Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - Sunday: The Lord's Day

WITHOUT THE LORD'S DAY, SUNDAY, LIFE DOES NOT FLOURISH VATICAN CITY, SEP 9, 2007 (VIS) - This morning the Pope celebrated Mass in Vienna's cathedral of St. Stephen, a Gothic structure with a campanile 136 meters high and a frontage incorporating two Roman towers more than 60 meters high. A procession prior to the ceremony led the Pope 100 meters to the cathedral entrance. In his homily, Benedict XVI reflected upon the meaning of Sunday, the day of the Lord." In the word 'dominico' [Sunday]," he said, "two meanings are inextricably intertwined, and we must once more learn to recognize their unity. First of all there is the gift of the Lord, this gift is the Lord himself: the Risen One, Whom Christians simply need to have close and accessible to them, if they are to be themselves. ... The encounter with the Lord is inscribed in time on a specific day." "We need this encounter which brings us together, which gives us space for freedom, which lets us see beyond the bustle of everyday life to God's creative love, from which we come and towards which we are travelling." " Without the Lord and without the day that belongs to Him," the Holy Father insisted, "life does not flourish. Sunday has been transformed in our Western societies into the weekend, into leisure time. Leisure time is certainly something good and necessary, especially amid the mad rush of the modern world. Yet if leisure time lacks an inner focus, an overall sense of direction, then ultimately it becomes wasted time that neither strengthens nor builds us up. Leisure time requires a focus, the encounter with Him who is our origin and goal." "The early Christians celebrated the first day of the week as the Lord's day, because it was the day of the resurrection. Yet very soon, the Church also came to realize that the first day of the week is the day of the dawning of creation, the day on which God said: 'Let there be light.' Therefore Sunday is also the Church's weekly feast of creation, the feast of thanksgiving and joy over God's creation. At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously welcome this dimension of Sunday too." "In this Sunday's Opening Prayer we call to mind firstly that through His Son God has redeemed us and made us His beloved children. ... To be someone's child," the Holy Father concluded, "means to be a free person, not a slave but a member of the family. And it means being an heir. If we belong to God, Who is the power above all powers, then we are fearless and free. And we are heirs. The inheritance He has bequeathed to us is Himself, His love." At the conclusion of Mass, the Pope went out into the adjoining square where he climbed a podium to pray the Angelus. Before the Marian prayer he said: "Just as Mary bore Him in her womb - a defenseless little Child, totally dependent on the love of His Mother - so Jesus Christ, under the species of bread, has entrusted Himself to you, dear brothers and sisters. Love Him as Mary loved Him! Bring Him to others, just as Mary brought Him to Elizabeth as the source of joyful exultation! The Virgin gave the Word of God a human body, and thus enabled Him to come into the world as a man. Give your own bodies to the Lord, and let them become ever more fully instruments of God's love, temples of the Holy Spirit! Bring Sunday, and its immense gift, into the world!" Following the Angelus, Benedict XVI presented a Letter he has written to children who participate in the initiatives of the Pontifical Work of the Holy Childhood. "In you I see young collaborators in the service that the Pope renders to the Church and to the world," the Holy Father writes in his Letter. "You support me with your prayers and with your commitment to spread the Gospel." There are many children, the Letter proceeds, who do not know Jesus, and many more who lack the basic necessities of life. "The Church gives them her special attention, especially through the work of missionaries. And you too feel called to offer your contribution both individually and in groups. Friendship with Jesus is such a beautiful gift that we cannot keep it to ourselves." PV-AUSTRIA/MASS:ANGELUS/VIENNA VIS 070910 (750) Parishes Must Rediscover Value of Sundays, Says Pope Pope Benedict XVI greets faithful from his window of the papal apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square during his Sunday Angelus prayer, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 22, 2005. Using the theme of Italian National Eucharistic Congress, Pope Benedict XVI says that "Every parish is called to rediscover the beauty of Sunday, the day of the Lord. The Pope, addressing thousands gathered today in St. Peter's Square, delivered that message as he united himself spiritually to the Italian National Eucharistic Congress which opened Saturday in the southern city of Bari. He will travel to Bari next Sunday to close out the congress. The objective of this pontificate's first apostolic trip in Italy, as the Holy Father acknowledged in his midday Angelus message, is the adoration of the Eucharistic Christ, so that it "will kindle in the Italian Church a renewed ardor of faith, hope and charity." Benedict XVI said he gives particular importance to the congress, as it is being celebrated in the Year of the Eucharist. The special year will close in October with a world Synod of Bishops. The Pope hopes the Eucharistic year will serve to gather the Christian people "around Christ, present in the Most Holy Sacrament, source and summit of their life and mission." "In particular," he said, "each parish is called to rediscover the beauty of Sunday, day of the Lord, in which Christ's disciples renew, in the Eucharist, communion with the One who gives meaning to their joys and exhaustions of each day." Opening vigil The theme of the Italian Eucharistic Congress -- "We Cannot Live without Sunday" -- repeats the words expressed before their death by the 49 martyrs of Abitene, a city of the Roman province of "pro-consular Africa," present-day Tunis, in the year 303, at the time of Diocletian's persecutions. "This is what we are called to repeat today," said the Holy Father. Before concluding, Benedict XVI entrusted to the Virgin Mary "all the children, adolescents and young people who at this time are making their first Communion or receiving the sacrament of confirmation." The Italian National Eucharistic Congress was opened on Saturday afternoon by special papal envoy Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome, in Bari's Liberty Square with a vigil attended by some 5,000 people. Today, Cardinal Ruini presided at the Mass in Liberty Square. In his homily, he stressed that "the Eucharist is truly the heart of the Church, nourishment, and the soul of the life of every Christian." More than 850 journalists have been accredited to cover the Eucharistic Congress. REDISCOVER AND FULLY EXPERIENCE SUNDAY AS THE LORD'S DAY VATICAN CITY, JAN 21, 2005 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received members and counselors of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, who are participating in their plenary session on the theme: "Sunday Mass, center of Christian life in Latin America." The Pope expressed his joy that, during the Year of the Eucharist, they had chosen to reflect on "various initiatives to rediscover and fully 'experience Sunday as the day of the Lord and the day of the Church'," as proposed in the Apostolic Letter "Mane nobiscum Domine." "Participation in Sunday Mass," said the Pope, "is not only an important obligation, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1389) makes quite clear, but above all a profound need of each individual faithful. It is not possible to experience faith without participating regularly in Sunday Mass: the sacrifice of redemption, the shared banquet of the Word of God and of the Bread of the Eucharist, heart of Christian life." John Paul II underlined the "renewed efforts" by pastors of the Church to "raise awareness of the centrality of Sunday in the ecclesial and social life of the men and women of today. ... To this end it is necessary to concentrate efforts on a better and more careful education and catechesis of the faithful about the Eucharist, and to ensure that the celebration is dignified and decorous, so that it inspires true respect and authentic piety in the face of the greatness of the Eucharistic mystery." "Sunday Mass," he went on, "must be correctly prepared by the celebrant, with a spiritual disposition which is then revealed in his words and gestures, just as the homily must be prepared in an appropriate way." On this subject, the Pope referred to the importance of choosing and preparing "the hymns, symbols and other elements that enrich the liturgy, always showing due respect for established norms, taking advantage of all the spiritual and pastoral richness of the Roman Missal and the directives proposed by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments." The Holy Father concluded by asking the bishops, in collaboration with priests, religious and faithful, to give "the maximum commitment to reflecting on and deepening this essential dimension of the sacramental life of the Church," and to work "to awaken an ever greater love for the Mystery of the Eucharist in their dioceses." AC/SUNDAY MASS/COM-AL VIS 050121 (400) THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL ARDOR IS THE EUCHARIST VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2005 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica yesterday, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Archbishop Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, presided at a Eucharistic celebration in the Pope's name. Before the start of Mass, the liturgy of light took place, with the blessing of candles and the procession. Following a recitation from the Gospel, Archbishop Rode read a message from the Holy Father. "Today we celebrate the Ninth Day of Consecrated Life," writes John Paul II in his Message, "a propitious occasion for giving thanks to the Lord together with those who have been called by Him to practice the evangelical counsels." After recalling that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the decree "Perfectae caritatis," by which "Vatican Council II laid down the guiding principles for the renewal of consecrated life," the Pope affirms: "Over these 40 years, in keeping with the guidelines of the Church's Magisterium, the institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life have followed a fruitful road of renewal. ... I am certain that, thanks also to this aggiornamento, the fruits of sanctity and of missionary dedication will grow, so long as consecrated people maintain an unchanged ascetic fervor and turn it into apostolic works." "The secret of this spiritual ardor," the Holy Father writes, "is the Eucharist, the inexhaustible source of faithfulness to the Gospel, because in this Sacrament, the heart of ecclesial life, we achieve intimate identification and total conformity with Christ, to whom consecrated men and women are called." John Paul II concludes by calling on the Virgin Mary, "Eucharistic woman" to "help those called to a special intimacy with Christ to be assiduous frequenters of the Mass and to obtain for them the gift of ready obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity. May she make them saintly disciples of the Eucharistic Christ." .../CONSECRATED LIFE:EUCHARIST/RODE VIS 050203 (330) SPANISH: VUELVA A DESCUBRIR Y EXPERIMENTE COMPLETAMENTE DOMINGO COMO DAY DEL SEÑOR CIUDAD DE VATICAN, De ENERO el 21, 2005 (VIS) - esta mañana, el papa recibió a miembros y a consejeros de la Comisión pontifical para América latina, quiénes están participando en su sesión plenaria sobre el Tema: "Masa De Domingo, centro de la vida cristiana en América latina." El papa expresó su alegría que, durante el año del eucharist, habían elegido reflejar en "varias iniciativas para volver a descubrir y ' para experimentar completamente domingo como el día del señor y el día de la iglesia ',"según lo propuesto en nobiscum Domine de la melena de la letra apostólica"." "participación en la masa de Domingo,"dijo a papa, "es no solamente una obligación importante, como el catechism de la iglesia católica (No. 1389) marcas absolutamente claras, pero sobretodo una necesidad profunda de cada uno fiel individual. No es posible experimentar la fe sin participar regularmente en la masa de domingo: el sacrificio del rescate, el banquete compartido de la palabra del dios y del pan del eucharist, corazón de la vida cristiana." Juan Paul que II subrayó "renovó esfuerzos" por los pastores de la iglesia "de levantar el conocimiento del centrality de domingo en la vida ecclesial y social de los hombres y de las mujeres de hoy. ... Con este fin es necesario concentrar esfuerzos en una educación y un catechesis mejores y más cuidadosos del fiel sobre el eucharist, y para asegurarse de que la celebración sea dignificada y decorosa, de modo que inspire verdad respete y piedad auténtica en la cara de la grandeza del misterio de Eucharistic." "Masa De Domingo,"él se encendió, "debe ser preparado correctamente por el celebrant, con una disposición espiritual que entonces se revela en sus palabras y gestos, apenas como el homily debe ser preparado de una manera apropiada."en este tema, el papa refirió a la importancia de elegir y de preparar "los himnos, símbolos y otros elementos que enriquecen la liturgia, siempre demostrar el respecto debido por normas establecidas, aprovechándose de toda la riqueza espiritual y pastoral del Missal romano y de los directorios propuestos por la congregación para la adoración divina y la disciplina de los sacramentos." El padre santo concluyó preguntando a los obispos, en la colaboración con los sacerdotes, religioso y fiel, para dar "la comisión máxima con el reflejo encendido y profundizar de esta dimensión esencial de la vida sacramental de la iglesia,"y trabajar" para despertar un amor siempre mayor para el misterio del eucharist en sus diócesis." CAMASA DE DOMINGOVIS 050121 (400) DE COM-AL EL SECRETO DEL ARDOR ESPIRITUAL ES EL EUCHARIST ...CIUDAD DE VATICAN, De FEBRERO el 3, 2005 (VIS) - en el Vatican Basilica ayer, Banquete de la presentación del señor, El Franco Del Arzobispo Montó C.M., prefect de la congregación para los institutos de la vida consecrated y sociedades de la vida apostólica, presidido en una celebración de Eucharistic en el nombre del papa. Antes del comienzo de la masa, la liturgia de la luz ocurrió, con la bendición de las velas y de la procesión. Después de un recitation del Evangelio, El arzobispo montó leyó un mensaje del padre santo. "celebramos hoy el noveno día de la vida consecrated,"escribe a Juan Paul II en su mensaje, "una ocasión propicia para dar gracias al señor junto con los que han sido llamadas por él para practicar los consejos evangélicos." Después de recordar que este año marca el 40.o aniversario de la promulgación caritatis de Perfectae del decreto los ","por cuál" colocó el consejo de Vatican II los principios de guía para la renovación de la vida consecrated,"el papa afirma: "sobre estos 40 años, en armonía con las pautas del Magisterium de la iglesia, los institutos de la vida consecrated y las sociedades de la vida apostólica han seguido un camino fructuoso de la renovación. ... Estoy seguro que, gracias también a este aggiornamento, las frutas de la santidad y del esmero del misionario crecerán, siempre y cuando consecrated la gente mantiene un fervor ascético sin cambios y le da vuelta en trabajos apostólicos." "el secreto de este ardor espiritual,"el padre santo escribe, "es el eucharist, la fuente inagotable de la fidelidad al Evangelio, porque en este sacramento, el corazón de la vida ecclesial, alcanzamos la identificación íntima y la conformidad total con Cristo, quién consecrated a los hombres y a las mujeres se llaman." Juan Paul II concluye invitando a la Virgen Maria, la "mujer de Eucharistic" "para ayudar a ésos llamó a una intimidad especial con Cristo para ser frequenters asiduos de la masa y para obtener para ellos el regalo de la obediencia lista, pobreza fiel y virginity fructuoso. Puede ella hacerles saintly a discípulos del Eucharistic Cristo." .../VIDA CONSECRATED:EUCHARIST/MONTÓ EL VIS 050203 (330)

(Back)