Benedict XVI: God Wants Us to Be Happy Always

Tells Mexican Children on Saturday of Their Special Place in His Heart

LEON, Mexico, MARCH 25, 2012 (Zenit.org).- On Saturday thousands of young people gathered to hear the words of Pope Benedict XVI in Leon’s Plaza de la Paz.
“You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart,” he told them, speaking from the balcony of the house of Count Rul.
The Pope’s address to the young people came towards the end of the day, following a private meeting he had held with Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón. He had also received the keys of the city of Leon from the mayor, Ricardo Sheffield.
Benedict XVI expressed his closeness to all the children of Mexico, especially those who suffer, or who have been victims of violence, or are lacking food.
“I am grateful for this encounter of faith, and for the festive and joyful presence expressed in song,” the Pope said as he thanked them for the songs they had previously sung for him, Caminos de Guanajuato and Cielito lindo.
“Today we are full of jubilation, and this is important. God wants us to be happy always. He knows us and he loves us. If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.”
“This place where we stand today has a name which expresses the yearning present in the heart of each and every person: ‘la paz’, (Peace),” he said.
The gift of peace
“This is a gift which comes from on high. ‘Peace be with you’ (Jn 20:21),” the Pope explained. “These are the words of the Risen Lord. We hear them during each Mass, and today they resound anew in this place, with the hope that each one of you will be transformed, becoming a sower and messenger of that peace for which Christ offered his life.”
He urged them to be close to Jesus, “as the best of friends.”
“He will never tire of speaking to those who always love and who do good,” the Pontiff told the young people gathered in the plaza.
The Pope told them that each one present was a gift of God to Mexico. “Your family, the Church, your school and those who have responsibility in society must work together to ensure that you receive a better world as your inheritance, without jealousies and divisions,” he said.
The Holy Father then invited everyone to protect and care for children, “so that nothing may extinguish their smile, but that they may live in peace and look to the future with confidence.”
Benedict XVI concluded by saying he wished he had more time to spend with them, but that while he now had to leave they could remain united in prayer. “So I invite you to pray continually, even in your homes; in this way, you will experience the happiness of speaking about God with your families."
“Pray for everyone, and also for me,” he asked. “I will pray for all of you, so that Mexico may be a place in which everyone can live in serenity and harmony.”

In 3 Decades, 1,000 Missionaries Slain

ROME, MARCH 22, 2012 (Zenit.org).- According to a report published Wednesday by the Rome-based Fides news agency, at least 1,000 missionaries were killed in the period from 1980 to 2011.
In the years 1980-89 there are 115 deaths among missionaries recorded. This number is below the true total, Fides said, as it only refers to confirmed cases.
In the following decade there was a sharp increase in deaths, for a total of 604. Among the causes for the much higher number was a widening of the criteria for counting deaths. Instead of just being deaths due to direct religious persecution the number now includes all those killed in a violent manner in the course of their pastoral duties.
As well, the Rwanda conflict in 1994 caused at least 248 victims among missionary workers. Fides also mentioned improvements in the mass media, with news being spread from even isolated places, as another reason for the higher total.
In the period 2001-11 there were 255 recorded deaths among missionaries. In the most recent year, 2011 there were 26 missionaries killed: 18 priests, 4 women religious, and 4 laypeople.

Pope Blesses Eucharistic Congress Bell

Symbol of a Call to the Eucharist

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 15, 2012 (Zenit.org).- During Wednesday’s general audience Benedict XVI blessed the 50th International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) bell. The IEC will take place June 10-17 in Dublin.
The bell was presented to the Pope by an Irish delegation, led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. The bell has been touring Ireland and up to around a quarter of a million people have rung it, according to a press release published by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Since commencing the first phase of its pilgrimage on St Patrick’s Day last year, the bell has visited the 26 dioceses of Ireland, more than 1,000 parishes, more than 100 schools, and a dozen hospitals and nursing homes, calling people to "Come to the Congress."
After being blessed the bell was taken into St. Peter’s Basilica to remain for a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses.
“We are truly delighted that with this visit the Bell has brought parishes, schools and hospitals all over Ireland into a closer Communion with the Pope as we enter the final phase of preparation for the Eucharistic Congress,” said Father Kevin Doran, secretary-general of the IEC.
Along with the Bell are the four Eucharistic Congress Icons which represent the four parts of the Mass, and correspond to each of the four stages of the pastoral preparation program for the Congress.
According to a long-standing tradition, it is said that St. Patrick left a bell in each Church he consecrated as a way to call people to the Eucharist.
Organizers expect up to 25,000 pilgrims will attend the IEC each day, including 12,000 international pilgrims representing 99 different countries.

The Family Presented as Antidote to Economic Crisis

The Family Presented as Antidote to Economic Crisis
Meeting at Italian Parliament Considers Prospects for Development

By Salvatore Cernuzio

ROME, JAN. 19, 2012 (Zenit.org).- A rabbi who spoke of the family, an economist who spoke of morality, a priest who spoke of conjugal love.

All this took place during the meeting "The Family as an Engine of Economic Growth: Values and Prospects," which took place Tuesday afternoon in the Regina Room of the lower house of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies.

The meeting, organized by AISES, the International Academy for Economic and Social Development, examined what is one of the most debated topics in this new year: the family. The symposium was introduced by Maurizio Lupi, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, who described the family as the "first social shock absorber of the economic crisis."

"The family must become not an element but the element of economic development, and on this we have found more agreement than opposition," said Lupi. This is reflected in the recent government budget package that for the first time includes an increase in exemptions for families.

"Judaism and Christianity are the only two religions that put the person, the family and children at the center," said the director of ZENIT, Antonio Gaspari, moderator of the symposium, before introducing Valerio De Luca, president of AISES.

"A united family leads to a more cohesive and supportive society and the economy and politics must protect this fundamental cell," De Luca said.

"In face of the crisis that breaks up the family, what role do we entrust to the man/woman, parents/children relationship," wondered the president of AISES, adding that "children, who are the real hope for the future, are now seen only as a threat and limitation of the present. This leads persons to favor abortion, sterilization, in vitro fertilization and all those other techniques that render him an experiment of himself and impoverish life."

"[O]openness to life is the principal way for the development of a more human and cohesive society," concluded De Luca.

Edith Arbib Anav, the AISES director of interreligious dialogue, referred to an "individualism" which has made us entrust to others the services that before were useful for the family and the needs of the community, limiting us to a "cold coordination that leads to a not very lasting economic development."

Failure

Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Rome, described the family as a "failed institution," given what is presented in the first pages of the Bible.

"It is a paradox, but right from the Book of Genesis we are shown negative family situations: Cain and Abel, Joseph sold by his brothers; Esau and Jacob, and so on. This shows, however, that the family is the place of life, where mistakes are made, there are errors on the part of parents, but without it one cannot live," he said.

He continued on, addressing the current family crisis, which according to Di Segni, in reality is nothing other than "transformation" of a "system that from the start was based on the family" to another "modern" system according to which "the patriarchal family has become the mononuclear family; the rate of feminine fertility has been reduced to 1.3%; women give birth after 30 years of age and there are no longer marriages, but in the best of cases cohabitation."

A crisis of the family that has led to an economic crisis, hence, it is an economic crisis that "has put the couple and conjugal love itself under pressure," observed Monsignor Lorenzo Leuzzi, chaplain of the Chamber of Deputies.

"Economic law has taken the upper hand over the whole of the life of society and has become its 'soul,' neglecting its identity of 'body,' of something, that is, instrumental."

"If they wish to give back to the economy its true role, if they wish to overcome the idea that society does not grow just by producing more, we must recover conjugal love, the first community where people learn not only to produce, but to build," said Monsignor Leuzzi in conclusion to the conference.

Theology of the Body for the Parish

"I Went to 12 Years of Catholic School and I Never Heard This Before"

ROME, NOV. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here are excerpts from an address given by Katrina J. Zeno at a symposium held in Rome last week on theology of the body.

Zeno's talk was titled "Theology of the Body for Parish Catechesis: From Womb to Tomb.

Zeno is the coordinator of the John Paul II Resource Center for Theology of the Body and Culture for the Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, and the co-founder of Women of the Third Millennium.

* * *

A couple of weeks ago as I was taking a long walk, I passed a man and woman who were roller blading. Actually the man was roller blading and the woman was roller skating, and I thought, "Wow, that's interesting. I haven't seen anyone on roller skates for years." And then it struck me that the difference between roller skates and roller blades is simply a matter of alignment. Some brilliant person took the classic components of the skate and redesigned them so that all the wheels are in a line instead of a square, thus allowing for new ways of moving and navigating that weren't possible before.

I think we can say that the theology of the body is something like my skating example. In the theology of the body, some brilliant person, in this case Blessed John Paul II, took what has been present in the classic tradition of the Church and aligned it in a bit different way, thus giving us a new way of navigating within Catholic thought and experience, and especially within Catholic catechesis. That is why my presentation is titled, "Theology of the Body for Parish Catechesis: From Womb to Tomb." And to begin, I'd like to recount a true story I heard on a Christian radio program in the United States.

Several years ago, two parents had a daughter who was deaf. When she was about five years old, they had to make a difficult decision -- whether to keep their daughter home or send her to a school for the deaf where she would spend the week and come home only on weekends.

Finally, they decided to send her to the school and the reason the father gave was fascinating: He said he wanted her to have a language. He realized that if she didn't have language, then she wouldn't be able to think, and if she couldn't think, then she couldn't choose, and if she couldn't choose, then she couldn't love.

After the daughter had been at the school for a number of months and was home one weekend, the father happened to walk by her room while she was sleeping. He peeked in, and he saw her lying in her bed dreaming. How did he know she was dreaming? Because in her sleep, he saw her spontaneously doing sign language, and he was ecstatic. He knew now that she had language, and because she had language, she could think, and because she could think, she could choose, and because she could choose, she could love.

Blessed John Paul II's "theology of the body" provides a new way of navigating within parish catechesis precisely because it provides a new language, a rich, sacramental language expressed through a sacramental anthropology, that can inform all of our catechesis from womb to tomb and thus be an effective tool for passing on the deposit of the faith to modern-day man immersed in a post-modern culture. Without this rich sacramental language, we can't think sacramentally. And if we can't think sacramentally, then we can't choose sacramentally; and if we can't choose sacramentally then we really can't love because human love, in its deepest essence is sacramental: it makes visible the invisible mystery hidden from eternity in God.

While I already mentioned that Blessed John Paul II's anthropology is a sacramental anthropology, it's actually quite more. It could be described as a Christocentric-Trinitarian-sacramental anthropology -- and in this sense it is indeed an "adequate anthropology." Catechesi Tredendae ("On Catechesis in Our Time"), No. 6, underscores the Christocentric nature of all catechesis: "We must say that in catechesis it is Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught -- and everything else is taught with reference to him…"

This central catechetical principle is inscribed in the very structure of the theology of the body. John Paul II's heading for the first half of the theology of the body (Audiences 1-86) is "The Words of Christ." And in each of the three panels that comprises this half, John Paul II begins with the words of Christ.

John Paul II briefly summarizes these three panels in Audience 64, section 1: "Next to the two other important dialogues, namely, the one in which Christ appeals to the 'beginning" (see Mt. 19:3-9; Mk 10:2-12) and the other in which he appeals to man's innermost [being] (to the "heart") while indicating the [reductive] desire and concupiscence of the flesh as a source of sin (see Mt. 5:27-32), the dialogue we propose to analyze now is, I would say, the third component of the triptych of Christ's own statements, the triptych of words that are essential and constitutive for the theology of the body. In this dialogue, Jesus appeals to the resurrection, thereby revealing a completely new dimension of the mystery of man."

What a marvelous and concise picture John Paul II provides of his catechetical framework, of his "alignment" of the truths of the faith! His catechetical triptych addresses life before original sin, life after original sin, and life in its eternal, glorified state. This salvation-history structure provides an extensive, catechetical goldmine for RCIA and adult faith formation as well as for grade school and high school programs, all with reference to Christ.

From this Christocentric viewpoint, we could easily assume that the work of teaching the faith, whether through parish religious education programs, parenting, or preaching, is simply to proclaim Jesus Christ, to reiterate, as John Paul II did so frequently, Gaudium et spes 22: "Jesus Christ…fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear."

And yet, if we stopped there in our catechetical labors, our work would be incomplete. In our parish catechesis, the Catholic of the new millennium can awaken and deepen his or her knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith through a salvation-history approach, but eventually he or she must go further -- and this is where the theology of the body is indispensable, especially as it pertains to four central aspects of the faith: the Trinity, gift, the body, and sacramentality. We could think of these as the four wheels of the skate, realigned in a more linear manner.

The first, and therefore most visible "wheel," is the Trinity. Clearly, Jesus' mission is always to lead us to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. While we are indeed Christians, we must also be good Trinitarians. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 234 declares: "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them."

Catechesis Tredendae, no 5, echoes this same idea: "…the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity."

This, then, is precisely John Paul II's approach in the theology of the body -- to present not just a Christocentric anthropology, but a Christocentric-Trinitarian anthropology. And this is why our catechetical language is so important: If we don't have the Trinitarian language of God then we can't think in a Trinitarian manner, and we can't choose in a Trinitarian manner, and we can't love in a Trinitarian manner.

[...]

As many of us are aware, GS 24:3 is John Paul II's basic hardware for what he calls the "hermeneutic of the gift," which is the second wheel in our realigned skate.

While the hermeneutic of the gift is a very scholarly and complicated sounding term, it can be broken down into a very simple visual image: You are a gift! Each person images God, reflects the inner life of the Trinity on earth, by being a gift to God and to others. John Paul II makes this gift character of the body explicit in his apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatum, no. 7, where he wrote: "To say that man is created in the image and likeness of God means that man is called to exist 'for' others, to become a gift."

To convey this idea to both young and old audiences, I often use the photo image of a majestic, snow-covered mountain whose reflection is evident in the lake at its base. I will cover the mountains and ask: "Can you still see the mountains?" The answer, of course, is yes -- in the reflection. Analogously, the same is true of God and our bodies. We can't see God directly, but we can "see" him through each other, through our bodies. God gave us a body so that we can reflect him by being a gift.

Is it possible, or even desirable, to teach our children about human sexuality, about being made in God's image and likeness as male and female, from a very young age? Could there be such a thing as the theology of the body for toddlers? Absolutely. The key word is gift: You are a gift. Your body is a gift. God makes a gift of himself to us. We make a gift of ourselves to God and others. You reflect God's image and likeness in the world by being a gift.

[...]

John Paul II's adequate anthropology, however, is not only solidly Trinitarian emphasizing the gift, it also accentuates the body as central to the Catholic faith. This is our third wheel, one that has been fairly easy to gloss over or even consider as unimportant until John Paul II's theology of the body.

One of my favorite statements to emphasize when speaking about eschatological man is: "Get used to your body because it will be with you for all eternity!" And sometimes, especially if I am speaking only to women, there are audible groans and spontaneous negative reactions to the thought of having their same body in eternity. Men, too, are often caught off-guard by this statement. One time, after I spoke to over 100 men in Louisiana, a distinguished-looking man came up to me afterwards and said to me: "Did I miss something? I went to 12 years of Catholic school and I never heard this before." He had never heard of the resurrection of his body.

[...]

In addition to new language about the Trinity, gift, and the body that the theology of the body provides, the fourth wheel, which anchors it all together from womb to tomb, is sacramentality.

One of the most exhilarating aspects of sacramentality is that it can be accessed from almost any point in the theology of the body -- whether that is marriage, original nakedness, celibacy for the kingdom, concupiscence, eschatological man, etc.

While using John Paul II's audiences on eschatological man may seem an odd entry point for sacramentality, similar to putting the cart before the horse, it can be a very effective place to start, especially with well-catechized groups or audiences. For instance, when addressing pro-life groups with my presentation titled, "Heavenly Pro-Life: Our Ultimate Destiny and Why It Matters," I begin with our heavenly destiny so as to illustrate the sacramentality of the body from an eternal perspective. My central point is this: your body has an eternal relationship with your soul that will be perfected in heaven not discarded.

This truth gives monumental significance to pro-life work by highlighting the eternal sacramental character of the body. Every life, and indeed every body, is sacred from womb to tomb -- from the moment that the soul is infused into physical matter until natural death -- because every person has a unique relationship with his or her bodily being, and this relationship culminates in eternity.

While the sacramental character of the body is perfected in heaven, it is first revealed in Genesis 2 where God creates 'adam from the clay of the ground and the breath of life. From the beginning, the human person is created as a body-spirit unity, as an embodied person. John Paul II alludes to the sacramental character of our embodied personhood numerous times in the theology of the body. In Audience 32, section 1, he expresses it this way: "In this, its own distinctive character, the body is the expression of the spirit and is called, in the very mystery of creation, to exist in the communion of persons 'in the image of God.'"

In fact, one could say that the human body is doubly sacramental: my body, which you can see, makes visible my spirit, which you can't see; and I, as an embodied person reveal God.

To integrate the sacramentality of the body into our broader catechetical work, I would like to recommend three approaches: First, refer to Mary regularly, especially her Assumption, to make the abstract concrete and to extend our understanding of the body into eternity.

Second, acknowledge the way our spiritual language sometimes minimizes or discounts the body. For instance, a common saying among English-speaking Catholics is: "Jesus came to save souls." The truth is, he didn't. Jesus came to save persons, and as human persons our salvation will not be complete until body and soul are united perfectly forever in heaven.

Finally, bring out the big guns by quoting Pope Benedict XVI, who, in his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, wrote: "It is neither the spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a unified creature composed of body and soul who loves." (no. 5)

Why am I repeatedly stressing this fourth point about the sacramentality of the body? Because sacramentality is the polar opposite of post-modern, western culture. Many of us live in a culture permeated by, among other things, materialism -- a system of belief that says physical matter, what we can see and measure, is the sum total of reality. And if we go back even a little further, we discover that the roots of materialism draw significant nourishment from a philosophical system called nominalism.

While nominalism may seem like an archaic phenomenon that has no tangible effect on us today, quite the opposite is true. It has caused a train wreck in western culture and, sadly, even in the Church. In brief, nominalism declared that the name of something is arbitrary; it is simply a convenient way of labeling this or that item. The name does not express or point to any deeper reality nor does it indicate the nature of something.

This is quite serious. If I have no nature, then my existence does not have an inherent meaning or purpose. There is no end, no telos, toward which my life and my actions are ordered. All that remains is to make up the meaning and purpose of life at every moment (how exhausting and potentially wounding!) according to what each individual can acquire and benefit from, whether that be pleasure, money, power, material goods, using another person, etc. This has resulted in, among other things, the birth of "rights" language, which attempts to enshrine personal desires as absolute rights. Materialism, along with relativism and radical individualism, are the logical outcomes of nominalism, of dispensing with nature.

John Paul II's explicit emphasis on the sacramentality of the body is a direct response to nominalism and the absolutizing of individual rights. As human persons we do indeed have a very specific nature, an embodied rational nature, which perhaps could even be called a sacramental nature. At all times and in all places our embodied human nature is created by God to point to something beyond just the material. We are not relative only to ourselves and to our acquired goods and pleasures. On the contrary, "the body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine" to cite one of the most frequently quoted passages from the theology of the body (Audience 19, section 4). Our bodies are created by God to be living sacraments, to make God physically present in the world through our words and deeds.

This is why before we can catechize adequately and fully on marriage or the morality of the marital act, which are the final two panels of the theology of the body, we must first enter through the door of the sacramentality of the body. Indeed, we must be steeped in John Paul II's adequate Christocentric anthropology that is infused with the language of Trinity, gift, body, and sacramentality.

When we align our catechetical work with the language of sacramentality, then we can think sacramentally, and we can choose sacramentally, and we can love sacramentally -- and Catholics in the third millennium will become living sacraments of a Trinitarian communion of Persons, from womb to tomb.

Vatican Aide to Baby 7 Billion: 'You Are a Wonderful Gift'

Father Lombardi Addresses Human Side of Population Debate

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 7, 2011 (Zenit.org).- While Oct. 31 found those in some circles worried over the birth that day of the 7 billionth person on earth (according to United Nations calculations), the Vatican spokesman had a different message for the child: You are unique and special, you are a wonderful gift, you are a miracle, and so you are welcome.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi addressed his weekly editorial to the 7 billionth child, framing this milestone in a context entirely different than those prognosticating population woes.

"Dear baby number 7 billion! I don't know if you are a girl or a boy, whether you are Indian or Chinese, born in a great city or a tiny village. I don't know if you were born in the fertile South American lowlands or under an igloo above the arctic circle. I don't know if you were born on a remote island, or in a refugee tent. I don't know whether you are healthy or sick or handicapped. I don't know whether both your parents were there to embrace you at your birth, or whether your mother alone was there to hold you. I don't know whether people will say there are too many or too few of you and your contemporaries. Today, I don't care about that," the Jesuit wrote.

Father Lombardi admitted the world that this child is coming into is "a bit complicated" and "not friendly for everyone."

"We haven't done a very good job preparing it for you," he said.

In an allusion to the Group of 20 meeting, the priest noted that "the leaders of the richest and most powerful nations are sitting around a table, struggling to find a way forward. We too are asking ourselves about your future."

"But today," he continued, "I want to tell you that you are unique and special, that you are a wonderful gift, that you are a miracle, that your spirit will live for ever, and so you are welcome. We hope that when you smile someone will respond to your smile, and when you cry someone will caress you. We hope you can go to school and that you won't go hungry. We hope that someone will answer your questions wisely and encourage you as you find your place in the world. We hope you will be able to love others, that you will be able to grow, and work, and live among your family, with many friends, in a nation and in a world that is free and at peace. We pray that you can understand that your life will find its fullest meaning not in this world but in the next.

"Because this is what you were born for. Your Creator and Father made you for this. We will do our part to make this possible; but you will have to do your part, too, because your future will also depend on you and the choices you make -- and it will be up to you to welcome baby 8 billion."

The Lord Will Never Abandon His Vineyard

Biblical Reflection for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, SEPT. 27, 2011 (Zenit.org).- We are back in the vineyard again this week, immersed in another of Matthew's complex Gospel parables. Jesus told these parables in answer to the question: "What is the kingdom of God like?" His parables are short narratives that combine realistic details from first-century Palestinian life in little villages with details that are foreign to the ways that things happen in daily life.

Today's Gospel parable is often called the parable of the wicked tenants. Like last week's parable of the two sons and next week's parable of the royal wedding feast (33-46), today's story is clearly one of judgment at the center of Jesus' threefold response to the religious leaders who are putting his authority to the test (23-27).

In the Old Testament, "vineyard" or "vine" is often used as a metaphor for God's people. The vineyard figures frequently in Jesus' parables, setting the stage for the Kingdom of God to take root and the drama of salvation to unfold. The work in the vineyard is hard labor; patience is essential, and wages are unpredictable as we saw in a previous gospel parable (Mathew 20). The vineyard can also be a dangerous place to work. Scuffles between workers can erupt (Mark 9:33), and violence may erupt as we see in today's story (Matthew 21:33-43).

A story of violence and want

The combination of a symbol of peace and plenty of today's parable with a story of violence and want is part of what makes today's Gospel story so powerful. A closer look at it helps us understand the harsh reality of people's lives in Jesus' day.

The estate of the landlord would have housed between 50 to 70 people, mostly slaves or servants. The most trusted servants would have had significant responsibilities. The landlord's servants did not hesitate to "lord it over" those in his charge (28). In early fall, when the harvest was ready, the landlord sent out a succession of his workers to collect the rent. The landlord would not go out himself to collect the rent. On the contrary, landlords protected themselves, their families and their considerable possessions in fortified tower-residences.

The people of Jesus' day were also all too familiar with the violence the story portrays. When the landlord sent his son to collect the rent, the tenants said: "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." What remains very odd is that the tenants would repeatedly mistreat and even kill the one sent to them without any reprisal by the vineyard owner. In interpreting parables, the glimpse into the kingdom of God often comes to us through the strange details that are not the way things are in life around us then or now.

The vineyard is Israel and the landowner is God

Today's parable is not just an allegory of hot-headed and greedy servants. Those who listened to this parable from Jesus also heard something underlying the story. Earlier they had asked Jesus about the authority he was claiming for himself. They knew he was telling the story for a reason, and this upset them. The first hearers would have recognized some familiar themes under the surface.

The vineyard imagery invites us to look at the first reading from Isaiah 5 where the vineyard symbolizes Israel. Since the vineyard has been planted by God, it represents the gift, grace and love of God. Yet the vineyard also demands the labor of the farmer that enables it to produce grapes that yield wine. Thus it symbolizes the human response: personal effort and the fruit of good deeds.

If the vineyard refers to Israel, then the tenant farmers represent Israel's religious leaders, who despite their professed loyalty to Israel's law (Torah), refuse to give God his due by acknowledging and accepting God's mighty presence in the life and mission of John the Baptist and of Jesus of Nazareth.

When successive "prophets" are sent to the "tenants" – and killed – they heard Jesus remind them of the habit leaders had in ignoring many of the warnings the prophets had previously announced. The religious leaders were being criticized for ignoring their own God-sent messengers. This of course would lead to the reaction we see in verse 12: "Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away."

Matthew has transformed this allegorical parable into a rich account of salvation history. The vineyard is Israel and the landowner is God. The slaves sent to collect the produce are the prophets sent to Israel. The son whom the tenants throw out of the vineyard and kill is Jesus, who died outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

The fact that the vineyard (41) is to be taken from the wicked tenants and given to others (43) does not refer to Israel but to the kingdom of God. It is not suggested that God will remove Israel's present leadership and provide it with more faithful leaders. Rather, "the kingdom of God" will be taken "from you" and given to a nation that will produce the fruits of the kingdom. The "you" addressed consists not only of the opponents mentioned in the context but of all who follow their leadership in rejecting John and Jesus. The nation to whom the kingdom will be transferred is the church. The reach of the parable extends to include the resurrection when Jesus directs his hearers (42) to the prophecy about the "stone that was rejected" that has become the "corner stone" (Psalm 118:22-23), while the final comment (43) reinforces the sense of the Church as inheritor of the kingdom removed from the original tenants.

Avoiding anti-Semitism

We must avoid an anti-Semitic reading of this parable. The first way is to hear it as a piece of prophetic invective addressed by a Jew to fellow Jews. We must focus attention not so much on what the passage has to say explicitly about Jewish leaders as to what it implies about Christians. The "others" to whom the vineyard is given over in verse 41 are accountable to the owner. They too are charged with the heavy responsibility of producing the fruits of the kingdom (43).

The vineyard will not be destroyed

In his homily at the mass to mark the opening of the XII Synod of Bishops on "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church" on Oct. 5, 2008, Benedict XVI spoke beautifully of today's parable: "At the end, the owner of the vineyard makes a last attempt: he sends his son, convinced that they will at least listen to him. However the contrary occurs: the tenants kill him because he is the son, the heir, convinced that they can then easily come into possession of the vineyard. Therefore, faced with a jump in quality with respect to the accusation of violating social justice, which emerges from the canticle of Isaiah. Here we can clearly see how contempt for the order given by the owner is changed into scorn for him: this is not simple disobedience to a divine precept, this is the true and actual rejection of God: there appears the mystery of the Cross.

"But there is a promise in the words of Jesus: the vineyard will not be destroyed. While the landowner abandons the unfaithful tenants to their fate, he does not abandon his vineyard and he entrusts it to his faithful tenants. What this demonstrates is that, if in some areas faith weakens to the point of vanishing, there will always be other peoples ready to embrace it. This is why Jesus, as he quotes Psalm 117 (118): "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" (v. 22), assures us that his death will not represent the defeat of God. Having been killed, he will not remain in the tomb, but rather that which appears to be a total defeat will mark the start of a definitive victory. His dreadful passion and death on the cross will be followed by the glory of the Resurrection. The vineyard will therefore continue to produce grapes and will be leased by the landowner "to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him at the proper time" (Mt 21:41)."

The vineyard is the house of Israel

The parable of the wicked tenants reminds us once again that we cannot control God's continuous merciful outreach to others. It compels us to look at our lives, our attitudes and actions, in light of whether they are an embrace or rejection of Jesus' saving message. Rather than putting the focus on what the story says about Jewish leaders, we must ask: what does it say about us Christians? What is my vision of the kingdom of God? How am I producing a harvest for God's kingdom, in my private and in our communal lives? What does the parable say to me about my own troubled relationships with family, friends and colleagues? What does the story teach me about my inability to forgive others and forgive myself? Yes, the wicked tenants in today's Gospel do indeed try God's patience. But I do as well! How do I respond to God's boundless mercy and goodness that he offers me each day?

Pope's Address to German Seminarians

"Studying Is Essential: Only Thus Can We Stand Firm in These Times"

FREIBURG, Germany, SEPT. 26, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the transcription of the spontaneous address Benedict XVI said Saturday when meeting with a group of seminarians at the Charles Borromeo Seminary Chapel in Freiburg. The Vatican published the transcription and translation today.

* * *

Dear Seminarians, Dear Sisters and Brothers!

It is a great joy for me to be able to come together here with young people who are setting out to serve the Lord, young people who want to listen to his call and follow him. I would like to express particularly warm thanks for the beautiful letter that the Rector and the seminarians wrote to me. It truly touched my heart, to see how you had reflected on my letter, and developed your own questions and answers from it, and to see how seriously you are taking what I tried to say in my letter, on the basis of which you are now working out your own path.

Of course it would be wonderful if we could hold a conversation with one another, but my travel schedule, which I am bound to follow, sadly does not permit such things. So I can only try, in the light of what you have written and what I myself had written, to offer just one or two further ideas.

In considering the question -- What is the seminary for? What does this time mean? -- I am always particularly struck by the account that St. Mark gives of the birth of the apostolic community in the third chapter of his Gospel. Mark says: "And he appointed twelve". He makes something, he does something, it is a creative act; and he made them, "to be with him, and to be sent out to preach" (Mk 12:14). That is a twofold purpose, which in many respects seems contradictory. "To be with him": they are to be with him, in order to come to know him, to hear what he says, to be formed by him; they are to go with him, to accompany him on his path, surrounding him and following him. But at the same time they are to be envoys who go out, who take with them what they have learnt, who bring it to others who are also on a journey -- into the margins, into the wide open spaces, even into places far removed from him. And yet this paradox holds together: if they are truly with him, then they are also always journeying towards others, they are searching for the lost sheep; they go out, they must pass on what they have found, they must make it known, they must become envoys. And conversely, if they want to be good envoys, then they must always be with him. As St. Bonaventure once said: the angels, wherever they go, however far away, always move within the inner being of God. This is also the case here: as priests we must go out onto the many different streets, where we find people whom we should invite to his wedding feast. But we can only do this if in the process we always remain with him. And learning this: this combination of, on the one hand, going out on mission, and on the other hand being with him, remaining with him, is -- I believe -- precisely what we have to learn in the seminary. The right way of remaining with him, becoming deeply rooted in him -- being more and more with him, knowing him more and more, being more and more inseparable from him -- and at the same time going out more and more, bringing the message, passing it on, not keeping it to ourselves, but bringing the word to those who are far away and who nevertheless, as God’s creatures and as people loved by Christ, all have a longing for him in their hearts.

The seminary is therefore a time for training; also, of course, a time for discernment, for learning: does he want me for this? The mission must be tested, and this includes being in community with others and also of course speaking with your spiritual directors, in order to learn how to discern what his will is. And then learning to trust: if he truly wants this, then I may entrust myself to him. In today’s world, which is changing in such an unprecedented way and in which everything is in a constant state of flux, in which human ties are breaking down because of new encounters, it is becoming more and more difficult to believe that I will hold firm for the whole of my life. Even for my own generation, it was not exactly easy to imagine how many decades God might assign to me, and how different the world might become. Will I be able to hold firm with him, as I have promised to do? ... It is a question that demands the testing of the vocation, but then also -- the more I recognize that he does indeed want me -- it demands trust: if he wants me, then he will also hold me, he will be there in the hour of temptation, in the hour of need, and he will send people to me, he will show me the path, he will hold me. And faithfulness is possible, because he is always there, because he is yesterday, today and tomorrow, because he belongs not only to this time, but he is the future and he can support us at all times.

A time for discernment, a time for learning, a time for vocation ... and then, naturally, a time for being with him, a time for praying, for listening to him. Listening, truly learning to listen to him -- in the word of sacred Scripture, in the faith of the Church, in the liturgy of the Church -- and learning to understand the present time in his word. In exegesis we learn much about the past: what happened, what sources there are, what communities there were, and so on. This is also important. But more important still is that from the past we should learn about the present, we should learn that he is speaking these words now, and that they all carry their present within them, and that over and above the historical circumstances in which they arose, they contain a fullness which speaks to all times. And it is important to learn this present-day aspect of his word -- to learn to listen out for it -- and thus to be able to speak of it to others. Naturally, when one is preparing the homily for Sunday, it often seems ... my goodness, so remote! But if I live with the word, then I see that it is not at all remote, it is highly contemporary, it is right here, it concerns me and it concerns others. And then I also learn how to explain it. But for this, a constant inner journey with the word of God is needed.

Personally being with Christ, with the living God, is one thing: another is that we can only ever believe within the "we". I sometimes say that St. Paul wrote: "Faith comes from hearing" -- not from reading. It needs reading as well, but it comes from hearing, that is to say from the living word, addressed to me by the other, whom I can hear, addressed to me by the Church throughout the ages, from her contemporary word, spoken to me the priests, bishops and my fellow believers. Faith must include a "you" and it must include a "we". And it is very important to practice this mutual support, to learn how to accept the other as the other in his otherness, and to learn that he has to support me in my otherness, in order to become "we", so that we can also build community in the parish, calling people into the community of the word, and journeying with one another towards the living God. This requires the very particular "we" that is the seminary, and also the parish, but it also requires us always to look beyond the particular, limited "we" towards the great "we" that is the Church of all times and places: it requires that we do not make ourselves the sole criterion. When we say: "We are Church" -- well, it is true: that is what we are, we are not just anybody. But the "we" is more extensive than the group that asserts those words. The "we" is the whole community of believers, today and in all times and places. And so I always say: within the community of believers, yes, there is as it were the voice of the valid majority, but there can never be a majority against the apostles or against the saints: that would be a false majority. We are Church: let us be Church, let us be Church precisely by opening ourselves and stepping outside ourselves and being Church with others.

Well now, according to the schedule, I daresay I ought really to draw to a close now. I would like to make just one more point to you. In preparing for the priesthood, study is very much a part of the journey. This is not an academic accident that has arisen in the western Church, it is something essential. We all know that St. Peter said: "Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet 3:15). Our world today is a rationalist and thoroughly scientific world, albeit often somewhat pseudo-scientific. But this scientific spirit, this spirit of understanding, explaining, know-how, rejection of the irrational, is dominant in our time. There is a good side to this, even if it often conceals much arrogance and nonsense. The faith is not a parallel world of feelings that we can still afford to hold on to, rather it is the key that encompasses everything, gives it meaning, interprets it and also provides its inner ethical orientation: making clear that it is to be understood and lived as tending towards God and proceeding from God. Therefore it is important to be informed and to understand, to have an open mind, to learn.

Naturally in twenty years' time, some quite different philosophical theories will be fashionable from those of today: when I think what counted as the highest, most modern philosophical fashion in our day, and how totally forgotten it is now ... still, learning these things is not in vain, for there will be some enduring insights among them. And most of all, this is how we learn to judge, to think through an idea -- and to do so critically -- and to ensure that in this thinking the light of God will serve to enlighten us and will not be extinguished. Studying is essential: only thus can we stand firm in these times and proclaim within them the reason for our faith. And it is essential that we study critically -- because we know that tomorrow someone else will have something else to say -- while being alert, open and humble as we study, so that our studying is always with the Lord, before the Lord, and for him.

Yes, I could say much more, and perhaps I should ... but I thank you for your attention. In my prayers, all the seminarians of the world are present in my heart -- and not only those known to me by name, like the individuals I had the pleasure of receiving here this evening; I pray, as they make their inner journey towards the Lord, that he may bless them all, give light to them all and show them the right way, and that he may grant us to receive many good priests. Thank you very much.

Benedict XVI Recalls "Dark" Hour of Nazi Era

Vatican Spokesman Reflects on Light of Martyrs

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 25, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI’s trip to his native Germany has helped to recall the lessons that must be drawn from the tragedy caused by Nazism, said the Vatican spokesman.

On the most recent edition of Vatican Television Center's weekly program "Octava Dies," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, reflected on the Pope's four-day state visit to his homeland.

"One cannot pass through Berlin without feeling the weight of the darkest page in the history of Germany and Europe in the last century: the madness for power and murder that marked the Nazi era," the spokesman noted.

The priest said that the memory of the Nazis was "powerfully recalled" by the Holy Father on Thursday in Berlin when he referred to them as a "band of thieves."

Another important moment of the papal visit took place when he received a Jewish delegation, which included witnesses and victims of the Holocaust.

"But the light of those martyred by Nazism shines through the darkness of those times and continues to inspire the building of the future," asserted the spokesman.

Father Lombardi noted that the president of Germany, Christian Wulff, recalled three notable Catholic victims: Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg, the pastor of the Catholic Cathedral of Berlin; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great Protestant theologian; and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942), Edith Stein, a Jew who converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun, and was later killed at Auschwitz.

"The ecumenism of the martyrs is testimony from which the ecumenical movement of today can find great depth and draw enthusiasm," added Father Lombardi. "Sacrificing one's life as a witness to God and to Jesus Christ: could there be a more solid common ground, a firmer basis for continuing the journey in the hope of a union that is not just behind us, but is also ahead of us?"

Are We Faithful and Generous Workers in His Vineyard?

Biblical Reflection for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, SEPT. 20, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Immediately preceding today's Gospel story, Jesus has returned to the Temple (23a) and reclaimed this sacred space for his healing ministry (14) and the stage for teaching and challenging his opponents. The chief priests and elders of the people continue to pressure him: "By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?" (23b).

It is God himself who is the source of Jesus' authority, but stating this fact clearly would be nothing short of blasphemy on Jesus' part. Instead of directly answering his opponents, Jesus challenges them with his own question about the baptism of John. Those gathered around Jesus refuse to see God at work in John's ministry. They therefore reject Jesus in the process. This withholding of faith in God and in Jesus is exemplified in Jesus' opponents' reaction to John the Baptist.

Today's story begins by introducing us to the familiar scenario of a father who asks each of his sons to go out and work in the vineyard (Matthew 21:28-32). To a Jewish listener, familiar with Hebrew Scripture, this would already have been an important clue that there would be problems in the story! We need only recall the stories of Biblical brothers, which are almost always stories of conflict, alienation, misunderstanding, competition and tension. We need only recall Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, or Joseph and his brothers. Jesus is truly a gifted storyteller who draws his listeners in to the teaching moment. I can only imagine what the listeners were thinking as Jesus began his story: "What do you think? A man had two sons."

After giving the command, the father expects an answer from them. Not satisfied with mere words, the father desires a real commitment. Initially the first son responds negatively, but then repents, or has a complete change of heart, and goes out to work. The second son acknowledges with lip service his father's request and gives in, but does not follow through on his promise.

Blindness to God's work

The two sons represent the religious leaders and the religious outcasts who followed John's call to repentance. By the answer they give to Jesus' question (Matthew 21:31), the leaders effectively condemn themselves. As religious leaders, they claim to be faithfully obedient to God, but they are blind to the fact that authentic obedience includes responding in faith to the new things God is doing. In the end, the sinners in Israel, exemplified by the tax collectors and prostitutes who had carelessly ignored the demands of their religion, will take their place in the kingdom, while Jesus' adversaries will be shut out. Those who would otherwise be judged as outside the reach of salvation because of their rejection of the outward form of religion, may in fact be those who are most sensitive to their need for God's grace, and thus repent and serve the Master most meaningfully. This same strange and surprising way of God is found in today's Old Testament reading in which the ways of God and the ways of God's people stand in stark contrast (Ezekiel 18:25-28).

Insight into the kingdom

Today's parable gives us a glimpse into the radical nature of the Kingdom of God. Although this parable may contain a judgment on Jewish religious leaders, Matthew intended a much wider application of its message, even to us. In this parable each one of us can recognize his or her own personal experience. We ourselves can become blind to what God is doing in the world around us. Could the parable be speaking about those who seem to be very religious and subservient at the start, but in reality may never sufficiently probe the depths of God's mercy to truly know the heart and mind of God? The parable is a lesson for those who claim to be Christian, but do not worship as Christians or live the Christian life; compared to those who come to Christ later but never claimed to be righteous.

Today many claim to know Christ but do not live the Christian life. It doesn't matter so much what you say on the outside if it is not matched by your heart on the inside, or your actions. Lip service to Christ that is merely an outward mouthing of polite promises and pious platitudes is empty by comparison with the inward acceptance of the message that prompts people to repentance and action. What God looks for is the final outcome in people's lives. God is infinitely patient with us and can certainly tolerate our initial "no" on the way to our final, definitive "yes."

Evangelization, renewal, enthusiasm

How easily our "church efforts" end up being little more than simply maintaining the institution, with no excitement concerning what God's active grace is doing and consequently no enthusiasm for true evangelization and renewal. We say that we are going to work in the vineyard but instead of harvesting the grapes we spend our time complaining, moaning, ridiculing, despairing collecting the stones along the path and not rejoicing in the abundant growth that is taking place around us.

Humiliation and exultation

Today's second reading from St. Paul to the Philippians (2:1-11) contains one of the most beautiful Christological hymns of the New Testament. The short rhythmic lines fall into two parts, verses 6-8 Christ is the subject of every verb, and verses 9-11 where God is the subject. The general pattern is thus of Christ's humiliation and then exaltation.

Although Paul is in prison and no longer can visit and preach to his beloved community at Philippi, they are not without his intercession and assistance. From his prison cell, Paul begs them to make his joy complete by being of "the same mind" and "having "the same love." Rather than being caught up in the upward mobility and passing things of the world, of society, of all of our broken and sinful ways of life, we are invited to enter into the downward mobility of Jesus Christ who empties himself in order to find fullness and life.

Jesus and the Law

Consider these excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but 'upon the heart' of the Servant who becomes 'a covenant to the people,' because he will 'faithfully bring forth justice.' Jesus fulfills the Law to the point of taking upon himself 'the curse of the Law' incurred by those who do not 'abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them,' for his death took place to redeem them 'from the transgressions under the first covenant'" (No. 580).

"The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people 'as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.' In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: 'You have heard that it was said to the men of old. ... But I say to you." With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were 'making void the word of God" (No. 581).


How do we evangelize?

1. The world around us longs for truly Good News from workers in the vineyard of the Lord -- joyful evangelizers who are not dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that the Kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world. Do we approach the new evangelization with a sense of enthusiasm?

2. What prevents us from becoming real communities, true fraternities and a living body, rather than a mechanical thing or enterprise?

3. How have certain events in the world and in the Church helped us to refine and rethink our proclamation? What does the Spirit say to our Church through these events? What new forms of evangelization is the Spirit teaching us and requiring of us?

4. Are we faithful, generous, enthusiastic and hopeful workers in the vineyard of the Lord?

[The readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time are
Ezekiel 18:25-28; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32]

Communal Dimension of Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Biblical Reflection for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, AUG. 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Today's Gospel passage from Matthew 18:15-20 compels us to consider the essential elements in the process of forgiveness among members of the Church community. Matthew's text stresses the fraternal correction of members who sin; the importance of the disciples' prayer (19-20); and the continuous need for forgiveness that must be extended to repentant members of the Christian community (21-35).

At Caesarea Philippi, we learned that Peter is the foundation on which the Lord builds the edifice of the Church. Peter is entrusted with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to open or close it to people as he sees fit. Peter will be able to bind or to loose, in the sense of establishing or prohibiting whatever he deems necessary for the life of the Church. Peter is entrusted with the keys. In Verse 18 of today's Gospel, we see an almost identical repeat of the expression found in 16:19, and many understand it as granting to all the disciples what was previously given to Peter alone.

The harsh language about Gentile and tax collector in today's Gospel likely reflects a certain period in Matthew's Church community when it was probably composed of Jewish Christians. Just as observant Jews avoided the company of Gentiles and tax collectors, so must the congregation of Christian disciples separate itself from the arrogantly sinful members who refused to repent even when convicted of their sin by the whole Church. Such individuals are to be set outside the fellowship of the community.

The Church's teaching on penance and reconciliation

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of penance and reconciliation. Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven" (CCC 1441).

Binding and loosing

The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes on to explain the meaning of the "binding and loosing" in today's Gospel. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (CCC 1444). The office of binding and loosing that was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head. The words bind and loose mean: Whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God (CCC 1445).

Christ instituted the sacrament of penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion (CCC 1446).

More than forgiving and forgetting

Forgiveness never means to overlook what someone has done to us. The emotions we feel when someone has wronged us are genuine, real, upsetting, and they must be honestly and painfully acknowledged and dealt with. They can provide a way of healing with the hurt and of moving toward healing and forgiveness. Harboring feelings of resentment, unforgiveness, anger, hate and rage can prevent the healing process from ever beginning. To forgive is not to say that what others did to us was okay. To genuinely forgive means that I refuse to allow the hurt to prevent me from growing and moving forward. If I refuse to move forward, wallowing in my own hurt and anger, I become paralyzed by the evil that has taken place.

An unforgiving spirit and festering resentment harden my heart and block it up from any flow of love. I am terribly diminished when I cannot forgive others. If I am sincere about forgiveness, I must allow God to remove my hard-heartedness and meanness of spirit. Forgiveness does not mean forgetfulness. It is rather a conscious decision that I make in my head, and pray that it slowly descends to my heart.

What are some painful examples of forgiveness in action today? Forgiving the person who murdered my innocent child does not mean to push for them to be released from prison. To forgive the husband who has been routinely violent does not necessarily mean choosing to take him back after violence and infidelity. To speak rationally to the wife who left her husband and children for another partner does not condone the terrible suffering that followed for the entire family. To forgive the priest who has abused children does not mean advocating for his return to active ministry around children. To speak honestly to the boyfriend who abandoned the young woman when she found herself pregnant and refused to have an abortion as an easy way out of the mess is the beginning of forgiveness and healing for all involved. We need clear thinking when it comes to making wise, compassionate judgments about the great, ambiguous situations in which we often find ourselves.

The frequently used expression "forgive and forget" is not a scriptural or particularly Christian saying. Jesus offers us another way in which we can forgive even while remembering a past hurt. When I forgive in the name of Jesus Christ, and with his strength and presence, I can actually help others who have been deeply hurt and begin the healing process. Just as there is nothing that one human being cannot do to another, there is nothing that one human being cannot forgive another, with the help and grace of Jesus.

Amish Forgiveness

In light of today's Gospel on the necessity of forgiveness, I wish to recall a tragic incident that occurred several years ago in the United States that caused the entire world to reflect on the meaning of forgiveness. I know how much the story jarred me in my own understanding of forgiveness.

The Amish school shooting at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Amish community of Nickel Mines, in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, took place Oct. 2, 2006. A lone gunman, Charles Roberts IV, stormed the Amish School, releasing 15 boys and four adults before tying up and shooting 10 young girls. Roberts then killed himself.

On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls warned some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man." Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God."

An Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish community members visited and comforted the killer's widow, parents, and parents-in-law. About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.

Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you."

Toward authentic reconciliation and hope

Many people criticized the quick and complete forgiveness with which the Amish responded, insisting that forgiveness is inappropriate when no remorse has been expressed, and that such an attitude runs the risk of denying the existence of evil. Those who have studied Amish life noted that "letting go of grudges" is a deeply rooted value in Amish culture. They explained that the Amish willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong, but rather constitutes a first step toward real reconciliation and a future that is filled with realistic hope.

The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the response of the Amish community was widely discussed in the international media. Forgiveness is woven into the fabric of Amish faith. Such courage to forgive jolted the world as much as the brutal killing itself. I have often felt that the transforming power of forgiveness may be the one redeeming thing that emerged from the horrendous massacre at Nickel Mines in 2006.

The Amish forgiveness raises many thorny questions for us. It may be one thing to forgive a mentally ill killer; but what about those who are not out of their minds, who intentionally murder or threaten to do so for political ends or personal retaliation? How does forgiveness relate to justice? If everyone forgave so quickly, would it truly transform human relations or lead to civil anarchy?

Watchers of the morn

Today's first reading from the prophet Ezekiel (33:7-9) uses the expression "watchman for the house of Israel" (2). This word "watchman" or "sentinel" speaks of someone who will announce salvation (Chapters 33-48), just as the same word (3:17-21) referred to Ezekiel's ministry to announce judgment (Chapters 3-24). The use of the word "watchman" or sentinel certainly evokes the memories of Pope John Paul II's use of that word during World Youth Day 2000 in Rome and again in the preparation of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada.

In his message announcing World Youth Day 2002, Blessed John Paul II wrote: "You are the light of the world. ..." For those who first heard Jesus, as for us, the symbol of light evokes the desire for truth and the thirst for the fullness of knowledge that are imprinted deep within every human being. When the light fades or vanishes altogether, we no longer see things as they really are. In the heart of the night we can feel frightened and insecure, and we impatiently await the coming of the light of dawn. Dear young people, it is up to you to be the watchmen of the morning (cf. Is 21:11-12) who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ!"

In today's second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Romans (13:8-10), Paul considers the obligations of charity. When love directs the moral decision-making of those who bear the name of Christian, the interest of law is safeguarded (9). Love anticipates the purpose of public legislation, namely, to secure the best interests of all citizens.

Through World Youth Days, young people are commissioned to be watchers of the morning, bearing the light of Christ and announcing hope and salvation to a world often steeped in darkness and despair. There is no better school of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace than World Youth Days that model to young people the constitutive elements of the Christian life and what true citizenship means in the Kingdom of God.

Brazil Bishops Ready for Challenge of WYD '13

Awaiting Pope's Announcement of the Theme

MADRID, Spain, AUG. 23, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Leading bishops of Brazil are ready and eager to host World Youth Day 2013, though they admit it will be a "great challenge."

At a press conference Sunday in Madrid, Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, president of the Brazilian episcopal conference; Archbishop Orani João Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro; and Bishop Eduardo Pinheiro da Silva, president of the bishops' commission for youth; said that the choice of Rio de Janeiro as the next WYD host city is a "very special moment for the Church in Brazil."

After expressing his gratitude to the Holy Father for entrusting Rio de Janeiro and Brazil with this "great challenge," Archbishop Tempesta explained that he will shortly contact the Pontifical Council for the Laity to begin the preparations.

The archbishop stated that WYD '13 will be held at the end of July (when schools are on vacation in Brazil), and he said he is already awaiting the Pontiff's announcement of the theme.

Continent

Cardinal Damasceno spoke of the organization of the Church in Latin America through CELAM, the Latin American episcopal council. He said this will make it easier to work together and attract the "largest possible number of young people and many more countries."

The cardinal also noted that the preparatory work will be intense, as WYD will be taking place a year ahead of the soccer World Cup, which Brazil will host in 2014.

"We have one year less to prepare the Day; this means more intense work because we have no time to lose," he said.

Cardinal Damasceno reminded that Latin America is the continent with the largest number of Catholics, and he assured that WYD "will bring many fruits, not only for Brazil's youth but for the whole continent."

For his part, Bishop Pinheiro da Silva predicted that WYD '13 "will show a Church that is alive and creative, in part because of the young people. Brazilian youth, with their creativity, will give us a lovely Day for the whole world."

The bishops added that the Brazilian government is very eager to host the event.

Rio's WYD will be the second in South America. Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted World Youth Day in 1987.

Cardinal to Youth in Madrid: WYD Is Decisive for Your Future

Says Young People Are Proclaiming Yes, Faith Is Possible

MADRID, Spain, AUG. 16, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, welcomed youth to Madrid today with the affirmation that their presence is an "unwavering 'yes!' Yes, faith is possible."

The Vatican official of the dicastery charged with organizing World Youth Days thus got the 26th World Youth Day under way. "The day we have all been waiting for has arrived," he exclaimed.

"You have come to this meeting with the Holy Father Benedict XVI bringing with you all your plans and hopes, as well as your concerns and apprehensions about the choices that lie ahead," the cardinal stated. "These will be days that you will never forget, days of important discoveries and decisions that will be decisive for your future."

The 66-year-old cardinal noted that faith will be at the center of reflection for the Youth Day participants -- estimated to number more than 1 million.

"Faith is a decisive factor in each person's life," he said. "Everything changes according to whether God exists or not. Faith is like a root that is nourished by the lifeblood of the word of God and the sacraments. It is the foundation, the rock on which life is built, the dependable compass that guides our choices and gives clear direction to our lives.

"Many of us might wonder: in our world today where God is often rejected and people live as if God did not exist, is it still possible to have faith?'

The cardinal answered that the young people's presence in Madrid, "from the most remote corners of the planet" is a proclamation "to the whole world -- and in particular to Europe which is showing signs of being very lost -- [of their] unwavering 'yes!' Yes, faith is possible. It is in fact a wonderful adventure that allows us to discover the magnitude and beauty of our lives."

The Vatican official, himself a native of Poland, also proposed that Blessed John Paul II is a "special guest" in Madrid.

"Blessed John Paul II has come back to you, the young people that he loved so much, and who was equally loved by you. He has returned as your blessed patron and as a protector in whom you can trust," Cardinal Ryłko affirmed. "He has returned as a friend -- a demanding friend, as he liked to call himself.

"He has come to say to you yet again and with much affection: Do not be afraid! Choose to have Christ in your lives and to possess the precious pearl of the Gospel for which it is worthwhile giving everything!"

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The Foreign Woman Who Stopped Jesus in His Tracks

Biblical Reflection for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, AUG. 9, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Today's watershed Gospel story of Jesus' meeting with the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28) presents us with a break in Jesus' usual procedure of ministering only to Israelites and anticipates his great mission to the Gentiles. Jesus' provocative encounter with the woman is set outside the land of Israel in the territory of Tyre and Sidon (near Beirut in modern-day Lebanon).

The woman's commanding presence

Let us look closely at the story. This foreign woman approaches a Jewish man, does him homage and begs a favor she has no right to. She bursts into Jesus' space and pleads with him: "Lord, son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is terribly troubled by a demon." She commands Jesus' attention to her very personal and specific request to help her daughter.

Jesus refuses to give in to the disciples' pleading to remove this nuisance from their midst. He refuses to act on their reasoning. Instead, he directs the discussion in a way that the woman ought to accept his hesitation to cure. He says quite forcefully: "I am a stranger here; I should not interfere." Is this out of character, or perhaps is Jesus merely testing her? Or in the worst case, is he just profoundly rude, insensitive, and harsh?

"Help me!" the woman pleads. Jesus' next words seem excessively harsh: "It is not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs!" "Dogs" was a term used for outsiders who encroach upon another's holy place. It is an insult, a metaphor that sees others not as human beings, but as animals eating leftovers. We have every good reason to be troubled and even scandalized at Jesus' terrible rudeness to this needy woman.

2 needy people meet

Both Jesus and the woman are outside of their native territories. Both are looking for something, both are in need, both are strangers to the area and to one another. They are different in race, nationality, gender, religion, and probably in politics, economics and spirituality as well. Is it not true that our reactions to this story most frequently center on Jesus: what he's doing and saying (or not doing or saying) and why? It is disturbing that Jesus doesn't respond to her in the right way. The disciples view her intervention as a problem; they do not wish to be caught up in something that has nothing to do with them or with Jesus.

A longing for an ordinary life

Let us consider for a moment the reactions and purposes of the woman and of Jesus. The Syro-Phoenician woman is desperate, along with her daughter who suffers from a demon -- a disease that isolates and makes people afraid and causes others to assume that they have sinned. Does she fear that her daughter's illness is connected to something she has done or failed to do? Does she fear a pagan deity who deals with everyone vindictively? This woman and her sick daughter have a need to live an ordinary life -- without being tormented. How much have she and her daughter suffered from the mean talk and dismissive glances of her neighbors and friends? How great was their exclusion from their society because of the daughter's condition?

A deeper understanding of Jesus' mission

Jesus seems impatient and annoyed at being interrupted. Can it be that the Messiah has prejudices, nationalistic tendencies, and problems with those who aren't Jews? Was Jesus affected by being born in a specific locality, time frame, history and cultural background? He was truly divine and human, yet as a human being like us, he struggled with the sense of who he is: a prophet sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and the dawning of the difficult and painful realization that they do not want him; they were not listening, and were even beginning to reject and oppose him and his message. His identity as a prophet, a preacher, a teacher and as Messiah, was clearly at stake.

2 worlds collide

These two strangers have much in common in that both Jesus and the woman live on behalf of others. They are both hurting; both are looking for help, insight, and a way to survive in their respective worlds. Both are seeking and looking for acceptance, hope, a future and some compassion. The woman has a mother's love for her child, and Jesus, the prophet, bears God's love for all God's children. In this unique Gospel encounter, the world of the troubled woman whose daughter is dying and the world of Jesus, the Jewish prophet who is being rejected, collide. There are profound lessons in today's Gospel account. It is the promise of an ever-deepening identity not just for Jesus, but also for Matthew's community and for the Church throughout the ages that listens to his story that is truly Good News.

Breaking down barriers

The Syro-Phoenician calls Jesus Lord, refers to him as master, and humbly says that she, like dogs at the table in the household, will gladly take the leftovers of his mission and power. She receives from him what his own people will not accept. And Jesus is astounded at her faith (28). This woman stopped Jesus in his divine tracks and forced him to rethink his whole mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Together they broke down the barrier that existed between them.

The courageous heroine of today's story could not accept the premise that salvation did not include all people. She is allowed to participate in the messianic salvation that is offered to all who believe in the Lord and keep his commandments, regardless of origin or social condition. She proclaims that the love of God cannot be bound.

Jesus' universal mission and message

In Jesus, the prophetic words of Isaiah in today's first reading (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7) are realized: "The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants -- all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

Immediately following this Gospel scene, Jesus crosses over to the other side of the lake. Now his mission is to the world -- to all peoples of the earth and all the lost children of God. Because of the Syro-Phoenician woman's persistence, Jesus gains new insights into universalism, love, and service and extends his mission past his own people, his own religion, his own nation.

Any encounter or understanding of the Word changes our way of seeing God, of relating to him and to others. Who knows what will happen to us when we open ourselves up to God and allow his Word to work within us? We will meet strangers and outsiders who interrupt our lives, stop us in our tracks, and force us to ask deeper questions. We may end up, like Jesus, praising the still greater faith in strangers and outsiders.

Paul glories in his ministry

In today's second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Romans (11:13-15, 29-32) the unbelief of the Jews has paved the way for the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles and for their easier acceptance of it outside the context of Jewish culture. Through his mission to the Gentiles, Paul also hopes to fill his fellow Jews with jealousy. Therefore he hastens to fill the entire Mediterranean world with the gospel. In God's design, Israel's unbelief is being used to grant the light of faith to the Gentiles. Meanwhile, Israel remains dear to God, always the object of special providence, the mystery of which will one day be revealed. Israel, together with the Gentiles who have been handed over to all manner of vices (Romans 1), has been delivered … to disobedience. The conclusion of Romans 11:32 repeats the thought of Romans 5:20, "Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more."

Being Christian means being missionary

In the Lineamenta (preparatory document) for next October's synod of bishops on the new evangelization, one passage resonated clearly with today's provocative Gospel story. Under section No. 10 "The First Evangelization Pastoral Solicitude and the New Evangelization," we read:

"The missionary mandate which concludes the Gospel (Mk 16:15ff; Mt 28:19ff; Lk 24:48ff; Acts 1:8) is far from being fully carried out; it has simply entered a new phase. Pope John Paul II stated that 'the boundaries between pastoral care of the faithful, new evangelization and specific missionary activity are not clearly definable, and it is unthinkable to create barriers between them or to put them into watertight compartments. [...] The Churches in traditionally Christian countries, for example, involved as they are in the challenging task of new evangelization, are coming to understand more clearly that they cannot be missionaries to non-Christians in other countries and continents, unless they are seriously concerned about the non-Christians at home. Hence missionary activity ad intra is a credible sign and a stimulus for missionary activity ad extra, and vice versa.' Being Christian and 'being Church' means being missionary; one is or is not. Loving one's faith implies bearing witness to it, bringing it to others and allowing others to participate in it. The lack of missionary zeal is a lack of zeal for the faith. On the contrary, faith is made stronger by transmitting it."

The Pope's words on the new evangelization can be translated into a rather direct and crucial question: "Are we interested in transmitting the faith and bringing non-Christians to the faith?" "Are we truly missionary at heart?"

Questions for reflection this week

1) How does the Church fulfill her missionary role of taking part in people's everyday lives, "in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters"?

2) How has the new evangelization been able to revitalize and reanimate the first evangelization or the pastoral programs already taking place? How has the new evangelization helped to overcome the weariness and toil arising in the everyday life of our local Churches?

A Prophet's Depression, an Apostle's Grief, a Disciple's Fear

Biblical Reflection for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

TORONTO, AUG. 3, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Chapter 19 of the First Book of Kings presents us with the aftermath of Elijah's brilliant victory in the contest with Jezebel and the priests of Baal atop Mount Carmel.

Just when Elijah should have been triumphant, he receives a message telling him of Jezebel's murderous intentions, and he is "afraid" (3). The spectacularly exemplary servant of God is now in a rut -- believing that all of his efforts were in vain! In Chapter 18, Elijah was at the height of success; in Chapter 19 he is in the depths of despair. In Chapter 18 he is on the mountain peak of victory; in Chapter 19 he is in the valley of defeat. In Chapter 18 he is elated; in Chapter 19 he is completely deflated.

Mountaintop experiences

In today's first reading from 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a, Elijah must learn that God is not encountered in the sound and fury of loud and spectacular events. God will not be conjured up by the zealous or boisterous activity of the prophet who now stands quiet and distressed atop the Lord's mountain. Though various phenomena, such as wind, storms, earthquakes, fire (Exodus 19:18-19), may indeed herald the divine presence, they do not constitute the presence itself which, like the tiny whispering sound, is imperceptible and reveals in a deep way the true face and presence of God. The Hebrew expression "still small voice" literally means "a voice of low whispers, a sound of gentle stillness." Though the wretched Jezebel was thundering, she was not in control. Though God was silent, he was not absent. Elijah's God and our God is the God of signs and wonders but he is also the God of whispers and gentleness. Only when Elijah's mind and heart are finally depleted of ambition and self-promotion, is God ultimately heard.

Elijah's struggle with depression

Mount Horeb is the place forever associated with the source and essence of Israelite faith. Elijah arrived at the sacred mountain where he spent the night in a dark cave. The dark cave and the dark night are reflective of his "dark night of the soul." The story of Elijah in the cave on Mount Horeb is the classic example of one struggling with depression and burnout. Eventually it touches everyone -- even God's chosen people, his fiery prophets and leaders, his apostles and disciples!

Elijah's depression wasn't due to one single cause; it was linked to several things. At the root of depression is almost always some form of fear. The great, fiery prophet of Israel is scared to death of wicked Queen Jezebel's threats and thus flees for his life. How often are we like Elijah, fearful of failure, of being alone, unable to complete a task given to us, incapable of success, weak in perseverance, patience, and hope?

The second factor is failure. Elijah had a very low self-esteem. Elijah was in a long line of prophets who also tried to address Israel's lack of faith and apostasy and he was no more successful than his ancestors. How often do we feel that our efforts were in vain? That we weren't able to make a difference, just like those who went before us? How often do we think that we contributed to the problem rather than being part of the solution? How often have we failed: The job didn't work out. The relationship went sour. The marriage broke up. The addiction made me lose everyone and everything I had.

The third factor is fatigue, exhaustion and burnout. Elijah was physically exhausted and emotionally empty. This is the great danger of peak experiences. It is the risk of those who get lost in their work and mission, who are blinded by their own zeal, and have become crusaders and saviors bound for burnout rather than humble disciples and ministers who are poor servants, simply doing their tasks. Elijah didn't take time to rest and relax, to sit back and see what God was doing around him.

The fourth factor can be described as plain futility. Elijah feels alone, hopeless and has little hope for the future. He suffers from paranoia, thinking that everyone is out to get him. He looks at the world through very dark glasses. He doesn't see any way out of his existential conundrum. How many of us are afraid, lonely, exhausted, burned out and without any hope? How many of us have given in to despair, cynicism, meanness of spirit and smallness of heart? How many of us have lost our faith in a God who can reverse barren wombs and make empty tombs?

Elijah's therapy

In order for Elijah to revive and renew his strength, he needed to get away. He needed physical, emotional and spiritual rejuvenation. He had been so busy taking care of the needs of the nations that he had neglected the needs and concerns of Elijah the Tishbite. Elijah talked through his frustrations as he sat in the cave atop the mountain. In the midst of his feeling sorry for himself, God asked him point blank: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" God knew full well what Elijah was doing there. In fact, God helped him to get there! God listened patiently and non-judgmentally as Elijah poured out his feelings of anger, bitterness and self-pity. Notice what God didn't say to the pathetic prophet: "Elijah, my prophets don't talk like that!" God didn't make him feel guilty for his feelings. Instead God accepted him and listened to him.

What happened to Elijah happens to us, especially when we pay much more attention to negative events than to all the good that is happening around us. It happens when we are very hard on ourselves, and take ourselves far too seriously, and God not seriously enough! God intervened in Elijah's state and reminded him that his vision of life, his understanding of events, his view of God were terribly distorted.

Elijah needed to know that God was there and that there were indeed others who had not bowed down to Baal. Elijah thought he was the only one who was still faithful to God. God allowed Elijah to sit in the dark cave of self-pity just so long. There was a new king of Israel and a new prophet to be anointed. The time for complaints and self-pity were over; Elijah now needed to get back to work. What can we learn from this whole episode atop the mountain? Perhaps the best way to stop feeling sorry for ourselves is to start feeling compassion for others.

Great sorrow and anguish

Today's second reading (Romans 9:1-5) presents us with Paul, a man who had an unbelievable willingness to be sacrificed for his people. He was willing to be accursed, separated from Christ, if it would save his people. He was willing to swap his salvation for their doom if it would lead to their salvation. Paul felt the deepest emotion, love, and concern for his own people. Paul addresses himself to the essential question of how the divine plan could be frustrated by Israel's unbelief.

Paul speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. Israel's unbelief and its rejection of Jesus as savior astonished and puzzled Christians. It constituted a serious problem for them in view of God's specific preparation of Israel for the advent of the Messiah. Paul would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (9:3; Lev 27:28-29). His love for his people derives from God's continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity (9:4-5). Paul's point is clear: God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah.

The reading from Romans 9 raises some significant questions for us. When was the last time you pleaded with a lost person to accept Christ? How does the possibility of being rejected affect the passion with which you share the gospel? When you share the gospel, how convinced are you about its power to save the lost? About its ability to change the habits of sinners? About its real need in today's modern society? What sacrifices are you willing to make in order to see the lost members of your family, your friends or members of your faith community return to Christ or perhaps come to him for the first time?

"Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

In today's moving Gospel story (Matthew 14:22-23) set on the lake, the disciples, laboring against the turbulent sea, are saved by Jesus. Jesus' power is expressed by his walking on the choppy waters (Matthew 14:25; Psalm 77:20; Job 9:8). Jesus challenges Peter to also walk on the waters! Because of Peter's fear and weak faith, he begins to sink. When Jesus stretches out his hand and catches Peter, he reminds his disciples and the Church in every generation of his constant care for us. He teaches us that no storm will overturn the boat in which we sail, and no water will swallow us up in darkness.

At certain times in our contemporary Church history, everything seems to indicate shipwreck, fear, drowning and death. But let us be honest and realize that the Church goes on, saving souls and journeying to its final harbor. In that blessed realm, beyond the seas of this life, all the things which threaten God's Church in this world will be gone for ever. At those times, we must listen to the Lord, as Peter did, and cast the nets again into the deep -- for it is our faith that is being tested -- not as to whether we profess it or not -- but as to whether we are ready to do something about it or not.

He calms the storms of life

Let us never forget this fact: We are on the waters with Jesus. He is in the boat with us, during the night and during the storms. The Lord does not abandon those who come seeking his mercy and his forgiveness. He walks upon the waters. He calms the storm. He guides the boat into safe harbor, and brings with him the great catch, the great feast, to which we are all summoned -- the daily feast of his Body and Blood, our food for eternal life. This is cause for rejoicing!

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Poland to Host 2nd World Congress on Divine Mercy

October Event Is Follow-Up to 2008 Conference in Rome

ROME, JUNE 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The Church's whole mission must be more aware and more motivated by the mercy of God, says the general-secretary of a worldwide conference scheduled for October in Poland.

Father Patrice Chocholski spoke with ZENIT about the II World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM), calling it "an answer of the whole Church to the universal call to Divine Mercy, present as the essential nucleus in the Gospel."

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, is president of the executive council of the congress. With YouTube videos, he is inviting people to attend.

He and a group of other cardinals of the curia have been involved in the event since the first WACOM was held in 2008 in Rome.

Since then, five continental and about 50 national congresses were held. Speaking of that response, Father Chocholski reflected that divine mercy "becomes a source of creativity; it builds new bridges in our societies, cultures and religions. We become newly energized in our missions. It is the love of God pushing us, like a fire ... it is the unique hope for human kind and for the Church."

The priest noted how both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have made the call to experience divine mercy. It "should be the paradigm of any evangelization," he said.

The second WACOM will follow a similar schedule to the '08 event, but with the sites particularly related to divine mercy in Poland: talks and Masses at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki at St. Faustina's tomb; ecumenical prayer meetings in Auschwitz and Wadowice; workshops, adoration, chaplet, and testimonies in different languages and churches of the city; an intercontinental festival on the Market Square of Krakow; etc.

"Thanks to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the organizing archbishop, there is no restriction in registrations," Father Chocholski said. "In John Paul II's spirit, he hopes we will be as numerous as possible. It is not limited only to official delegations. Welcome!"

As far as after Krakow, Father Chocholski expressed his hopes that there will be a WACOM III.

"The committee of cardinals, presided by Cardinal Schönborn will have to decide," he said. Meanwhile, the priest explained that national coordinators can be contacted. "See you in Krakow … or in your country."

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