Posted on 01/18/2012 3:19:15 PM PST by NYer
.- Pope Benedict XVI said today that achieving Christian unity requires more than “cordiality and cooperation” and that it must be accompanied by interior conversion.
“Faith in Christ and interior conversion, both individual and communal, must constantly accompany our prayer for Christian unity,” said the Pope to over 8,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Jan. 18.
The Pope’s comments mark the start of the 2012 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that runs until Jan. 25. It will be observed by over 300 Christian churches and ecclesial communities around the globe.
The Pope asked for “the Lord in a particular way to strengthen the faith of all Christians, to change our hearts and to enable us to bear united witness to the Gospel.”
In this way, he said, they “will contribute to the new evangelization and respond ever more fully to the spiritual hunger of the men and women of our time.”
The Pope explained that the concept of a week of prayer for Christian unity was initiated in 1908 by Paul Wattson, an Episcopalian minister from Maryland. One year later, he became a Catholic and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood.
Pope Benedict recalled how the initiative was supported by his predecessors Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV. It was then “developed and perfected” in the 1930s by the Frenchman Abbé Paul Couturier, who promoted prayer “for the unity of the Church as Christ wishes and according to the means he wills.”
The mandate for the week of prayer, the Pope underscored, comes from the wish of Christ himself at the Last Supper “that they may all be one.” He observed that this mission was given a particular impetus by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) but added that “the unity we strive for cannot result merely from our own efforts.” Rather, “it is a gift we receive and must constantly invoke from on high.”
The theme for 2012 Week of Prayer – “All shall be changed by the victory of Jesus Christ our Lord” – was crafted by the Polish Ecumenical Council. Pope Benedict said it reflects “their own experience as a nation,” which stayed faithful to Christ “in the midst of trials and upheavals,” including years of occupation by the Nazis and later the Communists.
The Pope tied the victory the Polish people experienced over their oppressors to overcoming the disunity that marks Christians.
He said that the “unity for which we pray requires inner conversion, both shared and individual,” and it cannot be “limited to cordiality and cooperation.” Instead, Christians must accept “all the elements of unity which God has conserved for us.”
Ecumenism, the Pope stated, is not an optional extra for Catholics but is “the responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized.” Christians, he said, must make praying for unity an “integral part” of their prayer life, “especially when people from different traditions come together to work for victory in Christ over sin, evil, injustice and the violation of human dignity.”
Pope Benedict then touched on the lack of unity in the Christian community, which he said “hinders the effective announcement of the Gospel and endangers our credibility.” Evangelizing formerly Christian countries and spreading the Gospel to new places will be “more fruitful if all Christians together announce the truth of the Gospel and Jesus Christ, and give a joint response to the spiritual thirst of our times,” he explained.
The Pope concluded his comments with the hope that this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will lead to “increased shared witness, solidarity and collaboration among Christians, in expectation of that glorious day when together we will all be able to celebrate the Sacraments and profess the faith transmitted by the Apostles.”
The general audience finished with Pope Benedict addressing pilgrims in various languages, including greeting a group of men and women from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, before leading the crowd in the Our Father and imparting his apostolic blessing.
It’s just that I, as a Protester, prefer an old version to the new improved edition rewritten by you evangelical editors to appeal to and be comprehended by valley girls. But then, if everyone is entitled to his own interpretation of the Holy Book, then everyone should be entitled to his own version of it. At least that’s how I interpret the section in the Bible about sola scriptura.
Why do you post crap on FR?
“No minister or pope saves souls... “
And yet on this very page, we are told:
“The pope and others can hurt men’s eternal souls.”
Very odd.
But you know, he is.
Testimony is the key to the new evangelization. Being evangelists is not a privilege but an ongoing commitment that comes from faith. Those were Pope Benedict's words to the participants attending the conference "New Evangelizers for the New Evangelization - The Word of God grows and spreads". The Holy Father stressed that even in the midst of indifference, misunderstanding, persecution, many continue today to courageously open their hearts and minds to accept the invitation of Christ to meet him and become his disciples,". This message may face rejection but nevertheless continues to grow and spread, because it depends on our action, but also the seed of God's Word -- just like in the parable of the S ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C24s3bW4ykg
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and DOCTRINE.” 2 Tim. 4:2. THAT’S how.
>>As if you understand what the Bible means, not merely what it says.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
Amen!!
Amen to that Statement!!
It’s not odd at all. If the pope and others do not preach the gospel of the grace of God, or exchange it for a lie of works based salvation, then they are hurting men’s eternal souls. What’s so hard to understand about that? That’s the danger of putting your salvation in the hands of a man or a religious institution. And depending on him or your church to save you. If you do not hear the gospel of your salvation, and are too lazy or whatever to read God’s Word and find out the truth, then you are depending on someone else to tell you what salvation is. If they don’t preach the gospel of the grace of God, then you aren’t hearing the gospel. So just how do you think you can be saved?
Sad that folks are so deaf, I repeat, the Pope regularly preaches the Gospel. Every day, in fact. What is odd are the number of ignorant sects that teach lies about the Catholic Church. I am so sorry you appear to have fallen victim to one of them.
I didn’t see any gospel of the grace of God written there. Not one word. “Meeting Christ and becoming his disciples” is NOT the gospel. What does that even MEAN?
FYI, I read the Bible, and I’ve never encountered anything that brings me to doubt the legitimacy of the Catholic Church. My study of the Bible has, in fact, reaffirmed by belief in Catholicism.
THATS GOOD!!
What is the Gospel that the Pope preaches every day?
It’s called fighting above your weight division.
In this case way way above their division.
It’s quite humorous to watch.
Try listening. Or reading. Every day, at every Mass, the Gospel is a central part of the service. If you are claiming the right to judge, shouldn’t you honestly listen to what the man you are judging actually says? And writes? Or is that too much work?
From the Bible.
What is the Gospel that the Pope preaches every day?
>>The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Fortunately for me, I don’t need your confirmation. 2 Tim. 2:15.
Galatians 1:8
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.