
ΜΗΝΥΜΑ
ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΠΑΠΑ ΡΩΜΗΣ
κ.κ. ΦΡΑΓΚΙΣΚΟΥ 1ου
ΠΗΓΗ
https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/urbi/documents/papa-francesco_20151225_urbi-et-orbi-natale.html
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"URBI ET ORBI"
MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
CHRISTMAS 2015
Friday, 25 December 2015
Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Christmas!
Christ is born for us, let us rejoice in the day of our
salvation!
Let us open our hearts to receive the grace of this day,
which is Christ himself. Jesus is the radiant “day” which has dawned on
the horizon of humanity. A day of mercy, in which God our Father has
revealed his great tenderness to the entire world. A day of light, which
dispels the darkness of fear and anxiety. A day of peace, which makes for
encounter, dialogue and, above all, reconciliation. A day of joy: a “great
joy” for the poor, the lowly and for all the people (cf. Lk 2:10).
On this day, Jesus, the Saviour is born of the Virgin
Mary. The Crib makes us see the “sign” which God has given us: “a baby
wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). Like
the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we too set out to see this sign, this
event which is renewed yearly in the Church. Christmas is an event which
is renewed in every family, parish and community which receives the love
of God made incarnate in Jesus Christ. Like Mary, the Church shows to
everyone the “sign” of God: the Child whom she bore in her womb and to
whom she gave birth, yet who is the Son of the Most High, since he “is of
the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:20). He is truly the Saviour, for he
is the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sin of the world (cf. Jn
1:29). With the shepherds, let us bow down before the Lamb, let us
worship God’s goodness made flesh, and let us allow tears of repentance to
fill our eyes and cleanse our hearts. This is something we all need!
He alone, he alone can save us. Only God’s mercy can
free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which
selfishness spawns in our midst. The grace of God can convert hearts and
offer mankind a way out of humanly insoluble situations.
Where God is born, hope is born. He brings hope. Where
God is born, peace is born. And where peace is born, there is no longer
room for hatred and for war. Yet precisely where the incarnate Son of
God came into the world, tensions and violence persist, and peace remains
a gift to be implored and built. May Israelis and Palestinians resume
direct dialogue and reach an agreement which will enable the two peoples
to live together in harmony, ending a conflict which has long set them at
odds, with grave repercussions for the entire region.
We pray to the Lord that the agreement reached in the
United Nations may succeed in halting as quickly as possible the clash of
arms in Syria and in remedying the extremely grave humanitarian situation
of its suffering people. It is likewise urgent that the agreement on Libya
be supported by all, so as to overcome the grave divisions and violence
afflicting the country. May the attention of the international community
be unanimously directed to ending the atrocities which in those countries,
as well as in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa, even now reap
numerous victims, cause immense suffering and do not even spare the
historical and cultural patrimony of entire peoples. My thoughts also turn
to those affected by brutal acts of terrorism, particularly the recent
massacres which took place in Egyptian airspace, in Beirut, Paris, Bamako
and Tunis.
To our brothers and sisters who in many parts of the
world are being persecuted for their faith, may the Child Jesus grant
consolation and strength. They are our martyrs of today.
We also pray for peace and concord among the peoples of
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan, that dialogue
may lead to a strengthened common commitment to the building of civil
societies animated by a sincere spirit of reconciliation and of mutual
understanding.
May Christmas also bring true peace to Ukraine, offer
comfort to those suffering from the effects of the conflict, and inspire
willingness to carry out the agreements made to restore concord in the
entire country.
May the joy of this day illumine the efforts of the
Colombian people so that, inspired by hope, they may continue their
commitment to working for the desired peace.
Where God is born, hope is born; and where hope is
born, persons regain their dignity. Yet even today great numbers of
men and woman are deprived of their human dignity and, like the child
Jesus, suffer cold, poverty, and rejection. May our closeness today be
felt by those who are most vulnerable, especially child soldiers, women
who suffer violence, and the victims of human trafficking and the drug
trade.
Nor may our encouragement be lacking to all those
fleeing extreme poverty or war, travelling all too often in inhumane
conditions and not infrequently at the risk of their lives. May God repay
all those, both individuals and states, who generously work to provide
assistance and welcome to the numerous migrants and refugees, helping them
to build a dignified future for themselves and for their dear ones, and to
be integrated in the societies which receive them.
On this festal day may the Lord grant renewed hope to
all those who lack employment – and they are so many!; may he sustain the
commitment of those with public responsibilities in political and economic
life, that they may work to pursue the common good and to protect the
dignity of every human life.
Where God is born, mercy flourishes. Mercy is
the most precious gift which God gives us, especially during this Jubilee
year in which we are called to discover that tender love of our heavenly
Father for each of us. May the Lord enable prisoners in particular to
experience his merciful love, which heals wounds and triumphs over evil.
Today, then, let us together rejoice in the
day of our salvation. As we contemplate the Crib, let us gaze on the
open arms of Jesus, which show us the merciful embrace of God, as we hear
the cries of the Child who whispers to us: “for my brethren and companions’
sake, I will say: Peace be within you” (Ps 121[122]:8).
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ΜΗΝΥΜΑ
ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΠΑΠΑ ΡΩΜΗΣ
κ.κ. ΦΡΑΓΚΙΣΚΟΥ 1ου
ΠΗΓΗ
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/urbi/documents/papa-francesco_20141225_urbi-et-orbi-natale.html
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URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
CHRISTMAS 2014
Thursday, 25 December 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas!
Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, is born for us, born in
Bethlehem of a Virgin, fulfilling the ancient prophecies. The Virgin’s
name is Mary, the wife of Joseph.
Humble people, full of hope in the goodness of God, are those who welcome
Jesus and recognize him. And so the Holy Spirit enlightened the shepherds
of Bethlehem, who hastened to the grotto and adored the Child. Then the
Spirit led the elderly and humble couple Simeon and Anna into the temple
of Jerusalem, and they recognized in Jesus the Messiah. “My eyes have seen
your salvation”, Simeon exclaimed, “the salvation prepared by God in the
sight of all peoples” (Lk 2:30).
Yes, brothers and sisters, Jesus is the salvation for every person and for
every people!
Today I ask him, the Saviour of the world, to look upon our brothers and
sisters in Iraq and Syria, who for too long now have suffered the effects
of ongoing conflict, and who, together with those belonging to other
ethnic and religious groups, are suffering a brutal persecution. May
Christmas bring them hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons,
exiles and refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and
from the whole world. May indifference be changed into closeness and
rejection into hospitality, so that all who now are suffering may receive
the necessary humanitarian help to overcome the rigours of winter, return
to their countries and live with dignity. May the Lord open hearts to
trust, and may he bestow his peace upon the whole Middle East, beginning
with the land blessed by his birth, thereby sustaining the efforts of
those committed effectively to dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
May Jesus, Saviour of the world, protect all who suffer in Ukraine, and
grant that their beloved land may overcome tensions, conquer hatred and
violence, and set out on a new journey of fraternity and reconciliation.
May Christ the Saviour give peace to Nigeria, where [even in these hours]
more blood is being shed and too many people are unjustly deprived of
their possessions, held as hostages or killed. I invoke peace also on the
other parts of the African continent, thinking especially of Libya, South
Sudan, the Central African Republic, and various regions of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. I beseech all who have political responsibility to
commit themselves through dialogue to overcoming differences and to
building a lasting, fraternal coexistence.
May Jesus save the vast numbers of children who are victims of violence,
made objects of trade and trafficking, or forced to become soldiers;
children, so many abused children. May he give comfort to the families of
the children killed in Pakistan last week. May he be close to all who
suffer from illness, especially the victims of the Ebola epidemic, above
all in Liberia, in Sierra Leone and in Guinea. As I thank all who are
courageously dedicated to assisting the sick and their family members, I
once more make an urgent appeal that the necessary assistance and
treatment be provided.
The Child Jesus. My thoughts turn to all those children today who are
killed and ill-treated, be they infants killed in the womb, deprived of
that generous love of their parents and then buried in the egoism of a
culture that does not love life; be they children displaced due to war and
persecution, abused and taken advantage of before our very eyes and our
complicit silence. I think also of those infants massacred in bomb
attacks, also those where the Son of God was born. Even today, their
impotent silence cries out under the sword of so many Herods. On their
blood stands the shadow of contemporary Herods. Truly there are so many
tears this Christmas, together with the tears of the Infant Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit today enlighten our hearts,
that we may recognize in the Infant Jesus, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin
Mary, the salvation given by God to each one of us, to each man and woman
and to all the peoples of the earth. May the power of Christ, which brings
freedom and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by war,
persecution and slavery. May this divine power, by its meekness, take away
the hardness of heart of so many men and women immersed in worldliness and
indifference, the globalization of indifference. May his redeeming
strength transform arms into ploughshares, destruction into creativity,
hatred into love and tenderness. Then we will be able to cry out with joy:
“Our eyes have seen your salvation”.
With these thoughts I wish you all a Happy Christmas!
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ΜΗΝΥΜΑ
ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΠΑΠΑ ΡΩΜΗΣ
κ.κ. ΦΡΑΓΚΙΣΚΟΥ 1ου
ΠΗΓΗ http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2013/december/documents/papa-francesco_20131221_auguri-curia-romana_en.html
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ON THE OCCASION OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
TO THE ROMAN CURIA
ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS
Clementine Hall
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
I am very grateful to the Cardinal Dean for his words. Thank
you!
The Lord has enabled us to journey through Advent, and all too quickly we
have come to these final days before Christmas. They are days marked by a
unique spiritual climate made up of emotions, memories and signs, both
liturgical and otherwise, such as the creche… It is in this climate that
this traditional meeting takes place with you, the Superiors and Officials
of the Roman Curia, who cooperate daily in the service of
the Church. I greet all of you with affection. Allow me to extend a
special greeting to Archbishop Pietro Parolin, who recently began his
service as Secretary of State, and who needs our prayers!
While our hearts are full of gratitude to God, who so loved us that he
gave us his only-begotten Son, it is also good to make room for gratitude
to one another. In this, my first
Christmas as the Bishop
of Rome, I also feel the need to offer sincere thanks to all of you as a
community of service, and to each of you individually. I thank you for
the work which you do each day: for the care, diligence and creativity
which you display; and for your effort – I know it is not always easy – to
work together in the office, both to listen to and challenge one another,
and to bring out the best in all your different personalities and gifts,
in a spirit of mutual respect.
In a particular way, I want to express my gratitude to those now
concluding their service and approaching retirement.
As priests and bishops, we know full well that we never really retire,
but we do leave the office, and rightly so, not least to devote ourselves
a little more fully to prayer and the care of souls, starting with our own!
So a very special and heartfelt “thank you” goes to those of you who have
worked here for so many years with immense dedication, hidden from the
eyes of the world. This is something truly admirable. I have such high
regard for these “Monsignori” who are cut from the same mould as the curiales of
olden times, exemplary persons… We need them today, too! People who work
with competence, precision and self-sacrifice in the fulfilment of
their daily duties. Here I would like to mention some of them by name, as
a way of expressing my esteem and my gratitude, but we know that, in any
list, the first names people notice are the ones that are missing! Besides,
I would also risk overlooking someone and thus committing an injustice and
a lack of charity. But I want to say to these brothers of ours that they
offer a very important witness in the Church’s journey through history.
They are also an example, and their example and their witness make me
think of two hallmarks of the curial official, and even more of curial
superiors, which I would like to emphasize: professionalism and service.
Professionalism, by which I mean competence, study, keeping abreast of
things… This is a basic requisite for working in the Curia. Naturally,
professionalism is something which develops, and is in part acquired; but
I think that, precisely for it to develop and to be acquired, there has to
be a good foundation from the outset.
The second hallmark is service: service to the Pope and to the bishops, to
the universal Church and to the particular Churches. In the Roman Curia,
one learns – in a special way, “one breathes in” – this twofold aspect of
the Church, this interplay of the universal and the particular. I think
that this is one of the finest experiences of those who live and work in
Rome: “to sense” the Church in this way. When professionalism is lacking,
there is a slow drift downwards towards mediocrity. Dossiers become full
of trite and lifeless information, and incapable of opening up lofty
perspectives. Then too, when the attitude is no longer one of service to
the particular Churches and their bishops, the structure of the Curia
turns into a ponderous, bureaucratic customshouse, constantly inspecting
and questioning, hindering the working of the Holy Spirit and the growth
of God’s people.
To these two qualities of professionalism and service, I would also like
to add a third, which is holiness of life. We know very well that, in the
hierarchy of values, this is the most important. Indeed, it is basic for
the quality of our work, our service. Here I would like to say that in
the Roman Curia there have been, and still are, saints. I have said this
publicly on more than one occasion, as a way of thanking the Lord.
Holiness means a life immersed in the Spirit, a heart open to God,
constant prayer, deep humility and fraternal charity in
our relationships with our fellow workers. It also means apostleship,
discreet and faithful pastoral service, zealously carried out in direct
contact with God’s people. For priests, this is indispensable.
Holiness, in the Curia, also means conscientious objection. Yes,
conscientious objection to gossip! We rightfully insist on the importance
of conscientious objection, but perhaps we too need to exercise it as a
means of defending ourselves from an unwritten law of our surroundings,
which unfortunately is that of gossip. So let us all be conscientious
objectors; and mind you, I am not simply preaching! For gossip is harmful
to people, harmful to our work and our surroundings.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us feel close to one another on this final
stretch of the road to Bethlehem. We would do well to meditate on Saint
Joseph, who was so silent yet so necessary at the side of Our Lady. Let
us think about him and his loving concern for his Spouse and for the Baby
Jesus. This can tell us a lot about our own service to the Church! So
let us experience this Christmas in spiritual closeness to Saint Joseph.
This will benefit all of us!
I thank you most heartily for your work and
especially for your prayers. Truly I feel “borne aloft” by your prayers
and I ask you to continue to support me in this way. I too remember you
before the Lord, and I impart my blessing as I offer my best wishes for a
Christmas filled with light and peace for each of you and for all your
dear ones. Happy Christmas!
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana |
ΜΗΝΥΜΑ
ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΠΑΠΑ ΡΩΜΗΣ
κ.κ. ΒΕΝΕΔΙΚΤΟΥ 16ου
ΠΗΓΗ http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia_en.htmll
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ADDRESS OF HIS
HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
ON THE OCCASION OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
TO THE ROMAN CURIA
Clementine Hall
Friday, 21 December 2012
Dear Cardinals,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is with great joy that I meet you today, dear
Members of the College of Cardinals, Representatives of the Roman Curia
and the Governorate, for this traditional event in the days leading up to
the feast of Christmas. I greet each one of you cordially, beginning with
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, whom I thank for his kind words and for the warm
good wishes that he extended to me on behalf of all present. The Dean of
the College of Cardinals reminded us of an expression that appears
frequently during these days in the Latin liturgy: Prope est iam
Dominus, venite, adoremus! The Lord is already near, come, let us
adore him! We too, as one family, prepare ourselves to adore the Child in
the stable at Bethlehem who is God himself and has come so close as to
become a man like us. I willingly reciprocate your good wishes and I thank
all of you from my heart, including the Papal Representatives all over the
world, for the generous and competent assistance that each of you offers
me in my ministry.
Once again we find ourselves at the end of a year that
has seen all kinds of difficult situations, important questions and
challenges, but also signs of hope, both in the Church and in the world. I
shall mention just a few key elements regarding the life of the Church and
my Petrine ministry. First of all, as the Dean of the College of Cardinals
mentioned, there were the journeys to Mexico and Cuba – unforgettable
encounters with the power of faith, so deeply rooted in human hearts, and
with the joie de vivre that issues from faith. I recall how, on my
arrival in Mexico, there were endless crowds of people lining the long
route, cheering and waving flags and handkerchiefs. I recall how, on the
journey to the attractive provincial capital Guanajuato, there were young
people respectfully kneeling by the side of the road to receive the
blessing of Peter’s Successor; I recall how the great liturgy beside the
statue of Christ the King made Christ’s kingship present among us – his
peace, his justice, his truth. All this took place against the backdrop of
the country’s problems, afflicted as it is by many different forms of
violence and the hardships of economic dependence. While these problems
cannot be solved simply by religious fervour, neither can they be solved
without the inner purification of hearts that issues from the power of
faith, from the encounter with Jesus Christ. And then there was Cuba –
here too there were great liturgical celebrations, in which the singing,
the praying and the silence made tangibly present the One that the
country’s authorities had tried for so long to exclude. That country’s
search for a proper balancing of the relationship between obligations and
freedom cannot succeed without reference to the basic criteria that
mankind has discovered through encounter with the God of Jesus Christ.
As further key moments in the course of the year, I
should like to single out the great Meeting of Families in Milan and the
visit to Lebanon, where I consigned the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
that is intended to offer signposts for the life of churches and society
in the Middle East along the difficult paths of unity and peace. The last
major event of the year was the Synod on the New Evangelization, which
also served as a collective inauguration of the Year of Faith, in which we
commemorate the opening of the Second Vatican Council fifty years ago,
seeking to understand it anew and appropriate it anew in the changed
circumstances of today.
All these occasions spoke to fundamental themes of this
moment in history: the family (Milan), serving peace in the world and
dialogue among religions (Lebanon) and proclaiming the message of Jesus
Christ in our day to those who have yet to encounter him and to the many
who know him only externally and hence do not actually recognize him.
Among these broad themes, I should like to focus particularly on the theme
of the family and the nature of dialogue, and then to add a brief
observation on the question of the new evangelization.
The great joy with which families from all over the
world congregated in Milan indicates that, despite all impressions to the
contrary, the family is still strong and vibrant today. But there is no
denying the crisis that threatens it to its foundations – especially in
the western world. It was noticeable that the Synod repeatedly emphasized
the significance, for the transmission of the faith, of the family as the
authentic setting in which to hand on the blueprint of human existence.
This is something we learn by living it with others and suffering it with
others. So it became clear that the question of the family is not just
about a particular social construct, but about man himself – about what he
is and what it takes to be authentically human. The challenges involved
are manifold. First of all there is the question of the human capacity to
make a commitment or to avoid commitment. Can one bind oneself for a
lifetime? Does this correspond to man’s nature? Does it not contradict his
freedom and the scope of his self-realization? Does man become himself by
living for himself alone and only entering into relationships with others
when he can break them off again at any time? Is lifelong commitment
antithetical to freedom? Is commitment also worth suffering for? Man’s
refusal to make any commitment – which is becoming increasingly widespread
as a result of a false understanding of freedom and self-realization as
well as the desire to escape suffering – means that man remains closed in
on himself and keeps his “I” ultimately for himself, without really rising
above it. Yet only in self-giving does man find himself, and only by
opening himself to the other, to others, to children, to the family, only
by letting himself be changed through suffering, does he discover the
breadth of his humanity. When such commitment is repudiated, the key
figures of human existence likewise vanish: father, mother, child –
essential elements of the experience of being human are lost.
The Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, has shown
in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are
currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of
father, mother, and child, goes much deeper. While up to now we regarded a
false understanding of the nature of human freedom as one cause of the
crisis of the family, it is now becoming clear that the very notion of
being – of what being human really means – is being called into question.
He quotes the famous saying of Simone de Beauvoir: “one is not born a
woman, one becomes so” (on ne naît pas femme, on le devient). These
words lay the foundation for what is put forward today under the term
“gender” as a new philosophy of sexuality. According to this philosophy,
sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and
personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves,
while in the past it was chosen for us by society. The profound falsehood
of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it
is obvious. People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by
their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human
being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something
previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves. According
to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female
pertains to the essence of the human creature. This duality is an
essential aspect of what being human is all about, as ordained by God.
This very duality as something previously given is what is now disputed.
The words of the creation account: “male and female he created them” (Gen
1:27) no longer apply. No, what applies now is this: it was not God who
created them male and female – hitherto society did this, now we decide
for ourselves. Man and woman as created realities, as the nature of the
human being, no longer exist. Man calls his nature into question. From now
on he is merely spirit and will. The manipulation of nature, which we
deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s
fundamental choice where he himself is concerned. From now on there is
only the abstract human being, who chooses for himself what his nature is
to be. Man and woman in their created state as complementary versions of
what it means to be human are disputed. But if there is no pre-ordained
duality of man and woman in creation, then neither is the family any
longer a reality established by creation. Likewise, the child has lost the
place he had occupied hitherto and the dignity pertaining to him. Bernheim
shows that now, perforce, from being a subject of rights, the child has
become an object to which people have a right and which they have a right
to obtain. When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create
oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man
too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God
at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself.
And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also
disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.
At this point I would like to address the second major
theme, which runs through the whole of the past year from Assisi to the
Synod on the New Evangelization: the question of dialogue and proclamation.
Let us speak firstly of dialogue. For the Church in our day I see three
principal areas of dialogue, in which she must be present in the struggle
for man and his humanity: dialogue with states, dialogue with society –
which includes dialogue with cultures and with science – and finally
dialogue with religions. In all these dialogues the Church speaks on the
basis of the light given her by faith. But at the same time she
incorporates the memory of mankind, which is a memory of man’s experiences
and sufferings from the beginnings and down the centuries, in which she
has learned about the human condition, she has experienced its boundaries
and its grandeur, its opportunities and its limitations. Human culture, of
which she is a guarantee, has developed from the encounter between divine
revelation and human existence. The Church represents the memory of what
it means to be human in the face of a civilization of forgetfulness, which
knows only itself and its own criteria. Yet just as an individual without
memory has lost his identity, so too a human race without memory would
lose its identity. What the Church has learned from the encounter between
revelation and human experience does indeed extend beyond the realm of
pure reason, but it is not a separate world that has nothing to say to
unbelievers. By entering into the thinking and understanding of mankind,
this knowledge broadens the horizon of reason and thus it speaks also to
those who are unable to share the faith of the Church. In her dialogue
with the state and with society, the Church does not, of course, have
ready answers for individual questions. Along with other forces in society,
she will wrestle for the answers that best correspond to the truth of the
human condition. The values that she recognizes as fundamental and non-negotiable
for the human condition she must propose with all clarity. She must do all
she can to convince, and this can then stimulate political action.
In man’s present situation, the dialogue of religions
is a necessary condition for peace in the world and it is therefore a duty
for Christians as well as other religious communities. This dialogue of
religions has various dimensions. In the first place it is simply a
dialogue of life, a dialogue of being together. This will not involve
discussing the great themes of faith – whether God is Trinitarian or how
the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures is to be understood, and so on.
It is about the concrete problems of coexistence and shared responsibility
for society, for the state, for humanity. In the process, it is necessary
to learn to accept the other in his otherness and the otherness of his
thinking. To this end, the shared responsibility for justice and peace
must become the guiding principle of the conversation. A dialogue about
peace and justice is bound to move beyond the purely pragmatic to become
an ethical struggle for the truth and for the human being: a dialogue
concerning the values that come before everything. In this way what began
as a purely practical dialogue becomes a quest for the right way to live
as a human being. Even if the fundamental choices themselves are not under
discussion, the search for an answer to a specific question becomes a
process in which, through listening to the other, both sides can obtain
purification and enrichment. Thus this search can also mean taking common
steps towards the one truth, even if the fundamental choices remain
unaltered. If both sides set out from a hermeneutic of justice and peace,
the fundamental difference will not disappear, but a deeper closeness will
emerge nevertheless.
Two rules are generally regarded nowadays as
fundamental for interreligious dialogue:
1. Dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at
understanding. In this respect it differs from evangelization, from
mission;
2. Accordingly, both parties to the dialogue remain
consciously within their identity, which the dialogue does not place in
question either for themselves or for the other.
These rules are correct, but in the way they are
formulated here I still find them too superficial. True, dialogue does not
aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding – that is correct.
But all the same, the search for knowledge and understanding always has to
involve drawing closer to the truth. Both sides in this piece-by-piece
approach to truth are therefore on the path that leads forward and towards
greater commonality, brought about by the oneness of the truth. As far as
preserving identity is concerned, it would be too little for the Christian,
so to speak, to assert his identity in a such a way that he effectively
blocks the path to truth. Then his Christianity would appear as something
arbitrary, merely propositional. He would seem not to reckon with the
possibility that religion has to do with truth. On the contrary, I would
say that the Christian can afford to be supremely confident, yes,
fundamentally certain that he can venture freely into the open sea of the
truth, without having to fear for his Christian identity. To be sure, we
do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us: Christ, who is the truth,
has taken us by the hand, and we know that his hand is holding us securely
on the path of our quest for knowledge. Being inwardly held by the hand of
Christ makes us free and keeps us safe: free – because if we are held by
him, we can enter openly and fearlessly into any dialogue; safe – because
he does not let go of us, unless we cut ourselves off from him. At one
with him, we stand in the light of truth.
Finally, at least a brief word should be added on the
subject of proclamation, or evangelization, on which the post-synodal
document will speak in depth, on the basis of the Synod Fathers’
propositions. I find that the essential elements of the process of
evangelizing appear most eloquently in Saint John’s account of the calling
of two of John the Baptist’s disciples, who become disciples of Jesus
Christ (1:35-39). First of all, we have the simple act of
proclamation. John the Baptist points towards Jesus and says: “Behold the
Lamb of God!” A similar act is recounted a few verses later. This time it
is Andrew, who says to his brother Simon “We have found the Messiah”
(1:41). The first and fundamental element is the straightforward
proclamation, the kerygma, which draws its strength from the inner
conviction of the one proclaiming. In the account of the two disciples,
the next stage is that of listening and following behind Jesus, which is
not yet discipleship, but rather a holy curiosity, a movement of seeking.
Both of them, after all, are seekers, men who live over and above everyday
affairs in the expectation of God – in the expectation that he exists and
will reveal himself. Stimulated by the proclamation, their seeking becomes
concrete. They want to come to know better the man described as the Lamb
of God by John the Baptist. The third act is set in motion when Jesus
turns round, approaches them and asks: “What do you seek?” They respond
with a further question, which demonstrates the openness of their
expectation, their readiness to take new steps. They ask: “Rabbi, where
are you staying?” Jesus’ answer “Come and see!” is an invitation to walk
with him and thereby to have their eyes opened with him.
The word of proclamation is effective in situations
where man is listening in readiness for God to draw near, where man is
inwardly searching and thus on the way towards the Lord. His heart is
touched when Jesus turns towards him, and then his encounter with the
proclamation becomes a holy curiosity to come to know Jesus better. As he
walks with Jesus, he is led to the place where Jesus lives, to the
community of the Church, which is his body. That means entering into the
journeying community of catechumens, a community of both learning and
living, in which our eyes are opened as we walk.
“Come and see!” This saying, addressed by Jesus to the
two seeker-disciples, he also addresses to the seekers of today. At the
end of the year, we pray to the Lord that the Church, despite all her
shortcomings, may be increasingly recognizable as his dwelling-place. We
ask him to open our eyes ever wider as we make our way to his house, so
that we can say ever more clearly, ever more convincingly: “we have found
him for whom the whole world is waiting, Jesus Christ, the true Son of God
and true man”. With these sentiments, I wish you all from my heart a
blessed Christmas and a happy New Year. Thank you.
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URBI ET ORBI
MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
CHRISTMAS 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!
Christ is born for us! Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth
to the men and women whom he loves. May all people hear an echo of the
message of Bethlehem which the Catholic Church repeats in every continent,
beyond the confines of every nation, language and culture. The Son of the
Virgin Mary is born for everyone; he is the Saviour of all.
This is how Christ is invoked in an ancient liturgical antiphon: “O
Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, hope and salvation of the peoples: come
to save us, O Lord our God”. Veni ad salvandum nos! Come to save
us! This is the cry raised by men and women in every age, who sense that
by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties and dangers. They
need to put their hands in a greater and stronger hand, a hand which
reaches out to them from on high. Dear brothers and sisters, this hand is
Christ, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. He is the hand that God
extends to humanity, to draw us out of the mire of sin and to set us
firmly on rock, the secure rock of his Truth and his Love (cf. Ps
40:2).
This is the meaning of the Child’s name, the name which, by God’s will,
Mary and Joseph gave him: he is named Jesus, which means “Saviour” (cf.
Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31). He was sent by God the Father to save us
above all from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history: the evil of
separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of
trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good
and evil, to be the master of life and death (cf. Gen 3:1-7). This
is the great evil, the great sin, from which we human beings cannot save
ourselves unless we rely on God’s help, unless we cry out to him: “Veni
ad salvandum nos! – Come to save us!”
The very fact that we cry to heaven in this way already sets us aright;
it makes us true to ourselves: we are in fact those who cried out to God
and were saved (cf. Esth [LXX] 10:3ff.). God is the Saviour; we
are those who are in peril. He is the physician; we are the infirm. To
realize this is the first step towards salvation, towards emerging from
the maze in which we have been locked by our pride. To lift our eyes to
heaven, to stretch out our hands and call for help is our means of escape,
provided that there is Someone who hears us and can come to our assistance.
Jesus Christ is the proof that God has heard our cry. And not only
this! God’s love for us is so strong that he cannot remain aloof; he
comes out of himself to enter into our midst and to share fully in our
human condition (cf. Ex 3:7-12). The answer to our cry which God
gave in Jesus infinitely transcends our expectations, achieving a
solidarity which cannot be human alone, but divine. Only the God who is
love, and the love which is God, could choose to save us in this way,
which is certainly the lengthiest way, yet the way which respects the
truth about him and about us: the way of reconciliation, dialogue and
cooperation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, on this
Christmas 2011, let us then turn to the Child of Bethlehem, to the Son of
the Virgin Mary, and say: “Come to save us!” Let us repeat these words in
spiritual union with the many people who experience particularly difficult
situations; let us speak out for those who have no voice.
Together let us ask God’s help for the peoples of the Horn of Africa,
who suffer from hunger and food shortages, aggravated at times by a
persistent state of insecurity. May the international community not fail
to offer assistance to the many displaced persons coming from that region
and whose dignity has been sorely tried.
May the Lord grant comfort to the peoples of South-East Asia,
particularly Thailand and the Philippines, who are still enduring grave
hardships as a result of the recent floods.
May the Lord come to the aid of our world torn by so many conflicts
which even today stain the earth with blood. May the Prince of Peace
grant peace and stability to that Land where he chose to come into the
world, and encourage the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and
Palestinians. May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much
blood has already been shed. May he foster full reconciliation and
stability in Iraq and Afghanistan. May he grant renewed vigour to all
elements of society in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East
as they strive to advance the common good.
May the birth of the Saviour support the prospects of dialogue and
cooperation in Myanmar, in the pursuit of shared solutions. May the
Nativity of the Redeemer ensure political stability to the countries of
the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and assist the people of South Sudan in
their commitment to safeguarding the rights of all citizens.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us turn our gaze anew to the grotto of
Bethlehem. The Child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has
brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace. Let
us open our hearts to him; let us receive him into our lives. Once more
let us say to him, with joy and confidence: “Veni ad salvandum nos!”
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