Against the Grain has a new post titled Thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI's Spe Salvi ("Saved in Hope"). As always, Christopher Blosser provides links and information about articles and blog posts on the encyclical, providing a one-stop resource to find commentaries on the new encyclical.
The only source I would like to mention that is not included in that post is Abbot Joseph, whose post titled Spe Salvi at Word Incarnate I found quite inspiring.
On today's Feast of the Holy Family, the Holy Father specifically addressed those attending today's Celebration for the Christian Family in Madrid, as his words at the midday Angelus were broadcast live to those attending the pro-family, pro-life demonstration. Photographs of today's events in Madrid, as well as articles and the homily by the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid (in Spanish) can be found on the event website. Thousands of people attended, filling the surrounding streets.
The Pope spoke about the importance of the family in the documents of Vatican II and in the thinking of Pope John Paul II. About half of his address was delivered in Spanish. In an apparent reference to the Spanish government's recent recognition of homosexual unions and elimination of religious instruction from the public schools, he said (Asia News translation):
"Thus, parents have the right and the fundamental obligation to raise their children in the faith and values which give dignity to human life. It is worthwhile working for the family and marriage because it is worthwhile working for the human being, God's most precious creature."
Full translations are available from the Vatican and Papa Ratzinger Forum. An article is available from Asia News.
For today's Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, the Holy Father offered a reflection on the saint before praying the noonday Angelus. There was no Wednesday General Audience today.
Translations are available from the Vatican and Papa Ratzinger Forum. Articles about the address can be found from Catholic News Service and Asia News.
The Holy Father mentioned that today celebrates the "birth in heaven" of the first Christian martyr. The link that united Christ to Stephen, he said, was divine charity. Here is an excerpt:
"It is always necessary to notice this distinctive feature of Christian martyrdom: it is exclusively an act of love for God and for man, including persecutors. At holy Mass today, we therefore pray to the Lord that he who 'died praying for those who killed him, [may] help us to imitate his goodness and to love our enemies' (cf. Opening Prayer)."
In his reflection before praying the Angelus today, the Holy Father mentioned the new document on evangelization from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, known as "Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization." Speaking of the right of each Christian to spread the "good news" of the Gospel, returning what we have freely received, he said, "This is the true meaning of Christmas that we must always rediscover and live intensely."
An article with quotations is available from Asia News. Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.
The Vatican website also provides the texts of addresses by Cardinal William Joseph Levada and Cardinal Francis Arinze at a press conference for the presentation of the document.
This post will be the first in a planned series of posts related to Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical, Spe Salvi. This first post outlines the encyclical's statements as they relate to prayer and contemplation. It is not a full summary of the encyclical. Future posts will consider the encyclical's statements on some other issues.
For simplicity and clarification, quotations from Spe Salvi are in a different color from quotations from other documents quoted in this post.
1. We seek the Blessed Life, but we do not know what we should pray for as we ought.
Mentioning St. Augustine's letter to Proba on prayer, Pope Benedict mentioned that St. Augustine wrote that ultimately, we only want one thing: the blessed life, and yet St. Augustine also wrote that we do not know what this is. In this, Benedict said, Augustine is describing man's essential situation. Discussing this, the Holy Father wrote (Section 11):
"But then Augustine also says: looking more closely, we have no idea what we ultimately desire, what we would really like. We do not know this reality at all; even in those moments when we think we can reach out and touch it, it eludes us. 'We do not know what we should pray for as we ought,' he says, quoting Saint Paul (Rom 8:26)."
Also, in Section 12, the Holy Father wrote that this unknown thing we yearn for "is the true 'hope' which drives us," the "known unknown" called "eternal life."
Here is a portion of that letter from St. Augustine to Proba:
"For in the house of the Lord “all the days of life” are not days distinguished by their successively coming and passing away: the beginning of one day is not the end of another; but they are all alike unending in that place where the life which is made up of them has itself no end. In order to our obtaining this true blessed life, He who is Himself the True Blessed Life has taught us to pray, not with much speaking, as if our being heard depended upon the fluency with which we express ourselves, seeing that we are praying to One who, as the Lord tells us, “knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. . . .
"But whoever desires from the Lord that “one thing,” and seeks after it, asks in certainty and in confidence, and has no fear lest when obtained it be injurious to him, seeing that, without it, anything else which he may have obtained by asking in a right way is of no advantage to him. The thing referred to is the one true and only happy life, in which, immortal and incorruptible in body and spirit, we may contemplate the joy of the Lord for ever. . . . At the same time, because this blessing is nothing else than the “peace which passeth all understanding,” even when we are asking it in our prayers, we know not what to pray for as we ought. For inasmuch as we cannot present it to our minds as it really is, we do not know it, but whatever image of it may be presented to our minds we reject, disown, and condemn; we know it is not what we are seeking, although we do not yet know enough to be able to define what we seek."
2. The "Blessed Life" is community-oriented, and contemplatives perform a task for the whole Church and for the world.
Mentioning the same letter from St. Augustine to Proba, and also mentioning St. Bernard of Clairvaux's perspective on monasticism as including contemplation and agricultural work, Benedict wrote (Sections 14, 15):
"The real life, towards which we try to reach out again and again, is linked to a lived union with a 'people', and for each individual it can only be attained within this 'we.' It presupposes that we escape from the prison of our 'I', because only in the openness of this universal subject does our gaze open out to the source of joy, to love itself -- to God.
While this community-oriented vision of the 'blessed life' is certainly directed beyond the present world, as such it also has to do with the building up of this world . . . In his [Bernard of Clairvaux's] view, monks perform a task for the whole Church and hence also for the world. He uses many images to illustrate the responsibility that monks have towards the entire body of the Church, and indeed towards humanity; he applies to them the words of pseudo-Rufinus: 'The human race lives thanks to a few; were it not for them, the world would perish. . .'."
3. Reason and faith need each other.
Discussing two great themes of "reason" and "freedom" in secular thought, Pope Benedict stated, in section 23, that "reason is God's great gift to man, and the victory of reason over unreason is also a goal of the Christian life." Moreover, he says, reason is "urgently in need of integration through reason's openness to the saving forces of faith." This applies to prayer in that he adds that there is no doubt that "God truly enters into human affairs only when, rather than being present merely in our thinking, he himself comes towards us and speaks to us. Reason therefore needs faith if it is to be completely itself: reason and faith need one another in order to fulfil their true nature and their mission."
This point is not extensively applied to prayer in the encyclical. That application is made more clear through considering this aspect of the encyclical in the light of other writings. The need for faith and reason together is a common topic in Pope Benedict XVI's writings, which can also be found in other Church documents. Among these, Pope John Paul II spoke of the integration of faith and reason in his apostolic letter "Master in the Faith" about St. John of the Cross. There, among the sources cited were two documents from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith ("CDF") which were, in turn, issued by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI). In Master of the Faith, Pope John Paul II wrote:
"Rational man's superiority to the rest of mundane reality should not lead to pretensions of earthly dominion. Instead it ought to guide him toward his most proper end, union with God, to whom he is similar in dignity. For that reason, faith does not justify scorning human reason. Nor is human rationality to be regarded as opposed to the divine message. On the contrary, they work together in intimate collaboration: "A person can get sufficient guidance from natural reason, and the law and doctrine of the Gospel". Faith is not a disincarnate reality. Its proper subject is man a rational being, with his lights and limits. The theologian and the believer cannot renounce their rationality; instead, they must open it to the horizons of mystery."
Cited there by John Paul II is the CDF's document "Instructions on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian," section 6, which states:
"By its nature, faith appeals to reason because it reveals to man the truth of his destiny and the way to attain it. Revealed truth, to be sure, surpasses our telling. All our concepts fall short of its ultimately unfathomable grandeur (cf. Eph 3:19). Nonetheless, revealed truth beckons reason - God's gift fashioned for the assimilation of truth - to enter into its light and thereby come to understand in a certain measure what it has believed. Theological science responds to the invitation of truth as it seeks to understand the faith. It thereby aids the People of God in fulfilling the Apostle's command (cf. 1 Pet 3:15 ) to give an accounting for their hope to those who ask it."
4. Prayer is essential to Christian hope.
In the subsection "Prayer as a school of hope," the Holy Father stated, in section 32, "A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me." He used the example of the late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, a prisoner in solitary confinement for 13 years, who found an "increasing power of hope" in the fact that he could listen and speak to God during his confinement. Later, he became a witness for people throughout the world "to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude."
5. Our hearts must be enlarged and cleansed.
Here, the Holy Father, in section 33, uses an image from St. Augustine's Homilies on the First Epistle of St. John (Homily IV), in which St. Augustine defined prayer as an exercise of desire. Man was created to be filled by God, but his heart is too small and must be stretched by delaying this gift. In St. Augustine's image, if God wants to fill us with honey (His goodness) but we are full of vinegar, our hearts must first be enlarged and cleansed. The Pope wrote, "This requires hard work and is painful, but in this way alone do we become suited to that for which we are destined."
6. Proper prayer purifies us, opening us up to God and to others.
Also in section 33, the Holy Father continued:
"Even if Augustine speaks directly only of our capacity for God, it is nevertheless clear that through this effort by which we are freed from vinegar and the taste of vinegar, not only are we made free for God, but we also become open to others."
Thus, he said:
"To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well."
7. We must learn what is worthy of God.
Also in Section 33, the Holy Father said that we must "learn what we can truly ask of God -- what is worthy of God. We must learn that we cannot pray against others." Instead, he said, when we come before God, we are forced to recognize the "hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves" and recognize our own guilt, the "illusion of our innocence." Our encounter with God awakens our conscience, he said, so that it "no longer aims at self-justification" and is no longer a reflection of self and of our contemporaries, but rather "becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself."
8. Praying must involve an intermingling of public and personal prayer.
In section 34, Pope Benedict wrote that, for prayer to develop such purification, it must be very personal and, at the same time, it must be "guided and enlightened by the great prayers of the Church and of the saints, by liturgical prayer, in which the Lord teaches us again and again how to pray properly. . . . Praying must always involve this intermingling of public and personal prayer." Christian hope, he said, is always hope for others and not merely for ourselves.
9. Our prayer for others can play a small part in their purification.
In section 48, after a discussion of the transforming fire of purgatory in previous sections, Pope Benedict wrote of how our lives are involved with each other, and how that affects our prayer for other people:
"No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other -- my prayer for him -- can play a small part in his purification."
10. It is never too late to hope.
Continuing in section 48, the Holy Father wrote that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time in our prayer for the purification of others, in our hope for them:
"It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well."
In today's last Wednesday General Audience before Christmas, the Holy Father set aside his series of catecheses about the great figures of the Early Church to talk about Christmas. He spoke of Christmas as reminding us of the birth of Jesus, and also reminding us of the exhortation "to await, in vigilance and prayer" His coming again to render justice. He encouraged "committing ourselves to prepare the way" for the birth of the Saviour, "to prepare for him a dwelling worthy not only in the environment around us, but above all, in the spirit."
English translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum. Asia News has an article.
On this Gaudete Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about Christian joy. He distinguished it from cultures that make happiness itself an idol. He spoke of the joy in the Nativity and also the joy awaited in the Second Coming of Christ, saying:
"Christian joy thus springs from this certainty: God is close, he is with me, he is with us, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as a friend and faithful spouse. And this joy endures, even in trials, in suffering itself. It does not remain only on the surface; it dwells in the depths of the person who entrusts himself to God and trusts in him."
Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum. Asia News has an article.
In today's General Audience, Pope Benedict spoke about St. Paulinus of Nola. A contemporary of St. Augustine, St. Paulinus was a native of Aquitaine, in Southern France, who was a monk, then a priest and bishop in Italy. He was married to a woman named Terasia, and both of them chose to live an ascetic life of chaste fraternity, following the death of their son soon after his birth. St. Paulinus wrote poetry and gave particular attention to the poor. His theology is found in his letters of spiritual friendship, written to other saints of his era. The Holy Father said that his poems and letters "are rich with a theology that was lived, interwoven with the Word of God that was constantly scrutinized as light for life." From them, he said, "there emerges a sense of the Church as a mystery of unity," of communion lived "through a distinctive practice of spiritual friendship."
Asia News has an article as usual. Full translations are available at the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.
The Vatican today released Pope Benedict XVI's Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace 2008, titled "The Human Family, a Community of Peace."
In it, he spoke about the importance of the family as the foundation of society, as the place where children learn to savor the "taste" of speech. He said, "The language of the family is a language of peace; we must always draw from it, lest we lose the 'vocabulary' of peace. In the inflation of its speech, society cannot cease to refer to that 'grammar' which all children learn from the looks and the actions of their mothers and fathers, even before they learn from their words."
He spoke of the need to protect the rights of a family in society, and to provide for the basic needs of families within society.
He also spoke about the environment, calling the earth "our common home." He cautioned that emerging countries, hungry for energy, should not meet those needs by harming poor countries that may be forced to sell their resources for less than what they are worth due to a lack of infrastructure.
He spoke of the need for a "solid foundation of shared spiritual and ethical values" in the human family, which is increasingly unified by globalization. While he expressed that values grounded in the natural law are present
in a fragmentary way in
principles of humanitarian law
incorporated into national and international legal authority, he added that "there is an
urgent need to persevere in dialogue about these issues and to encourage the
legislation of individual States to converge towards a recognition of
fundamental human rights."
Concerning increasing international tension and the risk it poses for the future, he expressed concern about civil wars in Africa, the situation in the Middle East, and regret for the growing number of countries involved in the arms race.
Lastly, he mentioned that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Holy See's adoption of the
Charter of the Rights of the Family (1983-2008) and the 40th
anniversary of the celebration of the
first World Day of Peace
(1968-2008). In light of those anniversaries, he invited everyone to live "a more
lively sense of belonging to the one human family, and to strive to make human
coexistence increasingly reflect this conviction, which is essential for the
establishment of true and lasting peace. I likewise invite believers to implore
tirelessly from God the great gift of peace."
The Pope spoke today at the statue of Our Lady near Rome's Spanish Steps, as he gave his reflection before the midday Angelus. He mentioned Mary and also mentioned St. John the Baptist, the subject of today's Gospel reading for Mass.
Asia News has an article. Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.
Here is an excerpt from Papa Ratzinger Forum:
"Through the Gospel, John the Baptist continues to speak down the centuries to every generation. His clear, harsh words are particularly salutary for us, men and women of our time, in which the way of living and perceiving Christmas unfortunately all too often suffers the effects of a materialistic mindset. The "voice" of the great prophet asks us to prepare the way of the Lord, who comes in the external and internal wildernesses of today, thirsting for the living water that is Christ."
Picture: St. John the Baptist (left) and St. John the Evangelist (right), by Mariotto di Nardo, 1408. Photo by me. Museum information.
