A Message of Healing and Hope: "Pacem in Terris"

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to Professor Mary Ann Glendon, the President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences to mark the Eighteenth Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy, which is observing the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed John XXIII’s Encyclical Letter, "Pacem in Terris."

The Pope said “the vision offered by Pope John still has much to teach us as we struggle to face the new challenges for peace and justice in the post-Cold-War era.”

Pope Benedict said the notion of forgiveness needs to find its way into international discourse on conflict resolution.  “It is the combination of justice and forgiveness, of justice and grace, which lies at the heart of the divine response to human wrong-doing, at the heart, in other words, of the ‘divinely established order’”, he said. “Forgiveness is not a denial of wrong-doing, but a participation in the healing and transforming love of God which reconciles and restores…

Let us take heart, then, as we struggle for peace and justice in the world today, confident that our common pursuit of the divinely established order, of a world where the dignity of every human person is accorded the respect that is due, can and will bear fruit.  I commend your deliberations to the maternal guidance of Our Lady, Queen of Peace….”

For the complete text and more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-message-to-pontifical-academy-of-social-scien

http://www.news.va/en/news/perennial-importance-of-the-encyclical-pacem-in-te

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem_en.html

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Prayer Intentions for May

His Holiness’ general prayer intention for May is:

"That initiatives which defend and uphold the role of the family may be promoted within society".

His mission intention is:

"That Mary, Queen of the World and Star of Evangelisation, may accompany all missionaries in proclaiming her Son Jesus".

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Prayer to Mary, Queen of Peace

O Loving God, your Son, Jesus, came into this world to do your will and leave us His peace.  Through the intercession and example of our Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, grant us the wisdom and humility to reflect that peace to the world.  Inspire our thoughts, words and deeds to bear witness to your presence in our hearts.  May your Holy Spirit fill us with every grace and blessing so that we may pursue what leads to peace for all humanity.  Amen.

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Prayer Makes Us See Reality with New Eyes

If prayer and the Word of God do not nourish our spiritual life, we run the risk being suffocated by the many cares and concerns of daily existence. Prayer makes us see reality with new eyes and helps us to find our way in the midst of adversity. These words were pronounced by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in his catechesis during this morning's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of more than 20,000 faithful.

The Pope explained how prayer encouraged the early Church, though beset by difficulties, and how it can help man to live a better life today. "Ever since the beginning of her journey the Church has had to face unexpected situations, new questions and emergencies, to which she has sought to respond in the light of the faith, allowing herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit", he said.

When prayer is nourished with the Word of God "we see reality with new eyes, with the eyes of the faith and the Lord, Who speaks to the mind and to the heart, gives new light for the journey in all times and situations. We believe in the power of the Word of God and of prayer. ... If the lungs of prayer and of the Word of God do not nourish the breath of spiritual life, we risk suffocating in the midst of a thousand daily cares. Prayer is the breath of the soul and of life".

In conclusion, Benedict XVI noted that when we pray, "in the silence of a church or in our room, we are united in the Lord to our brothers and sisters in the faith, like so many instruments which, each in its own individuality, raise a single great symphony of intercession, thanksgiving and praise".

For more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/prayer-gives-essential-meaning-to-our-daily-activi

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-prayer-the-breath-of-the-soul

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Holy Father Recalls Historic Role of Women in Building the Church in America

Vatican City, 21 April 2012 (VIS) - At midday today His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received members of the Papal Foundation on their annual visit to Rome. The agency is a Catholic association founded in Philadelphia, U.S.A., in 1990 by the now-deceased Cardinal John Krol, which every year finances the needs of the Church around the world.

Speaking to the group in English, the Pope thanked them for their support for "a wide variety of apostolates". He also noted that later this year he will canonise two new saints from North America, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, "striking examples of sanctity and heroic charity" who "also remind us of the historic role played by women in the building up of the Church in America. By their example and intercession, may all of you be confirmed in the pursuit of holiness and in your efforts to contribute to the growth of God’s Kingdom in the hearts of people today".

"In these days I ask your continued prayers for the needs of the universal Church and in particular for the freedom of Christians to proclaim the Gospel and bring its light to the urgent moral issues of our time", the Pope concluded.

For more information:

http://www.news.va/en/news/committed-to-serving-peters-mission-with-convictio

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-recalls-historic-role-of-women-in-building-th

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104958.htm

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104980.htm

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Always Trust in the Presence, Help and Strength of God

Returning to a recent series of catecheses on the theme of prayer, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his General Audience of 18 April to what has been called the "Little Pentecost", an event which coincided with a difficult moment in the life of the nascent Church.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us how Peter and John were released from prison following their arrest for preaching the Gospel. They returned to their companions who, listening to their account of what had happened, did not reflect on how to react or defend themselves, or on what measures to adopt; rather, "in that moment of trial they all raised their voices together to God", Who replied by sending the Holy Spirit.

"This was the unanimous and united prayer of the whole community, which was facing persecution because of Jesus", the Pope explained. It involved the community "because the experiences of the two Apostles did not concern only them, but the entire Church. In suffering persecution for Jesus' sake, the community not only did not give way to fear and division, but was profoundly united in prayer".

When believers suffer for the faith, "unity is consolidated rather than undermined, because it is supported by unshakeable prayer. The Church must not fear the persecutions she is forced to suffer in her history, but must trust always, as Jesus did in Gethsemane, in the presence, help and strength of God, invoked in prayer".

"We too", the Holy Father concluded his catechesis, "must bring the events of our daily lives into our prayer, in order to seek their most profound significance. And we too, like the first Christian community, allowing ourselves to be illuminated by the Word of God and meditating on Sacred Scripture, may learn to see that God is present in our lives, even at moments of difficulty, and that everything ... is part of a plan of love in which the final victory over evil, sin and death is truly is that of goodness, grace, life and God".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-church-must-not-fear-persecutions-but-trust-in

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-a-unanimous-and-united-prayer

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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI expressed his thanks for the congratulations he has received over recent days. "I would like to express my gratitude for the good wishes you have been sending me for the seventh anniversary of my election", he said. "I ask you to support me always with your prayers so that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I may continue my service to Christ and the Church".

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-pope-asks-for-prayers-to-help-him-continue-to-

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We are united in prayer.

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The Peace of Christ: His Victory Over Evil

Before praying the Regina Coeli on April 15 His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI reminded the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that the second Sunday of Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

In His two apparitions to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, Jesus often repeated the greeting "peace be with you". Following the resurrection, the Pope explained, this traditional salute became "the gift of that peace which only Jesus can give, because it is the fruit of His victory over evil. The 'peace' which Jesus offered His friends is the fruit of the love of God, which led Him to die on the cross and to spill His blood as a mild and humble Lamb 'full of grace and truth'. This is why Blessed John Paul II chose to dedicate the Sunday after Easter to Divine Mercy"….

The Holy Father invited believers to welcome the gift offered by the risen Christ. "Let us allow our hearts to be filled by His Mercy", he said. "In this way, with the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit which caused Jesus to arise from the dead, we too can take these Paschal gifts to others".

Following the Marian prayer, the Pope told the faithful: "On Thursday, the seventh anniversary of my election to the Chair of Peter, I ask you to pray for me, that the Lord may give me the strength to carry out the mission with which He has entrusted me".

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-peace-of-christ-is-the-result-of-his-victory-o

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-regina-coeli-on-divine-mercy-sunday

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Happy Birthday, Holy Father!

http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-receives-congratulations-from-cardina

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-marks-birthday-with-private-mass

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Peace be with you!

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Safeguarding the Human Being,Created as Man and Woman

The Pontifical Council for the Laity – Women’s Section has just published online the booklet, “Safeguarding the human being, created as man and woman,” the result of a consultation made to a wide group of women who lend their collaboration to the dicastery.  The group was invited to reread Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women, written in 1995, and to comment on it in light of today’s challenges.  They were also asked to evaluate the cultural and social consequences of the United Nations 4^th World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.  The publication presents a synthesis of the contributions which were received by the Pontifical Council for the Laity – Women’s Section.

You are invited to read the results of the study that is intended to be small contribution to the important task of education for the safeguarding of the humanum, created by God as male and female.

It was my joy and privilege to be invited to contribute to this study.  Many thanks to Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, for the gracious invitation.  Deo gratias. 

Please visit the website of the Pontifical Council for the Laity:

http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna/salvaguardar-al-ser-humano--creado-varon-y-mujer.html

The publication may also be accessed at:

http://www.laici.va/content/dam/laici/documenti/donna/Saveguarding/safeguarding-the-human-being-created-as-man-and-woman.pdf

Faith in Christ Transforms Our Lives

The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis during this morning's General Audience to the transformation which Jesus' Resurrection brought about in His disciples, also reflecting on the meaning that Easter has for Christians today. Faith in the Risen One, he said, "transforms our lives; it frees them from fear, gives them firm hope, and infuses them with something that provides existence with full meaning: the love of God".

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI explained how on the evening of the day of the Resurrection the disciples were at home behind locked doors, full of fear and doubt at the recollection of the passion of their Lord. "This situation of anguish changed radically when Jesus arrived. He entered through the closed doors, was among them and brought them peace", peace which "for the community became source of joy, certainty of victory, trusting reliance on God"….

For Christians, Easter must be a time for the joyful and enthusiastic rediscovery of the sources of the faith. "This means following the same path as that along which Jesus directed the two disciples of Emmaus, through the rediscovery of the Word of God and the Eucharist. The culmination of this journey, then as now, is Eucharistic Communion. In Communion Jesus nourishes us with His Body and His Blood, becoming present in our lives, making us new and animating us with the power of the Holy Spirit".

In conclusion the Holy Father invited Christians to remain faithful to the Risen One Who "living and true, is always present among us, Who walks with us to guide our lives", and Who "has the power to give life, to make us reborn as children of God, capable of believing and loving".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/faith-in-christ-transforms-our-lives-frees-us-from

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-peace-of-christ-for-everyone

Christ, My Hope, Has Risen

“Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen”

(Easter Sequence)

May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!”

 

Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity….

 

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

Urbi et Orbi  Message
Easter, 8 April 2012
 

For the complete text please visit:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/urbi/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20120408_urbi-easter_en.html

http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-popes-urbi-et-orbi-address

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Pope Benedict XVI's Remarks to the Faithful on Good Friday

Below, please find the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's remarks to the faithful gathered at the Colosseum in Rome for the Via Crucis on Good Friday, 6 April 2012.
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Once more in meditation, prayer and song, we have recalled Jesus’s journey along the way of the cross: a journey seemingly hopeless, yet one that changed human life and history, and opened the way to “new heavens and a new earth” (cf. Rev 21:1). Especially today, Good Friday, the Church commemorates with deep spiritual union the death of the Son of God on the cross; in his cross she sees the tree of life, which blossoms in new hope.

The experience of suffering and of the cross touches all mankind; it touches the family too. How often does the journey become wearisome and difficult!  Misunderstandings, conflicts, worry for the future of our children, sickness and problems of every kind. These days too, the situation of many families is made worse by the threat of unemployment and other negative effects of the economic crisis. The Way of the Cross which we have spiritually retraced this evening invites all of us, and families in particular, to contemplate Christ crucified in order to have the force to overcome difficulties.

The cross of Christ is the supreme sign of God’s love for every man and woman, the superabundant response to every person’s need for love. At times of trouble, when our families have to face pain and adversity, let us look to Christ’s cross. There we can find the courage and strength to press on; there we can repeat with firm hope the words of Saint Paul: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:35,37).

In times of trial and tribulation, we are not alone; the family is not alone. Jesus is present with his love, he sustains them by his grace and grants the strength needed to carry on, to make sacrifices and to overcome every obstacle. And it is to this love of Christ that we must turn when human turmoil and difficulties threaten the unity of our lives and our families.

The mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection inspires us to go on in hope: times of trouble and testing, when endured with Christ, with faith in him, already contain the light of the resurrection, the new life of a world reborn, the passover of all those who believe in his word. In that crucified Man who is the Son of God, even death itself takes on new meaning and purpose: it is redeemed and overcome, it becomes a passage to new life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24).

Let us entrust ourselves to the Mother of Christ. May Mary, who accompanied her Son along his way of sorrows, who stood beneath the cross at the hour of his death, and who inspired the Church at its birth to live in God’s presence, lead our hearts and the hearts of every family through the vast mysterium passionis towards the mysterium paschale, towards that light which breaks forth from Christ’s resurrection and reveals the definitive victory of love, joy and life over evil, suffering and death. Amen.

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-benedict-xvi-at-the-stations-of-the-cross

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The meditations for the Way of the Cross were prepared for the first time by a married couple, Mr. & Mrs. Danilo Zanzucchi of the Focolare movement and the founders of the New Families movement.

http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/04/06/via-crucis-2012-la-famiglia-al-centro/

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Who is Jesus of Nazareth for Us?

"Who is Jesus of Nazareth for us? What idea do we have of the Messiah, what idea do we have of God? It is a crucial question, one we cannot avoid, not least because during this very week we are called to follow our King Who chooses the Cross as His throne. We are called to follow a Messiah Who promises us, not a facile earthly happiness, but the happiness of heaven, divine beatitude.”

“May these days call forth two sentiments in particular: praise, after the example of those who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with their “Hosanna!”, and thanksgiving, because in this Holy Week the Lord Jesus will renew the greatest gift we could possibly imagine: He will give us His life, His body and His blood, His love. But we must respond worthily to so great a gift, that is to say, with the gift of ourselves, our time, our prayer, our entering into a profound communion of love with Christ Who suffered, died and rose for us".

 

            His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

            Angelus, April 1, 2012, excerpt

http://www.news.va/en/news/that-loving-gaze-upon-the-world

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"Each of us was loved by Jesus 'unto the end'; that is, unto the giving of Himself on the cross, when He cried: 'It is finished'. Let us allow ourselves to be touched by this love, let us allow ourselves to be transformed, so that the resurrection can truly be achieved in each one of us".

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

Audience, April 4, 2012, excerpt

http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-recalls-his-apostolic-trip-to-mexico-

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You were close in my thoughts and prayers during a recent glorious pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  It was a time of great blessings for me and, I believe, for the first-time pilgrims who accompanied me. Thanks be to God for giving us this amazing gift to journey to the roots of our faith, to pray at countless holy sites, and to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are the “living stones” of the Holy Land. The readings of Palm Sunday and Holy Week are especially meaningful as they draw me back to all of the places we visited just days ago.

I knew it would be difficult to come down from Mount Tabor, the Mount of Transfiguration.  However, I was not prepared for what would happen within a half an hour of my return to the parish:  I was informed by the pastor, in the narthex of the Church, just after Mass, that my position as Pastoral Associate was eliminated and that I had been terminated because of the parish’s dire financial situation. Needless to say this was a shock to me and my dear husband, who was with me at Mass.  How does one quickly assimilate such “news” and shift gears after more than 21 years of service?  The answers are still unfolding.

I do know that God never fails to show His immense love for me and will use the rich experiences of my “former life” as He raises me to a “new life.”   Jesus gave me this special cross to carry during Holy Week so I could be more closely united to His suffering and the sufferings of the whole world.  The Holy Spirit will reveal God’s wondrous will for me and more amazing blessings in His time.

 

What special cross has Jesus given you to carry?

How do we allow ourselves to be touched by His love?

 Will we allow ourselves to be transformed by His love?

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