Posted on 09/09/2007 10:49:42 AM PDT by NYer
MARIAZELL, Austria (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI gave a spiritual pep talk to Austrian priests and religious, telling them that a fundamental part of their ministry is to give hope to people crushed by misfortune, injustice and despair.
The heart of their mission, and that of every Christian, he said, is to testify to God’s “creative love” and against the hopelessness that can result from suffering in this world.
The pope spoke during an evening prayer service Sept. 8 at the Austrian Marian sanctuary at Mariazell, where he had celebrated Mass earlier in the day. His visit, on the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, marked the 850th anniversary of the founding of the shrine.
The pope looked animated and in high spirits as he processed into the Mariazell basilica. He smiled and chatted briefly with the Benedictine prior of the sanctuary, who handed the pope a lit candle as a choir sang, “Let our hearts be filled with Christ our light.”
Outside, hundreds of pilgrims braved continued rain to watch the liturgy on TV screens.
In a sermon, the pope praised those who follow a priestly or religious vocation and set out to serve Christ in a special way. He said their duty to proclaim the kingdom of God means being a witness to hope in a world of trial and distress.
“Hence you are on the side of those who are crushed by misfortune and can no longer break free of their burdens,” he said.
“You are on the side of all who have never known love, and who are no longer able to believe in life. And so you stand against all forms of injustice, hidden or apparent, and against a growing contempt for man,” he said.
The pope then reviewed the three evangelical counsels -- poverty, chastity and obedience -- and said they remained relevant for all Christians, in a special way for priests and religious.
The issue of poverty and the poor must be the object of a constant examination of conscience for Christians today, he said.
Although material poverty alone does not insure God’s closeness, “anyone who wants to follow Christ in a radical way must decisively renounce material goods,” he said.
To understand chastity, the pope said, it must be seen in its positive aspects, and not simply as a deprivation.
“Priests and religious are not aloof from interpersonal relationships. By their vow of celibate chastity they do not consecrate themselves to individualism or a life of isolation,” he said.
Instead, celibacy allows them to put their capacity for relationships at the service of God, he said.
The pope said obedience implies the bending of one’s will to the will of God, as expressed by Christ. Today, he said, Christ is “concretely present to us only in his body, the church.”
“As a result, obedience to God’s will, obedience to Jesus Christ, must be, really and practically, humble obedience to the church,” he said.
The pope later returned to Vienna 90 miles away, where he was to celebrate Mass, visit a historic monastery and meet with Catholic charity workers on Sept. 9, the final day of his visit.
The vestments worn at today’s Mass were the proper liturgical color - green. However, they were lime green. The majority of those attending the Mass were dressed in black so the contrast was stark.
My grandparents were German immigrants prior to WWII, and I must admit that this Pope of Rome makes me proud. It’s a tragedy how he takes a verbal flogging every time he goes anywhere, or says anything.
He is an awesome pope! His selection leaves little doubt of just how the Holy Spirit figures into the voting at a Conclave.
You might take heart at that because it shows that SO MANY OTHERS really, really, REALLY care about every single solitary syllable that comes out of his mouth.
The very WORST would be indifference. :o)
It would be a tragedy if people stopped listening. It would mean that they stopped caring and that what His Holiness said was irrelevant.
Truly, the LOUDER the gainsayers scream, complain, bellyache, equivocate, make excuses and EXCORIATE what our Pope says, the MORE his words smite (in the m-o-s-t Biblical sense) their hearts, minds and souls.
My Sunday 2 cents
Today’s LA Times had a really good article today about his visit to Austria. They quoted the teaching that Christianity is more than a set of morals, it’s a life lived. Yes, I read the LA Times. haha
In Germany and Austria, misfortune, injustice and despair often come from the ravages and devastation of divorce, drugs, fornication, shacking up, drugs, materialism, promiscuity, drugs, alcoholism, legal prostitution, pornography, absence of God-in-family/community, secularism...and, oh yes, drugs, wrought upon their youth.
Given the climate in which their youth are reared, it would be surprising if there were no misfortune, injustice and despair. Their youth seem DOOMED with the sins of their elders.
Nice to hear of a GOOD read about the Pope from that rag.
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