tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22815448904526869722024-03-14T04:26:44.420-07:00Church and New EvangelizationRamiro Pelliterohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18413305317072914336noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-90428733469561260022013-08-21T08:49:00.000-07:002014-03-06T01:58:37.116-08:00Faith, hope, charity<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian existence</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://lotuspond56-artlover.blogspot.com.es/2010/05/commission.html">Artlover</a>, <i>Three sisters</i></span></div>
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It seems that Benedict XVI had planned <b>a trilogy of encyclicals </b>on the theological virtues: faith, hope<b> </b>(cf. "Spe Salvi", 2007) and charity (cf. "Deus Caritas Est", 2005). Divine Providence has willed that the third of these encyclicals, <i><b><u><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html">Lumen fidei,</a></u></b> </i>appeared, with the collaboration of the German Pope, now emeritus, in the Year of Faith and in the pontificate of his successor, Pope Francis.<br />
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Since the introduction we have learned about the relationship between these three virtues with reference to the saving plan of the Triune God:<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The three virtues are in the heart of the divine plan</span></b><br />
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" In God’s gift of faith, a supernaturally-infused virtue, we realize that a great love has been offered us, a good word has been spoken to us, and that when we welcome that word, Jesus Christ the Word made flesh, the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way to the future and enables us joyfully to advance along that way on wings of hope" (n. 7).<br />
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“Therefore,” continues the Pope, “<b>wonderfully interwoven, faith, hope and charity are the driving force of the Christian life as it advances towards full communion with God”</b> (Ibid.). Faith, hope and charity are intimately connected energies (as if they were one into the other) in the journey of Christian life as light and love wings which together lead us toward God and others.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The three virtues are revealed in the history of salvation</span></b><br />
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Already in the first chapter, the most biblical of the encyclical, it starts to speak of hope about Abraham's faith:<br />
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“As a response to a word which preceded it, Abraham’s faith would always be an act of remembrance. Yet this remembrance is not fixed on past events but, <b>as the memory of a promise, it becomes capable of opening up the future</b>, shedding light on the path to be taken. We see how faith, as remembrance of the future, memoria futuri, is thus closely bound up with hope” (n. 9).<br />
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The profound unity between faith, hope and love is rediscovered later, in passing from a personal vocation of Abraham to the covenant with Israel, and thus to its own mission and destiny. In that manner becomes clear <b>the knowledge or the truth of God's love for his people and, through it, for all humanity and the created world:</b> “Through the experience of the prophets, in the pain of exile and in the hope of a definitive return to the holy city, Israel came to see that this divine "truth" extended beyond the confines of its own history, to embrace the entire history of the world, beginning with creation” (n. 28). <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The three virtues enable us to share the life of God in our personal and social life</span></b><br />
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“<b>Precisely because it is linked to love</b> (cf. Ga 5:6), the light of faith is concretely placed at the service of justice, law and peace”. From his encounter with God, the believer is integrated into the dynamic of love of God and moves toward the fullness of love, living with Him in the human relationships and individual pursuits of his life in the world (cf. n. 51).<br />
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This<b> transformative power of faith,</b> is what makes this virtue to be a "common good", a good for everyone which "helps us build our societies in such a way that they can journey towards a future of hope" (Ibid). <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Family and youth</span></b><br />
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This is found especially in the family and among young people at the World Youth Days (as we have just held).<br />
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Family is based on marriage, since “<b>promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and undertakings</b>, a plan which sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love”; in such perspective children are seen as the fruit of cooperation with God the Creator and the result of the confidence in the generation of a new person (cf. n. 52). Supported by faith, the youth express a strong and generous commitment and the desire for a bigger life (cf. n. 53).<br />
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And this is so because “encountering Christ, letting themselves be caught up in and guided by his love, enlarges the horizons of existence, gives it a firm hope which will not disappoint” (n. 53).<br />
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Ultimately, “<b>faith is no refuge for the fainthearted, but something which enhances our lives</b>. It makes us aware of a magnificent calling, the vocation of love. It assures us that this love is trustworthy and worth embracing, for it is based on God’s faithfulness which is stronger than our every weakness” (Ibid).<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Faith helps in suffering</span></b><br />
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Also from the experience of suffering may be discovered that the service of faith to the common good is a service of hope. This is what happens when we trust in the love of Christ crucified and risen. And that trust disposes us to experience love through concern for others:<br />
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“The dynamic of faith, hope and charity (cf. 1 Th 1:3; 1 Cor 13:13) thus <b>leads us to embrace the concerns of all men and women</b> on our journey towards that city ‘whose architect and builder is God’ (Hb 11:10), for ‘hope does not disappoint’ (Rom 5:5)” (n. 57).<br />
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And so "<b>in union with faith and charity, hope propels us towards a sure future</b>", away from idols and gives us a new impulse to live each day. Therefore, proposes Pope Francis, "let us refuse to be robbed of hope" by idols, proposals and immediate solutions, which only are useful for today. These responses reduce time to space, make us "crystallize" in three dimensions and prevent us from walking towards the future with hope (cf. ibid).<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">A new song: the Christian life as an offering and service</span></b><br />
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In the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis said, regarding Psalm 95, "Sing to the Lord a new song", that <b>this new song is not just words, it's not a melody, but the song of life,</b> “it is allowing our life to be identified with that of Jesus, it is sharing his sentiments, his thoughts, his actions. And the life of Jesus is a life for others. It is a life of service (Homily in Copacabana, 28th July 2013).<br />
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This is what faith is (sharing the thoughts and the "vision" of reality of Jesus himself), hope (sharing his actions) and charity (sharing his feelings). So <b>shared life in unity with Christ becomes a song of praise and offering to God and a service to others.</b><br />
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Only by living it well can we transmit the Christian message. This is what makes it possible for ordinary life to have an eternal significance, makes it possible that we can "redeem the time".<br />
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With these words Gustave Thibon concludes his book "Notre regard qui manque à la lumière” (1970):<br />
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"The highest nobility of man and the only way of salvation lies in this rescue of time by beauty, prayer and love. Without this, our desires, our passions and all our acts are reduced to pure vanity as swirls of time that time takes away. “<b>Everything that does not meet eternity is wasted time</b>” (translation mine).<br />
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And in the "Portico of the Mystery of the Second Virtue," Charles Peguy, in 1911, compares faith, hope and love to <b>three sisters who go together hand in hand</b>. Hope, smaller, is in the middle, almost goes unnoticed –it is little talk next about her– near her beautiful and shining sisters. But in reality it is she who sustains them and makes them advance, and without her they would lose their vigor and strength.<br />
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Faith, hope and charity are each one in each other, interpenetrating themselves, as energies that make us, Christians, share the knowledge, love and action of Christ himself.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><u><b><a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/08/la-existencia-cristiana-fe-esperanza.html">(link to the original, spanish version)</a></b></u></i></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-73881428810482457432013-07-24T04:23:00.001-07:002013-07-24T04:24:55.544-07:00The faith, light that gives life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Is faith an "illusory" light, id est, unreal, misleading and useless, a feeling merely subjective and dark, that has no value of knowledge nor does it provide certainties? Is the Christian faith something that snatches novelty and adventure to life? Is it a mirage that prevents us from advancing with freedom towards the future? These are some of the questions responded to, since its introduction, by <b><i><u><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html">the encyclical "Lumen fidei" </a></u></i></b>(29-VI-2013), the first of Pope Francis.<br />
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It lifts up the faith as <b>a gift that enlightens all human reality,</b> giving full meaning to every situation, even through the shadows of death. “ It is this light of faith –says the Pope– that I would now like to consider, <b>so that it can grow and enlighten the present, becoming a star to brighten the horizon of our journey</b> at a time when mankind is particularly in need of light” (n. 4). </div>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Feeding, strenghthening, proposing faith to all </span></b><br />
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The primary objective of the encyclical is to feed and strengthen the faith of Christians. At the same time it wants to present the faith to all people of good will in the perspective of the Council: “The Second Vatican Council enabled <b>the light of faith to illumine our human experience from within</b>, accompanying the men and women of our time on their journey. It clearly showed how faith enriches life in all its dimensions” (n. 6). <br />
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As it has been highlighted (A. Tornielli), the fact that much of the text comes from Benedict XVI and at the same time it is signed by the reigning pope, Francisco, stresses that <b>the most important thing is not this or that pope, but the ministry of the Successor of Peter </b>at the time, whose role is to confirm the faith. So says the text itself: “The Successor of Peter, yesterday, today and tomorrow, is always called to strengthen his brothers and sisters in the priceless treasure of that faith which God has given as a light for humanity’s path” (n. 7).<br />
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The encyclical states that in the Christian faith essentially “<b>a great love has been offered us</b> (ibid.), the love of God through his incarnate Word, Jesus Christ; and that if we embrace that Word, “the Holy Spirit <b>transforms us, lights up our way to the future and enables us joyfully to advance along that way on wings of hope</b>” (Ibid.). Together, “faith, hope and charity are the driving force of the Christian life as it advances towards full communion with God” (Ibid.). Therefore, the encyclical, which develops the essentials of the faith, also explains how the Christian life is characterized by the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Faith has been given us in a story</span></b><br />
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The introduction is followed by four chapters. The first explains that faith is given us in a story that starts from Abraham, goes through the history of Israel and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in whom salvation is offered to us today through the Church. “<b>If we want to understand what faith is, we need to follow the route it has taken</b>” (n. 8); because faith “is a knowledge assimilated only along a journey of discipleship” (n. 29). And this certainly applies to personal faith, but above all, to penetrate the whole Christian faith.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Faith, truth and love</span></b><br />
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The second chapter shows the relationships between faith, truth and love. By doing so, it stops at the main dimensions of faith. It emphasizes <b>that faith has to do centrally with the knowledge of the truth. Faith opens to love and thus can help to enlarge reason. Faith is not something merely subjective or sentimental, as “love requires truth,” </b>and love itself is a source of knowledge. Faith is both "listening" and "seeing." By its connection with truth and love, faith can fruitfully enter into dialogue with reason. This is a beneficial dialogue, both for reason (by the light of love that brings faith) and for faith (which is inserted into the human experience to understand and engage in God's love for us). The <b>Christian faith lights the way for all who seek God sincerely</b>, and drives them to welcome him and look for him even better and with more consequences for life.<br />
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Thus become manifest some fundamental aspects of the faith, such as <b>historical and personal dimensions </b>(versus a vision of faith that could be intellectualist or, on the other hand, voluntarist or moralist) and an <b>ecclesial dimension </b>(compared to an individualistic view). “Here we see why those who believe are never alone, and why faith tends to spread, as it invites others to share in its joy” (n. 39)<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Transmission of faith</span></b><br />
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The third chapter is dedicated to <b>the transmission of the faith as "living tradition (handing down)"</b>. This mainly happens in the Church<b> through the life of Christians</b>, which testifies to authenticity. The<b> four pillars of the transmission of the Christian life</b> are the confession of faith (the Creed), the sacraments, the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) and prayer. This is clear from<b> the Catechism of the Catholic Church “which is a fundamental aid </b>for that unitary act with which the Church communicates the entire content of her faith: ‘all that she herself is, and all that she believes’, using words of Vatican Council II. Based on the relationship between faith and love we can live out of a single and complete living faith, which is catholic because unity of faith is <b>like a living organism</b> that has the “power to assimilate everything that it meets" (cf. Newman), purifying all things and bringing them to their finest expression," thanks to the service of the Magisterium of the Church.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The transformative capacity of faith</span></b><br />
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Finally, the fourth chapter develops the <b>dynamism of faith in society</b>. “<b>Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns</b> of the men and women of our time.” Faith has a <b>transforming capacity of social life</b> (relationships, common good),<b> family life and relationship with nature,</b> a<b>nd helps to make sense of the suffering of self and others.</b> Faith is the light that believers propose through their testimony and dialogue, to build the earthly city, in opening to freedom and justice, law and peace. Together, faith, hope and charity can integrate the concerns of all people in the way to God, promoting, at the same time and with new strength, a better life for every day.<br />
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This relationship between faith and life is expressed with clear closeness in the following sentence: <b>“Faith is no refuge for the fainthearted, but something which enhances our lives.</b> It makes us aware of a magnificent calling, the vocation of love. It assures us that this love is trustworthy and worth embracing, for it is based on God’s faithfulness which is stronger than our every weakness” (n. 53). Certainly,“faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey” (n. 57).<br />
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The encyclical presents <b>Mary as a model of faith</b>. Because “she treasured in her heart all that she had heard and seen, so that the word could bear fruit in her life” (n. 58), she is like the perfect icon of Christian faith in its fullest dimensions. <br />
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The central message of the encyclical can be concentrated in expressions like this: <b>“Far from divorcing us from reality, our faith in the Son of God made man in Jesus of Nazareth enables us to grasp reality’s deepest meaning</b> and to see how much God loves this world and is constantly guiding it towards himself. This leads us, as Christians, to live our lives in this world with ever greater commitment and intensity” (n. 18).<br />
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In this way the encyclical "Lumen fidei" is offered to Christians as <b>an opportunity to live, deepen and strengthen our faith, </b>in line with the solidarity that Christ manifested to every man, and with the encouragement and commitment derived therefrom, to live more intensely our wa<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">y. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-39251057319741403502013-07-03T06:31:00.001-07:002013-07-03T07:26:05.769-07:00Celebrating life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCB1c3xUPmTnmYVQlA8Ye6X4rAxhLH_dUrYvMEG2iZgRKzE-N__s1B3WOxy7IKphUzsN-vyfF0gJgrRdexQOgotXba4fYNNWu13vobcw2PkZBqxORzEQecV7YIfSaSOfQ0CDywaP9JTw1/s800/Filled-Holy-Spirit-by-Lisa+Ellis+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOCB1c3xUPmTnmYVQlA8Ye6X4rAxhLH_dUrYvMEG2iZgRKzE-N__s1B3WOxy7IKphUzsN-vyfF0gJgrRdexQOgotXba4fYNNWu13vobcw2PkZBqxORzEQecV7YIfSaSOfQ0CDywaP9JTw1/s320/Filled-Holy-Spirit-by-Lisa+Ellis+(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14px; text-align: center;">Lisa Ellis,<i>Filled with the Holy Spirit</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.ellisquilts.com/worship_quilts.htm">(<span style="color: #0e8c77;">www.ellisquilts.com/worship_quilts.htm</span>)</a></div>
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The gospel (which means good news) is also a great story about <b>human life. </b>We are said that it is <b>a precious gift to be received from God</b>; this gift has <b>to be cared for and celebrated</b>.<br />
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On Sunday June 16th Francis Pope presided the Eucharist as the center of the celebration of the "Gospel of Life". By doing this, he wanted in the Year of Faith to thank God for the gift of human life and proclaim the Christian message about life (the "Gospel of Life" is the title of the encyclical of John Paul II in 1995). He developed his exposure on three points: the Bible presents God as the God of Life, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit bring us life and the third one, following God leads to life.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The Bible reveals the God of Life</span></b><br />
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The Second Book of Samuel (2 S 12, 7 ff.) features David's adultery with Uriah's wife (after king David targeted Urias to be killed in battle). The Scripture opposes evil to good, and in this context, "works of death" (sins) to <b>"works of life."</b><br />
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David repents and God, the living God who gives life, forgives him. Scripture, in the words of Pope Francis, “<b>the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God is the Living One</b>, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of life”. It already appears in Genesis (2, 7) where God is presented as <b>the source of human life.</b> It also appears in the vocation of Moses to deliver his people from Egypt (cf. Ex 3, 14). And also in the giving of the Ten Commandments, which are not a litany of prohibitions (you must not do this, you must not do that, you must not do the other), but “on the contrary, they are a great ‘Yes!’ <b>a yes to God, a yes to Love, to life</b>”. In short, says Francis, “our lives are fulfilled in God alone, because only he is the Living One!"<br />
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In the Gospel, Jesus appears criticizing a pharisee whereas he forgives a sinful woman, who feels understood and loved and responds with a gesture of love. So we see once again, as in the case of King David who regreted his sin, that <b>the Living God is also merciful</b>.</div>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Christ and the Holy Spirit give us the divine life</span></b></div>
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This was the experience of the Apostle Paul: “The life I now live in the flesh <b>I live by faith in the Son of God</b> who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). <br />
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Thus St. Paul speaks of t<b>he fullness of life, which is the very life of God</b>. Pope Francis asks, “And who brings us this life?” The answer is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ.. “<b>The Spirit leads us into the divine life as true children of God</b>, as sons and daughters in the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ”. And hence arise questions for us: “Are we open to the Holy Spirit? Do we let ourselves be guided by him?”<br />
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Indeed, as we join Christ through Baptism and the other sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit makes the Christian as "spiritual”. Now, observes Pope Francis, “this does not mean that we are people who live ‘in the clouds’, far removed from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage”. No!, replies Francis: “<b>The Christian is someone who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, </b>someone who allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters”. And this –he adds– entails <b>realism and fruitfulness</b>. Those who let themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit are realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful; their lives bring new life to all around them”. <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">To follow the God of life</span></b></div>
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However, continues the Pope, as we know from experience, <b>people do not choose life</b>, nor they accept the “Gospel of Life” “but they let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others”.<br />
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It is –Francis goes on– like a new Tower of Babel, “the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love “, based on the thought that rejecting God, the message of Christ and the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom and complete human fulfilment. But the result is quite different. “As a result, <b>the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols </b>which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death”.<br />
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Given all this, the Pope proposes: “<b>Let us look to God as the God of Life</b>, let us look to his law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets us free! Let us say ‘Yes’ to love and not selfishness. <b>Let us say ‘Yes’ to life and not death</b>. Let us say ‘Yes’ to freedom and not enslavement to the many idols of our time. In a word, let us say ‘Yes’ to the God who is love, life and freedom, and who never disappoints (cf. 1 Jn 4,8; 11,25; 8,32)”.<br />
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And he adds: “Only faith in the Living God saves us: in the God who in Jesus Christ has given us his own life by the gift of the Holy Spirit and has made it possible to live as true sons and daughters of God through his mercy”. This is the faith –concludes the Pope– that brings us freedom and happiness. </div>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">To defend human life from conception to natural death</span></b><br />
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In this way Francis referred to the <b>Christian message on life, </b>which affects many aspects: not only the <b>defence of human life from conception to natural death, </b>but also to everything that leads to forget worrying about the life of others and to revolve around ourselves, away from the mercy of God's children.<br />
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He had previously spoken about this issue, he did it quite graphically, in the general audience on June 5th, denouncing the "<b>culture of waste"</b>: "That some homeless people die of cold in the street is not news. In contrast, a drop of ten points in the stock market of some cities is a tragedy. Someone dying is not news, but if the stock market falls ten points is a tragedy! Thus individuals are discarded, like waste"<br />
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And he added: "The human life, the person is no longer perceived as the primary value that has to be respected and protected, especially if she is poor or disabled –or still unborn- or if she cannot work anymore -because is already old".<br />
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We should recall, in this respect, the words of Benedict XVI pronounced in an speech given to the Pontifical Academy for Life, on the occasion of an international congress on human embryos in the pre-implantation stage:<br />
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“<b>God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person</b>. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gn 1: 26)” <br />
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So, everyone, especially Christians should rejoice in this <b>celebration of life,</b> pointing pedagogically the line along which humanity must walk if we want to move towards real progress.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-43061872684408418802013-06-07T04:33:00.002-07:002013-06-08T08:58:08.094-07:00Educating with a Christian perspective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAu6BPkurtTi70KwgWrnl9KVzcnb423q2HKV2vQr1KW4MYBu18p-THLWTj8qNga4rBeoCVP10BOxBVj53kI6MWLc8KOs2VjEGpqI067GPqwF1yzt96yQ3zvsNtStkIqHQ43qrVdC4GhVJH/s1600/1913_chagall_paris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAu6BPkurtTi70KwgWrnl9KVzcnb423q2HKV2vQr1KW4MYBu18p-THLWTj8qNga4rBeoCVP10BOxBVj53kI6MWLc8KOs2VjEGpqI067GPqwF1yzt96yQ3zvsNtStkIqHQ43qrVdC4GhVJH/s320/1913_chagall_paris.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">M. Chagall, <i>Paris Through the Window</i> (1913), </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Guggenheim Gallery, New York</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">To Educate in Christian perspective is to help </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">discover life as a gift provided by God the Father</span></i></div>
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What is, in the Christian perspective, to educate? What does it require in terms of projects and contents, attitudes and methods? In his <i>Message to the Educational Communities</i>, 2007, Cardinal Jorge M. Bergoglio outlines the Christian educational task as a commitment shared by all, which today a decided boost is required. <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Educating in Christian perspective </span></b><br />
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To Educate in Christian perspective is <b>to help discover life as a gift provided by God the Father.</b> This includes learning and teaching on how to appreciate life as gift that promotes true freedom, which in turn is configured by love.<br />
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This task has an <b>essentially Paschal character, because the risen Christ is the one who makes possible this fascinating task </b>of promoting responsible freedoms, as a gift and a duty for everyone. Nowadays in which this duty faces especial difficulties and temptations of tiredness, we take into account the greeting of the risen Lord to his disciples: “Do not be afraid”; for indeed, the stone that was intended to obstruct the life and message of the son of God made flesh has been removed: the manifestation of God´s love which is light and full life for each person and for the world; and this demonstration continue throughout history through the family of God which is the Church. <br />
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Christian educative task is <b>hopeful in a new humanity, according to the divine plan</b>: “It is the hope that springs from Christian wisdom, which, in the risen Jesus, reveals the divine stature, to which we are called” (translations are mine). <br />
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<b style="color: blue;">An anthropology of transcendence </b><br />
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Jorge Bergoglio quoting Benedicto XVI says, Christian anthropology is an anthropology of transcendence (cf. “The human person, the heart of peace”, Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1st, 2007). It is -in an expression that comes from Cardinal Newman- a kind of natural "grammar" that <b>emerges from the divine project, whereby we are not simply a part of the world but the culmination of the creation</b>. <br />
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The argentinean Cardinal, today Pope Francis, writes: "Creation 'transcends' itself in man, image and likeness of God. Because <b>man is not only Adam; he is Christ in first place</b>, in whom all things were created, he is first in the divine plan". <br />
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He notes that, according to this, Christianity leads to a peculiar conception of what is "transcendence": Christian transcendence is not an area that it is "outside" the world, separated or above created things. Instead, “it consists in <b>recognizing and living that true depth which is proper to creation</b>”. And he clearly points out where it is found that depth: "The mystery of the incarnation is what marks the dividing line between the Christian transcendence and any form of spiritualism or Gnostic transcendentalism". <br />
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In that sense –says Cardenal Bergoglio- "what it is opposite to a transcendent conception of man would not be only an 'immanent' vision of him, but an 'irrelevant' one", i.e., <b>a vision that has no importance or relevance</b>. It is not a play on words, for when man loses its divine basis its existence becomes blurred, loses its basis, becomes a piece of a puzzle, a pawn of chess, a number of statistics or an insignificant element of a production process. <br />
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In this "anthropology of the meaninglessness"-which we daily see: boys or girls living in the streets, women enslaved, etc. – the sight of <b>the infinite or transcendent dignity of the people</b> is lost, that is to say, it is lost that dignity of man, of those who are related to Christ, to God himself; that which makes people <b>not to be considered as mere numbers all of them equal to each other. </b><br />
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<b style="color: blue;">To create culture, with wisdom and responsibility</b><br />
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The fact that human dignity transcends the world does not mean its separation from nature-that would be "denatured-transcendence”-, it means instead to have the ability <b>to create culture, not destroying nature, but asking ourselves about our participation in nature, with wisdom and responsibility</b>. This should be reflected in education, <b>teaching the meaning of science and technology, of production and consumption, of the body and sexuality, of transformation of the world, beyond the dictatorship of consumerism and image; the value of free giving, of time and job sharing, the diverse beauty of people</b>. <br />
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Christian anthropology is also important <b>regarding oneself</b>, because of our constitutive openness towards others. And this is contrary to what has been called "competitive individualism", a resulting ideology from modernity in the West. <b>Happiness of people includes others, it needs language, history, and community.</b> So we should not accept a negative definition of freedom, such as "your freedom ends where that of the others begins". Rather, something else happens, "<b>Freedom, from this point of view, says Jorge M. Bergoglio- does not end but it 'starts' where the 'others' begin</b>. As all spiritual goods, the more shared they are the greater. <br />
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And this is reflected in the meaning of human work and human freedom, in that relationships with other people and with things: "<b>What for do I want to build a world if I will be there alone in a luxury prison?</b>". A positive conception of freedom leads to understanding people not as objects to possess, but as subjects to be promoted and to be loved, not because of their belongings, but because of what they are. According to the ideology, or rather the idolatry of the market, someone who has not material goods, does not exist and therefore is excluded and excludes himself or herself. The key of Christian anthropology goes in the opposite direction to that of this individualistic irrelevance, this competitive individualism. It has to do with citizenship, solidarity and ultimately love. <br />
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<b style="color: blue;">One carnal eye and one glass eye</b><br />
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Therefore, it is not enough to recognize a new ecological awareness that overcomes the deterministic reduction to the natural-biological aspect; it is not enough either to have a new humanistic consciousness and solidarity that opposes the individualistic and economic selfishness. <b>We need to maintain the ability to dream</b>. Bergoglio presents this with a plastic picture: "A Latin American writer said that <b>we have two eyes, one carnal and one glass eye</b>. With the carnal eye we look at what we see, with the glass eye we look at what we dream. "Well, this can only certainly happen through the freedom and openness of the faith that saves us from sclerosis and conformity, and at the same time frees us from relativism, to give everything we do a sense and a goal, in relation to the "personal and communal encounter with the God of love, even beyond death". <br />
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<b style="color: blue;">New attitudes, contents and methods </b><br />
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How to educate this new humanity that must begin in each school (one might also say, in every family)? Jorge Bergoglio notes that the last thing we should do as educators, is <b>to entrench ourselves in lamentations</b>: "Nor should we become “distrustful“ a priori (...) and congratulate ourselves in our closed world, our doctrinal clarity and our uncompromising defense of the truths ... defenses that will end up serving only for our own satisfaction”. We have to convince ourselves that things can change. <br />
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For this <b>we must first convert, like Jonah,</b> in order to stop running, and to be able to serve God's plans. Jonah´s thought on how God works and what He wants at all times was "too clear"; then God asked him to leave his safe and comfort zone and to go to the "periphery". “We too, suggests the Cardinal, should accept the risk of staging a new education, so that we could go out and meet those who are still inquiring about the meaning of life”. <br />
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In order to do so, he offers <b>concrete guidelines</b>: to give priority to non-quantifiable values such as friendship, personal encounter and sharing; to present the testimony of many who have dreamed of a different humanity, as "models" that allowed entire generations to keep their heads up and who became conspicuous for their virtues and happiness; to promote a "culture of transcendence and to, and to "awake dreams and hopes, helping them to mature and to prevail”. <br />
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Indeed, one might say now with Pope Francis: <b>it is time for an education integrally human</b>. At school this project can be undertaken with the <b>collaboration between families and teachers.</b> This project involves not only a review of the "contents" of education, but also and above all, of the <b>dispositions and attitudes, first the ones of the educators.</b> And this has to do with our expectations and horizons. This project involves, as we have seen, the methods. Jorge Bergoglio ends up talking about <b>revaluing words</b>: the word of the teachers, of youth, and especially revaluing the Word of God, through the practice and the teaching on prayer.<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-59358866322129805982013-05-15T08:49:00.004-07:002013-06-07T04:38:38.811-07:00Holiness: strength, evangelization and concern for the weakest<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDbHigr-EqYarEY4L_oQBygk61WxJLjL3huTo2FwCIGZma5F5vNL575dGV8yJRDLT9uYX75G5STWT_alHgSLuGttTkY85gEueil4y0-nrqufGUT5RyQOQKGVS31diAsIFuFkRpGNDgyzc/s1600/El_Expolio_del_Greco_Catedral_de_Toledo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDbHigr-EqYarEY4L_oQBygk61WxJLjL3huTo2FwCIGZma5F5vNL575dGV8yJRDLT9uYX75G5STWT_alHgSLuGttTkY85gEueil4y0-nrqufGUT5RyQOQKGVS31diAsIFuFkRpGNDgyzc/s320/El_Expolio_del_Greco_Catedral_de_Toledo.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">El Greco, <i>El Expolio</i> (1577-1579) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cathedral of Toledo (Spain)</span></div>
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The first saints canonized by Pope Francis on May 12 are almost 800 martyrs of Otranto (Italy), beheaded in 1480, and two religious women from Colombia and Mexico. <br />
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The canonization of the martyrs of Otranto (beatified in 1771 by Clement XIV, Pope Franciscan) had been advanced by Benedict XVI at the same audience in which he announced his resignation (Feb, 11th, 2013). <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
These martyrs, in the words of Pope Francis, “refused to deny their faith and they died confessing the risen Christ. <b>Where did they find the strength to remain faithful?</b> Precisely <b>in faith, which permits us to see beyond the limits of our human vision,</b> beyond the confines of earthly life, it permits us to contemplate ‘the heavens opened up’, as St. Stephen says, and the living Christ at the Father’s right hand”. This, notes the Pope, calls us to keep the faith as a treasure, because God will not let us missing or forces or serenity; at the same time we should implore for courage for the many Christians that still suffer violence.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>Holiness involves transmittig the faith</b></span><br />
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The first Colombian saint, Laura Montoya Upegui (1874-1949), was “an instrument of evangelization first as a teacher and then as a spiritual mother of the indigenous people, to whom she gave hope, welcoming them with God’s love and bringing them to him through an effective pedagogy that respected their culture and did not oppose it”. <br />
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This saint, the Pope says, “teaches us to be generous with God, <b>not to live our faith alone – as if it were possible to live the faith in an isolate way – but to communicate it</b>, to convey the joy of the Gospel with words and the witness of life in every place in which we find ourselves”. And he adds: “Wherever we live let us let this light of the Gospel shine! She teaches us <b>to see the face of Jesus reflected in the other, to overcome indifference and individualism, which corrode Christian communities and corrode our heart</b>, and she teaches us <b>to welcome all without prejudice, without discrimination, without reticence, with sincere love, giving them the best of ourselves and above all sharing with them what is most precious to us, which is not our works or our organizations, no</b>! Our most precious possession is Christ and his Gospel”.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>Concern for the needy</b></span><br />
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In Mexico, saint Guadalupe García Zavala ("mother Lupita": 1878-1963) gave up a comfortable life to bear witness to Jesus as God asked her to. So says the Pope Francis, underscoring that “the ‘bourgeoisification’ of the heart paralyzes us”. <br />
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Specifically, “Mother Lupita knelt on the floor in the hospital before the sick and abandoned to serve them with tenderness and compassion. And this is called ‘touching the flesh of Christ’. <b>The poor, the abandoned, the sick, the marginalized are the flesh of Christ</b>. And Mother Lupita touched the flesh of Christ and taught us this way of acting: do not be ashamed, do not be afraid, do not be repulsed by ‘touching the flesh of Christ’”. <br />
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And so the Pope Francis invites us all –in very different ways, according with our circunstances– to love as the Lord has loved. “And this means <b>not bring shuting ourselves up, in our own problems, our own ideas, our own interests, in this little world that does so much damage to us, but going out and caring for those who need attention, understanding, help, to being for them the warmth and nearness of God’s love, through delicate gestures of sincere affection and love</b>”. <br />
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Fidelity (with strength if necessary to martyrdom), evangelization and charity. They are lessons of the saints who question our lives as Christians. So the Pope concludes with some questions to ponder during our journey: <b>“How am I faithful to Christ? Am I able to manifest my faith with respect but also with courage? Am I attentive to others, do I recognize those in need, do I see everyone as a brother or sister to love?”</b> (For texts, see, Zenit.org, 12-V-2013). <br />
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In sum, on this historic day is manifested the unity of the See of Peter, with the call to Christian holiness: a holiness achieved and manifested in martyrdom, evangelization and charity.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(First version published in www.analisisdigital.com, 14-V-2013)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/santidad-fortaleza-evangelizacion-y.html"><u><i>link to the spanish version</i></u></a> / <a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/santidad-fortaleza-evangelizacion-y.html"><u><i>español </i></u></a></span></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-5751293895353572162013-05-05T12:38:00.002-07:002013-05-07T02:16:35.534-07:00Ascension and solidarity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKGqKM1SeSKKlx5o0HVvSGxCsdbeH8P-eccRdoweavYWxG9-cd6ojtAmAs1mgQufeqH249XOLnPC2DP1663CLX1W8rFNdbMAG-B3_dO-XFzqK7QLE_1O6NQpfqNTZfhJ_ALDv5iOxcikk/s1600/Christ-Ascension-icon-Michurin-Bulgaria-16century.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKGqKM1SeSKKlx5o0HVvSGxCsdbeH8P-eccRdoweavYWxG9-cd6ojtAmAs1mgQufeqH249XOLnPC2DP1663CLX1W8rFNdbMAG-B3_dO-XFzqK7QLE_1O6NQpfqNTZfhJ_ALDv5iOxcikk/s320/Christ-Ascension-icon-Michurin-Bulgaria-16century.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Christ Ascension,</i> icon from Michurin, Bulgaria, 16 century.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Burgas Art Gallery </span></div>
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What does the Ascension of the Lord mean? What concrete consequences does it have for our lives? <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130417_udienza-generale_en.html"><u><i>On April 17 Pope Francis dedicated his audience</i></u></a> to the article of the Creed on the Ascension of the Lord: "<b>He ascended into heaven and is seated at the Right Hand of the Father</b>".<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><span style="color: blue;">The Ascension of the Lord</span></b><br />
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First the Pope sets up the Ascension of the Lord. <b>Jesus ascends to heaven through the cross</b> (cf. <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church, </i>n. 662). “We too –notes the Pope - should be clear in our Christian life that entering the glory of God demands daily fidelity to his will, <b>even when it demands sacrifice and sometimes requires us to change our plans</b>.” <br />
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<b> The Cross can be addressed with prayer.</b> In fact, the Ascension took place from the Mount of Olives, the place where Jesus had retired to pray before the Passion. “Once again we see that prayer gives us the grace to be faithful to God’s plan”. <br />
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Christ ascends to Heaven also <b>as our eternal priest and lawyer.</b> With a priestly gesture he blesses his disciples who kneel bowing their heads. And from the right hand of the Father, he continues to exercise his priesthood, interceding for us. It is <b>our lawyer that defends us from the wiles of the devil, of ourselves and of our sins</b>. <br />
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In short, Jesus has gone ahead: “Christ opened the path to us. <b>He is like a roped guide climbing a mountain who, on reaching the summit, pulls us up to him and leads us to God</b>”.<br />
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<b style="color: blue;">Why the joy after the Ascension? Because our Head is now in Heaven</b><br />
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Secondly, the Pope emphasizes the joy of the disciples after the Ascension. “When we are separated from our relatives, from our friends, because of a definitive departure and, especially, death, <b>there is usually a natural sadness in us since we will no longer see their face, no longer hear their voice, or enjoy their love, their presence</b>”. Instead the evangelist emphasizes the profound joy of the Apostles. “<b>How can this be?</b>” asks Pope Francis. <br />
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And he answers: “Precisely because, with the gaze of faith they understand that although he has been removed from their sight, <b>Jesus stays with them for ever, he does not abandon them and in the glory of the Father supports them, guides them and intercedes for them”</b> (Let us note that it is the same argument used by Benedict XVI at the conclusion of his book <i>Jesus of Nazareth</i>, vol. II). <br />
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With all the Christian religious tradition, the Pope emphasizes that St. Luke places the event of the Ascension at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. And so<b> the Ascension is presented as “the link of the chain that connects Jesus’ earthly life to the life of the Church</b>”. Indeed, because the Church is nothing but the mystical body still here living off his head, which is now in heaven. <br />
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Two men dressed in white encourage the disciples not to stand still looking at the sky, but<b> to live by giving testimony to Jesus.</b> Here Pope Francis sees, quoting St. Bernard, the union between <b>contemplation and action</b>, both as necessary in our life. <br />
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Finally he highlights how the Ascension permits our Lord <b>to live continually among us in a new way</b>: “He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, <b>present in every space and time, close to each one of us</b>”.<br />
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<b style="color: blue;"><br />We are never alone: the family of God</b><br />
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Hence the concrete and personal consequence: “<b>We are never alone: the Crucified and Risen Lord guides us. We have with us a multitude of brothers and sisters</b> who, in silence and concealment, in their family life and at work, in their problems and hardships, in their joys and hopes, live faith daily and together with us bring the world the lordship of God’s love, in the Risen Jesus Christ, ascended into Heaven, our own Advocate who pleads for us”. <br />
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So, for his Ascension, Jesus is forever our priest and advocate with the Father, <b>the guide of our lives and head of this family of God which is the Church in the world. </b>We Christians are never alone and we should not abandon the others, because this life with God, which starts down here on earth, gives us <b>the true brotherhood and renews the world</b>, and is freely and graciously offered to all. The Ascension sows the seeds of maximum solidarity.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(first version published in www.cope.es, April 30th, 2013) </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/ascension-y-solidaridad.html">Link to the original version in spanish</a>/ <a href="http://www.iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/ascension-y-solidaridad.html">español</a></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-22140743911164117952013-04-27T14:40:00.000-07:002013-05-06T02:48:05.537-07:00Practical atheism and testimony of faith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Cannot the man be happy apart from God? </b>Cannot man be honest, work for the common good, raise a family, serve others, without faith? Could it be that you cannot respect human dignity and freedom without God? <br />
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These and other questions can be answered meditating on the words of Benedict XVI, during his <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20121114_en.html"><u><i>general audience on November 14</i></u></a><br />
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<b style="color: blue;">Practical atheism </b><br />
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So sees it the now emeritus Pope: "A particularly dangerous phenomenon for faith has arisen in our times: indeed a form of atheism exists which we define, precisely, as ‘practical,’ in which the truths of faith or religious rites are not denied but are merely deemed irrelevant to daily life, detached from life, pointless." <br />
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The consequence: "So it is that people often believe in God in a superficial manner, and live ‘as though God did not exist’ (etsi Deus non daretur).” But this ‘practical’ atheism is no less damaging to he who lives it, on the contrary: "In the end, however, <b>this way of life proves even more destructive</b> because it leads to indifference to faith and to the question of God.” <br />
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Given these statements, one might perhaps ask <b>why atheism is destructive. </b>Cannot man be happy apart from God? Cannot man be honest, work for the common good, raise a family, serve others, without faith? Could it be that you cannot respect human dignity and freedom without God? What's wrong with rejecting faith in practice? Why is faith necessary? <br />
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Here is a response that comes from the experience: “<b>In fact human beings, separated from God, are reduced to a single dimension </b>— the horizontal — and this reductionism itself is one of the fundamental causes of the <b>various forms of totalitarianism</b> that have had tragic consequences in the past century, as well as of the <b>crisis of values</b> that we see in the current situation.” <br />
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<b style="color: blue;">The question of God is not only a question of religion, but also a question of reason</b><br />
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But, someone might insist, 'what does faith have to do with the values? <b>Could it be that you cannot respect human dignity and freedom without God?</b> Let's read slowly what happened. It is not just a matter of ‘religion’, but of reason because <b>reason can show that openness to God is, in practice, the condition to reach the truth and the good.</b> <br />
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“By obscuring the reference to God” –says Benedict XVI– “<b>the ethical horizon has also been obscured</b>, to leave room for relativism and for an ambiguous conception of freedom which, instead of being liberating, ends by binding human beings to idols. The temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness before his public ministry vividly symbolize which “idols” entice human beings when they do not go beyond themselves” (cf. J. Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, vol. I, chap. II). <br />
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For, if it is true that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (cf. Jn 14, 6), when this darkens, it obscures the truth and opens the way toward relativism. And if the truth is a condition of freedom (Jn 8: 32), <b>without truth, people walk into the enslavement</b> of putting oneself in the place of God. And this is not about theories. Historical experience shows it: "Were God to lose his centrality man would lose his rightful place, he would no longer fit into creation, into relations with others.” Therefore, “what ancient wisdom evokes with the myth of Prometheus has not faded: man thinks he himself can become a ‘god’, master of life and death.” <br />
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<b style="color: blue;"><br />Three paths to God: the world, the man, the life of faith </b><br />
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And then, what do you do now? In the middle of his speech, the german Pope proposed three "words" by the hand of St. Augustine. Each of them is a path that leads to God. <br />
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<b>First, the contemplation of the world. </b>"The world is not a shapeless mass of magma, but the better we know it and the better we discover its marvelous mechanisms the more clearly we can see a plan, we see that there is a creative intelligence” . Benedict XVI evokes the words of Albert Einstein when he said that “in natural law is revealed ‘an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection’” (The World As I See It, 1949). <br />
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<b>Secondly, man. </b>In our noisy and scattered world, we run the risk of losing "the ability to pause and look deeply into ourselves and to reinterpret the thirst for the infinite that we bear within us, that impels us to go further and to refer to the One who can quench it" (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 33). <br />
<br />
<b>And the third word, faith, </b>or more precisely <b>"life of faith" or “living faith”,</b> for him who believes “united to God and open to his grace, to the power of his love." So –observes Benedict XVI linking with the last part of his argument– the existence of the believer "becomes a witness, not of themselves but of the Risen One, and their faith does not hesitate to shine out in daily life, open to dialogue that expresses deep friendship for the journey of every human being and can bring hope to people in need of redemption, happiness, a future". <br />
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This is because <b>faith implies to share in the life of Christ</b>: he who believes shares the light that comes from having the "mind of Christ" and participates in the love that comes from the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Co 16) <br />
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The then Pope went on to explain that faith is an encounter with God who speaks and acts in history and transforms our daily lives, transforming our mind, our value judgments, decisions and actions. <b>Faith is not a mirage or an escape from reality.</b> <b>It is neither a comfortable shelter nor sentimentality</b>, “rather it is total involvement in the whole of life and is the proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News that can set the whole of the person free” <br />
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<b style="color: blue;"><br />The testimony of “living faith” </b><br />
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Therefore, Benedict XVI concludes: "<b>A Christian and a community that are active and faithful to the plan of God who loved us first, are privileged paths</b> for those immersed in indifference or in doubt about their life and action". But beware, this requires certain conditions: "However, this asks each and every one to make their testimony of faith ever more transparent, purifying their life so that it may be in conformity with Christ" <br />
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In short, historical experience shows that <b>without God (and God, do not forget, you can get by reason), the truth, goodness and beauty are darkened</b>. Faith, when it is "truly lived" (id est, in union with love), is <b>the light that shows the way for the full life:</b> the knowledge of God and the encounter with God.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(first version published in <a href="http://www.religionconfidencial.com/">www.religionconfidencial.com/</a>, 20-XI-2012) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/ateismo-practico-y-testimonio-de-fe.html"><u><i>Link to the original version in spanish </i></u></a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281544890452686972.post-71440049030345996862013-04-16T08:13:00.003-07:002013-04-16T09:53:23.154-07:00From Peter to Francis and back<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUnjAkhLJl5XOaqBNqk0oBg4CiKJI9QI82d1uDlNpURU0Ky_VtbTG2NPSPvpSSiltdi64JMUNYfG0rnyyLgpKQe1Y7XGGjXZpwLQ2m2Rj1OXnpUMOoNKisWBCaHCUnA2AZrYLqiWf2FIp/s1600/Giotto_-_Legend_of_St_Francis_-_-06-_-_Dream_of_Innocent_III.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUnjAkhLJl5XOaqBNqk0oBg4CiKJI9QI82d1uDlNpURU0Ky_VtbTG2NPSPvpSSiltdi64JMUNYfG0rnyyLgpKQe1Y7XGGjXZpwLQ2m2Rj1OXnpUMOoNKisWBCaHCUnA2AZrYLqiWf2FIp/s320/Giotto_-_Legend_of_St_Francis_-_-06-_-_Dream_of_Innocent_III.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Giotto, <i>Dream of Innocent III</i> (c. 1290-1300),<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi (Italy)</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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In 1209 Pope Innocent III had a dream: the Lateran basilica was bending, almost collapsing. A monk was holding it. Francis had submitted the first Franciscan rule and the Pope had been very surprised by its rigor. The Pope said, "Pray to God to manifest his will. When we know it, we'll certainly respond". The Pope understood by that dream, that he had to approve the rule. Francis holds the Church. This is a beautifully fresco painted by Giotto in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (c. 1290 - 1300). <br />
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The until now Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected pope, taking the name of Francis (I). We could see here an orientation towards charity and love to the needy that characterized the "Poverello". <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">From Rome to the end of the world and back </span></b><br />
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The Cardinals have wanted to elect the first non-European pope for over 1000 years. So the Pope noted jokingly that the Cardinals have gone to look for the new bishop of Rome "near the end of the world", in reference to his home country, Argentina. Perhaps because the Church knows herself and feels called to go away to regain strength and to take further the message of Christ. <br />
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Immediately he expressed his awareness of being the Pope, inviting us to start a new path: "The Bishop and the people, this journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust”. Yes, because the Vicar of Christ is the common Father of this family of God in Rome and throughout the world, a seed of universal brotherhood. <br />
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He then asked: "Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood". He added: "My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today, together with the help of my Cardinal Vicar, may be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city". <br />
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Before giving the blessing to those present and all people of good will, he requested prayer for himself –"the prayer of the people for their Bishop"–, bowing and pausing for a few minutes of silence, as the cameras picked the faces of the crowd concentrated effectively in prayer. <br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">The choice and the mercy </span></b><br />
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The motto of his coat of arms as Cardinal is "miserando atque eligendo" (looked with mercy and chosen). St. Bede the Venerable, a great historian among the early Anglo-Saxons (VII-VIII), linked the choice of Saint Matthew to the mercy of God. <br />
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Being a Latin American Pope points to the renewing sap that this continent is now for the Church, always alive, as Benedict XVI said. Certainly among his first words, Francis (I) stood in continuity with the now emeritus Pope of Rome: "Let's pray together for him, that the Lord bless him and the Virgin Mary protect him". <br />
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It is a special joy for us that the new pope's native language is Castilian. Life, family and communication are outstanding values in Latin-American culture, so linked to ours. The new pope, who was a chemical technician, studied theology in Germany and has published several books on religious life, education, patriotism and other moral issues. <br />
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Charity and mercy, confirmation in faith and unity, prayer and new evangelization, young blood for the Church, continuity and renewal. Those are the first chords of the new pontificate.<br />
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">This</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">a dream</span> <span class="hps">worth</span> <span class="hps">dreaming (see Susan Boyle's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnNk4zpsqew">performance</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeo86iOS0QU">lyrics</a>)</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/savia-renovadora_14.html"><i><u>link to the spanish version</u></i></a> / <a href="http://iglesiaynuevaevangelizacion.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/savia-renovadora_14.html"><u><i>español</i></u></a></div>
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