Background Image

...

Side By Side With The Miseries Of Underdevelopment...we Find Ourselves Up Against A Form Of Superdevelopment, Equally Inadmissable. This Superdevelopment Consists In An Excessive Availability Of Material Goods For The Benefit Of Certain Social Groups And Makes People Slaves Of "possession" And Immediate Gratification, With No Other Horizon Than The Multiplication Or Continual Replacement Of The Things Already Owned With Others Still Better. This Is The Civilization Of Consumption, Or "consumerism," Which Involves So Much Throwing Away And Waste.

-Pope John Paul II

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Side By Side With

Pope John Paul II

...

Side By Side With The Miseries Of Underdevelopment...we Find Ourselves Up Against A Form Of Superdevelopment, Equally Inadmissable. This Superdevelopment Consists In An Excessive Availability Of Material Goods For The Benefit Of Certain Social Groups And Makes People Slaves Of "possession" And Immediate Gratification, With No Other Horizon Than The Multiplication Or Continual Replacement Of The Things Already Owned With Others Still Better. This Is The Civilization Of Consumption, Or "consumerism," Which Involves So Much Throwing Away And Waste.

Views: 7

Topic

More From Pope John Paul II

Sensitivity To The Immense Needs Of Humanity Brings With It A Spontaneous Rejection Of The Arms Race, Which Is Incompatible With The All Out Struggle Against Hunger, Sickness, Under-development And Illiteracy.

Every Scientist, Through Personal Study And Research, Completes Himself And His Own Humanity. ... Scientific Research Constitutes For You, As It Does For Many, The Way For The Personal Encounter With Truth, And Perhaps The Privileged Place For The Encounter Itself With God, The Creator Of Heaven And Earth. Science Shines Forth In All Its Value As A Good Capable Of Motivating Our Existence, As A Great Experience Of Freedom For Truth, As A Fundamental Work Of Service. Through Research Each Scientist Grows As A Human Being And Helps Others To Do Likewise.

Man, Especially In Our Time, Has Without Hesitation Devastated Wooded Plains And Valleys, Polluted Waters, Disfigured The Earth's Habitat, Made The Air Unbreathable, Disturbed The Hydro-geological And Atmospheric Systems, Turned Luxuriant Areas Into Deserts And Undertaken Forms Of Unrestrained Industrialization, Degrading That 'flower Bed'-which Is The Earth, Our Dwelling Place.

Beauty Is The Vocation Bestowed On The Artist By The Creator In The Gift Of Artistic Talent.

Sacred Scripture Wishes Simply To Declare That The World Was Created By God, And In Order To Teach This Truth It Expressed Itself In Terms Of The Cosmology In Use At The Time Of The Writer. Any Other Teaching About The Origin And Makeup Of The Universe Is So Alien To The Intentions Of The Bible, Which Does Not Wish To Teach How Heaven Was Made But How One Goes To Heaven.

Only Faith In Christ Gives Rise To A Culture Contrary To Egotism And Death.

The Choice Of Euthanasia Becomes More Serious When It Takes The Form Of A Murder Committed By Others On A Person Who Has In No Way Requested It And Who Has Never Consented To It. The Height Of Arbitrariness And Injustice Is Reached When Certain People, Such As Physicians Or Legislators, Arrogate To Themselves The Power To Decide Who Ought To Live And Who Ought To Die.

Every Act Of Reverence, Every Genuflection That You Make Before The Blessed Sacrament Is Important Because It Is An Act Of Faith In Christ, And Act Of Love For Christ. And Every Sign Of The Cross And Gesture Of Respect Made Each Time You Pass A Church Is Also An Act Of Faith.

The Goal And Target Of Our Life Is He, The Christ Who Awaits Us -- Each One Singly And Altogether -- To Lead Us Across The Boundaries Of Time To The Eternal Embrace Of The God Who Loves Us.

Without Wonder, Men And Women Would Lapse Into Deadening Routine And Little By Little Would Become Incapable Of A Life Which Is Genuinely Personal.

The State Of Inequality Between Individuals And Between Nations Not Only Still Exists; It Is Increasing. It Still Happens That Side By Side With Those Who Are Wealthy And Living In Plenty There Exist Those Who Are Living In Want, Suffering Misery And Often Actually Dying Of Hunger; And Their Number Reaches Tens, Even Hundreds Of Millions.

Economic Inequality

The Rosary Mystically Transports Us To Mary's Side As She Is Busy Watching Over The Human Growth Of Christ In The Home Of Nazareth. This Enables Her To Train Us And To Mold Us With The Same Care, Until Christ Is ''fully Formed'' In Us... Why Should We Not Once More Have Recourse To The Rosary, With The Same Faith As Those Who Have Gone Before Us?

Consequently, Theories Of Evolution Which, In Accordance With The Philosophies Inspiring Them, Consider The Mind As Emerging From The Forces Of Living Matter, Or As A Mere Epiphenomenon Of This Matter, Are Incompatible With The Truth About Man. Nor Are They Able To Ground The Dignity Of The Person.

Theory Of Evolution

Humanity Should Question Itself, Once More, About The Absurd And Always Unfair Phenomenon Of War.

The Encouragement And The Deepening Of Eucharistic Worship Are Proofs Of The Authentic Renewal Which The Council Set Itself As An Aim And Of Which They Are The Central Point.

Condemning Class Struggle Does Not Mean Condemning Every Possible Form Of Social Conflict. Such Conflicts Inevitably Arise And Christians Must Often Take A Position In The "struggle For Social Justice." What Is Condemned Is "total War," Which Has No Respect For The Dignity Of Others (and Consequently Of Oneself). It Excludes Reasonable Compromise, Does Not Pursue The Common Good But The Good Of A Group, And Sets Out To Destroy Whatever Stands In Its Way.

Violence And Arms Can Never Resolve The Problems Of Men.

Thus To Share In The Sufferings Of Christ Is, At The Same Time, To Suffer For The Kingdom Of God. In The Eyes Of The Just God, Before His Judgment. Those Who Share In The Sufferings Of Christ Become Worthy Of This Kingdom.

The History Of Mankind, The History Of Salvation, Passes By Way Of The Family.

Make Your Lives Intensely Eucharistic.

The Church's Teaching On Ownership Diverges Radically From Collectivism As Proclaimed By Marxism And "rigid" Capitalism. The Primacy Of The Person Over Things Joint Ownership Of The Means Of Work.

A Nation That Kills Its Own Children Has No Future.

Man Cannot Live Without Love. He Remains A Being That Is Incomprehensible For Himself, His Life Is Senseless, If Love Is Not Revealed To Him, If He Does Not Encounter Love, If He Does Not Experience It And Make It His Own, If He Does Not Participate Intimately In It.

The Gospel Must Not Be Kept Hidden Because Of Fear Or Indifference. It Was Never Meant To Be Hidden Away In Private. It Has To Be Put On A Stand So That People May See Its Light And Give Praise To Our Heavenly Father.

Christians Will Want To Be In The Vanguard In Favoring Ways Of Life That Decisively Break With The Exhausting And Joyless Frenzy Of Consumerism.

Have No Fear Of Moving Into The Unknown.

Fear Of The Unknown

Our Future On This Planet, Exposed As It Is To Nuclear Annihilation, Depends One One Single Factor: Humanity Must Make A Moral About-face.

An Effective Proclamation Of The Gospel In Contemporary Western Society Will Need To Confront Directly The Widespread Spirit Of Agnosticism And Relativism Which Has Cast Doubt On Reason's Ability To Know The Truth, Which Alone Satisfies The Human Heart's Restless Quest For Meaning.

Commending The Victims To Almighty God's Mercy, I Implore His Strength Upon All Involved In Rescue Efforts And In Caring For The Survivors.

Those In Society Who Are In Charge Of Schools Must Never Forget That The Parents Have Been Appointed By God Himself As The First And Principal Educators Of Their Children And That Their Right Is Completely Inalienable.

The Eucharist Is Not Only A Particularly Intense Expression Of The Reality Of The Church's Life, But Also In A Sense Its Fountainhead. The Eucharist Feeds And Forms The Church: 'because There Is One Bread, We Who Are Many Are One Body, For We All Partake Of The One Bread' (1 Cor 10:17, Rsv). Because Of This Vital Link With The Sacrament Of The Body And Blood Of The Lord, The Mystery Of The Church Is Savored, Proclaimed, And Lived Supremely In The Eucharist.

Utilitarianism Is A Civilization Of Production And Of Use, A Civilization Of "things" And Not Of "persons," A Civilization In Which Persons Are Used In The Same Way As Things Are Used. In The Context Of A Civilization Of Use, Woman Can Become An Object For Man, Children A Hindrance To Parents, The Family An Institution Obstructing The Freedom Of Its Members.

The Cemetery Of The Victims Of Human Cruelty In Our Century Is Extended To Include Yet Another Vast Cemetery, That Of The Unborn.

Jesus Himself Has Shown Us By His Own Example That Prayer And Fasting Are The First And Most Effective Weapons Against The Forces Of Evil.

The Man Who Wishes To Understand Himself Thoroughly Must With His Unrest, Uncertainty, And Even His Weakness And Sinfulness, With His Life And Death, Draw Near To Christ.

There Are Many Examples Of This Mistaken Idea Of Freedom, Such As The Elimination Of Human Life By Legalized Or Generally Accepted Abortion.

The Way Jesus Shows You Is Not Easy. Rather, It Is Like A Path Winding Up A Mountain. Do Not Lose Heart! The Steeper The Road, The Faster It Rises Towards Ever Wider Horizons.

When Man Turns His Back On The Creator's Plan, He Provokes A Disorder Which Has Inevitable Repercussions On The Rest Of The Created Order. If Man Is Not At Peace With God, Then Earth Itself Cannot Be At Peace.

Offer Christ Your Heart In Meditation And Personal Prayer Which Is The Foundation Of The Spiritual Life.

Only Through The Eucharist Is It Possible To Live The Heroic Virtues Of Christianity: Charity, To The Point Of Forgiving One's Enemies; Love For Those Who Make Us Suffer; Chastity In Every Age And Situation Of Life; Patience In Suffering And When One Is Shocked By The Silence Of God In The Tragedies Of History Or Of One's Own Personal Existence. You Must Always Be Eucharistic Souls In Order To Be Authentic Christians

Love Of Christ Does Not Distract Us From Interest In Others, But Rather Invites Us To Responsibility For Them, To The Exclusion Of No One….

This Is The Wonderful Truth, My Dear Friends: The Word, Which Became Flesh Two Thousand Years Ago, Is Present Today In The Eucharist

Creating The Human Race In His Own Image And Continually Keeping It In Being, God Inscribed In The Humanity Of Man And Woman The Vocation... Of Love And Communion. Love Is Therefore The Fundamental And Innate Vocation Of Every Human Being.

Christians, In Particular, Realize That Their Responsibility Within Creation And Their Duty Towards Nature And The Creator Are An Essential Part Of Their Faith.

Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide Are Never Acceptable Acts Of Mercy. They Always Gravely Exploit The Suffering And Desperate, Extinguishing Life In The Name Of The 'quality Of Life' Itself.

In Christ And Through Christ Man Has Acquired Full Awareness Of His Dignity, Of The Heights To Which He Is Raised, Of The Surpassing Worth Of His Own Humanity, And Of The Meaning Of His Existence.

In The Designs Of Providence, There Are No Mere Coincidences.

All Of Us Experience The Sad Effects Of Blind Submission To Consumerism. In The First Place It Represents Crass Materialism. At The Same Time It Represents A Radical Dissatisfaction Because One Quickly Learns That The More One Possesses, The More One Wants, While Deeper Aspirations Remain Unsatisfied And Perhaps Even Stifled.

There Is No Peace Without Justice, And No Justice Without Forgiveness.

There Are People And Nations, Mother, That I Would Like To Say To You By Name. I Entrust Them To You In Silence, I Entrust Them To You In The Way That You Know Best.

Forgiveness Is Above All A Personal Choice, A Decision Of The Heart To Go Against The Natural Instinct To Pay Back Evil With Evil.

There Is No Place For Selfishness-and No Place For Fear! Do Not Be Afraid, Then, When Love Makes Demands. Do Not Be Afraid When Love Requires Sacrifice

New Knowledge Has Led To The Recognition In The Theory Of Evolution Of More Than A Hypothesis. It Is Indeed Remarkable That This Theory Has Been Progressively Accepted By Researchers, Following A Series Of Discoveries In Various Fields Of Knowledge. The Convergence, Neither Sought Nor Fabricated, Of The Results Of Work That Was Conducted Independently Is In Itself A Significant Argument In Favor Of This Theory.

Theory Of Evolution

Christ Is The Sacrament Of The Invisible God - A Sacrament That Indicates Presence. God Is With Us.

A Process Of Genocide Is Being Carried Out Before The Eyes Of The World.

Hands Are The Heart's Landscape.

Respect For Life And For The Dignity Of The Human Person Also Extends To The Rest Of Creation, Which Is Called To Join Man In Praising God.

May Mary, Who In The Freedom Of Her 'fiat' And Her Presence At The Foot Of The Cross, Offered To The World, Jesus, The Liberator, Help Us To Find Him In The Sacrament Of The Altar

In A World Where The Name Of God Is Sometimes Associated With Vengeance And Even A Duty Of Hatred And Violence, This Message Is Both Timely And Significant.

Peace Is Not Just The Absence Of War. Like A Cathedral, Peace Must Be Constructed Patiently And With Unshakable Faith.

Marriage Is An Act Of Will That Signifies And Involves A Mutual Gift, Which Unites The Spouses And Binds Them To Their Eventual Souls, With Whom They Make Up A Sole Family - A Domestic Church.

But Sometimes It Is Necessary To Do That Which Is Too Much.

Inspirational Cancer

The Mother Of Christ, Who Stands At The Very Center Of This Mystery...is Given As Mother To Every Single Individual And All Mankind.

For 2,000 Years, The Church Has Been The Cradle In Which Mary Places Jesus And Entrusts Him To The Adoration And Contemplation Of All Peoples. May The Humility Of The Bride Cause To Shine Forth Still More Brightly The Glory And Power Of The Eucharist, Which She Celebrates And Treasures In Her Heart. In The Sign Of The Consecrated Bread And Wine, Christ Jesus Risen And Glorified, The Light Of The Nations, Reveals The Enduring Reality Of His Incarnation. He Remains Living And Real In Our Midst In Order To Nourish The Faithful With His Body And Blood.

We Can Pray Perfectly When We Are Out In The Mountains Or On A Lake And We Feel At One With Nature. Nature Speaks For Us Or Rather Speaks To Us. We Pray Perfectly.

The Gospel Of Life Must Be Proclaimed And Human Life Defended In All Places And All Times.

The Sickness Of A Family Member, Friend Or Neighbor Is A Call To Christians To Demonstrate True Compassion, That Gentle And Persevering Sharing In Another's Pain.

The Church Has A Special Duty To Safeguard And Strengthen The Sacredness Of The Eucharist. In Our Pluralistic And Often Deliberately Secularized Society, The Living Faith Of The Christian Community - A Faith Always Aware Of Its Rights Vis-a-vis Those Who Do Not Share The Faith - Ensures Respect For This Sacredness

The Body In Its Masculinity And Femininity Has Been Called "from The Beginning" To Become The Manifestation Of The Spirit. The Body, In Fact, And Only The Body, Is Capable Of Making Visible What Is Invisible: The Spiritual And The Divine.

You Must Be Strong, Dear Brothers And Sisters. You Must Be Strong With The Strength That Comes From Faith.

Nobody Is So Poor He Has Nothing To Give, And Nobody Is So Rich He Has Nothing To Receive.

See Everything. Ignore A Lot. Improve A Little.

Love Is A Constant Challenge, Thrown To Us By God.

God Is Love. We Eventually Have To Ask Ourselves The Question; Why Was Love Nailed To A Cross?

The Best, The Surest And The Most Effective Way Of Establishing Peace On The Face Of The Earth Is Through The Great Power Of Perpetual Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament.

Take Away From Love The Fullness Of Self Surrender, The Completeness Of Personal Commitment, And What Remains Will Be A Total Denial And Negation Of It.

It Is Manifestly Unjust That A Privileged Few Should Continue To Accumulate Excess Goods, Squandering Available Resources, While Masses Of People Are Living In Conditions Of Misery At The Very Lowest Level Of Subsistence.

United With The Angels And Saints Of The Heavenly Church, Let Us Adore The Most Holy Sacrament Of The Eucharist. Prostrate, We Adore This Great Mystery That Contains God's New And Definitive Covenant With Humankind In Christ.

The Poor Of The United States And Of The World Are Your Brothers And Sisters In Christ. You Must Never Be Content To Leave Them Just The Crumbs From The Feast. You Must Take Of Your Substance, And Not Just Of Your Abundance, In Order To Help Them. And You Must Treat Them Like Guests At Your Family Table.

Humanity Should Question Itself, Once More, About The Absurd And Always Unfair Phenomenon Of War, On Whose Stage Of Death And Pain Only Remain Standing The Negotiating Table That Could And Should Have Prevented It.

We Are Not The Sum Of Our Weaknesses And Failures, We Are The Sum Of The Father's Love For Us And Our Real Capacity To Become The Image Of His Son Jesus.

While It Is True That The Taking Of Life Not Yet Born Or In It's Final Stages Is Sometimes Marked By A Mistaken Sense Of Altruism And Human Compassion It Cannot Be Denied That Such A Culture Of Death, Taken As A Whole, Betrays A Completely Individualistic Concept Of Freedom, Which Ends Up By Becoming The Freedom Of "the Strong" Against The Weak Who Have No Choice But To Submit.

All Are Called To Holiness, And Holy People Alone Can Renew Humanity.

A Society Will Be Judged On The Basis Of How It Treats Its Weakest Members; And Among The Most Vulnerable Are Surely The Unborn And The Dying.

Deepen You Knowledge Of Jesus Which Ends Loneliness, Overcomes Sadness And Uncertainty, Gives Real Meaning To Life, Curbs Passions, Exalts Ideals, Expands Energies In Charity, Brings Light Into Decisive Choices. Let Christ Be For You The Way, The Truth, And The Life.

Laws Which Authorize And Promote Abortion And Euthanasia Are Therefore Radically Opposed Not Only To The Good Of The Individual But Also To The Common Good; As Such They Are Completely Lacking In Authentic Juridical Validity. Disregard For The Right To Life, Precisely Because It Leads To The Killing Of The Person Whom Society Exists To Serve, Is What Most Directly Conflicts With The Possibility Of Achieving The Common Good. Consequently, A Civil Law Authorizing Abortion Or Euthanasia Ceases By That Very Fact To Be A True, Morally Binding Civil Law.

We Christians Joyfully Recognize The Religious Values We Have In Common With Islam. I Would Like To Repeat What I Said To Young Muslims Some Years Ago In Casablanca: 'we Believe In The Same God, The One God, The Living God, The God Who Created The World And Brings His Creatures To Their Perfection.

The Challenge Is To Make The Church's Yes To Life Concrete And Effective. The Struggle Will Be Long, And It Needs Each One Of You. Place Your Intelligence, Your Talents, Your Enthusiasm, Your Compassion And Your Fortitude At The Service Of Life!

A Man, Even If Seriously Sick Or Prevented In The Exercise Of Its Higher Functions, Is And Will Be Always A Man ... [he] Will Never Become A 'vegetable' Or An 'animal,'" The Pope Said. "the Intrinsic Value And Personal Dignity Of Every Human Being Does Not Change Depending On Their Circumstances.

If You Wish To Be Brothers, Drop Your Weapons.

[on His 83rd Birthday] Physical Condition Or Advancing Of Age Are Not Obstacles To A Perfect Life. God Does Not Look At External Things But At The Soul.

The Gradual Depletion Of The Ozone Layer And The Related "greenhouse Effect" Has Now Reached Crisis Proportions As A Consequence Of Industrial Growth, Massive Urban Concentrations And Vastly Increased Energy Needs. Industrial Waste, The Burning Of Fossil Fuels, Unrestricted Deforestation, The Use Of Certain Types Of Herbicides, Coolants And Propellants: All Of These Are Known To Harm The Atmosphere And Environment.

One Cannot Use With Impunity The Different Categories Of Beings-animals, Plants, The Natural Elements-simply As One Wishes, According To Economic Needs. One Must Take Into Account The Nature Of Each Being And Its Mutual Connection In An Ordered System, Which Is The Cosmos.

War Is A Defeat For Humanity.

A Man Shows Himself A True Disciple Of Christ By Carrying The Cross In His Turn Every Day In The Activity That He Is Called To Perform.

Even If The Forces Of Darkness Appear To Prevail, Those Who Believe In God Know That Evil And Death Do Not Have The Final Say.

Do Not Be Afraid To Take A Chance On Peace, To Teach Peace, To Live Peace...peace Will Be The Last Word Of History.

Humankind, Which Discovers Its Capacity To Transform And In A Certain Sense Create The World Through Its Own Work, Forgets That This Is Always Based On God's Prior And Original Gift Of Things That Are. People Think That They Can Make Arbitrary Use Of The Earth, Subjecting It Without Restraint To Their Wills, As Though The Earth Did Not Have Its Own Requisites And A Prior God-given Purpose, Which Human Beings Can Indeed Develop But Must Not Betray.

True Freedom Is Not Advanced In The Permissive Society, Which Confuses Freedom With License To Do Anything Whatever And Which In The Name Of Freedom Proclaims A Kind Of General Amorality. It Is A Caricature Of Freedom To Claim That People Are Free To Organize Their Lives With No Reference To Moral Values, And To Say That Society Does Not Have To Ensure The Protection And Advancement Of Ethical Values. Such An Attitude Is Destructive Of Freedom And Peace.

There Is No True Peace Without Fairness, Truth, Justice And Solidarity.

We Cannot Interfere In One Area Of The Ecosystem Without Paying Due Attention To Both The Consequences Of Such Interference In Other Areas And To The Well-being Of Future Generations.

In Order To See Jesus, We First Need To Let Him Look At Us!

Those Who Perceive In Themselves... The Artistic Vocation As Poet, Writer, Sculptor, Painter, Musician, And Actor Feel At The Same Time An Obligation Not To Waste This Talent But To Develop It, In Order To Put It To Service Of Their Neighbour And The Humanity As A Whole.

You Are Called To Stand Up For Life! To Respect And Defend The Mystery Of Life Always And Everywhere, Including The Lives Of Unborn Babies, Giving Real Help And Encouragement To Mothers In Difficult Situations. You Are Called To Work And Pray Against Abortion.

Through Mary, We Come To Her Son More Easily.

The Problem Of Pornography Is That It Does Not Reveal Too Much Of A Woman But Too Little.

Freedom Exists For The Sake Of Love.

Love And Responsibility

Opting For Peace Does Not Mean A Passive Acquiescence To Evil Or Compromise Of Principle. It Demands An Active Struggle Against Hatred, Oppression And Disunity, But Not By Using Methods Of Violence. Building Peace Requires Creative And Courageous Action

Artistic Talent Is A Gift From God And Whoever Discovers It In Himself Has A Certain Obligation: To Know That He Cannot Waste This Talent, But Must Develop It.

In The Mass And In Eucharistic Adoration We Meet The Merciful Love Of God That Passes Through The Heart Of Jesus Christ.

As The Family Goes, So Goes The Nation And So Goes The Whole World In Which We Live.

The Measure Of Your Success Will Be The Measure Of Your Generosity.

Your Generosity

Freedom Consists Not In Doing What We Like, But In Having The Right To Do What We Ought.

What Really Matters In Life Is That We Are Loved By Christ And That We Love Him In Return

Farmers Everywhere Provide Bread For All Humanity, But It Is Christ Alone Who Is The Bread Of Life...even If All The Physical Hunger Of The World Were Satisfied, Even If Everyone Who Is Hungry Were Fed By His Or Her Own Labor Or By The Generosity Of Others, The Deepest Hunger Of Man Would Still Exist...therefore, I Say, Come, All Of You, To Christ. He Is The Bread Of Life. Come To Christ And You Will Never Be Hungry Again.

The World Looks To The Priest, Because It Looks To Jesus! No One Can See Christ; But Everyone Sees The Priest, And Through Him They Wish To Catch A Glimpse Of The Lord! Immense Is The Grandeur Of The Lord! Immense Is The Grandeur And Dignity Of The Priest!

The Essential Commitment And, Above All, The Visible Grace And Source Of Supernatural Strength For The Church As The People Of God Is To Persevere And Advance Constantly In Eucharistic Life And Eucharistic Piety And To Develop Spiritually In The Climate Of The Eucharist.

On My Knees, I Beg Of You To Turn Away From The Paths Of Violence And To Return To The Path Of Peace. Those Who Resort To Violence Always Claim That Only Violence Brings About Change. You Must Know There Is A Political, Peaceful Way To Justice.

People Are Made For Happiness. Rightly, Then, You Thirst For Happiness. Christ Has The Answer To This Desire Of Yours. But He Asks You To Trust Him.

I Sense That The Moment Has Come To Commit All Of The Church's Energies To A New Evangelization... No Believer In Christ, No Institution Of The Church Can Avoid This Supreme Duty: To Proclaim Christ To All Peoples.

Prayer Joined To Sacrifice Constitutes The Most Powerful Force In Human History.

It Is Unbecoming For A Cardinal To Ski Badly.

The Mystery Of The Holy Night, Which Historically Happened Two Thousand Years Ago, Must Be Lived As A Spiritual Event In The 'today' Of The Liturgy," The Pope Clarified. "the Word Who Found A Dwelling In Mary's Womb Comes To Knock On The Heart Of Every Person With Singular Intensity This Christmas.

What Have I Done With My Baptism And Confirmation? Is Christ Really At The Center Of My Life? Do I Have Time For Prayer In My Life? Do I Live My Life As A Vocation And Mission?

The Gospel Of Life Is Not For Believers Alone: It Is For Everyone. The Issue Of Life And Its Defense And Promotion Is Not A Concern Of The Christian Alone. Although Faith Provides Special Light And Strength, This Question Arises In Every Human Conscience Which Seeks The Truth And Which Cares About The Future Of Humanity. Life Certainly Has A Sacred And Religious Value, But In No Way Is That Value A Concern Only Of Believers. The Value At Stake Is One Which Every Human Being Can Grasp By The Light Of Reason; Thus It Necessarily Concerns Everyone.

Do Not Be Afraid. Do Not Be Satisfied With Mediocrity. Put Out Into The Deep And Let Down Your Nets For A Catch.

If He Asks Much Of You, It Is Because He Knows You Can Give Much.

It Is Legitimate And Necessary To Ask Oneself If This Is Not Perhaps Part Of A New Ideology Of Evil, Perhaps More Insidious And Hidden, Which Attempts To Pit Human Rights Against The Family And Against Man.

The History Of Mankind, The History Of Salvation, Passes By Way Of The Family... The Family Is Placed At The Center Of The Great Struggle Between Good And Evil, Between Life And Death, Between Love And All That Is Opposed To Love.

From Now On It Is Only Through A Conscious Choice And Through A Deliberate Policy That Humanity Can Survive.

The World Designed By God Cannot Be A World In Which Some Hoard Immoderate Wealth In Their Hands, While Others Suffer From Destitution And Poverty, And Die Of Hunger. Love Must Inspire Justice And The Struggle For Justice

Man Matures Through Work Which Inspires Him To Difficult Good.

Side By Side With The Miseries Of Underdevelopment...we Find Ourselves Up Against A Form Of Superdevelopment, Equally Inadmissable. This Superdevelopment Consists In An Excessive Availability Of Material Goods For The Benefit Of Certain Social Groups And Makes People Slaves Of "possession" And Immediate Gratification, With No Other Horizon Than The Multiplication Or Continual Replacement Of The Things Already Owned With Others Still Better. This Is The Civilization Of Consumption, Or "consumerism," Which Involves So Much Throwing Away And Waste.

Modern Society Will Find No Solution To The Ecological Problem Unless It Takes A Serious Look At Its Lifestyle.

Humanity Looks To Works Of Art To Shed Light Upon Its Path And Its Destiny.

In Christ And Through Christ Man Has Acquired Full Awareness Of His Dignity.

Let Us Not Accept Violence As The Way Of Peace. Let Us Instead Begin By Respecting True Freedom: The Resulting Peace Will Be Able To Satisfy The World's Expectations, For It Will Be A Peace Built On Justice, A Peace Founded On The Incomparable Dignity Of The Free Human Being.

God Made Us For Joy. God Is Joy, & The Joy Of Living Reflects The Original Joy That God Felt In Creating Us.

[st. Francis] Looked Upon Creation With The Eyes Of One Who Could Recognize In It The Marvelous Work Of The Hand Of God. His Solicitous Care, Not Only Towards Men, But Also Towards Animals Is A Faithful Echo Of The Love With Which God In The Beginning Pronounced His 'fiat' Which Brought Them Into Existence. We Too Are Called To A Similar Attitude.

If The Communications Media Are A Good Destined For All Humanity, Then Ever-new Means Must Be Found - Including Recourse To Opportune Legislative Measures - To Make Possible A True Participation In Their Management By All. The Culture Of Co-responsibility Must Be Nurtured.

The Sacraments Infuse Holiness Into The Terrain Of Man's Humanity: They Penetrate The Soul And Body, The Femininity And Masculinity Of The Personal Subject, With The Power Of Holiness.

True Holiness Does Not Mean A Flight From The World; Rather, It Lies In The Effort To Incarnate The Gospel In Everyday Life, In The Family, At School And At Work, And In Social And Political Involvement.

Faced With The Widespread Destruction Of The Environment, People Everywhere Are Coming To Understand That We Cannot Continue To Use The Goods Of The Earth As We Have In The Past ... [a] New Ecological Awareness Is Beginning To Emerge Which Rather Than Being Downplayed, Ought To Be Encouraged To Develop Into Concrete Programs And Initiatives.

I Hope To Have Communion With The People, That Is The Most Important Thing.

And Everything Else Will Then Turn Out To Be Unimportant And Inessential Except This: Father, Child, And Love. And Then, Looking At The Simplest Things, We Will All Say, Could We Have Not Learned This Long Ago? Has This Not Always Been Embedded In Everything That Is?

The Only Really Effective Means Of Enabling States To Deal With The Grave Problem Of Poverty Is To Provide Them With The Necessary Resources Through Foreign Financial Aid - Public And Private - Granted Under Reasonable Conditions, Within The Framework Of International Commercial Relations Regulated With Fairness.

To Humanity, Which Sometimes Seems To Be Lost And Dominated By The Power Of Evil, Selfishness And Fear, The Risen Lord Gives The Gift Of His Love Which Forgives, Reconciles And Reopens The Soul To Hope.

I Hope That This Form Of Adoration, With Permanent Exposition Of The Blessed Sacrament, Will Continue Into The Future. Specifically, I Hope That The Fruit Of This Congress Results In The Establishment Of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration In All Parishes And Christian Communities Throughout The World

The Future Starts Today, Not Tomorrow.

The Drama Of Aids Threatens Not Just Some Nations Or Societies, But The Whole Of Humanity. It Knows No Frontiers Of Geography, Race, Age Or Social Condition(calling) For A Supreme Effort Of International Cooperation On The Part Of Government, The World Medical And Scientific Community And All Those Who Exercise Influence In Developing A Sense Of More Responsibility In Society.

The Eucharist Is The Full Realization Of The Worship Which Humanity Owes To God, And It Cannot Be Compared To Any Other Religious Experience.... The Risen Lord ... Calls The Faithful Together To Give Them The Light Of His Word And The Nourishment Of His Body As The Perennial Sacramental Wellspring Of Redemption. The Grace Flowing From This Wellspring Renews Mankind, Life, And History.

Before Our Eyes We Have The Results Of Ideologies Such As Marxism, Nazism And Fascism, And Also Of Myths Like Racial Superiority, Nationalism And Ethnic Exclusivism. No Less Pernicious, Though Not Always As Obvious, Are The Effects Of Materialistic Consumerism, In Which The Exaltation Of The Individual And The Selfish Satisfaction Of Personal Aspirations Become The Ultimate Goal Of Life. In This Outlook, The Negative Effects On Others Are Considered Completely Irrelevant.

Only A Socially Just Country Has The Right To Exist.

Learning To Think Rigorously, So As To Act Rightly And To Serve Humanity Better.

Eucharistic Worship Is Not So Much Worship Of The Inaccessible Transcendence As Worship Of The Divine Condescension, And It Is Also The Merciful And Redeeming Transformation Of The World In The Human Heart

Condescension And

The Human Person Is A Unique Composite - A Unity Of Spirit And Matter, Soul And Body, Fashioned In The Image Of God And Destined To Live Forever. Every Human Life Is Sacred, Because Every Human Person Is Sacred.

The Most Faithful Disciples Of Christ Have Been Builders Of Peace, To The Point Of Forgiving Their Enemies, Sometimes Even To The Point Of Giving Their Lives For Them.

You Will Reciprocally Promise Love, Loyalty And Matrimonial Honesty. We Only Want For You This Day That These Words Constitute The Principle Of Your Entire Life And That With The Help Of Divine Grace You Will Observe These Solemn Vows That Today, Before God, You Formulate.

Although I Have Lived Through Much Darkness, I Have Seen Enough Evidence To Be Unshakably Convinced That No Difficulty, No Fear Is So Great That It Can Completely Suffocate The Hope That Springs Eternal In The Hearts Of The Young... Do Not Let That Hope Die! Stake Your Lives On It! We Are Not The Sum Of Our Weaknesses And Failures; We Are The Sum Of The Father's Love For Us And Our Real Capacity To Become The Image Of His Son.

The Lust Of The Flesh Directs These Desires [of Personal Union], However, To Satisfaction Of The Body, Often At The Cost Of A Real And Full Communion Of Persons.

It Would Be A Sad Thing If The Religious And Moral Convictions Upon Which The American Experiment Was Founded Could Now Somehow Be Considered A Danger To Free Society.

Beauty Is A Key To The Mystery And A Call To Transcendence. It Is An Invitation To Savor Life And To Dream Of The Future. That Is Why The Beauty Of Created Things Can Never Fully Satisfy. It Stirs That Hidden Nostalgia For God Which A Lover Of Beauty Like Saint Augustine Could Express In Incomparable Terms: 'late Have I Loved You, Beauty So Old And So New: Late Have I Loved You!'.

The Inviolability Of The Person Which Is A Reflection Of The Absolute Inviolability Of God, Finds Its Primary And Fundamental Expression In The Inviolability Of Human Life. Above All, The Common Outcry, Which Is Justly Made On Behalf Of Human Rights-for Example, The Right To Health, To Home, To Work, To Family, To Culture- Is False And Illusory If The Right To Life, The Most Basic And Fundamental Right And The Condition For All Other Personal Rights, Is Not Defended With Maximum Determination.

People Must Not Attempt To Impose Their Own 'truth' On Others. The Right To Profess The Truth Must Always Be Upheld, But Not In A Way That Involves Contempt For Those Who May Think Differently. Truth Imposes Itself Solely By The Force Of Its Own Truth.

It Is Not Enough To Long For A Person As A Good For Oneself, One Must Also, And Above All, Long For That Person's Good.

The Dramatic Threat Of Ecological Breakdown Is Teaching Us The Extent To Which Greed And Selfishness Are Contrary To The Order Of Creation. ...a Given Culture Reveals Its Understanding Of Life Through The Choices It Makes In Production And Consumption... A Great Deal Of Educational And Cultural Work Is Urgently Needed, Including The Education Of Consumers In The Responsible Use Of Their Power Of Choice.

Certain Elements Of Today's Ecological Crisis Reveal Its Moral Character. First Among These Is The Indiscriminate Application Of Advances In Science And Technology. Many Recent Discoveries Have Brought Undeniable Benefits To Humanity. Indeed, They Demonstrate The Nobility Of The Human Vocation To Participate Responsibly In God's Creative Action In The World. Unfortunately, It Is Now Clear That The Application Of These Discoveries In The Fields Of Industry And Agriculture Have Produced Harmful Long-term Effects.

The Dignity Of The Human Person Is A Transcendent Value, Always Recognized As Such By Those Who Sincerely Search For The Truth. Indeed, The Whole Of Human History Should Be Interpreted In The Light Of This Certainty. Every Person, Created In The Image And Likeness Of God (cf. Gn 1:26 28), Is Therefore Radically Oriented Towards The Creator, And Is Constantly In Relationship With Those Possessed Of The Same Dignity. To Promote The Good Of The Individual Is Thus To Serve The Common Good, Which Is That Point Where Rights And Duties Converge And Reinforce One Another.

In The Life Of Husband And Wife Together, Fatherhood And Motherhood Represent Such A Sublime "novelty" And Richness As Can Only Be Approached "on One's Knees".

The Church Must Breathe With Her Two Lungs!

The True Christian Can Nurture A Trustful Optimism, Because He Is Certain Of Not Walking Alone. In Sending Us Jesus, The Eternal Son Made Man, God Has Drawn Near To Each Of Us. In Christ He Has Become Our Travelling Companion.

Yes, The South-becoming Always Poorer-and The North-becoming Always Richer ...richer, Too In The Resources Of Weapons With Which The Superpowers And Blocs Can Mutually Threaten Each Other. In The Light Of Christ's Words (mt. 25), This Poor South Will Judge The Rich North. And The Poor People And Poor Nations-poor In Different Ways, Not Only Lacking Food, But Also Deprived Of Freedom And Other Human Right-will Judge Those People Who Take These Goods Away From Them, Amassing To Themselves The Imperialist Monopoly And Political Supremacy At The Expense Of Others.

Interdependence Must Be Transformed Into Solidarity Based Upon The Principle That The Goods Of Creation Are Meant For All. That Which Human Industry Produces Through The Processing Of Raw Materials With The Contribution Of Work Must Serve Equally For The Good Of All.

Is Not Jesus Pointing To Children Even As Models For Grownups?

That Is The Dignity Of America, The Reason She Exists, The Condition Of Her Survival, Yes, The Ultimate Test Of Her Greatness: To Respect Every Human Person, Especially The Weak And Most Defenseless Ones, Those As Yet Unborn.

Through The Rosary The Faithful Receive Abundant Grace, As Though From The Very Hands Of The Mother Of The Redeemer.

Reason And Faith Cannot Be Separated Without Diminishing The Capacity Of Men And Women To Know Themselves, The World And God In An Appropriate Way.

Love Consists Of A Commitment Which Limits One's Freedom - It Is A Giving Of The Self, And To Give Oneself Means Just That: To Limit One's Freedom On Behalf Of Another.

Prayer Finds Its Source In God's Holiness And It Is At The Same Time Our Response To This Holiness.

When Sunday Loses Its Fundamental Meaning And Becomes Subordinate To A Secular Concept Of Weekend Dominated By Such Things As Entertainment And Sport, People Stay Locked Within A Horizon So Narrow That They Can No Longer See The Heavens.

When You Wonder About The Mystery Of Yourself, Look To Christ, Who Gives You The Meaning Of Life. When You Wonder What It Means To Be A Mature Person, Look To Christ, Who Is The Fulfillness Of Humanity. And When You Wonder About Your Role In The Future Of The World Look To Christ.

Know What You Are Talking About.

We Are The People Of Life, Because God, In His Unconditional Love, Has Given Us The Gospel Of Life, And We Are Called To Act Accordingly.

Unconditional Love

When We Go Before Jesus In The Blessed Sacrament We Represent The One In The World Who Is In Most Need Of God's Mercy." We "stand In Behalf Of The One In The World Who Does Not Know Christ And Who Is Farthest Away From God And We Bring Down Upon Their Soul The Precious Blood Of The Lamb.

I Do Not Hesitate To Proclaim Before You And Before The World That All Human Life-from The Moment Of Conception And Through All Subsequent Stages-is Sacred, Because Human Life Is Created In The Image And Likeness Of God.

Once Again, Through Myself, The Church, In The Words Of The Well-known Declaration Nostra Aetate, 'deplores The Hatred, Persecutions And Displays Of Anti-semitism Directed Against The Jews At Any Time And By Anyone.' I Repeat, 'by Anyone.'

Human Progress Planned As Alternatives (to God's Plan) Introduce In Justice, Evil And Violence Rising Against The Divine Plan Of Justice And Salvation. And Despite Transitory And Apparent Successes, They Are Reduced To Simple Machinations Destined To Dissolution And Failure.

Freedom Is Not The Ability To Do Anything We Want, Whenever We Want. Rather, Freedom Is The Ability To Live Responsibly The Truth Of Our Relationship With God And With One Another.

Our Relationship

Relationship With God

With The Rosary, The Christian People Sits At The School Of Mary And Is Led To Contemplate The Beauty On The Face Of Christ And To Experience The Depths Of His Love.

Faith And Reason Are Like Two Wings Of The Human Spirit By Which Is Soars To The Truth.

The Rosary Is My Favorite Prayer. A Prayer So Simple And So Rich; From Deepest Heart, I Exhort All To Recite It.

Truth Can Never Be Confined To Time And Culture; In History It Is Known, But It Also Reaches Beyond History.

All Human Life-from The Moment Of Conception And Through All Subsequent Stages-is Sacred, Because Human Life Is Created In The Image And Likeness Of God. Nothing Surpasses The Greatness Or Dignity Of A Human Person...if A Person's Right To Life Is Violated At The Moment In Which He Is First Conceived In His Mother's Womb, An Indirect Blow Is Struck Also At The Whole Moral Order.

Social Justice Cannot Be Attained By Violence. Violence Kills What It Intends To Create.

We Need To Make Our Own The Ancient Pastoral Wisdom Which... Encouraged Pastors To Listen More Widely To The Entire People Of God. Significant Is Saint Benedict's Reminder To The Abbot Of A Monastery, Inviting Him To Consult Even The Youngest Members Of The Community: "by The Lord's Inspiration, It Is Often A Younger Person Who Knows What Is Best".

Christ Assigns As A Duty To Every Man The Dignity Of Every Woman: And Simultaneously... He Also Assigns To Every Woman The Dignity Of Every Man.

How Can Such Episodes Of Such Savage Cruelty Happen? The Heart Of Man Is An Abyss Out Of Which Sometimes Emerge Plots Of Unspeakable Ferocity Capable Of Overturning In An Instant The Tranquil And Productive Life Of A People.

Productive Life

Precisely In An Age When The Inviolable Rights Of The Person Are Solemnly Proclaimed And The Value Of Life Is Publicly Affirmed, The Very Right To Life Is Being Denied Or Trampled Upon, Especially At The More Significant Moments Of Existence: The Moment Of Birth And The Moment Of Death.

We Emphasize The Transcendent Worth Of The Human Person. We Insist That The Human Person Must Never Be Treated As An Object; He Must Always Be Considered The Subject. That Is The Basis For Our Teaching, The Absolute Standard.

To The Family Is Entrusted The Task Of Striving, First And Foremost, To Unleash The Forces Of Good.

Trending Author

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Category