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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.

-Pope Benedict XVI

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Vacation Time Offers The

Pope Benedict XVI

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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.

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God Seeks Us Where We Are, Not So That We Stay There, But So That We May Come To Be Where He Is, So That We May Get Beyond Ourselves.

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We Can Learn From Him That Suffering And The Gift Of Himself Is An Essential Gift We Need In Our Time.

Art Means: Revealing God In Everything That Exists.

Joy Is The True Gift Of Christmas.

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.'

It Is Deplorable That Homosexual Persons Have Been And Are The Object Of Violent Malice In Speech Or In Action. Such Treatment Deserves Condemnation From The Church's Pastors Wherever It Occurs. ... The Intrinsic Dignity Of Each Person Must Always Be Respected In Work, In Action And In Law.

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

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.

Praying Actualizes And Deepens Our Communion With God. Our Prayer Can And Should Arise Above All From Our Heart, From Our Needs, Our Hopes, Our Joys, Our Sufferings, From Our Shame Over Sin, And From Our Gratitude From The Good. It Can And Should Be A Wholly Personal Prayer.

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.

If Jesus Has Become Your Hope, Communicate This To Others With Your Joy And Your Spiritual, Apostolic And Social Engagement. Let Christ Dwell Within You, And Having Placed All Your Faith And Trust In Him, Spread This Hope Around You. Make Choices That Demonstrate Your Faith.

Consecrated Life Means Going To The Very Root Of The Love Of Jesus Christ With An Undivided Heart And Putting Nothing Ahead Of This Love.

That The Different Christian Confessions, Aware Of The Need For A New Evangelisation In This Period Of Profound Transformations, May Be Committed To Announcing The Good News And Moving Towards The Full Unity Of All Christians In Order To Offer A More Credible Testimony Of The Gospel.

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene Is A Classic Example Of Science Fiction.

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

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Used And Abused

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

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.

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.

We Are Still Awaiting Easter; We Are Not Yet Standing In The Full Light But Walking Toward It Full Of Trust.

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

You Have Before You The Task Of Seeking New Ways To Announce Christ In Situations Of Rapid And Often Profound Transformation, And Of Emphasizing The Missionary Character Of All Pastoral Activity.

Without The Eucharist, The Church Simply Does Not Exist.

We Must Have Great Respect For These People Who Also Suffer And Who Want To Find Their Own Way Of Correct Living. On The Other Hand, To Create A Legal Form Of A Kind Of Homosexual Marriage, In Reality, Does Not Help These People.

The Cross Is The Approbation Of Our Existence, Not In Words, But In An Act So Completely Radical That It Caused God To Become Flesh And Pierced This Flesh To The Quick; That, To God, It Was Worth The Death Of His Incarnate Son.

Discovering The Beauty And Joy Of Faith Is A Path That Every New Generation Must Take On Its Own.

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.

Global Interconnectedness Has Led To The Emergence Of A New Political Power, That Of Consumers And Their Associations. It Is Good For People To Realize That Purchasing Is Always A Moral - And Not Simply Economic - Act.

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

Music, Great Music, Distends The Spirit, Arouses Profound Emotions And Almost Naturally Invites Us To Raise Our Minds And Hearts To God In All Situations Of Human Existence, The Joyful And The Sad. Music Can Become Prayer.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Civilization Is Now Under The Tyranny Of Relativism.

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.

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

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

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.

I Am Consoled By The Fact That The Lord Knows How To Work And How To Act, Even With Insufficient Tools.

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

Purgatory Basically Means That God Can Put The Pieces Back Together Again. That He Can Cleanse Us In Such A Way That We Are Able To Be With Him And Can Stand There In The Fullness Of Life. Purgatory Strips Off From One Person What Is Unbearable And From Another The Inability To Bear Certain Things, So That In Each Of Them A Pure Heart Is Revealed, And We Can See That We All Belong Together In One Enormous Symphony Of Being.

Fullness Of Life

Without Fear We Must Set Sail On The Digital Sea.

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.

To Suffer With The Other And For Others; To Suffer For The Sake Of Truth And Justice; To Suffer Out Of Love And In Order To Become A Person Who Truly Loves - These Are Fundamental Elements Of Humanity, And To Abandon Them Would Destroy Man Himself.

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

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

God Loves Us Despite Our Shortcomings And Sins, And His Love Gives Meaning To Our Lives And To The Life Of The World.

The Happiness You Have A Right To Enjoy Has A Name And A Face: It Is Jesus Of Nazareth, Hidden In The Eucharist.

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.

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.

Popular Piety Is One Of Our Strengths Because It Consists Of Prayers Deeply Rooted In People's Hearts. These Prayers Even Move The Hearts Of People Who Are Somewhat Cut Off From The Life Of The Church And Who Have No Special Understanding Of Faith. All That Is Required Is To 'illuminate' These Actions And 'purify' This Tradition So That It May Become Part Of The Life Of The Church Today.

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.

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

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.

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.

To Me, Its Seems Necessary To Rediscover - And The Energy To Do So Exists - That Even The Political And Economic Spheres Need Moral Responsibility, A Responsibility That Is Born In Man's Heart And, In The End, Has To Do With The Presence Or Absence Of God.

The Destruction Of Images, The First Signs Of Which Reach Back To The 1920s, Eliminated A Lot Of Kitsch And Unworthy Art, But Ultimately It Left Behind A Void.

The Church Is Missionary By Nature And Her Principal Task Is Evangelization, Which Aims To Proclaim And To Witness To Christ And To Promote His Gospel Of Peace And Love In Every Environment And Culture.

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

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 Twelve Apostles Are The Most Evident Sign Of Jesus' Will Regarding The Existence And Mission Of His Church, The Guarantee That Between Christ And The Church There Is No Opposition: Despite The Sins Of The People Who Make Up The Church, They Are Inseparable. Therefore, A Slogan That Was Popular Some Years Back, 'jesus Yes, Church No,' Is Totally Inconceivable With The Intention Of Christ. This Individualistically Chosen Jesus Is An Imaginary Jesus.

Guarantees That

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

You Have Suffered Grievously And I Am Truly Sorry. I Know That Nothing Can Undo The Wrong You Have Endured. Your Trust Has Been Betrayed And Your Dignity Has Been Violated.

Seeing With The Eyes Of Christ, I Can Give To Others Much More Than Their Outward Necessities; I Can Give Them The Look Of Love Which They Crave.

In An Ever More Open World, Building Peace Through Dialogue Is No Longer A Choice But A Necessity!

The Gospel Is Not Merely A Communication Of Things That Can Be Known - It Is One That Makes Things Happen And Is Life-changing. The Dark Door Of Time, Of The Future, Has Been Thrown Open. The One Who Has Hope Lives Differently; The One Who Hopes Has Been Granted The Gift Of A New Life.

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.

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.

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.

The Earth Is Indeed A Precious Gift Of The Creator Who, In Designing Its Intrinsic Order, Has Given Us Bearings That Guide Us As Stewards Of His Creation. Precisely From Within This Framework, The Church Considers Matters Concerning The Environment And Its Protection Intimately Linked To The Theme Of Integral Human Development.

Each Of Us Has A Mission . . . Each Of Us Is Called To Change The World, To Work For A Culture Of Life, A Culture Forged By Love And Respect For The Dignity Of Each Human Person.

I Send Them My Warmest Encouragement To Persevere In The Patience And Charity Of Christ.

Do You Want To Know Yourself Better? Then Discover Silence.

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.

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.

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.

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

The State Which Would Provide Everything, Absorbing Everything Into Itself, Would Ultimately Become A Mere Bureaucracy Incapable Of Guaranteeing The Very Thing Which The Suffering Person—every Person—needs: Namely, Loving Personal Concern. We Do Not Need A State Which Regulates And Controls Everything, But A State Which, In Accordance With The Principle Of Subsidiarity, Generously Acknowledges And Supports Initiatives Arising From The Different Social Forces And Combines Spontaneity With Closeness To Those In Need. The Church Is One Of Those Living Forces.

I'm Not A Man Who Constantly Thinks Up Jokes. But I Think It's Very Important To Be Able To See The Funny Side Of Life And Its Joyful Dimension And Not To Take Everything Too Tragically. I'd Also Say It's Necessary For My Ministry. A Writer Once Said That Angels Can Fly Because They Don't Take Themselves Too Seriously. Maybe We Could Also Fly A Bit If We Didn't Think We Were So Important.

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

Although The Constellations In Which I Have Found Myself - And Naturally Also The Periods Of Life And Their Different Influences - Have Led To Changes And Development In The Accents Of My Thought, My Basic Impulse, Precisely During The Council, Was Always To Free Up The Authentic Kernel Of The Faith From Encrustations And To Give This Kernel Strength And Dynamism. This Impulse Is The Constant Of My Life ... What's Important To Me Is That I Have Never Deviated From This Constant, Which From My Childhood Has Molded My Life, And That I Have Remained True To It As The Basic Direction Of My Life.

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

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.

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.

Too Often [the Church] Is Weighted Down And Burdened With The Sins And Failings Of Her Children; Too Often She Appears Disfigured And Discouraged.

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.

Preservation Of The Environment, Promotion Of Sustainable Development And Particular Attention To Climate Change Are Matters Of Grave Concern For The Entire Human Family.

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.

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).

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

Personal Responsibility

The Faith Does Not Mean An Alienation From Any Culture For Any People Because All Cultures Await Christ And Are Not Destroyed By The Lord. In Fact, They Reach Their Maturity.

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.

We Celebrate [easter] Because Now, Thanks To The Risen Lord, It Is Definitively Established That Reason Is Stronger Than Unreason, Truth Stronger Than Lies, Love Stronger Than Death.

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 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.

Reason Always Stands In Need Of Being Purified By Faith

After Having Repeatedly Examined My Conscience Before God, I Have Come To The Certainty That My Strengths, Due To An Advanced Age, Are No Longer Suited To An Adequate Exercise Of The Petrine Ministry.

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

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.

Love Has A Particular Trait: Far From Being Indulgent Or Fickle, It Has A Task Or Purpose To Fulfil: To Abide. By Its Nature Love Is Enduring. Again, Dear Friends, We Catch A Further Glimpse Of How Much The Holy Spirit Offers Our World: Love Which Dispels Uncertainty; Love Which Overcomes The Fear Of Betrayal; Love Which Carries Eternity Within; The True Love Which Draws Us Into A Unity That Abides!

The Capacity To Accept Suffering For The Sake Of Goodness, Truth And Justice Is An Essential Criterion Of Humanity, Because If My Own Well-being And Safety Are Ultimately More Important Than Truth And Justice, Then The Power Of The Stronger Prevails, Then Violence And Untruth Reigns Supreme.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

It Is A Symbol Evoking A Reality That Touches The Depths Of The Person ... The Light Of Goodness That Vanquishes Evil, Of Love That Overcomes Hatred, Of Life That Defeats Death.

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

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.

In A Nuclear War There Would Be No Victors, Only Victims. The Truth Of Peace Requires That All ... Strive For A Progressive And Concerted Nuclear Disarmament.

Nuclear Disarmament

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.

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 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.

Rediscover The Joy Of Believing.

The Celebration Of Lent, In The Context Of The Year Of Faith, Offers Us A Valuable Opportunity To Meditate On The Relationship Between Faith And Charity: Between Believing In God - The God Of Jesus Christ - And Love, Which Is The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit And Which Guides Us On The Path Of Devotion To God And Others.

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.

It Is Important Always To Remember That Virtual Contact Cannot And Must Not Take The Place Of Direct Human Contact With People At Every Level Of Our Lives.

Love Looks To The Eternal. Love Is Indeed "ecstasy," Not In The Sense Of A Moment Of Intoxication, But Rather As A Journey, An On-going Exodus Out Of The Closed Inward-looking Self Toward Its Liberation Through Self-giving... Toward Authentic Self-discovery And Indeed The Discovery Of God.

[the Atheist Believes] A World Marked By So Much Injustice, Innocent Suffering, And Cynicism Of Power Cannot Be The Work Of A Good God.

The Aim Of All Christian Education, Moreover, Is To Train The Believer In An Adult Faith That Can Make Him A "new Creation", Capable Of Bearing Witness In His Surroundings To The Christian Hope That Inspires Him.

A Thirst For The Infinite Is Indelibly Present In Human Beings. Man Was Created To Have A Relationship With God; We Need Him.

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.

Following Jesus In Faith Is To Walk With Him In The Communion Of The Church. You Cannot Follow Jesus Alone.

I Leave From Where The Apostle Arrived.

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.

The Abuse Of Faith Has To Be Resisted Precisely.

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.

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.

If We Let Christ Into Our Lives, We Lose Nothing, Nothing, Absolutely Nothing Of What Makes Life Free, Beautiful, And Great. No! Only In This Friendship Are The Doors Of Life Opened Wide. Only In This Friendship Is The Great Potential Of Human Existence Truly Revealed.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Let Us Allow Ourselves To Be 'infected' By St. Joseph's Silence! We Need It Greatly, In A World That Is Often Too Noisy, That Does Not Favor Meditation Or Listening To The Voice Of God.

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.

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.

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.

We Are Building A Dictatorship Of Relativism That Does Not Recognize Anything As Definitive And Whose Ultimate Goal Consists Solely Of One's Own Ego And Desires. 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.

The Life Of The Community, Both Domestically And Internationally, Clearly Demonstrates That Respect For Rights, And The Guarantees That Follow From Them, Are Measures Of The Common Good That Serve To Evaluate The Relationship Between Justice And Injustice, Development And Poverty, Security And Conflict.

Guarantees That

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.

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

The New Evangelization ... Begins In The Confessional.

Anyone Who Knows He Is Loved Is In Turn Prompted To Love. It Is The Lord Himself, Who Loved Us First, Who Asks Us To Place At The Center Of Our Lives Love For Him And For The People He Has Loved. It Is Especially Adolescents And Young People, Who Feel Within Them The Pressing Call To Love, Who Need To Be Freed From The Widespread Prejudice That Christianity, With Its Commandments And Prohibitions, Sets Too Many Obstacles In The Path Of The Joy Of Love And, In Particular Prevents People From Fully Enjoying The Happiness That Men And Women Find In Their Love For One Another.

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.

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.

Do Not Believe That Living Together Before Marriage Guarantees The Future. By Burning Certain Stages, You Risk Burning Love Itself. Time Needs To Be Respected Gradually, Just Like The Expressions Of Love.

Can We Remain Indifferent Before The Problems Associated With Such Realities As Climate Change?

Today The Great Gift Of God's Creation Is Exposed To Serious Dangers And Lifestyles Which Can Degrade It. Environmental Pollution Is Making Particularly Unsustainable The Lives Of The Poor Of The World ... We Must Pledge Ourselves To Take Care Of Creation And To Share Its Resources In Solidarity.

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.

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