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Pope's Words At Conclusion of Good Friday Via Crucis
"Tonight We Have Relived, Deep Within Our Hearts, the Drama of
Jesus"
ROME, APRIL 22, 2011 (Zenit.org).-
Here is a Vatican translation of the address delivered today by Benedict XVI
after the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This evening, in faith, we have accompanied Jesus as he takes the final
steps of his earthly journey, the most painful steps, the steps that lead to
Calvary. We have heard the cries of the crowd, the words of condemnation, the
insults of the soldiers, the lamentation of the Virgin Mary and of the women.
Now we are immersed in the silence of this night, in the silence of the cross,
the silence of death. It is a silence pregnant with the burden of pain borne
by a man rejected, oppressed, downtrodden, the burden of sin that mars his
face, the burden of evil. Tonight we have relived, deep within our hearts, the
drama of Jesus, weighed down by pain, by evil, by human sin.
What remains now before our eyes? It is a crucified man, a cross raised on
Golgotha, a cross which seems a sign of the final defeat of the One who
brought light to those immersed in darkness, the One who spoke of the power of
forgiveness and of mercy, the One who asked us to believe in God’s infinite
love for each human person. Despised and rejected by men, there stands before
us "a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity, one from whom
others hide their faces" (Is 53:3).
But let us look more closely at that man crucified between earth and
heaven. Let us contemplate him more intently, and we will realize that the
cross is not the banner of the victory of death, sin and evil, but rather the
luminous sign of love, of God's immense love, of something that we could never
have asked, imagined or expected: God bent down over us, he lowered himself,
even to the darkest corner of our lives, in order to stretch out his hand and
draw us to himself, to bring us all the way to himself. The cross speaks to us
of the supreme love of God and invites, today, to renew our faith in the power
of that love, and to believe that in every situation of our lives, our history
and our world, God is able to vanquish death, sin and evil, and to give us
new, risen life. In the Son of God’s death on the cross, we find the seed of
new hope for life, like the seed which dies within the earth. <!--[endif]-->
This night full of silence, full of hope, echoes God’s call to us as
found in the words of Saint Augustine: “Have faith! You will come to me and
you will taste the good things of my table, even as I did not disdain to taste
the evil things of your table... I have promised you my own life. As a pledge
of this, I have given you my death, as if to say: Look! I am inviting you to
share in my life. It is a life where no one dies, a life which is truly
blessed, which offers an incorruptible food, the food which refreshes and
never fails. The goal to which I invite you … is friendship with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, it is the eternal supper, it is communion with me … It
is a share in my own life (cf. Sermon 231, 5). <!--[endif]-->
Let us gaze on the crucified Jesus, and let us ask in prayer: Enlighten our
hearts, Lord, that we may follow you along the way of the cross. Put to death
in us the "old man" bound by selfishness, evil and sin. Make us
"new men", men and women of holiness, transformed and enlivened by
your love.
© Copyright 2011 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Pope: Good Friday Is a Day of Hope
Offers Reflection at End of Good Friday Via Crucis
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2010 ( Zenit.org).-
Good Friday is the day of greatest hope, Benedict XVI said tonight at the end
of the Way of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum.
Speaking from atop the Palatine hill, he noted that during the Via Crucis one
rediscovers "how profound is the love [Christ] has had, and has for
us."
"This night we have contemplated Jesus' face full of pain, ridiculed,
insulted, disfigured by the sin of man," the Pontiff continued.
"Tomorrow night we will contemplate his face full of joy, radiant and
luminous.
"Since the moment Christ was placed in the sepulcher, the tomb and death
are no longer hopeless places where history is closed with the most complete
failure, where man touches the ultimate limit of his powerlessness."
"Good Friday is the day of greatest hope, which matured on the
cross," the Holy Father affirmed.
Benedict XVI recalled that when Christ died, he cried out, "Father into
your hands I commend my spirit."
"Surrendering his existence, given into the hands of the Father, he knows
that his death becomes fount of life," the Pope explained. "As the
seed in the ground has to be broken so the plant can grow. If the grain of
wheat fallen in the earth does not die, it remains alone, but if it dies, it
bears much fruit.
"Jesus is the grain of wheat that falls in the earth, is torn, is broken,
dies, and because of this, can bear fruit."
He continued: "From the day on which Christ was raised up on it, the
cross, which looks like a sign of abandonment, loneliness and failure, has
become a new beginning. From the depths of death is raised up the promise of
eternal life; upon the cross already shines the victorious splendor of the
Easter dawn."
The Pope reflected on how the Church now waits for Easter Sunday, for
"the dawn of the third day, the dawn of the victory of the love of God,
the dawn of the light that enables the eyes of the heart to see life,
difficulties and suffering in a new way."
"Our failures, our disillusions, our bitterness that seem to signal the
collapse of everything, are enlightened by hope," he said. "The act
of love of the cross, confirmed by the Father and the radiant light of the
resurrection, envelops and transforms everything.
"From betrayal, friendship can be born; from rejection, pardon; from
hate, love."
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope
Benedict XVI opened Holy Week on Sunday amid one of the most serious
crises facing the church in decades, with questions about his handling
of cases of pedophile priests and the Vatican
acknowledging its "moral credibility" was on the line.
Benedict made no direct mention of the scandal in
his Palm Sunday homily. But one of the prayers, recited in Portuguese
during Mass, was "for the young and for those charged with educating
them and protecting them."
Jesus Christ, Benedict said in his homily, guides
the faithful "toward the courage that doesn't let us be intimidated
by the chatting of dominant opinions, towards patience that supports
others."
Palm Sunday commemorates Christ's triumphant entry
into Jerusalem,
and is the start of the church's Holy Week, which includes the Good Friday
re-enactment of Christ's crucifixion and death and his resurrection on
Easter Sunday.
This year, the most solemn week on the Catholic
Church's liturgical calendar has been stained by a clerical abuse scandal
that has spread across Europe
to the pope's native Germany.
In Austria,
where several cases have come out in recent weeks, the archbishop of Vienna
announced the creation of a church-funded but clergy-free and independent
commission to look into Austrian abuse claims.
It will be run by a woman, the former governor of
Styria province, and is not meant to take the place of a possible
state-run investigative commission, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn told
public broadcaster ORF on Sunday.
The Vatican has been on the defensive amid mounting
questions about the pope's handling of sex abuse cases both when he was
archbishop of Munich and when he headed the Vatican's doctrinal office,
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was Munich
archbishop when a priest was allowed to resume pastoral work with children
even while receiving therapy for pedophilia. He was subsequently convicted
of abusing minors. In addition, a case has come to light in which
Ratzinger's deputy at the Congregation told Wisconsin bishops to quash a
church trial for a priest alleged to have abused up to 200 deaf boys.
The Vatican insists Ratzinger was unaware of the
Munich priest's move to the pastoral job and has defended its handling of
the Wisconsin case.
Schoenborn, a close Benedict confidante, defended
the pope against suggestions that he was behind church cover-ups,
including for the late Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer. The Austrian church
was rocked by allegations in 1995 that Groer molested youths at a
monastery in the 1970s.
Schoenborn replaced Groer as archbishop in 1995;
but it wasn't until 1998 that, on Vatican orders, Groer relinquished all
religious duties and sought exile in Germany. He died in Austria in 2003.
At the time, the Vatican drew sharp criticism from
many Austrians for taking three years to act against Groer. Disgust over
how the case was handled has been cited as contributing to the exodus of
disaffected Austrians from the church.
Schoenborn said Ratzinger had immediately pushed
for an investigative commission when abuse allegations against Groer
arose. However, others in the Vatican — described by Schoenborn as the
"diplomatic track" — did not let this happen.
"I can still very clearly remember the moment
when Cardinal Ratzinger sadly told me that the other camp had asserted
itself," Schoenborn told ORF.
"To accuse him of being someone who covers
things up — having known the pope for many years, I can say that is
certainly not true," he added.
Benedict has only publicly spoken about the scandal
in Ireland, writing a letter to the Irish faithful last week in which he
chastised Irish bishops for leadership shortcomings and errors in judgment
for failing to apply church law to stop abusive priests.
On Saturday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev.
Federico Lombardi, acknowledged that the way the church responds to the
abuse scandal is "crucial for its moral credibility."
He noted that most of the cases that have come to
light recently occurred decades ago.
"But recognizing them, and making amends to
the victims, is the price of re-establishing justice and 'purifying
memories' that will let us look with renewed commitment together with
humility and trust in the future," he said in a statement on Vatican
Radio.
His comments indicated that the Vatican is now
looking at the scandal as a way to purify itself so that it can emerge
renewed and strengthened. He pointed to the action taken by the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops after the clerical abuse scandal
erupted there in 2002, instituting tough norms to protect children.
The head of the German bishops' conference has said
the Vatican was compiling information from various bishops' conferences
around the world that have enacted such norms, with the possible aim of
setting out new guidelines for dealing with the problem.
Separately Sunday, a retired Italian cardinal and
one-time candidate for the papacy said in comments published in the
Austrian newspaper Die Presse that celibacy for priests should be
reconsidered.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, former archbishop of
Milan and considered one of the more liberal-leaning princes of the
church, was quoted as saying that mandatory chastity for churchmen should
be thought over to prevent further abuse cases by clergy and help the
church regain lost trust.
The Vatican has rejected suggestions that celibacy
caused the abuse and Benedict has reaffirmed it as a gift to God as
recently as this month.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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LENTEN MESSAGE
Says Lent Calls for a Total Change of Direction
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 17, 2010 ( Zenit.org).-
Drawing on the two possible formulae for the imposition of ashes on Ash
Wednesday, Benedict XVI today offered a reflection on fundamental elements
of Lent: conversion and human weakness.
The Pope took up this theme at the general audience in Paul VI Hall. The two
formulae used in the liturgy for the imposition of ashes are "Repent
and believe in the Gospel," and "Remember man that thou art dust
and unto dust thou shalt return."
Regarding the first text, the Holy Father suggested that the word conversion
should "be taken in its extraordinary seriousness, discovering the
amazing novelty it contains."
"The call to conversion, in fact, uncovers and denounces the easy
superficiality that very often characterizes our way of living," he
explained. "To be converted means to change direction along the way of
life -- not for a slight adjustment, but a true and total change of
direction.
"Conversion is to go against the current, where the 'current' is a
superficial lifestyle, inconsistent and illusory, which often draws us,
controls us and makes us slaves of evil, or in any case prisoners of moral
mediocrity."
Conversion, on the other hand, aims one to the "lofty measure of
Christian life," the Pontiff said. "We are entrusted to the living
and personal Gospel, which is Christ Jesus.
"His person is the final goal and the profound meaning of conversion;
he is the way which we are called to follow in life, allowing ourselves to
be illumined by his light and sustained by his strength."
"In this way," the Holy Father proposed, "conversion
manifests its most splendid and fascinating face: It is not a simple moral
decision to rectify our conduct of life, but it is a decision of
faith."
Hence being converted and believing in the Gospel are really just two
expressions of the same reality, the Bishop of Rome stated.
"Conversion is the total 'yes' of the one who gives his own existence
to the Gospel, responding freely to Christ," he said.
Precious dust
Taking up the second formula, Benedict XVI said the Word of God
"reminds us of our frailty, including our death, which is the extreme
expression of our frailty."
He added that "the Lenten liturgy on one hand reminds us of death,
inviting us to realism and to wisdom but, on the other hand, it drives us
above all to accept and live the unexpected novelty that the Christian faith
liberates us from the reality of death itself."
"Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but he is precious dust in
God's eyes, because God created man for immortality," he declared.
"The Lord Jesus also wished to freely share with every man the lot of
frailty, in particular through his death on the cross; but precisely this
death, full of his love for the Father and for humanity, has been the way
for the glorious resurrection," the Pope continued.
We are invited "to live the time of Lent as a more conscious and more
intense immersion in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, in his death and
resurrection, through participation in the Eucharist and in the life of
charity," he said.
"With the imposition of ashes," the Pontiff reflected, "we
renew our commitment to follow Jesus, to allow ourselves to be transformed
by his Paschal Mystery, to overcome evil and do good, to have the 'old man'
in us die, the one linked to sin, and to have the 'new man' be born,
transformed by the grace of God."
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On ZENIT's Web page:
Full text: http://www.zenit.org/article-28387?l=english
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Pope to Youth: Return to the Father
This Lent
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 17, 2010 ( Zenit.org).-
Benedict XVI is encouraging young people to live Lent with a truly
penitential spirit, as a return to the Father.
The Pope said this today at the end of the general audience in Paul VI Hall,
with his customary greeting to youth, the sick and newlyweds.
"Dear young people," he said, "I exhort you to live Lent with
a genuine penitential spirit, as a return to the Father, who awaits all with
open arms."
The Holy Father continued: "Dear sick people, I encourage you to offer
your sufferings together with Christ for the conversion of those who still
find themselves far from God; and I hope you, dear newlyweds, will build
your families with courage and generosity on the solid rock of divine
love."
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WORLD FEATURES
We Also Have Crosses, Prelates
Remind Faithful
African Bishops Affirm Hope in Suffering
PRETORIA, South Africa, FEB. 17, 2010 ( Zenit.org).-
Bishops, too, have crosses they do not want to carry. But Lent is a time to
remember that Christians are people of hope, according to prelates of
Southern Africa.
In the Lenten appeal for this year, titled "Seeds of Hope," the
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) reflected on the
difficulties that touch the human condition.
"The cross we are asked to carry often seems to be the one we don’t
want or can’t manage," the prelates reflected. "We your bishops
readily admit we have our own crosses: crosses of loneliness, of
disappointment, of lack of priests and sisters, of shortage of money and
other resources to run the dioceses.
"Like you, we too are very human with very human struggles."
The faithful as well must carry their crosses, the bishops affirmed:
"Some of you are old and experience the loneliness of old age. [...]
Some of you are young and are struggling with studies, struggling with
unemployment, struggling with broken friendships, struggling with the very
meaning of life. Some of you are fathers and mothers and you are worried
about your children, where they are, what they are doing, refusing to follow
the advice you have given them. Some of you parents may have had to bury
your children, something no parent ever wants to do.
"Some are struggling with ill health, with sickness that won’t go
away, with a disease that has no cure, with constant pain. Some are divorced
and left to rear your children alone."
A friend
But, the African bishops affirmed, in spite of "all the
difficulties" and the "crosses that we don’t want in our
lives," Christians are people of hope.
"We have faith in Jesus who loves us so much that he was willing to die
for us," they affirmed. "[...] This friend of ours, Jesus the Son
of God, is our brother. He carried his own cross and died a very painful
death. But he rose from the dead, he is alive."
The prelates affirmed the faith that "one day all our pain and
suffering will come to an end," and that meanwhile, "we know that
he is with us as he promised."
"Our hope is in him, in his everlasting love, in his constant presence
and his power," they said. "We are in good hands."
Simon
The bishops of the SACBC affirmed that Christ's presence is manifested in
those around us: "He is present in them and he helps us through
them."
And this, the prelates suggested, translates to an invitation for this Lent.
"We your bishops hope each of us will find someone during this Lent who
will be like Simon of Cyrene who on Good Friday met Jesus on the way and
helped to carry that heavy cross up the hill of Calvary," they said.
"We can all be that Simon for somebody. We ourselves need a Simon in
our lives, one who will help us on the way and give us courage and hope and
the strength to continue."
The prelates noted that the Lenten appeal for the poor, sick, homeless and
hungry is one way to be like Simon, "giving a helping hand to Jesus
through the Church that he founded and of which he is the head."
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On the Net:
Full text: www.sacbc.org.za/pdfs/Lenten%20Appeals/Bishops%20Lenten%20Appeal%202010.pdf
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Jesus Brings Justice Founded in Love,
Says Pope
Pontiff Encourages Work With the Poor
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2010 ( Zenit.org).-
Benedict XVI is affirming that Jesus satisfies man's "thirst for
justice," through his Divine love rather than political revolution.
The Pope stated this today in a public address before he prayed the midday
Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
He reflected on today's liturgy and the Gospel reading of the Beatitudes.
"The beatitudes are based on the existence of a divine justice,"
the Pontiff affirmed, "which raises up those who have been wrongly
humiliated and casts down those who have been exalted."
He stated that "this justice and this beatitude are realized in the
'Kingdom of Heaven,' or the 'Kingdom of God,' which will be fulfilled at the
end of time but is already present in history."
"Where the poor are consoled and admitted to the banquet of life,
there God's justice is manifested," the Holy Father said. "This is
the task that the Lord's disciples are called to undertake even now in the
present society."
Recalling his visit this morning to a Caritas shelter in Rome, he said,
"From my heart I encourage those who work in such worthy institutions and
those, in every part of the world, who freely engage in similar works of
justice and love."
Lent
Benedict XVI continued: "Justice is the theme that I have chosen for
this year's Message for Lent, which will begin on Wednesday -- the day that we
call Ash Wednesday.
"Today I would like to offer it to everyone, inviting all to read it
and meditate on it."
"The Gospel of Christ responds positively to the thirst for justice in
man," he said, "but in an unexpected and surprising way."
"Jesus does not propose a revolution of a social or political type,
but one of love, which he has already realized with his cross and his
resurrection," the Pope pointed out.
He added, "On these are founded the beatitudes, which propose a new
horizon of justice, initiated by Easter, by which we can become just and build
a better world."
The Pontiff concluded by exhorting his listeners: "Let us allow
ourselves to be led by [the Blessed Virgin] through the journey of Lent, to be
liberated from the illusion of self-sufficiency, recognize that we need God,
his mercy, and in this way enter into his kingdom of justice, of love and of
peace."
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On ZENIT's Web page:
Full text: http://zenit.org/article-28350?l=english
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