GOOD BYE POPE BENEDICT XVI – WITH GRATITUDE

 (On February 28, 2013, the Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph organized a simple Round Table on Benedict XVI. The professors that intervened are the following: Fr. Peter Stilwell, USJ Rector, and professor of dogmatic theology; Professor Anna Chan USJ Vice-Rector and professor of Liturgy, Fr. Joao Eleuterio, Dean of the Faculty of Christian Studies and professor of dogmatic and patristic theology, Professor Arnold Monera, Professor of sacred Scriptures, Fr. Franz Gassner, SVD, professor of philosophy an ethics, and Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP, professor of theology and social ethics. Each participant spoke of the influence of Benedict XVI particularly regarding his field of teaching. We present here the intervention of our own Fr. Gomez)

We were going to take supper when we heard the incredible news: Pope Benedict XVI is resigning as Pope! It was the evening (Macau time) of February 11, 2013, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the International Day of the Sick when the Pope announced his resignation as Supreme Pontiff of the Church to take effect on February 28 at eight in the evening (8:00 PM). After supper we all rushed to watch CNN for more specifics on the history-making news. Why is Benedict XVI resigning? The words of Benedict XVI: “After having examined repeatedly my conscience before God, I have come to realize with certitude that my strength, due to advanced age, is not enough to carry out appropriately the Petrine ministry” (Address to Consistory, February 11, 2013). At first, the unexpected news of the papal resignation seemed incredible, shocking, saddening! Then, most of us thought that the resignation was an extraordinary act of humility and service to the Church, and a singular act of courage.

A few days later, on February 14, I had to go to Rome for the Annual Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), which usually celebrates its yearly meeting at the end of February. This year the encounter of about one hundred and twenty PAV members from all over the world took place on February 21-23, and focused on the theme “Faith and Life.” The 2013 meeting with international congress (February 22) had an added interest: the PAV sessions take place at the New Synod Hall inside the Vatican, where the Cardinals, including those over eighty, will meet before the coming Conclave. Moreover, the lunch of the three-day assembly is prepared at Sancta Martha, also inside the Vatican, which will be the residence of the Cardinals during the Conclave. I asked some PAV members how they felt after hearing the news of the Pope’s resignation. Let me quote two representative answers. One bishop from Australia told me: “I felt sadness, I was so surprised!” A well-known German philosopher said to me: “I could not believe it; I felt disappointed. Why did he resign? It is a mystery.” He added: “We are grateful to Benedict XVI, now we pray for the Cardinals.”  I said: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” He said: “Yes, I do too, but we have had a few bad popes, so we pray that the cardinals will understand the language of the Holy Spirit and follow his inspiration.”  Personally, after hearing the news of the papal resignation I felt sad, then grateful, and then hopeful!

After poorly digesting the news of the papal resignation, the next question many asked was on the heritage or legacy of the papacy of PopeBenedict XVI. For many people, his main message is his life: a coherent, lucid, humble and prayerful life (through the last days of his Pontificate he looks so serene, so at peace with himself, so grateful and compassionate, and so joyful. The Pope’s last twit of February 28: “I wish that each one of you experiences the joy of being a Christian”). Most people concerned agreed that his legacy is his magisterium, his clear and profound teaching on faith and morals. For me personally I treasure his three encyclicals focused on the close relationships of the virtues, in particular of faith, hope and charity, and truth and justice: Deus Caritas Est (On Christian Love, 2005), Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope, 2007) and Caritas in Veritate (On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth, 2009). Pope Benedict XVI also left us two important Apostolic Exhortations: Sacramentum Caritatis (on the Holy Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission, 2007), and Verbum Domini (On the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, 2010). Among other significant messages speeches, homilies, Angelus, etc.,I point out his Message for the World Day of Peace, January first of every year. These yearly messages complement his rich social teachings on justice, love and social ethics. Moreover, we cannot but underline the three books on Christ that he wrote during his papacy, books not of Benedict XVI but of Joseph Ratzinger the theologian, who is classified as a neo-Augustinian, ardent follower of St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure and Hans Urs von Balthasar. All the writings and messages of the Pope, including his acclaimed Light of the World (A Conversation with Peter Seewald, 2010)  are centered on Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life of every believer and of every person, and also on the human person, the center of morality. It is interesting to note that Benedict XVI likes to speak of a morality or ethics only, not of two as many like to do: life ethics and social ethics. He says that there is only one morality, one ethics because the human person, an individual and a social being is the subject and the center of all ethics.

Certainly, Vatican II continues to be the most significant event of the Church since last century. We owe to Pope Benedict XVI the calling of the Year of Faith (2012-2013) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). For him – for us – Vatican II is, as Blessed John XXIII said, “A great grace and a sure compass.” Benedict XVI urges us to renew our faith and help renew our Church: “If we interpret and implement it (Vatican II) guided by a right hermeneutics, it can be and can become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary renewal of the Church” (Address to the Roman Curia: December 22, 2005).

While in Rome and the Vatican, another question propped up: What will Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI do? The Pope himself answered when he announced his abdication: “I wish to serve with my whole heart with a life dedicated to prayer.” He made it clearer in subsequent messages. I heard him say it again from the balcony of his apartment on his last Angelus on February 24. Before a crowd of two hundred thousand people, mostly young (and some oldies, like me) filling St. Peter’s Basilica Plaza Pope Benedict XVI said: “The Lord is calling me to dedicate myself still more to prayer and to meditation.” And he added: “But this does not mean abandoning the Church; on the contrary God asks this of me, to serve the Church with the same dedication and love…, but in a way that is more adapted to my age and my strength.” On the last audience of February 27 the Pope said: “I am not abandoning the cross, but remain in a new way with the crucified Lord. I no longer carry the power of the office for the government of the Church, but in service of prayer I remain, so to speak, within St. Peter’s bounds.”

Usually, the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) have a papal audience. The members were always eager to hear the words of the Holy Father on the defense and promotion of human life. This time, the audience was cancelled a few weeks earlier. After knowing the news on the resignation, it was understood why this year there would be no papal audience. Instead the members were offered a guided visit to the Vatican Museum. It was truly worthwhile! Worthwhile in itself: there is so much to see, to admire, to enjoy, in particular the paintings of Raphael and, above all, Michael Angelo. Worthwhile also at this interesting time: The election of a new Pope! This election, as we all know, takes place at the Sistine Chapel, which was the last part of our visit to the Vatican Museum. In this chapel the election of the new Pope will take place soon. We admired Michel Angelo Last Judgment, and relished walking on the floor of the Chapel and learning where the place for the chimney would be – the chimney that will be fed with synthetic material and tell the world of the result of the votation every morning and evening: black smoke, no pope; white smoke, Habemus Papam!

I remember a few of the many quotable texts of Pope Benedict XVI, texts that keep enlightening and encouraging my life. As a tribute to our dear Holy Father, I print them hereafter:

As Augustine said, a State which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves (DCE, 28). In addition to justice man needs, and will always need, love (DCE, 29). The presence of suffering, of loneliness, of material need calls for love (DCE 28)

A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak (DCE, 31). It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love (SS, 25);

If there is lack of respect for the right to life and to a  natural death…, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology (CV, 51);

Indeed, many Christians dedicate their lives with love to those who are lonely, marginalized or excluded, as to those who are the first with a claim on our attention and the most important for us to support, because it is in them that the reflection of Christ’s own face is seen. Through faith, we can recognize the face of the risen Lord in those who ask for our love. ‘As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me”- Mt 25:40 (Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei for the Indiction of the Year of faith, 14).

To pray is not to isolate oneself from the world and its contradictions… Prayer, rather, leads us back to the journey, to action. The Christian life consists in continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down, bearing the love and strength drawn from him, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with God’s own love (Last Angelus, February 24, 2013)

At the last Angelus of Pope Benedict XVI (February 24, 2013), there were many streamers and posters among the huge crowd of people filling St. Peter’s Basilica Plaza. The most repeated motto was: “Grazie Padre,” “Grazie Santitá,” “Grazie Benedetto,” “Many, Many Thanks for Being the Sweet Christ on Earth.” Today February 28, the last day of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI is time, to say, above all, grazie, thanks, gracias!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us Pope Benedict XVI. And bless him on the last stage of his journey to You

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           FAUSTO GOMEZ, OP

USJ, February 28, 2013

FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY (Matt 9:14-15)

When Jesus in today’s Gospel was asked by the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees why he and his disciples did not fast. Jesus took the occasion of a wedding feast where the bride and bridegroom were treated as King and Queen and the closest friends shared all the joy of the festivities with them; so Jesus comparing himself to the bridegroom and his disciples to the bridegroom’s closest friends, told them that now is not the time for fasting while he-the bridegroom- is with his disciples- the closest friends of the bridegroom; when he will be taken away visibly from them, that is the time to fast.

So the Church has from earliest times, after Jesus ascended into heaven, evolved and practiced a rule of fasting and abstinence, which at present however has been greatly reduced and alternated and at times commuted by other forms of penance.

So Christ and the Church have not done away with fasting, fasting is still important for a Christian; but there can be a wrong way of fasting, that it does not have any religious value if fasting is undertaken for its own sake, or as an ostentatious demonstration of superior piety as the Pharisees practice it.

Jesus considers fasting or any penance as a means for attaining a greater purpose. The disciples of john the Baptist fasted frequently in order to follow the requirements of the law and also for their spiritual growth. Jesus condemns the wrong kind of fasting, but never means that fasting should be completely eliminated from our life. Jesus recommended for choose the proper time for fasting and he himself spent time in the desert pray and fasting as a preparation for his public life.

Although it is difficult to fast under the conditions of modern life, the Church still recommends us to undergo fasting and to do penance as an effective means of purifying our souls and making progress in our spiritual live.

Lent is a good opportunity for us to unite our penances and sacrifices with those of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fr. Dionisio Cabezon.

THE LENTEN SEASON BEGINS

With the imposition of the Ashes on Ash Wednesday, the Priory began the Lenten season on Febuary.13, 2013. The Ash Wednesday Mass was attended by the members of the community and some lay faithful.

Lent is the season of penance, conversion and reconciliation. May the journey of lent be hopeful and prayerful!

CELEBRATION OF THE WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE

February 2, 2013 is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple and the 17^th World Day of Consecrated Life. On this second day of February, we had two celebrations: one at home and the other at the Seminary of the Diocese of Macau.

The presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent image of the total gift of one’s life for all those men and women who are called to represent “the characteristic features of Jesus – the chaste, poor and obedient one” in the Church and in the world, through the evangelical counsels (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, no. 1). The celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, which will be observed for the first time on 2 February (1997), is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels and, at the same time, is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervor which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord (Blessed John Paul II, Message for February 2, 1997)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The second celebration took place in the Seminary building. The liturgical celebration was held at the beautiful Seminary Chapel and included the following activities: common recitation of the evening prayer of the day, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the prayer of the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The prayers, psalms, songs, and the brief and meaningful sharing of Bishop Jose centered on the World Day of Consecrated Life. About 140 religious women and men, including 18 Dominican sisters and brothers, took part in the liturgical celebration carried out in Chinese and English: nearly one hundred were women and over forty, men. This was most probably the biggest gathering of religious women and men in Macau so far. After the prayers, we all had a simple and plentiful dinner. The general comment on this powerful spiritual happening was: it was really meaningful and beautiful, a true agape that must be repeated – and not only on the Day of Consecrated life! (FG)

 

 

POPE BENDICT XVI:St Dominic Guzmán and Prayer

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St Dominic Guzmán, Priest and Founder of the Order of Preachers, known as the Dominicans. In a previous Catechesis I have already illustrated this distinguished figure and his fundamental contribution to the renewal of the Church in his time. Today, I would like to shed light on one of the essential aspects of his spirituality: his life of prayer. St Dominic was a man of prayer. In love with God, he had no other aspiration than the salvation of souls, especially those who had fallen into the net of the heresies of his time; a follower of Christ, he radically embodied the three evangelical counsels by combining the witness of a life of poverty with the proclamation of the Word. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance he made headway on the path of Christian perfection. At every moment prayer was the power that renewed his apostolic work and made it ever more fruitful.

 Blessed Jordan of Saxony († 1237), his successor as head of the Order, wrote: “During the day, no one was friendlier than he… conversely, at night no one watched in prayer more diligently than he. He dedicated the day to his neighbour, but gave the night to God” (P. Filippini, San Domenico visto dai suoi contemporanei, Bologna 1982, p. 133). In St Dominic we can see an example of harmonious integration between contemplation of the divine mysteries and apostolic work. According to the testimonies of people close to him, “he always spoke with God and of God”. This observation points to his profound communion with the Lord and, at the same time, to his constant commitment to lead others to this communion with God. He left no writings on prayer, but the Dominican tradition has collected and handed down his living experience in a work called: The Nine Ways of Prayer of St Dominic. This book was compiled by a Dominican friar between 1260 and 1288; it helps us to understand something of the Saint’s interior life and also helps us, with all the differences, to learn something of how to pray.

 There are, then, nine ways to pray, according to St Dominic, and each one — always before Jesus Crucified — expresses a deeply penetrating physical and spiritual approach that fosters recollection and zeal. The first seven ways follow an ascending order, like the steps on a path, toward intimate communion with God, with the Trinity: St Dominic prayed standing bowed to express humility, lying prostrate on the ground to ask forgiveness for his sins, kneeling in penance to share in the Lord’s suffering, his arms wide open, gazing at the Crucifix to contemplate Supreme Love, looking heavenwards feeling drawn to God’s world.

 Thus there are three positions: standing, kneeling, lying prostrate on the ground; but with the gaze ever directed to our Crucified Lord. However the last two positions, on which I would like to reflect briefly, correspond to two of the Saint’s customary devotional practices. First, personal meditation, in which prayer acquires an even more intimate, fervent and soothing dimension. After reciting the Liturgy of the Hours and after celebrating Mass, St Dominic prolonged his conversation with God without setting any time limit. Sitting quietly, he would pause in recollection in an inner attitude of listening, while reading a book or gazing at the Crucifix. He experienced these moments of closeness to God so intensely that his reactions of joy or of tears were outwardly visible. In this way, through meditation, he absorbed the reality of the faith. Witnesses recounted that at times he entered a kind of ecstasy with his face transfigured, but that immediately afterwards he would humbly resume his daily work, recharged by the power that comes from on High.

 Then come his prayers while travelling from one convent to another. He would recite Lauds, Midday Prayer and Vespers with his companions, and, passing through the valleys and across the hills he would contemplate the beauty of creation. A hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God for his many gifts would well up from his heart, and above all for the greatest wonder: the redemptive work of Christ.

 Dear friends, St Dominic reminds us that prayer, personal contact with God is at the root of the witness to faith which every Christian must bear at home, at work, in social commitments and even in moments of relaxation; only this real relationship with God gives us the strength to live through every event with intensity, especially the moments of greatest anguish. This Saint also reminds us of the importance of physical positions in our prayer. Kneeling, standing before the Lord, fixing our gaze on the Crucifix, silent recollection — these are not of secondary importance but help us to put our whole selves inwardly in touch with God. I would like to recall once again the need, for our spiritual life, to find time everyday for quiet prayer; we must make this time for ourselves, especially during the holidays, to have a little time to talk with God. It will also be a way to help those who are close to us enter into the radiant light of God’s presence which brings the peace and love we all need. Thank you.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

A kid tells another: “Happy New Year.” The other replies, “Happy New Year to you, too,” and adds, “By the way, what is happiness?”

For us Christians, happiness is Beatitude. Jesus is the Beatitude of God. Jesus, our Way, taught us that his eight beatitudes (Mt 5:3-10) are eight forms of happiness and paths to more happiness here and hereafter: the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who practice the beatitudes. “Blessed re the poor in spirit, the gentle, the merciful, the persecuted for the sake of justice… and the peacemakers

Among the eight beatitudes we have the beatitude of peace: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” To wish one another a Happy New Year means to wish one another a Peaceful New Year. On the first day of the New Year of 2013, we ask the Mother of God on her Feast day to bless all those we have wished a happy new year, to bless them with the gift of peace, and we ask her, too, to help us be peacemakers.

This is what our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI asks us today in his Message for the World Day of Peace entitled: Blessed are the peacemakers (see the Vatican’s web page: Benedict XVI, Messages). How to be, or become more, a peacemaker in our family, in our city, in our world?

To be able to be a peacemaker around us, we need to have peace in us – in our hearts: “Peace begins within our hearts” (Paul VI). Indeed, as the song exclaims: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

To have peace within ourselves, we need to have peace with God, for we are sinners and sin means lack of true peace in our hearts. Without inner peace we cannot give peace to others: no one can give what he or she does not have. With this interior peace we are ready to contribute to external peace: “Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find liberation” (St. Seraphim).

Peace means harmony within and without. The five columns of peace are life, truth, freedom, justice and love, above all, love. Peace therefore requires working together in love, loving one another – all others. Benedict XVI tells us today: To work for peace includes “to say no to revenge, to recognize injustices, to accept apologies without looking for them, and finally, to forgive” (see Peace Message, 2013, no. 7). A Christmas card I received shouted at me in red color-letters: “To forgive and be forgiven make new every day.” In this Eucharist, when we offer peace to one another we forgive all and thus our 2013 is truly from its very first day a new year.

True peace means loving one another with unconditional and universal love: loving all human beings, in a particular way the ones who need it most: the poor and needy around us. The seven other beatitudes are permeated by the first: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” that is, those who are detached from things, and care for and share something with the poor. The poor represent Christ in a special way: “I was hungry and you gave me food…; what you do to the least of my brothers and sisters you do it to me” (see Mt 25:31-46).

To be peacemakers, we who are sinners and tend to be selfish need to pray, for peace entails our human efforts, yes; but radically God’s grace: peace is a gift from God. On the Feast of the Motherhood of Mary, we ask the Mother of Jesus and our Mother to help us acquire internal peace and work for peace around us. We ask her, who is Regina Pacis, the Queen of Peace to bless us through her Rosary, which is by nature, according to Blessed John Paul II, “a prayer for peace.”

Let me close my reflection on the World Day of Peace with the well-known prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, who lived a life of full peace: harmony within himself, with God, with all others, especially the poor, and with the whole creation – with brother son and sister moon, and also with sister death! We all pray:

Lord, / make me an instrument of your peace. /

Where there is hatred, / let me sow love. /

Where there is injury, / pardon. /

Where there is doubt, / faith. /

Where there is despair, / hope. /

Where there is darkness, / light. /

And where there is sadness, / joy. /

May you and your loved ones have a Happy New Year, that is, a Peaceful New Year! Saint Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP

St. Dominic’s Priory, Macau