Pope Benedict XVI Blog

In Ash Wednesday homily Pope stresses reading God's Word and spiritual combat

Pope Benedict XVI during the general audience explains the significance of Lent: “It is urgent to listen again to the Gospel, the word of truth, so Christians may grow in awareness of the truth received, live it and bear witness to it.”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - Today Ash Wednesday in his address during his weekly general audience to thousands of visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square Pope Benedict XVI dwelt on the significance of the Season of Lent. “This is the opportune time in which the Church calls Christians to be more aware of Christ’s act of redemption and to live baptism more profoundly - the Pope said Santo Padre -. In fact in this liturgical season from the very beginning in order to strengthen its faith the People of God has always nourished itself abundantly with Word of God, retracing the whole history of creation and redemption.”

The Pope recalled that Lent lasts for forty days and calls to mind certain events in the life of Ancient Israel and he said: “The season of Lent is an invitation to relive with Jesus the forty days he spent in the desert praying and fasting before undertaking his public ministry. Today we too with Christians all over the world start a path of reflection and prayer and turn spiritually towards Calvary, meditating the central mysteries of our faith. Doing this we prepare to experience, after the mystery of the Cross, the joy of the Lord’s Resurrection”.

Then Pope Benedict XVI mentioned the solemn distribution of blessed ashes and the two meaningful phrases with which it is accompanied “a pressing appeal to recognise our sinfulness and return to God”. Since the life of the Christian is founded on and nourished by the Word of God the Pope said: “In the trials of every day and in every temptation the secret of victory lies in listening to the Word of truth and rejecting with conviction mistruth and evil. It is urgent to listen again to the Gospel, word of truth, so Christians may grow in awareness of the truth received and may live it and bear witness to it. It is to this that Lent draws us, offering us an ascetic liturgical path, helping us to open our eyes to our weakness and open our heart to the merciful love of Christ”. Lent is the opportune moment to convert our hearts to love by adopting the Lord’s “attitude of compassion and mercy” towards the poor and the abandoned. (S.L.) (Ag! enzia Fides 1/3/2006, righe 27, parole 388)

Links:
See the Pope's address
http://www.evangelizatio.org/portale/adgentes/pontefici/pontefice.php?id=463

Pope emphasizes spiritual combat during Lent

Mar. 01 (CWNews.com) - Christians have a duty to "oppose evil with good, lies with the truth, and hatred with love," Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) said in an Ash Wednesday homily.

The Holy Father presided at a traditional Roman observance of Ash Wednesday, leading a penitential procession from the church of St. Anselm to the basilica of Santa Sabina, for Mass and the distribution of ashes. In his homily he said that the Lenten season reminds Christians that spiritual life is a form of combat "in which the weapons of prayer, fasting, and penance must be used." The ascetic life of the penitential season should be followed "with humility and patience, generosity and perseverance," the Pontiff continued. By developing an interior attitude of humility and self-sacrifice, he said, Christians become "witnesses and apostles of peace."

The decision to embrace a life of penance reflects the believer's determination to imitate Christ, who embraced the Cross, the Pope said. He added that the devotion to God which we cultivate during Lent should naturally produce an impulse to help neighbors in need. "True love leads to actions that exclude no one," he said. Pope Benedict remarked that the procession through the streets of Rome is symbolic of a "personal and communal pilgrimage of conversion" during the season of Lent. He encouraged the faithful to follow another ancient Roman custom by making the "stations" of Lent, visiting different designated churches each day to pray before the relics of the martyrs of Rome. "Despite the centuries that have passed these rituals still hold their value," the Pope said, "because they remind us how important it is, even in our day, to accept the teachings of Jesus without compromise."
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 2:27 PM