Message of Love: Ratzinger Foundation on Key Aspects of Pope’s Theology

MUNICH, Germany, JAN. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the introduction Siegfried Wiedenhofer, one of Benedict XVI’s former assistants, gave Nov. 12 at the launch in Munich of the Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI Foundation. The foundation is the project of a group of Joseph Ratzinger’s former doctoral and postdoctoral students, known as the Schülerkreis (Circle of Students).

His address was titled “Key Aspects of the Theology of Professor Joseph Ratzinger.”

* * *

In seeking to give a brief overview of the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, one is of course first confronted by the problem of its range. Joseph Ratzinger is among the most prolific theologians of our time, and probably of the history of theology as a whole. His published work to date is contained in the bibliography that has been produced by the Schülerkreis, and in particular by Vinzenz Pfnür, and which will soon be published: 130 books and writings, numerous of which have been translated into many languages, and over 1300 articles, many of which are also available in translation.

But the breadth of the themes is also stunning. Most of these writings are from the field of dogmatic theology and take up the exposition of the main tenets of the Christian faith. However, he began as a fundamental theologian and has continually dealt with particular foundational questions, such as the question of faith and reason, questions of theological method, and especially questions of ecumenical theology. But this is also a theology that understands itself to be particularly in the service of the ecclesial praxis of the faith.

Thus there are also many writings such as homilies and meditations that emerged directly from pastoral tasks, and writings that pertain to ecclesial praxis and would ordinarily be considered to belong to the field of practical theology: writings about spirituality, about the liturgy, but also about ethics, particularly political ethics. In addition, his interpretations of dogma almost always have a strong exegetical dimension, and he has also contributed several recognized works of theological and dogmatic history. A final characteristic that makes an overview of Joseph Ratzinger’s theology difficult is the fact that his theology is a dialogical theology through and through — a theology that develops not only through a listening to what the sources have to say, but also through a critical conversation with other perspectives, a conversation that is not afraid to identify errors and sometimes to argue quite polemically. What Joseph Ratzinger said in his first book, his dissertation on Augustine, surely applies to his own work as well: “Like every great theology, Augustine’s grew out of polemics against error, which here too showed itself to be the fruitful power without which living intellectual movement is hardly imaginable.”

On the other hand, like probably every other great theology, Joseph Ratzinger’s is marked by a great inner unity. By this I mean not only a deep integration of thought and belief, reflection and meditation, but also the unity of his fundamental theological vision. It is true that the theology of Joseph Ratzinger has in fact been read, criticized, and taken up in quite different ways, but the decisive aspect of this basic vision can be fairly clearly identified, in my opinion.

1. The theology of Joseph Ratzinger is not a theology for all times or a theology about history, but rather a theology for this time, and this time is for him above all the time of a fundamental crisis.

In the first place, there is the crisis of the Catholic Church, out of which the Second Vatican Council –prepared for and accompanied by a broad stream of Catholic reform theology — sought to lead us. The theology of Joseph Ratzinger is a part of this theology of reform. Nonetheless, it differs from the work of the other theologians of reform, in the main, in that the question of the identity of faith and Church soon found its way to the fore in his theology. This came about because for Joseph Ratzinger after the Council, the ecclesial and theological situation in the Catholic Church increasingly emerged as a crisis such as had not been seen since the 13th century, as he once said. In addition to this first diagnosis of crisis, there is — in connection with the great departure from tradition in the last third of the 20th century, and also in connection with the collapse of communism — his diagnosis of a fundamental crisis in morality and meaning in modern culture and society, which finds increasingly decisive expression in the charge of relativism. Finally, toward the end of the second millennium and in the beginning of the third, in light of the new sense of globalization, he also diagnoses and reflects upon a fundamental crisis of Christianity and its truth-claim.

2. A theology in such a time of crisis and transition must concentrate upon what is essential in Christian faith, its identity and specificity, as these are recognizable in the basic structure and constitution of the faith.

This essence of the faith can be summarized in three decisive aspects of Ratzinger’s understanding of Christian faith: the rationality of faith, faith’s historicity as centered in the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the personal nature of faith as summed up in love.

The rationality of faith as a claim to truth, a claim of knowledge

The theology of Joseph Ratzinger had developed above all in conversation with the Fathers of the Church and with the theology of the High Middle Ages, especially in conversation with Augustine, then also in conversation with Bonaventure — thus on the whole much more strongly in dialogue with the tradition of Christian Platonism than with Christian Aristotelianism. It is from the ancient Church’s constitution of Christian theology, to which he continually makes reference, that 1) the epistemological claim of Christian faith, its truth claim, and 2) a dialectical relationship of faith to reason, philosophy, and science, come to be a dominant strain of his own theology.

On the one hand, the truth of God has, according to the witness of Christian faith, entered history definitively with the final revelation in Jesus Christ. But this knowledge of faith necessarily requires thought, requires philosophy, because it claims to be a knowledge of all of reality, and because, in any case, it has to make its witness to the truth comprehensible. On the other hand, thinking needs the challenge of faith’s recognition of truth, so that it can remain on the right path in the search for the real, one, whole truth, amid the intensifying Western dichotomization of faith and reason, theology and philosophy.

In his conversation with Jürgen Habermas on April 19, 2004, here in the Katholische Akademie Bayern in Munich, Cardinal Ratzinger could speak, in the face of dangerous pathologies of both religion and reason that cannot be ignored today, “of a necessary correlationality of reason and faith, reason and religion, which are called to mutual purification and healing, and which need one another and must each acknowledge this” (Habermas/Ratzinger 2005, 57). It is only through a prolonged struggle with the present intellectual situation that it became evident to him that the question of truth must become a basic question for theology and philosophy: as he says, we do not dispose over truth — rather, only in acknowledging ourselves to be claimed together by the truth can we escape the dictatorship of arbitrariness and relativism and rescue the true humanity and human dignity.

Against this backdrop, the doctrine of creation, for instance, which J. Ratzinger has continually taken up since his early lectures in dogmatics, acquires an elevated theological significance. Ethical questions, too (regarding education, culture, politics, the state, democracy, and so on) are increasingly discussed. On the other hand, the thought of modernity finds itself the object of a radical critique (explicit for the first time in Introduction to Christianity): While in the metaphysics of antiquity and the Middle Ages the world, as an expression of the (creative) divine reason, was meaningful, comprehensible, reasonable, and transparent to its finality, the dominant modern notion of reason restricts itself to the knowledge of phenomena and the bare facts of history and to the cultural and technical production of goods in the service of man’s self-realization. In this reconfiguration of values, according to Ratzinger, reason becomes blind not only with respect to the truth of God, but also — and in connection with this — with respect to the difference between bare human existence and truly being human, a distinction essential for man’s humanity.

The historicity of faith and its christological center

According to the Christian confession of faith, the truth of God, the subject matter of theology, has appeared definitively in history in the person and history of Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, the decisive sign of God’s revelation and salvation in the world — a revelation which, by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church, is ever made newly present and effective. God has really bridged the abyss of infinity and has become approachable in a wholly human way, in Jesus Christ and in the witness of the ecclesial community of faith immersed in history. And here we find not only that Christian faith bears a certain claim to absoluteness, but also the importance of the Church as a theme in the theology of J. Ratzinger. The significance of this historical positivity of Christian faith can be seen also in J. Ratzinger’s important historical works, in his lectures on dogma, which interpreted faith as a living path through history, and in his dogmatics, which, like few others, rests upon an intensive personal exegetical study of the biblical sources.

The personal nature of faith

According to the logic of Christian faith, the question of truth is, in the final analysis, the quest for a truth that is really humane, that is, the truth of love, which permits the person to realize himself precisely in what most fully characterizes him: his being a person. In this emphasis on personhood as entailed in being human and in faith, we certainly see resonances of the personalist thinking of the period between the World Wars (Scheler, Guardini), which greatly influenced the theological development of Joseph Ratzinger in his early years. For it was possible to show, from this perspective, that the Christian message of the truth of God does not reach man as a foreign message that imposes itself from the outside, but rather that it is a message of life that permits him to live in the full and proper sense. And it is this precisely because it is a message of love. For man lives, finally, from the love that he receives and passes on, first and finally from the love that God is and that has become visible in the history of Jesus Christ. No one can live if he is not able to accept himself. But no one is able to accept himself if he has not already been accepted and loved by another. Truly being human is dependent upon being loved — but of course what we mean here is true love. For love, in its own concrete expression, is no less multifarious and ambivalent than faith and hope. Thus it is only where love is identical with truth that love is able to offer the salvation of man. And, of course, the inverse is also true: Only where truth is connected with love does truth become a possibility that does not need to be forced upon a person, but rather one that he can take up in freedom. Love is thus the true center of Christianity.

* * *

Naturally one might ask in closing, in light of all this: Why establish a foundation? Do we not have before us a very attractive understanding of Christian faith without the need for such a thing? And don’t the unbelievable book sales (“Jesus of Nazareth” alone, for instance, began by selling 200,000 copies just in the first edition of the German) show that this message has in many ways arrived — that this theology has already generated a strong response?

But in order to remain alive and effective, every great intellectual impulse needs cultivation, elaboration, interpretation, application, concretization, defense against misunderstanding and false criticism, but also expansion, debate, and critique. It was never the goal of Joseph Ratzinger, the theology teacher, to found a school in which every member would be bound to his own theological conceptions. His purpose was always, in the first place, to understand and articulate for the present day the liberating and redeeming claim of the truth of faith — most often through dialogue but also not infrequently through quite polemical disputation for the sake of this truth.

A foundation that wishes not only to promote the study of his theology but also to foster a theology in his spirit might be aided by a word of guidance from the Council. The Second Vatican Council’s constitution on revelation summarizes its fidelity to the previous councils in the expression “vestigiis inhaerens”: cleaving to the paths of these councils. To which, however, we ought to add Karl Barth’s suggested translation (which, incidentally, Joseph Ratzinger affirmed in his commentary): “going forward along the paths of these councils.” For this foundation is not merely dedicated to the study and cultivation of the powerful theological work that we find before us, but is still more committed to its living future — in the various modes of reception, continuance, debate, and also criticism — as an effective orientation along the path of faith.

[Translation by Lesley Rice]

Clean Sweep?: Alinskyian Network pushes foreclosure protection By Stephanie Block

Alinskyian networks of community organization involve congregations nationwide in support of mortgage foreclosure prevention schemes.

One of the larger Alinskyian networks – the Pacific Institute of Community Organizing (PICO) – has launched a “National Campaign to Stop Preventable Foreclosures.”

Alinskyian networks of community organizations involve congregations around the country – from all denominations. They expend a good bit of energy to influence legislation and public policy, generally along “progressive” lines. In this case, PICO has approached the US Treasury Department, Congress, and various lending institutions “to adopt a new systematic approach to stopping preventable foreclosures”.

Of course, that description, taken from the PICO website, needs some explanation – which it provides in policy paper, “Too Big to Fail.” All we need to do, it says, is “turn non-performing mortgages into performing mortgages.”

Sounds simple enough. After graphically describing the broken lives of the foreclosed and boarded up neighborhoods with gangs moving in, the PICO report offers its solution. Would-be homeowners, who have been seduced by unrealistic “mortgage products” offering borrowers low payments that eventually increase beyond their capacity to repay, simply require a mortgage “modification.” That’s all.

“The current system for turning non-performing mortgages – modifying loans on a case-by-case, individual basis,” the PICO document says, “is not working.” Using the experiences of Contra Costa County, California as its model, PICO believes a FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp) takeover of banks holding subprime adjustable rate mortgages will solve the problem. The FDIC then can offer mortgage holders the “modifications” – the loan adjustments – they need to stay in their homes. What could be easier? Problem solved.

Interestingly enough, Sheila Bair, chair of the FDIC, reads from the same script. “The continuing trend of unnecessary foreclosures imposes costs not only on borrowers and lenders, but also on entire communities,” she has said. “Foreclosures may result in vacant homes that may invite crime and create an appearance of market distress, diminishing the market value of other nearby properties… The FDIC has strongly encouraged loan holders and servicers to adopt systematic approaches to loan modifications that result in affordable loans that are sustainable over the long term.”

If one had a suspicious turn of mind, one might imagine there was some collusion here. Under this proposal, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr, the FDIC will receive 80% of the loan’s cash flow until some unspecified level of payment is reached and then 60% thereafter.

Over at the Short Sale Blogger, this has raised some eyebrows. “Dave” writes, “If I were the buyer of these loans, this would be my game plan:

1. Buy loans for 30 cents on the dollar
2. Network with Barney Frank
3. Network with Sheila Bair
4. Get some new housing stimulus passed to “help distressed borrowers” REFI for 70-80 cents on the dollar (if that doesn’t work then do a short sale, if that doesn’t work then foreclose)
5. Pocket the difference
6. Rinse, repeat.”

And here are the clergy and congregants from more than 40 states, brought together by the organizers of PICO, demanding that the Department of Treasury require all banks getting a federal bailout package to adopt its systematic loan modifications. “Remove the veil between the people of this nation and the people in authority. Pierce the veil of Secretary Paulson and Congress and move in their hearts today,” one PICO-associated pastor prayed, to the crowds shouts of: “Wake up! Wake up, Secretary Paulson!” and giving him a letter signed by more than 500 clergy, asking him to end the foreclosure crisis according to PICO’s determination.

Wake up! Wake up, you useful idiots! You and your churches and your compassion for the “little guy” who is losing his house are the pawns of a scheme that is only beginning to be brought into the light.

See them in action: VIDEO: Faith Groups and the Foreclosure Crisis:  
By Kim Lawton – PBS, Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly
…Faith-based community activists are talking with the Obama administration transition team about how the government can do more to stop preventable foreclosures.

Stephanie Block is editor of Los Pequenos and a member of the Catholic Media Coalition.

Copyright © 2009 Spero

“Catholic” Pelosi Pushes Another Intrinsic Evil: Contraception Spending to Help Save Economy (Text and Video)

Well, here we go again…

Yesterday the Vatican pronouced as “arrogant” President Obama’s action to promote global abortion, and today it’s Nancy Pelosi’s turn with her own ”unapologetic” support for massive new contraceptive spending in order to help save the American economy.

This is the same Catholic Communicant who said that “abstinence is a danger to young people”, placed herself above the teaching authority of the Catholic Church and nearly Two-Thousand years of history in promoting abortion before the election (on national television), and now has chosen mammon over the lives of children–God’s blessing to families and our greatest national resource…

Here’s something to consider:

Pelosi entering St. Peter's Catholic Church...

Unless the “EX” word is acted upon by bishops concerning these scandalous acts of unrepentant Pro-Death Catholic politicians, (Beginning with Nancy Pelosi), the Pro-Life effort to thwart FOCA will eventually get its clock cleaned and will fail–yes, at the hands of the arrogant…

Here’s the relevant quotes from the interview as reported nationally on the Drudge Flash Report–full video interview from ABC follows that:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic “stimulus” package, claiming “contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

Pelosi, the mother of 5 children and 6 grandchildren, who once said, “Nothing in my life will ever, ever compare to being a mom,” seemed to imply babies are somehow a burden on the treasury.

The revelation came during an exchange Sunday morning on ABC’s THIS WEEK.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: “Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children’s health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those – one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: “No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.”

  Video of Interview

Vatican: Obama Arrogant.

Vatican: Obama arrogance associated with destruction of life...

ROME: A senior Vatican official on Saturday attacked US President Barack Obama for “arrogance” for overturning a ban on state funding for family-planning groups that carry out or facilitate abortions overseas.

It is “the arrogance of someone who believes they are right, in signing a decree which will open the door to abortion and thus to the destruction of human life,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily.

Fisichella is president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, one of a number of so-called pontifical academies which are formed by or under the direction of the Holy See.

“What is important is to know how to listen… without locking oneself into ideological visions with the arrogance of a person who, having the power, thinks they can decide on life and death,” he added.

Obama signed the executive order cancelling the eight-year-old restrictions on Friday, the third full day of his presidency.

The so-called “global gag rule” cut off US funding to overseas family planning clinics which provide any abortion services whatsoever, from the operation itself to counselling, referrals or post-abortion services.

“If this is one of the first acts of President Obama, with all due respect, it seems to me that the path towards disappointment will have been very short,” Fisichella said.

“I do not believe that those who voted for him took into consideration ethical themes, which were astutely left aside during the election debate. The majority of the American population does not take the same position as the president and his team,” he added.

The order won Obama praise from Democratic lawmakers, family planning and women’s rights groups but drew angry condemnation from pro-life organisations and Republicans.

More than 250 health and human rights organisations from around the world sent Obama a letter, thanking him for ending a policy “which has contributed to the deaths and injuries of countless women and girls.”

Hat Tip/ Times of India

The Abortion President: Obama will act today to fund international groups that provide abortion

Repent Obama Catholic voters…

     Today is the day and reason why any Catholic who voted for Barack Hussein Obama should now take the advice of those clear-minded clerics who prior to the election proclaimed this truth: There is/was no overriding proportionate issue to cause any Catholic to vote for the party of death and its new figurehead…

     President Obama’s pledge to “reduce the number of abortions” in this country can only be interpreted in the light of the truth his now unfulfilled words attempt to belie, a pledge to reduce “legalized genocide”.

     The Catholic vote for President Obama was and remains a sin, and today’s annoucement of America’s help in restoring the grave act of abortion on a global scale combined falls under the category of the well-known penitential words found within the Holy Mass, “In what I have done, and in what I (we) have failed to do, and I ask…” …and I will–pray for you: That you seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the Lord your God in Whom all things come into being… Including the unborn child.

     What was forgotten or simply ignored by the majority of Catholic voters this election cycle were the “millions of  proportionate reasons” not to vote for Barack Obama: the “millions of innocent unborn” who will perish by such policies in the years ahead…

Let us seek mercy.

Here’s the report w/Hat Tip to ABC News:

ABC News has learned that later today President Obama will sign an executive order overturning the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits Non Governmental Organizations that receive international family planning assistance through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from providing or actively promoting abortions as a method of family planning in other countries.

The policy — called the “Global Gag rule” by supporters of abortion rights — was first instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, was overturned by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and was re-instituted by President George W. Bush  in 2001.

Past presidents have instituted or revoked the ban on January 22, the anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision, but President Obama held off on that move, thinking it too combative.

- jpt

Mary and Obama?: Help protest desecration of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon in Bend, Oregon.

 

Under the “Let’s clear this one up right away fellas file…”

Yes, Barack Hussein Obama was created in the image of God, but, he is not God.

Perhaps it was a thoughtless act or simply poor taste, but nonetheless, publishers of  The Source Weekly in Bend, Oregon, should act quickly and issue a public apology for offending the Catholic community with their irreverent depiction of a sacred iconic image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It is offensive not only to Catholics but to both the Blessed Virgin Mother of God and her Son, Jesus Christ.

It’s just wrong.

Already, I’m hearing from disgusted Catholics who will be writing letters to the editor and calling the publisher. And if no apology is forthcoming the plan, (as I understand it), is to locate and contact business advertisers within The Source Weekly and let them know just how offensive and insulting this display is. Catholics will not frequent those businesses and no doubt will work hard to influence the spheres of their families, friends and the local community to boycott. Let’s hope this desecration was born of ignorance and the publisher will do the right thing in this matter.

Fratres also encourages its readers to place a call or write these folks and let your disapproval be heard.

The editors name is Eric Flowers and the publisher is Aaron Switzer and they can be reached at: 541-383-0800 or you can access their website at: 

http://www.tsweekly.com/

Hat/Tip: Jackie, Cheyenne, Gari, Myrna.

UPDATE

I’m beginning to receive e-mail responses from Catholics who have contacted The Source Weekly concerning their sacrilegious front cover. Early response is varied–

This from a priest in Texas: 

“They don’t seem to care. I called and they said “what is printed is printed, and we will not apologize.” I mentioned the possibilities of Hell to the “nice” lady on the phone and she “doesn’t believe in MY hang-ups.”

From Western Oregon:

“I did talk to the editor of the Source and he said, the best way to respond is to write/email them your objections and they will try to print the letters. He did admit he was responsible for putting this picture in and said, well it was collaborative. He did take time to listen to me, a bit defensive. We will see what he will do when we contact his advertisers. He might have a true contrition…”

Equality… Father John Corapi

We have passed the threshold into one of the most important weeks in American history, and a convergence of three very important celebrations reminds us of it. Monday we celebrate the remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, who worked so heroically and tirelessly to insure that all men and women might share in the American dream equally. Tuesday we celebrate the inauguration of the first African American president, Barack Obama. That an African American can be so elected is indeed a cause to celebrate. However, thursday we pray and do penance on the anniversary of the most infamous court decision in United States history, Roe v. Wade. All three are related.

Dr. King fought long and hard and suffered many things that all men and women in the United States of America might enjoy those truths that we hold to be self evident: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He was an American hero for so doing. This week we should rightly celebrate the fact that an African American can be and has been elected President of the United States. This is surely progress, both political and moral.

This all being said, it has to plague the conscience of any thinking person that in this country there is yet the most immoral and deadly form of prejudice and persecution imaginable against the most innocent and vulnerable class of human beings-the unwanted unborn. No matter what advances this country makes, moral, economic, social, or technological, so long as that blight on our national identity remains, all else will ultimately pale into relative insignificance.

God is not a disinterested spectator in the affairs of man. He knows every child by name from all eternity. He loves each one with His infinite love. God’s holy Catholic Church teaches that abortion in a single case is homicide. I assert that if this is the case, and it is, then the 50,000,000 homicides through abortion that have taken place in the United States since Roe v. Wade constitute genocide. God will not favor such a country, regardless of any other progress. Unless this outrage against God and humanity is stopped very soon, the United States of America, and in turn all of the Western world, will realize the death wish that it has manifest for several decades.

Every Catholic, Christian, Jew, and all people of good will and right reason must pray and do penance rigorously and daily from now on for the defeat of this heinous evil we call abortion. If we fail, then Western society as we know it will soon collide with a disaster it will not survive.

May God have mercy on us.

Fr. John Corapi

Fr. John Corapi – Newsflash: WE WIN!

As we prepare to enter a new era in politics and perhaps society in general, keep something in mind: WE WIN! No matter what political party is in power at a given point in time, in the end those that remain faithful to Jesus Christ win the war. We may have to fight many battles outnumbered and even despised and looked upon as criminals and outcasts by a society that is unraveling and degenerating into something no one could have imagined.

What matters is that we run the race to the finish line and fight the good fight. Don’t “go with the flow,” for as the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen reminds us, “Dead bodies float downstream.” More than ever we shall have to be strong in the faith. Regular and worthy reception of the sacraments, constant prayer, and rigorous study of the faith is now essential, not merely a luxury.

The front line and primary battle is going to be the fight for life: the dignity of every human life from the moment of conception to the last moment of natural life. If we lose that one, every other battle space will be compromised. If the government succeeds in establishing abortion as an inalienable “right”, then the elderly and sick will be next. It will then be a short and slippery step to the government deciding who lives and dies regardless of their inherent human dignity.

If you don’t already pray the Rosary every day, please start at once. The prayer of the holy Rosary is the prayer of the holy Gospel, and that means it is the prayer of the Good News Who is Jesus Christ, the LIFE of the world. Many saints will be forged in the crucible of the coming years. Make sure you are among them.

God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi

Editors Note: To find all the necessary tools for a rigorous study of the faith this blog encourages you to visit: Fr. John Corapi

Oregon Bishop: Those who profess to love God, but back abortion, are liars

Bishop Vasa

BEND, OREGON - The Mass readings for the week between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord are taken from the First Letter of St. John. These readings are not always used for it often happens, depending upon the day on which Christmas falls, that the season of ordinary time begins immediately after the celebration of Epiphany. This year, however, the occurrence of Christmas allowed for a full week between these two post-Christmas celebrations and thus the readings from St. John’s first letter. As often happens, the daily Mass readings are both appealing and challenging. The reading of Thursday from I John 4:19ff is particularly appropriate in this year when the life issues are very much on the minds of pro-life persons.

The reason for the increased awareness and even concern on the part of the pro-life community is the specter of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which is highly rumored to be in the works at the federal level. It is this act which has stimulated the bishops of the United States to launch a massive postcard campaign calling upon the House and Senate to abandon FOCA. While further details about the dramatic impact of FOCA on our American culture can be found in many places, I will simply say that it would establish abortion as a federally protected right and, as I understand it, preclude state limitation or regulation of abortion. Further, since abortion would be a federally protected right, it is very possible that even Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Physicians would be mandated to provide this heinous service.

Thus I strongly urge all who have a glimmer of concern for the lives of pre-born children to engage themselves in this postcard campaign. This is not an action which would limit or alter present permissive abortion laws, which some so-called Catholic pro-choice persons might object to, it would simply preclude a dramatic expansion of that permissiveness. Thus it would be very difficult for any Catholic, no matter how much in favor of abortion itself, to find a reason to refuse to participate in this campaign. At the same time, I do not see how any Catholic senator or representative could vote for the passage of FOCA without recognizing that such a vote would constitute a direct and intentional declaration of their disdain for Catholic teaching. Such a vote would be tantamount to a public declaration of their intention to abandon the Catholic faith. It would be imperative that the faith consequences of such a declaration be allowed to fall fully on the heads of those who would make it.
The writing from St. John applies: “Beloved, we love God because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from Him: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
We of the Catholic faith certainly know that love of God is central to our tenets, this is the appealing part. It is hard to imagine a Catholic saying, “I am a Catholic in good standing but I do not love God.” But the inspired scriptures tell us that whoever does not love his brother or neighbor does not and, indeed, cannot love God. This is the challenging part. The people of Jesus’ day understood this and it was this understanding that prompted them to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” For all of us, and especially for Catholic legislators in every strata of government, it is necessary to declare, in conformity with the Natural Law and the teaching of the Catholic Church that, the pre-born child is our brother, our sister, our neighbor!

It may sound a little strong to state that legislators “hate” the pre-born child but hate is an absence of love and love means to wish another well. There is nothing about abortion that wishes the pre-born child well. The preservation of abortion “rights” is already an absence of love for the pre-born child but the passage of FOCA could be construed as nothing less than active and positive disregard, even hatred, for these our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase St. John, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but votes for FOCA, thus showing a disregard for his pre-born brother or sister, he is a liar.” Lots of things can be rationalized in government but I do not see any way in which any Catholic could rationalize or justify an affirmative vote for FOCA.

It is not necessary for your postcards to be as outspoken as this bishop but you do have an obligation to participate in this concerted effort to show love for the tiniest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters. President-elect Obama made it very clear, prior to the election, that he would happily sign FOCA and the millions of Catholics who voted for him hopefully did so for reasons other than this promise and certainly not because of it. It seems to me that it is particularly incumbent upon these same voters to make it clearly known to their representatives that their vote may not in any way be taken as a sign of support for FOCA.

Another way in which we show our affirmative love for our pre-born brothers and sisters is by way of our annual memorial on Jan. 22. This year the Diocesan Office of Pro-life Activities has scheduled a rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville on Thursday evening, Jan. 22. The rosary will commence at 6:30 p.m. with Mass beginning at 7 p.m. While I recognize that many parishes host similar memorial Masses to pray for the two-fold victims of abortion, the child and the mother, I invite any who can to join me at the rosary and Mass at St. Joseph’s in Prineville.

Regardless of how many years have passed since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision and regardless of how prevalent and routine abortion has become in this country, the simple truth remains, it is an act of extreme violence to the pre-born child and to the distressed mother. Thus, if anyone says, “I love God” and still favors abortion, he is, to quote St. John, a liar. May we all live out faithfully what it means to love God.

Hope In Facing Current Difficulties: Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The year that is ending and that which is approaching on the horizon are both under the blessed gaze of the Most Holy Mother of God. The artistic polychrome sculpture set here next to the altar, which portrays her on a throne with the Child giving his Blessing, also recalls her motherly presence. We are celebrating the First Vespers of this Marian Solemnity, in which there are numerous liturgical references to the mystery of the Virgin’s divine motherhood.

“O admirabile commercium! O marvelous exchange!”. Thus begins the Antiphon of the first Psalm, to then continue: “man’s Creator has become man, born of a virgin”. “By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures”, proclaims the Antiphon of the Second Psalm, which is echoed by the words of the third Antiphon that introduce us to the canticle taken from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians: “Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God”. Mary’s divine motherhood is also highlighted in the brief Reading proclaimed shortly beforehand, which proposes anew the well-known verses of the Letter to the Galatians: “When the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman… so that we might our status as adopted sons” (Gal 4: 4-5). And again, in the traditional Te Deum that we will raise at the end of our celebration before the Most Holy Sacrament solemnly exposed for our adoration singing, “Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum”, in English: “when you, O Christ, became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb”.

Thus everything this evening invites us to turn our gaze to the one who “received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world”, and for this very reason the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council recalls “is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God” (Lumen gentium, n. 53). Christ’s Nativity, which we are commemorating in these days, is entirely suffused with the light of Mary and, while we pause at the manger to contemplate the Child, our gaze cannot fail to turn in gratitude also to his Mother, who with her “yes” made possible the gift of Redemption. This is why the Christmas Season brings with it a profoundly Marian connotation; the birth of Jesus as God and man and Mary’s divine motherhood are inseparable realities; the mystery of Mary and the mystery of the Only-Begotten Son of God who was made man form a single mystery, in which the one helps to better understand the other.

Mary Mother of God Theotokos, Dei Genetrix. Since ancient times Our Lady has been honoured with this title. However, for many centuries in the West there was no feast specifically dedicated to the divine Motherhood of Mary. It was introduced into the Latin Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931 on the occasion of the 15th centenary of the Council of Ephesus, and he chose to establish it on 11 October. On that date, in 1962, the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated. It was then the Servant of God Paul VI who restored an ancient tradition in 1969, fixing this Solemnity on 1 January. In the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus of 2 February 1974, he explained the reason for his decision and its connection with the World Day of Peace. “In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God,” Paul VI wrote. “This celebration… is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the “holy Mother’…. It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration to the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk 2: 14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace” (n. 5).

This evening, let us place in the hands of the heavenly Mother of God our choral hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord for the gifts he has generously granted us during the past 12 months. The first sentiment which spontaneously rises in our hearts this evening is precisely that of praise and thanksgiving to the One who gave us time, a precious opportunity to do good; let us combine with it our request for forgiveness for perhaps not always having spent it usefully. I am glad to share this thanksgiving with you, dear brothers and sisters who represent the whole of our diocesan community to which I address my cordial greeting, extending it to all the inhabitants of Rome. I extend a particular greeting to the Cardinal Vicar and to the Mayor, both of whom have begun their different missions this year one spiritual and religious, the other civil and administrative at the service of this city of ours. I extend my greeting to the Auxiliary Bishops, priests, consecrated people and the very many lay faithful who have gathered here, as well as to the authorities present. By coming into the world, the eternal Word of the Father revealed to us God’s closeness and the ultimate truth about man and his eternal destiny; he came to stay with us to be our irreplaceable support, especially in the inevitable daily difficulties. And this evening the Virgin herself reminds us of what a great gift Jesus gave us with his Birth, of what a precious “treasure” his Incarnation constitutes for us. In his Nativity Jesus comes to offer us his Word as a lamp to guide our steps; he comes to offer us himself and we must always affirm him as our unfailing hope in our daily life, aware that “it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear” (Gaudium et spes, n. 22).

Christ’s presence is a gift that we must be able to share with everyone. It is for this purpose that the diocesan community is making an effort to form pastoral workers, so as to equip them to respond to the challenges modern culture poses to the Christian faith. The presence of numerous highly qualified academic institutions in Rome and the many initiatives promoted by the parishes enable us to look confidently to the future of Christianity in this city. As you well know, encountering Christ renews our personal life and helps us to contribute to building a just and fraternal society. This is why we as believers can also make a great contribution to overcoming the current educational emergency. Thus, for a profound evangelization and a courageous human promotion that can communicate the riches that derive from the encounter with Christ to as many people as possible, an increase in synergy among families, school and parishes is more important than ever. For this I encourage each member of our diocese to continue on the journey they have undertaken, together carrying out the programme for the current pastoral year which aims precisely to “educate to hope through prayer, action and suffering”.

In our times, marked by uncertainty and concern for the future, it is necessary to experience the living presence of Christ. It is Mary, Star of Hope who leads us to him. It is she, with her maternal love, who can guide young people especially who bear in their hearts an irrepressible question about the meaning of human existence to Jesus. I know that various groups of parents, meeting in order to deepen their vocation, are seeking new ways to help their children respond to the big existential questions. I cordially urge them, together with the whole Christian community, to bear witness to the new generations of the joy that stems from encountering Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem and did not come to take something from us but rather to give us everything.

On Christmas night I had a special thought for children; instead, this evening it is young people above all on whom I wish to focus my attention. Dear young people, responsible for the future of this our city, do not be afraid of the apostolic task that the Lord is entrusting to you. Do not hesitate to choose a lifestyle that does not follow the current hedonistic mindset. The Holy Spirit assures you of the strength you need to witness to the joy of faith and the beauty of being Christian. The growing need for evangelization requires many labourers in the Lord’s vineyard; do not hesitate to respond to him promptly if he calls you. Society needs citizens who are not concerned solely with their own interests because, as I recalled on Christmas Day, “If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart”.

Dear brothers and sisters, this year is ending with an awareness of the spreading social and financial crisis that now involves the whole world; a crisis that asks for greater moderation and solidarity from all, so that they may go to the aid especially of the individuals and families who are in the most serious difficulty. The Christian community is already making efforts toward this and I know that the diocesan Caritas and other relief agencies are doing their utmost. Nonetheless, everyone’s collaboration is necessary, for no one can think of building his own happiness alone. Although many clouds are gathering on the horizon of our future, we must not be afraid. Our great hope as believers is eternal life in communion with Christ and the whole family of God. This great hope gives us the strength to face and to overcome the difficulties of life in this world. This evening the motherly presence of Mary assures us that God never abandons us if we entrust ourselves to him and follow his teachings. Therefore, while we take our leave of 2008 and prepare to welcome 2009, let us present to Mary our expectations and hopes, as well as our fears and the difficulties that dwell in our hearts, with filial affection and trust. She, the Virgin Mother, offers us the Child who lies in the manger as our sure hope. Full of trust, we shall then be able to sing at the end of the Te Deum: “In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum – In you, Lord, is our hope: and we shall never hope in vain”. Yes, Lord, in you we hope, today and for ever; you are our hope. Amen!

© Copyright 2008 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana