Tag Archives: Pope Benedict XVI

News, Papal Address

Pope Benedict XVI: Three Keys to Vocations

Leave a comment

On February 13, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, in a message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, asked all the faithful to be attentive to the men and women who “sense a call to the priesthood or to a special consecration.” It is important, he said, to “provide helpful guidance and direction along the way.”

According to our Holy Father, the three things that nourish vocations are:

1)     Scripture – love of and familiarity with God’s Word

2)     Prayer – attentive and unceasing, personal and in community

3)   Eucharist – “the heart of every vocational journey: it is here that the love of God touches us in Christ’s sacrifice, the perfect expression of love, and it is here that we learn ever anew how to live according to the ‘high standard’ of God’s love.”

For the complete text of this article visit Zenit.

Papal Address

The “Year of Faith”

Leave a comment

On January 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI greeted participants attending a plenary session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whom he thanked for their service to the Church, particularly in view of the forthcoming Year of Faith.

“As we know”, the Holy Father said, “in vast areas of the earth the faith risks being extinguished, like a flame without fuel. We are facing a profound crisis of faith, a loss of a religious sense which represents one of the greatest challenges for the Church today. The renewal of faith must, then, be a priority for the entire Church in our time. I hope that the ‘Year of Faith’ may contribute … to restoring God’s presence in this world, and to giving man access to the faith, enabling him to entrust himself to the God Who, in Jesus Christ, loved us to the end”.

May we be the fuel to light the flame of faith in our families, neighbors and the world.

News

Year of Faith

Leave a comment

On January 6th, the Holy See issued a series of pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith, which will begin next October to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Year of Faith will also coincide with the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization.

This bold initiative of Pope Benedict XVI includes all sectors of the Church. Here is what the Holy See suggested concerning the involvement of consecrated men and women in the forthcoming Year of Faith:

“During this time, members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and of Societies of Apostolic Life are asked to work towards the new evangelization with a renewed union to the Lord Jesus, each according to their proper charism, in fidelity to the Holy Father and to sound doctrine.

“Contemplative communities, during the Year of Faith, should pray specifically for the renewal of the faith among the People of God and for a new impulse for its transmission to the young.

“Associations and ecclesial movements are invited to promote specific initiatives which, through the contribution of their proper charism and in collaboration with their local pastors, will contribute to the wider experience of the Year of Faith. The new communities and ecclesial movements, in a creative and generous way, will be able to find the most appropriate ways in which to offer their witness to the faith in service to the Church.”

News

Vocation of Hope

Leave a comment

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Latin America and the Caribbean to renew their “vocation of hope” in his homily at a Mass celebrating the independence of Latin American countries earlier this month in the Vatican Basilica. In his homily, the Pope also announced that he would make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba before next Easter.

“Currently,” the Holy Father said, “while the bicentenary of their independence is being celebrated in various places in Latin America, the journey towards integration on this beloved continent is proceeding hand in hand with its emerging importance on the world stage.”

In such a circumstance, the Pope continued, “It is important for its various peoples to safeguard their rich store of faith and their historical and cultural dynamism, always defending human life from conception to natural end, and promoting peace. Likewise, they must protect the authentic nature and mission of the family, and at the same time intensify their widespread educational efforts which will rightly prepare people and make them aware of their abilities so that they may meet their destiny in a worthy and responsible way.”

The Pope asked the people of Latin America to devise and promote, “ever more adequate initiatives and concrete programs aimed at reconciliation and fraternity, increasing solidarity and protecting the environment, increasing efforts to overcome poverty, illiteracy and corruption and eradicating all injustice, violence, criminality, civil unrest, drug trafficking and extortion.”

Also participating at the Mass were representatives of the local episcopate, the Bishops’ Conference of Latin-America (CELAM) and the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, as well as exponents from various governments and the cultural and academic world.

Courtesy of L’Osservatore Romano.

Papal Address

Called to Service

Leave a comment

Last week Pope Benedict XVI presided at Vespers at the Vatican basilica for the opening of the academic year in pontifical universities. His homily focused on priestly ministry, in the light of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations by Venerable Pius XII. The Holy Father reflected on the reading from the First Letter of Peter, which he said “invites us to meditate upon the mission of pastors in the Christian community.”

The Holy Father emphasized three essential qualities of a priest: “the aspiration to collaborate with Jesus in spreading the Kingdom of God, the gratuitousness of pastoral commitment, and an attitude of service.” A priest, he stressed, must sacrifice himself for the Church, making himself available to be “seized by Christ.”

The priests administer the sacraments, but do not control them, the Pope said. “They cannot dispose of them as they please.”

Pope Benedict also noted that “we must never forget that we enter the priesthood through the Sacrament of Ordination. This means opening ourselves to the action of God by daily choosing to give ourselves for Him and for our fellow man. . . . The Lord’s call to the ministry is not the fruit of any particular merit, it is a gift we must accept and to which we must respond by generously and disinterestedly dedicating ourselves, not to our own project but to that of God, that He may dispose of us according to His will, even though this may not correspond to our own desire for self-fulfillment. . . . As priests, we must never forget that the only legitimate ascension towards the ministry of pastor is not that of success but that of the Cross.”

Cloistered life

Improving the “Climate”

Leave a comment

Last week Pope Benedict XVI visited the Carthusian monastery of Sts. Stephen and Bruno at Serra San Bruno. Outside the monastery, he addressed the faithful from the local area who had gathered there to see him, reminding them of the great privilege of having a “citadel of the Spirit” in their region. The Pope added:

“Monasteries have an important, I would say indispensable, role. Their purpose today is to ‘improve’ the environment, in the sense that sometimes the air we breathe in our societies is unhealthy, it is polluted by a non-Christian mentality, at times even a non-human mentality, because it is dominated by economic interests, concerned only with worldly things and lacking a spiritual dimension.

“In such a climate not only God but also our fellow man is pushed to the margins, and we do not commit ourselves to the common good. Monasteries, however, are models of societies which have God and fraternal relations at their core. We have great need of them in our time.”

The Holy Father concluded his remarks by exhorting the faithful “to treasure the great spiritual tradition of this place, and seek to put it into practice in your daily lives.”

For videos from the Holy Father’s visit, including the celebration of Vespers, click here. Story courtesy of the Vatican Information Service.

Cloistered life

Happy Birthday, Sister!

Leave a comment

Sister Teresita, the world’s oldest contemplative nun, celebrated her 104th birthday last week, and received a birthday letter from Pope Benedict XVI.

The Holy Father, who met with Sr. Teresita during his visit to Madrid for World Youth Day, encouraged the Spanish nun to continue “being an ardent lamp of faith, hope and charity.”

Father Angel Moreno, the chaplain of the monastery where Sr. Teresita lives with her Cistercian community, explained in his blog that “Sister Teresita follows the daily rhythm of prayer, from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and she continues giving thanks to God for the grace of having met the Pope, which, she says, motivates her even more to pray for him and to be holy.”

Courtesy of Catholic News Agency.

Papal Address, Reflection

Mary, Model of Meditation

Leave a comment

Today, as we celebrate the Queenship of Mary, I thought I would offer you the following excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday Audience last week, in which he continued his series of reflections on prayer, which truly is the lifeblood of all vocations in Christ:

“Today, I do not wish to speak about the whole journey of faith, but only about a small aspect of the life of prayer, which is a life of contact with God; namely, about meditation. And what is meditation? It means to ‘remember’ all that God has done and not to forget all His benefits (cf. Psalm 103:2b). Often, we see only the negative things. We also need to remember the good things, the gifts that God has given us; we need to be attentive to the positive signs that come from God, and remember these. Therefore, we are speaking about a kind of prayer that the Christian tradition calls ‘mental prayer.’ We are more familiar with vocal prayer, and naturally the mind and heart must also be present in this prayer, but today we are speaking about a meditation that consists not in words but in our mind making contact with the heart of God.

“And here Mary is a true model. The Evangelist Luke repeats numerous times that Mary, for her part, ‘kept all these things, pondering them in her heart’ (2:19; cf. 2:51). She keeps them; she does not forget. She is attentive to all that the Lord has said and done to her, and she ponders; that is, she makes contact with diverse things–she dwells deeply upon them in her heart. Continue reading Mary, Model of Meditation →

Cloistered life

Record-Setting Nun

Leave a comment

She entered the Cistercian Buenafuente del Sistal Convent the day that Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) was born, and today Sister Teresa is 103 years old and the world’s record holder for having lived the longest as a cloistered nun. 

After 84 years as a cloistered nun, Sister Teresa says that the greatest gift she has received has been prayer: “Without it, one cannot sustain oneself. I never cease repeating: ‘Thank you, forgive. Thank you, forgive.'”

The nun is one of 10 cloistered nuns profiled in the Spanish-language book “¿Qué hace una chica como tú en un sitio como éste?” (What’s a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?). In the book, author Jesús Garcia brings to light the secluded world of cloistered nuns by getting to know what life is like behind the grail, and what inspired them to join.

Sister Teresa’s story began as young girl living in Alava, Spain. She was known then as Valeria, and she was happy with her life on the family farm.  “We were in the field from morning ’til night, working, but we were happy,” she said. 

The eldest of seven children, her father saw how hard Valeria and her younger sister worked and he wanted a different life for them.  “Thinking nuns didn’t work, [my father] would say to my sister and me: ‘Wouldn’t you like to be nuns?'” she recalls.

“I didn’t like nuns,” she continued, “given how comfortable I was at home, [but] to please my father, [I] prayed to the patroness of Vitoria and asked her to give me a vocation. And did she give me one!”

Upon entering the Cistercian convent in Guadalajara, Spain, Valeria took the name Teresa.  “I was afraid to enter, but the Lord helped me,” she said. The sister said that she prayed to both God and St. Teresa for the courage to be committed to her new vocation.

Though Sister Teresa says that there was a time when she wondered about her contribution to society from behind the convent walls, her worries were soon put to rest: “Once, I was tempted to imagine how my life would be outside [the convent] because I felt I wasn’t contributing anything by being here.” 

She adds that it is a concern of many cloistered nuns.  After consulting a priest about her feelings, Sister Teresa says “He told me I had a very beautiful vocation; that it’s worthwhile.”

Sister Teresa says that she is very happy and does not desire anything from the outside world.  “It’s a grace from God,” she says. “I know that many won’t understand my way of living, but I don’t understand any other.”

 Courtesy of Zenit.org, the world seen from Rome.

 

General interest

A Fitting Anniversary Gift

Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s really difficult to decide upon just the right anniversary gift. However, I think our readers will agree that the following recommendation from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the upcoming 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict’s priestly ordination–Eucharistic adoration for priestly vocations–is right on the money.  

Church to Observe Pope’s 60th Anniversary of Ordination June 29th

WASHINGTON (May 26, 2011)—Catholics worldwide are asked to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ordination to the priesthood with sixty hours of Eucharistic prayer for vocations.

The pope will celebrate his anniversary June 29, the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul.  In honor of his anniversary, the Vatican Congregation for Clergy suggested Catholic clergy and faithful be invited to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the intention of praying for the sanctification of the clergy and for the gift of new and holy priestly vocations.

Dioceses nationwide are planning special prayers before the Blessed Sacrament in June, offered continuously or across various days in the month. Continue reading A Fitting Anniversary Gift →