"Do not be called 'Rabbi'; for one is your Master, and all you are brothers." (Mt. 23:8, Gospel for Saturday XX per annum.)
Some quotes are evoked by this lesson of Our Blessed Lord, all of which indicate that every human being, be he Pope, Bishop, Priest, Layman, Man, Woman, or Child, every one is an apprentice, a humble learner under Christ our common Master. There are no true experts in Christianity. Holiness is the proper possession and characteristic of God alone and each person must cling to Him to have it. The clinging itself is the acquisition. Holiness is real union with the living God Jesus Christ. He is the only Expert Saint and all others who are truly expert are so by divine union, by being with Him.
Some quotes are evoked by this lesson of Our Blessed Lord, all of which indicate that every human being, be he Pope, Bishop, Priest, Layman, Man, Woman, or Child, every one is an apprentice, a humble learner under Christ our common Master. There are no true experts in Christianity. Holiness is the proper possession and characteristic of God alone and each person must cling to Him to have it. The clinging itself is the acquisition. Holiness is real union with the living God Jesus Christ. He is the only Expert Saint and all others who are truly expert are so by divine union, by being with Him.
"For you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian (a fellow follower [of Christ])." --Saint Augustine
"The decisive thing [in true religion] is not (as in the great religious personalities of the 'mystical religions) one's own religious experience, but the divine call. Therefore, in the last resort, everyone who believes in that call is in the same situation: each one is being called in the same way...
"...While in mystical religion the mystic has 'firsthand' and the believer 'secondhand' religion, here God alone deals at 'first hand'. All men without exception are dealing at second hand: servants of the divine call." Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance, 44
His Holiness re-echoed the same thought (with the consequent urgent need for a new evangelization of the living God) at this year's annual Convention for the Diocese of Rome, 13 June.
"In this very Basilica, in an intervention during the Synod for Rome, I quoted a few words that Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote to me in a short letter: “Faith must never be presupposed but proposed”. This is just how it is. Faith is not preserved in the world by itself, it is not automatically passed on to the human heart, but must always be proclaimed...
"If people forget God it is partly because the Person of Jesus is often reduced to that of the figure of a wise man and his divinity weakened, if not denied. This manner of thinking is an obstacle to understanding the radical newness of Christianity, because if Jesus were not the Only Son of the Father then God did not come to visit human history either. We only have human ideas about God. The incarnation, on the other hand, belongs to the heart of the Gospel! Therefore may there be a growing commitment to a renewed season of evangelization, which is not only the task of some of the members of the Church but rather of them all. Evangelization tells us that God is close: God has shown himself to us. In this period of history, is this not the mission that the Lord entrusts to us: to proclaim the newness of the Gospel, like Peter and Paul when they reached our city? Should we not today too show the beauty and reasonableness of faith, carry God’s light to the people of our time, with courage, with conviction, with joy? There are many people who have not encountered the Lord: special pastoral care should be dedicated to them. Beside the children and young people of Christian families who ask to begin the process of Christian initiation, there are adults who have not received Baptism or who have drifted away from the faith and from the Church. This pastoral attention is especially urgent today and asks us to commit ourselves with confidence, sustained by the certainty that God’s grace works in the human heart today too..."
And now at World Youth Day in Madrid
"Above all, seek the Truth, which is not an idea or an ideology or a slogan, but a person: Christ, God himself, who has come into our midst! "
"God is looking for a responsible interlocutor, someone who can dialogue with him and love him. Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us?" (Welcome Ceremony Plaza de Cibeles, Thursday 18 August)
"Many of the [youth] have heard the voice of God, perhaps only as a little whisper, which has led them to search for him more diligently and to share with others the experience of the force which he has in their lives. The discovery of the living God inspires young people and opens their eyes to the challenges of the world in which they live, with its possibilities and limitations. They see the prevailing superficiality, consumerism and hedonism, the widespread banalization of sexuality, the lack of solidarity, the corruption. They know that, without God, it would be hard to confront these challenges and to be truly happy, and thus pouring out their enthusiasm in the attainment of an authentic life. But, with God beside them, they will possess light to walk by and reasons to hope, unrestrained before their highest ideals, which will motivate their generous commitment to build a society where human dignity and true brotherhood are respected. Here on this Day, they have a special opportunity to gather together their aspirations, to share the richness of their cultures and experiences, motivate each other along a journey of faith and life, in which some think they are alone or ignored in their daily existence. But they are not alone. Many people of the same age have the same aspirations and, entrusting themselves completely to Christ, know that they really have a future before them and are not afraid of the decisive commitments which fulfill their entire lives. That is why it gives me great joy to listen to them, pray with them and celebrate the Eucharist with them. World Youth Day brings us a message of hope like a pure and youthful breeze, with rejuvenating scents which fill us with confidence before the future of the Church and the world." (Airport Welcoming Ceremony Thursday, 18 August)
"The decisive thing [in true religion] is not (as in the great religious personalities of the 'mystical religions) one's own religious experience, but the divine call. Therefore, in the last resort, everyone who believes in that call is in the same situation: each one is being called in the same way...
"...While in mystical religion the mystic has 'firsthand' and the believer 'secondhand' religion, here God alone deals at 'first hand'. All men without exception are dealing at second hand: servants of the divine call." Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance, 44
His Holiness re-echoed the same thought (with the consequent urgent need for a new evangelization of the living God) at this year's annual Convention for the Diocese of Rome, 13 June.
"In this very Basilica, in an intervention during the Synod for Rome, I quoted a few words that Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote to me in a short letter: “Faith must never be presupposed but proposed”. This is just how it is. Faith is not preserved in the world by itself, it is not automatically passed on to the human heart, but must always be proclaimed...
"If people forget God it is partly because the Person of Jesus is often reduced to that of the figure of a wise man and his divinity weakened, if not denied. This manner of thinking is an obstacle to understanding the radical newness of Christianity, because if Jesus were not the Only Son of the Father then God did not come to visit human history either. We only have human ideas about God. The incarnation, on the other hand, belongs to the heart of the Gospel! Therefore may there be a growing commitment to a renewed season of evangelization, which is not only the task of some of the members of the Church but rather of them all. Evangelization tells us that God is close: God has shown himself to us. In this period of history, is this not the mission that the Lord entrusts to us: to proclaim the newness of the Gospel, like Peter and Paul when they reached our city? Should we not today too show the beauty and reasonableness of faith, carry God’s light to the people of our time, with courage, with conviction, with joy? There are many people who have not encountered the Lord: special pastoral care should be dedicated to them. Beside the children and young people of Christian families who ask to begin the process of Christian initiation, there are adults who have not received Baptism or who have drifted away from the faith and from the Church. This pastoral attention is especially urgent today and asks us to commit ourselves with confidence, sustained by the certainty that God’s grace works in the human heart today too..."
And now at World Youth Day in Madrid
"Above all, seek the Truth, which is not an idea or an ideology or a slogan, but a person: Christ, God himself, who has come into our midst! "
"God is looking for a responsible interlocutor, someone who can dialogue with him and love him. Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us?" (Welcome Ceremony Plaza de Cibeles, Thursday 18 August)
"Many of the [youth] have heard the voice of God, perhaps only as a little whisper, which has led them to search for him more diligently and to share with others the experience of the force which he has in their lives. The discovery of the living God inspires young people and opens their eyes to the challenges of the world in which they live, with its possibilities and limitations. They see the prevailing superficiality, consumerism and hedonism, the widespread banalization of sexuality, the lack of solidarity, the corruption. They know that, without God, it would be hard to confront these challenges and to be truly happy, and thus pouring out their enthusiasm in the attainment of an authentic life. But, with God beside them, they will possess light to walk by and reasons to hope, unrestrained before their highest ideals, which will motivate their generous commitment to build a society where human dignity and true brotherhood are respected. Here on this Day, they have a special opportunity to gather together their aspirations, to share the richness of their cultures and experiences, motivate each other along a journey of faith and life, in which some think they are alone or ignored in their daily existence. But they are not alone. Many people of the same age have the same aspirations and, entrusting themselves completely to Christ, know that they really have a future before them and are not afraid of the decisive commitments which fulfill their entire lives. That is why it gives me great joy to listen to them, pray with them and celebrate the Eucharist with them. World Youth Day brings us a message of hope like a pure and youthful breeze, with rejuvenating scents which fill us with confidence before the future of the Church and the world." (Airport Welcoming Ceremony Thursday, 18 August)
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