Women in the Church

“A great deal has been written and said in the fifty years since the Council on the role of women in the Church, some even speak of doors which were opened in order to be closed again. However, this is not what is found on reading the Conciliar documents. The renewal which has taken place through the greater presence of the laity and a fuller awareness of their vocation and mission (and that includes us women!) is not always taken account of sufficiently. It does not cease to be a paradox that the greatest women in the history of the Church, holy mystics, founders, saints of charity, doctors… did not sit around waiting until they were given a role, nor did they postpone their labours until a ministry was instituted for them. They knew their place: together with Christ, children of the Father, daughters of the Church, full members of the Church, capable of enriching her with their gifts. And they set to work responding to the urgent needs of their times. Should we not also give ourselves and strive, each in the place to which God has called her, to carry forward that New Evangelisation to which Benedict XVI untiringly exhorts us?”

Ana Cristina Villa Betancourt, Responsible for the Women’s Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, has just posted an article about laywomen auditors at Vatican Council II.  She  encourages women of today to fulfill our God-given mission by sharing our unique gifts. 

Please follow the links for more information and to read this inspiring article:         

http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna/tema-del-mese.html
http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna.html
http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna/profilo.html

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To what urgent need(s) is the Lord asking you to respond? 

What gifts is God calling you to share with the Church and the world?

Let us pray for and with each other as we faithfully strive to do God’s will and prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord and Saviour.

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Speaking About God

"How do we speak to God in our times? How can we communicate the Gospel to open the way to its salvific truth?" His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI offered an answer to these questions in his catechesis during the 28 November 2012 general audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.

"In Jesus of Nazareth", the Pope said, "we encounter the face of God, descended from Heaven to immerse Himself in the world of mankind and to teach 'the art of living', the road to happiness; to free us from sin and to make us true children of God".

He continued, "speaking about God means, first and foremost, being clear about what we must bring to the men and women of our time. God has spoken to us, … not an abstract or hypothetical God, but a real God, a God Who exists, Who entered history and remains present in history: the God of Jesus Christ ... as a response to the fundamental question of why and how to live. Therefore, speaking about God requires a continual growth in faith, familiarity with Jesus and His Gospel, a profound knowledge of God and strong passion for His plan for salvation, without giving in to the temptations of success. … We must not fear the humility of taking small steps, trusting in the leaven that makes the dough rise slowly and mysteriously. In speaking about God, in the work of evangelisation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must return to the simplicity and essential nature of proclamation: the concrete Good News of God Who cares about us, the love of God which Jesus Christ brought close to us, even unto the Cross, and which in the Resurrection opens us to life without end, to eternal life".

"Speaking about God means communicating, with power and simplicity, through words and the life we lead, that which is essential: the God of Jesus Christ, the God Who showed us a love so great that He took on human flesh, died and rose again for us; the God Who asks us to follow Him and to allow ourselves to be transformed by His immense love in order to renew our lives and our relationships; the God Who gave us the Church, to allow us to journey together and, through the Word and the Sacraments, to renew the entire City of Man so that it might become the City of God", concluded the Pope.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/speaking-about-god-in-our-times

http://www.news.va/en/news/speaking-of-god-our-time

http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en/news/2012-11-27.html

 

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It is Rational to Believe

"As the Year of Faith progresses we carry in our hearts the hope of rediscovering our joy at believing and our enthusiasm for communicating the truth of faith to all. … This leads us to discover that our encounter with God brings value to, perfects and elevates that which is true, good and beautiful in mankind", said His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in his catechesis during the November 21, 2012 General Audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.

 

Faith, the Pope explained, "means knowing God as Love, thanks to His own love. The love of God … opens our eyes and allows us to know all reality beyond the limited horizons of individualism and subjectivism which distort our awareness".

 

"…God, with His grace, illuminates reason and opens up new horizons, immeasurable and infinite. Therefore, faith is a continuous stimulus to seek, never to cease or acquiesce in the inexhaustible search for truth and reality. … In the irresistible desire for truth, only a harmonious relationship between faith and reason can show the correct path to God and to self-fulfilment".

 

Our Holy Father concluded, "It is rational to believe, as it is our very existence that is at stake".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-it-is-rational-to-believe

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 Pray for Peace in Gaza

"I am following with grave concern the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip", said His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during his greetings following today's general audience. "Along with my prayers for the victims and for those who suffer, it is my duty to emphasise once again that hatred and violence are not the solutions to these problems. Furthermore, I endorse the initiatives and efforts of those who are working to promote a ceasefire and negotiations. I also encourage the authorities of both parties to make courageous decisions in favour of peace and to bring an end to a dispute which has negative repercussions throughout the whole of the Middle East, a region riven by excessive conflict and in need of peace and reconciliation".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-appeal-for-peace-in-gaza-full-text

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“Let us all pray to the Lord to give us peace that men cannot take away from us.”

-        His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

For more information, please visit:

http://en.lpj.org/2012/11/21/patriarch-reacts-to-instability-in-the-region-affecting-latin-patriarchate-in-gaza-and-jordan/

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Three Ways to Know God

Three ways to knowing God (the world, the human being, and the faith) provided the theme for His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held 14 November 2012 in the Paul VI Hall.

The Holy Father began by explaining that "God's initiative always precedes any initiative on the part of man, and, even on our journey towards Him, it is He Who first illuminates and guides us, while always respecting our freedom. ... God never tires of seeking us, He is faithful to the man He created and redeemed, and He remains close to us because He loves us. This is a certainty which must accompany us every day"….

"Our own times have seen the emergence of a phenomenon which is particularly dangerous for the faith. There exists, in fact, a form of atheism, which we define as 'practical', in which the truths of faith and religious ritual are not denied but are simply held to be irrelevant to daily existence, detached from life, useless. Often, then, people believe in God superficially but live as if He did not exist. In the final analysis, however, such a lifestyle turns out to be even more destructive, because it leads to indifference towards the faith and towards the question of God”.

Faced with this situation the Church, "faithful to Christ's mandate, never ceases to affirm the truth about man and his destiny", said the Pope. Yet, he asked, "what responses is the faith called to give… so that the men and women of our time may continue to question themselves about the existence of God, and follow the paths that lead to Him?"

Referring to the first of these paths - the world - the Pope expressed the view that "we must recover and restore to modern man the chance to contemplate the creation, its beauty and structure".

To explain the second path - the human being - Benedict XVI quoted from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, saying: 'With his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence'".

Turning finally to consider the faith, the Pope noted how "believers are united to God, open to His grace and to the force of charity. ... Their faith is not afraid to show itself in daily life, it is open to a dialogue which expresses profound friendship for all men and women, and is able to bring the light of hope to our need for redemption, happiness and future life. Faith means meeting God Who speaks and works in history."

"In reality, at the basis of all doctrine and values is the encounter between man and God in Jesus Christ. Christianity, rather than a moral or ethical code, is first and foremost the experience of love in welcoming Christ", Pope Benedict XVI concluded.

 

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/three-ways-to-know-god-the-world-man-and-faith

http://www.news.va/en/news/audience-pathways-to-god-the-world-man-faith

 

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