Pope concludes week
of spiritual exercises
Translated from
March 3, 2012
The Holy Father and the senior members of the Roman Curia ended a week of spiritual exercises today at the Apostolic Palace on the theme “the communion of Christians with God”.
The Lenten retreat ended at 9 o'clock this morning at the Redemptoris Mater chapel of theApostolic Palace with Lauds and the final meditation proposed by this year's retreat master, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Here is a translation of the brief remarks by the Holy Father to conclude the retreat:
Your Eminence,
Dear brothers:
At the end of these days of prayer and listening, one must say Thank you. Int eh name of us all, I say thank you to you, Eminence, for the guidance you have given us during these exercises.
You have guided as, so to speak, through the great garden of the First Letter of St. John, and thus, all Scripture, with great exegetical competence and with spiritual and pastoral experience.
You always led with your gaze fixed on God, and we have learned the love and faith that communion with God creates.
You also spiced up your meditations with beautiful stories, mostly taken from your beloved Africa - stories that have given us joy and which are helpful to us.
I was particularly struck by the story in which you spoke about a friend who, when he was in a coma, had the impression of being in a dark tunnel, at the end of which he saw some light, and most especially, heard beautiful music.
I think this can be a parable of our lives: We often find ourselves in a dark tunnel, in the deep of night, but through our faith, we eventually see the light and hear beautiful music. We perceive the beauty of God, of heaven and earth, of God the creator and of his creatures. And so, it is true, spe sumus salvati (In hope we are saved) (cfr Rm 8,24).
And you, eminence, have confirmed us in faith, in hope, and in charity.
Afterwards, the Holy Father had a private meeting with Cardinal Pasinya.
The Vatican also released the text of the Pope's formal letter of thanks to the cardinal:
To our Venerated Brother
Cardinal LAURENT MONSENGWO PASINYA
Archbishop of Kinshasa
At the end of the seek of Spiritual Exercises, during which you proposed the meditations on the theme of communion with God, I wish to express to you, Venerated Brother, my heartfelt gratitude for the precious service that you have offered to me and my co-workers.
Commenting on some passages of the First Letter of St. John, you have led us in an itinerary of rediscovering the mystery of communion of which we became part upon our Baptism.
Thanks to the course you wisely mapped out, the silence and prayer of these days, especially the Eucharistic Adoration, were filled with profound gratitude to God for the 'great love' (1 Jn, 3,1) he has given us, and through which he has bound us to him in a filial relationship, which till now has constituted our most profound reality,and which is fully manifested when "our eyes shall see his face and we shall be like him" (Roman Missal, Euch. Prayer III).
A reason for particular joy on my part was to be able to evoke from your very presence and your style, Venerated Brother, the special testimony to faith of the Church that believes, hopes and loves on the African continent: a spiritual patrimony that constitutes a great richness for all the People of God and for the whole world, especially in the perspective of the New Evangelization.
As a son of the Church in Africa, you have made us experience once more that exchange of gifts which is one of the most beautiful aspects of ecclesial communion, in which the variety of geographical and cultural origins finds a way to express symphonically the unity of the mystical Body.
Even as I invoke for you, dear Brother, the abundance of divine rewards, and in formulating my best wishes for your demanding ministry, I impart from te heart a special Apostolic Blessing that I gladly extend to all your priests and the faithful entrusted to your pastoral care.
From the Vatican
3 March 2012
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/03/2012 04:42]