Wednesday, February 27, 2013
A Seminarian's Tribute to Pope Benedict XVI
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
For about the next four weeks, speculation around the identity of our next pope will intensify. Much of this will shift attention away from recognizing and honoring the contributions of Pope Benedict XVI. I would like to salute his papacy by sharing with you excerpts from a letter that he specifically wrote for us seminarians back in October of 2010.
Pope Benedict is a very accomplished theologian, and has produced many profound writings over the course of decades. But, perhaps because of the current phase of formation for the priesthood that I find myself in (with multiple years of theological studies still ahead of me), this letter has so far been his most meaningful message to me. He wrote it at a perfect time for me, and after reading it and meditating upon it several times I felt very close to him spiritually. That sense of closeness has persisted to the present day. I will miss him and will always admire him for taking the time to write to us seminarians in the midst of a constant whirlwind of travels, duties and responsibilities. I hope you enjoy what I have excerpted below and will benefit from his wisdom as well!
In Christ,
John
Dear Seminarians,
When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company commander asked each of us what we planned to do in the future. I answered that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The lieutenant replied: “Then you ought to look for something else. In the new Germany priests are no longer needed”. I knew that this “new Germany” was already coming to an end, and that, after the enormous devastation which that madness had brought upon the country, priests would be needed more than ever. Today the situation is completely changed. In different ways, though, many people nowadays also think that the Catholic priesthood is not a “job” for the future, but one that belongs more to the past. You, dear friends, have decided to enter the seminary and to prepare for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church in spite of such opinions and objections. You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life’s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity. Where people no longer perceive God, life grows empty; nothing is ever enough. People then seek escape in euphoria and violence; these are the very things that increasingly threaten young people. God is alive. He has created every one of us and he knows us all. He is so great that he has time for the little things in our lives: “Every hair of your head is numbered”. God is alive, and he needs people to serve him and bring him to others. It does makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time.
...
Anyone who wishes to become a priest must be first and foremost a “man of God”, to use the expression of Saint Paul (1 Tim 6:11). For us God is not some abstract hypothesis; he is not some stranger who left the scene after the “big bang”. God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the face of Jesus Christ we see the face of God. In his words we hear God himself speaking to us. It follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God’s messenger to his people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic communion between all men and women. That is why it is so important, dear friends, that you learn to live in constant intimacy with God. When the Lord tells us to “pray constantly”, he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God. Praying means growing in this intimacy. So it is important that our day should begin and end with prayer; that we listen to God as the Scriptures are read; that we share with him our desires and our hopes, our joys and our troubles, our failures and our thanks for all his blessings, and thus keep him ever before us as the point of reference for our lives. In this way we grow aware of our failings and learn to improve, but we also come to appreciate all the beauty and goodness which we daily take for granted and so we grow in gratitude. With gratitude comes joy for the fact that God is close to us and that we can serve him.
...
Above all, your time in the seminary is also a time of study. The Christian faith has an essentially rational and intellectual dimension. Were it to lack that dimension, it would not be itself. Paul speaks of a “standard of teaching” to which we were entrusted in Baptism (Rom 6:17). All of you know the words of Saint Peter which the medieval theologians saw as the justification for a rational and scientific theology: “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an ‘accounting’ (logos) for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). Learning how to make such a defence is one of the primary responsibilities of your years in the seminary. I can only plead with you: Be committed to your studies! Take advantage of your years of study! You will not regret it. Certainly, the subjects which you are studying can often seem far removed from the practice of the Christian life and the pastoral ministry. Yet it is completely mistaken to start questioning their practical value by asking: Will this be helpful to me in the future? Will it be practically or pastorally useful? The point is not simply to learn evidently useful things, but to understand and appreciate the internal structure of the faith as a whole, so that it can become a response to people’s questions, which on the surface change from one generation to another yet ultimately remain the same. For this reason it is important to move beyond the changing questions of the moment in order to grasp the real questions, and so to understand how the answers are real answers. It is important to have a thorough knowledge of sacred Scripture as a whole, in its unity as the Old and the New Testaments: the shaping of texts, their literary characteristics, the process by which they came to form the canon of sacred books, their dynamic inner unity, a unity which may not be immediately apparent but which in fact gives the individual texts their full meaning. It is important to be familiar with the Fathers and the great Councils in which the Church appropriated, through faith-filled reflection, the essential statements of Scripture. I could easily go on. What we call dogmatic theology is the understanding of the individual contents of the faith in their unity, indeed, in their ultimate simplicity: each single element is, in the end, only an unfolding of our faith in the one God who has revealed himself to us and continues to do so. I do not need to point out the importance of knowing the essential issues of moral theology and Catholic social teaching. The importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the different Christian communities, is obvious; as is the need for a basic introduction to the great religions, to say nothing of philosophy: the understanding of that human process of questioning and searching to which faith seeks to respond. But you should also learn to understand and – dare I say it – to love canon law, appreciating how necessary it is and valuing its practical applications: a society without law would be a society without rights. Law is the condition of love. I will not go on with this list, but I simply say once more: love the study of theology and carry it out in the clear realization that theology is anchored in the living community of the Church, which, with her authority, is not the antithesis of theological science but its presupposition. Cut off from the believing Church, theology would cease to be itself and instead it would become a medley of different disciplines lacking inner unity.
Your years in the seminary should also be a time of growth towards human maturity. It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to be humanly integrated. To the theological virtues the Christian tradition has always joined the cardinal virtues derived from human experience and philosophy, and, more generally, from the sound ethical tradition of humanity. Paul makes this point very clearly to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8). This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality. Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is also a task which relates to a person’s growth towards human maturity. When it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and destructive. Today we can see many examples of this in our society. Recently we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children and young people. Instead of guiding people to greater human maturity and setting them an example, their abusive behavior caused great damage for which we feel profound shame and regret. As a result of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life. Yet even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission, which remains great and pure. Thank God, all of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state and specifically in the life of celibacy. Admittedly, what has happened should make us all the more watchful and attentive, precisely in order to examine ourselves earnestly, before God, as we make our way towards priesthood, so as to understand whether this is his will for me. It is the responsibility of your confessor and your superiors to accompany you and help you along this path of discernment. It is an essential part of your journey to practice the fundamental human virtues, with your gaze fixed on the God who has revealed himself in Christ, and to let yourselves be purified by him ever anew.
...
Dear seminarians, with these few lines I have wanted to let you know how often I think of you, especially in these difficult times, and how close I am to you in prayer. Please pray for me, that I may exercise my ministry well, as long as the Lord may wish. I entrust your journey of preparation for priesthood to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, whose home was a school of goodness and of grace. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
From the Vatican, 18 October 2010, the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.
Yours devotedly in the Lord,
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Urgent Prayer Request for Our Holy Father
Please read the latest article with regard to our Holy Father's declining health. Article can be found here.
In fact, please join in the novena for the pope which begins today. The first day is shared below. Please share with others. See below for easy sharing instructions.
Day 1 - Novena Prayers for Pope Benedict
Heavenly father, Your Providence guides the Church and the successor to St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI. May he be protected at all times from spiritual attacks so that he may lead Your Church to greater holiness and unity through your Holy Spirit.
[Insert your intentions and personal petitions for the Pope here]
Prayer for the Pope:
Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.
May the Lord preserve him,
give him a long life,
make him blessed upon the earth,
and not hand him over
to the power of his enemies.
May your hand be upon your holy servant.
And upon your son, whom you have anointed.
Closing: The Prayer of St. Benedict
Gracious and holy Father,
please give to our Pope and
to we the faithful:
intellect to understand you;
reason to discern you;
diligence to seek you;
wisdom to find you;
a spirit to know you;
a heart to meditate upon you;
ears to hear you;
eyes to see you;
a tongue to proclaim you;
a way of life pleasing to you;
patience to wait for you;
and perseverance to look for you.
Grant your servant the
Pope and we the faithful:
a perfect end,
your holy presence.
A blessed resurrection,
And life everlasting.
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...
Amen.
SHARE THIS NOVENA
------------------------------
Thank you so much for joining me and 42,000 others in prayer!
I still think we can get to 50,000!
It's not too late to invite more people, just send them an email and invite them to sign up here:
Annie and I are praying for you!
God bless you!
John-Paul - PrayMoreNovenas.com
P.S. You can also share the novena below:
Friday, February 15, 2013
World Priest Special - Thank You Pope Benedict XVI
World Priest expresses their gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI
It is with a deep feeling of gratitude and sadness that World Priest pays this tribute to our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. We are deeply grateful especially for the prayer that he particularly
penned for World Priest, and for participating in the annual Global Rosary Relay.
From today the Church is in urgent need of your prayers, especially during the conclave of Cardinals to elect the new Pope. We implore you to do so.
Prayer by Pope Benedict for World Priest
Priest, you offered yourself to the
Father on the altar of the Cross and
through the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit gave your priestly people a
share in your redeeming sacrifice.
Hear our prayer for the
sanctification of our priests. Grant
that all who are ordained in the
ministerial priesthood may be ever
more conformed to you, the divine
Master. May they preach the
Gospel with pure heart and clear
conscience.
Let them be shepherds according to
your own heart, single-minded in
service to you and to the Church
and shinning examples of a holy
simple and joyful life. Amen.
Benedictus XVI. P.P
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Cardinal Arinze reacts to pope's resignation
"God is always there. The Holy Spirit does not go on holiday. The Church will find another pope... Our faith is not on the pope; it is on Christ, who is the foundation of the Church. He [Christ] is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We are all his servants; we come and go. Christ does not come and go... This event can help us deepen our faith." --Cardinal Arinze
Pope Benedict's Message on Ash Wednesday 2013
"Dear brothers and sisters, we begin our Lenten journey with trust and joy. May the invitation to conversion , to "return to God with all our heart", resonate strongly in us, accepting His grace that makes us new men and women, with the surprising news that is participating in the very life of Jesus. May none of us, therefore, be deaf to this appeal, also addressed in the austere rite, so simple and yet so beautiful, of the imposition of ashes, which we will shortly carry out. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and model of every true disciple of the Lord accompany us in this time. Amen!" --Pope Benedict XVI
Monday, February 11, 2013
All about Pope Benedict's intention of resignation to be found straight from the Vatican are available here.
Bishop Larry Silva's response to the resignation is found in the Diocese of Honolulu official website.
Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Benedict XVI:
Bishop Larry Silva invites all to a special Mass on Wednesday, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, in which we will give thanks to God for the Petrine ministry of Pope Benedict XVI, who will leave office the following day. We will also pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the Cardinals who will elect his successor.
Thank you, Pope Benedict, for your excellent leadership to our Church!
Let us continue to pray for Pope Benedict XVI. We pray for our Church as it undergoes another transition. Our God reigns! (Rev 19:6) Christ's resurrection brings us eternal hope, but we never tire in our prayers: we pray for a new pope who will serve Christ and represent him with much dignity and grace.
Pray for Fr. Bill and All Ailing Priests
Fr. Bill is not from the Diocese of Honolulu. Thank you for your prayers for him and all our ailing priests.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
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