Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - THE YEAR OF SAINT PAUL--2000th ANNIVERSARY

ANALYSIS OF THE TOMB OF ST. PAUL
 
VATICAN CITY, 3 JUL 2009 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, and Professor Ulderico Santamaria, director of the scientific laboratory of the Vatican Museums, hosted a presentation on the sarcophagus of St. Paul.
 
  Cardinal Cordero explained how two years ago he had suggested to the Pope that the tomb of St. Paul be subject to a scientific examination. Benedict XVI accepted the proposal but ordered that the outcome only be announced at the end of the Pauline Year. Hence it was necessary to keep the results secret until then.
 
  Professor Santamaria dwelt on the technical aspects of the survey, explaining how a small hole was made in the sarcophagus through which a probe was then introduced. Fragments of blue linen, purple linen interwoven with gold thread, grains of red incense and bone fragments were discovered. Carbon dating on organic elements from these finds suggest that they belong to a person who lived in the first or second centuries. "This", the Pope said on 28 June during the closing ceremony for the Pauline Year, "seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul, and it fills our heart with profound emotion".
 
  The cardinal also explained how the Pope does not exclude the possibility of undertaking a more detailed examination of the sarcophagus of St. Paul. However, he went on, the Holy Father did not wish this to take place during the Pauline Year because, in order to open the sarcophagus, it would be necessary to dismantle the papal altar and the thirteenth-century baldachin by Arnolfo di Cambio which, he concluded, would be a difficult and delicate task.
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PAUL, EXAMPLE OF A PRIEST WHO IDENTIFIES WITH HIS MINISTRY
 
VATICAN CITY, 28 JUN 2009 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his private study to pray the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square below.
 
  Before the Marian prayer, the Pope spoke of the Pauline Year, due to come to an end this evening in a ceremony at the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. "It has been", he said, "a true period of grace during which, through pilgrimages, catecheses, numerous publications and various other initiatives, the figure of St. Paul has been presented afresh to the entire Church, and his powerful message has revived a passion for Christ and the Gospel in Christian communities everywhere".
 
  Pope Benedict then went on to refer to the newly-inaugurated Year for Priests, called to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the "Cure of Ars", and the aim of which "is to help promote the commitment to interior renewal among all priests", that they may provide "stronger and more incisive evangelical witness in today's world"
 
  In this context, said the Pope, the Apostle Paul "represents a magnificent model to be imitated ... in love for Christ, in zeal for announcing the Gospel, in dedication to communities, in elaborating effective summaries of pastoral theology. St. Paul was an example of a priest completely identified with his ministry - as the holy 'Cure of Ars' would also be - aware he was bearing a priceless treasure - that is the message of salvation - though carrying it in a clay jar'".
 
  "'The love of Christ possesses us', the Apostle wrote", Benedict XVI concluded, "and this could well be a motto for priests, whom the Spirit has 'captivated' to make them faithful administrators of the mysteries of God". ANG/PRIESTS/...     VIS 090630 (310)
 
BENEDICT XVI CLOSES THE PAULINE YEAR
 
VATICAN CITY, 28 JUN 2009 (VIS) - This evening in the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, the Holy Father presided at first Vespers for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. The ceremony, which officially closed the Pauline Year, was also attended by a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, headed by His Eminence Emmanuel, metropolitan of France.
 
  Benedict XVI, standing before the sarcophagus of the Apostle Paul which lies under the main altar, recalled how a recent scientific analysis of the tomb had revealed the presence of a costly purple linen fabric, grains of incense and bone fragments which a carbon-14 test has dated to the first or second centuries. "This", he said, "seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul, and it fills our heart with profound emotion".
 
  Paul, said the Holy Father, remains the "'Master of the Gentiles' who wished to carry the message of the risen Christ to all men and women, because Christ has known and loved them all, He died and rose again for them all". In his Letter to the Romans the Apostle makes it clear "that with Christ a new way of venerating God, a new form of worship, has begun. ... It is no longer things that are offered to God, it is our very lives that must become praise of God".
 
  This Letter uses two decisive words, "transformation and renewal", said the Pope and he went on: "We must become new men and new women, transformed in a new way of existence. The world is always seeking novelty because, quite rightly, it is always discontented with concrete reality. Paul tells us that the world cannot be renewed without new men and women. ... The Apostle exhorts us to non-conformity. In this Letter he tells us not to succumb to the blueprint of the current age".
 
  Paul explains this process more clearly "saying that we become new if we transform our way of thinking" and that "such renewal must be complete. ... The mind of old man, the common way of thinking, generally aims at possession, wellbeing, influence, success, fame and so on. But this has too limited a scope; in the final analysis, it is the 'self' that remains at the centre of the world. We must learn to think more deeply, ... we must learn to understand God's will so that it moulds our own will, so that we ourselves want what God wants, so that we recognise that what God wants is beautiful and good".
 
  In his Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle says that "with Christ we must reach adulthood, mature humanity. ... Paul wants Christians to have 'responsible' faith, 'adult' faith. The phrase 'adult faith' has become a common slogan over recent decades. It is often understood as the attitude of those who no longer listen to the Church and her pastors, but autonomously choose what they wish to believe and not to believe: a sort of 'do-it-yourself' faith. This is also presented as the 'courage' to go against the Magisterium of the Church. The truth, however, is that it requires no courage because one is always certain of garnering public sympathy.
 
  "What does require courage", he added, "is to adhere to the faith of the Church even if this contradicts the blueprint of the modern world. It is the 'non-conformity' of faith that Paul calls 'adult faith'. What he considers childlike is to charge after all the winds and currents of the age".
 
  The Holy Father went on: "Part of adult faith, for example, is commitment to the inviolability of human life from the very first moment, thus radically opposing the principle of violence by defending the most helpless human creatures. Part of adult faith is recognising lifelong marriage between a man and a woman, as ordained by God and re-established by Christ. Adult faith does not allow itself to be blown here and there by the slightest breeze".
 
  "Yet Paul does not limit himself to mere negation, he leads us on to the great 'yes'. ... The new way of thinking that faith has given us is primarily directed towards truth. The power of evil is falsehood. The power of faith, the power of God, is truth. ... God makes Himself visible to us in the face of Jesus Christ. And looking at Christ we recognise another thing: that truth and charity are inseparable".
 
  "The Apostle tells us that, by working according to truth in charity, we contribute to ensuring that everything - the universe - develops towards Christ. On the basis of his faith, Paul is not simply concerned for our personal rectitude or for the growth of the Church. ... The ultimate goal of Christ's work is the universe, the transformation of the universe, of the entire human world, of all creation. Those who, together with Christ, serve the truth in charity contribute to the true progress of the world".
 
  Finally, Benedict XVI recalled how in the Letter to the Ephesians the Apostle speaks of the need to strengthen "'inner being'. ... The inner vacuum - the weakness of inner being - is one of the great problems of our age", he said. "Inner life must be strengthened: the perception of the heart, the capacity to see and understand the world and mankind from within, with the heart. We need a reason illuminated by the heart so as to learn to act according to the truth in charity".
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CARDINAL MONTEZEMOLO ASSESSES THE PAULINE YEAR
 
VATICAN CITY, 26 JUN 2009 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls in Rome, and Pier Carlo Visconti, delegate for the administration of the same basilica, held a briefing on the closure of the Pauline Year.
 
  The cardinal recalled how the Year came into being as a "thematic year" with two fundamental objectives: "To increase people's knowledge of, and invite them to meditate upon, the valuable message left to us by the Apostle of the Gentiles in his writings, which are often difficult and little known or poorly interpreted", and "to create various programmes in the ecumenical dimension, which means working to an ever greater degree with non-Catholic Christian communities on various initiatives of prayer, study and culture".
 
  During the course of the Pauline Year, inaugurated by the Pope on 28 June 2008, the basilica welcomed tens of thousands of pilgrims. "On 1 May 2009 alone more than eighteen thousand pilgrims came to the basilica", explained the cardinal, "and over recent weeks we have certainly seen more than ten thousand a day".
 
  Among the ecclesial events of the Pauline Year, the cardinal mentioned "the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God, which the Pope wished should be inaugurated in the basilica of St. Paul in October 2008, ... the 'Sinaxis' celebrated by all the patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches in Constantinople, followed by a congress focusing on specifically Pauline issues", and "visits to Rome by patriarchs accompanied by large delegations from the Oriental Churches, both Catholic and non-Catholic".
 
  "In the Church of Rome, but also and above all in the various local Churches, ... the celebration of the second millennium of the birth of the Apostle of the Gentiles was perceived and experienced as a fresh stimulus, a further reason to work towards evangelisation. This was also felt in the Orthodox Churches and in many other Christian communities, and has become a shared commitment on the path to recreating unity among Christians".
 
  As for the papal basilica itself, during the Pauline Year "an opening was made in the ancient fifth century brickwork surrounding Paul's tomb under the main altar, so that pilgrims could see one side of the great marble sarcophagus, which has never been opened and which has held the mortal remains of the Apostle for the last twenty centuries". The basilica was also used for concerts of religious music and for other cultural initiatives.
 
  "The Pauline Year is coming to an end", said Cardinal Montezemolo, "but the great ferment of pastoral initiatives, catechesis, and cultural events is destined to continue and to find a large following at both the local and the continental level. The Pauline Door ... will remain open, and the Pauline flame lit by the Holy Father at the beginning of this year will continue to burn in the quadriporticus, ... reminding all the pilgrims who continue to arrive from every corner of the globe of the richness and profundity of the Word of God transmitted to us by the Apostle of the Gentiles".
 
  Finally the archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls announced that "over this very period, to mark the closure of the Pauline Year, the Holy Father is sending seven pontifical delegations, each led by a cardinal, to seven places associated with the Apostle Paul: the Holy Land, Damascus, Tarsus, Cyprus, Athens, Malta and Lebanon".
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ST. PAUL AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY SPIRITUAL HERITAGE
 
VATICAN CITY, 4 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, dedicated to the subject of St. Paul's martyrdom, the Pope brought to an end his series of Pauline-Year catecheses dedicated to the figure of the Apostle of the Gentiles.
 
  The saint's martyrdom, said the Holy Father, "is first related in the 'Acts of Paul' written towards the end of the second century. They state that Nero condemned him to be beheaded, and that the execution was summarily carried out. The date of his death varies in the ancient sources, which place it between the persecution unleashed by Nero following the fire of Rome in summer 64, and the last year of his reign, 68". According to tradition he was beheaded at a place in Rome known as "Tre Fontane" (Three Fountains), and buried on the Via Ostiense, where the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, erected over his tomb, stands today.
 
  "In any case", he went on, "the figure of St. Paul towers over the events of his earthly life and death. He left an extraordinary spiritual heritage. His Letters soon entered the liturgy where the structure: Prophet-Apostle-Gospel would prove decisive for the form of the Liturgy of the Word. Thanks to this 'presence', ... the Apostle has been, since the very start, spiritual nourishment for the faithful of all times".
 
  "The Fathers of the Church, and later all theologians, drew sustenance ... from his spirituality. For this reason he has, for centuries, been the true Master and Apostle of the Gentiles. ... To him St. Augustine owes the decisive step in his own conversion, and St. Thomas Aquinas left us a magnificent commentary on his Letters, the finest fruit of medieval exegesis. Another decisive moment was the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation", when Luther "found a new interpretation for the Pauline doctrine of justification which freed him from scruples and concern ... and gave him a new and radical trust in the goodness of God, Who forgives everything unconditionally. From that moment Luther identified Judeo-Christian legalism - condemned by the Apostle - with the life of the Catholic Church, while the Church herself appeared to him as enslaved to the Law, with which he contrasted the freedom of the Gospel.
 
  "The Council of Trent", the Holy Father added, "provided a profound interpretation of the question of justification and found, in line with all Catholic tradition, a synthesis between the Law and the Gospel, in conformity with the message of Scripture considered in its entirety and unity.
 
  "The nineteenth century, drawing on the finest elements of Enlightenment tradition, saw a fresh revival of Pauline studies in the field of academic research, of historical-critical interpretation of Sacred Scripture. ... The new Paulinism of that century considered the concept of freedom as a central part of the Apostle's thought, ... and he is presented almost as a new founder of Christianity. What is certain is that in St. Paul the centrality of the Kingdom of God ... is transformed into the centrality of Christology, the decisive moment of which is the Paschal Mystery whence derive the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, as a permanent presence of this mystery thanks to which the Body of Christ grows and the Church is constructed".
 
  Over the last two hundred years in the field of Pauline studies "there has been increasing convergence between Catholic and Protestant exegesis, and conformity is being discovered on the very point that gave rise to the greatest historical disagreement. This represents a great hope for the cause of ecumenism, so fundamental for Vatican Council II".
 
  The Pope went on to mention a number of Pauline-inspired religious movements that have come into being in Catholic Church during the modern age, such as "the Congregation of St. Paul in the sixteenth century, ... the Missionaries of St. Paul in the nineteenth century ... and the Pauline Family or Secular Institute of the Company of St. Paul in the twentieth century".
 
  "Standing before us", he concluded, "is the shining figure of an Apostle and of a fruitful and profound Christian thinker, proximity to whom benefits us all. ... Drawing from him, both from his apostolic example and his doctrine, will be a stimulus for us, if not a guarantee, to consolidate our Christian identity and invigorate the entire Church".
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 TURKEY: GUARANTEES OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND WORSHIP
VATICAN CITY, 2 FEB 2009 (VIS) - Bishops from the Episcopal Conference of Turkey were received this morning by the Holy Father, at the end of their "ad limina" visit. A visit, he told them, "that is providentially taking place in the year dedicated to St. Paul", and assumes particular importance because the prelates "are pastors ... in the land where the Apostle of the Gentiles was born and where he founded many communities".
 
  "I know that in your country you have given particular emphasis to this Jubilee Year, and that many pilgrims are visiting the sites so dear to the Christian tradition. My wish is that they may find easier access to those places which are so significant for the Christian faith, and to liturgical celebrations", said the Pope. Then, commenting upon the "ecumenical dimension" of the Pauline year, he expressed the hope that this "may make further progress possible along the path of unity of all Christians".
 
  Benedict XVI went on to recall the "rich history" of the Church in Turkey, a history marked "by the development of the first Christian communities" and by such names as St. John and St. Ignatius of Antioch. As for the modern age, "Benedict XV and Blessed John XXIII also figure in the life of the nation and of the Church in Turkey", said the Pope, going on to mention Fr. Andrea Santoro, an Italian priest killed in the Turkish city of Trabzon on 5 February 2006. "May this prestigious history be for your communities - the vigour of whose faith and abnegation under trial I am well aware - not only a reminder of a glorious past, but also a stimulus to continue with generosity along the journey you have begun, bearing witness among your brothers and sisters to God's love for all human beings".
 
  "In ecclesial communion the people of God will find an effective support for their faith and hope", he said. "Bishops are primarily responsible for the concrete realisation of that union. The profound communion that must exist among them, in the diversity of rites, is expressed above all in the true fraternity and mutual collaboration that enables them to carry out their ministry in a collegial spirit, strengthening the body of Christ".
 
  "The Christian community in your country, lives in a nation governed by a constitution that affirms the lay nature of the State, but where the majority of the population is Muslim. For this reason it is very important for Christians and Muslims to work together to promote humanity, life, peace and justice, The distinction between the civil and the religious sphere is clearly a value that deserves to be protected".
 
  He went on: "It is up to the State to provide effective guarantees that all citizens and all religious communities may enjoy freedom of worship and religion, making any violence against believers, whatever their religion may be, unacceptable. In this context, I am well aware of your desire and readiness to open a sincere dialogue with the authorities in order to find a solution to the various problems your communities have to face, such as recognition for the juridical status of the Catholic Church and her property".
 
  "Such recognition", Pope Benedict concluded, "cannot but have positive consequences for everyone. It would be appropriate for permanent contacts to be established, for example through a bilateral commission, in order to study as-yet unresolved questions".
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READING SCRIPTURE AS THE WORD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
 
VATICAN CITY, 28 JAN 2009 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope turned his attention to the theological content of St. Paul's final Letters, known as the pastoral letters because addressed to his close collaborators Timothy and Titus.
 
  These Letters, said the Holy Father, refer to a situation in which "certain erroneous and false doctrines had arisen, such as the attempt to present marriage as something bad. This concern remains current today because Scripture is sometimes read as a historical curiosity and not as the Word of the Holy Spirit, in which we can hear the voice of the Lord Himself and perceive His presence in history".
 
  Against such doctrines, St. Paul affirmed the need to read Sacred Scripture "as 'inspired by' and proceeding from the Holy Spirit". He also speaks of the "good 'deposit', by which he means 'the tradition of apostolic faith which must be safeguarded with the help of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us, ... and is the criterion of faithfulness to the announcement of the Gospel".
 
  Benedict XVI highlighted how the "sense of universality" of salvation - "God wishes all mankind to be saved and to know the truth" - is "strong and decisive" in these Pauline Letters.
 
  The Letters also contain "a reflection upon the ministerial structure of the Church. They present for the first time the triple division of bishops, priests and deacons".
 
  "Thus", he went on, "we have the essential elements of Catholic structure. Scripture and Tradition, Scripture and announcement form a single whole. But to this structure - so to say, a doctrinal structure - must be added a personal structure, the successors of the Apostles as witnesses of the apostolic announcement".
 
  Speaking of the episcopate, the Pope recalled how in the Letter to Timothy, for example, the bishop "is considered as the father of the Christian community. The idea of the Church as the 'house of God' has its roots in the Old Testament and is again formulated in the Letter to the Hebrews, while in the Letter to the Ephesians we read that Christians are no longer strangers and aliens, but citizens and saints, members of the house of God".
 
  "Let us ask the Lord and St. Paul that we too, as Christians, may always be characterised - with respect to the society in which we live - as members of the 'family of God'. We also pray that the pastors of the Church may increasingly acquire parental sentiments, tender and strong at one and the same time, for the formation of the house of God, the community, the Church".
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PRAYER FOR UNITY AND RECONCILIATION AMONG CHRISTIANS
 
VATICAN CITY, 25 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, the Pope presided at the celebration of the second Vespers of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, thus marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which was dedicated to the theme "That they may become one in your hand" (Ezek. 37, 17). The ceremony, which this year coincided with the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of the Apostle, was attended by cardinals and bishops, as well as by representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities.
 
  In his homily the Holy Father reflected upon the conversion of St. Paul, saying "it presents us with a model of, and shows us the way to, full unity" which, "indeed, calls for conversion: from division to communion, from a lacerated unity, to a restored and complete unity".
 
  The conversion of the Apostle of the Gentiles "was not a move from immorality to morality, from an erroneous faith to a correct faith, rather it was the fact of being conquered by the love of Christ, of renouncing one's own perfection. It was the humility of one who placed himself unreservedly at the service of Christ for his brothers and sisters. And it is only in this self-renunciation, in this conformity to Christ, that we also become united to one another, that we become 'one' in Christ. It is communion with the risen Christ that gives us unity".
 
  "Of course, the unity that God gives His Church, and for which we pray, is communion in a spiritual sense, in faith and in charity; yet we know that this unity in Christ is also a ferment for fraternity at a social level, in relations between nations and among the entire human family. ... The prayers we raise over these days, with reference to Ezekiel's prophecy, are also a form of intercession for the various situations of conflict that currently afflict humankind".
 
  Benedict XVI pointed out that "where human words are powerless because the tragic noise of violence and arms prevails, the prophetic power of the Word of God does not fail but repeats to us that peace is possible, and that we must be instruments of reconciliation and peace. Hence our prayer for unity and peace must always be backed up by courageous gestures of reconciliation among us Christians".
 
  "How important it is", said the Pope referring to the Holy Land, "that the faithful who live there, and the pilgrims who visit, provide testimony before the whole world that the diversity of rites and traditions is not be a hindrance to mutual respect and fraternal charity.
 
  "In the legitimate diversity of varying positions we must seek unity in the faith, in our fundamental 'yes' to Christ and to His one Church", he added. "And thus diversity will no longer be an obstacle that separates us, but a richness in the multiplicity of expressions of the shared faith".
 
  The Holy Father recalled that fifty years ago today Blessed John XXIII "first expressed his desire to call 'an ecumenical Council for the Universal Church'", which led to "a fundamental contribution to ecumenism, as recapitulated in the Decree 'Unitatis redintegratio'".
 
  He went on: "The attitude of interior conversion to Christ, of spiritual renewal, of increased charity towards other Christians, has given rise to a new situation in ecumenical relations. The fruits of theological dialogue, with its points of agreement and with a more exact understanding of remaining differences, encourage us to continue courageously in two directions: in accepting what has been achieved and in a renewed commitment to the future".
 
  "What remains before us is the horizon of complete unity", Benedict XVI concluded. "This is a demanding but stimulating task for Christians who wish to live in harmony with the prayer of the Lord: 'that they may all be one, that the world may believe'".
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LETTER TO THE ROMANS, A LIVING MESSAGE FOR THE CHURCH
 
VATICAN CITY, 12 DEC 2008 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the Vatican basilica, after the traditional Eucharistic celebration for the Roman universities in preparation for Christmas  presided over by Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of Rome, Benedict XVI met with the students.
 
  The Holy Father affirmed that “the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of the Apostle to the Gentiles is helping the entire Church to rediscover its proper and fundamental missionary vocation and, at the same time, to make full use of the inexhaustible theological and spiritual treasure of the Pauline letters”.
 
  “I am convinced that for you, from a personal as well as the communal and apostolic point of view of the university, studying the person and message of St. Paul is a very enriching opportunity. This is why I will soon be presenting his Letter to the Romans to you,” he said.
 
  Benedict XVI highlighted that this text “is without a doubt one of the most important cultural texts of all time. It is and continues to be principally a living message for the living Church”. In this context, he expressed the desire that “it be substantial nourishment for your faith, leading you to believe more and better and also to reflect upon yourselves so that you might come to a ‘mature’ faith and, at the same time live this faith, putting it into practice according to the truth of Christ’s commandment. Only in this way can the faith that one professes become ‘credible’ for others as well, who are conquered by the eloquent testimony of our deeds”.
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CALLED TO LIVE IN CHRIST'S LOVE FOR OTHERS
 
VATICAN CITY, 26 NOV 2008 (VIS) - Continuing his series of catecheses on St. Paul, in this morning's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke of the consequences deriving from justification by the faith and by the action of the Spirit in Christian life.
 
  In his Letter to the Galatians, the Apostle of the Gentiles "gives radical emphasis to the gratuitousness of justification" and "highlights the relationship between faith and works", said the Pope.
 
  In the same Letter, St, Paul says that "by bearing one another's burdens, believers fulfil the commandment of love. Justified by the gift of faith in Christ, we are called to live in Christ's love for others, because it is on this criterion that we will be judged at the end of our lives".
 
  "Christ's love for us ... claims us, welcomes us, embraces us, sustains us; it even torments us because it forces us not to live for ourselves alone, closed in our own selfishness, by for 'Him Who died and has risen for us'. The love of Christ makes us become, in Him, the 'new creation' that is part of his mystical Body which is the Church.
 
  "Seen in this light", the Holy Father added, "the central importance of justification without works, the main object of Paul's preaching, presents no contradiction to faith working through love, on the contrary it requires that our own faith be expressed in a life in accordance with the Spirit".
 
  Going on then to refer to "the unfounded conflict" some people have seen "between the theology of St. Paul and that of St. James", the Pope pointed out that while the former "is primarily concerned with showing that faith in Christ is necessary and sufficient, James stresses the consequent relationship between faith and works. Hence, for both Paul and James, faith working through love bears witness to the free gift of justification in Christ".
 
  The Pope noted how "we often fall into the same misunderstandings that characterised the community of Corinth. Those Christians thought that having been gratuitously justified in Christ by faith, 'all things are lawful for them'. Often, we too think it is lawful to create divisions within the Church, Body of Christ, celebrating the Eucharist without caring for our brethren in need, or aspiring to the most exalted charisms unaware that we are limbs of one another, etc. The consequences of a faith not incarnated in love are disastrous because it is reduced to the arbitrariness of subjectivism, harmful to us and to our fellow men and women".
 
  "What we must do", he went on, "is gain a renewed awareness that, precisely because we have been justified in Christ, we are no longer our own but have become temples of the Spirit and hence are called to glorify God in our bodies. We would undervalue the priceless value of justification if, bought at a high price by the blood of Christ, we did not glorify it with our body, with all our lives".
 
  "If the ethics which St. Paul proposes to believers do not deteriorate into forms of moralism but retain their importance for us today, this is because ... they are rooted in the individual and community relationship with Christ, to then take concrete form in a life lived according to the Spirit. The essential point is that Christian ethics do not arise from a system of commandments", the Pope concluded, "they are a consequence of our friendship with Christ. This friendship influences our lives, if it is real it is incarnated and fulfilled in love for others. That is why any form of ethical decline is not limited to the individual sphere but is, at the same time, a devaluation of individual and community faith, from which it derives and upon which it has an incisive effect".
 
  Having concluded his catechises, the Pope greeted Spanish-speaking pilgrims, mentioning the forthcoming "march to demand the release of hostages, which will take place this Friday in Colombia. I raise fervent prayers to God that this scourge may come to an end and that harmony and peace may soon be achieved in that beloved nation", he said.
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ST. PAUL: JUSTIFICATION BY CHRIST'S LOVE
 
VATICAN CITY, 19 NOV 2008 (VIS) - Continuing his series of lessons on St. Paul, Benedict XVI dedicated his general audience, held in St. Peter's Square this morning, to the "question of justification. How do human beings make themselves just in the eyes of God?" This question that occupies a central place in the Apostle's Letters.
 
  When Paul met the Risen One on the road to Damascus, said the Pope, "he was a successful man: blameless as to righteousness under the Law". Yet "the conversion of Damascus radically changed his life, and he began to consider all the gains of his irreprehensible religious career as 'rubbish' in the face of the sublimity of his knowledge of Jesus Christ.
 
  "The Letter to the Philippians", he added, "provides moving testimony of Paul's shift from a justice founded on the Law and achieved by observing certain prescribed actions, to a justice based upon faith in Jesus Christ. ... It is because of this personal experience of the relationship with Jesus Christ that Paul focuses his Gospel on a steadfast contrast between two alternative paths to justice: one based on the works of the Law, the other founded on the grace of faith in Christ".
 
  Thus St. Paul "reaffirms to the Christians of Rome that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus', and the Apostle adds that 'we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the Law'".
 
  "Luther", said the Pope, "translated this as 'justified by faith alone', ... yet before returning to this point it is necessary to clarify which is the 'Law' from which we have been freed and what are the works that do not justify us. In the community of Corinth there already existed an opinion, that crops up again throughout history, to the effect that it is the moral law, and that hence Christian freedom means freedom from ethics. ... Obviously this is an incorrect interpretation. Christian freedom is not debauchery, ... it is not freedom from doing good".
 
  "For St. Paul, as for his contemporaries, the word Law meant the Torah in its entirety, ... which imposed ... a series of actions ranging from an ethical core to ritual observances ... and substantially defined the identity of the just man, ... such as circumcision, dietary laws, etc. ... All these precepts - expressive of a social, cultural and religious identity - were very important" in the Hellenistic age when polytheism was rife and Israel felt threatened in its identity and feared "the loss of faith in the One God and in His promises".
 
  For this reason it was necessary counteract Greek pressure with "a wall that protected the precious heritage of the faith. This wall was represented by the Jewish precepts". Yet Paul, after his encounter with Christ, understood that "the God of Israel, the only true God, has become the God of all peoples and the wall ... between Israel and the pagans is no longer necessary. Christ protects us from polytheism and its deviations. Christ guarantees our identity within the diversity of cultures, ... it is He Who makes us just".
 
  "Being just simply means being with Christ, being in Christ, that is all. The other precepts are no longer necessary. ... For this reason Luther's 'sola fide' is true if it is not placed in opposition to charity, to love. Faith is looking at Christ, trusting in Christ ... conforming to Christ. And the form of Christ's life was love. ... We become just in communion with Christ Who is love. ... Justice is defined in charity".
 
  "We can only pray to the Lord to help us believe", Benedict XVI concluded. "Thus belief becomes life, unity with Christ, transformation. ... And transformed by His love, by love for God and mankind, we will truly be just in the eyes of God".
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IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION IN PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY
 
VATICAN CITY, 5 NOV 2008 (VIS) - Continuing his series of catecheses on Pauline Christology, in today's general audience Benedict XVI considered the importance given by the Apostle to the resurrection of Jesus, as evinced in his First Letter to the Corinthians.
 
  In the resurrection "is the solution to the problem posed by the drama of the Cross", said the Pope. "The Cross cannot of itself explain the Christian faith. The Paschal mystery consists in the fact that the crucified One 'was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures'. ... This is the key to Pauline Christology, everything revolves around this centre of gravity. ... He Who was crucified - and who thus expressed God's immense love for man - rose and lives among us".
 
  "The originality of this Christology never comes at the expense of faithfulness to tradition. The 'kerygma' of the Apostles precedes Paul's individual re-elaboration. All his arguments are rooted in the shared tradition in which the faith of all the Churches is expressed. In this way St. Paul offers us a universally-valid model for theology and preaching. Theologians and preachers do not create new visions of the world or of life but remain at the service of transmitted truth, ... of the real fact of Christ, of the Cross, of the resurrection. Their task is to help us understand today, behind the ancient words, the reality of God-with-us, and thus the reality of true life".
 
  "In announcing the resurrection St. Paul is not concerned with presenting a comprehensive doctrinal exposition, but approaches the subject by responding to the concrete doubts and queries that were put to him by the faithful". He concentrated "on essentials: we have been 'justified' - that its made just, saved - by Christ Who died and rose for us. What emerges above all is the fact of the resurrection, without which Christian life would be simply absurd.
 
  "On that Easter morning", the Holy Father added, "something extraordinary yet at the same time very real happened, something marked by specific signs recorded by numerous witnesses. For Paul, as for other authors of the New Testament, the resurrection is linked to the testimony of those who had direct experience of the Risen One. This involved seeing and feeling, not just with the eyes or with the senses, but also with an inner light that compels us to recognise what the exterior senses record as objective fact. Paul, then, gives ... fundamental importance to the apparitions, which are a condition for faith in the Risen One. ... Thus that chain of tradition came into being which, through the testimony of the Apostles and the first disciples, reached down to later generations and to us".
 
  "The first way to express such testimony is to preach the resurrection of Christ as a summary of the announcement of the Gospel, as the culmination of an itinerary of salvation". For the Apostle, the resurrection is of fundamental importance because "it consists in the fact that Jesus, elevated from the humility of His earthly existence, was declared to be Son of God 'with power'".
 
  "With the resurrection begins the announcement of the Gospel of Christ to all peoples, the Kingdom of Christ begins ... which has no other power other than that of truth and love. The resurrection, then, definitively reveals the true identity and extraordinary stature of the Crucified One. ... Jesus is God, ... Lord of the living and the dead".
 
  "The theology of the Cross is not a theory, it is the reality of Christian life. Living in faith in Jesus Christ, living truth and love, involves daily sacrifices, it involves suffering. Christianity is not the easy path, rather it is a demanding climb illuminated by the light of Christ and His great hope".
 
  "True believers obtain salvation by professing with their mouths that Jesus is the Lord and believing with their hearts that God raised Him from the dead. In this way they become part of the process by which the first Adam, worldly and subject to corruption and death, is transformed into the ultimate Adam, celestial and incorruptible. This process began with the resurrection of Christ, on which is founded the hope that we too may one day enter with Christ into our true homeland in heaven".
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SAINT PAUL: THE RISEN CHRIST AND THE MYSTERY OF SALVATION
 
VATICAN CITY, 22 OCT 2008 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, Benedict XVI proceeded with his series of catecheses on St. Paul, focusing on the Apostle of the Gentile's teaching on "the central role of the Risen Christ in the mystery of salvation". The audience, held in St. Peter's Square, was attended by 17,000 people.
 
  For Paul, the Pope explained, Christ "is the principle for understanding the world and discovering the path of history". The Apostle of the Gentiles, said the Holy Father "was not concerned with narrating the individual episodes of Jesus' life" because "his pastoral and theological intention, which sought to sustain the nascent communities, concentrated above all on announcing Jesus Christ as the 'Lord', living and present, now among His people".
 
  The essential characteristic of Pauline Christology, said Benedict XVI, apart from announcing the living Christ, is "announcing the central fact of ... the death and resurrection of Jesus as the culmination of His earthly journey and as the root of the subsequent development of all Christian faith, of all the reality of the Church. For the Apostle, the Resurrection is not some isolated event, separate from His death: the Risen Christ is always same Christ Who before was crucified".
 
  "The Apostle contemplates in fascination the secret hidden in the Crucifixion-Resurrection and, through the suffering Christ experienced in His humanity, is led back to the eternal existence in which Christ is one with the Father". However, to understand Paul's thought on "pre-existence and ... the incarnation of Christ" we need to know "certain Old Testament texts which highlight the role of Wisdom before the creation of the world, ... such as those that speak of creative Wisdom".
 
  "These texts ... also speak of the descent of Wisdom which pitched its tent among us" as a premonition of "the tent of flesh" mentioned by St John the Evangelist. "But this descent of Wisdom ... implies the possibility of its being rejected", and St. Paul makes it clear that "Christ, like Wisdom, can be rejected, above all by those who dominate this world, so that in God's plan a paradoxical situation may be created in which ... the Cross ... is transformed into the way of salvation for all humankind".
 
  In his Letter to the Philippians Paul "further develops this idea of Wisdom which descends to be exalted despite its rejection. ... The gesture of the Son of God is the opposite of pride, it is a gesture of humility which is the realisation of love, and love is divine. Hence Christ's descent, the radical humility with which He contrasts human pride, truly is an expression of divine love, and it is followed by that elevation to heaven to which God draws us".
 
  In the Letters to the Colossians and Ephesians, Christ is described as "firstborn". This, the Pope explained, means that "the first among many children ... came down to make us His brothers and sisters".
 
  Finally, in the Letter to the Ephesians the Apostle considers "the divine plan of salvation", saying that "in Christ God wished to recapitulate all things. ... Christ reassumes all things and guides us to God. Thus He involves us in a movement of descent and ascension, inviting us to share in His humility, in other words His love for others and, hence, His glorification".
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VATICAN CITY, 14 OCT 2008 (VIS) - The Thirteenth General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops took place this morning in the presence of the Holy Father and 241 Synod Fathers. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia.
 
Following are excerpts from the speeches given:
 
CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE TARCISIO BERTONE S.D.B. "There exists widespread indifference towards a faith communicated through Sacred Scripture, ... an indifference accompanied by considerable levels of ignorance and above all by a difficulty in perceiving the importance Scripture has for life. ... Nonetheless in many young people we note a surprising openness to the Bible ... not so much - at least not at first - for the authoritative nature of a biblical text called Word of God, but for the adults who accompany them as patient educators and credible witnesses to the greatest figure, that of Jesus, in other words people who when they say 'Word of God' demonstrate it with their lives. If the adult, as friend-educator, manages to open the door of a young person's heart, then Scripture may be seen as a gift that brings with it all the qualities of the Word of God".
 
CARDINAL EMMANUEL III DELLY, PATRIARCH OF BABYLON OF THE CHALDEANS, IRAQ. "I am a son of the land of Abraham, Iraq. ... We have tried everything to obtain peace and serenity for the country. The situation in some parts of Iraq is disastrous and tragic. Life is a Calvary: peace and security are lacking , just as the fundamental elements in daily life. Electricity, water, fuel continue to be lacking. ... All fear kidnapping, abduction and intimidation. ... Not to mention the ever growing number of deaths caused by car bombs and kamikazes wearing explosive belts. To live the Word of God means to us to bear witness to it to the cost of our own lives, as has occurred and still occurs till now with the sacrifice of the bishops, priests and faithful. ... Because of this, I beg of you to pray the Lord Jesus, the Word of God, for us and with us, and share our concern, our hopes and the suffering of our wounded, so that the Word of God made flesh stay in His Church and with us as a good news and as support. Sixteen of our priests and two bishops have been kidnapped and were released after paying a very high ransom. Some of them belong to a line of new martyrs that today pray for us from the heavens: Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul, Fr. Raghid Ganni, other two priests and other six young persons".
 
BISHOP JAVIER ECHEVARRIA RODRIGUEZ, PRELATE OF OPUS DEI. "In the lives of the saints the meeting with the Word of God through the reading of Holy Scripture produced a radical existential change We must all, priests and lay persons, seek to have a profound thirst for Jesus Christ, living every scene from the Gospel as one character among the others. ... It is appropriate that during the Sacrament of Confession we pastors frequently advise the faithful to read the Gospel, teaching them how to participate in what is recounted there and urging those who confess to give the same advice to colleagues, family members and friends. ... What all we Christians must do, like the saints, is seek to bring these texts into our daily lives that they may be transformed. ... It would be advantageous to promote initiatives fostering the spread of this attitude of prayer and interior concentration towards the Gospel, so that real impact on our daily lives can be made. Furthermore I believe it would also be appropriate to ensure that the texts of the Mass are read well, that is to say truly lived, not as declamation but with the certainty that God is speaking to the community".
 
BISHOP JOSEPH NGUYEN CHI LINH, OF THANH HOA, VIETNAM. "The Gospel was proclaimed for the first time in our land at the beginning of the 16th century within the painful context of a civil war between two kingdoms of fraternal enemies. ... Immersed in a history interwoven with hatred, ideological wars and discrimination, our Christians remain more than ever convinced that only in the Word of God can they persevere in love, joy, peace, communion and tolerance. ... One episode merits particular mention to show how the Word of God continues to sustain the Church in Vietnam: the mass conversion of thousands of members of ethnic minorities shortly after the canonisation of 117 Vietnamese martyrs in 1988. The strange thing is that many of them admitted they had listened to a Protestant radio station in Manila, Philippines, but converted to Catholicism. Thus the Protestants sow and the Catholics reap. The Word of God, ringing out from afar and reaching their ears, became a source of hope for these people, who live among the mountains deprived of everything and without a future. In conclusion, as a Vietnamese Christian I would like to reiterate my conviction that amidst persecutions our greatest grace is faithfulness to the Word of God".
 
ANDREA RICCARDI, FOUNDER OF THE SANT'EGIDIO COMMUNITY. "Gregory the Great teaches us that the Word grows with he who reads it. It enlightens the poor, guiding us to understand that to be close to them is to be close to Christ Himself. Thus emerges the structural dimension of the Christian: the disciple. ... At a time of a whirlwind of words, the Word matures in silence. ... At times the Word is chained by projects, protagonists, and ideological readings. ... To evangelize is not a technique, but to overflow with the Word. The Synod can be the right moment to promote a mature season of love for Scripture in the people of God. Strengthened by a century of biblical culture, is it not time to develop devotion to the Sacred Text among the people of God? Christian men and women will thus become - as Chrysostom says - 'simple with intelligence' in a complex world".
 
LUIS FERNANDO FIGARI, SUPERIOR GENERAL OF THE "SODALITIUM VITAE CHRISTIANAE", PERU. "In 'Ecclesiam suam', Pope Paul VI pointed out the communicative dimension of divine Revelation. ... The incarnated Eternal Word speaks a human language and makes manifest the mystery of God and His Plan, just as it indicates the mystery of human beings, the greatness of their vocation and the horizon of their personal fulfillment. ... Fundamental to this path is mastering active silence. This involves not only listening but doing so 'in Ecclesia', opening the heart to interior life and to adherence to the Word of God. The Word, heard and accepted, inspires faith in our minds transforming our criteria until we attain the 'mind of Christ'. ... And it promotes faith in action, in the awareness that blessed are they who 'listen to the Word, put it into practice'".
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VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PLAYS IN HONOUR OF POPE
 
VATICAN CITY, 14 OCT 2008 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls the Holy Father attended a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, played the sixth symphony of Anton Bruckner. The concert is one of the events marking the bi-millennium of the birth of St. Paul and was offered to the Pope and the Synod Fathers by the "Fondazione pro Musica e Arte Sacra".
 
  In brief remarks, Benedict XVI praised the Vienna Philharmonic's "masterly" interpretation of Bruckner's symphony, "which translates the faith of its author, who with his compositions was capable of transmitting a religious vision of life and history.
 
  "We could say that Anton Bruckner, drawing from the Austrian Baroque and the Schubertian tradition of popular song, brought the romantic process of interiorisation to its extreme consequences", he added. "Listening to this famous composition in the basilica dedicated to St. Paul, we are spontaneously drawn to a passage from the First Letter to the Corinthians in which the Apostle, having spoken of the diversity and unity of charisms, compares the Church to the human body, made up of members very different one from the other but all indispensable to its correct functioning. In the same way, this orchestra and choir are formed of various instruments and voices which, in harmony together, produce a melody sweet to the ear and to the spirit".
 
  The Pope concluded by expressing the hope that the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, "where the mortal remains of the Apostle of the Gentiles are conserved, may truly become a fulcrum for liturgical, spiritual and artistic initiatives that aim to rediscover his missionary work and theological ideas".
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