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San Pedro St. Peter’s Petersplatz Foto: Angie Santos © 2008 |
ROME, Francisco Nuño. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope’s Vicar for the city of Rome, gathered the faithful of Rome this Sunday at St. Peter’s Square during the praying of the Angelus to express solidarity with Benedict XVI after the cancellation of his visit to "La Sapienza" University of Rome. The Pontiff was going to inaugurate the University’s academic year, but the threat of violent protests by a group of students and professors led the Vatican to announce the cancellation of the visit. The shame of all of Italy is great and many are deeply saddened by what has happened. From the Shrine in Belmonte, prayers and solidarity of the Schoenstatt Family with the Holy Father are expressed.
The International Schoenstatt Center in Rome with its "jewel" on the hill of Belmonte, the Matri Ecclesiae Shrine, is located eight kilometers from St. Peter’s, ten minutes away by car from the residence of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI. In a city as large as Rome, we can consider ourselves "neighbors" of the Pope. On many occasions, our acquaintances and friends think that because of our proximity to the Vatican, we who live in Rome attend all of the public acts, liturgies, and events where the Vicar of Christ is the main protagonist. Although we would like it to be this way, in daily life – and the difficulties to obtain entrance and necessary passes – make it impossible. Nevertheless, the Holy Father is our Bishop. He belongs to everyone, but he is especially the Bishop, the father of the inhabitants of Rome.
It is true that when you live here and you are away for a few days from this universal city, you miss it and you remember with special fondness all it has to offer, especially the person of the Pope, the Vicar of Christ with his glances and expressive gestures which we are accustomed to see almost daily on Italian television. That has happened to us also when we are away from Rome for a few days (we went to Madrid to spend Christmas with our children and grandchildren).
Today, a great light has descended upon the earth
To counteract the effects of absence, I promised myself to be, on this occasion, especially attentive to the words and teachings of the Pope during Christmas time. Today, I want to offer to my readers and friends some reflections on his Christmas message which has been especially fruitful: since the last Sunday of Advent to the feast of the Epiphany, Benedict XVI has publicly addressed Christians and men of good will on more than twelve occasions. During these days, he has offered four homilies at the Eucharistic feasts, four allocutions during the Angelus at noon, two conferences at the general audiences, a conference to the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See and two Messages…..one "Urbi et Orbi" on Christmas day and another for the World Peace Conference. His words at the public acts on these dates comprise more than forty pages. The interested reader can find them in different languages on the Internet "site" of the Vatican and in other Church publications.
I dare to highlight three words from the contents of his message: light, hope, and family. In Christmas cards personally signed by the Pope for Christmas 2007, we can read: "Hodie descendit lux magna super terram" (Roman Missal). Today, a great light has descended on the earth. They are the same words with which the Pope also begins his last Christmas homily on the feast of the Epiphany. A light which has manifested itself on the history of humanity, a light which lit and illuminates the covenant of love with God and His people…..from the family of Noah, through Abraham’s vocation to fulfill the great, divine plan of making humanity a family, and arriving at the "latest times" to a new community (the Church) and fulfilling in Christ the eternal covenant: "He Himself, the true God and true Man, is the Sacrament of fidelity to God and to His plan of salvation for all of humanity, for all of us." He is the light shining in the darkness. We have been given a light; God is light and in Him there is no darkness (1Jn, 1,5). Nevertheless, all have seen the star, but not all have understood His message.
The deficit of hope
In the mystery which these last words bear, we can fit in the second "key word" of the Pope’s Christmas message: hope. In the various Christmas conferences, Benedict XVI has asked all men and women from every nation and culture to embrace his message of light and hope which is Christ, Son of the Father and Creator of all humanity. I have been especially impressed by the words in his homily on the last day of the year where he speaks of the "sickness of darkness of modern society in the West" which lives with a "deficit (shortage) of hope" and I have felt impelled to discover my "personal deficit (shortage) of hope." Here, as in other conferences during these days, the Vicar of Christ invites us to read and to reflect on the text of his last Encyclical "Spe Salvi." We could affirm that hope is the new name for Christmas. It is hope for everyone. It comes guaranteed by the love of God for all and for each one of us. It is the hope which saves us from the enslavement to materialism, paganism, and the dominating consumerism of society.
The Pope also shows us "Mary as a sign of sure hope and definite victory of good over evil." If life is a way, a way which frequently becomes dark, hard and steep, - says the Pope – which star can illuminate it? In his Encyclical, he suggests that we see Mary as the great "star of hope," the Mother who maintained hope at the height of tribulation and who today asks us that we not get discouraged when suffering and death are at the doors of our homes. She asks us to contemplate our future with confidence and that we be brothers and sisters to one another, united in the commitment to build together a more just, peaceful and united world. It is worthwhile to also read the Christmas homilies and messages with a Marian key. The forty plus pages offer us a true, attractive and interesting Mariology. The Pope invites us to go to Mary’s school on our journey of faith. She is the woman who with her "yes" opened the door of our world to God and as Mother of God in a close and intimate union with Christ her Son, has become His collaborator in the work of salvation of all humanity.
"Human family: community of peace"
"Human family: community of peace" is the title of the Pope’s message for the World Day of Peace. In it, Benedict XVI presents to us the family as the first "agency of peace" and as the prototype for all social organization. In a proper parallelism between the family (which is made up of a man and a woman) and the human family, his message contains important reflections on the family, the human community, the environment and economy. The Pope also dedicates a great part of the text to the aspect of the family, the human community and moral law.
In light of the dominating relativism in our Western societies (where the laws which regulate the cohabitation of citizens and they are the result of consensus and agreements between the diverse present political parties in power and where Church pastors are denied the right to opine on the morals of the citizens) the Vicar of Christ recalls that "the Church has often taken a stand on nature and the function of the law (the juridical norm which regulates the relationships of persons, bringing judgment against external behavior and foreseeing sanctions against transgressors) has as a criterion that normal morality is based on the nature of things….. The norms exist, but to succeed in being efficacious, it is necessary to base oneself on the moral natural norm as a basis for the juridical norm. On the contrary, this remains at the mercy of fragile and temporary consensus." (Message, January 1, 2008, No. 12). He ends his message remembering Mary, the Mother of the Son of God and the Mother of all.
Translation: Carlos Cantú Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA 012008