By Deacon Keith Fournier (Catholic.org)
“We cannot stoop to compromises with the love of Christ, his Word, the Truth. The Truth is the Truth and there is no compromise. Christian life requires, so to speak, the daily “martyrdom” of fidelity to the Gospel – that is the courage to let Christ grow in us and direct our thinking and our actions. But this can only happen in our lives if there is a solid relationship with God. Prayer is not a waste of time, it does not rob much space from our activities, not even apostolic activities, it does the exact opposite: only if we are able to have a life of faithful, constant, confident prayer will God Himself give us the strength and capacity to live in a happy and peaceful way, to overcome difficulties and to bear witness with courage.”
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Catholic Online) – Pope Benedict XVI addresses thousands of Pilgrims every Wednesday during the Angelus prayer. This “Wednesday Catechesis” is a longstanding tradition of the modern Popes. Between September 5, 1979 and November 28, 1984, His predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, delivered a series of 129 catechetical instructions called Human Love in the Divine Plan, often referred to as “theology of the Body”.
Pope Benedict XVI has offered some of his finest instructions on prayer at these Wednesday sessions. He has also given some inspiring accounts of the lives of the great saints – he is one of Church histories finest hagiographers. He is towering intellect but, more importantly, he truly prays – and continually. This Pope is a theologian of the highest order and, I believe, a true mystic.
As a theologian he calls to mind the definition of the early Church Monk Evagrius, “If you are a theologian you truly pray. If you truly pray you are a theologian.” The same monk also wrote “A theologian is one who rests his head on the chest of Christ”. Pope Benedict is that kind of theologian.
Sadly, his instructions are not yet read or watched by many of the faithful throughout the world. I say sadly because we live in an age when such a possibility could easily happen through our communications technology. One of the reasons I try to bring these instructions to our readers is to expose as many Catholics and other Christians to the apostolic teaching of this successor of Peter for their growth in the Christian life.
On Wednesday, August 29, 2012, the Holy Father led the Angelus prayer from Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence. Thousands gathered. It was the Feast of the beheading of John the Baptizer. His address is an example of both his skills of hagiography (telling the stories of the Saints) and teaching good theology combined. Here are a few excerpts:
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“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On the last Wednesday of August, we celebrate the liturgical memorial of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. In the Roman Calendar, he is the only saint whose birth, June 24, and death through martyrdom are celebrated on the same day. Today’s memorial dates back to the dedication of a crypt of Sebaste in Samaria, where, by the middle of the fourth century, his head was venerated.
The cult spread to Jerusalem, in the Churches of the East and Rome, with the title of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. In the Roman Martyrology, reference is made to a second finding of the precious relic, transported, for the occasion, to the church of St. Sylvester in Campo Marzio, Rome.
These small historical references help us to understand how ancient and profound devotion to the John the Baptist is. In the Gospels his role in relation to Jesus stands out very well. In particular, St Luke tells his birth, his life in the wilderness, his preaching, and St. Mark tells us about his tragic death in today’s Gospel. John the Baptist began his preaching under the emperor Tiberius, in AD 27-28, and his clear invitation addressed to the people who flocked to hear him, is to prepare the way to welcome the Lord, to straighten the crooked streets of life through a radical change of heart (cf. Lk 3, 4).
But the Baptist did not limit himself to preaching repentance, conversion, he also recognized Jesus as the “Lamb of God” who comes to take away the sin of the world (Jn 1, 29), he has the deep humility to reveal in Jesus the true Messenger of God, stepping aside so that Christ can grow, be listened to and followed. As a final note, the Baptist bears witness to his fidelity to the commandments of God with his blood, without ever giving in or turning back, carrying out his mission to the very end. In his Homilies the IXth century monk, St. Bede writes:
“For [Christ] he gave his life, although he was not ordered to deny Jesus Christ, he was ordered not to silence the truth. However, he died for Christ “(Hom. 23: CCL 122, 354). For the love of truth, he did not stoop to compromises with the powerful and was not afraid to use strong words with those who had lost the path of God.
Now we look at this great figure, this strength in passion, in resistance to the powerful. Where does this life of rectitude and coherency, this interior strength, completely spent for God and to prepare the way for Jesus, come from? The answer is simple: from his relationship with God, from prayer, which is the main theme of his whole existence. John is the Divine gift that had been long invoked by his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:13), a great gift, humanly beyond hope, because both were advanced in years and Elizabeth was barren (cf. Lk 1:7), but nothing is impossible for God (cf. Luke 1:36). … Read more.