Pope Benedict's Message on the Summer Olympics 2012

30th Summer Olympics 2012 in London.

There is no other sporting event quite like the Olympics and the Pope knows this very well. Benedict XVI talked about the London summer games by calling on all countries to see beyond the competition.

Seventh Anniversary and Going Strong

To our beloved pope, Pope Benedict XVI, we continue to support you. May God forever bless you!

Our Pope: The Church Depends on Christ...

It is becoming a more urgent call and need to stand up for our faith, as diversity in cultures and beliefs have become more fluid, interrelated yet out of proportion, and diffused in many ways that God seems to have lost his place as its core.

God is core and should be core. How can he not be when he built the basics of our existence out of love and in love for us his children? He is there present, and each one of us has the responsibility of making it known to those who have lost the ability to understand. For though many are not aware of his presence, He is there in their midst, loving them anyway, providing for them, and waiting to be noticed and acknowledged.

The role is ours to make it happen, one step at a time.

Published on Jul 2, 2011 by vatican

"The Church is not a social organization or a charitable institute: It is the Community of God, it is the community that believes, loves and worships the Lord Jesus and opens its "sails" to the breath of the Holy Spirit."

With these words, Pope Benedict XVI today greeted the faithful of the Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti at the Vatican. The meeting gave the Pope the opportunity to reflect on the highlights and darker aspects of our time. "We are seeing complex attitudes" - he explained -- "withdrawing into oneself, narcissism, desire for possession and consumption, with feelings disconnected from responsibility." Faced with this confusion, and the denial of the transcendent dimension of man, it is essential therefore that Christian communities promote good and challenging paths of faith... pastoral action should aim to train people with mature faith who can bring the light of Christ into the society.

Pope Benedict XVI Urges Us to Pray

Pope Benedict XVI urges us to continue the catechesis of prayer where man is in communion with God. He includes places and special intentions where prayer will serve to be of a greater need.

May 18, 2011. (Romereports.com) (-ONLY VIDEO-) During the general audience, the pope explained how the faithful prayed in the Old Testament. To highlight this point, the pope made reference to Abraham by stating the following "his intercession is based on the certainty that the Lord listens with patience to our prayers."

Pope Benedict XVI: Responsibility and Sin

Studies in Theology have been back, so my posts have become limited once again. I thank you for your patience. I have also been busy taking some of our priests around, who are on the island of Oahu for the Divine Mercy Conference. It's been a great pleasure experiencing agape with them at different levels of communication, including an exchange of jokes and interesting thought provoking punches. I feel so blessed to have been given the grace -- as Fr. Mark Wheelan, SOLT, calls it -- to show them God's wonderful creations on the Island and to let them experience aloha.

Divine Mercy in Hawai'i is scheduled on October 7-10. Here's info.

For the meantime, here's something to share with all of you:

vatican September 25, 2010
The salvation brought by Jesus is obtained through the assumption of responsibility, the recognition of sin, the will to become new men. The Pope reiterated this in a speech to a group of bishops from Eastern Brazil at the end of their ad limina visits. The Pope noted that forgiveness and reconciliation are two concepts that today are overshadowed by a misinterpretation of freedom, though they are fundamental aspects for a proper Christian life and the salvation brought by Christ. In his speech, Pope Benedict also asked the bishops to pay closer attention towards a renewed youth ministry.

Looking Back: End of Year for Priests - II

Together with the whole Church we wanted to make clear once again that we have to ask God for this vocation. We have to beg for workers for God’s harvest, and this petition to God is, at the same time, his own way of knocking on the hearts of young people who consider themselves able to do what God considers them able to do. It was to be expected that this new radiance of the priesthood would not be pleasing to the "enemy"; he would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light – particularly the abuse of the little ones, in which the priesthood, whose task is to manifest God’s concern for our good, turns into its very opposite. We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey, so that the Lord will protect them and watch over them in troubled situations and amid life’s dangers.

Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God’s gift, a gift concealed in "earthen vessels" which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes his love concretely present in this world. So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, his gift becomes a commitment to respond to God’s courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility. The word of God, which we have sung in the Entrance Antiphon of today’s liturgy, can speak to us, at this hour, of what it means to become and to be a priest: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart" (Mt 11:29).

-Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict on the Eucharist

vatican — June 16, 2010 — Tuesday evening in the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Pope opened the proceedings of the conference of the Diocese of Rome, dedicated to the Sunday Eucharist and the witness of charity. The celebration of the Eucharist, Benedict XVI explained in his address, is a meeting with the Risen Christ "present in our day," requires us to become, and at the same time makes us capable of becoming, the bread broken for our brothers and sisters, meeting their needs and giving of ourselves." Pope Benedict XVI: "For this reason, a Eucharist celebration that does not lead us towards men and women where they live, work and suffer, to bring them the love of God, fails to express the truth it contains." The ge ...

Message from Pope Benedict XVI this Christmas

GOD OFFERS HIMSELF AS SURE HOPE FOR SALVATION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 25, 2007 (VIS) - At midday today, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Holy Father pronounced his traditional Christmas Message from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, and imparted the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.

Extracts of the Message are given below:

"'A holy day has dawned upon us.' A day of great hope: today the Savior of mankind is born. The birth of a child normally brings a light of hope to those who are waiting anxiously.

"The Creator of man became man in order to bring peace to the world. ... It is only the 'great' light manifested in Christ that can give 'true' peace to men: that is why every generation is called to welcome it, to welcome the God Who in Bethlehem became one of us." And, "if we are to recognize it, if we are to receive it, faith is needed and humility is needed."

"Now, on this Christmas Day, when the joyful news of His saving birth continues to resound, who is ready to open the doors of his heart to the holy Child? ... Who is waiting for the dawn of the new day, keeping alight the flame of faith? Who has time to listen to His word and to become enfolded and entranced by His love? Yes! His message of peace is for everyone; He comes to offer himself to all people as sure hope for salvation."

"May the light of Christ, which comes to enlighten every human being, shine forth and bring consolation to those who live in the darkness of poverty, injustice and war; to those who are still denied their legitimate aspirations for a more secure existence, for health, education, stable employment, for fuller participation in civil and political responsibilities, free from oppression and protected from conditions that offend against human dignity.

"It is the most vulnerable members of society - women, children, the elderly - who are so often the victims of brutal armed conflicts, terrorism and violence of every kind, which inflict such terrible sufferings on entire populations. At the same time, ethnic, religious and political tensions, instability, rivalry, disagreements, and all forms of injustice and discrimination are destroying the internal fabric of many countries and embittering international relations. Throughout the world the number of migrants, refugees and evacuees is also increasing because of frequent natural disasters, often caused by alarming environmental upheavals.

"On this day of peace, my thoughts turn especially to those places where the grim sound of arms continues to reverberate; to the tortured regions of Darfur, Somalia, the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia; to the whole of the Middle East - especially Iraq, Lebanon and the Holy Land; to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to the Balkans and to many other crisis situations that unfortunately are frequently forgotten.

"May the Child Jesus bring relief to those who are suffering and may He bestow upon political leaders the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions.

"To the thirst for meaning and value so characteristic of today's world, to the search for prosperity and peace that marks the lives of all mankind, to the hopes of the poor: Christ - true God and true Man - responds with His Nativity. Neither individuals nor nations should be afraid to recognize and welcome Him."

"Brothers and sisters from every continent, allow the light of this day to spread everywhere: may it enter our hearts, may it brighten and warm our homes, may it bring serenity and hope to our cities, and may it give peace to the world. This is my earnest wish for you who are listening. A wish that grows into a humble and trustful prayer to the Child Jesus, that His light will dispel all darkness from your lives and fill you with love and peace."

Following his Message, the Pope extended Christmas greetings in 63 languages and imparted the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing.
MESS/URBI ET ORBI/... VIS 071228 (690)


Source: Vatican Information Service
Sent to me by Sr. Margaret Charles, fsp