Pope Benedict XVI Blog

The Spirit is fire of love, the storm that purifies the air, and conquers fear, says Pope

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» 05/31/2009 12:29
VATICAN

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the fruits of modern man who, like Prometheus, stole fire from the gods to prove himself “adult”, but risks carrying out acts against humanity. The need for ecology for nature and against the poison that pollutes the spirit. The need for a Church that is “less anxious” for action and more dedicated to prayer so it may “prolong” Christ’s work.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – In a St Peter’s Basilica, draped in red – flowers, vestments, altar – Benedict XVI celebrated mass for the feat of Pentecost, which commemorates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles and May gathered in the Upper Room. Lending greater solemnity to proceedings was the presence of the choir from Cologne Cathedral and the city’s Kammerorchester, whose 200 members, together with the Sistine Chapel choir, preformed the Harmoniemesse, one of Joseph Haydn’s last masses, marking two hundred years since the composers’ death.

In thanking them, the Pope described the work as “a sublime symphony of God’s glory”.

Of all liturgical feasts, said the Pope, Pentecost “distinguishes itself for it’s’ importance, because it represents the realisation of what Christ had announced as the aim of his earthly mission”: “"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Lk 12,49). “The true fire – he explained - the Holy Spirit was brought to earth by Christ. He did not steal it from the gods, as Prometheus did in the Greek myth, but he made himself the mediator of “God’s gift” by carrying out the greatest act of love in history: his death on the cross”.
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See also:

From Asia News, "Without the Spirit the Church would only be a humanitarian agency, says Pope

"From CNA, "Holy Spirit makes the Church more than a humanitarian agency, Pope teaches"

posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 11:25 AM