VATICAN
CITY, FEB. 22, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is Benedict
XVI annual Lenten message, which was released today with a
theme from Colossians: "You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him." The message
offers a reflection for each of the Sunday Gospel readings
of the liturgical season.
* * *
"You
were buried with him in baptism, in which you were
also raised with him." (cf. Col 2: 12)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
The Lenten period, which leads us
to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church
a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of
which I am pleased to offer a specific word in
order that it may be lived with due diligence. As
she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the
eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable
works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as
to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the
new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of
Lent).
1. This very life was already bestowed upon
us on the day of our Baptism, when we "become
sharers in Christ´s death and Resurrection", and there began for
us "the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples" (Homily
on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10
January, 2010). In his Letters, St. Paul repeatedly insists on
the singular communion with the Son of God that this
washing brings about. The fact that, in most cases, Baptism
is received in infancy highlights how it is a gift
of God: no one earns eternal life through their own
efforts. The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at
the same time, allows us to experience in our lives
"the mind of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2: 5), is given
to men and women freely.The Apostle to the Gentiles, in
the Letter to the Philippians, expresses the meaning of the
transformation that takes place through participation in the death and
resurrection of Christ, pointing to its goal: that "I may
come to know him and the power of his resurrection,
and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the
pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of resurrection
from the dead" (Phil 3: 10-11). Hence, Baptism is not
a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ,
which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine
life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by
Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature
of Christ.
A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent
as the favorable time to experience this saving Grace. The
Fathers of the Second Vatican Council exhorted all of the
Church´s Pastors to make greater use "of the baptismal features
proper to the Lenten liturgy" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 109). In fact, the Church has always
associated the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism: this
Sacrament realizes the great mystery in which man dies to
sin, is made a sharer in the new life of
the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God
who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rm 8: 11).
This free gift must always be rekindled in each one
of us, and Lent offers us a path like that
of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early
Church, just as for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school
of faith and Christian life. Truly, they live their Baptism
as an act that shapes their entire existence.
2.
In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter
and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord
– the most joyous and solemn feast of the entire
liturgical year – what could be more appropriate than allowing
ourselves to be guided by the Word of God? For
this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the
Sundays of Lent, leads us to a particularly intense encounter
with the Lord, calling us to retrace the steps of
Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for receiving the Sacrament
of rebirth; for the baptized, in light of the new
and decisive steps to be taken in the sequela Christi
and a fuller giving of oneself to him.
The
First Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as
human beings here on earth. The victorious battle against temptation,
the starting point of Jesus´ mission, is an invitation to
become aware of our own fragility in order to accept
the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength
in Christ – the way, the truth and the life
(cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, n. 25). It is a
powerful reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of
Jesus and in union with him, a battle "against the
ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this
world" (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at
work and never tires – even today – of tempting
whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges
victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide
us in overcoming the seductions of evil.
The Gospel
of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes
the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces
the divinization of man. The Christian community becomes aware that
Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John
"up a high mountain by themselves" (Mt 17: 1), to
receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in
the Son, the gift of the Grace of God: "This
is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen
to him" (Mt17: 5). It is the invitation to take
a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order
to immerse oneself in God´s presence. He desires to hand
down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the
depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil
(cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.
The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman:
"Give me a drink" (Jn 4: 7), is presented to
us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses
the passion of God for every man and woman, and
wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the
gift of "a spring of water within, welling up for
eternal life" (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of
the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into "true worshipers," capable
of praying to the Father "in spirit and truth" (Jn
4: 23). Only this water can extinguish our thirst for
goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us
by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless
and unsatisfied soul, until it "finds rest in God", as
per the famous words of St. Augustine.
The Sunday
of the man born blind presents Christ as the light
of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us
with the question: "Do you believe in the Son of
man?" "Lord, I believe!" (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man
born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers. The
miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants
not only to give us sight, but also open our
interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper
and we may recognize him as our only Savior. He
illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men
and women to live as "children of the light".
On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is
proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our
existence: "I am the resurrection and the life… Do you
believe this?" (Jn11: 25-26). For the Christian community, it is
the moment to place with sincerity – together with Martha
– all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: "Yes,
Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son
of God, the one who was to come into this
world" (Jn 11: 27). Communion with Christ in this life
prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that
we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection
of the dead and hope in eternal life open our
eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created
men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth
gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to
the personal and social lives of men and women, to
culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith,
the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of
any future, any hope.
The Lenten journey finds its fulfillment
in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil of
the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we reaffirm that
Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which
God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of "water
and Holy Spirit", and we profess again our firm commitment
to respond to the action of the Grace in order
to be his disciples.
3. By immersing ourselves into
the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of
Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day
from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship
with the "world" that impoverishes us and prevents us from
being available and open to God and our neighbor. In
Christ, God revealed himself as Love (cf. 1Jn 4: 7-10).
The Cross of Christ, the "word of the Cross", manifests
God´s saving power (cf. 1Cor 1: 18), that is given
to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation:
it is love in its most extreme form (cf. Encyclical
Deus caritas est, n. 12). Through the traditional practices of
fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our
commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the
love of Christ in an ever more radical way. Fasting,
which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious
significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we
learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the
logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of
deprivation – and not just what is in excess –
we learn to look away from our "ego", to discover
Someone close to us and to recognize God in the
face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians, fasting,
far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God
and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of
God to become also love of our neighbor (cf. Mk
12: 31).
In our journey, we are often faced
with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that
undermine God´s primacy in our lives. The greed of possession
leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church,
especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practicealmsgiving –
which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods,
on the other hand, not only causes us to drift
away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving
him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts
materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source
of life. How can we understand God´s paternal goodness, if
our heart is full of egoism and our own projects,
deceiving us that our future is guaranteed? The temptation is
to think, just like the rich man in the parable:
"My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by
for many years to come…". We are all aware of
the Lord´s judgment: "Fool! This very night the demand will
be made for your soul…" (Lk 12: 19-20). The practice
of almsgiving is a reminder of God´s primacy and turns
our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how
good our Father is, and receive his mercy.
During
the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God´s Word
with particular abundance. By meditating and internalizing the Word in
order to live it every day, we learn a precious
and irreplaceable form of prayer; by attentively listening to God,
who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the
itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism.
Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of
time: without the perspective of eternity and transcendence, in fact,
time simply directs our steps towards a horizon without a
future. Instead, when we pray, we find time for God,
to understand that his "words will not pass away" (cf.
Mk 13: 31), to enter into that intimate communion with
Him "that no one shall take from you" (Jn 16:
22), opening us to the hope that does not disappoint,
eternal life.
In synthesis, the Lenten journey, in which
we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross,
is meant to reproduce within us "the pattern of his
death" (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deepconversion
in our lives; that we may be transformed by the
action of the Holy Spirit, like St. Paul on the
road to Damascus; that we may firmly orient our existence
according to the will of God; that we may be
freed of our egoism, overcoming the instinct to dominate others
and opening us to the love of Christ. The Lenten
period is a favorable time to recognize our weakness and
to accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the
renewing Grace of the Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely
towards Christ.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal
encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer,
the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover
our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of
the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment,
so that it may illuminate and guide all of our
actions. What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called
to experience every day by following Christ in an ever
more generous and authentic manner. In this our itinerary, let
us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, who generated the
Word of God in faith and in the flesh, so
that we may immerse ourselves – just as she did
– in the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus,
and possess eternal life.
From the Vatican, 4 November,
2010
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
