SUMMARY:
- PRAYER
OPENS THE WAY TO THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S PLAN
-
BENEDICT XVI APPEALS FOR AN END TO ATTACKS IN NIGERIA
- HOLY
FATHER RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF LATVIA
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
PRAYER
OPENS THE WAY TO THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S PLAN
Vatican
City, 20 June 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience, held this
morning in the Paul VI Hall, Benedict XVI continued his ongoing
series of catecheses on the subject of prayer in the Letters of St.
Paul.
"Our
prayers are often a request for help in our hour of need", he
said. "That is natural because we need help, the help of other
people and of God. We must also bear in mind that the prayer Christ
taught us, the Our Father, is just such a petition. With that prayer
the Lord teaches us our priorities. Yet, although it is natural to
ask for things in prayer, that is not the only reason to pray. There
is also cause to give thanks, ... because we receive so many good
things from God. Thus prayer should also be praise and, if we open
our hearts, we come to realise that, despite all problems, creation
is beautiful and good".
In
chapter one of his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul praises God
"because 'he has made known to us the mystery of his will'. ...
For believers 'mystery' does not so much mean the unknown as the
merciful will of God, His plan of love which was fully revealed in
Jesus Christ and offers us the chance 'to comprehend with all the
saints, what is the breadth ... and depth' of that love". The
unknown mystery of God has been revealed and it is that God, ever
since the beginning and for all eternity, loves us.
The Pope
noted how the Apostle reflects on the reasons for praising God by
presenting the fundamental elements and the various stages of the
divine plan. "Firstly we must bless God the Father because He
... called us into existence, He called us to sanctity, ... and we
have been in His plan and His thoughts forever. ... The vocation to
sanctity and communion with God is part of His eternal plan, a plan
which stretches over history and which includes all the men and women
of the world, because the call is universal. God excludes no one, His
plan is exclusively a plan of love. ... The Apostle highlights the
gratuitous nature of this marvellous design for humankind", the
Holy Father said.
At the
heart of prayer of praise St. Paul shows us the form in which the
Father's plan of salvation is realised in Christ. "Christ's
sacrifice on the cross was the unique and unrepeatable event by which
the Father demonstrated ... His love for us, not just in words, but
in concrete terms. God is so tangible that His love entered history,
it became man to experience life and sensation in this world. So
tangible is His love that it shares not only in our life, but also in
our suffering and in our death. The sacrifice of the cross makes us
'the property of God'. The blood of Christ ... washes us of all evil
and removes us from the slavery of sin and death".
Finally
the divine blessing closes with a reference to the Holy Spirit which
has been suffused in our hearts. "Redemption is not yet
concluded. ... It will reach fullness when those whom God has
acquired will be completely saved. We are all journeying towards
redemption. ... God wants us to be free, He wants our 'yes' to be
free. We travel this road of redemption together with Christ and thus
redemption is fulfilled".
"In
prayer we learn to see the signs of this merciful plan in the journey
of the Church", the Holy Father concluded. "Thus do we grow
in the love of God, opening the door for the Blessed Trinity to come
and dwell among us, bringing us light and warmth and guiding our
lives. ... Prayer generates men and women not animated by egoism,
desire to posses and thirst for power, but by gratuitousness, the
desire to love and serve. In other words, they are animated by God,
and only in this way can we bring light into the darkness of the
world".
BENEDICT
XVI APPEALS FOR AN END TO ATTACKS IN NIGERIA
Vatican
City, 20 June 2012 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience,
after having delivered greetings in various languages, Benedict XVI
launched an appeal for an end to attacks which have taken place
recently in Nigeria, and which have been particularly aimed against
the Christian community there. "I appeal to leaders for an
immediate end to the killing of so many innocents", he said. "It
is my hope that the various components of Nigerian society will
collaborate so as not to start down the path of revenge, and that all
citizens will cooperate in building a peaceful and reconciled
society, in which everyone's right freely to profess their faith is
fully protected".
HOLY
FATHER RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF LATVIA
Vatican
City, 20 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the
following communique at midday today:
"Today
20 June, following his general audience, the Holy Father Benedict XVI
received in audience Valdis Dombrovskis, prime minister of the
Republic of Latvia. The prime minister subsequently went on to meet
with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was
accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations
with States.
"During
their cordial discussions the parties highlighted the good relations
that exist between the Holy See and the Republic of Latvia, and the
valuable contribution the Catholic Church makes to society, in
particular on questions concerning the family and the promotion of a
humanism open to spiritual and transcendental values.
"The
conversation also focused on questions of mutual interest, with
particularly emphasis on the serious economic and financial crisis
which is affecting the lives of European peoples".
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 20 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation
from the pastoral care of the diocese of Liepaja, Latvia, presented
by Bishop Vilhelms Lapelis O.P., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2
of the Code of Canon Law.
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