The Italian press agency AGI reports on the Pope's Chrism Mass homily:
POPE REMEMBERS DON SANTORO, MAN OF PRAYER
(AGI) - Vatican City, April 13 - "Being a priest means being a man of prayer". Benedict XVI wanted to remind his listeners of this fact today: all the priests, bishops and cardinals who celebrated at his side the Chrism Mass, the first ritual of Maundy Thursday. "Being a priest", said the Pope, "means being a friend of Jesus Christ, and this ever more so with all of our existence. The world needs God, not just any god, but the God of Jesus Christ, the God who became flesh and blood, who loved us to the point of dying for us, who rose again and found room in himself for man. This God must live in us and we must live in Him".
Stressing that this is "our priestly calling", Pope Ratzinger gave homage to Don Andrea Santoro, murdered last February in Trebisonda, Turkey, while praying, by repeating a phrase Cardinal Marco Ce' said during Spiritual Exercises. "The word", said the Pope, "said 'I am here to live among these people and allow Christ to do so by lending him my flesh. One becomes capable of salvation only by offering up their bodies. The evil in the world needs to be carried and the pain shared, absorbing it in one's bodies completely, as did Jesus".
Pope Ratzinger stressed that every priest needs prayer, "a mount", "an interior height that we must climb". "Only in this way", the Pope noted, "can friendship develop. Only in this way can we carry out our priestly duties, only in this way can we bring Christ and his Gospels to men". Benedict XVI didn't hide the fact that "simple activism can be heroic". But, he warned, "external acting, at the end of the day, doesn't produce fruit and loses effectiveness if it does not arise from the deep, intimate communion with Christ. The time that we use for this is time of pastoral activity, of authentic pastoral activity".
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The homily (in Italian) is online at the Vatican site.
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