Indispensable Role of the Family in Transmitting the Faith

Pope Benedict XVI to Travel to Milan in June for the 7^th World Meeting of Families 

Vatican City, 28 February 2012 (VIS) - The programme of the Holy Father's forthcoming trip to Milan, Italy, for the Seventh World Meeting of Families was published today. The meeting is due to last from Tuesday 29 May to Sunday 3 June and will have as its theme: "The Family: Work and Celebration". Benedict XVI will be present for the last three days.

 

The World Meetings of Families trace their origins back to 1981 when Blessed John Paul II promulgated the Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris consortio" and established the Pontifical Council for the Family. The first meeting was held in Rome in 1994 and they have been taking place every three years since then. Their purpose is to celebrate the divine gift of family, to bring families together to pray, and to increase understanding of the role of the Christian family as a domestic Church and the basic cell of evangelisation.

The Indispensable Role of the Family in Transmitting the Faith

Vatican City, 28 February 2012 (VIS) –In a press release, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, recalled that the thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is due to be held in the Vatican from 7 to 28 October on the theme: "The new evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian faith".

 

The communique notes that during the Council meeting "debate was particularly intense concerning the primacy of the faith at this time in history, characterised as it is by a crisis in faith which is also a crisis in the transmission of faith. Mention was made of the 'fruitlessness of current evangelisation', also due to the influence of modern culture which makes the transmission of the faith particularly difficult, and represents a challenge for both Christians and the Church. In this context, the Year of Faith will be a good occasion to develop to gift of the faith received from the Lord, to live it and transmit it to others.

"The primary place for the transmission of faith was identified in the family", the communique adds. "There the faith is communicated to young people who, in the family, learn both the contents and practice of Christian faith. The indispensable efforts of families are then extended by catechesis in ecclesial institutions, especially through the the liturgy with the Sacraments and the homily, or by giving space to parish missions popular piety, movements and ecclesial communities".

 

For more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-benedict-xvi-schedule-for-meeting-of-families
http://www.news.va/en/news/the-indispensable-role-of-the-family-in-transmitti

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The Family:  Work and Celebration

Please visit the website of the Pontifical Council for the Family news about the upcoming World Meeting of Families including a newsletter, testimonies, prayers, videos:  http://www.family2012.com/document.php?id=18413

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Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father,

we adore you, Source of every union;

protect our families with Your blessings

where couples can be united

and a fulfilled life mutually shared by parents and children.

Behold

Creator of perfection and beauty;

grant to every family a just and noble job,

so that we can have the necessities in life

and enjoy the privilege of working together with You

in building humanity.

We magnify You,

Cause of our joy and delight;

lead our families to the paths of gladness and peace

to experience the perfect joy

granted to us by the Risen Christ.

May our days, although difficult or comforting,

be opportunities that will unfold your mystery of love and light

that Christ Your Son has revealed

and the life-giving Spirit has granted.

So that we may happily live as Your family,

on this journey towards You, Holy God forever and ever.

Amen

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Understand the Truth of the Faith in Order to Help Others to Know God

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

Ephesians 4: 1-6

 

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On 23 February 2012 His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI met with priests of the Diocese of Rome. Following a reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, the Holy Father delivered a long off-the-cuff commentary on the Gospel passage.  Some brief excerpts follow:

"…Humility is above all truth, ... recognition that I am a thought of God in the construction of His world, that I am irreplaceable as I am, in my smallness, and that only in this way am I great. ... Let us learn this realism; not seeking appearance, but seeking to please God and to accomplish what He has thought out for us, and thus also accepting others. ... Acceptance of self and acceptance of others go together. Only by accepting myself as part of the great divine tapestry can I also accept others, who with me form part of the great symphony of the Church and Creation". In this way, likewise, we learn to accept our position within the Church, knowing that "my small service is great in the eyes of God".

 

Lack of humility destroys the unity of Christ's Body. Yet at the same time, unity cannot develop without knowledge. "One great problem facing the Church today is the lack of knowledge of the faith, 'religious illiteracy'", the Pope said. "With such illiteracy we cannot grow. ... Therefore we must reappropriate the contents of the faith, not as a packet of dogmas and commandments, but as a unique reality revealed in its all its profoundness and beauty. We must do everything possible for catechetical renewal in order for the faith to be known, God to be known, Christ to be known, the truth to be known, and for unity in the truth to grow".

'We cannot," Benedict XVI warned, "live in a childhood of faith". Many adults have never gone beyond the first catechesis, meaning that "they cannot - as adults, with competence and conviction - explain and elucidate the philosophy of the faith, its great wisdom and rationality" in order to illuminate the minds of others. To do this they need an "adult faith". This does not mean, as has been understood in recent decades, a faith detached from the Magisterium of the Church. When we abandon the Magisterium, the result is dependency "on the opinions of the world, on the dictatorship of the communications media". By contrast, true emancipation consists in freeing ourselves of these opinions, the freedom of the children of God. "We must pray to the Lord intensely, that He may help us emancipate ourselves in this sense, to be free in this sense, with a truly adult faith, ... capable of helping others achieve true perfection... in communion with Christ".

The Pope went on: "Truth cannot be imposed with means other than itself! Truth can only come with its own light. Yet, we need truth. ... Without truth we are blind in the world, we have no path to follow. The great gift of Christ was that He enabled us to see the face of God".

For more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/christians-need-to-understand-their-faith-in-order

http://www.news.va/en/news/humble-and-free-from-the-pride-of-the-world

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During this season of Lent let us pray to the Lord intensely for a truly "adult faith" and strive to “do everything possible for catechetical renewal in order for the faith to be known, God to be known, Christ to be known, the truth to be known, and for unity in the truth to grow".

 

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Let Us Be Concerned for Each Other

Let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.  Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.  We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:22-25

 

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The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.

This year I would like to propose a few thoughts in the light of a brief biblical passage drawn from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works”. These words are part of a passage in which the sacred author exhorts us to trust in Jesus Christ as the High Priest who has won us forgiveness and opened up a pathway to God. Embracing Christ bears fruit in a life structured by the three theological virtues: it means approaching the Lord “sincere in heart and filled with faith” (v. 22), keeping firm “in the hope we profess” (v. 23) and ever mindful of living a life of “love and good works” (v. 24) together with our brothers and sisters. The author states that to sustain this life shaped by the Gospel it is important to participate in the liturgy and community prayer, mindful of the eschatological goal of full communion in God (v. 25). Here I would like to reflect on verse 24, which offers a succinct, valuable and ever timely teaching on the three aspects of Christian life: concern for others, reciprocity and personal holiness….

1. “Let us be concerned for each other”: responsibility towards our brothers and sisters.

Concern for others entails desiring what is good for them from every point of view: physical, moral and spiritual….  Here I would like to mention an aspect of the Christian life, which I believe has been quite forgotten: fraternal correction in view of eternal salvation…. We must not remain silent before evil. I am thinking of all those Christians who, out of human regard or purely personal convenience, adapt to the prevailing mentality, rather than warning their brothers and sisters against ways of thinking and acting that are contrary to the truth and that do not follow the path of goodness. Christian admonishment, for its part, is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern for the good of the other.

2. “Being concerned for each other”: the gift of reciprocity.

 

The Apostle Paul encourages us to seek “the ways which lead to peace and the ways in which we can support one another” (Romans 14:19) for our neighbour’s good, “so that we support one another” (15:2), seeking not personal gain but rather “the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33). This mutual correction and encouragement in a spirit of humility and charity must be part of the life of the Christian community.

3. “To stir a response in love and good works”: walking together in holiness.

These words of the Letter to the Hebrews (10:24) urge us to reflect on the universal call to holiness, the continuing journey of the spiritual life as we aspire to the greater spiritual gifts and to an ever more sublime and fruitful charity (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13). Being concerned for one another should spur us to an increasingly effective love which, “like the light of dawn, its brightness growing to the fullness of day” (Proverbs 4:18), makes us live each day as an anticipation of the eternal day awaiting us in God. The time granted us in this life is precious for discerning and performing good works in the love of God.…

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

Message for Lent 2012

For the complete text please visit:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20111103_lent-2012_en.html

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As we approach Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy season of Lent, let us prayerfully contemplate how the Lord is calling us to live the three theological virtues:

Faith:  How can I better approach the Lord and others “sincere in heart and filled with faith”?

Hope:  Does the witness of my hope in God strengthen others to be firm “in the hope we profess”?

Love:  How do I increase the “love and good works” I strive to offer God and others?

 

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Stand Up and Go; Your Faith has Saved You (Luke 17:19)

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
World Day of the Sick 2010

On the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, which we celebrate on 11 February 2012, the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to all sick people who are in places of care or are looked after in their families, expressing to each one of them the solicitude and the affection of the whole Church. In the generous and loving welcoming of every human life, above all of weak and sick life, a Christian expresses an important aspect of his or her Gospel witness, following the example of Christ, who bent down before the material and spiritual sufferings of man in order to heal them….

The theme of this Message for the Twentieth World Day of the Sick, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you”, also looks forward to the forthcoming Year of Faith which will begin on 11 October 2012, a propitious and valuable occasion to rediscover the strength and beauty of faith, to examine its contents, and to bear witness to it in daily life (cf. Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, 11 October 2011). I wish to encourage sick people and the suffering always to find a safe anchor in faith, nourished by listening to the Word of God, by personal prayer and by the sacraments, while I invite pastors to be increasingly ready to celebrate them for the sick. Following the example of the Good Shepherd and as guides of the flocks entrusted to them, priests should be full of joy, attentive to the weakest, the simple and sinners, expressing the infinite mercy of God with reassuring words of hope (cf. Saint Augustine, Letter 95, 1: PL 33, 351-352).

To all those who work in the field of health, and to the families who see in their relatives the suffering face of the Lord Jesus, I renew my thanks and that of the Church, because, in their professional expertise and in silence, often without even mentioning the name of Christ, they manifest him in a concrete way (cf. Homily, Chrism Mass, 21 April 2011).

To Mary, Mother of Mercy and Health of the Sick, we raise our trusting gaze and our prayer; may her maternal compassion, manifested as she stood beside her dying Son on the Cross, accompany and sustain the faith and the hope of every sick and suffering person on the journey of healing for the wounds of body and spirit!

I assure you all of a remembrance in my prayers, and I bestow upon each one of you a special Apostolic Blessing.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

Message for the World Day of the Sick 2012

For the complete text please visit:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/sick/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20111120_world-day-of-the-sick-2012_en.html

 

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Reliquary of Saint Bernadette in Saint Peter's Basilica
World Day of the Sick 2010

 

… On the Memorial of the apparitions in Lourdes, where Mary chose to manifest her maternal solicitude for the sick, the Liturgy appropriately echoes the Magnificat, the canticle of the Virgin who exalts the wonders of God throughout salvation history: the humble and the poor, like all who fear God, experience his mercy which overturns earthly destinies, thus showing the holiness of the Creator and Redeemer. The Magnificat is not the canticle of one upon whom fortune smiles, who has always had "the wind in her sails"; rather it is the thanksgiving of one who knows the hardships of life but trusts in God's redemptive work. It is a hymn that expresses the faith tested by generations of men and women who placed their hope in God and were personally committed, like Mary, to helping their brothers and sisters in need…. Those who spend a long time beside the suffering know anguish and tears, but also the miracle of joy, the fruit of love….

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

Homily, World Day of the Sick 2010

For the complete text please visit:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100211_giornata-malato_en.html#

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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
World Day of the Sick Mass 2010

It was a joy to participate in the 18th World Day of the Sick which was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica on 11 February 2010, the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. Carried in the Entrance Procession were the relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the devout young girl to whom Blessed Mother Mary appeared in 1858.  As it was also the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers the day brought together those who work in the field of health, as well as sick and suffering people, caregivers and family members from around the world.  It was a beautiful witness of faith and the compassion of Christ. 

Later, as darkness descended on Saint Peter’s Square, the participants gathered for a candlelight prayer vigil joined by our Holy Father who was at the window of his office.  Imagine if you will, joining the pilgrims in singing the refrain of the Lourdes Hymn, “Immaculate Mary”:

Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria;

Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria. 

As His Holiness bid everyone a “good night” a fireworks display lit up the sky over Rome.

See photos of the Mass at:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/photogallery/2010/20100211/index.html

Visit the web site of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France:

http://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?contexte=en&id=405

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Jesus' Prayer Before Dying

The prayer of Jesus at the moment of His death, as narrated by St. Mark and St. Matthew was the theme of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

The Pope said, "In the face of difficult and painful situations, when it seems that God does not hear, we must not be afraid to entrust Him with the burden we are carrying in our hearts, we must not be afraid to cry out to Him in our suffering".

"Jesus prays at the moment of ultimate rejection by man, at the moment of abandonment. However, He is aware that God the Father is present even at the instant in which He is experiencing the human drama of death. Yet nonetheless, a question arises in our hearts: how is it possible that such a powerful God does not intervene to save His Son from this terrible trial?"

The Holy Father explained that "it is important to understand that the prayer of Jesus is not the cry of a person who meets death with desperation, nor that of a person who knows he has been abandoned. At that moment Jesus appropriates Psalm 22, the Psalm of the suffering people of Israel, at that moment He takes upon Himself not only the suffering of His people, but also that of all men and women oppressed by evil. ... And He takes all this to the heart of God in the certainty that His cry will be heard in the resurrection. ... His is a suffering in communion with us and for us, it derives from love and carries within itself redemption and the victory of love.”

"In our prayers", the Holy Father concluded, "let us bring God our daily crosses, in the certainty that He is present and listens to us. The cry of Jesus reminds us that in prayer we must cross the barrier of 'self' and our own problems, and open ourselves to the needs and sufferings of others. May the prayer of the dying Jesus on the cross teach us to pray with love for so many brothers and sisters who feel the burden of daily life, who are experiencing moments of difficulty, who suffer and hear no words of comfort, that they may feel the love of God Who never abandons us.

http://www.news.va/en/news/jesus-prayer-before-dying

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-the-cry-of-jesus-from-the-cross

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Have Greater Trust in Divine Providence

Garden of Gethsemane

This morning in the Paul VI Hall His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received thousands of pilgrims from around the world in his weekly general audience. As part of a series of catecheses dedicated to the prayers pronounced by Christ, he focused his remarks on Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

…The Pope focused on "three revealing passages" in Christ's words: "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want but what you want". Firstly, Benedict XVI said, the Aramaic word "Abba" is used by children to address their fathers, "therefore it express Jesus relationship with God the Father, a relationship of tenderness, affection and trust". Secondly, Jesus' words contain an acknowledgment of the Father's omnipotence "introducing a request in which, once again, we see the drama of Jesus' human will in the face of death and evil. ... Yet the third expression ... is the decisive one, in which the human will adheres fully to the divine will. ... Jesus tells us that only by conforming their will to the divine will can human beings achieve their true stature and become 'divine'. ... This is what Jesus does in Gethsemane. By transferring human will to the divine will the true man is born and we are redeemed".  

When we pray the Our Father "we ask the Lord that 'your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'. In other words, we recognise that God has a will for us and with us, that God has a will for our lives and, each day, this must increasingly become the reference point for our desires and our existence. We also recognise that ... 'earth' becomes 'heaven' - the place where love, goodness, truth and divine beauty are present - only if the will of God is done".  

In our prayers "we must learn to have greater trust in Divine Providence, to ask God for the strength to abandon our own selves in order to renew our 'yes', to repeat to Him 'your will be done', to conform our will to His. This is a prayer we must repeat every day, because it is not always easy to entrust oneself to the will of God".  

… Pope Benedict concluded his catechesis by saying: "Let us ask the Lord for the power to keep awake for Him in prayer, to follow the will of God every day even if He speaks of the Cross, to live in ever increasing intimacy with the Lord and bring a little of God's 'heaven' to this 'earth'".

http://www.news.va/en/news/we-must-learn-to-have-greater-trust-in-divine-prov

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-benedict-contemplate-the-lords-prayer

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Garden of Gethsemane


Let us trust in the Lord.

Not my will, but Thy will be done.

May we conform our will to God's holy will for our lives.

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