27 February 2013

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 27 February 2013 [Video] Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Presbyterate! Distinguished Authorities! Dear Brothers and Sisters! I thank all of you for having come in such great numbers to this last General Audience. Heartfelt thanks! I am truly moved and I see the Church alive! And I think we should also says thanks to the Creator for the fine weather which he gives us even on this winter day. Like the Apostle...

13 February 2013

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 13 February 2013 [Video] Dear Brothers and Sisters, As you know, I have decided – thank you for your kindness – to renounce the ministry which the Lord entrusted to me on 19 April 2005. I have done this in full freedom for the good of the Church, after much prayer and having examined my conscience before God, knowing full well the seriousness of this act, but also realizing that I am no longer able to carry...

6 February 2013

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 6 February 2013 [Video] Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Creed which begins by describing God as “the Father Almighty”, the topic of our meditation last week, then adds that he is “Maker of heaven and earth”, and thus takes up the affirmation with which the Bible begins. Indeed the first verse of Sacred Scripture reads: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). God is the origin of all things and...

30 January 2013, I believe in God: the almighty Father

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 30 January 2013 [Video] I believe in God: the almighty Father Dear Brothers and Sisters, In last Wednesday’s Catechesis we reflected on the opening words of the Creed: “I believe in one God”. But the profession of faith specifies this affirmation: God is the almighty Father, Creator of heaven and earth. Thus I would like to reflect with you now on the first and fundamental definition of God which the Creed presents to us: he...

23 January 2013, “I believe in God”

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 23 January 2013 [Video] “I believe in God” Dear Brothers and Sisters, In this Year of Faith, today I would like to begin to reflect with you on the “Creed”, that is, on the solemn profession of faith that accompanies our life as believers. The opening words of the “Creed” are: “I believe in God”. It is a fundamental affirmation, seemingly simple in its essence, but it opens on to the infinite world of the relationship with...

January 16, 2013. Jesus Christ “the mediator and the fullness of all revelation”

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 16 January 2013 [Video] Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council states that the intimate truth of the whole Revelation of God shines forth for us “in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation” (n. 2). The Old Testament tells us that after the Creation — in spite of original sin, in spite of man’s arrogance in wishing to put...

January 9, 2013. Became man

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 9 January 2013 [Video] He became a man Dear Brothers and Sisters, In this Christmas season let us reflect once again on the great mystery of God who came down from heaven to enter our flesh. In Jesus God was incarnate, he became a man like us and in this way opened for us the road to his heavenly Kingdom, to full communion with him. In these days the term the “Incarnation” of God has rung out several times in our churches,...

January 2, 2013. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 2 January 2013 [Video] Dear Brothers and Sisters, Once again the Nativity of the Lord illuminates the gloom that often envelops our world and our hearts and with its light brings hope and joy. Where does this light come from? From the Bethlehem Grotto where the shepherds found “Mary and Joseph, and the babe, lying in a manger” (Lk 2:16). Another, deeper question arises before this Holy Family: how can that tiny, frail Child...

December 19, 2012. The Faith of Mary

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 19 December 2012 [Video] Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Virgin Mary has a special place in the journey of Advent as the One who, in a unique way, awaited the fulfilment of God’s promises, welcoming Jesus the Son of God in faith and in the flesh and with full obedience to the divine will. Today, I wish to ponder briefly with you on Mary’s faith, starting from the great mystery of the Annunciation. “Chaîre kecharitomene, ho...

December 12, 2012. The Year of Faith. The stages of the Revelation

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 12 December 2012 [Video] Year of Faith. The stages of the Revelation Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our Catechesis last week I spoke of the Revelation of God as a communication he makes of himself and of his benevolent and loving purpose. This Revelation of God fits into human time and history: a history that becomes “the arena where we see what God does for humanity. God comes to us in the things we know best and can verify...