Posted on 01/08/2006 6:51:10 AM PST by NYer
Pope Benedict performed the first baptisms of his pontificate on Sunday, using the occasion to launch an impassioned denunciation of irresponsible sex and a "culture of death" that he said pervaded the modern world.
Pope Benedict, abandoning his prepared sermon, compared the wild excesses of the ancient Roman empire to 21st century society and urged people to rediscover their faith.
"In our times we need to say 'no' to the largely dominant culture of death," Benedict said during his improvised homily in the frescoed Sistine Chapel where he was elected Pope last April.
"(There is) an anti-culture demonstrated by the flight to drugs, by the flight from reality, by illusions, by false happiness ... displayed in sexuality which has become pure pleasure devoid of responsibility," he added.
Benedict did not spell out what he meant by a "culture of death," but the phrase was a rallying cry of his predecessor John Paul who regularly used the term to define abortion and artificial birth control.
With Michelangelo's dramatic depiction of the Last Judgment as a backdrop, Benedict attacked the "thing-ification of mankind," suggesting that people had become little more than objects to be traded, picked up and discarded at will.
He singled out ancient Rome's Colosseum amphitheatre and the gardens of the emperor Nero, where Christians were once martyred, as a "real perversion of joy and a perversion of the sense of life."
"The anti-culture of death was a love of lies and of deceit. It was an abuse of the body as a commodity and as a product. Even in our times there is this culture and we must say 'No' to it," he said.
It was the first time since he became Pope that Benedict has ignored the prepared text of his homily, sent to the media beforehand, and instead spoken at length off the cuff.
The official speech focused on the significance of baptism, which marks the admission of a person into the community of Christians.
Benedict was following in John Paul's footsteps by performing baptisms in the Sistine Chapel on the day when Roman Catholics remember Christ's own baptism in the river Jordan.
"This is a 'yes' to Christ, a 'yes' to the victors of death, a 'yes' to life," Benedict said before carefully pouring water on the heads of the babies - 5 girls and 5 boys.
John Paul baptised almost 1,400 infants during his 26-year reign, but was forced to miss the Sistine Chapel ceremony in the last two years of his pontificate because of ill-health.
Pope Benedict XVI baptises a newborn at a special Baptism ceremony in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican January 8, 2006. The Pope performed the first baptisms of his pontificate on Sunday, using the occasion to launch an impassioned denunciation of irresponsible sex and a 'culture of death' that he said pervaded the modern world. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano/Pool
Big brother watches as Pope Benedict XVI blesses his new sibling.
This was an absolutely beautiful liturgy and baptismal ceremony. EWTN will re-air it this evening at 9pm EST.
Early on in the service, the entire assembly chanted the Oration to the Saints in Italian. The list of saints included those for whom some of these children had been named. One baby was named 'Karol' in honor of Pope JPII.
Not that it would make any difference to these death-cultists.
Leni
What an awesome blessing to have the pope baptise one's child in the Sistine chapel. WOW
Turning to the parents and godparents of the 10 children – five boys and five girls – who were baptized, Benedict XVI put forward a “dialogue” to illustrate the meaning of baptism, with which “we anticipate eternal life, “the good life, true life” for our children.
However, he added, “we are unable to give this gift for all of the unknown future, and so we place our trust in the Lord, to obtain this gift from him. In Baptism, the child is inserted in the company of friends who will never abandon him, in life and in death. This company is the family of God which bears the promise of eternity within. A company which will accompany him always, even in days of suffering, in the dark valley of life, giving him consolation, comfort and light. This family gives him eternal life. It indicates the right direction, offers the consolation, comfort and love of God even in the dark valley and on the threshold of death, it gives friendship, life. This company, absolutely trustworthy, never abandons. No one knows what will happen on our planet, in our Europe, in the coming 50,60, 70 years, but of one thing we are certain: whoever belongs to the family of God is never alone, he always has the secure friendship of he who is life. This family of God, this company of friends, is eternal because it is communion with He who has won over death, who has the keys of life in hand. Being in the company of the family of God means being in communion with Christ, who is life and who gives eternal love beyond death. Love and truth are a source of life. Life without love is not life.”
Pursuing his “dialogue”, Benedict XVI illustrated the meaning of questions which the celebrant directs to children during the ritual. Thus, he said, “in Baptism, there are three no and three yes. One renounces to temptation, to sin and to the devil. They are words we know well, but perhaps they do not mean much to us because we have heard them too many times. We must look more in-depth at the ‘no’ to understand the ‘yes’”. He recalled that in the ancient Church, it was to renounce the “pomps of the devils”, that is, to the “apparent abundance of life”, but it was a “no” to a culture of death, expressed in joy before spectacles of violence, like in the Colosseum or here in Nero’s gardens, where men were set on fire like torches. It was perversion, love of deceit, abuse of the body as a commodity, as trade.
“And even in our time, we must say no to the abundantly dominant culture of death, expressed in drugs, in escapism from reality, in what is illusory, in false happiness revealed in deceit, fraud, injustice, scorn of the other, of solidarity, of care for the poor and suffering, revealed in a sexuality which becomes purely enjoyment without ties, which makes man an object so that he is no longer a person but becomes a commodity, a thing. To this pomp of a superficial life which is only an instrument of death, let us say no. The Christian yes then was a great yes to life and it is still so in our time.” It is a “yes to the living God, to a reason which gives meaning to our life, yes to communion with the church in which God lives. We can also say that the content of our great yes is expressed in the Ten Commandments”, which are not only a list of negatives, but a yes to the family, to life, to responsible love, to justice, to truth: “This is the culture of life which becomes concrete and workable.”
Thanks, yet again, Rocco!
http://www.whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/
The one thing that she told me that surprised me, was that the priest put a little salt in the baby's mouth and ears, symbolizing one's 'sapienza' of God, taken from the Scriptural passage where Christ asks, 'if the salt looses it's flavor...' I thought that was absolutely beautiful.
This may be a preview of his encyclical.
God blest Pope Benedict!
Absolutely and to you, as well, for posting his rapid fire translation of the Holy Father's 'off the cuff' homily. I watched it live at 4am and was simply awed by Benedict's introspective analysis of today's society with that of ancient Rome. The Vatican translator handling the English transmission, made no allusion to the fact that he too was translating on the fly, nor did he complain that the pope was ad libbing. He juggled as best he could and, all things considered, did a good job.
Again ... thanks for posting this homily!
Thanks for the ping. Will definitely try and watch the ceremony tonight on ETWN.
Way to go, Holy Father!!!!! Habemus Papam!
Thank you for posting this.
The Holy Mass and Baptism of the Infants is scheduled for 9 EST tonight on EWTN
It is still done in the Latin Rite. I witnessed a baptism in this rite for the first time a few months ago (an adult convert was being baptized). It's an inspiring and beautiful thing. I think the "modern" abbreviated and simplified form represents a great loss from the more traditional form.
I'm glad somebody finally said it.
Because the jouranlist thinks in strictly human terms and not in any way spiritually. BXVI speaks as much of spiritual death as physical death - and he is absolutely correct.
This is a complaint so many of us have about media today - they do not fully understand the issues about which they write. This is a case in point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.