From Vatican Information Service:
In his homily, delivered without notes, the Pope said that if "our relationship with God is not living, if it is not lived, then none of our other relationships can take their correct form. And this also holds true for society, for humankind. Here too, if we do without God, if God is absent, we lack the compass ... to show us the path, the direction we must follow".
"We must bring the truth of God back into the world, make Him known", he went on. "Evangelisation consists precisely in the distant God becoming close, in God no longer being far off but near, in this 'known-unknown' finally making Himself known and revealing His face. ... He shows us His face, He enters our world. There is no longer any need to use other powers because He is the true power, the Almighty".
The Holy Father highlighted the importance of understanding "that God's omnipotence is not an arbitrary power, because God is Good, He is Truth. Hence God can do everything but He cannot act against goodness, He cannot act against truth, He cannot act against love and freedom, because He Himself is goodness, love and true freedom".
"God is the custodian of our freedom, of love and of truth. This eye that looks down is not an evil eye watching over us, but the presence of a love that never abandons us".
Benedict XVI highlighted how "the pinnacle of God's power is mercy and forgiveness. In our modern concept of what power is we think of people who possess great property", who can "influence the market. We think of those with great military power, who have the power to threaten. Stalin's question 'how many divisions does the Pope have?' continues to characterise the typical idea of power. Those who have power are dangerous, they can threaten and destroy".
"But the Revelation tells us that this is not so. True power is the power of grace and mercy. In His mercy God shows true power".
"God has suffered and in the Son suffers with us", said Pope Benedict. "Thus He shows true divine power. He wanted to suffer with us and for us. We are never abandoned in our sufferings".
"Why was it necessary to suffer in order to save the world?" the Holy Father asked. "It was necessary because in the world there exists an ocean of evil, of injustice, of hatred and of violence, and the many victims of hatred and injustice have the right to see justice done. ... God must enter into this world and oppose the ocean of injustice with a greater ocean of goodness and love".
Following the celebration of Vespers, the Pope left the cathedral and greeted the faithful gathered outside. "I would just like to say thank-you for the sympathy and affection you show me", he said. "My hope is you enjoy a happy holiday, free from 'incidents'", he added jokingly raising his right arm in its plaster cast.
Returning to his residence at Les Combes, the Pope paused to meet elderly people in the old people's home of Introd, whom he greeted from his car window due to the driving rain.
A related and recently published book by Ignatius Press:
Credo For Today: What Christians Believe
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
What do Christians believe? What gives meaning to our life? What is the
purpose of life? The Christian answer to these questions is found in
the Creed, in the profession of faith. But what do the articles of this
confession actually mean? And how to they affect our lives?
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, takes a fresh look at
these timeless questions. This work is a reflection of the profound,
personal insights of Benedict XVI, but also of the great foundations of
Christianity: faith, hope, and charity.
Ratzinger writes eloquently and persuasively about the
importance for followers of Christ to understand well what they believe
so one can live as a serious Christian in today's secular world. He
talks in depth about the true meaning of faith, hope, and love--the
love of God and the love of neighbor. He also discusses the crucial
importance of a lived faith, for the believer himself as well as being
a witness for our age, and striving to bring faith in line with the
present age that has veered off into rampant secularism and
materialism. Continue reading...
Have to see the whole sermon, but in excerpt what strikes me is this:
"God has suffered and in the Son suffers with us..."
Encouraging. But that stress may easily gloss over what I find I want to tell many friends. Christ suffered BECAUSE OF US as well as the Stalins and Hitlers. Our sins put him there. There are many victims of hatred and injustice, but in the first instance wasn't the cross the result of all our own hatred and the injustice each of us creates? A good friend just suffered through a spouse cheating and wants to see revenge. He sees himself as a victim, and can't see himself as ever doing anything that bad. And he is a weekly Mass attender. This homily seems to potentially, unintentionally encourage that mind set. The ocean of evil is out there, but it is also inside here. I wish that would find more stress in the messages being sounded today.
Posted by: Joe | Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 03:02 PM