is Not Favorable To Recollection And Listening To The Voice Of God. In This Time Of Preparation For Christmas, Let Us Cultivate Interior Recollection So As To Receive And Keep Jesus In Our Lives.'

How Many People Also In Our Time Are In Search Of God, In Search Of Jesus And Of His Church, In Search Of Divine Mercy, And Are Waiting For A "sign" That Will Touch Their Minds And Their Hearts! Today, As Then, The Evangelist Reminds Us That The Only "sign" Is Jesus Raised On The Cross: Jesus Who Died And Rose Is The Absolutely Sufficient Sign. Through Him We Can Understand The Truth About Life And Obtain Salvation.

Rock... Is The Expression Of Elemental Passions... In The Ecstasy Of Having All Their Defenses Torn Down, The Participants Sink, As It Were, Beneath The Elemental Force Of The Universe.

The Answer To Our Cry Which God Gave In Jesus Infinitely Transcends Our Expectations, Achieving A Solidarity Which Cannot Be Human Alone, But Divine. Only The God Who Is Love, And The Love Which Is God, Could Choose To Save Us In This Way, Which Is Certainly The Lengthiest Way, Yet The Way Which Respects The Truth About Him And About Us: The Way Of Reconciliation, Dialogue And Cooperation.

Dear Young People, The Church Depends On You! She Needs Your Lively Faith, Your Creative Charity And The Energy Of Your Hope. Your Presence Renews, Rejuvenates And Gives New Energy To The Church.

Our Faith Is Well Founded; But It Is Necessary That This Faith Become Part Of Our Lives. A Great Effort Must Therefore Be Made In Order For All Christians To Transform Themselves Into 'witnesses,' Ready And Able To Shoulder The Commitment Of Testifying - Always And To Everyone - To The Hope That Animates Them.

With The Rosary, We Allow Ourselves To Be Guided By Mary, Model Of Faith, In Meditating On The Mysteries Of Christ, And Day After Day We Are Helped To Assimilate The Gospel, So That It Shapes All Our Lives.

Young People In Particular, I Appeal To You: Bear Witness To Your Faith Through The Digital World.

Truth Is Not Determined By A Majority Vote.

The Rediscovery Of The Value Of One's Own Baptism Is At The Root Of Every Christian's Missionary Commitment, Because As We See In The Gospel, Those Who Allow Themselves To Be Fascinated By Christ Cannot Fail To Witness To The Joy Of Following In His Footsteps... We Understand Ever More That It Is Precisely In Virtue Of Baptism That We Possess A Co-natural Missionary Vocation.

What Is Capable Of Restoring Enthusiasm And Confidence, What Can Encourage The Human Spirit To Rediscover Its Path, To Raise Its Eyes To The Horizon, To Dream Of A Life Worthy Of Its Vocation - If Not Beauty?

The Catholic Church Is Not Dead, It Is Not Even Tired!

An Authentic Updating Of Sacred Music Can Take Place Only In The Lineage Of The Great Tradition Of The Past, Of Gregorian Chant And Of Sacred Polyphony.

But Palm Sunday Tells Us That ... It Is The Cross That Is The True Tree Of Life.

Making The Sign Of The Cross - As We Will Do During The Blessing - Means Saying A Visible And Public "yes" To The One Who Died And Rose For Us, To God Who In The Humility And Weakness Of His Love Is The Almighty, Stronger Than All The Power And Intelligence Of The World.

Lent Is Like A Long 'retreat' During Which We Can Turn Back Into Ourselves And Listen To The Voice Of God, In Order To Defeat The Temptations Of The Evil One. It Is A Period Of Spiritual 'combat' Which We Must Experience Alongside Jesus, Not With Pride And Presumption, But Using The Arms Of Faith: Prayer, Listening To The Word Of God And Penance. In This Way We Will Be Able To Celebrate Easter In Truth, Ready To Renew The Promises Of Our Baptism.

Authentic Love Is Obviously Something Good... When We Love, We Become Most Fully Ourselves, Most Fully Human... People Often Think They Are Being Loving When Actually They Are Being Possessive Or Manipulative. People Sometimes Treat Others As Objects To Satisfy Their Own Needs... How Easy It Is To Be Deceived By The Many Voices In Our Society That Advocate A Permissive Approach To Sexuality, Without Regard For Modesty, Self-respect Or The Moral Values That Bring Quality To Human Relationships! This Is Worship Of A False God. Instead Of Bringing Life, It Brings Death.

The Unbreakable Bond Between Love Of God And Love Of Neighbor Is Emphasized. One Is So Closely Connected To The Other That To Say That We Love God Becomes A Lie If We Are Closed To Our Neighbor Or Hate Him Altogether. Saint John's Words Should Rather Be Interpreted To Mean That Love Of Neighbor Is A Path That Leads To The Encounter With God, And That Closing Our Eyes To Our Neighbor Also Blinds Us To God.

We Can Fall, But In The End We Fall Into God's Hands, And God's Hands Are Good Hands.

Without Fear We Must Set Sail On The Digital Sea.

Nature Expresses A Design Of Love And Truth.

In The Desert We Rediscover The Value Of What Is Essential For Living; Thus In Today's World There Are Innumerable Signs, Often Expressed Implicitly Or Negatively, Of The Thirst For God, For The Ultimate Meaning Of Life. And In The Desert People Of Faith Are Needed Who, By The Example Of Their Own Lives, Point Out The Way To The Promised Land And Keep Hope Alive.

The Sharing Of Goods And Resources, From Which Authentic Development Proceeds, Is Not Guaranteed By Merely Technical Progress And Relationships Of Utility, But By The Potential Of Love That Overcomes Evil With Good.

Hope Is Practiced Through The Virtue Of Patience, Which Continues To Do Good Even In The Face Of Apparent Failure, And Through The Virtue Of Humility, Which Accepts God's Mystery And Trusts Him Even At Times Of Darkness.

Thus, The Apostles' Adventure Began As A Gathering Of Persons Who Open To One Another Reciprocally. A Direct Knowledge Of The Teacher Began For The Disciples.

Do Not Be Afraid Of Christ. He Takes Nothing Away And He Gives You Everything.

The Church Does Not Invent Sins But Recognizes The Will Of God And Has To Declare It. Of Course, The Great Thing.. Is That Upon The Church, Which Has To Declare The Will Of God In Its Full Magnitude, In Its Unconditional Rigor, So That Man Should Know His True Measure, Is Bestowed As A Gift, At The Same Time, The Task Of Forgiving.

Today, Having A Clear Faith Based On The Creed Of The Church Is Often Labeled Today As Fundamentalism. Whereas Relativism, That Is, Letting Oneself Be "tossed Here And There, Carried About By Every Wind Of Doctrine," Seems The Only Attitude That Can Cope With Modern Times.

Believers Are Increasingly Aware That, Unless The Good News Is Made Known Also In The Digital World, It May Be Absent In The Experience Of Many People For Whom This Existential Space Is Important.

In Latin America In General, It's Very Important That Christianity Not Be Simply A Thing Of Reason, But Also Of The Heart.

The Holy Spirit Gives Us Joy. And He Is Joy. Joy Is The Gift In Which All The Other Gifts Are Included. It Is The Expression Of Happiness, Of Being In Harmony With Ourselves, That Which Can Only Come From Being In Harmony With God And With His Creation. It Belongs To The Nature Of Joy To Be Radiant; It Must Communicate Itself. The Missionary Spirit Of The Church Is None Other Than The Impulse To Communicate The Joy Which Has Been Given.

Rock Music Is A Vehicle Of Anti-religion

Today, The Need To Avoid Confusing Marriage With Other Types Of Unions Based On Weak Love Is Especially Urgent. It Is Only The Rock Of Total, Irrevocable Love Between A Man And A Woman That Can Serve As The Foundation On Which To Build A Society That Will Become A Home For All Mankind.

Holiness Does Not Consist In Not Making Mistakes Or Never Sinning. Holiness Grows With Capacity For Conversion, Repentance, Willingness To Begin Again, And Above All With The Capacity For Reconciliation And Forgiveness.

We Do Not Seek A Christ Whom We Have Invented, For Only In The Real Communion Of The Church Do We Encounter The Real Christ.

Everything In This World Will Pass Away. In Eternity Only Love Will Remain.

Believing Is Nothing Other Than, In The Darkness Of The World, Touching The Hand Of God, And In This Way, In Silence, Hearing The Word, Seeing Love.

When, In Adoration, We Look At The Consecrated Host, The Sign Of Creation Speaks To Us. And So, We Encounter The Greatness Of His Gift; But We Also Encounter The Passion, The Cross Of Jesus And His Resurrection. Through This Gaze Of Adoration, He Draws Us Toward Himself, Within His Mystery, Through Which He Wants To Transform Us As He Transformed The Host.

A United Humanity Will Be Able To Confront The Many Troubling Problems Of The Present Time: From The Menace Of Terrorism To The Humiliating Poverty In Which Millions Of Human Beings Live, From The Proliferation Of Weapons To The Pandemics And The Environmental Destruction Which Threatens The Future Of Our Planet.

When Politicians Presume To Do God's Work, They Do Not Become Divine But Diabolical.

I Thank You, Dear Brothers, For Preaching The Love Of Christ And Exhorting Your People To Tolerance, Respect And Love Of Their Brothers And Sisters And Of All Persons. In This Way You Exercise The Prophetic Ministry That The Lord Has Entrusted To The Church, And In Particular To The Successors Of The Apostles (cf. Pastores Gregis, 26).

It Is Rational To Believe, As It Is Our Very Existence That Is At Stake.

What A Treasure Is Hidden In Two Small Words: 'thank You!'

Before It's Too Late, We Need To Make Courageous Choices That Will Recreate A Strong Alliance Between Man And Earth. We Need A Decisive 'yes' To Care For Creation And A Strong Commitment To Reverse Those Trends That Risk Making The Situation Of Decay Irreversible.

For Me, It's A Great Joy To Be Together With Priests: In The End, The Bishop Of Rome Is The Bishop And Brother Of All Priests. His Mandate Is To Confirm The Brothers In The Faith.

We Must Trust In The Mighty Power Of God's Mercy. We Are All Sinners, But His Grace Transforms Us And Makes Us New.

Jesus’ Example Of Fidelity To Prayer Challenges Us To Examine The Time And Effort We Devote To Our Own Prayer. While Prayer Is A Gift Of God, It Is Also An Art Learned Through Constant Practice. Jesus Teaches Us To Pray Constantly, But Also To Bear Witness Before Others Of The Beauty Of Prayer, Self-surrender And Complete Openness To God.

Each Generation, As It Seeks To Advance The Common Good, Must Ask Anew: 'what Are The Requirements That Governments May Reasonably Impose Upon Citizens, And How Far Do They Extend? By Appeal To What Authority Can Moral Dilemmas Be Resolved?'

God's Love Does Not Distinguish Between The Infant In The Mother's Womb Or The Child Or The Youth Or The Adult Or The Older Person. In Each One God Sees His Image And Likeness. Human Life Is A Manifestation Of God And His Glory.

A Good School Provides A Rounded Education For The Whole Person. And A Good Catholic School, Over And Above This, Should Help All Its Students To Become Saints.

The Proclamation And Witness Of The Gospel Are The First Service That Christians Can Offer Every Person And The Whole Human Race, As They Are Called To Communicate To All The Love Of God, Who Manifested Himself Fully In The Only Redeemer Of The World, Jesus Christ.

God Loves Us; We Need Only To Summon Up The Humility To Allow Ourselves To Be Loved.

That The Jews Are Connected With God In A Special Way And That God Does Not Allow That Bond To Fail Is Entirely Obvious. We Wait For The Instant In Which Israel Will Say Yes To Christ, But We Know That It Has A Special Mission In History Now ... Which Is Significant For The World.

In A World Wounded By Conflicts, Where Violence Is Justified In God's Name, It's Important To Repeat That Religion Can Never Become A Vehicle Of Hatred, It Can Never Be Used In God's Name To Justify Violence.

Experience Shows That Disregard For The Environment Always Harms Human Coexistence, And Vice Versa. It Becomes More And More Evident That There Is An Inseparable Link Between Peace With Creation And Peace Among Men.

It Was Easy To Know The Doctrine. It's Much Harder To Help A Billion People Live It.

In Jesus Christ, God Took On A Human Face And Became Our Friend And Brother.

The Abuse Of Faith Has To Be Resisted Precisely.

By Itself, The Question Of The Liturgy's Essence And The Standards Of The Reform Has Brought Us Back To The Question Of Music And Its Position In The Liturgy. And As A Matter Of Fact One Cannot Speak About Worship At All Without Also Speaking Of The Music Of Worship.

To Be Sure, It Was Not Easter Sunday But Holy Saturday, But, The More I Reflect On It, The More This Seems To Be Fitting For The Nature Of Our Human Life: We Are Still Awaiting Easter; We Are Not Yet Standing In The Full Light But Walking Toward It Full Of Trust.

My Dear Friends, God’s Creation Is One And It Is Good. The Concerns For Nonviolence, Sustainable Development, Justice And Peace, And Care For Our Environment Are Of Vital Importance For Humanity. They Cannot, However, Be Understood Apart From A Profound Reflection On The Innate Dignity Of Every Human Life From Conception To Natural Death: A Dignity Conferred By God Himself And Thus Inviolable.

Grace, Lavished Upon Us By God And Communicated Through The Mystery Of The Incarnate Word, Is An Absolutely Free Gift With Which Nature Is Healed, Strengthened And Assisted In Pursuing The Innate Desire For Happiness In The Heart Of Every Man And Of Every Woman.

Monsters, Among Other Brutes, Are The Ones Without Guilt Feelings. Perhaps Hitler Did Not Have Any, Or Himmler, Or Stalin. Maybe Mafia Bosses Do Not Have Any Guilt Feelings Either, Or Maybe Their Remains Are Just Well Hidden In The Cellar. Even Aborted Guilt Feelings...all Men Need Guilt Feelings.

God Came Into The World To Reawaken The Thirst For Great Things In Us.

The Wrath Of God Is A Way Of Saying That I Have Been Living In A Way That Is Contrary To The Love That Is God. Anyone Who Begins To Live And Grow Away From God, Who Lives Away From What Is Good, Is Turning His Life Toward Wrath.

Do Not Be Afraid To Say “yes” To Jesus, To Find Your Joy In Doing His Will...

Many Of Our Brothers And Sisters Are 'baptized, But Insufficiently Evangelized.' In A Number Of Cases, Nations Once Rich In Faith And In Vocations Are Losing Their Identity Under The Influence Of A Secularized Culture. The Need For A New Evangelization, So Deeply Felt By My Venerable Predecessor, Must Be Valiantly Reaffirmed, In The Certainty That God's Word Is Effective.

The Diligent Reading Of Sacred Scripture Accompanied By Prayer Brings About That Intimate Dialogue In Which The Person Reading Hears God Who Is Speaking, And In Praying, Responds To Him With Trusting Openness Of Heart. If It Is Effectively Promoted, This Practice Will Bring To The Church-i Am Convinced Of It-a New Spiritual Springtime.

Faith Is Above All A Personal, Intimate Encounter With Jesus, And To Experience [his] Closeness, [his] Friendship, [his] Love; Only In This Way Does One Learn To Know [him] Ever More, And To Love And Follow [him] Ever More. May This Happen To Each One Of Us.

Everyone Should Educate Themselves In More Wise And Responsible Consumption; Promote Personal Responsibility, Along With The Social Dimension Of Rural Activities, Which Are Based On Perennial Values, Such As Hospitality, Solidarity, And The Sharing Of The Toil Of Labor.

The Missionary Experience Is Part Of Christian Formation And It Is Important For Adolescents And Young People To Be Able To Live It Personally.

The Environment Is God's Gift To Everyone, And In Our Use Of It We Have A Responsibility Towards The Poor, Towards Future Generations, And Towards Humanity As A Whole.

Art Is Elemental. Reason Alone As It's Expressed In The Sciences Can't Be Man's Complete Answer To Reality, And It Can't Express Everything That Man Can, Wants To, And Has To Express. I Think God Built This Into Man. Art Along With Science Is The Highest Gift God Has Given Him.

Eternity Is Not An Unending Succession Of Days In The Calendar, But Something More Like The Supreme Moment Of Satisfaction, In Which Totality Embraces Us And We Embrace Totality.

Rediscover The Joy Of Believing.

God No Longer Simply Stands Before Us As The One Who Is Totally Other. He Is Within Us, And We Are In Him. His Dynamic Enters Into Us And Then Seeks To Spread Outward To Others Until It Fills The World, So That His Love Can Truly Become The Dominant Measure Of The World.

Before His Gaze All Falsehood Melts Away. This Encounter With Him, As It Burns Us, Transforms And Frees Us, Allowing Us To Become Truly Ourselves... His Gaze, The Touch Of His Heart Heals Us Through An Undeniably Painful Transformation "as Through Fire". But It Is A Blessed Pain, In Which The Holy Power Of His Love Sears Through Us Like A Flame, Enabling Us To Become Totally Ourselves And Thus Totally Of God.

Continue To Witness To The Gospel Every Day And Commit Yourselves Generously In The Next Missionary Initiatives In The Diocese Of Rome.

Wherever Applause Breaks Out In The Liturgy Because Of Some Human Achievement, It Is A Sure Sign That The Essence Of Liturgy Has Totally Disappeared And Been Replaced By A Kind Of Religious Entertainment. Such Attraction Fades Quickly - It Cannot Compete In The Market Of Leisure Pursuits, Incorporating As It Increasingly Does Various Forms Of Religious Titillation.

These Days We Are All Pained By The Disaster Caused By The Hurricane In The United States Of America.

Continue To Walk In The Faith And, Faithful To The Mandate That Has Been Entrusted To You, Go Out With Solicitude And Joy Toward All Creatures And Pass On To Them The Gifts Of Salvation...let Yourselves Be Guided By The Holy Spirit To Be The Leaven Of New Life, Salt Of The Earth And Light Of The World.

We Live Our Lives By Philosophies, Amid Worldly Affairs And Occupations That Totally Absorb Us And Are A Great Distance From The Manger. In All Kinds Of Ways, God Has To Prod Us And Reach Out To Us Again And Again, So That We Can Manage To Escape From The Muddle Of Our Thoughts And Activities And Discover The Way That Leads To Him. But A Path Exists For All Of Us. The Lord Provides Everyone With Tailor-made Signals.

From The Point Of View Of The Christian Faith, Man Comes In The Profoundest Sense To Himself Not Through What He Does But Through What He Accepts. He Must Wait For The Gift Of Love, And Love Can Only Be Received As A Gift... One Must Wait For It, Let It Be Given To One. And One Cannot Become Wholly Man In Any Other Way Than By Being Loved, By Letting Oneself Be Loved... If He Declines To Let Himself Be Presented With The Gift, Then He Destroys Himself.

Because The Truth Of God Is Love, Conversion To God Is Conversion To Love.

The One And Only Gospel Waits To Be Proclaimed By Everyone Together, In Love And Reciprocal Esteem.

Joy Is The True Gift Of Christmas, And We Can Communicate This Joy Simply: With A Smile, A Kind Gesture, A Little Help, Forgiveness. And The Joy We Give Will Certainly Come Back To Us.

To Some Extent, This Urge To Break Out Of The Ordinary Is Present In Every Generation. Part Of Being Young Is Desiring Something Beyond Everyday Life And A Secure Job, A Yearning For Something Really Truly Greater. Is This Simply An Empty Dream That Fades Away As We Become Older? No! Men And Women Were Created For Something Great, For Infinity. Nothing Else Will Ever Be Enough.

Humor Is In Fact An Essential Element In The Mirth Of Creation. We Can See How, In Many Matters In Our Lives, God Wants To Prod Us Into Taking Things A Bit More Lightly.

The Horizon Of Love Is Truly Boundless: It Is The Whole World!

A Dictatorship Of Relativism Is Being Built That Recognizes Nothing As Definite, And Which Leaves As The Ultimate Measure Only One's Ego And Desires ... Having A Clear Faith, According To The Credo Of The Church, Is Often Labeled As Fundamentalism. Yet Relativism, That Is, Letting Oneself Being Carried 'here And There By Any Wind Of Doctrine,' Appears As The Sole Attitude Good Enough For Modern Times.

Without The Eucharist, The Church Simply Does Not Exist.

Jesus Christ Does Not Teach Us A Spirituality “of Closed Eyes”, But One Of “alertness”, One Which Entails An Absolute Duty To Take Notice Of The Needs Of Others And Of Situations Involving Those Whom The Gospel Tells Us Are Our Neighbours. The Gaze Of Jesus, What “his Eyes” Teach Us, Leads To Human Closeness, Solidarity, Giving Time, Sharing Our Gifts And Even Our Material Goods.

The Cross Reminds Us That There Is No True Love Without Suffering, There Is No Gift Of Life Without Pain.

Today We Have To Learn All Over Again That Love For The Sinner And Love For The Person Who Has Been Harmed Are Correctly Balanced If I Punish The Sinner In The Form That Is Possible And Appropriate. In This Respect There Was In The Past A Change Of Mentality, In Which The Law And The Need For Punishment Were Obscured. Ultimately This Also Narrowed The Concept Of Law, Which In Fact Is Not Only Just Being Nice Or Courteous, But Is Found In The Truth. And Another Component Of The Truth Is That I Must Punish The One Who Has Sinned Against Real Love

An Authentically Eucharistic Church Is A Missionary Church... Truly, Nothing Is More Beautiful Than To Know Christ And To Make Him Known To Others.

Judas Is Neither A Master Of Evil Nor The Figure Of A Demoniacal Power Of Darkness But Rather A Sycophant Who Bows Before The Anonymous Power Of Changing Moods And Current Fashions. But It Is Precisely This Anonymous Power That Crucified Jesus, For It Was Anonymous Voices That Cried 'away With Him! Crucify Him!'

You Must Know Your Faith With The Same Precision With Which A Specialist In Information Technology Knows The Operating System Of A Computer.

Standards Of Conduct Appropriate To Civil Society Or The Workings Of A Democracy Cannot Be Purely And Simply Applied To The Church.

Perhaps Reluctantly We Come To Acknowledge That There Are Also Scars Which Mark The Surface Of Our Earth: Erosion, Deforestation, The Squandering Of The World’s Mineral And Ocean Resources In Order To Fuel An Insatiable Consumption.

Many People Perceive Christianity As Something Institutional - Rather Than As An Encounter With Christ - Which Explains Why They Don't See It As A Source Of Joy.

To The Extent That We Nourish Ourselves On Christ And Are In Love With Him, We Feel Within Us The Incentive To Bring Others To Him: Indeed, We Cannot Keep The Joy Of The Faith To Ourselves; We Must Pass It On.

How Can It Be That The Most Wonderous And Sacred Human Space - The Womb - Has Become A Place Of Unutterable Violence?

We Are Not Some Casual And Meaningless Product Of Evolution. Each Of Us Is The Result Of A Thought Of God.

Holiness Never Goes Out Of Fashion.

Saint Paul Asks His Disciple Timothy To "aim At Faith" (2 Tim 2:22) With The Same Constancy As When He Was A Boy (cf. 2 Tim 3:15). This Invitation Is Directed To Each Of Us, That None Of Us Grow Lazy In The Faith. It Is The Lifelong Companion That Makes It Possible To Perceive, Ever Anew, The Marvels That God Works For Us.

There Is No Other Possibility For Possessing Certitude With Regard To One's Life Apart From Self-abandonmen T, In A Continuous Crescendo, Into The Hands Of A Love That Seems To Grow Constantly Because It Has Its Origin In God.

It Is When We Attempt To Avoid Suffering By Withdrawing From Anything That Might Involve Hurt, When We Try To Spare Ourselves The Effort And Pain Of Pursuing Truth, Love, And Goodness, That We Drift Into A Life Of Emptiness, In Which There May Be Almost No Pain, But The Dark Sensation Of Meaninglessness And Abandonment Is All The Greater.

Every Human Life Is Precious In God's Sight And No Effort Should Be Spared In The Attempt To Promote Throughout The World A Genuine Respect For The Inalienable Rights And Dignity Of Individuals And Peoples Everywhere.

If We Allow The Love Of Christ To Change Our Heart, Then We Can Change The World. This Is The Secret Of Authentic Happiness.

We Live In A Society In Which It Seems That Every Space, Every Moment Must Be 'filled' With Initiatives, Activity, Sound; Often There Is Not Even Time To Listen And Dialogue... Let Us Not Be Afraid To Be Silent Outside And Inside Ourselves, So That We Are Able Not Only To Perceive God's Voice, But Also The Voice Of The Person Next To Us, The Voices Of Others.

Both Need Each Other: The Agnostic Cannot Be Content To Not Know, But Must Be In Search Of The Great Truth Of Faith; The Catholic Cannot Be Content To Have Faith, But Must Be In Search Of God All The Time, And In The Dialogue With Others, A Catholic Can Learn More About God In A Deeper Fashion.

A New Generation Of Christians Is Being Called To Help Build A World In Which God's Gift Of Life Is Welcomed, Respected And Cherished-not Rejected, Feared As A Threat And Destroyed. A New Age In Which Love Is Not Greedy Or Self-seeking, But Pure, Faithful And Genuinely Free, Open To Others, Respectful Of Their Dignity, Seeking Their Good, Radiating Joy And Beauty. A New Age In Which Hope Liberates Us From The Shallowness, Apathy And Self-absorption That Deaden Our Souls And Poison Our Relationships.

Music Has No Borders, No Race Or Color, No Limits Of Country, No Ethnicity. Music Makes The People Come Together. Dance It,dance All.

Society As A Whole Must Defend The Conceived Child's Right To Life And The True Good Of The Woman Who Can Never, In Any Circumstances, Find Fulfilment In The Decision To Abort.

Dialogue Is The Fundamental Unfolding Of A Gift Of Oneself To Another.

The Human Person Finds His Perfection "in Seeking And Loving What Is True And Good.

Sometimes We Are Looked Upon As People Who Speak Only Of Prohibitions. Nothing Could Be Further From The Truth!

To Make A Concrete Response To The Appeal Of Our Brothers And Sisters In Humanity, We Must Come To Grips With The First Of These Challenges: Solidarity Among Generations, Solidarity Between Countries And Entire Continents, So That All Human Beings May Share More Equitably In The Riches Of Our Planet. This Is One Of The Essential Services That People Of Good Will Must Render To Humanity. The Earth, In Fact, Can Produce Enough To Nourish All Its Inhabitants, On The Condition That The Rich Countries Do Not Keep For Themselves What Belongs To All.

The Experience Of [the African] Bishops Is That Evangelization Itself Should Be Foremost, That The God Of Jesus Christ Must Be Known, Believed In And Loved, And That Hearts Must Be Converted If Progress Is To Be Made On Social Issues And Reconciliation Is To Begin, And If - For Example - Aids Is To Be Combated By Realistically Facing Its Deeper Causes And The Sick Are To Be Given The Loving Care They Need. Social Issues And The Gospel Are Inseparable.

The Glory Of God Is The Living Man, But The Life Of Man Is The Vision Of God', Says St. Irenaeus, Getting To The Heart Of What Happens When Man Meets God On The Mountain In The Wilderness. Ultimately, It Is The Very Life Of Man, Man Himself As Living Righteously, That Is The True Worship Of God, But Life Only Becomes Real Life When It Receives Its Form From Looking Toward God.

Mission Is A Workshop Where There Is Room For All.

A Theologian Who Does Not Love Art, Poetry, Music And Nature Can Be Dangerous. Blindness And Deafness Toward The Beautiful Are Not Incidental; They Necessarily Are Reflected In His Theology.

Dear Brothers And Sisters, After The Great Pope John Paul Ii, The Cardinals Have Elected Me - A Simple, Humble Worker In The Vineyard Of The Lord.

Each Of Us Is The Result Of A Thought Of God. Each Of Us Is Willed. Each Of Us Is Loved. Each Of Us Is Necessary.

This Clash Is An Absurdity Because On One Hand There Is Much Scientific Proof In Favor Of Evolution, Which Appears As A Reality That We Must See And Which Enriches Our Understanding Of Life And Being As Such.

The Evangelization Of The Person And Of Human Communities Depends Totally On This Encounter With Jesus Christ.

Sometimes We Are Looked Upon As People Who Speak Only Of Prohibitions. Nothing Could Be Further From The Truth! Authentic Christian Discipleship Is Marked By A Sense Of Wonder. We Stand Before The God We Know And Love As A Friend, The Vastness Of His Creation, And The Beauty Of Our Christian Faith.

The Jesus Of The Gospels Is Surely Not Convenient For Us.

The Primary Contribution That The Church Offers To The Development Of Mankind And Peoples Does Not Consist Merely In Material Means Or Technical Solutions. Rather, It Involves The Proclamation Of The Truth Of Christ.

I Urge You To Continue Your Fraternal Cooperation With One Another In The Spirit Of The Community Of Christ's Disciples, United In Your Love For Him And In The Gospel That You Proclaim.

Selfishness And Fear Are At The Root Of (pro-abortion) Legislation...we In The Church Have A Great Struggle To Defend Life...life Is A Gift Not A Threat.

The Promotion Of Human Rights Remains The Most Effective Strategy For Eliminating Inequalities Between Countries And Social Groups, And For Increasing Security.

Dear Young People, The Happiness You Are Seeking, The Happiness You Have A Right To Enjoy Has A Name And A Face: It Is Jesus Of Nazareth, Hidden In The Eucharist. Only He Gives The Fullness Of Life To Humanity! With Mary, Say Your Own "yes" To God, For He Wishes To Give Himself To You.

Fullness Of Life

I Think In Particular Of Our Need To Speak To The Hearts Of Young People, Who, Despite Their Constant Exposure To Messages Contrary To The Gospel, Continue To Thirst For Authenticity, Goodness And Truth. Much Remains To Be Done, Particularly On The Level Of Preaching And Catechesis In Parishes And Schools, If The New Evangelization Is To Bear Fruit For The Renewal Of Ecclesial Life In America.

The First Priority Will Consist In Restoring A Sense Of The Acceptance Of Life As A Gift From God. According To Both Sacred Scripture And The Wisest Traditions Of Your Continent, The Arrival Of A Child Is Always A Gift, A Blessing From God. Today It Is High Time To Place Greater Emphasis On This: Every Human Being, Every Tiny Human Person, However Weak, Is Created 'in The Image And Likeness Of God' (gen 1:27)

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