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Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - Lenten Reflections
LENT, A GREAT SPIRITUAL RETREAT LASTING FORTY DAYS
VATICAN CITY, 6 FEB 2008 (VIS) - In this morning's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his catechesis to the subject of Lent, which begins today with the rite of the imposition of the ashes and which, he observed, "is like a great spiritual retreat lasting 40 days".
"Today, as every year, we recommence the Lenten journey, stimulated by a more intense spirit of prayer and reflection, of penance and fasting", he said.
Lent, Benedict XVI continued, "helps us to rediscover the gift of faith we received at Baptism and encourages us to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation, placing our commitment to inner conversion under the protection of divine mercy".
In today's liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we are reminded that "we are limited creatures, sinners in constant need of penance and conversion. How important it is, in our own time, to listen to and accept this call! When he proclaims his complete autonomy from God, modern man becomes self-enslaved, and often finds himself tormented and alone. The call to conversion is, then, an encouragement to return to the arms of God the tender and merciful Father, to trust in Him, and to entrust ourselves to Him as adoptive children regenerated by His love".
The Pope went on to ask whether "achievement of success, desire for prestige and pursuit of luxury, when they completely absorb a person's life to the point of excluding God from the horizon, truly lead to happiness. Can real happiness exist without God? Experience shows that satisfying material wants and needs does not lead to happiness, In truth, the only joy that fills the human heart is the joy that comes from God, because we have need of infinite happiness. Neither daily concerns nor the difficulties of life are able to extinguish the delight that comes from friendship with God".
Jesus' invitation to take up the cross and follow Him may seem a "harsh" rule that "quashes our desire for personal fulfilment", said the Holy Father, going on to highlight that, in fact, "the witness of the saints shows how in the Cross of Christ - in love given as a gift, renouncing the possession of self - is a profound serenity that is the source of generous dedication to our brothers and sisters, especially the poor and needy. And this also brings joy to us".
Echoing the Gospel, "the Church proposes a number of specific duties for the faithful on this itinerary of interior renewal: prayer, fasting, almsgiving", said Benedict XVI recalling how his own Message for Lent this year had focused on "the practice of almsgiving".
"Like the disciples of Jesus Christ", he concluded, "we are called not to idolise worldly goods, but to use them as a means to live and to help others in need, ... in imitation of Jesus Who, as St. Paul says, 'was poor to enrich us with his poverty'". G/LENT/... VIS 080206 (500)
LENT: A TIME TO FACE UP TO EVIL TOGETHER WITH CHRIST
VATICAN CITY, 10 FEB 2008 (VIS) - Today, the first Sunday of Lent, the Holy Father addressed the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus, reminding them that the beginning of this liturgical period means "dedicating particular attention to the spiritual struggle to oppose the evil that exists in the world, in each one of us, and around us".
Lent, the Pope went on, means "looking evil in the face and preparing oneself to combat its effects, especially in its causes, even unto its ultimate cause which is Satan. It means not offloading the problem of evil onto others, onto society or onto God, but recognising our own responsibilities and consciously shouldering them".
For this reason, its is important for Christians to listen "to Jesus' invitation for each to take up his or her own 'cross' and follow Him with humility and faith. The cross, however heavy it may be, is not a synonym of misfortune, of a calamity to be avoided, but an opportunity to follow Christ and thus to acquire strength in the fight against sin and evil.
"Thus", he added, "entering into Lent means renewing the individual and community decision to face up to evil together with Christ. The way of the Cross is, in fact, the only one that leads to the victory of love over hatred, of sharing over selfishness, of peace over violence".
The Holy Father then went on to remark that the beginning of Lent this year coincides with the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes (11 February 1858). "The message the Virgin Mary continues to proclaim at Lourdes ", he said, "recalls the words that Jesus pronounced at the very beginning of His public mission: ... 'Convert and believe in the Gospel', pray and do penance. Let us welcome Mary's invitation, which echoes that of Christ, and ask her to enable us 'to enter' with faith into Lent, to live this period of grace with inner joy and generous commitment".
The Pope concluded his pre-Angelus remarks by entrusting the sick and their carers to the Virgin Mary, recalling that tomorrow, 11 February, marks the World Day of the Sick.
ANG/LENT:SICK/... VIS 080212 (380)
OUR SUFFERINGS ARE ALSO CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS
VATICAN CITY, 11 FEB 2008 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 4 p.m. today, Feast of Out Lady of Lourdes and 16th World Day of the Sick, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, celebrated Mass for the sick and for pilgrims of UNITALSI (Italian National Union for Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines), and of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.
At the beginning of his homily, the cardinal recalled that today marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Massabielle.
Commenting on certain aspects of Benedict XVI's Message for the World Day of the Sick - in which the Pope highlights the intimate bond between the Eucharistic mystery, Mary's role in the project of salvation and the reality of human suffering - Cardinal Lozano asked: "Is it possible to experience the suffering of Christ in our own suffering, to find therein happiness and joy? The answer", he went on, "can only come from the Holy Spirit, fusing our suffering with that of Christ through His infinite Love".
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's suffering, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, going on to explain that "the reality of the mystery of suffering - which in Christ becomes positive, creative, redeeming, happiness and joy, while not ceasing to be extremely painful - is the Eucharist. Participation in the Eucharist is the authentic way to make our own suffering part of Christ's suffering. This is Eucharistic communion. The Eucharist is thus our cross and our resurrection. It is the only true remedy to pain. It is the medicine of immortality".
"In order to respond to the full love of the cross", said Cardinal Lozano, we must pronounce "an unreserved 'yes' to the mysterious plan of the Redeemer, a 'yes' that means fullness of Love. This complete 'yes' of love is the Immaculate Conception of our dear Mother, Mary", who participated "on
Calvary as the co-redeemer of the Saviour. ... Christ on the cross suffered all the pains that his Most Holy Mother suffered. And she in Christ suffers all our pains, she assumes them and knows how to commiserate with us. Out suffering is also her suffering".
He went on: "Suffering has value in as much as the death of Christ inherently comprehends His resurrection. In other words, suffering has value in as much as it leads towards the destruction of suffering, Thus suffering itself, understood in a Christian sense, encourages us to struggle against suffering in this life, as an anticipation of the resurrection.
"Hence the Eucharist, as participation in Christ's suffering, encourages us to care for our sick brothers and sisters", the cardinal added. "We must share the joy of the resurrection, overcoming the daily manifestation of death in sickness. Here is the engine that drives us forward to combat all infirmities and bring health to everyone. From here arises the obligation to progress constantly in the art and science of medicine and to continue its extraordinary modern developments".
.../WORLD DAY SICK/LOZANO VIS 080212 (530)
POPE REFLECTS ON IMPORTANCE OF ALMSGIVING
VATICAN CITY , 29 JAN 2008 ( VIS ) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation took place of the 2008 Lenten Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The theme of this year's Message is: "Christ made Himself poor for you".
Participating in the press conference were Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes and Msgrs. Karel Kasteel and
Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, respectively president, secretary and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", and Hans-Peter Rothlin, president of the Catholic association Aid to the Church in Need.
Cardinal Cordes affirmed that in his Message this year the Pope "presents certain reflections on alms and fundraising". He also noted that, alongside Christmas, "the period leading up to Easter is also traditionally dedicated in many countries to special fundraising campaigns".
He went on: "Despite the fact that the struggle against hunger has seen some successes from a financial point of view", it must be highlighted that "the structural costs of assistance organisations are sometime surprisingly high" and "at times can reach slightly less than 50 percent of their revenue".
In the 2008 Message, he said, the Holy Father "wishes to highlight, on the basis of the faith, the implications giving has for the spirit of the donor". Using the words and stories of the Gospel, the Pope "places the gift of the donor in the light of revelation".
"In the first place", said Cardinal Cordes, "the Pope shows - above all to practising Christians - the indissoluble bond between piety and caring for the needy". The Holy Father also "speaks of the intentions of the donor. At a time in which such great honour is paid to benefactors it is certainly appropriate to call attention to the spirit of a benefactor's gesture, which is not to look to the glorification of self but to the glorification of the Father Who is in heaven. The love of God is at the root of all good actions accomplished by man".
The president of "Cor Unum" noted how the Holy Father comments on the evangelical episode of the widow who gave everything she had to live on. In this context he affirmed that "the value of our gifts is measured not on the basis of the amount stamped on the coins. Before God it is only the hand of the donor that determines the importance of a gift. Its value depends on the ... thoughts and intentions that have caused the person to give".
Subsequently, Hans-Peter Rothlin spoke about Fr. Werenfried van Straaten, founder of the association Aid to the Church in Need, recalling that it is "not an order or an ecclesial community, but a 'Work' that has the aim of helping the Church wherever she is not capable of carrying out her mission without external assistance".
In the "Spiritual Guidelines" written by Fr. van Straaten in 2002 shortly before his death, the founder "does not use the word 'alms' but speaks of offerings" and indicates that "the majority of his 'benefactors' were and remain simple people who do not possess great wealth, but are, rather, like the widow of the Gospel who makes her offering in secret ... then goes on her way".
The text of the "Spiritual Guidelines" also make it clear, said Mr Rothlin, that those who distribute the offerings "must never forget that 'they are not just administrating money, but above all the charity of our benefactors'. Here we find come to the central point of the Holy Father's Message, which could be entitled: 'The secret of almsgiving is charity'", he said.
The association founded by Fr. van Straaten collects funds in 17 nations and has some 600,000 benefactors, and it is, Mr Rothlin concluded, "a meeting place for the world Church where the children of God, from all places, come together in supernatural love and enrich one another. For donors it is a grace to know they are united with those whom Jesus called 'blessed' because of their poverty and suffering, ... while recipients experience the joy of being united to those who, for their mercy, are also called 'blessed'". OP/MESSAGE LENT 2008/CORDES VIS 080129 (690)
PAPAL MESSAGE FOR LENT 2008
VATICAN CITY , 29 JAN 2008 ( VIS ) - Made public today was the 2008 Lenten Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The text, dated 30 October 2007, has as its title a verse from St. Paul 's Second Letter to the Corinthians: "Christ made Himself poor for you".
Extracts from the Message are given below:
"Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For this year's Lenten Message, I wish to spend some time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving, which represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods. The force of attraction to material riches and just how categorical our decision must be not to make of them an idol, Jesus confirms in a resolute way: 'You cannot serve God and mammon'.
"Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbour's needs and to share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness. This is the aim of the special collections in favour of the poor, which are promoted during Lent in many parts of the world. In this way, inward cleansing is accompanied by a gesture of ecclesial communion, mirroring what already took place in the early Church.
"According to the teaching of the Gospel, we are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we possess: these, then, are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His providence for our neighbour".
"In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly admonishes the one who possesses and uses earthly riches only for self. ... In those countries whose population is majority Christian, the call to share is even more urgent, since their responsibility toward the many who suffer poverty and abandonment is even greater. To come to their aid is a duty of justice even prior to being an act of charity.
"The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving: it must be hidden. ... This understanding, dear brothers and sisters, must accompany every gesture of help to our neighbour, avoiding that it becomes a means to make ourselves the centre of attention".
"In today's world of images, attentive vigilance is required, since this temptation is great. Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbour, in imitation of Jesus Christ".
"In inviting us to consider almsgiving with a more profound gaze that transcends the purely material dimension, Scripture teaches us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving. ... Every time when, for love of God, we share our goods with our neighbour in need, we discover that the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned to us as a blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction and joy".
"What is more: St. Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the forgiveness of sins. ... As the Lenten liturgy frequently repeats, God offers to us sinners the possibility of being forgiven. The fact of sharing what we possess with the poor disposes us to receive such a gift".
"Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of love. ... In this regard, all the more significant is the Gospel story of the widow who, out of poverty, cast into the Temple treasury 'all she had to live on'".
We find this moving passage inserted in the description of the days that immediately precede Jesus' passion and death, who, as St. Paul writes, made Himself poor to enrich us out of His poverty; He gave His entire Self for us. Lent, also through the practice of almsgiving, inspires us to follow His example. In His school, we can learn to make of our lives a total gift; imitating Him, we are able to make ourselves available, not so much in giving part of what we possess, but our very selves. Cannot the entire Gospel be summarised perhaps in the one commandment of love? The Lenten practice of almsgiving thus become a means to deepen our Christian vocation. In gratuitously offering himself, the Christian bears witness that it is love and not material richness that determines the laws of his existence, Love, then, gives almsgiving its true value; it inspires various forms of giving, according to the possibilities and conditions of each person". MESS/LENT 2008/... VIS 080129 (820)
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