"...the driving force of charity in truth" - Pope Benedict XVI

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Pope Benedict XVI wrote so clearly of the dangers so many did not see when he wrote this encyclical, “Charity in truth”, June 29, 2009. There are many who still do not see God’s Light shining in the darkness. May the Holy Spirit guide us into, and hold us fast to, all Truth:

1. The supremacy of technology tends to prevent people from recognizing anything that cannot be explained in terms of matter alone. Yet everyone experiences the many immaterial and spiritual dimensions of life. Knowing is not simply a material act, since the object that is known always conceals something beyond the empirical datum. All our knowledge, even the most simple, is always a minor miracle, since it can never be fully explained by the material instruments that we apply to it. In every truth there is something more than we would have expected, in the love that we receive there is always an element that surprises us. We should never cease to marvel at these things. In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised. The development of individuals and peoples is likewise located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the “beyond” that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Yet for some, there is only a big rush to shop for more material things. I remember a time when the nuns taught us in Elementary School about offering “spiritual gifts” to Christ and to others. Technology is only one of many different “gods” in this growing materialistic world. I wonder how many will celebrate Christ as King in their hearts tomorrow.

Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of Your Faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.
Jesus we trust in You!
Mary, Mother of the Church pray for us.

 

[hazcompat]

Fides et Ratio
Pope Saint John Paul II

CHAPTER III: INTELLEGO UT CREDAM

Journeying in search of truth

1. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Evangelist Luke tells of Paul’s coming to Athens on one of his missionary journeys. The city of philosophers was full of statues of various idols. One altar in particular caught his eye, and he took this as a convenient starting-point to establish a common base for the proclamation of the kerygma. “Athenians,” he said, “I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god’. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22-23). From this starting-point, Saint Paul speaks of God as Creator, as the One who transcends all things and gives life to all. He then continues his speech in these terms: “From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26-27).

The Apostle accentuates a truth which the Church has always treasured: in the far reaches of the human heart there is a seed of desire and nostalgia for God. The Liturgy of Good Friday recalls this powerfully when, in praying for those who do not believe, we say: “Almighty and eternal God, you created mankind so that all might long to find you and have peace when you are found”.(22) There is therefore a path which the human being may choose to take, a path which begins with reason’s capacity to rise beyond what is contingent and set out towards the infinite.

Christ Jesus, reign in my heart.

Peace

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Good to hear from you again! Pope St. John Paul II had much in common with his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, it seems to me. Perhaps they both studied Scripture on their knees! How we need more men and women in the Church today, who are listening to God’s Word, and by His Grace striving to live the Truth they hear.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your Faithful; kindle in us the fire of Your Love.
Our Lady of Light, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Christ the King, reign in us.