Background Image

...

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.

-Pope Benedict XVI

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

The Diligent Reading Of

Pope Benedict XVI

...

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.

Views: 94226

Topic

More From Pope Benedict XVI

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.

Although The Particular Inclination Of The Homosexual Person Is Not A Sin, It Is More Or Less Strong Tendency Ordered To An Intrinsic Moral Evil, And Thus The Inclination Itself Must Be Seen As An Objective Disorder.

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

Violence Against Even One Human Being Is Violence Against All.

The Church Does Not Engage In Proselytism. Instead, She Grows By "attraction": Just As Christ "draws All To Himself" By The Power Of His Love, Culminating In The Sacrifice Of The Cross, So The Church Fulfills Her Mission.

A Spiritual Desert Is Spreading: An Interior Emptiness, An Unnamed Fear, A Quiet Sense Of Despair.

Rediscover The Joy Of Believing.

Prayer, As A Means Of Drawing Ever New Strength From Christ, Is Concretely And Urgently Needed.

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

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.

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

God Is Alive. He Has Created Every One Of Us, And He Knows Us All. He Is So Great That He Has Time For The Little Things In Our Lives: “every Hair Of Your Head Is Numbered”. God Is Alive, And Makes Sense To Become A Priest: The World Needs Priests, Pastors, Today, Tomorrow And Always, Until The End Of Time.

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

Tell Others About The Truth That Sets You Free.

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.

Meaning That Is Self-made Is In The Last Analysis No Meaning. Meaning, That Is, The Ground On Which Our Existence As A Totality Can Stand And Live, Cannot Be Made But Only Received.

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.

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.

Islam Has A Total Organization Of Life That Is Completely Different From Ours; It Embraces Simply Everything,...there Is A Very Marked Subordination Of Woman To Man; There Is A Very Tightly Knit Criminal Law, Indeed, A Law Regulating All Areas Of Life, That Is Opposed To Our Modern Ideas About Society. One Has To Have A Clear Understanding That It Is Not Simply A Denomination That Can Be Included In The Free Realm Of A Pluralistic Society.

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

Society Today Is Being Fragmented By A Way Of Thinking That Is Inherently Short-sighted Because It Disregards The Full Horizon Of Truth - The Truth About God And About Us. By Its Nature, Relativism Fails To See The Whole Picture. It Ignores The Very Principles That Enable Us To Live And Flourish In Unity, Order And Harmony.

Can We Disregard The Growing Phenomenon Of "environmental Refugees", People Who Are Forced By The Degradation Of Their Natural Habitat To Forsake It - And Often Their Possessions As Well - In Order To Face The Dangers And Uncertainties Of Forced Displacement? Can We Remain Impassive In The Face Of Actual And Potential Conflicts Involving Access To Natural Resources? All These Are Issues With A Profound Impact On The Exercise Of Human Rights, Such As The Right To Life, Food, Health And Development.

For More Than 160 Years, Through The Initiative Of The French Bishop Charles De Forbin Janson, The Childhood Of Jesus Has Become The Icon For The Commitment Of Christian Children Who Help The Church In Her Task Of Evangelization By Prayer, Sacrifice And Gestures Of Solidarity....thousands Of Children Meet The Needs Of Other Children, Driven By The Love That The Son Of God, Become A Child, Brought To The Earth. I Say Thanks To These Little Ones And I Pray That They Will Always Be Missionaries.

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.

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

Holiness Never Goes Out Of Fashion.

[non-catholic Christians Are] In A Gravely Deficient Situation In Comparison With Those Who, In The [roman Catholic] Church, Have The Fullness Of The Means Of Salvation.

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

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

Knowing Is Not Simply A Material Act, Since The Object That Is Known Always Conceals Something Beyond The Empirical Datum. All Our Knowledge, Even The Most Simple, Is Always A Minor Miracle, Since It Can Never Be Fully Explained By The Material Instruments That We Apply To It. In Every Truth There Is Something More Than We Would Have Expected, In The Love That We Receive There Is Always An Element That Surprises Us.

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.

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.

Art Means: Revealing God In Everything That Exists.

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.

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!

The Catechism Was Not Written To Please You. It Will Not Make Life Easy For You, Because It Demands Of You A New Life.

Being Missionaries Means Loving God With All One's Heart, Even To The Point, If Necessary, Of Dying For Him... Being Missionaries Means Stooping Down To The Needs Of All, Like The Good Samaritan, Especially Those Of The Poorest And Most Destitute People.

The Deepest Poverty Is The Inability Of Joy, The Tediousness Of A Life Considered Absurd And Contradictory. This Poverty Is Widespread Today, In Very Different Forms In The Materially Rich As Well As The Poor Countries. The Inability Of Joy Presupposes And Produces The Inability To Love, Produces Jealousy, Avarice - All Defects That Devastate The Life Of Individuals And Of The World. This Is Why We Are In Need Of A New Evangelization - If The Art Of Living Remains An Unknown, Nothing Else Works... This Art Can Only Be Communicated By [one] Who Has Life - He Who Is The Gospel Personified.

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.

I'm Not A Man Who Constantly Thinks Up Jokes.

Jesus, The Word Incarnate, Is Always The Center Of Our Announcement, The Point Of Reference For Our Evangelizing Mission And For Its Methodology, Because He Is The Human Face Of God, Who Wishes To Meet All Men And Women So As To Bring Them Into Communion With Him, In His Love.

Preservation Of The Environment, Promotion Of Sustainable Development And Particular Attention To Climate Change Are Matters Of Grave Concern For The Entire Human Family. No Nation Or Business Sector Can Ignore The Ethical Implications Present In All Economic And Social Development. With Increasing Clarity Scientific Research Demonstrates That The Impact Of Human Actions In Any One Place Or Region Can Have Worldwide Effects.

Vacation Time Offers The Unique Opportunity To Pause Before The Thought-provoking Spectacles Of Nature, A Wonderful "book" Within Reach Of Everyone, Adults And Children. In Contact With Nature, A Person Rediscovers His Correct Dimension, Rediscovers Himself As A Creature, Small But At The Same Time Unique, With A "capacity For God" Because Interiorly He Is Open To The Infinite.

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.

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.

Dear Young People, We Have Seen That It Is The Holy Spirit Who Brings About The Wonderful Communion Of Believers In Jesus Christ. True To His Nature As Giver And Gift Alike, He Is Even Now Working Through You. Let Unifying Love Be Your Measure; Abiding Love Your Challenge; Self-giving Love Your Mission!

I Am Convinced That Music Really Is The Universal Language Of Beauty Which Can Bring Together All People Of Good Will On Earth

Dear Brothers And Sisters...the Lord Is Calling Me To "climb The Mountain", To Devote Myself Even More To Prayer And Meditation. But This Does Not Mean Abandoning The Church, Indeed, If God Is Asking Me To Do This, It Is So I Can Continue To Serve The Church With The Same Dedication And The Same Love With Which I Have Done Thus Far, But In A Way That Is Better Suited To My Age And My Strength

The New Pope Knows That His Task Is To Make The Light Of Christ Shine Before Men And Women Of World - Not His Own Light, But That Of Christ.

The World Promises You Comfort, But You Were Not Made For Comfort. You Were Made For Greatness.

Indeed, Truth Draws Strength From Itself And Not From The Number Of Votes In Its Favour.

In The Pierced Heart Of The Crucified, God's Own Heart Is Opened Up - Here We See Who God Is And What He Is Like. Heaven Is No Longer Locked Up. God Has Stepped Out Of His Hiddenness.

If In My Life I Fail Completely To Heed Others, Solely Out Of A Desire To Be 'devout' And To Perform My 'religious Duties', Then My Relationship With God Will Also Grow Arid. It Becomes Merely 'proper', But Loveless.

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

Over The Pope As Expression Of The Binding Claim Of Ecclesiastical Authority, There Stands One's Own Conscience Which Must Be Obeyed Before All Else, Even If Necessary Against The Requirement Of Ecclesiastical Authority.

Thank You From The Heart To All Those Who In Various Ways Are Near Me Or Follow Me Spiritually With Affection And Prayers From Afar. To Each One Of You, I Ask You To Continue To Support Me By Praying To God To Let Me Be His Gentle And Firm Pastor Of His Church.

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.

Which Direction Do We Take? The One Prompted By The Passions Or The One Indicated By The Star Which Shines In Your Conscience? The Magi Heard The Answer: "in Bethlehem Of Judea; For So It Is Written By The Prophet" (mt 2: 5), And, Enlightened By These Words, They Chose To Press Forward To The Very End.

Indeed, Beauty Is One Of Mankind's Greatest Needs; It Is The Root From Which The Branches Of Our Peace And The Fruits Of Our Hope Come Forth. Beauty Also Reveals God Because, Like Him, A Work Of Beauty Is Pure Gratuity; It Calls Us To Freedom And Draws Us Away From Selfishness.

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.

Mission Is A Duty About Which One Must Say 'woe To Me If I Do Not Evangelize' (1 Corinthians 9:16)...redemption And Mission Are Acts Of Love [because] Those Who Proclaim The Gospel Participate In The Charity Of Christ.

The Church Is Not A Political Power, Nor A Political Party, But Rather A Moral Reality, A Moral Force.

Poverty Is A Plague Against Which Humanity Must Fight Without Cease.

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.

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 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.

To Desire The Common Good And Strive Towards It Is A Requirement Of Justice And Charity.

Non-african Missionaries, Responding Generously To The Lord's Call With Ardent Apostolic Zeal, Came To Share The Joy Of Revelation. Following In Their Footsteps, Africans Are Today Missionaries On Other Continents.

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.

It Is Necessary Not Only To Relieve The Gravest Needs But To Go To Their Roots, Proposing Measures That Will Give Social, Political And Economic Structures A More Equitable And Solidaristic Configuration.

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 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.

Grant That We May Be One Flock And One Shepherd.

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.

If You Follow The Will Of God, You Know That In Spite Of All The Terrible Things That Happen To You, You Will Never Lose A Final Refuge. You Know That The Foundation Of The World Is Love, So That Even When No Human Being Can Or Will Help You, You May Go On, Trusting In The One That Loves You.

Joy Is The True Gift Of Christmas.

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.

Jesus Resolved The False Opposition Between Obedience And Freedom And Opened The Path To Freedom

Too Often, Attention Is Diverted From The Needs Of Populations, Insufficient Emphasis Is Placed On Work In The Fields, And The Goods Of The Earth Are Not Given Adequate Protection. As A Result, Economic Imbalance Is Produced, And The Inalienable Rights And Dignity Of Every Human Person Are Ignored.

Today Christmas Has Become A Commercial Celebration, Whose Bright Lights Hide The Mystery Of God’s Humility, Which In Turn Calls Us To Humility And Simplicity. Let Us Ask The Lord To Help Us See Through The Superficial Glitter Of This Season, And To Discover Behind It The Child In The Stable In Bethlehem, So As To Find True Joy And True Light.

Civilization Is Now Under The Tyranny Of Relativism.

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

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.

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

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.

We Will Never Forget That Blessing. It Was The Most Pained And Moving Blessing, Which Left Us With The Extreme Testimony Of His Will To Complete His Ministry Until The End.

The Ecclesial Communities Which Have Not Preserved The Valid Episcopate And The Genuine And Integral Substance Of The Eucharistic Mystery, Are Not Churches In The Proper Sense; However, Those Who Are Baptized In These Communities Are, By Baptism, Incorporated In Christ And Thus Are In A Certain Communion, Albeit Imperfect, With The Church.

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.

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.

What Does Sunday, The Day Of The Lord, Mean For Us? It Is A Day For Rest And For Family, But First Of All A Day For Him.

Food Security Is An Authentically Human Requirement. Guaranteeing It For Present And Future Generations Also Means Safeguarding Ourselves Against The Uncontrolled Exploitation Of Natural Resources. Indeed, The Process Of Consumption And Waste Seems To Overlook Any Concern For ... Biodiversity, Which Is So Important For Agriculture.

How Much Filth There Is In The Church, Even Among Those Who, In The Priesthood, Should Belong Entirely To Him. How Much Pride, How Much Self-sufficiency.

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.

The Church Must Never Be Satisfied With The Ranks Of Those Whom She Has Reached At A Certain Point Or Say That Others Are Fine As They Are: Muslims, Hindus And So Forth. The Church Can Never Retreat Comfortably To Within The Limits Of Her Own Environment. She Is Charged With Universal Solicitude; She Must Be Concerned With And For One And All... We Must... As The Lord Says - Go Out Ever Anew 'to The Highways And Hedges' (luke 14:23), To Deliver God's Invitation To His Banquet Also To Those Who Have So Far Heard Nothing Or Have Not Been Stirred Within.

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

Their Example Testifies That Baptism Commits Christians To Participating Courageously In The Spreading Of The Kingdom Of God, If Need Be Cooperating With The Sacrifice Of Life Itself... This Martyrdom Of Ordinary Life Constitutes A Particularly Important Witness In The Secularized Society Of Our Time. It Is The Peaceful Battle Of Love Which Every Christian, Like Paul, Must Fight Without Flagging: The Race To Spread The Gospel That Involves Us Until Our Death. May The Virgin Mary, Queen Of Martyrs And Star Of Evangelization, Help Us In Our Daily Witness.

Forgiveness Is Not Substitute For Justice.

Freedom Is Not Only A Gift, But A Summons To Personal Responsibility.

Personal Responsibility

We Are No Longer Able To Hear God - There Are Too Many Frequencies Filling Our Ears.

One Of The Promising Indications Of A Renewal In The Church's Missionary Consciousness In Recent Decades, Has Been The Growing Desire Of Many Lay Men And Women [...] To Cooperate Generously In The 'missio Ad Gentes.' As Vatican Council Ii Stressed, The Work Of Evangelization Is A Fundamental Duty Incumbent Upon The Whole People Of God.

Adoration Outside Holy Mass Prolongs And Intensifies What Has Taken Place In The Liturgical Celebration And Makes A True And Profound Reception Of Christ Possible. I . . . Warmly Recommend, To Pastors And To All The Faithful, The Practice Of Eucharistic Adoration

Christ Had A Specific Evangelizing Goal In Mind When He Prayed At The Last Supper That All His Disciples 'be One...'the Church's Evangelizing Mission, Therefore, Moves Along The Path Of Ecumenism, The Path Of Unity Of Faith, Of Evangelical Witness And Authentic Fraternity.

Lent Stimulates Us To Let The Word Of God Penetrate Our Life And In This Way To Know The Fundamental Truth: Who We Are, Where We Come From, Where We Must Go, What Path We Must Take In Life.

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

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.

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

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

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

The Ways Of The Lord Are Not Easy, But We Were Not Created For An Easy Life, But For Great Things, For Goodness.

Our First Experience Of God Is So Important, We Either Experience Him As The Police Guard That Wants To Punish Or As Creative Love That Awaits.

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.

...the Baptized In Their Sense Of Mission, Through Prayer, The Witness Of Life And Christian Commitment In All Its Forms, So That All The Faithful May Become Missionaries In The Places Where They Live And That Vocations Will Come Forth To Proclaim The Gospel To Men Who Do Not Yet Know It.

At The Judgment, In Response To Our Questions, The Lord Will Show Us His Wounds, And We Will Understand. In The Meantime, However, He Simply Expects Us To Stand By Him And To Believe What These Wounds Tell Us, Even Though We Cannot Work Right Through The Logic Of This World.

The Church's Mission Is Not Political In Nature. Her Task Is To Open The World To The Religious Sense By Proclaiming Christ.

If Only Everyone Could Experience The Joy Of Being Christian, Being Loved By God Who Gave His Son For Us!

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.

The Need To Proclaim Christ Boldly And Courageously Is A Continuing Priority For The Church; Indeed It Is A Solemn Duty Laid Upon Her By Christ Who Enjoined The Apostles To 'go Out To The Whole World, Proclaim The Good News To All Creation.'

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

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.

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.

I Believe That The Most Important Thing...is To Revive In The Whole Church That Positive Tension, That Yearning To Announce Christ Again To Contemporary Man.

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.

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.

I Say To You Dear Young People: Do Not Be Afraid Of Christ! He Takes Nothing Away, And He Gives You Verything. When We Give Ourselves To Him, We Receive A Hundredfold In Return. Yes, Open, Open Wide The Doors To Christ And You Will Find True Life.

God Is Not Solitude, But Perfect Communion. For This Reason The Human Person, The Image Of God, Realizes Himself Or Herself In Love, Which Is A Sincere Gift Of Self.

The Eucharistic Sacrifice Of The Body And Blood Of Christ Embraces In Turn The Mystery Of Our Lord's Continuing Passion In The Members Of His Mystical Body, The Church In Every Age.

The Catholic Community Must Offer Support To Those Women Who May Find It Difficult To Accept A Child, Above All When They Are Isolated From Their Family And Friends. Likewise, The Community Should Be Open To Welcome Back All Who Repent Of Having Participated In The Grave Sin Of Abortion, And Should Guide Them With Pastoral Charity To Accept The Grace Of Forgiveness, The Need For Penance, And The Joy Of Entering Once More Into The New Life Of Christ.

From Earliest Times, Water Has Always Been Acknowledged As A Primary Human Good And An Indispensable Natural Resource. Around The Great Rivers Of The World, Like The Mississippi, Great Cultures Have Developed, While Over The Course Of The Centuries The Prosperity Of Countless Societies Has Been Linked To These Waterways. Today, However, The Great Fluvial Systems Of Every Continent Are Exposed To Serious Threats, Often As A Result Of Man's Activity And Decisions.

Truth Is Not Determined By A Majority Vote.

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.

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.

There Is Nothing More Beautiful Than To Be Surprised By The Gospel, By The Encounter With Christ. There Is Nothing More Beautiful Than To Know Him And To Speak To Others Of Our Friendship With Him.

We Ask The Blessed Virgin For The Gift Of Conversion For All Christians, So That They May Announce And Give A Faithful And Coherent Witness To The Perennial Evangelical Message, Which Indicates To Humanity The Path To An Authentic Peace.

Art And The Saints Are The Greatest Apologetics For Our Faith.

Human Pride And Egoism Always Create Divisions, Build Walls Of Indifference, Hate And Violence. The Holy Spirit, On The Other Hand, Makes Hearts Capable Of Understanding The Languages Of All, As He Re-establishes The Bridge Of Authentic Communication Between Earth And Heaven.

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

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.

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.

Forgiveness Does Not Replace Justice.

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.'

We Cannot Live, We Cannot Look At The Truth About Ourselves Without Letting Ourselves Be Looked At And Generated By Christ In Daily Eucharistic Adoration.

Help Each Other To Live And To Grow In The Christian Faith So As To Be Valiant Witnesses Of The Lord. Be United, But Not Closed. Be Humble, But Not Fearful. Be Simple, But Not Naive. Be Thoughtful, But Not Complicated. Enter Into Dialogue With Others, But Be Yourselves.

Our Knowledge Of Jesus Is In Need Above All Of A Living Experience: Another Person's Testimony Is Certainly Important, As In General The Whole Of Our Christian Life Begins With The Proclamation That Comes To Us From One Or Several Witnesses. But We Ourselves Must Be Personally Involved In An Intimate And Profound Relationship With Jesus.

Being A Christian Means Having Love. That Is Unbelievably Difficult And, At The Same Time, Incredibly Simple.

Without Fear We Must Set Sail On The Digital Sea.

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.

The Destruction Of The Environment, Its Improper Or Selfish Use, And The Violent Hoarding Of The Earth's Resources Cause Grievances, Conflicts And Wars, Precisely Because They Are The Consequences Of An Inhumane Concept Of Development.

Only In Truth Does Charity Shine Forth, Only In Truth Can Charity Be Authentically Lived. Truth Is The Light That Gives Meaning And Value To Charity. That Light Is Both The Light Of Reason And The Light Of Faith, Through Which The Intellect Attains To The Natural And Supernatural Truth Of Charity: It Grasps Its Meaning As Gift, Acceptance, And Communion. Without Truth, Charity Degenerates Into Sentimentality. Love Becomes An Empty Shell, To Be Filled In An Arbitrary Way.

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.

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

The Highest Things, The Things That Really Matter, We Cannot Achieve On Our Own; We Have To Accept Them As Gifts And Enter In To The Dynamic Of The Gift, So To Speak.

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.

Advent, This Powerful Liturgical Season That We Are Beginning, Invites Us To Pause In Silence To Understand A Presence. It Is An Invitation To Understand That The Individual Events Of The Day Are Hints That God Is Giving Us, Signs Of The Attention He Has For Each One Of Us.

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

A Christian Knows When It Is Time To Speak Of God And When It Is Better To Say Nothing And To Let Love Alone Speak. He Knows That God Is Love And That God's Presence Is Felt At The Very Time When The Only Thing We Do Is To Love.

The World Needs Transparent Lives, Clear Souls, Pure Minds That Refuse To Be Perceived As Mere Objects Of Pleasure.

We, However, Have A Different Goal: The Son Of God, The True Man. He Is The Measure Of True Humanism. An "adult" Faith Is Not A Faith That Follows The Trends Of Fashion And The Latest Novelty; A Mature, Adult Faith Is Deeply Rooted In Friendship With Christ. It Is This Friendship That Opens Us Up To All That Is Good And Gives Us A Criterion By Which To Distinguish The True From The False, And Deceit From Truth.

How Much We Need, In The Church And In Society, Witnesses Of The Beauty Of Holiness, Witnesses Of The Splendour Of Truth, Witnesses Of The Joy And Freedom Born Of A Living Relationship With Christ!

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?

There May Be A Basis In The Case Of Some Individuals, As Perhaps When A Male Prostitute Uses A Condom, Where This Can Be A First Step In The Direction Of A Moralisation, A First Assumption Of Responsibility...

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.

When Human Affairs Are So Ordered That There Is No Recognition Of God, There Is A Belittling Of Man. That Is Why, In The Final Analysis, Worship And Law Cannot Be Completely Separated From Each Other. God Has A Right To A Response From Man, To Man Himself, And Where That Right Of God Totally Disappears, The Order Of Law Among Men Is Dissolved, Because There Is No Cornerstone To Keep The Whole Structure Together.

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

God Of Peace, Bring Your Peace To Our Violent World: Peace In The Hearts Of All Men And Women And Peace Among The Nations Of The Earth.

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.

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

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.

God's Heart Calls To Our Hearts, Inviting Us To Come Out Of Ourselves, To Forsake Our Human Certainties, To Trust In Him And, By Following His Example, To Make Ourselves A Gift Of Unbounded Love.

The Great Tasks Facing The Ecclesial Community In The Modern World - And Among The Many I Particularly Stress Evangelization And Ecumenism - Are Centered On The Word Of God And, At The Same Time, Draw Therefrom Their Justification And Support.

A Catholic Would Be Guilty Of Formal Cooperation In Evil, And So Unworthy To Present Himself For Holy Communion, If He Were To Deliberately Vote For A Candidate Precisely Because Of The Candidate's Permissive Stand On Abortion And/or Euthanasia.

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.

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.

All The Saints Of God Are There To Protect Me, To Sustain Me And To Carry Me. And Your Prayers, My Dear Friends, Your Indulgence, Your Love, Your Faith And Your Hope Accompany Me.

I Too Hope In This Short Reign To Be A Man Of Peace.

Since Politics Fundamentally Should Be A Moral Enterprise, The Church In This Sense Has Something To Say About Politics.

Not All Moral Issues Have The Same Moral Weight As Abortion And Euthanasia. There May Be Legitimate Diversity Of Opinion Even Among Catholics About Waging War And Applying The Death Penalty, But Not... With Regard To Abortion And Euthanasia.

The Main Task For Us All Is That Of A New Evangelization Aimed At Helping Younger Generations To Rediscover The True Face Of God, Who Is Love. To You Young People, Who Are In Search Of A Firm Hope, I Address The Very Words That Saint Paul Wrote To The Persecuted Christians In Rome At That Time: "may The God Of Hope Fill You With All Joy And Peace In Believing, So That You May Abound In Hope By The Power Of The Holy Spirit" (rom 15:13).

When, As Today, There Is A Market In Human Organs, When Fetuses Are Produced To Make Spare Organs Available, Or To Make Progress In Research And Preventive Medicine, Many Regard The Human Content Of These Practices As Implicit. But The Contempt For Man That Underlies It, When Man Is Used And Abused, Leads -- Like It Or Not -- To A Descent Into Hell.

Used And Abused

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.

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

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.

Each One Of Us Needs Time And Space For Recollection, Meditation And Calmness.... Thanks Be To God That This Is So! In Fact, This Need Tells Us That We Are Not Made For Work Alone, But Also To Think, To Reflect Or Even Simply To Follow With Our Minds And Our Hearts A Tale, A Story In Which To Immerse Ourselves, In A Certain Sense To Lose Ourselves To Find Ourselves Subsequently Enriched.

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.

It Is Not By Sidestepping Or Fleeing From Suffering That We Are Healed, But Rather By Our Capacity For Accepting It, Maturing Through It And Finding Meaning Through Union With Christ, Who Suffered With Infinite Love.

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. They Saw Where He Lived And Began To Know Him. They Would Not Have To Be Heralds Of An Idea, But Witnesses Of A Person. Before Being Sent To Evangelize, They Would Have To "be" With Jesus (cf. Mark 3:14), Establishing A Personal Relationship With Him. With This Foundation, Evangelization Is No More Than A Proclamation Of What Has Been Experienced And An Invitation To Enter Into The Mystery Of Communion With Christ (cf. 1 John 13).

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.

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.

The Current Economic Crisis...has Numerous Causes And Sends A Powerful Message About The Need For A Profound Revision Of The Model Of Global Economic Development. It's An Acute Symptom That Is Added To Other More Grave And Already Well-known Ones, Such As The Continued Imbalance Between Wealth And Poverty, The Scandal Of Hunger, The Ecological Emergency And The Problem Of Unemployment, Which Has Now Become General. In This Context A Strategic Re-launching Of Agriculture Appears Decisive.

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.

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

Peace, However, Is Not Merely A Gift To Be Received: It Is Also A Task To Be Undertaken. In Order To Be True Peacemakers, We Must Educate Ourselves In Compassion, Solidarity, Working Together, Fraternity, In Being Active Within The Community And Concerned To Raise Awareness About National And International Issues And The Importance Of Seeking Adequate Mechanisms For The Redistribution Of Wealth, The Promotion Of Growth, Cooperation For Development And Conflict Resolution. 'blessed Are The Peacemakers, For They Shall Be Called Sons Of God', As Jesus Says In The Sermon On The Mount

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.

The Fundamental Task Of The Evangelization Of Culture Is The Challenge To Make God Visible In The Human Face Of Jesus.

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

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.

God's Love For His People Is So Great That It Turns God Against Himself, His Love Against His Justice.

The Truth Comes To Rule, Not Through Violence, But Rather Through Its Own Power; [this Is The Central Theme Of John's Gospel:] When Brought Before Pilate, Jesus Professes That He Himself Is The Truth And The Witness To The Truth. He Does Not Defend The Truth With Legions But Rather Makes It Visible Through His Passion And Thereby Also Implements It.

Prudence Does Not Mean Failing To Accept Responsibilities And Postponing Decisions; It Means Being Committed To Making Joint Decisions After Pondering Responsibly The Road To Be Taken, Decisions Aimed At Strengthening That Covenant Between Human Beings And The Environment, Which Should Mirror The Creative Love Of God, From Whom We Came And Towards Whom We Are Journeying.

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.

Trending Author

Salvatore Quasimodo

Category