Today is Monday of the 2nd Week of Lent.
I do something different with today’s podcast, which is slightly longer than the rest. As usual we hear about the Roman Station, the fascinating San Clemente near the Colosseum. We also have the Collects for the Ordinary and Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Then, however, we hear the last Sunday Angelus of Benedict XVI as Pope, from 24 February, the Second Sunday of Lent:
I feel that this Word of God is particularly directed at me, at this point in my life. The Lord is calling me to “climb the mountain”, to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church, indeed, if God is asking me to do this it is so that I can continue to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have done thus far, but in a way that is better suited to my age and my strength. Let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: may she always help us all to follow the Lord Jesus in prayer and works of charity.
Please help?
Technorati Tags: Angelus, Benedict XVI, LENT, LENTCAzT, podcast, PODCAzT, Transfiguration
About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog.
o{]:¬)
Loading ...
Another wonderful Lentcazt, Father! Thank you for translating the Holy Father’s Angelus message. I usually watch him live on EWTN on Sunday mornings but I don’t understand much Italian. As a result, I can only pick up bits and pieces of the Holy Father’s message, and reading a translation later in the day is helpful, but it’s not as rich as hearing it translated in full.
Just a few more days to go until our Holy Father continues his ascent up to the top of the mountain in a way that few of us expected. Clearly, he feels that God is asking this of him and that we, the Church, need this. I trust both God and the Holy Father, so even though there is an air of uneasiness about no longer having Pope Benedict leading the Church, and wondering who will become our next Pope, I’m happy for the Holy Father. But I will miss him dearly, as so many of us will.
I write as an Eastern Orthodox priest who has read most of the works of His Holiness, and have marveled at his insight and close relationship with Christ. While I am saddened to see him leave the apostolic throne, nevertheless I believe that his new ministry of prayer and union with Christ in solitude will be of great benefit to all who love the Lord and seek out His purposes. He has done more to open the doors of love and reconciliation between The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church than perhaps any pope before him. What impressed all us most about him was his love of the Liturgy and prayer and silence coupled to his very humble demeanor. He touched us so deeply by just being who he is. “Well done wise and Faithful Servant now enter into the heights of the Mountain of the Lord! Pray for us Holy Father!
I suspect in about 30-50 years, Pope Benedict XVI will be named a Doctor of the Church, joining Popes Gregory I and Leo I as the only Doctors of the Church who were popes.
Giuseppe, yes after JPII is named a Doctor of the Church.
Fr. AJ, I don’t think JPII will be named a Doctor of the Church. But I would be happily surprised if he were to be so named.
B XVI’s extensive writings, especially his pre-papal ones, in such a clear style and so finely argued, are models of fine thought-in-writing. It’s as though he took Aquinas’s rigor and inserted it into Augustinian prose. Plus, every B XVI homily is worth following the full train of thought, and you do not always know where it is going to go, but when you get there, you have the sense that you witnessed something not unlike Creation. Now, that’s a Doctor of the Church!
Giuseppe,
John Paul the Great will be a Doctor of the Church. He has advanced the theology of marriage as no other churchman has ever done. The paradigm for marriage used to be Christ and His bride the Church, but John Paul the Great has effected a marvellous development in doctrine whereby marriage is considered as a communion of persons and finds its paradigm in the Communion of Persons in the Holy Trinity. This reality has enriched my marriage to the nth degree.
And I am just scrathing the surface; consider his Theology of the Body and his encylicals.
@ Giuseppe
When I first read “Light of the World” I remembered how I smiled when our Holy Father stated “he is friends with Augustine, with Bonaventure, with Thomas Aquinas.” I would surely venture to say our dear Holy Father is in very good company.
I watched the full Sunday Angelus and found is comforting to see our Holy Father looking so joyful and so clear in his address. Thank you Lord Jesus!
Are we not lucky that we have lived during these Popes? God is good .
Dear Giuseppe,
God’s blessings of peace & joy!
I agree with Fr AJ and Bill Foley. I find PJPII’s writings in my opinion are more creative and original (theology of the body and marriage). PBXVI for me is more of analysis and synthesis of a lot of sources of ideas (a lot of quotes) and he writes beautifully with a heart (poetic). When I read PJPII’s I would say “wow this is new” and PBXVI my expression is “wait a minute, I think I read this somewhere”. If they will be declared doctors of the church (a saint first), I am so bless that I belong to these two popes. I am so immensely bless to have them as my pope.
Example:
PJPII – A nation that kills its children is a nation without hope.
PBXVI – Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved.
God’s blessings of peace & joy!
Maria
Benedict XVI held the fort for eight great years. He has been a great blessing to the Church. Many thanks Holy Father!
Thank you for leaving this on an extra day, Father Z. I just couldn’t get to it yesterday. It was such a joy to pray the Angelus with our beloved Pope one last time, and a comfort in the midst of my tears to hear his voice sounding a bit stronger. What he is doing makes so much sense to me. It is now the time for him to stand against the wolves with the one weapon that never fails us, regardless of our age and declining bodily strength–prayer. I do not see any need to set up a false dichotomy between him and John Paul II. I have long seen them as a team, and those of us who are old, like myself, can learn much from both of them.