© 2009-2011 Redemptoris Mater Seminary 26 Camboon Road, Morley, (Perth) Western Australia 6062
World Youth Day - Madrid 2011
Held in cathedral church of Santa María La Real de la Almudena, Madrid
Some points from the Homily:
1. THE TIME IN THE SEMINARY:
Dear friends, you are preparing yourselves to become apostles with Christ and like Christ, and to accompany your fellow men and women along their journey as companions and servants. How should
Papal Homily at Mass With Seminarians
you behave during these years of preparation? First of all, they should be years of interior silence, of unceasing prayer, of constant study and of gradual insertion into the pastoral activity and structures of the Church.
2. CALLED TO BE SAINTS
We have to be saints so as not to create a contradiction between the sign that we are and the reality that we wish to signify.
3. A LIFE ROOTED IN CHRIST AND NOT IN THE WORLD
Relying on his love, do not be intimidated by surroundings that would exclude God and in which power, wealth and pleasure are frequently the main criteria ruling people’s lives. You may be shunned along with others who propose higher goals or who unmask the false gods before whom many now bow down. That will be the moment when a life deeply
Vigil of Prayer with Pope Benedict at Cuatro Vientos
Pope Benedict’s Address to the youth plus the storm
rooted in Christ will clearly be seen as something new and it will powerfully attract those who truly search for God, truth and justice.
Excerpts from this address:
Yes, dear friends, God loves us. This is the great truth of our life; it is what makes everything else meaningful. We are not the product of blind chance or absurdity; instead our life originates as part of a loving plan of God. To abide in his love, then, means living a life rooted in faith, since faith is more than the mere acceptance of certain abstract truths: it is an intimate relationship with Christ, who enables us to open our hearts to this mystery of love and to live as men and women conscious of being loved by God.
Dear friends, may no adversity paralyse you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor
of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment
of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the
world.
During this prayer vigil, I urge you to ask God to help you find your
vocation in society and in the Church, and to persevere in that vocation with joy
and fidelity. It is a good thing to open our hearts to Christ’s call and to follow
with courage and generosity the path he maps out for us.
The Lord calls many people
to marriage, in which a man and a woman, in becoming one flesh (cf. Gen 2:24), find
fulfilment in a profound life of communion. It is a prospect that is both bright
and demanding. It is a project for true love which is daily renewed and deepened
by sharing joys and sorrows, one marked by complete self-giving. For this reason,
to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of marriage is to realize that only a setting
of fidelity and indissolubility, along with openness to God’s gift of life, is adequate
to the grandeur and dignity of marital love.
Christ calls others to follow him
more closely in the priesthood or in consecrated life. It is hard to put into words
the happiness you feel when you know that Jesus seeks you, trusts in you, and with
his unmistakable voice also says to you: "Follow me!" (cf. Mk 2:14).
Click here for the full address SEE NEXT PAGE FOR THE MASS WITH POPE BENEDICT
