Seventh Day
Sixth Day
On this, the first anniversary of my election as the Successor of Saint Peter, I thank the Lord for his unfailing help, and I express my gratitude to all those who have supported me by their prayers. I ask you to continue praying that, by God’s grace, I may always be a gentle and firm Shepherd for Christ’s flock. During these days of Easter, the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. The Paschal Mystery is the core of our faith! Our yearly celebration of Easter is a foretaste of the eternal joy of heaven. This joy is renewed each Sunday at the celebration of the Eucharist, when we proclaim "the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come", and celebrate the new life received in Baptism. During these days of Easter, all Christians are called to encounter the Risen Lord, to renew their faith in him, to be transformed by the power of his grace, and to share with the men and women of our time the Good News that Christ is truly risen!
I offer a warm welcome to the newly-ordained deacons of the Pontifical Irish College and their families. I also greet the pilgrims from the Diocese of Kerry. Upon all the English-speaking visitors, especially those from Ireland, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the United States, I invoke an abundance of joy and peace in the Risen Lord.
First of all, it must be said that Holy Scripture cannot be read like just any historical book, as we read, for example, Homer, Ovid, or Horace. We must read it as truly the Word of God, placing ourselves in conversation with God. We must pray first, and talk to the Lord: “Open the door for me.” St. Augustine says this frequently in his homilies: “I knocked at the door of the Word in order to find at last what the Lord wanted to say to me.” [...]
A second point is this: Sacred Scripture brings us into communion with the family of God. So we cannot read Sacred Scripture on our own. Of course, it is always important to read the Bible in a very personal way, in a personal conversation with God, but at the same time it is important to read it in the company of persons who are on the journey with us. We must let ourselves be aided by the great masters of “lectio divina.” We have, for example, many wonderful books by cardinal Martini, a true master of “lectio divina,” which help us to enter into the living world of Sacred Scripture. [...]
A third point: if it is important to read Sacred Scripture with the help of teachers and in the company of our friends, our companions on the way, it is particularly important to read it in the great company of the pilgrim People of God, the Church. Sacred Scripture has two subjects. In the first place, there is the divine subject: it is God who is speaking. But God wanted to involve man in his Word. While the Muslims are convinced that the Qur’an was inspired by God word for word, we believe that one of the characteristics of Sacred Scripture – as the theologians put it – is “synergy,” God’s collaboration with man. He involves his People in his word, and thus the second subject – as I have said, God is the first subject – is human. The authors are individual, but there is the continuity of a permanent subject: the People of God that walks with the Word of God and is in conversation with God. In listening to God, one learns to listen to the Word of God, and also to interpret it. And thus the Word of God becomes present, because individual persons die, but the vital subject, the People of God, is always alive, and remains the same down through the ages: it is always the same living subject in which the Word lives.
This also explains many of the structures in Sacred Scripture, especially the so-called “rereading.” An ancient text is represented in another book, let’s say a hundred years later, and then there is a profound understanding of what had previously been inscrutable, even though it had been contained in the earlier text. Then it is reread again some time later, and new aspects are understood, other dimensions of the Word. And so, in this ongoing rereading and rewriting in the context of a profound continuity, while the time of expectation wore on, Sacred Scripture grew. Finally, with the coming of Christ and the experience of the apostles the Word was made definitive, so that there can be no more rewritings, although our understanding always must be deepened. The Lord has said: “The Holy Spirit will bring you into depths that you cannot bear now.” [...]
I think that we must learn these three elements: reading in personal conversation with the Lord; reading in the company of instructors who have the experience of the faith; reading in the great company of the Church, in whose liturgy these events continuously become present anew, such that we gradually enter more and more into Sacred Scripture, in which God really speaks to us today.
The Rev. Joseph Fessio, a former student of Benedict's and the publisher of his books in English, said he understands the impatience among fellow conservatives for a more active papacy but is not worried because "it's early yet."
When the encyclical on love appeared, "a lot of people said it wasn't the condemnation we expected, it was very open to others. That's true. He talks about the love of Eros. Here's the 'Panzer Cardinal' talking about erotic love!" he said.
But, Fessio noted, the encyclical also says that when erotic love is purified, it leads to exclusiveness and permanence. "And what does that mean? He's saying that that kind of love is only between a man and a woman, so he's rejecting homosexual unions. And he said it's exclusive and permanent, so he's excluding divorce and promiscuity."
"So on the surface it was non-controversial -- but underneath he was laying the groundwork, the principles, for conclusions that are controversial," Fessio said, adding: "I think this second year is going to be the one to look it."
Even in the first weeks, it was clear that he was not a chilly and unbending bureaucrat, but a basically gentle man with excellent listening skills and a gift with words.
Fifth Day
Explaining the invocations Regina Caeli, Benedict added that “Mary kept in her the heart the ‘Good News’ of the resurrection, source and secret of the true joy and real peace that the Dead and Risen Christ conquered for us with the sacrifice on the Cross. Let us call on Mary, who accompanied us in the days of the Passion, to continue guiding our steps in this time of spiritual joy so that we may always grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord and become witnesses and apostles of His peace.”
In the festive atmosphere of Easter, the Pope also mentioned the “joy of an important anniversary. Five hundred years ago—April 18, 1506, to be exact—Pope Julius II laid the first stone of the new Basilica of St Peter, [a structure] that the entire world admires for the powerful harmony of its forms”.
“With admiration,” Benedict XVI mentioned, “the artists who contributed with their genius to building and decorating” the basilica, people like Michelangelo, Raffaello, and Bramante. He said he was grateful to popes like Julius II who devoted themselves to erecting the basilica on top of the tomb of St Peter. He also thanked the staff of the [Reverenda] Fabbrica di San Pietro, [the church agency] that maintains and safeguards such a masterpiece of art and faith.”
Finally, the Pontiff stressed that this anniversary should reawaken “in every catholic the desire to be like living stones (1 Pt: 2,5) to build the Holy Church in which the ‘light of Christ’ is brightly visible through charity that is lived and witnessed before the world.”
Following the prayer, Benedict XVI greeted in different languages the pilgrims who had gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. When he came to greet them in Italian, a group of young people from Naples (Italy) began to sing a well-known Neapolitan song, Ohi vita, Ohi vita mia. Amused and cheerful, the Pope responded saying: “I see there is no lack of Easter joy” among you.
Fourth Day
Let’s take this beautiful feast of Easter and celebrate it by praying in our hearts, “ Jesus is Lord.” That’s the shortest and most succinct Christian creed, “ Jesus is Lord.” Let us joyfully celebrate the resurrection. For years The New York Times has ignored the celebration of Easter entirely. I wrote to them some time ago and they told me they would change, but they didn’t. I’m happy to say that The New York Sun, which is owned by Jewish people and not published on the Sabbath or Sunday, had a beautiful photograph of the Pope on Good Friday morning and also recognition of the Christian message of Easter. Let’s look at where our friends really are. May I ask you to take a look at the New York Sun if you live in our area? In any event keep reminding people, “ Jesus is Lord.”
Third Day
“May the Risen Lord grant that the strength of his life, peace and freedom be experienced everywhere. Today the words with which the Angel reassured the frightened hearts of the women on Easter morning are addressed to all: "Do not be afraid! ... He is not here; he is risen (Mt 28:5-6)". Jesus is risen, and he gives us peace; he himself is peace. For this reason the Church repeats insistently: "Christ is risen - Christós anésti." Let the people of the third millennium not be afraid to open their hearts to him. His Gospel totally quenches the thirst for peace and happiness that is found in every human heart. Christ is now alive and he walks with us. What an immense mystery of love!”
Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all”. Christ answered him: “And with your spirit”. He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.
Second Day
