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BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Ultimo Aggiornamento: 23/08/2021 11:16
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17/04/2012 21:13
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I don't understand why all the photos (very few) taken at the Pauline Chapel yesterday were washed out, including those from the newsphoto agencies. Hence the poor reproductions that are not sharp, almost unfocused and do not at all do justice to the occasion.

THE POPE'S BIRTHDAY HOMILY
Translated from

April 17, 2012



On the occasion of his 85th birthday, the Holy Father Benedict XVI presided yesterday morning at a Holy Mass concelebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace with his closest associates and a representative group of German cardinals, bishops and priests, including his brother Georg.

Here is a translation of the homily he delivered extemporaneously in German:

Dear Cardinals,
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and sisters:

The liturgy of the Church on April 16, my birthday and baptismal day, had three signposts that showed me where the road would lead and which would help me to find it.

First, there is the commemoration of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes; then, there is one of the most unusual saints in the history of the Church, Benedict Joseph Labre; and above all, this day is always immersed in the Paschal mystery, the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection - especially so in the year I was born, when it was Holy Saturday, the day of God's silence, of his apparent absence, the death of God, but also the day on which the Resurrection announced itself.

Bernadette Soubirous, the simple girl from the South of France, in the Pyrenees - we all know and love her. She was born in almost unimaginable poverty in 19th century Enlightenment France. A prison structure that had been abandoned because it was considered too unhealthy became the family home after much going back and forth, and that was where she spent her childhood.

She did not have much schooling, just some catechism to prepare for her First Communion. But this simple girl, who remained pure and innocent at heart, therefore had a seeing heart that made her able to see the Mother of the Lord. and in her, a reflection of the beauty and the goodness of God.

Mary could show herself to her, and through her, speak to her century, and to the centuries beyond hers. She could see with her pure and unspoiled heart. So Mary pointed her to the spring - so that she could discover this spring with its living, pure and uncontaminated water - water which is life, water which gives purity and health.

Through the centuries, this living springwater is a sign of Mary, a sign of where to find the waters of life, where one can become pure, where we can find what is not polluted.

In our time, when we see so much need in the world, in which the need for water - pure water - has emerged as a problem, this sign is all the more important. From Mary, from the Mother of the Lord, from her pure heart, comes pure uncontaminated life-giving water which purifies and gives us health.

I think we should also consider water an image for the truth that comes to us from faith: genuine uncontaminated truth. Because in order to be able to live, and to be pure, we need to yearn for pure living itself, for unfalsified truth, to be untainted by corruption, for a spotless existence.

Therefore on this day, this little saint has always been for me a sign of where the living water comes from, that which we need to purify us and give us life, and therefore a sign of what we must be - in all things, for all our knowledge and abilities, though they are necessary, we need a simple heart.

We should not lose the simplicity that makes the heart see what is essential, and we must always pray to the Lord so that he may keep in us the humility that allows the heart to be clear-sighted - to see the simple and the essential, the beauty and the goodness of God. Then we can always find the springs of purifying and life-giving water.

Then there is Benedict Joseph Labre, the pious 'beggar pilgrim', who after various vain attempts, finally found his vocation as a beggar - having nothing, no sustenance, never keeping whatever he received and what he did not need - wandering through Europe, to all the European shrines, from Spain to Poland, and from Germany to Sicily - a truly European saint.

We can say that he was a most unusual saint, who by begging, wandered from shrine to shrine, wanting to do nothing else but to pray and therefore give witness to what really counts in this life: God.

He is certainly not an example to emulate, but rather a road sign, a finger that points to the essential. He shows us that God alone is enough, that beyond everything in the world, everything that we need and everything we do, the decisive thing, the essential is to know God. He alone is enough, and this 'God alone' he showed us in a dramatic way.

At the same time, this truly European man who wandered the European continent from shrine to shrine showed that he who is open to God is not alienated from the world and from men. Rather, he found all men brothers because with God, all barriers fall - only God can do away with barriers, and with God, we are all brothers, we all belong to each other. Unity with God also means the brotherhood and reconciliation of men, bringing down barriers in order to unite and heal us.

And so, Benedict Joseph Labre was a saint of peace, because he was a saint who demanded nothing, who died with nothing, and yet was blessed with everything.

And finally, there is the Paschal mystery. On the day I was born, thanks to the foresight of my parents - I was also born again in water and the Spirit, as we have just heard in today's Gospel. First there is the gift of life, that my parents gave to me in a very difficult time and for which I must thank them.

But man's life itself is not always a gift. Can it really be a good gift? Do we know what can come to him in dark times, or even in the brighter times that may co,e? Can we say what troubles, what terrible events he may be exposed to? Can one just simply give life? Is it reasonable to do so or too uncertain? It is a questionable gift, by itself.

Biological life itself is a gift, but one that is surrounded by so many questions. it becomes a real gift when it is given with a promise that is stronger than every calamity that can threaten it, when it is immersed in a power that guarantees that - yes, it is good to be a man, that it is is good for this person whatever the future may bring.

Thus birth must come with rebirth - the certainty that, in fact, it is good to exist, since the promise is stronger than any threat. This is the sense of rebirth in water and the Spirit - to be immersed in the promise that only God can give: 'It is good that you exist, and you must know this for certain, whatever may happen'. I must live from this certainty, reborn of water and the Spirit.

Nicodemus asked the Lord: "Can an old man be born again?" Now, rebirth is given to us in Baptism, but we must continually grow in it, we must always allow God to immerse us in his promise, so that we are truly born again into the great and new family of God, which is stronger than all the weaker and negative powers that threaten us.

So this is a day to give great thanks. As I said, I was born and baptized on Good Saturday. At that time, the Easter Vigil was observed on Saturday morning, which would still be followed by the darkness of Holy Saturday, and so without the Hallelujah.

It seemed to me that this singular paradox, this rare anticipation of Light on a dark day, could be considered almost an image of the history of our time. On the one hand, there was still the silence of God and his absence. But there is already the anticipation of God's Yes in the Resurrection of Christ.

We live in this anticipation, and beyond the silence of God, we hear his voice. Beyond the darkness of his absence, we see the light. The anticipation of the Resurrection during a story that is still ongoing is the power that shows us the way and that helps us go on.

We thank the dear Lord that he has given us this Light, and we implore him that it may always be with us. I have reasons to give thanks on this day to him and to all who have always allowed me to feel the presence of the Lord and who have accompanied me so I may not lose the light.

I face the final stretch of my journey in life, and I do not know what awaits me. But I know that God's light is there, that Christ has risen, that the light of God is stronger than any darkness, that God's goodness is stronger than all the evil in the world. And that allows me to go on with certainty. It allows us to carry on, and at this time, I thank everyone from the heart who have given me the certainty of God's Yes through their faith.

Finally, I say to you, the dean of Cardinals - my sincere thanks for your words of fraternal unity, for your cooperation during all these years. And I say thank you to all the co-workers who in the 30 years that I have been in Rome have helped me to carry the burden of my responsibilities. Thank you. Amen.


[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/04/2012 18:09]
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