MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2011
"With Christ are buried in Baptism,
are also raised with him "(cf. Col 2:12)
Lent, which leads us to the celebration of Easter, is for the Church a liturgical very valuable and important, in view of which I am pleased to say a specific word in order to live with due diligence. While watching the final encounter with his spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charity, he intensified his way of cleansing the spirit, to draw more generously to the mystery of redemption, new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface of Lent).
1. This life there has already been forwarded on the day of our baptism, when, "become partakers of the death and resurrection of Christ", has started for us, "the joyful and exciting adventure of a disciple" (Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 10, 2010). St. Paul, in his letters, he insists repeatedly on the unique communion with the Son of God made in this bath. The fact that in most cases you receive the baptism of children highlights that this is a gift from God, no one deserves eternal life by their own efforts. The mercy of God which takes away the sin and can live their lives in "the same sentiments of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5), is bestowed on us for free.
The Apostle of the Gentiles, in his Letter to the Philippians, expresses the sense of transformation that takes place with the participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, indicating the goal: that "I may know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, making me according to his death, hoping to attain the resurrection from the dead "(Phil 3.10 to 11). Baptism, therefore, is not a rite of the past, but an encounter with Christ which the whole existence of the baptized, God gives life and calls him to a sincere conversion, initiated and sustained by grace, which leads to reach the adult height of Christ.
A link to the particular alloy Baptism Lent as a favorable moment to experience the saving grace. The Fathers of Vatican II have called all the pastors of the Church to use "more abundantly the baptismal features proper della liturgia quaresimale” (Cost. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109). Da sempre, infatti, la Chiesa associa la Veglia Pasquale alla celebrazione del Battesimo: in questo Sacramento si realizza quel grande mistero per cui l’uomo muore al peccato, è fatto partecipe della vita nuova in Cristo Risorto e riceve lo stesso Spirito di Dio che ha risuscitato Gesù dai morti (cfr Rm 8,11). Questo dono gratuito deve essere sempre ravvivato in ciascuno di noi e la Quaresima ci offre un percorso analogo al catecumenato, che per i cristiani della Chiesa antica, come pure per i catecumeni d’oggi, è una scuola insostituibile di fede e di vita cristiana: davvero essi vivono il Battesimo come un atto decisivo per tutta la loro esistenza.
2. To take seriously the way to prepare to celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of the Lord - the most joyous and solemn celebration of the liturgical year - what could be more suitable to be led by the Word of God? For this reason the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent leads us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, making us retrace the path of Christian initiation: for the catechumens, the prospect of receiving the sacrament of rebirth for those who is baptized, in view of new and decisive steps in following Christ and the gift more fully to Him
the first Sunday of the Lenten journey highlights our condition of man on this earth. The victorious battle against the temptations, which begins the mission of Jesus is an invitation to become aware of its fragility to receive the grace that frees us from sin and gives new strength in Christ, way, truth and life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum , n. 25). It 'a strong reminder to remember how the Christian faith involving the example of Jesus, in union with him, a struggle "against the rulers of this dark world" (Eph 6:12), in which the devil is at work and not get tired, even today, groped the man who wants to get closer to the Lord Christ comes out victorious, to open our hearts and lead us to hope to win the seductions of evil.
The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord places before our eyes the glory of Christ, the resurrection and anticipates announcing the deification of man. The Christian community is aware of being carried out, as the apostles Peter, James and John, "aside, on a high mountain" (Mt 17:1), to welcome again in Christ, as sons in the Son, the gift of grace God: "This is my Son, my beloved in him I am well pleased. Listen to him "(v. 5). E 'invitation to move away from the noise of everyday life to immerse yourself in the presence of God: He wants to send, every day, a word that penetrates into the depths of our spirit, which discerns the good and evil (cf. Heb 4:12) and strengthens the will to follow the Lord.
The question of Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "Give me a drink" (Jn 4:7), which is presented on the third Sunday in the liturgy, expressing the love of God for every man and wants to arouse in our hearts the desire of the gift ' "water welling up to eternal life" (v. 14) is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is of Christians, "true worshipers" able to pray to the Father "in spirit and truth" (v. 23). Only this water can quench our thirst for good, di verità e di bellezza! Solo quest’acqua, donataci dal Figlio, irriga i deserti dell’anima inquieta e insoddisfatta, “finché non riposa in Dio”, secondo le celebri parole di sant’Agostino.
La “domenica del cieco nato” presenta Cristo come luce del mondo. Il Vangelo interpella ciascuno di noi: “Tu, credi nel Figlio dell’uomo?”. “Credo, Signore!” (Gv 9,35.38), afferma con gioia il cieco nato, facendosi voce di ogni credente. Il miracolo della guarigione è il segno che Cristo, insieme alla vista, vuole aprire il nostro sguardo interiore, perché la nostra fede diventi sempre più profonda e possiamo riconoscere in Lui l’unico our Savior. He lights up all the darkness of life and leads man to live as "children of light".
When, in the fifth Sunday, there was proclaimed the resurrection of Lazarus, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: "I am the resurrection and the life ... Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). For the Christian community is the time to put all sincerity, together with Martha, all the hope in Jesus of Nazareth: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world" ( v. 27). Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to cross the border of death, in order to live without Him Faith in the resurrection and the hope of eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created man for the resurrection and the life, and this truth gives the true dimension and definitive history of mankind and their personal lives and their social life, culture, politics, the economy. Without the light of faith, the whole universe ends up locked inside a tomb with no future, no hope.
The Lenten journey is fulfilled in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil in the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we affirm that Christ is Lord of our life, the life that God has advised when we are reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, "and we reaffirm our firm commitment to match the action of grace to be his disciples.
3. We immerse ourselves in the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, pushes us every day to free our hearts from the weight of material things, from a selfish relationship with the "earth", which impoverishes us and prevent us from being available and open to God and neighbor. In Christ, God has revealed himself as Love (cf. 1 Jn 4.7 to 10). The Cross of Christ, "the word of the Cross expresses God's saving power (cf. 1 Cor 1:18), which is given to raise man up and bring salvation: love in its most radical form (cf. Encycl. Deus Caritas Est, 12). Through traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, expressions of commitment to conversion, Lent prepares us for life in an increasingly radical love of Christ. Fasting, which may have different motivations for the Christian buys a deeply religious meaning: making our poor meal we learn to overcome selfishness to live in the logic of self-love, enduring the deprivation of something - not only unnecessary - we learn to look away from our self, to find someone close to us and acknowledge God in the faces of so many our brothers. For the Christian fasting has nothing intimate, but more open to God and to man's needs, and makes love to God is also love of neighbor (cf. Mk 12:31).
On our journey we also face the temptation of having, the greed of money, which undermines the primacy of God in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, abuse and death, which is why the Church, especially during Lent, refers to the practice of almsgiving, the capacity, ie,-sharing. Idolatry of the goods, however, not only leaves the other, but bare man, he makes you unhappy, it deceives, deceives him without realizing what it promises, because it places the material things instead of God, the only source of life. How to understand the fatherly kindness of God if our hearts are full of themselves and of their projects, with which there is an illusion of being able to secure the future? The temptation is to think like the rich man's story: "My soul, you have many goods for many years ...." We know the opinion of the Lord: "Thou fool, this night you will be prompted for your life ..." (Luke 12.19-20). The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of the primacy of God and the attention to the other, to rediscover our good Father and receive his mercy.
Throughout the period of Lent, the Church provides us with a particular abundance meditating on the Word of God and internalized to live every day, we learn a valuable and irreplaceable form of prayer, so attentive listening to God, who continues to speak to our heart, feeds the faith journey that we started on the day of Baptism. Prayer allows us to acquire a new conception of time without the prospect of eternity and transcendence, in fact, it simply marks our steps towards a horizon that has no future. In prayer we find, however, time for God, to know that "his words will not pass away" (Mk 13:31), to enter in quell’intima comunione con Lui “che nessuno potrà toglierci” (cfr Gv 16,22) e che ci apre alla speranza che non delude, alla vita eterna.
In sintesi, l’itinerario quaresimale, nel quale siamo invitati a contemplare il Mistero della Croce, è “farsi conformi alla morte di Cristo” (Fil 3,10), per attuare una conversione profonda della nostra vita: lasciarci trasformare dall’azione dello Spirito Santo, come san Paolo sulla via di Damasco; orientare con decisione la nostra esistenza secondo la volontà di Dio; liberarci dal nostro egoismo, superando l’istinto di dominio sugli altri e aprendoci alla carità di Cristo. Il periodo quaresimale è momento favorevole to acknowledge our own weakness, accept, with sincere amendment of life, renewing the grace of the Sacrament of Penance and the decision to walk with Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, through the personal encounter with our Savior and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our baptism. We renew this Lent the reception of the grace that God has given us at that time, to enlighten and guide all our actions. As the sacrament signifies and actually, we are called to live each day with a following of Christ ever more generous and genuine. In our route, we rely on the Virgin Maria, che ha generato il Verbo di Dio nella fede e nella carne, per immergerci come Lei nella morte e risurrezione del suo Figlio Gesù ed avere la vita eterna.
Benedictus PP. XVI
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