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Pauline Year; Benedict XVI has declared June 2008-June
Topic Started: Sunday, 1. July 2007, 20:20 (837 Views)
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VATICAN CITY, 10 DEC 2008 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 5,000 people, Benedict XVI spoke on St. Paul's teaching concerning the Sacraments.
The Holy Father indicated how "from St. Paul we have learned that there is a new beginning of history in Jesus Christ, ... Who is man and God. With Him, Who comes from God, a new history begins, formed by the 'yes' He pronounced to the Father, ... out of love and truth".
"How can we enter", the Pope asked, "into this new beginning, this new history? ... How can Jesus reach my own life, my own being? The fundamental response of St. Paul, of all the New Testament, is: by the Holy Spirit" which "at the Pentecost created the beginning of a new humanity, a new community: the Church, the body of Christ".
The spirit of Christ "touches me within ... using two visible elements: the Word of announcement and the Sacraments, in particular Baptism and the Eucharist. ... Faith comes not from reading but from listening. It is not only an interior experience but a relationship".
"The Word became flesh in Jesus to create a new humanity. For this reason, the Word of announcement becomes Sacrament. ... No-one can baptise himself; ... no-one can become Christian by himself. ... We can only become Christian through the meditation of others, and this gives us the gift of faith. ... Autonomous Christianity is a self-contradiction. ... These 'others' are, in the first place, the community of believers, the Church. ... Only Christ can constitute the Church, Christ is the true giver of the Sacraments".
"Being Christian is more than a cosmetic operation that embellishes life, ... it is a new beginning and rebirth, death and resurrection. ... It is not purely spiritual but involves the body, the cosmos, and extends to the new earth and to the new heavens".
On the subject of the Eucharist, the Holy Father pointed out that St. Paul speaks of the institution of this Sacrament in his First Letter to the Corinthians, and he explained that "with the gift of the chalice of the new covenant Christ gives us the true sacrifice, the only true sacrifice is the love of the Son".
After highlighting how the Apostle of the Gentiles says that the chalice we bless is communion with the Blood of Christ and the bread we share is communion with the Body of Christ, the Pope pointed out that "Christ unites Himself with each one of us, and with the men and women around us".
VIS

Referring then to chapter ten of the First Letter to the Corinthians in which St. Paul speaks of us becoming "one body, for we all partake of the one bread", Benedict XVI affirmed that "the realism of the Church is much more profound and authentic than that of the nation State, because Christ truly gives us His Body, converts us into His Body ... and unites us to one another. ... The Church is not just a corporation like a State, it is a body; it is not an organisation but an organism".

The Pope then recalled how St. Paul defines the Sacrament of Matrimony as "a great mystery. ... Married love has as its model the love of Christ for His Church", he said. "People will enjoy a rewarding experience of true marriage if a constant human and emotive development remains united to the effectiveness of the Word and the significance of Baptism. ... Participating in the Body and the Blood of the Lord consolidates the union and makes it visible, a union that grace then makes indissoluble".
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KatyA
Wednesday, 10. December 2008, 21:23
VATICAN CITY, 10 DEC 2008 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 5,000 people, Benedict XVI spoke on St. Paul's teaching concerning the Sacraments..
VIS

Quote:
 
"The Word became flesh in Jesus to create a new humanity. For this reason, the Word of announcement becomes Sacrament. ... No-one can baptise himself; ... no-one can become Christian by himself. ... We can only become Christian through the meditation of others, and this gives us the gift of faith. ... Autonomous Christianity is a self-contradiction. ... These 'others' are, in the first place, the community of believers, the Church. ... Only Christ can constitute the Church, Christ is the true giver of the Sacraments".


That is worth remembering when people say "you don't need to go to church to be a Christian, you can pray at home, by yourself." Oh yea? No sacraments!
Keep the Faith!

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VATICAN CITY, JAN. 7, 2009 (Zenit.org).- It is only in communion with Christ that Christians can offer God true worship, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope explained this today during the first general audience of 2009, in which he resumed his catechesis on St. Paul.
Speaking in a hoarsened voice after days of intense schedules during the holiday season, the Holy Father offered a lengthy explanation of the Pauline concept of "true worship," as it is explained in three passages of the Letter to the Romans.
Referring first to a reference Paul makes to a rite in the Old Testament, the Pontiff noted how the sacrifice of animals as expiation for human sins could never be sufficient.
"A more real contact between human fault and divine love was necessary," he said. "This contact has taken place with the cross of Christ. Christ, Son of God, who has become true man, has assumed in himself all our faults. He himself is the place of contact between human misery and divine mercy; in his heart, the sad multitude of evil carried out by humanity is undone, and life is renewed."
St. Paul speaks of this fundamental change in worship, explaining that "with the cross of Christ -- the supreme act of divine love, converted into human love -- the ancient worship with the sacrifice of animals in the temple of Jerusalem has ended," the Pope said. "This symbolic worship, worship of desire, has now been replaced by real worship: the love of God incarnated in Christ and taken to its fullness in the death on the cross.
"Therefore, this is not a spiritualization of the real worship, but on the contrary, this is the real worship, the true divine-human love, that replaces the symbolic and provisional worship."
Nevertheless, this spiritual worship has a prerequisite, the Bishop of Rome explained, and it is union with Christ.
"Paul," he said, "always supposes that we have come to be 'one in Christ Jesus,' that we have died in baptism and we live now with Christ, through Christ and in Christ. In this union -- and only in this way -- we can be in him and with him a 'living sacrifice,' to offer the 'true worship.'"
By taking on human nature, Christ is able to do for man what sacrificial animals could not, Benedict XVI affirmed.
"The sacrificed animals should have substituted man, the gift of self of man, and they could not," he said. "Jesus Christ, in his surrender to the Father and to us, is not a substitution, but rather really entails in himself the human being, our faults and our desires; he truly represents us, he assumes us in himself.
"In communion with Christ, accomplished in the faith and in the sacraments, we transform, despite our deficiencies, into living sacrifice: 'True worship' is fulfilled."
The full text of the speech is available at Zenit
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Katy A wrote:

"Speaking in a hoarsened voice after days of intense schedules during the holiday season, the Holy Father........"

Maybe, like my wife and I, he has a catarrhal coad

If he has, he has our solicitations.
Edited by Derekap, Thursday, 8. January 2009, 22:33.
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VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- There is no reason to fear anyone or anything, if we stay united to Christ, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope affirmed this today during the general audience in which he continued his reflections on St. Paul. Today, he looked at the "twin" letters of Colossians and Ephesians, concentrating particularly on a title given to Jesus in these epistles: Christ as head.
The Holy Father noted how this title is given to Christ in two senses: He is head of the Church and he is head of the cosmos.
He explained that Paul presents Christ as "the governor, the director, the one in charge who guides the Christian community as its leader and lord." In this role as head of the Church, he is also the one who "raises and vivifies all the members of the body of which he is head. [...] That is, he is not just one who directs, but one who is organically connected to us, from whom comes also the strength to act in an upright way."
The Pontiff added that "Christ in fact is dedicated to 'present to himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.' With this he tells us that the strength with which he builds up the Church, with which he guides the Church, with which also he gives correct direction to the Church, is precisely his love.

In the second sense of Christ as head -- head of the cosmos, Christ's power is shown forth, Benedict XVI explained.
Ephesians and Colossians "bestow us with a highly positive and fruitful message," he said. "It is this: Christ need not fear any eventual competitor, because he is superior to any type of power that would try to humiliate man. [...] That's why, if we are united to Christ, we should fear no enemy and no adversity; but, this also means that we should remain closely united to him, without letting go!"
The Pope said that for the pagan world that lived in fear of dangerous "spirits," this revelation came as a great liberation.
"The same is true also for the paganism of today, because also the current followers of these ideologies see the world as full of dangerous powers. To these people, it is necessary to announce that Christ is the conqueror, such that one who is with Christ, who remains united to him, should not fear anything or anyone," he contended.
And, the Holy Father added, "It seems to me that this is also important for us, who should learn to face all fears, because he is above every domination, he is the true Lord of the world."
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28 January General Audience
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In our catechesis on the writings of Saint Paul, we come now to the Pastoral Epistles, the two Letters addressed to Timothy and the one to Titus. Although their authorship remains debated, these three Letters, while subsequent to the central years of Paul’s life and activity, clearly appeal to his authority and draw from his teaching. Against threats to the purity of the apostolic tradition, they insist on a discerning understanding of the Scriptures and fidelity to the deposit of faith. Scripture and Tradition are seen as the "firm foundation laid by God" for the life of the Church (cf. 2 Tim 2:19), and the basis of her mission of leading all people to the knowledge of God’s saving truth (cf. 1 Tim 2:1-4). The Pastoral Epistles also reflect the development of the Church’s ministerial structures, and in particular the emergence of the figure of the Bishop within the group of presbyters. They present the Church in very human terms as God’s household, a family in which the Bishop acts with the authority of a father. Inspired by this vision, let us ask Saint Paul to help all Christians to live as members of God’s family, and their Pastors to be strong and loving fathers, committed to building up their flocks in faith and unity.

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VATICAN CITY, 4 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, dedicated to the subject of St. Paul's martyrdom, the Pope brought to an end his series of Pauline-Year catecheses dedicated to the figure of the Apostle of the Gentiles.

The saint's martyrdom, said the Holy Father, "is first related in the 'Acts of Paul' written towards the end of the second century. They state that Nero condemned him to be beheaded, and that the execution was summarily carried out. The date of his death varies in the ancient sources, which place it between the persecution unleashed by Nero following the fire of Rome in summer 64, and the last year of his reign, 68". According to tradition he was beheaded at a place in Rome known as "Tre Fontane" (Three Fountains), and buried on the Via Ostiense, where the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the- Walls, erected over his tomb, stands today.

"In any case", he went on, "the figure of St. Paul towers over the events of his earthly life and death. He left an extraordinary spiritual heritage. His Letters soon entered the liturgy where the structure: Prophet-Apostle-Gospel would prove decisive for the form of the Liturgy of the Word. Thanks to this 'presence', ... the Apostle has been, since the very start, spiritual nourishment for the faithful of all times".

"The Fathers of the Church, and later all theologians, drew sustenance ... from his spirituality. For this reason he has, for centuries, been the true Master and Apostle of the Gentiles. ... To him St. Augustine owes the decisive step in his own conversion, and St. Thomas Aquinas left us a magnificent commentary on his Letters, the finest fruit of medieval exegesis. Another decisive moment was the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation", when Luther "found a new interpretation for the Pauline doctrine of justification which freed him from scruples and concern ... and gave him a new and radical trust in the goodness of God, Who forgives everything unconditionally. From that moment Luther identified Judeo-Christian legalism - condemned by the Apostle - with the life of the Catholic Church, while the Church herself appeared to him as enslaved to the Law, with which he contrasted the freedom of the Gospel.

"The Council of Trent", the Holy Father added, "provided a profound interpretation of the question of justification and found, in line with all Catholic tradition, a synthesis between the Law and the Gospel, in conformity with the message of Scripture considered in its entirety and unity.

"The nineteenth century, drawing on the finest elements of Enlightenment tradition, saw a fresh revival of Pauline studies in the field of academic research, of historical-critical interpretation of Sacred Scripture. ... The new Paulinism of that century considered the concept of freedom as a central part of the Apostle's thought, ... and he is presented almost as a new founder of Christianity. What is certain is that in St. Paul the centrality of the Kingdom of God ... is transformed into the centrality of Christology, the decisive moment of which is the Paschal Mystery whence derive the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, as a permanent presence of this mystery thanks to which the Body of Christ grows and the Church is constructed".

Over the last two hundred years in the field of Pauline studies "there has been increasing convergence between Catholic and Protestant exegesis, and conformity is being discovered on the very point that gave rise to the greatest historical disagreement. This represents a great hope for the cause of ecumenism, so fundamental for Vatican Council II".

The Pope went on to mention a number of Pauline-inspired religious movements that have come into being in Catholic Church during the modern age, such as "the Congregation of St. Paul in the sixteenth century, ... the Missionaries of St. Paul in the nineteenth century ... and the Pauline Family or Secular Institute of the Company of St. Paul in the twentieth century".

"Standing before us", he concluded, "is the shining figure of an Apostle and of a fruitful and profound Christian thinker, proximity to whom benefits us all. ... Drawing from him, both from his apostolic example and his doctrine, will be a stimulus for us, if not a guarantee, to consolidate our Christian identity and invigorate the entire Church".
VIS
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VATICAN CITY, 23 JUN 2009 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has announced that at 6 p.m. on Sunday 28 June, in the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, the Holy Father will preside at First Vespers of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, to mark the end of the Pauline Year.

In the Vatican Basilica at 9.30 a.m. on the day of the Solemnity, Monday 29 June, Benedict XVI will preside at the concelebration of the Eucharist with new metropolitan archbishops upon whom he will impose the pallium during the course of the ceremony.
VIS Press Release
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On this Saturday (27 June 2009) there will be Holy Mass in the Catholic Cathedral of Liverpool (aka Paddy's Wigwam) at Noon. Also on Saturday there willl be Holy Mass at 6.30pm in York Minster. Both Holy Masses are to celebrate the end of the Year of St Paul.
Edited by Derekap, Thursday, 25. June 2009, 15:45.
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VATICAN CITY, 26 JUN 2009 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls in Rome, and Pier Carlo Visconti, delegate for the administration of the same basilica, held a briefing on the closure of the Pauline Year.
The cardinal recalled how the Year came into being as a "thematic year" with two fundamental objectives: "To increase people's knowledge of, and invite them to meditate upon, the valuable message left to us by the Apostle of the Gentiles in his writings, which are often difficult and little known or poorly interpreted", and "to create various programmes in the ecumenical dimension, which means working to an ever greater degree with non-Catholic Christian communities on various initiatives of prayer, study and culture".
During the course of the Pauline Year, inaugurated by the Pope on 28 June 2008, the basilica welcomed tens of thousands of pilgrims. "On 1 May 2009 alone more than eighteen thousand pilgrims came to the basilica", explained the cardinal, "and over recent weeks we have certainly seen more than ten thousand a day".
Among the ecclesial events of the Pauline Year, the cardinal mentioned "the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God, which the Pope wished should be inaugurated in the basilica of St. Paul in October 2008, ... the 'Sinaxis' celebrated by all the patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches in Constantinople, followed by a congress focusing on specifically Pauline issues", and "visits to Rome by patriarchs accompanied by large delegations from the Oriental Churches, both Catholic and non-Catholic".
"In the Church of Rome, but also and above all in the various local Churches, ... the celebration of the second millennium of the birth of the Apostle of the Gentiles was perceived and experienced as a fresh stimulus, a further reason to work towards evangelisation. This was also felt in the Orthodox Churches and in many other Christian communities, and has become a shared commitment on the path to recreating unity among Christians".
As for the papal basilica itself, during the Pauline Year "an opening was made in the ancient fifth century brickwork surrounding Paul's tomb under the main altar, so that pilgrims could see one side of the great marble sarcophagus, which has never been opened and which has held the mortal remains of the Apostle for the last twenty centuries". The basilica was also used for concerts of religious music and for other cultural initiatives.
"The Pauline Year is coming to an end", said Cardinal Montezemolo, "but the great ferment of pastoral initiatives, catechesis, and cultural events is destined to continue and to find a large following at both the local and the continental level. The Pauline Door ... will remain open, and the Pauline flame lit by the Holy Father at the beginning of this year will continue to burn in the quadriporticus, ... reminding all the pilgrims who continue to arrive from every corner of the globe of the richness and profundity of the Word of God transmitted to us by the Apostle of the Gentiles".
Finally the archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls announced that "over this very period, to mark the closure of the Pauline Year, the Holy Father is sending seven pontifical delegations, each led by a cardinal, to seven places associated with the Apostle Paul: the Holy Land, Damascus, Tarsus, Cyprus, Athens, Malta and Lebanon".
VIS Press Release
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Pope Benedict today celebrated first Vespers of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the occasion of the conclusion of the Pauline Year, commemorating the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul, in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
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During the homily, the Pope revealed that a special minuscule probe has been inserted into the sarcophagus of St. Paul, which has never been opened, and a radiocarbon examination of a very small piece of bone retrieved in this way, along with traces of precious vesmtents and incense, has shown that the bones belong to a person who lived between the first and second century. In the words of the Holy Father: "This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul. All this fills our mind with deep emotion."
The entire homily is incredible, I would say among the greatest of his pontificate, I will post an English translation once it becomes available:

I look forward to reading that homily!
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Homily at Vespers of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the occasion of the conclusion of the Pauline Year
Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Distinguished Members of the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I address my cordial greeting to each one of you. In particular, I greet the Cardinal Archpriest of this Basilica and his collaborators, I greet the Abbot and the Benedictine monastic community; I also greet the Delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The commemorative year for the birth of St Paul ends this evening. We have gathered at the tomb of the Apostle whose sarcophagus, preserved beneath the papal altar, was recently the object of a careful scientific analysis. A tiny hole was drilled in the sarcophagus, which in so many centuries had never been opened, in order to insert a special probe which revealed traces of a precious purple-coloured linen fabric, with a design in gold leaf, and a blue fabric with linen threads. Grains of red incense and protein and chalk substances were also found. In addition, minute fragments of bone were sent for carbon-14 testing by experts unaware of their provenance. The fragments proved to belong to someone who had lived between the first and second centuries. This would seem to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition which claims that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul. All this fills our hearts with profound emotion. In recent months, many people have followed the paths of the Apostle the exterior and especially the interior paths on which he travelled in his lifetime: the road to Damascus towards his encounter with the Risen One; the routes of the Mediterranean world which he crossed with the torch of the Gospel, encountering contradiction and adherence until his martyrdom, through which he belongs for ever to the Church of Rome. It was to her that he also addressed his most important Letter. The Pauline Year is drawing to a close but what will remain a part of Christian existence is the journey with Paul with him and thanks to him getting to know Jesus, and, like the Apostle, being enlightened and transformed by the Gospel. And always, going beyond the circle of believers, he remains the "teacher of the Gentiles", who seeks to bring the message of the Risen One to them all, because Christ has known and loved each one; he has died and risen for them all. Therefore let us too listen to him at this time when we are solemnly beginning the Feast of the two Apostles who were bound to one another by a close bond.
It is part of the structure of Paul's Letters always in reference to the particular place and situation that they first of all explain the mystery of Christ, they teach faith. The second part treats their application to our lives: what ensues from this faith? How does it shape our existence, day by day? In the Letter to the Romans, this second part begins in chapter 12, in which the Apostle briefly sums up the essential nucleus of Christian existence in the first two verses. What does St Paul say to us in that passage? First of all he affirms, as a fundamental thing, that a new way of venerating God began with Christ a new form of worship. It consists in the fact that the living person himself becomes adoration, "sacrifice", even in his own body. It is no longer things that are offered to God. It is our very existence that must become praise of God. But how does this happen? In the second verse we are given the answer: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God..." (12: 2). The two decisive words of this verse are "transformed" and "renewal". We must become new people, transformed into a new mode of existence. The world is always in search of novelty because, rightly, it is always dissatisfied with concrete reality. Paul tells us: the world cannot be renewed without new people. Only if there are new people will there also be a new world, a renewed and better world. In the beginning is the renewal of the human being. This subsequently applies to every individual. Only if we ourselves become new does the world become new. This also means that it is not enough to adapt to the current situation. The Apostle exhorts us to non-conformism. In our Letter he says: we should not submit to the logic of our time. We shall return to this point, reflecting on the second text on which I wish to meditate with you this evening. The Apostle's "no" is clear and also convincing for anyone who observes the "logic" of our world. But to become new how can this be done? Are we really capable of it? With his words on becoming new, Paul alludes to his own conversion: to his encounter with the Risen Christ, an encounter of which, in the Second Letter to the Corinthians he says: "if anyone is in Christ, he is in a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (5: 17). This encounter with Christ was so overwhelming for him that he said of it: "I... died..." (Gal 2: 19; cf. Rm 6). He became new, another, because he no longer lived for himself and by virtue of himself, but for Christ and in him. In the course of the years, however, he also saw that this process of renewal and transformation continues throughout life. We become new if we let ourselves be grasped and shaped by the new Man, Jesus Christ. He is the new Man par excellence. In him the new human existence became reality and we can truly become new if we deliver ourselves into his hands and let ourselves be moulded by him.
Paul makes this process of "recasting" even clearer by saying that we become new if we transform our way of thinking. What has been introduced here with "way of thinking" is the Greek term "nous". It is a complex word. It may be translated as "spirit", "sentiments", "reason", and precisely, also by "way of thinking". Thus our reason must become new. This surprises us. We might have expected instead that this would have concerned some attitude: what we should change in our behaviour. But no: renewal must go to the very core. Our way of looking at the world, of understanding reality all our thought must change from its foundations. The reasoning of the former person, the common way of thinking is usually directed to possession, well-being, influence, success, fame and so forth. Yet in this way its scope is too limited. Thus, in the final analysis, one's "self" remains the centre of the world. We must learn to think more profoundly. St Paul tells us what this means in the second part of the sentence: it is necessary to learn to understand God's will, so that it may shape our own will. This is in order that we ourselves may desire what God desires, because we recognize that what God wants is the beautiful and the good. It is therefore a question of a turning point in our fundamental spiritual orientation. God must enter into the horizon of our thought: what he wants and the way in which he conceived of the world and of me. We must learn to share in the thinking and the will of Jesus Christ. It is then that we will be new people in whom a new world emerges.
Paul illustrates the same idea of a necessary renewal of our way of being human in two passages of his Letter to the Ephesians; let us therefore reflect on them briefly. In the Letter's fourth chapter, the Apostle tells us that with Christ we must attain adulthood, a mature faith. We can no longer be "children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine..." (4: 14). Paul wants Christians to have a "responsible" and "adult faith". The words "adult faith" in recent decades have formed a widespread slogan. It is often meant in the sense of the attitude of those who no longer listen to the Church and her Pastors but autonomously choose what they want to believe and not to believe hence a do-it-yourself faith. And it is presented as a "courageous" form of self-expression against the Magisterium of the Church. In fact, however, no courage is needed for this because one may always be certain of public applause. Rather, courage is needed to adhere to the Church's faith, even if this contradicts the "logic" of the contemporary world. This is the non-conformism of faith which Paul calls an "adult faith". It is the faith that he desires. On the other hand, he describes chasing the winds and trends of the time as infantile. Thus, being committed to the inviolability of human life from its first instant, thereby radically opposing the principle of violence also precisely in the defence of the most defenceless human creatures is part of an adult faith. It is part of an adult faith to recognize marriage between a man and a woman for the whole of life as the Creator's ordering, newly re-established by Christ. Adult faith does not let itself be carried about here and there by any trend. It opposes the winds of fashion. It knows that these winds are not the breath of the Holy Spirit; it knows that the Spirit of God is expressed and manifested in communion with Jesus Christ. However, here too Paul does not stop at saying "no", but rather leads us to the great "yes". He describes the mature, truly adult faith positively with the words: "speaking the truth in love" (cf. Eph 4: 15). The new way of thinking, given to us by faith, is first and foremost a turning towards the truth. The power of evil is falsehood. The power of faith, the power of God, is the truth. The truth about the world and about ourselves becomes visible when we look to God. And God makes himself visible to us in the Face of Jesus Christ. In looking at Christ, we recognize something else: truth and love are inseparable. In God both are inseparably one; it is precisely this that is the essence of God. For Christians, therefore, truth and love go together. Love is the test of truth. We should always measure ourselves anew against this criterion, so that truth may become love and love may make us truthful.
Another important thought appears in this verse of St Paul. The Apostle tells us that by acting in accordance with truth in love, we help to ensure that all things (ta pánta) the universe may grow, striving for Christ. On the basis of his faith, Paul is not only concerned in our personal rectitude nor with the growth of the Church alone. He is interested in the universe: ta pánta. The ultimate purpose of Christ's work is the universe the transformation of the universe, of the whole human world, of all creation. Those who serve the truth in love together with Christ contribute to the true progress of the world. Yes, here it is quite clear that Paul is acquainted with the idea of progress. Christ his life, his suffering and his rising was the great leap ahead in the progress of humanity, of the world. Now, however, the universe must grow in accordance with him. Where the presence of Christ increases, therein lies the true progress of the world. There, mankind becomes new and thus the world is made new.
Paul makes the same thing clear from yet another different perspective. In chapter three of the Letter to the Ephesians he speaks to us of the need to be "strengthened... in the inner man" (3: 16). With this he takes up a subject that earlier, in a troubled situation, he had addressed in the Second Letter to the Corinthians. "Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day" (4: 16). The inner person must be strengthened this is a very appropriate imperative for our time, in which people all too often remain inwardly empty and must therefore cling to promises and drugs, which then result in a further growth of the sense of emptiness in their hearts. This interior void the weakness of the inner person is one of the great problems of our time. Interiority must be reinforced the perceptiveness of the heart; the capacity to see and to understand the world and the person from within, with one's heart. We are in need of reason illuminated by the heart in order to learn to act in accordance with truth in love. However, this is not realized without an intimate relationship with God, without the life of prayer. We need the encounter with God that is given to us in the sacraments. And we cannot speak to God in prayer unless we let him speak first, unless we listen to him in the words that he has given us. In this regard Paul says to us: "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3: 17ff.). With these words Paul tells us that love sees beyond simple reason. And he also tells us that only in communion with all the saints, that is, in the great community of all believers and not against or without it can we know the immensity of Christ's mystery. He circumscribes this immensity with words meant to express the dimensions of the cosmos: breadth, length and height and depth. The mystery of Christ has a cosmic vastness; he did not belong only to a specific group. The Crucified Christ embraces the entire universe in all its dimensions. He takes the world in his hands and lifts it up towards God. Starting with St Irenaeus of Lyons thus from the second century the Fathers have seen in these words on the breadth, length and height and depth of Christ's love an allusion to the Cross. In the Cross, Christ's love embraced the lowest depths the night of death as well as the supreme heights, the loftiness of God himself. And he took into his arms the breadth and the vastness of humanity and of the world in all their distances. He always embraces the universe all of us.
Let us pray the Lord to help us to recognize something of the immensity of his love. Let us pray him that his love and his truth may touch our hearts. Let us ask that Christ dwell in our hearts and make us new men and women who act according to truth in love. Amen!
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VATICAN CITY, JULY 2, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's 20 catecheses on St. Paul have been collected in a volume published by the Vatican publishing house.

The book was presented in Rome on Tuesday, just a day after the end of the Pauline Jubilee Year. It is titled "L' Apostolo Paolo, Catechesi Paoline" (The Apostle Paul: Pauline Catechesis).

"It is not a random compilation," said Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Governor's Office for Vatican City State, "but rather an organic whole, corresponding to a carefully studied program."

One year ago today, the Holy Father started a series of general audiences catechesis dedicated to St. Paul. He presented the life, thought and teaching of the apostle during most of the audiences of the Pauline Year. The 20-lesson series ended Feb. 4.

Throughout these catecheses, the Pontiff considered themes such as justification, erroneous interpretations of Paul's thought, the cultural context in which he taught, and his relationship with St. Peter.
Zenit

Coincidentally (perhaps) Zenit today also carries a report on the release of a DVD Paul, from Tarsus to the World from HDH communications
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7 chapters, 210 minutes, the most complete series on St. Paul.
The story of St. Paul according to the record of its activities found in the Act of the Apostles and his letters. A wide-ranging trip that offers the viewer insight into the life and thought of the Apostle of the Gentiles by revisiting the stunning beautiful sites of its intense missionary activity: Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Crete, Cyprus, the southern Balkans, Greece, Malta and Rome.
A chance to meet Paul today, discover his spiritual wealth, and allow ourselves to become caught up in his passion for announcing the Gospel.
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