Pope's Christmas Address to Curia

23-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

"The key theme of this year, and of the years ahead, is this: how do we proclaim the Gospel today?"
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 22, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today to cardinals and members of the Roman Curia and of the Governance of Vatican City State for the traditional exchange of Christmas and New Year's greetings.

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Dear Cardinals,

Brother Bishops and Priests,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The occasion that brings us together today is always particularly moving. The holy feast of Christmas is almost upon us and it prompts the great family of the Roman Curia to come together for a gracious exchange of greetings, as we wish one another a joyful and spiritually fruitful celebration of this feast of the God who became flesh and established his dwelling in our midst (cf. Jn 1:14). For me, this is an occasion not only to offer you my personal good wishes, but also to express my gratitude and that of the Church to each one of you for your generous service; I ask you to convey this to all the co-workers of our extended family. I offer particular thanks to the Dean of the College, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who has given voice to the sentiments of all present and of all who work in the various offices of the Curia and the Governorate, including those whose apostolate is carried out in the Pontifical Representations throughout the world. All of us are committed to spreading throughout the world the resounding message that the angels proclaimed that night in Bethlehem, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will" (Lk 2:14), so as to bring joy and hope to our world.

As this year draws to a close, Europe is undergoing an economic and financial crisis, which is ultimately based on the ethical crisis looming over the Old Continent. Even if such values as solidarity, commitment to one's neighbour and responsibility towards the poor and suffering are largely uncontroversial, still the motivation is often lacking for individuals and large sectors of society to practise renunciation and make sacrifices. Perception and will do not necessarily go hand in hand. In defending personal interests, the will obscures perception, and perception thus weakened is unable to stiffen the will. In this sense, some quite fundamental questions emerge from this crisis: where is the light that is capable of illuminating our perception not merely with general ideas, but with concrete imperatives? Where is the force that draws the will upwards? These are questions that must be answered by our proclamation of the Gospel, by the new evangelization, so that message may become event, so that proclamation may lead to life.

The key theme of this year, and of the years ahead, is this: how do we proclaim the Gospel today? How can faith as a living force become a reality today? The ecclesial events of the outgoing year were all ultimately related to this theme. There were the journeys to Croatia, to the World Youth Day in Spain, to my home country of Germany, and finally to Africa - Benin - for the consignment of the Post-Synodal document on justice, peace and reconciliation, which should now lead to concrete results in the various local churches. Equally memorable were the journeys to Venice, to San Marino, to the Eucharistic Congress in Ancona, and to Calabria. And finally there was the important day of encounter in Assisi for religions and for people who in whatever way are searching for truth and peace, representing a new step forward in the pilgrimage towards truth and peace. The establishment of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization is at the same time a pointer towards next year's Synod on the same theme. The Year of Faith, commemorating the beginning of the Council fifty years ago, also belongs in this context. Each of these events had its own particular characteristics. In Germany, where the Reformation began, the ecumenical question, with all its trials and hopes, naturally assumed particular importance. Intimately linked to this, at the focal point of the debate, the question that arises repeatedly is this: what is reform of the Church? How does it take place? What are its paths and its goals? Not only faithful believers but also outside observers are noticing with concern that regular churchgoers are growing older all the time and that their number is constantly diminishing; that recruitment of priests is stagnating; that scepticism and unbelief are growing. What, then, are we to do? There are endless debates over what must be done in order to reverse the trend. There is no doubt that a variety of things need to be done. But action alone fails to resolve the matter. The essence of the crisis of the Church in Europe is the crisis of faith. If we find no answer to this, if faith does not take on new life, deep conviction and real strength from the encounter with Jesus Christ, then all other reforms will remain ineffective.

On this point, the encounter with Africa's joyful passion for faith brought great encouragement. None of the faith fatigue that is so prevalent here, none of the oft-encountered sense of having had enough of Christianity was detectable there. Amid all the problems, sufferings and trials that Africa clearly experiences, one could still sense the people's joy in being Christian, buoyed up by inner happiness at knowing Christ and belonging to his Church. From this joy comes also the strength to serve Christ in hard-pressed situations of human suffering, the strength to put oneself at his disposal, without looking round for one's own advantage. Encountering this faith that is so ready to sacrifice and so full of happiness is a powerful remedy against fatigue with Christianity such as we are experiencing in Europe today.

A further remedy against faith fatigue was the wonderful experience of World Youth Day in Madrid. This was new evangelization put into practice. Again and again at World Youth Days, a new, more youthful form of Christianity can be seen, something I would describe under five headings.

1. Firstly, there is a new experience of catholicity, of the Church's universality. This is what struck the young people and all the participants quite directly: we come from every continent, but although we have never met one another, we know one another. We speak different languages, we have different ways of life and different cultural backgrounds, yet we are immediately united as one great family. Outward separation and difference is relativized. We are all moved by the one Lord Jesus Christ, in whom true humanity and at the same time the face of God himself is revealed to us. We pray in the same way. The same inner encounter with Jesus Christ has stamped us deep within with the same structure of intellect, will and heart. And finally, our common liturgy speaks to our hearts and unites us in a vast family. In this setting, to say that all humanity are brothers and sisters is not merely an idea: it becomes a real shared experience, generating joy. And so we have also understood quite concretely: despite all trials and times of darkness, it is a wonderful thing to belong to the worldwide Church, to the Catholic Church, that the Lord has given to us.

2. From this derives a new way of living our humanity, our Christianity. For me, one of the most important experiences of those days was the meeting with the World Youth Day volunteers: about 20,000 young people, all of whom devoted weeks or months of their lives to working on the technical, organizational and material preparations for World Youth Day, and thus made it possible for the whole event to run smoothly. Those who give their time always give a part of their lives. At the end of the day, these young people were visibly and tangibly filled with a great sense of happiness: the time that they gave up had meaning; in giving of their time and labour, they had found time, they had found life. And here something fundamental became clear to me: these young people had given a part of their lives in faith, not because it was asked of them, not in order to attain Heaven, nor in order to escape the danger of Hell. They did not do it in order to find fulfilment. They were not looking round for themselves. There came into my mind the image of Lot's wife, who by looking round was turned into a pillar of salt. How often the life of Christians is determined by the fact that first and foremost they look out for themselves, they do good, so to speak, for themselves. And how great is the temptation of all people to be concerned primarily for themselves; to look round for themselves and in the process to become inwardly empty, to become "pillars of salt". But here it was not a matter of seeking fulfilment or wanting to live one's life for oneself. These young people did good, even at a cost, even if it demanded sacrifice, simply because it is a wonderful thing to do good, to be there for others. All it needs is the courage to make the leap. Prior to all of this is the encounter with Jesus Christ, inflaming us with love for God and for others, and freeing us from seeking our own ego. In the words of a prayer attributed to Saint Francis Xavier: I do good, not that I may come to Heaven thereby and not because otherwise you could cast me into Hell. I do it because of you, my King and my Lord. I came across this same attitude in Africa too, for example among the Sisters of Mother Teresa, who devote themselves to abandoned, sick, poor and suffering children, without asking anything for themselves, thus becoming inwardly rich and free. This is the genuinely Christian attitude. Equally unforgettable for me was the encounter with handicapped young people in the Saint Joseph Centre in Madrid, where I encountered the same readiness to put oneself at the disposal of others - a readiness to give oneself that is ultimately derived from encounter with Christ, who gave himself for us.

3. A third element, that has an increasingly natural and central place in World Youth Days and in the spirituality that arises from them, is adoration. I still look back to that unforgettable moment during my visit to the United Kingdom, when tens of thousands of predominantly young people in Hyde Park responded in eloquent silence to the Lord's sacramental presence, in adoration. The same thing happened again on a smaller scale in Zagreb and then again in Madrid, after the thunderstorm which almost ruined the whole night vigil through the failure of the microphones. God is indeed ever-present. But again, the physical presence of the risen Christ is something different, something new. The risen Lord enters into our midst. And then we can do no other than say, with Saint Thomas: my Lord and my God! Adoration is primarily an act of faith - the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if he is present, then I bow down before him. Then my intellect and will and heart open up towards him and from him. In the risen Christ, the incarnate God is present, who suffered for us because he loves us. We enter this certainty of God's tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life. Only thus can I celebrate the Eucharist correctly and receive the body of the Lord rightly.

4. A further important element of the World Youth Days is the sacrament of Confession, which is increasingly coming to be seen as an integral part of the experience. Here we recognize that we need forgiveness over and over again, and that forgiveness brings responsibility. Openness to love is present in man, implanted in him by the Creator, together with the capacity to respond to God in faith. But also present, in consequence of man's sinful history (Church teaching speaks of original sin) is the tendency that is opposed to love - the tendency towards selfishness, towards becoming closed in on oneself, in fact towards evil. Again and again my soul is tarnished by this downward gravitational pull that is present within me. Therefore we need the humility that constantly asks God for forgiveness, that seeks purification and awakens in us the counterforce, the positive force of the Creator, to draw us upwards.

5. Finally, I would like to speak of one last feature, not to be overlooked, of the spirituality of World Youth Days, namely joy. Where does it come from? How is it to be explained? Certainly, there are many factors at work here. But in my view, the crucial one is this certainty, based on faith: I am wanted; I have a task in history; I am accepted, I am loved. Josef Pieper, in his book on love, has shown that man can only accept himself if he is accepted by another. He needs the others presence, saying to him, with more than words: it is good that you exist. Only from the You can the I come into itself. Only if it is accepted, can it accept itself. Those who are unloved cannot even love themselves. This sense of being accepted comes in the first instance from other human beings. But all human acceptance is fragile. Ultimately we need a sense of being accepted unconditionally. Only if God accepts me, and I become convinced of this, do I know definitively: it is good that I exist. It is good to be a human being. If ever man's sense of being accepted and loved by God is lost, then there is no longer any answer to the question whether to be a human being is good at all. Doubt concerning human existence becomes more and more insurmountable. Where doubt over God becomes prevalent, then doubt over humanity follows inevitably. We see today how widely this doubt is spreading. We see it in the joylessness, in the inner sadness, that can be read on so many human faces today. Only faith gives me the conviction: it is good that I exist. It is good to be a human being, even in hard times. Faith makes one happy from deep within. That is one of the wonderful experiences of World Youth Days.

It would take too long now to go into detail concerning the encounter in Assisi, as the significance of the event would warrant. Let us simply thank God, that as representatives of the world's religions and as representatives of thinking in search of truth, we were able to meet that day in a climate of friendship and mutual respect, in love for the truth and in shared responsibility for peace. So let us hope that, from this encounter, a new willingness to serve peace, reconciliation and justice has emerged.

As I conclude, I would like to thank all of you from my heart for shouldering the common mission that the Lord has given us as witnesses to his truth, and I wish all of you the joy that God wanted to bestow upon us through the incarnation of his Son. A blessed Christmas to you all! Thank you.

Where Mary Fits in the Review of 2011

23-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Why So Much Focus on Lesser Things?

By Elizabeth Lev

ROME, DEC. 22, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The end of the year always brings list after list of "the top this" and "the top that" as the year comes under review. Most popular people, most photographed women, most influential types parade across magazines and TV screens.

Pop singer Brittany Spears' ups and downs may be a palliative for reality show addiction, Princess Diana may have been the face that launched a thousand flash bulbs and Oprah Winfrey may make or break books, movies and presidents, but that fame remains fleeting and tinged with more than a little sadness, as celebrity lives rarely live up to their own hype.

On Dec. 8, I spent the feast of the Immaculate Conception at the North American College on the Janiculum Hill. In this beautiful celebration, combining the ancient psalms, a Renaissance office and the prayers and voices of almost 1,000 priests, prelates and seminarians, I realized that there is one name that should top the list every year, that of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There are two more days until Christmas, and while America is obsessed with movie star babies, it seems to have overlooked the most amazing mother, model and superstar of all, Mary Mother of God.

Think about it. While the world applauds the "courageous" decision of single celebrity mothers, who undergo endless fertility treatments to have a child who will then be raised by an army of nannies and helpers, Mary made a harder choice: to bear the Son of God and play a role in redeeming mankind. When Gabriel came to her, she was facing life as a single mother, with no celebrity income and in a world where a child out-of-wedlock was not considered a badge of honor. Mary, trusting in God, said yes, and so we have a Christmas to celebrate.

Furthermore, Mary was a rarity in the modern halls of fame: a quiet celebrity. She saw, she understood but she rarely spoke -- except to tell her Son to get more wine -- who wouldn't want her as a party guest! She witnessed her Son's greatness without bragging, she comforted all who came to her and she always listened with compassion. There was no "I" or "me" in her vocabulary; wouldn't contemporary discourse be better if we followed her lead?

While Mary probably wouldn't be photographed by Annie Leibowitz for the cover of Vanity Fair or invited to the front row at a Paris fashion show, there has never been a woman who inspired more painters, sculptors and musicians than the girl from Nazareth. Think of the ethereal Madonnas of Botticelli with the luminous pearly skin, the solemn Tuscan pillar of strength drawn by Masaccio or the athletic, dynamic mother painted by Michelangelo in the Doni Tondo, a Mary that any film producer would sell his soul (pun intended) to sign as an action heroine. For a woman who kept to a pretty simple wardrobe with no makeup, her images by Raphael, Murillo, Durer -- you get the idea -- are valued far higher than any couture gown.

No one knows what Mary looked like, but you can be sure height, weight, eye and hair color had little to do with her beauty. Leonardo's Madonna of the Rocks or Caravaggio's Madonna of the Pilgrims have never ceased to be mesmerizing despite changes in tastes for physical types . Hers was not a beauty to be maintained by surgery or artifice but one that came from Truth, goodness and sinlessness. Thousands of talented men and women have paid her homage and tried to capture her loveliness. But a woman who could bring out the best in Pablo Picasso in the "Two Sisters - The Visitation" as well as Ingres in his "Virgin Mary" should be recognized a muse greater than any actress or fashion model.

Star watching is the pastime of the idle. A magazine whiles away time, or a TV special helps to pass a few sleepless hours. Their glamor fills a vague void of dissatisfaction and ennui. But while many seem to forget about Mary during their moments of prosperity and amusement, her name is always the first to be called in times of need. In dark hours in a hospital, in loneliness or fear, we can confide in her. She doesn't think less of us for weakness or doubt. When science, medicine and a can-do attitude fail, we turn to Mary as the one person we believe can influence events that are beyond the ken and control of mortal ability. Velvet ropes, impossible reservations, exclusive parties are nothing compared to what her intervention can achieve. Mary, as we say in the modern parlance, is connected!

Returning to the North American College, as I was caught up in this beautiful liturgy, it occurred to me how much love Mary has inspired over the centuries. Every woman dreams of being loved; fans get caught up in the heartbreaks and dalliances of their idols, hoping for a little of the same excitement of extravagant declarations of romantic ardor. A tinge of envy follows the saga of a starlet and her string of discarded paramours and one wonders, if I were a little thinner, taller, spoke another language, appeared on television, would I be more attractive? Mary is indeed the most beloved woman in history. Marilyn Monroe may have been the most desired, but Mary has commanded and held the hearts of men for their entire lives.

At the Immaculate Conception Mass, dozens of bishops -- her silver-head suitors after years of dedicated service -- pledged their continual love, while hundreds of young men -- some athletic, some intellectual, some rugged, some shy -- all proclaimed their undying love. The flighty Guinevere of the musical Camelot asked,

"Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?

Where are all those adoring daring boys?"

How she would have delighted in these scores of young men singing praises and offering their hearts and lives to their beloved.

The most glorious moment was a motet sung by the seminarians of the North American College. Each of the beautiful voices kept its own individual tone yet harmonized into the most transporting of sound. Every note resonated with love, an age old song, intoned generation after generation with renewed admiration.

The modern woman could learn more from Mary than from any magazine or movie star. One of the best resolutions for the coming year is to make Mary our BFF.

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Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University's Italian campus and University of St. Thomas' Catholic Studies program. She can be reached at lizlev@zenit.org

On Christmas

22-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

The "Love Story Between God and Man Passes by Way of the Manger of Bethlehem"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Pope reflected on the approaching feast of Christmas.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

I am pleased to receive you in this general audience, just days before the celebration of the Lord's birth. During these days, the greeting on everyone's lips is "Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings!" Let us ensure that, even in today's society, the exchange of greetings not lose its deep religious significance, and that the exterior aspects that play upon our heartstrings not absorb the feast. Certainly, external signs are beautiful and important, so long as they do not distract us, but rather help us to experience Christmas in its truest sense -- the sacred and Christian sense -- and cause our joy to be not superficial, but deep.

With the Christmas liturgy, the Church introduces us to the great Mystery of the Incarnation. Christmas, in fact, is not a mere anniversary of Jesus' birth -- it is also this, but it is more -- it is the celebration of a mystery that has marked and continues to mark mankind's history -- God Himself came to dwell among us (cf. John 1:14), He made Himself one of us; a mystery that concerns our faith and our very lives; a mystery that we experience concretely in the liturgical celebrations, especially in the Holy Mass.

Someone might ask himself: How can I live out now an event that took place so long ago? How can I participate fruitfully in the birth of the Son of God, which took place over 2,000 years ago? During the Holy Mass on Christmas Night, we will repeat as a refrain to the responsorial psalm, these words: "Today a Savior is born for us." This adverb of time "Today," which is used repeatedly throughout the Christmas celebrations, refers to the event of Jesus' birth and to the salvation that the incarnation of the Son of God comes to bring.

In the liturgy, this event reaches beyond the limits of space and time and becomes actual, present; its effect continues, even amidst the passing of days, years and centuries. In indicating that Jesus is born "today," the liturgy does not use a meaningless phrase, but underscores that this birth affects and permeates the whole of history -- even today, it remains a reality to which we may attain, precisely in the liturgy. For believers, the celebration of Christmas renews our certainty that God is really present with us, still "flesh" and not only far away: though also with the Father, He is close to us. In that Child born in Bethlehem, God drew near to man: we can encounter Him now -- in a "today" whose sun knows no setting.

I would like to stress this point, because modern man -- a man of "the sensible," of the empirically verifiable -- finds it increasingly more difficult to open his horizons and enter the world of God. The Redemption of mankind certainly took place at a precise and identifiable moment in history: in the event of Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus is the Son of God -- He is God Himself, who not only spoke to man, showed him wondrous signs and guided him throughout the history of salvation -- but became man and remains man. The Eternal entered into the limits of time and space, in order to make possible an encounter with Him "today."

The liturgical texts of Christmas help us to understand that the events of salvation wrought by Christ are always actual -- the interest of every man and of all mankind. When, within liturgical celebrations, we hear or proclaim this "Today a Savior is born for us," we are not employing an empty, conventional expression; rather, we mean that God offers us "today", now, to me, to each one of us, the possibility of acknowledging and receiving Him like the shepherds in Bethlehem, so that He might be born in our lives and renew them, illumine them, transform them by His grace, by His Presence.

Christmas, then, while commemorating Jesus' birth in the flesh of the Virgin Mary -- and numerous liturgical texts put before our eyes this or that event -- is an efficacious event for us. Pope St. Leo the Great, in presenting the profound meaning of Christmas, issued an invitation to the faithful with these words: "Let us be glad in the Lord, dearly-beloved, and rejoice with purest joy that there has dawned for us the day of ever-new redemption, of ancient preparation, of eternal bliss. For as the year rolls round, there recurs for us the commemoration of our salvation, which promised from the beginning and accomplished in the fullness of time, will endure for ever" (Sermon 22, In Nativitate Domini, 2,1; PL 54,193).

And again, in another Christmas homily St. Leo the Great affirms: "Today the Maker of the world was born of a Virgin's womb, and He, who made all natures, became the Son of her, whom He created. Today the Word of God appeared clothed in flesh, and That which had never been visible to human eyes began to be tangible to our hands as well. Today the shepherds learned from angels' voices that the Savior was born in the substance of our flesh and soul (Sermon 26, In Nativitate Domini, 6,1; PL 54,213).

There is a second aspect that I would like to touch upon briefly. The event of Bethlehem should be considered in the light of the Paschal Mystery: The one and the other are part of the one redemptive work of Christ. Jesus' incarnation and birth invite us to direct our gaze to His death and resurrection: Christmas and Easter are both feasts of the Redemption. Easter celebrates it as the victory over sin and death: It signals the final moment, when the glory of the Man-God shines forth as the light of day; Christmas celebrates it as God's entrance into history, His becoming man in order to restore man to God: It marks, so to speak, the initial moment when we begin to see the first light of dawn.

But just as dawn precedes and already heralds the day's light, so Christmas already announces the cross and the glory of the resurrection. Even the two times of year when we mark the two great feasts -- at least in some parts of the world -- can help us to understand this aspect. In fact, while Easter falls at the beginning of spring, when the sun breaks through the thick, chilly mists and renews the face of the earth, Christmas falls right at the beginning of winter, when the sun's light and warmth seek in vain to awaken nature enwrapped by the cold. Under this blanket, however, life throbs and the victory of the sun and warmth begins again.

The Fathers of the Church always interpreted Christ's birth in the light of the whole work of Redemption, which finds its summit in the Paschal Mystery. The incarnation of God's Son appears not only as the commencement and condition for salvation, but as the very presence of the mystery of our salvation: God becomes man; He is born a babe like us; He takes on our flesh to conquer death and sin.

Two important texts of St. Basil illustrate this well. St. Basil tells the faithful: "God assumes flesh to destroy death within it hidden. Just as antidotes to poison, when ingested, eliminate the poison's effects, and as the shadows within a house clear with the light of the sun; so death, which had dominated human nature, was destroyed by the presence of God. And as ice remains solid in water as long as night endures and shadows reign, but melts at once by the sun's heat, so death -- which had reigned until the coming of Christ -- as soon as the grace of God our Savior appeared, and the Sun of Justice arose, 'was swallowed up in victory' (1 Corinthians 15:54), for it cannot coexist with Life" (Homily on the Birth of Christ, 2: PG 31,1461).

And again, in another text St. Basil issues this invitation: "Let us celebrate the world's salvation and mankind's birth. Today Adam's guilt has been remitted. Now we need no longer say: 'you are dust and to dust you shall return' (Genesis 3:19), but rather: united to Him who descended from heaven, you shall be admitted into heaven (Homily on the Birth of Christ, 6: PG 31,1473).

At Christmas we encounter the tenderness and love of God, who stoops down to our limitations, to our weakness, to our sins -- and He lowers Himself to us. St. Paul affirms that Jesus Christ "though He was in the form of God ... emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:6-7). Let us look upon the cave of Bethlehem: God lowers Himself to the point of being laid in a manger -- which is already a prelude of His self-abasement in the hour of His Passion. The climax of the love story between God and man passes by way of the manger of Bethlehem and the sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us joyously live the feast of Christmas, which now draws near. Let us live this wondrous event: The Son of God again is born "today"; God is truly close to each one of us, and He wants to meet us -- He wants to bring us to Himself. He is the true light, which dispels and dissolves the darkness enveloping our lives and mankind. Let us live the Lord's birth by contemplating the path of God's immense love, which raised us to Himself through the mystery of the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of His Son, for -- as St. Augustine affirms -- "In [Christ] the divinity of the Only Begotten was made a partaker of our mortality, so that we might be made partakers of His immortality" (Letter 187,6,20: PL 33: 839-840). Above all, let us contemplate and live this Mystery in the celebration of the Eucharist, the heart of Christmas; there, Jesus makes Himself really present -- as the true Bead come down from heaven, as the true Lamb sacrificed for our salvation.

To you and to your families I wish a truly Christian celebration of Christmas, such that even your exchange of greetings on that day will be expressions of the joy of knowing that God is near and wants to accompany us along life's journey. Thank you.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As Christmas approaches, I offer prayerful good wishes to you and your families for a spiritually fruitful celebration of the Lord's birth. At Midnight Mass, we sing: "Today a Saviour is born for us". This "Today" evokes an eternal present, for the mystery of Christ's coming transcends time and permeates all history. "Today" - every day - we are invited to discover the presence of God's saving love in our midst. In the birth of Jesus, God comes to us and asks us to receive him, so that he can be born in our lives and transform them, and our world, by the power of his love. The Christmas liturgy also invites us to contemplate Christ's birth against the backdrop of his paschal mystery. Christmas points beyond itself, to the redemption won for us on the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection. May this Christmas fill you with joy in the knowledge that God has drawn near to us and is with us at every moment of our lives.

* * *

I greet all the English-speaking visitors present, including the pilgrimage groups from Singapore and the United States. My special greetings and good wishes go to the Tenth World Congress of the International Association of Maternal and Neonatal Health. My greeting also goes to the primary school children from Korea. I welcome the alumni of the Pontifical North American College who are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary of ordination, and the students of Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane, Australia. Upon all of you and your families I invoke God's abundant blessings. Merry Christmas!

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Finally, in Italian he said:

I address a special greeting to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Dear young people, especially you students of the school of Braucci of Caivano, may you approach the mystery of Bethlehem with the same sentiments of faith as the Virgin Mary; may it be given to you, dear sick, to draw from the crib of Bethlehem that joy and that intimate peace that Jesus came to bring to the world; and may you, dear newlyweds, desire to contemplate assiduously the example of the holy Family of Nazareth, in order that the virtues there practiced might be impressed upon the path of family life you have just begun.

I return your good wishes, wishing everyone a holy Christmas filled with every blessing.

Pope: We Must Renew Our Way Of Being Christians

22-December-2011 -- Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 22 DEC 2011 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received cardinals along with members of the Roman Curia and of the Governance of the Vatican City State for the traditional exchange of Christmas and New Year's greetings. Speaking for those present, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, greeted the Pontiff.

In his following address, Benedict XVI reviewed the major events of this year, which has been marked by "an economic and financial crisis that is ultimately based on the ethical crisis looming over the Old Continent. Even if such values as solidarity, commitment to one's neighbour and responsibility towards the poor and suffering are largely uncontroversial, still the motivation is often lacking for individuals and large sectors of society to practise renunciation and make sacrifices". That is why "the key theme of this year, and of the years ahead, is this: how do we proclaim the Gospel today?" in a way that the faith may be the living force that is absent today.

In this respect, the Pope noted that "the ecclesial events of the outgoing year were all ultimately related to this theme. There were the journeys to Croatia, to the World Youth Day in Spain, to my home country of Germany, and finally to Africa - Benin - for the consignment of the Post-Synodal document on justice, peace, and reconciliation ... Equally memorable were the journeys to Venice, to San Marino, to the Eucharistic Congress in Ancona, and to Calabria. And finally there was the important day of encounter in Assisi for religions and for people who in whatever way are searching for truth and peace".

Other important steps in the same direction were the establishment of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, which points "towards next year's Synod on the same theme", and the proclamation of the Year of Faith.

Without Revitalizing the Faith, Church Reform Will Remain Ineffective

To all of this is joined the reflection on the need for reform within the Church. "Faithful believers ... are noticing with concern that regular churchgoers are growing older all the time and that their number is constantly diminishing; that recruitment of priests is stagnating; that scepticism and unbelief are growing. ... There are endless debates over what must be done in order to reverse the trend. There is no doubt that a variety of things need to be done. ... The essence of the crisis of the Church in Europe ... is the crisis of faith. If we find no answer to this, if faith does not take on new life, deep conviction and real strength from the encounter with Jesus Christ, then all other reforms will remain ineffective".

In contrast to the European situation, Benedict XVI asserted that during his trip to Benin "none of the faith fatigue that is so prevalent here ... was detectable there. Amid all the problems, sufferings and trials that Africa clearly experiences, one could still sense the people's joy in being Christian, buoyed up by inner happiness at knowing Christ and belonging to His Church. From this joy comes also the strength to serve Christ in hard-pressed situations of human suffering, the strength to put oneself at his disposal, without looking round for one's own advantage. Encountering this faith that is so ready to sacrifice and so full of happiness is a powerful remedy against the fatigue with Christianity such as we are experiencing in Europe today".

Another sign of hope is seen in the World Youth Days where "again and again ... a new, more youthful form of Christianity can be seen", one possessing five main characteristics. "Firstly, there is a new experience of catholicity, of the Church's universality. This is what struck the young people and all the participants quite directly: we come from every continent, but although we have never met one another, we know one another" because "the same inner encounter with Jesus Christ has stamped us deep within with the same structure of intellect, will, and heart. ... In this setting, to say that all humanity are brothers and sisters is not merely an idea: it becomes a real shared experience, generating joy".

Secondly, "from this derives a new way of living our humanity, our Christianity. For me, one of the most important experiences of those days was the meeting with the World Youth Day volunteers: about 20,000 young people, all of whom devoted weeks or months of their lives" to the preparations. "At the end of the day, these young people were visibly and tangibly filled with a great sense of happiness: the time that they had given up had meaning; in giving of their time and labour, they had found time, they had found life. ... These young people did good, even at a cost, even if it demanded sacrifice, simply because it is a wonderful thing to do good, to be there for others. All it needs is the courage to make the leap. Prior to all of this is the encounter with Jesus Christ, inflaming us with love for God and for others, and freeing us from seeking our own ego". The Pope recalled having found the same attitude in Africa from the Sisters of Mother Teresa "who devote themselves to abandoned, sick, poor, and suffering children, without asking anything for themselves, thus becoming inwardly rich and free. This is the genuinely Christian attitude".

The Joy of Knowing We Are Loved by God

The third element characterizing the World Youth Days is adoration. Benedict XVI remarked on the crowds' silence before the Blessed Sacrament in Hyde Park, Zagreb, and Madrid. "God is indeed ever-present", he said. "But again, the physical presence of the risen Christ is something different, something new. ... Adoration is primarily an act of faith - the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if He is present, then I bow down before him. ... We enter this certainty of God's tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life. Only thus can I celebrate the Eucharist correctly and receive the body of the Lord rightly".

Confession is another essential characteristic of the World Youth Days because, with this sacrament "we recognize that we need forgiveness over and over again, and that forgiveness brings responsibility. Openness to love is present in man, implanted in him by the Creator, together with the capacity to respond to God in faith. But also present, in consequence of man's sinful history ... is the tendency ... towards selfishness, towards becoming closed in on oneself, in fact towards evil. ... Therefore we need the humility that constantly asks God for forgiveness, that seeks purification and awakens in us the counterforce, the positive force of the Creator, to draw us upwards".

Fifthly, and finally, the Pope mentioned the joy that above all depends on the certainty, based on faith that "I am wanted; I have a task; I am accepted, I am loved. ... Man can only accept himself if he is accepted by another. ... This sense of being accepted comes in the first instance from other human beings. But all human acceptance is fragile. Ultimately we need a sense of being accepted unconditionally. Only if God accepts me, and I become convinced of this, do I know definitively: it is good that I exist. ... If ever man's sense of being accepted and loved by God is lost, then there is no longer any answer to the question whether to be a human being is good at all. ... Only faith gives me the conviction: it is good that I exist. It is good to be a human being, even in hard times. Faith makes one happy from deep within".

In conclusion, the Pontiff thanked the Curia for "for shouldering the common mission that the Lord has given us as witnesses to His truth" and them wished all a blessed Christmas. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING ON MY BIRTHDAY!

Just Trust in Me! and that would be a fine Birthday Present for me!

Take Care!

Missionaries Take Message of the Cross to Prison

20-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Pope and Young People Follow Gospel Directive

By Ann Schneible

ROME, DEC 19, 2011 (Zenit.org).- "'I was in prison and you came to me' (Matthew 25:36). These are the words of the Last Judgment, as told by the Evangelist Matthew, and these words of the Lord, in which he identifies with the prisoners, express the full meaning of my visit with you today. Wherever there is the hungry, stranger, sick, incarcerated, there is Christ himself who awaits our visit and our help. This is the main reason that makes me happy to be here, to pray, talk and listen."

These were some of the words that Benedict XVI shared during his pastoral visit to Rebbibia prison yesterday, where he spent almost an hour speaking to the inmates and listening to their questions.

Less than a month before the Holy Father's visit, a group of young missionaries, following that same call of Christ and his Church, brought the World Youth Day cross to another prison just south of Rome.

It was on Nov. 26 that the Centro San Lorenzo International Centre for Youth brought this cross, which John Paul II bequeathed to the youth of the world 27 years ago, to the inmates of Casa Circondariale, the prison of Civitaveccia. This is the Centro San Lorenzo's fifth prison ministry experience since 2010, having also organized missions to Rebibbia prison on three separate occasions, and once to the maximum security prison in the small town of Paliano, Italy.

The objective of the mission was to testify that the cross is infinitely salvific to every person, regardless of who they are or what they have done.

"The cross is always a symbol of hope for all people," explained Michael Coughlan, seminarian from the Venerable English College in Rome and the mission's organizer, "and in prisons it can be a quite hopeless time, so it's important for us to remember that the victory of the cross is for all people. That includes those in prison -- or maybe, especially those in prison. Because, whatever they've done, it doesn't matter. Christ still brings his message, his hope, his forgiveness into that place."

Rediscovering the Incarnation

The program of the mission included veneration of the World Youth Day cross, a viewing of the World Youth Day cross documentary "The Power of the Cross," selections from the Via Crucis, personal testimonies, and confessions. Bishop Luigi Marrucci of Civitaveccia was also present to offer a spiritual reflection for those present.

"The cross," he said, "is a sign of hope ... the Lord has risen, he is living; he can come among us, with the word, the sacraments, where 'more are gathered in his name.' He becomes a traveling companion. He is no longer nailed to the cross."

The 10 volunteers who accompanied the cross, including three priests, a seminarian, and a handful of lay people, came representing five countries from around the world: the United States, England, Slovakia, Australia, and Italy. Bishop Marrucci and members of the Cannosian community were also present. True to John Paul II's vision for the mission of the World Youth Day cross, the international diversity of the volunteers helped convey the message that the power of the cross reaches all corners of the earth.

For Coughlan, the most spectacular exemplification of this was when, at the conclusion of the mission, everyone gathered together and sang "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."

"It didn't matter that we were singing in Latin," he said. "People from all places knew how to sing it and in the end, as we stood in front of the altar with the cross on the vigil of Advent, people found hope again in the incarnation of Christ, and the victory he won for us."

Pope to Children: Tell Your Friends You Have Found Jesus

20-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Invites Them to Assure Child in the Crib, "I Will Listen to You Always"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 19, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is inviting children to a missionary spirit, encouraging them to tell their friends that they have found a great Friend in Jesus.

This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received a delegation of children from Italian Catholic Action, with whom he exchanged Christmas greetings.

The Holy Father thanked the group for their visit, then went on to remark on a theme they have been studying this year, the invitation made to Bartimaeus in the Bible: "Arise, He is calling."

This call, the Pontiff explained, "has already been repeated often in your lives, and it is repeated again today. The first call was in the gift of life. Always be attentive to this great gift, appreciate it and be grateful to the Lord. Ask Him to give a joyful life to all the boys and girls of the world, that they may all be respected and none may lack what they need to live."

"Another important call was baptism," the Pope continued. "At that moment you became brothers and sisters of Jesus Who loves you more than anyone else and wants to help you to grow. Another call was First Communion. On that day your friendship with Jesus became closer and more intimate. ... Respond generously to the Lord Who calls you to be friends with Him. He will never let you down."

"Dear friends," the Holy Father concluded, "I would like to ask you for one thing. Take this beautiful invitation -- 'Arise, He is calling' -- to your own friends and tell them: Look, I have responded to Jesus' call and I am happy because I have found a great Friend in Him, a Friend I meet in prayer, Who I see among my friends, to Whom I listen in the Gospel. My Christmas wish for you is that, when you make your nativity scenes, you imagine you are saying to Jesus: come into my life and I will listen to you always."

Catholic Leaders Hope Kim Jong Il's Death Opens Way To Reunification

20-December-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=23995)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, December 19 (CNA/EWTN News) .- The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il may be the beginning of a turning point for the path of reunification of the Koreas, Catholic leaders said after his passing.

"We hope that the Lord gives light and strength to the North Korean brothers so that there is a return (to) a policy focused on dialogue, peace, reconciliation," Bishop Peter Jeng of Cheju, president of the South Korean bishops' conference, told Fides news agency.

Kim Jong Il, 69, died of a reported heart attack during a train trip. He had led the isolated communist state since 1994. His third son, Kim Jong Un, is his expected successor.

His death caused much grief among North Koreans who lamented the "great leader's" death. State television urged North Koreans to unite behind his successor.

The South Korean military went on high alert in case of any military provocation.

Bishop Kang said the bishops did not expect Kim's death.

"We hope that this will become a reason to develop a path of reunification. We do not know in detail the current political situation in North Korea."

He suggested that a "settling time" was possible. Korea's new leader, the 30-year-old Kim Jong Un, is "very young," has "no political experience" and does not seem to have the Korean people's confidence.

"No one knows him. He is a leader who has suddenly appeared. Our hopes are always towards the beginning of a journey of peace and reconciliation, the bishop said.

"This event could be a sign that the Lord wants a fundamental transformation in the country."

Fr. Baptist John Kim Hun-il, executive secretary of the Catholic bishops' Subcommittee for Aid to North Korea, hoped that Kim's death would not plunge North Korea into more chaos, UCA News reports.

He expressed hope that his committee's aid program might continue and that North Korea will show more progress in reconciliation efforts.

Rev. Kim Kea Sun, the deputy general of the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace, said North Korea's future is "a very delicate issue."

Kim Jong Il's death "could leave a void and create very serious problems at a social and political level."

"We hope that in the North there is no conflict, which would bring further suffering to the people."

Rev. Kim hopes to continue his organization's relationship of exchange and dialogue between religious leaders of the North and South Koreas.

The organization has scheduled a potential Dec. 22 meeting in North Korea to plan for a religious leaders' delegation to visit to the South. In September 2011 a delegation of South Korean religious leaders visited Pyongyang.

"Our hope is that this exchange process continues, even with the new political leadership in the North, to reinforce a climate of cordiality and friendship between North and South Korea," Rev. Kim said.

North Korea has only one Catholic church in Pyongyang and about 3,000 Catholics, UCA News says. There are no resident priests or nuns.

Vatican Christmas Tree Lights Up St. Peter's Square

19-December-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=23984)

VATICAN CITY, December 16 (CNA/EWTN News) .- As dark fell over St. Peter's Square on Dec. 16, a young Ukrainian boy switched on the lights for the Vatican's Christmas tree, a 98-foot spruce donated by his homeland.

The tree is "a significant symbol of Christ's nativity because, with its evergreen boughs, it reminds us of enduring life," said Pope Benedict XVI at a meeting earlier in the day with a group of Ukrainian bishops - Catholic and Orthodox - that oversaw this evening's ceremony.

"The spruce is also a sign of popular religiosity in your country," he told them, "and of the Christian roots of your culture. My hope is that these roots may increasingly reinforce your national unity, favoring the promotion of authentic shared values."

The tree is decorated with 2,500 silver and gold ornaments and topped with a bright star. This evening's lighting ceremony combined traditional folk music from the Ukraine, provided by a youth choir in national costume, with operatic Italian music played by the Vatican's Gendarmerie band.

The thousand-strong crowd seemed to be equally Ukrainian and Italian, with many blue and yellow Ukrainian flags in evidence.

In his earlier remarks, Pope Benedict touched on how Ukraine "has been a crossroads of different cultures" over the centuries, a "meeting point for the spiritual richness of East and West." He urged Ukrainians to "tenaciously" adhere to the values of the faith as they live out their "unique vocation" of being a crossroads.

The Pope said he hoped today's events in Rome would inspire in all Ukrainians "a renewed desire to live and witness to the faith with joy and promote the values of life, solidarity and peace, that the Nativity of Christ every year before us again."

The Ukrainian tree is located next to the central obelisk in St. Peter's Square. Alongside it is the soon-to-be-unveiled Vatican nativity scene. These Christmas displays are a fairly recent tradition, having started in 1982 during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

Pope Benedict said these seasonal traditions are a "part our communities' spiritual heritage ... which we must seek to conserve, even in modern societies where consumerism and the search for material goods sometimes seem to prevail."

Pope Calls For Prisoners' Dignity To Be Respected

18-December-2011 -- Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 18 DEC 2011 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father made a pastoral visit to the prison of Rebbiba in northern Rome. On his arrival he was welcomed by Paola Severino, minister of justice; Franco Ionta, head of the prison administration department, and Fr. Pier Sandro Spriano and Fr. Roberto Guarnieri, prison chaplains.

The Holy Father met the prisoners in the institute's central church, dedicated to Our Father. Excerpts from his remarks to them are given below.

"'I was in prison and you visited me'. These are the words of the Final Judgment according to Matthew the Evangelist, the Lord's words in which He identifies Himself with those in prison, words which fully express the significance of my visit to you today. Wherever someone is hungry, a stranger, sick or in prison, there is Christ Himself Who awaits our visit and our assistance. ... The Church has always considered visiting the imprisoned as one of the corporal acts of mercy, but this, in order to be complete, means fully accepting the prisoner, 'making space for him in our time, in our home, in our friendships, in our laws, in our cities'. ... The Only-begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus, also experienced jail. He was judged before a tribunal and suffered a ferocious death sentence.

"During my recent apostolic trip to Benin last month, I signed a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation in which I underlined the Church's concern for justice in States. I wrote: 'Independent judiciary and prison systems are urgently needed, therefore, for the restoration of justice and the rehabilitation of offenders. It is time to put a stop to miscarriages of justice and ill-treatment of prisoners, and the widespread non-enforcement of the law ... which represents a violation of human rights, as well as imprisonment either without trial or else with much-delayed trial. The Church in Africa ... recognises her prophetic mission towards all those affected by crime and their need for reconciliation, justice and peace. Prisoners are human persons who, despite their crime, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. They need our care".

Justice is inseparable from mercy

"Human justice and divine justice are very different. Men are not, of course, capable of applying divine justice, but they must at least ... seek to understand the spirit that moves it, in order to illuminate human justice and to ensure that prisoners do not become outcasts, as unfortunately they often do. God, in fact, is He Who strongly proclaims justice, but at the same time heals wounds with the balm of mercy".

"Justice and mercy, justice and charity are cardinal points of Church social doctrine. They differ only for we human beings, as we carefully distinguish between an act of justice and an act of love. ... But this is not true of God. In Him justice and charity coincide; there is no act of justice that is not also an act of mercy and forgiveness while, at the same time, there is no act of mercy that is not perfectly just".

"The penitential system has two main points, both of them important: protecting society from possible threats, and rehabilitating those who have erred without trampling on their dignity or excluding them from social life. Both of these aspects ... are aimed at avoiding that 'chasm' between what life in jail is really like and how it was intended by the law, which gives fundamental importance to the re-educational function of punishment and to respecting the rights and dignity of persons".

Overcrowding and degradation make prison sentences worse

"I know that overcrowding and the dilapidation of jails can make detention even worse. ... Public institutions must carefully analyse the situation in prisons today, monitoring structures, resources and staff so that prisoners do not serve a 'double sentence'. It is important to develop the prison system in such a way that, while respecting justice, it is increasingly adapted to the needs of human beings, also by using non-custodial penalties or different forms of custody".

"Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. May the Lord's Nativity, which is now drawing near, reawaken hope and love in your hearts. The birth of the Lord Jesus, which we will celebrate in a few days' time, reminds us of His mission to save all mankind, excluding no one. ... Let us ask Him ... to free everyone from the prison of sin, arrogance and pride. Each of us, in fact, has need to leave this inner prison in order to be truly free from evil, anguish and death".

"I would like to conclude by saying that the Church supports and encourages all efforts to ensure that everyone lives a dignified life. Be sure that I am close to each of you. ... May the Lord bless you and your future". 

The Christmas Tree Reminds Us That Life Endures

16-December-2011 -- Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received a delegation from Ukraine, the country which donated the Christmas tree decorating St. Peter's Square this year. The tree, a spruce from the Zakarpattia region 30.5 metres high and decorated with 2,500 silver- and gold-coloured baubles, will be lit this evening in the presence of Ukrainian bishops. Other smaller trees have also been donated, which will be set up at other places in Vatican City State.

The Pope greeted the bishops accompanying the Ukrainian delegation: His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyc; Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv of the Latins, and Bishop Milan Sasik C.M. of the eparchy of Mukachevo of the Byzantine rite, as well as members of the Orthodox Church led by the Archbishop of Poltava and Myrhorod.

This tree, said the Holy Father, is "a significant symbol of Christ's Nativity because, with its evergreen boughs, it reminds us of enduring life. The spruce is also a sign of popular religiosity in your country, and of the Christian roots of your culture. My hope is that these roots may increasingly reinforce your national unity, favouring the promotion of authentic shared values. Over the centuries your nation has been a crossroads of different cultures, a meeting point for the spiritual richness of East and West. By tenaciously adhering to the values of the faith, may it continue to response to this unique vocation".

The tree and nativity scene, Benedict XVI went on, "are elements of that typically Christmas atmosphere which is part our communities' spiritual heritage; a climate impregnated with religiosity and family intimacy which we must seek to conserve, even in modern societies where consumerism and the search for material goods sometimes seem to prevail. Christmas is a Christian feast and its symbols are important references to the great mystery of the incarnation and birth of Jesus, which the liturgy constantly re-evokes. The Creator of the universe, by becoming a child, came among us to share our journey; He became small to enter the heart of man and renew it with His love. Let us prepare ourselves to welcome Him with faith". 

On Jesus' Prayer as Love for God and Neighbor

15-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

"Petition, Praise and Thanksgiving Should Coalesce"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian language catechesis Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. The Pope continued with his reflections on Jesus' prayer.

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today I would like to reflect with you on Jesus' prayer as it relates to His prodigious healing action. In the Gospels, various situations are presented in which Jesus prays before the beneficent and healing work of God the Father, who acts through Him. It is a prayer that manifests once again His unique relationship of knowledge and communion with the Father, as Jesus becomes involved in a deeply human way in the difficulties of His friends; for example, of Lazarus and his family, or of the many poor and sick whom He wills to help concretely.

One important instance is the healing of the deaf man (Mark 7:32-37). The Evangelist Mark's account -- which we just heard -- shows that Jesus' healing action is connected to His intense relationship both with His neighbor -- the man who is ill -- and with the Father. The scene of the miracle is carefully described in this way: "And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears and He spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him 'Ephphata', that is, 'Be opened'." (7:33-34).

Jesus wills that the healing occur "aside, [away] from the multitude". This seems due not only to the fact that the miracle had to be kept hidden from the people to avoid their forming limited or distorted interpretations of the person of Jesus. The choice of taking the sick man aside causes Jesus and the deaf-mute to be alone -- close together in a unique relationship -- at the moment of the healing.

With a gesture, the Lord touches the ears and tongue of the man who is ill; i.e., the specific sites of his infirmity. The intensity of Jesus' attention is revealed also in the unusual features of the healing: He uses His own fingers and even His own saliva. Also the fact that the Evangelist reports the original word pronounced by the Lord -- "Ephphata", or "Be opened!" -- emphasizes the scene's unique character.

But the central focus of this episode is the fact that Jesus -- at the moment He performs the healing -- looks directly to His relationship with the Father. The account says in fact that, "looking up to heaven, He sighed" (Verse 34). The attention given to the man who is ill, Jesus' care for him, is tied to a profound attitude of prayer to God. And the sigh He emits is described with a word that, in the New Testament, indicates the aspiration to something good that is still lacking (cf. Romans 8:23).

The whole narrative, then, shows that human involvement with the man who is ill leads Jesus to prayer. Once again, His unique relationship with the Father re-emerges -- His identity as the Only Begotten Son. In Him, through His person, God's healing and beneficent action is made present. It is not by chance that the people's final comment following the miracle recalls the appraisal of creation found at the beginning of Genesis: "He has done all things well" (Mark 7:37).

Prayer enters clearly into Jesus' healing action, with His gaze towards heaven. Certainly, the power that healed the deaf-mute was caused by [Jesus'] compassion for him, but it finds its origin in [His] recourse to the Father. The two relationships meet: the human relationship of compassion with the man, which enters into the relationship with God and thus becomes a healing.

In the Joannine account of the raising of Lazarus, this same dynamic is attested to with still greater evidence (cf. John 11:1-44). Here also are interwoven -- on one hand -- Jesus' bond with a friend and his suffering -- and on the other -- His filial relationship with the Father.

Jesus' human participation in the story of Lazarus has several special features. His friendship with him, as well as with his sisters Martha and Mary, is recalled repeatedly throughout the account. Jesus Himself affirms: "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11). His sincere affection for His friend is emphasized also by the sisters of Lazarus, as well as by the Jews (cf. John 11:3; 11:36); it manifests itself in Jesus' being deeply moved at the sight of Martha's and Mary's sorrow and of all of Lazarus' friends, and it leads Him to weep -- so deeply human -- as He approaches the tomb: "When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept (John 11:33-35).

This bond of friendship, Jesus' involvement and emotion before the suffering of Lazarus' relatives and acquaintances, is interlinked throughout the narrative with a continual and intense relationship with the Father. From the outset, Jesus interprets the event in relation to His very identity and mission, and to the glorification that awaits Him. When he hears of Lazarus' illness, in fact, He comments: "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it" (John 11:4).

The announcement of His friend's death is also received by Jesus with profound human pain, but always with clear reference to His relationship with God and to the mission entrusted to Him; He says: "Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe" (John 11:14-15). The moment of Jesus' explicit prayer to the Father before the tomb is the natural climax of the entire episode, which reaches across this double register of friendship with Lazarus and of filial relationship with God. Here also the two relationships go together. "Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me." (John 11:41): it is a Eucharist.

The phrase reveals that Jesus did not retreat -- even for an instant -- from His prayer of petition for Lazarus' life. His prayer continued; indeed, it strengthened the bond with His friend, and at the same time, it confirmed Jesus' decision to remain in communion with the Father's Will, with His plan of love, in which Lazarus' illness and death are regarded as a place where the glory of God is made manifest.

Dear brothers and sisters, in reading this narrative each one of us is called to understand that in the prayer of petition to the Lord, we must not expect an immediate fulfillment of our requests, of our will; rather, we must entrust ourselves to the Father's Will, interpreting each event within the perspective of His glory, of His design of love, which is often mysterious to our eyes.

This is why -- in our prayer -- petition, praise and thanksgiving should coalesce, even when it seems to us that God is not responding to our concrete expectations. Abandonment to God's love, which precedes and accompanies us always, is one of the attitudes at the heart of our conversation with Him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments in this way on Jesus' prayer in the account of the raising of Lazarus: "Jesus' prayer, characterized by thanksgiving, reveals to us how to ask: before the gift is given, Jesus commits Himself to the One who in giving gives Himself. The Giver is more precious than the gift; He is the 'treasure'; in Him abides His Son's heart; the gift is given 'as well'"(Matthew 6:21 and 6:33) (2604).

This seems to me to be very important: before the gift is given, to adhere to Him who gives; the Giver is more precious than the gift. Also for us, then, beyond what God gives us when we call upon Him, the greatest gift He can give us is His friendship, His presence, His love. He is the precious treasure we should ask for and treasure always.

The prayer Jesus utters as the stone is rolled from the entrance to Lazarus' tomb also presents a singular and unexpected development. In fact, after having given thanks to God the Father, He adds: "I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me" (John 11:42). With His prayer, Jesus wills to lead [us] to faith, to total trust in God and in His Will, and He wants to show that this God who so loved man and the world as to send His Only Begotten Son (cf. John 3:16), is the God of Life, the God who brings hope and who is able to reverse situations that are humanly impossible. The trustful prayer of a believer is therefore a living witness of this presence of God in the world, of His interest in man, of His action in realizing His plan of salvation.

The two prayers of Jesus that we have meditated upon -- which accompany the curing of the deaf-mute and the raising of Lazarus -- reveal that the deep bond between the love of God and the love of neighbor must enter into our prayer also. In Jesus, true God and true man, attention to the other -- especially to the needy and the suffering -- being moved before the sorrow of a beloved family, leads Him to turn to the Father, in that fundamental relationship that guides the whole of His life. But the opposite is also true: communion with the Father, constant dialogue with Him, drives Jesus to be uniquely attentive to the concrete situations of man in order to bring to them the consolation and love of God. The relationship with our fellow men leads us to the relationship with God, and [our relationship] with God leads us anew to our neighbor.

Dear brothers and sisters, our prayer opens the door to God, who teaches us to go out of ourselves constantly so that we might be able to become close to others, especially in moments of trial, to bring them consolation, hope and light. May the Lord grant that we be capable of prayer that is ever more intense, so that our personal relationship with God the Father may be strengthened. May He open our hearts to the needs of those around us and enable us to feel the beauty of being "sons in the Son" together with so many brothers and sisters. Thank you.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our continuing catechesis on prayer, we now consider Jesus' own prayer, particularly in the context of his miracles of healing. Both the cure of the deaf man (Mk 7:32-37) and the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11:1-44) show us Jesus at prayer before cases of human suffering. His prayer on these occasions reveals not only his profound identification with the suffering but also his unique relationship with the Father. In the case of the deaf man, Jesus' compassion leads him to introduce his prayer with a deep sigh (v. 34). In the case of Lazarus, he is deeply moved by the sorrow of Martha and Mary, and weeps before the tomb of his friend. At the same time, he sees the tragedy of Lazarus' death in the light of the Father's will and of his own identity and mission. Jesus' example teaches us that in our own prayers we must always trust in the Father's will and strive to see all things in the light of his mysterious plan of love. We too must join petition, praise and thanksgiving in every prayer, knowing that the greatest gift God can give us is his friendship, and that our example of prayer can open our hearts to our brothers and sisters in need and point others to God's saving presence in our world.

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I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors present, including the groups from Vietnam, Nigeria and the United States. As we prepare to celebrate the Saviour's birth at Christmas, I cordially invoke upon you and your families his abundant blessings of joy and peace!

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

[In Italian, he said:]

Lastly, my thoughts go to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Dear young people, may your hearts be ready to welcome Jesus, who saves us by the power of His love. Dear sick, who experience more keenly the weight of the cross, may the approaching Christmas feasts bring you serenity and comfort. And may you, dear newlyweds, grow ever more in the love that Jesus came to give us by His birth.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

Praying To The Father In Order To Help Those Who Suffer

14-December-2011 -- Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2011 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to Jesus' prayer in the context of His healing miracles, focusing particularly on the healing of the deaf man as narrated in the Gospel of St. Mark, and the raising of Lazarus.

The healing of the deaf man "demonstrates that the cures worked by Jesus were connected with the intensity of His relationships, both with others and with the Father", the Pope said. "With a gesture the Lord touches the sick man's ears and tongue; that is, the sites of his infirmity. ... But the central point of the episode lies in the fact that Jesus, at the very moment He works the cure, directly seeks His relationship with the Father", by looking up to heaven. "The narrative shows, then, that human involvement with the sick man led Jesus into prayer. His unique relationship with the Father emerges once again, His identity as Only-begotten Son. In Him, through His person, the healing and beneficial action of God is made present among us".

The raising of Lazarus also highlights this aspect of Jesus' dual relationships, His concern for a suffering friend and His filial bond with the Father. "His sincere affection for His friend ... is expressed by the fact that Jesus was deeply moved at the sight of the suffering of Martha and Mary, and of all Lazarus' friends, and in His profoundly human tears as he approaches the grave", the Pope explained. At the same time, Christ interprets His friend's death "in relation to His own identity and mission, and the glorification awaiting Him. When He hears news of Lazarus sickness, He says: 'this illness does not lead to death: rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it'".

"The moment when Jesus prays directly to the Father before the tomb is the natural climax of the entire episode". According to John the Evangelist "Jesus looked upward and said, Father I thank you for having heard me". This phrase, Benedict XVI explained, "shows us that Jesus had not for a moment ceased His prayer for Lazarus' life. That prayer was continuous, indeed it strengthened Jesus' bond with His friend and, at the same time, confirmed His decision to remain in communion with the will of the Father, with His plan of love in which the sickness and death of Lazarus is the place in which the glory of God is made manifest".

Trusting in God's will

These episodes, said the Holy Father, help us to understand "that when we ask the Lord for something in prayer, we must not expect an immediate fulfilment of our requests, of our will; rather, we should entrust outsides to the will of the Father, reading events in the perspective of His glory, of His plan of love which is often a mystery to our eyes. Thus in our prayer, request, praise and thanksgiving should fuse together, even when it seems to us that God does not respond to our expectations. Abandoning ourselves to the love of God, which always precedes and accompanies us, is a fundamental principle in our dialogue with Him. ... Beyond anything that God may give us when we invoke Him, the greatest gift He can give us is His friendship, His presence, His love". The giver is more precious than the gift.

"The concern Jesus, true God and true man, feels for others, especially the needy and suffering, ... causes Him to turn to the Father. ... But the opposite is also true: communion with the Father, constant dialogue with Him, causes Jesus to be attentive to the real-life situations of man, to which He brings the consolation and love of God".

This profound bond between love for God and love for others must, the Pope concluded, also be part of our own prayers, which "open the door to God, teaching us how to abandon our own selves in order to come close to others, especially in moments of trial, bringing them consolation, hope and light".

At the end of his catechesis the Holy Father spoke in various languages to greet the more than 7,000 pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall. He expressed his particular appreciation to the people who had contributed to the restoration of the sculpture of "The Resurrection" by Pericle Fazzini, which adorns the Hall. "Following a period of painstaking efforts", he said, "today we have the joy of being able to admire this work of art and faith in all its original splendour".

Speaking then in Spanish, Benedict XVI addressed a delegation from the Mexican state of Puebla, expressing the hope that, "with God's help, I will soon be able to visit you in your country". 

Vatican confirms dates for World Youth Day 2013 in Rio

14-December-2011 -- EWTNews Feature

The Pontifical Council for the Laity has confirmed that World Youth Day 2013 will take place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro from July 23-28.

The announcement was made on the official website for the event, www.rio2013.com, and by Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro via Twitter, after organizers met with members of the council Rome on Dec. 12.

Archbishop Tempesta is currently meeting with officials from the council together with Bishop Joel Portella Amado, the general coordinator of World Youth Day 2013, Father Marcio Queiroz, communications director, and Father Renato Martines, director of the main events.

The official logo for World Youth Day Rio 2013 will also be selected during the meetings from a group of proposals drawn from an international contest. Upon returning to Rio later this week, organizers will be meeting will local leaders to report on preparations for the event.

Learning Evangelization From a Mother

13-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seen as Model for Spreading Christ's Message

By Mercedes De La Torre

ROME, DEC. 12, 2011 (Zenit.org).- As the Church turns its focus to the new evangelization, today's feast presents a model to follow: the Virgin of Guadalupe is an example of how to evangelize a continent, says Legionary of Christ Father Nicola Tovagliari.

Father Tovagliari participated in a conference on "The Virgin of Guadalupe: Challenge to Science, Call to Faith," organized by the master's program in Science and Faith at Rome's Regina Apostolorum university.

ZENIT spoke with Father Tovagliari about the lessons to learn from Mary.

ZENIT: What is the message that Guadalupe gives the world?

Father Tovagliari: It is a message of tenderness, of the maternal presence of the Mother of God who is also mother of all men. It is a message of protection, of care and also of confidence in the future.

ZENIT: What is the importance of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe?

Father Tovagliari: It is of historical importance in the event that occurred, of great importance for the evangelization of the peoples of Meso-America but also of present importance for all peoples, because it is God who doesn't forget man and makes Himself present constantly in all cultures and all ages.

ZENIT: Can Mary of Guadalupe be considered a model for the new evangelization, phenomenon of inculturation?

Father Tovagliari: Certainly, just as the first coming of Christ was by Mary's arms, Jesus' new coming also, namely, his appearing in all present cultures or in the new cultural phenomena is by Mary's arms. It's very easy to fall in love with Christ's message when it is brought by the heart of his Mother, when it is brought by a serene face, the sweet face of his Mother.

Present-day man -- who lacks affection in, let us say, this cold world and, perhaps, within the technique of secularization is somewhat extinguished -- finds in the eyes, in the Virgin's face a door to fall in love with Christ's message.

ZENIT: What is the global relevance of the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe?

Father Tovagliari: The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe attracts thousands of pilgrims every day who go to greet her, to greet her as children, to praise her and to pray and ask for something, so there are thousands of pilgrims that visit her every day.

At present the shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, is the religious and Marian place of worship most visited in the world. It is estimated that some 20 million pilgrims visit it every year, but I think we could dare to say there are even more, suffice it to think that on Dec. 12, there will probably be more than 1 million pilgrims that go to greet her and sing the mañanitas to her on that day.

ZENIT: This year the Holy Father is marking Dec. 12 with a Mass in Spanish in Rome, a great event for the Church in Latin America. Why?

Father Tovagliari: The Holy Father's Mass in the Vatican is offered for the whole of Latin America, also in remembrance of the bicentenary, the 200 years of independence of the Latin nations.

In this event, the Holy Father is celebrating the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity among the peoples and I think this is an important message which we also see reflected in the Message of Guadalupe: this Virgin who appears as Mother of all men, so that men are equal in dignity, and all are brothers among themselves.