Pope Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for February is:
"That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life".
His mission intention is:
"That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world's poorest regions".
Please see Agenzia Fides Commentary at:
http://www.news.va/en/news/that-the-lord-may-sustain-the-efforts-of-health-wo
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
If Today You Hear His Voice, Harden Not Your Hearts
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert.
There your ancestors tested me;
they tried me though they had seen my works.
Psalm 95: 8-9
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority…
… At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation's founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature's God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such…..
19 January 2012
Are we listening to the voice of God and following His will, as motivated by today’s Responsorial Psalm?
Are we hardened by the evil around us or are we heartened by the call of Jesus?
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert.
There your ancestors tested me;
they tried me though they had seen my works.
Psalm 95: 8-9
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| Synagogue at Capernaum |
Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority…
Mark 1: 21-22
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| Synagogue at Capernaum |
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
From Address to United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Regions 4 and 619 January 2012
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On 20 January 2012 Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sharply criticized the decision by the Obama administration in which it "ordered almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide sterilization and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their health plans....Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn't happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights." He urged Catholics and the public at large to speak out in protest.
For more information and suggested action, please visit:
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| Detail of carved pomegranates at Capernaum The pomegranate is said to have 613 seeds which symbolize the commandments of the Mosaic Law. + |
Are we hardened by the evil around us or are we heartened by the call of Jesus?
Are we determined to promote God’s moral law and protect the sanctity of life?
May the Holy Spirit empower all people of faith and good will to insist on our rights of conscience and the restoration of religious liberty.+
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Silence and Word: Path of Evangelisation
Today's Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, was marked by the release of Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 46th World Communications Day (Sunday, 20 May 2012), entitled, "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelisation." Some excerpts are given below.
On this "World Communications Day 2012, I would like to share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved".
"Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth. ... By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible….”
"The process of communication nowadays is largely fuelled by questions in search of answers. Search engines and social networks have become the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice, ideas, information and answers. ... Indeed, people today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware. If we are to recognise and focus upon the truly important questions, then silence is a precious commodity that enables us to exercise proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data that we receive".
"Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God. In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives. It is hardly surprising that different religious traditions consider solitude and silence as privileged states which help people to rediscover themselves and that Truth which gives meaning to all things. The God of biblical revelation speaks also without words: 'As the Cross of Christ demonstrates, God also speaks by His silence".
"If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God. ... In speaking of God's grandeur, our language will always prove inadequate and must make space for silent contemplation. Out of such contemplation springs forth, with all its inner power, the urgent sense of mission, the compelling obligation 'to communicate that which we have seen and heard' so that all may be in communion with God".
"Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as speak. This is especially important for those engaged in the task of evangelisation: both silence and word are essential elements, integral to the Church's work of communication for the sake of a renewed proclamation of Christ in today's world".
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For the complete text of the Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 46th World Communications Day (Sunday, 20 May 2012), please visit:
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Mary, Mother of the "Yes", you listened to Jesus,
and know the tone of his voice and the beating of his heart.
Morning Star, speak to us of him,
and tell us about your journey of following him on the path of faith.
Mary, who dwelt with Jesus in Nazareth,
impress on our lives your sentiments,
your docility, your attentive silence,
and make the Word flourish in genuinely free choices.
Mary, speak to us of Jesus, so that the freshness of our faith
shines in our eyes and warms the heart of those we meet,
as you did when visiting Elizabeth,
who in her old age rejoiced with you for the gift of life.
Mary, Virgin of the Magnificat
help us to bring joy to the world and, as at Cana,
lead every young person involved in service of others
to do only what Jesus will tell them.
- From the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI,
House of Loreto, 1 September 2007
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2007/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20070901_preghiera-loreto_en.html
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Monday, January 23, 2012
The Fruits of Devotion
“When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling.
I say that devotion must be practiced in different ways by the nobleman and by the working man, by the servant and by the prince, by the widow, by the unmarried girl and by the married woman. But even this distinction is not sufficient; for the practice of devotion must be adapted to the strength, to the occupation and to the duties of each one in particular….
Therefore, in whatever situations we happen to be, we can and we must aspire to the life of perfection.”
From The Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales
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…I wish to recall the figure of St Francis de Sales, whom the Liturgy commemorates on 24 January. Born in Savoy in 1567, he studied law in Padua and Paris and then, called by the Lord, became a priest. He dedicated himself to preaching and to the spiritual formation of the faithful with great success. He taught that the call to holiness was for everyone and that each one as St Paul says in his comparison of the Church to the body has a place in the Church. St Francis de Sales is the patron Saint of journalists and of the Catholic press.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Angelus, 24 January 2010
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…When two pure souls on fire with the same love for God meet, they find in their friendship with each other a powerful incentive to advance on the path of perfection. Friendship is one of the noblest and loftiest human sentiments which divine Grace purifies and transfigures. … Examples are St Francis de Sales and St Jane Frances de Chantal. And St Francis de Sales himself wrote: "It is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there. I am not now speaking of simple charity, a love due to all mankind, but of that spiritual friendship which binds souls together, leading them to share devotions and spiritual interests, so as to have but one mind between them" (The Introduction to a Devout Life, III, 19).
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
General Audience, 15 September 2010
For more information about Saint Francis de Sales, please visit:
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May God bless us with enduring spiritual friendship, shared devotions and spiritual interests which help us to advance on the path of perfection.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Proclaim a Gospel Which Proposes Unchanging Moral Truths
Today in the Vatican His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received a group of prelates from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Regions 4 and 6), at the end of their "ad limina" visit. Extracts from his English-language remarks to them are given below.
"At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation's founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature's God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.
"For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering. ... With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. ... The Church's defence of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a 'language' which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world".
"The Church's witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.
"Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-a-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would de-legitimise the Church's participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society. ... In this regard, I would mention with appreciation your efforts to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and to help them understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith, especially with regard to the great moral issues of our time: respect for God's gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights".
"No one who looks at these issues realistically can ignore the genuine difficulties which the Church encounters at the present moment. Yet in faith we can take heart from the growing awareness of the need to preserve a civil order clearly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as from the promise offered by a new generation of Catholics whose experience and convictions will have a decisive role in renewing the Church's presence and witness in American society. The hope which these 'signs of the times' give us is itself a reason to renew our efforts to mobilise the intellectual and moral resources of the entire Catholic community in the service of the evangelisation of American culture and the building of the civilisation of love".
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Monday, January 16, 2012
The Meaning of "Gender"
It is time again to visit the website of the Pontifical Council for the Laity to read the January-February updates to the Women’s Section: http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna.html.
The Editorial Theme is “Christian Experience and Women.”
Be sure to read the article, “Don’t Say Gender When You Mean Sex,” by Dale O’Leary. Whether or not you have pondered the use of the word “gender,” there are interesting and informative insights offered as well as a “Suggested Lexicon.”
But concern about the evolving definition of “gender” is not new. At the 1995 United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, Professor Mary Ann Glendon, head of the Holy See's Delegation, stated the Holy See's reservations on a variety of topics related to sexuality and “reproductive health/reproductive rights” as well as interpreting the term "gender".
Statement of Interpretation of the Term “Gender” by the Holy See Delegation –
Beijing, 15 September 1995
In accepting that the word "gender" in this document is to be understood according to ordinary usage in the United Nations context, the Holy See associates itself with the common meaning of that word, in languages where it exists.
The term "gender" is understood by the Holy See as grounded in biological sexual identity, male or female. Furthermore, the Platform for Action itself (cf. N. 193, c) clearly uses the term "both genders".
The Holy See thus excludes dubious interpretations based on world - views which assert that sexual identity can be adapted indefinitely to suit new and different purposes.
It also dissociates itself from the biological determinist notion that all the roles and relations of the two sexes are fixed in a single, static pattern.
Pope John Paul insists on the distinctiveness and complementarity of women and men. At the same time, he has applauded the assumption of new roles by women, stressed the degree to which cultural conditioning has been an obstacle to women's progress, and exhorted men to assist in the "the great process of women's liberation" (Letter to Women, n. 6).
In his recent Letter to Women the Pope explained the Church's nuanced view in the following way: "One can also appreciate that the presence of a certain diversity of roles is in no way prejudicial to women, provided that this diversity is not the result of an arbitrary imposition, but is rather an expression of what is specific to being male and female" (n. 11).
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See also the Statement of the Holy See Delegation at the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
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Another notable resource is the Pontifical Council for the Family’s Lexicon of Ambiguous and Debatable Terms regarding Family Life and Ethical Questions (Human Life International, 2006).
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Friday, January 13, 2012
The Prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper
Jesus' prayer during the Last Supper was the theme of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, which was held on January 11 in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 4,000 faithful.
The Pope explained how the emotional backdrop to the Last Supper, in which Jesus bade farewell to His friends, was the immanence of His approaching death. Moreover, in the days in which He was preparing to leave His disciples, the life of the Jewish people was marked by the approaching Passover, the commemoration of the liberation of Israel from Egypt.
"It was in this context that the Last Supper took place", the Holy Father said, "but with an important novelty". Jesus "wanted the Supper with His disciples to be something special, different from other gatherings. It was His Supper, in which He gave something completely new: Himself. Thus Jesus celebrated the Passover as an anticipation of His Cross and Resurrection".
The essence of the Last Supper lay in "the gestures of breaking and distributing the bread, and sharing the cup of wine, with the words that accompanied them and the context of prayer in which they took place. This was the institution of the Eucharist: the great prayer of Jesus and the Church". The words the Evangelists use to describe that moment "recall the Jewish 'berakha'; that is, the great prayer of thanksgiving and blessing which, in the tradition of Israel, is used to inaugurate important ceremonies. ... That prayer of praise and thanks rises up to God and returns as a blessing. ... The words of the institution of the Eucharist were pronounced in this context of prayer. The praise and thanksgiving of the 'berakha' became blessing and transformed the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus".
Jesus' gestures were the traditional gestures of hospitality which a host would extend to his guests, but in the Last Supper they acquired a more profound significance, Pope Benedict explained. Christ provided "a visible sign of welcome to the table upon which God gives Himself. In the bread and the wine, Jesus offered and communicated His own Self". Aware of His approaching death, "He offered in advance the life that would shortly be taken from Him, thus transforming His violent death into a free act of the giving of Self, for others and to others. The violence He suffered became an active, free and redemptive sacrifice".
"In contemplating Jesus' words and gestures that night, we can clearly see that it was in His intimate and constant relationship with the Father that He accomplished the gesture of leaving to His followers, and to all of us, the Sacrament of love", said the Pope. During the Last Supper Jesus also prayed for His disciples, who likewise had to suffer harsh trials. With that prayer "He supported them in their weakness, their difficulty in understanding that the way of God had to pass through the Paschal mystery of death and resurrection, which was anticipated in the offer of bread and wine. The Eucharist is the food of pilgrims, a source of strength also for those who are tired, weary and disoriented".
Benedict XVI went on: "By participating in the Eucharist we have an extraordinary experience of the prayer which Jesus made, and continues to make for us all, that the evil we encounter in our lives may not triumph, and that the transforming power of Christ's death and resurrection may act within each of us. In the Eucharist the Church responds to Jesus' command to 'do this in remembrance of me', she repeats the prayer of thanksgiving and blessing and, therewith, the words of transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord. Our Eucharistic celebrations draw us into that moment of prayer, uniting us ever and anew to the prayer of Jesus".
"Let us ask the Lord that, after due preparation also with the Sacrament of Penance, our participation in the Eucharist, which is indispensable for Christian life, may always remain the apex of all our prayers", the Pope concluded. "Let us ask that, profoundly united in His offering to the Father, we too can transform our crosses into a free and responsible sacrifice of love, for God and for our fellows".
Saturday, January 7, 2012
To Seek and To Know
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2: 9-11
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In his homily at Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the Gospel reading, the narrative of the Magi who came from the East to Bethlehem to adore the Baby Jesus….
The Magi "were, as we might say, men of science, but not simply in the sense that they were searching for a wide range of knowledge: they wanted something more. ... They were men with restless hearts, not satisfied with the superficial and the ordinary. They were men in search ... of God, ... watchful men, capable of reading God's signs, His soft and penetrating language. But they were also courageous, yet humble: we can imagine them having to endure a certain amount of mockery for setting off to find the King of the Jews, at the cost of so much effort. For them it mattered little what this or that person, what even influential and clever people thought and said about them. For them it was a question of truth itself, not human opinion. Hence they took upon themselves the sacrifices and the effort of a long and uncertain journey. Their humble courage was what enabled them to bend down before the child of poor people and to recognise in Him the promised King, the One they had set out, on both their outward and their inward journey, to seek and to know".
"Our heart is restless for God and remains so, even if every effort is made today, by means of most effective anaesthetising methods, to deliver people from this unrest. But not only are we restless for God: God's heart is restless for us. God is waiting for us. He is looking for us. He knows no rest either, until He finds us. ... That is why He set out on the path towards us, to Bethlehem, to Calvary, from Jerusalem to Galilee and on to the very ends of the earth. God ... looks out for people willing to 'catch' His unrest, His passion for us, people who carry within them the searching of their own hearts. ... "
"The wise men followed the star. ... The wise men from the East, ... like all the saints, have themselves gradually become constellations of God that mark out the path. ... The saints are stars of God, by whom we let ourselves be led to Him for Whom our whole being longs."
For more information please visit:
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May we wisely follow the star that leads us to the Lord.
May we rest in His peace for which our hearts long.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Christmas Means Bringing God's Joy and Light to Others
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI held his weekly general audience this morning in the Paul VI Hall and dedicated his catechesis to the mystery of the Lord's Nativity, noting that "our first reaction to this extraordinary event of God Who becomes a child ... is joy". This "arises from a sense of heartfelt wonder at seeing how God comes close to us and cares for us; how He acts in history. ... It arises from a contemplation of the face of that humble child because we know that it is the Face of God. ... Christmas is a time of joy ... because God - Who is the goodness, life and truth of mankind - comes down to man's level in order to raise man to Himself. God comes so close that we can see and touch Him". For this reason, the Pope explained, "Christmas is the point at which heaven and earth unite. ... In that needy Child ... what God is (eternity, strength, sanctity, life, joy) unites with what we are (weakness, sin, suffering death)"….
Benedict XVI also turned his attention to another aspect of Christmas, symbolised by light. "Christ's coming dissipates the shadows of the world and fills the holy night with a celestial splendour, spreading the radiance of God the Father over the faces of men, even today", he said. "After having spoken and intervened in history through messengers and signs, 'He appeared', He came out of His inaccessible light in order to illuminate the world". All Christians must be aware of their mission and responsibility to bear witness to the new light of the Gospel, and to bring it to the world. The Church receives the light of Christ "to be illuminated thereby and to spread it in all its splendour. And this must also come about in our own lives"….
Please visit:
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During this Christmas season as we continue to contemplate “the Mystery of God Who became man in humility and poverty,” how do we “make His feelings, His thoughts, His actions our feelings, thoughts, and actions”?
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