St. Boniface: Ardent Zeal for the Gospel

In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict taught about St. Boniface (one of my favorite saints).  The Vatican Press Office's Daily Bulletin has the Italian text and summaries in several languages.  Vatican Information Service has a press release, and Asia News has an article.  Zenit has a full translation.

The Holy Father saw in St. Boniface "an ardent zeal for the Gospel", drawing from his life lessons in the centrality of the Word of God, "fidelity and communion with the Apostolic See", and the encounter with Roman-Christian culture that, together with evangelization, is part of mission.

Here is the conclusion to the Holy Father's catechesis:

"His ardent zeal for the Gospel always impresses me: At 40 years old, he leaves a beautiful and fruitful monastic life, the life of a monk and a professor, to announce the Gospel to the simple, to the barbarians; at 80 years of age, once again, he goes to a zone where he foresaw his martyrdom. Comparing this ardent faith of his, this zeal for the Gospel, to our faith so often lukewarm and bureaucratic, we see that we have to renew our faith and how to do it, so as to give as a gift to our times the precious pearl of the Gospel."

________________

For more on St. Boniface on this blog, see the post About St. Boniface, which is a biographical post with a bibliography at the end.   Also see The Prayer Requests of a Great Missionary: St. Boniface, The Ship of Christ, His Dearest Spouse, and Reflections on St. Boniface, Blindness and Our Lenten Fast.  He is also included among the saints on the About Page, where there are pictures and prayers that I wrote seeking their prayers for us.