Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2011
Dear brothers and sisters,
Lent, which leads us to the celebration of Easter, the Church is 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 meeting Spouse in the final with his eternal Easter, the ecclesial community, assiduous in prayer and charity, he intensified his way of cleansing the spirit, to draw more abundant
za mystery of redemption to the new life in Christ the Lord ( Preface I diQuaresima). 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, repeatedly insists on the singular 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 Him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship to his suffering, making consistent with its death, hoping to attain the resurrection from the dead "(Phil 3.10 to 11). Baptism, then, 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, that the ports 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 to the Lenten liturgy" (Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109). Always, In fact, the Church combines the celebration of the Easter Vigil Baptism: Sacrament takes place in this great mystery why the man dies to sin, is made partaker of new life in the Risen Christ and receive the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rom 8:11). This free gift should always be revived in each of us and Lent offers us a path similar to the catechumenate, which for Christians of the early Church, as well as the catechumens now, is a school of irreplaceable faith and Christian life: they really live Baptism as a decisive act throughout their existence.
2. To take seriously the way to Easter and prepare to celebrate 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 human condition here on 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 to hope and lead us to overcome the temptations 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 plunge into God's presence: He wants to send, each 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 to give of the 'water welling up to eternal life "(v. 14) is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christians" true worshipers "able to pray to the Father" in spirit and truth "(v. 23). Only this water can quench our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, irrigates the deserts of the soul restless and dissatisfied, "until they rest in God," the celebrated words of St. Augustine. The
" Sunday of the man born blind " presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel challenges each of us: "You believe in the Son of Man?". "I believe, Lord" (Jn 9,35.38), says the man born blind with joy, speaking on behalf of every believer. The miracle of healing is the sign that Christ, with the view, wants to open our inner eye, because our faith to become ever deeper and we can acknowledge him as our only Saviour. He lights up all the darkness of life and leads man to live as "children of light .
When, in the fifth Sunday, we are 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 overcome the limits of death, to live without him in the end 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 the men in their personal lives and their social life, culture, politics, the economy. lacks 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 , particularly in the Great Vigil in the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, reaffirm that Christ is Lord of our life, the life that God has told us 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 gives 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 takes a profoundly religious significance : making our poor meal we learn to overcome selfishness to live in the logic of self-love, enduring the deprivation of something - and not just unnecessary - we learn to look away from our self, to find someone close to us and acknowledge God in the faces of our brothers . For the Christian fasting has nothing intimate, but more open to God and to man's needs, and ensures that the love of God is also love of neighbor (cf. Mk 12:31).
On our journey we also face the temptation of having , greed of money, which undermines the primacy of God in our lives. The greed of possession causes violence, abuse and death for this 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: "Fool! This very 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 the Word of God. meditating and internalized to live it every day, we learn a valuable and irreplaceable form of prayer, so attentive listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, power faith journey that we started on the day of Baptism. Prayer allows us to gain 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 shall not pass" (cf. Mk 13:31), to enter into that intimate communion with him that "no one can take away" (cf. Jn 16:22) and that opens us to hope that never disappoints to eternal life.
In summary, the Lenten journey in which we are invited to contemplate the mystery of the Cross, "conform themselves to the death of Christ" (Phil 3:10) to implement a deep conversion of our lives: let us turn from the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul on the Damascus road, a decision directing our lives according to the will of God, free us from our selfishness, overcoming the instinct of domination on others and looking forward to the charity of Christ. The season of Lent is a favorable moment 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 process of conversion to 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 Mary, who created the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, as you immerse ourselves in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus and have eternal life.
Vatican City, November 4, 2010
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
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