She was born on April 23, 1734 in Metz as eighth of fifteen children in her family. On her 21st birthday she entered the Company in the Motherhouse in Paris. As a Daughter of Charity she profoundly dedicated her life to the service of the poor and sick organizing the first hospital in Dax. She was its first Director and Superioress of the community. Captured during the French Revolution and convicted for refusal of taking Civil Constitution oath of  loyalty. Guillotined on the square in Dax almost 105 years after St. Vincent de paul was born in nearby village of Berceau (presently Berceau St. Vincent de Paul). Her martyrdom was recognized in 2011 when Pope Benedict XVI approved it in special decree. This act opened the path to beatification.

The Arena de ville was filled with the faithful long time before the ceremony. “The enthusiasm of the crowd, comprised of many French and Spanish young people (including many among in the Vincentian Marian Youth movement, i.e., Juventud Mariana Vicenciana), along with the pride of the local community in hosting this event was evident.”, as later Fr. John Maher CM reported. The altar covered with flat roof was built on the big square podium in the center of the arena against the main entrance. A picture of Sr. Marguerite was placed behind the alter highly elevated. Through this entrance, where usually bulls are running in for the encounter with matadors, the celebrants came in long procession and later the gifts were brought during the offertory. There were some 5,000 attendants in the grandstands around the arena. In the special sectors in front of the altar a large group of handicapped and sick were present, many of the on moving chairs.

Hundreds of young people were present, too. Some groups of them came in pilgrimage from Berceau of St. Vincent de Paul, where they have special vigil service on Saturday evening. Many of youth is preparing for participation in the World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain in August. At the end of the Mass the Bishop of Aire and Dax formally sent them out for the WYD. Among participants there were about 900 Daughters of Charity from France, Spain, Italy and Central Europe as well as some representatives of their communities in distant countries like Congo or Philippines.

watch video from the beatification Mass
(courtesy of French KTO Catholic TV)

watch photo gallery from the Beatification Mass
(based on KTOTV direct broadcast)

Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints, a special envoy of Benedict XVI was presiding in the ceremony. He was assisted by Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religion Dialog and the Archbishop Luigi Ventura, Papal Nuncio in France. Another fifteen bishops, mainly coming from South-West region of France were concelebrants, too. Also present were Rev. Gregory Gay CM, Superior General of the Congreation of the Mission and the Company of the Daughters of Charity, Rev. Patrick Griffin CM, Director General of Daughters of Charity, Rev. John Maher CM, Office of Communication Director in the General Curia and Visitors of French Vincentian Provinces, Rev. Ellie Delplace CM (Paris) and Rev. Jean Yves Leboeuf CM (Toulouse). Dozens of other clergy (ca. 150) attended, too including numerous diocesan priests of Aire-Dax Diocese led by their Bishop Msgr Philip Breton.

There were State officials taking part in the celebration, too. The government of the Republique Francaise was represented by Mr. Michel Mercier, Guardian of the Seal, Minister of Justice and Liberty. Regional administration was represented by Mr. Evence Richard, Prefect of the Prefecture des Landes and Mr. Gabriel Bellocq, Mayor of Dax was representative of municipality. At the end of the Mass Sr. Evelyne Franc DC, Superiores General of the Daughters of Charity introduced all those official in her speech when she gave thanks for their arrival and participation in the festivity.

At the beginning of the celebration people gathered in the Arena danced in the rhythm of two very popular folk pieces “Paquito Chocolatero” and “Vino Griego” which usually “bandas” perform during popular festivals in Dax. The whole Congregation applauded “ola” frequently. White scarves with Sr. Rutan’s signature printed on were seen tied around necks of many participants, mainly Daughters of Charity.

According to the Rite of Beatification, at the beginning of the liturgy a short biography of the one “loved the Church and thus decided to give her life, to to remain faithful to Her” and “who dedicated her whole life to the service of the poor and sick she shed her blood for the Christ” was read by the Bishop of Aire and Dax Dicoese, Msgr Philip Breton. The Vicar General of the Diocese, Rev. Bernard Hayer and Sr. Evelyne Franc DC were standing behind him during his intervention. Next on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI Cardinal Amato read the act of beatification. He delivered a short homily, too.

[all photo credits: Jean Pierre Muller/AFP/GettyImages]

Fr. John Maher CM, Director of the Communication Office in the Curia, who was present at the celebration reported for Famvin.org, “the liturgy managed to incorporate the Mass for Trinity Sunday with traditional hymns as well as newly composed prayers and songs honoring Sr. Marguerite. At times, the crowd and choir broke out into spontaneous local songs and chants enlivening both the liturgy and the participants. When, as part of the beatification rite, the portrait of Sr. Marguerite was unveiled, prolonged cheers and camera flashes gave the liturgy an exciting “rock star” quality.” (read his complete report)

In a message after Angelus prayer, the Holy Father, who was celebrating a Mass in San Marino on Sunday, mentioned the beatification saying, “I am happy to recall that today in Dax, France, Sister Marguerite Rutan, Daughter of Charity, has been proclaimed blessed. In the second half of the 18th century she worked with great commitment in the hospital in Dax, but in the tragic persecution following the Revolution, she was sentenced to death for her Catholic faith and fidelity to the Church.” And continued in French “I participate spiritually in the joy of the Daughters of Charity and of all the faithful who, in Dax, are taking part in the beatification of Sister Marguerite Rutan, luminous witness of the love of Christ for the poor.”

The KTO TV channel prepared a short video bringing closer the person of Sr. Marguerite Rutan DC, and talking about preparation to beatification and presenting spots of some places where she was during her stay in Dax and other spots from Berceau St. Vincent de Paul a place were the Saint was born. Those pictures are worth to watch even if the narration is in French only.

And another short video based on information from official website of the beatification (narrated in French, too):

More about Blessed Sr. Marguerite Rutan DC:

• Homily during the thanksgiving Mass for the beatifiaction, June 20, Berceau St. Vincent de Paul by Fr. Patrick Griffin CM
• A great life in nutshell – biography
• Towards the beatification – the investigation process
• Sister Marguerite Rutan today
• Official beatification website (English, French, Spanish)

The liturgical commemoration of the Blessed Marguerite Rutan DC will coincide with the memorial of Blessed Maria Magdalene Fontaine DC and Companions, Martyrs of Arras – June 26. (In 2011 it will be omitted because of Sunday)

During first 4 minutes test screen of RAI TV is displayed with audiotrack in the background. Prayers on the St. Peter’s Square prompt to the Beatification Mass take almost 70 minutes of the broadcast. The Mass starts at 1:10:40 and lasts until 3:58:50. Veneration of the corps of Blessed John Paul II is presented during final 15 minutes of the video. Streaming volume is at about 1,24GB (at 360p resolution). Narration, if occurs, is in Italian.

GIOVANNIPAULOII channel was created for the purpose of the beatification of John Paul II. You may find many other interesting video clips and short videos presenting pontificate of the newly beatified Pontiff.

Colosseum

PRESENTATION OF THE MEDITATIONS

“If someone were to catch sight of his homeland from afar, separated by the sea, he would see his destination but lack the means of reaching it. So it is with us… We glimpse our goal across the sea of the present age… But to enable us to go there, the One who is our goal came to us… he brought us the plank by we can make the passage. No one may cross the sea of his age, unless he be carried by the cross of Christ… So do not forsake the cross, and the cross will carry you.”

These words of Saint Augustine, taken from his Commentary on John’s Gospel (2,2) introduce us to the prayer of the Way of the Cross.

The Way of the Cross is meant to help us cling to the wood of Christ’s cross through the seas of life. It is not merely a sentimental, popular devotion; rather, it expresses the core of the Christian experience: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mk 8:34).

For this reason each Good Friday the Holy Father makes the Way of the Cross before the whole world and in communion with it.

This year, Pope Benedict XVI turned to the world of Augustinian Nuns for the texts of the prayer, entrusting their composition to Sister Maria Rita Piccione, O.S.A., Mother President of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy.

Sister Mary Rita is a member of the Augustian hermitage of Lecceto, near Siena, one of the Tuscan convents of the thirteenth century and a cradle of the Order of Saint Augustine. She is currently a member of the community of the Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome, the site of the house of formation for all Augustinian novices and professed sisters in Italy.

The texts are thus the work of an Augustinian nun, but the illustrations also draw their form and colour from a feminine and Augustinian artistic sensibility. Sister Elena Maria Manganelli, O.S.A., of the hermitage of Lecceto, formerly a professional sculptress, created the pictures which illustrate the various stations of the Way of the Cross.

This interplay of word, form and colour gives us a taste of Augustinian spirituality, inspired by the early community of Jerusalem and based on communion of life.

The preparation of this Way of the Cross was born, then, of the experience of nuns who “live together, reflect, pray and dialogue”, to cite Romano Guardini’s lively and insightful description of an Augustinian monastic community.

Each station is announced by its traditional title, followed by a short phrase which offers a starting-point for meditation on that station. We can imagine these words as spoken by a child, as a reminder of the simplicity of the little ones who see to the heart of things, and a sign of openness, in the Church’s prayer, to the voice of childhood, at times abused and exploited.

The readings from the Word of God are drawn from the Gospel of John, except for those stations which lack a corresponding text or where the text is found in other Gospels. This shows a desire to emphasize the message of glory proclaimed by the cross of Jesus.

The biblical text is then illustrated by a reflection which is brief, clear and original.

The prayer, addressed to “Jesus most humble” – an expression dear to the heart of Augustine (cf. Conf. 7, 18, 24) – abandons the adjective humble at the crucifixion-exaltation of Christ, and is the avowal which the Church as Bride makes to her Bridegroom.

This is followed by an invocation to the Holy Spirit who guides our steps and pours the love of God into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5): here the Apostolic-Petrine Church knocks at the door of God’s heart.

Each station takes up a particular footprint left by Christ along the Way of the Cross, a footstep in which the believer is called to tread. The steps which mark the Way of the Cross, then, are truth, honesty, humility, prayer, obedience, freedom, patience, conversion, perseverance, simplicity, kingship, self-giving, maternity, silent expectation.

The pictures of Sister Elena Maria – austere in form and colour – present Jesus, alone in his passion, as he passes through the arid land digging a furrow and watering it by his grace. A ray of light, ever present and set in the form of a cross, alludes to the gaze of the Father, while the shadow of a dove, the Holy Spirit, recalls that Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God” (Heb 9:14).

In offering this prayer of the Way of the Cross, the Augustinian Nuns wish to render a homage of love to the Church and to the Holy Father, in full harmony with the particular devotion and fidelity to the Church and the Popes professed by the Augustinian Order.

We are grateful to Sister Maria Rita and Sister Elena Maria who, nourished by constant meditation on the Word of God and the writings of Saint Augustine, and sustained by the prayer of the Communities of the Federation, agreed to share with utter simplicity their experience of Christ and the Paschal Mystery in a year when Easter falls on 24 April, the anniversary of the Baptism of Saint Augustine.

INTRODUCTION

“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps”. (1 Peter 2:21)

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This evening we gather against the evocative backdrop of the Roman Colosseum. We are summoned by the Word just proclaimed to join Pope Benedict XVI along Jesus’ Way of the Cross.

Let us turn our inward gaze to Christ and implore him with hearts afire: “I beg you, Lord: Say to my soul: I am your salvation! Say it, that I may hear it!” (Saint Augustine, Confessions, 1, 5, 5)

Christ’s comforting voice blends with the delicate thread of our “yes”, and the Holy Spirit, the finger of God, weaves within us the solid web of a faith full of consolation and guidance.

To follow, to believe and to pray: these are the simple and sure steps which guide our journey along the Way of the Cross, and gradually enable us to glimpse the path of Truth and Life.

OPENING PRAYER

The Holy Father: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
R. Amen.
The Holy Father:Let us pray.

A moment of silence follows

Lord Jesus,
you invite us to follow you
in this, your final hour.
In you, each one of us is present
and we, though many, are one in you.
In your final hour is our life’s hour of testing,
in all its harshness and brutality;
it is the hour of the passion of your Church
and of all humanity.

It is the hour of darkness:
when “the foundations of the earth tremble” (Isaiah 24:18)
and man, “a tiny part of your creation”,(Confessions, 1, 1, 1)
groans and suffers with it;
an hour when the various masks of falsehood
mock the truth
and the allure of success stifles the deep call to honesty;
when utter lack of meaning and values
brings good training to nought
and the disordered heart disfigures the innocence
of the small and weak;
an hour when man strays from the way leading to the Father
and no longer recognizes in you
the bright face of his own humanity.

This hour brings the temptation to flee,
the sense of bewilderment and anguish,
as the worm of doubt eats away at the mind
and the curtain of darkness falls on the heart.

And you, Lord,
who read the open book of our frail hearts,
ask us this evening,
as once you asked the Twelve:
“Do you also wish to leave me?” (John 6:67)

No, Lord, we cannot and would not leave you,
for you alone “have the words of eternal life”, (John 6:68)
you alone are “the word of truth” (Cf. Ephesians 1:13)
and your cross alone
is the “key that opens to us the secrets
of truth and life”.

“We will follow you wherever you go!” (Cf. Matthew 8:19)

Following you is itself our act of worship,
as from the horizon of the not yet
a ray of joy
caresses the already of our journey.

R. Amen.

FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death

✠

SECOND STATION
Jesus takes up his cross

✠

THIRD STATION
Jesus falls the first time

✠

FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets his Mother

✠

FIFTH STATION
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross

✠

SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

✠

SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls the second time

✠

EIGHTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, who weep for him

✠

NINTH STATION
Jesus falls the third time

✠

TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his garments

✠

ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the cross

✠

TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the cross

✠

THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus is taken down from the cross and given to his Mother

✠

FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is placed in the tomb

✠

© Copyright 2011 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana (text and icons)

Celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15). With these words Jesus began the celebration of his final meal and the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus approached that hour with eager desire. In his heart he awaited the moment when he would give himself to his own under the appearance of bread and wine. He awaited that moment which would in some sense be the true messianic wedding feast: when he would transform the gifts of this world and become one with his own, so as to transform them and thus inaugurate the transformation of the world. In this eager desire of Jesus we can recognize the desire of God himself – his expectant love for mankind, for his creation. A love which awaits the moment of union, a love which wants to draw mankind to itself and thereby fulfil the desire of all creation, for creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:19). Jesus desires us, he awaits us. But what about ourselves? Do we really desire him? Are we anxious to meet him? Do we desire to encounter him, to become one with him, to receive the gifts he offers us in the Holy Eucharist? Or are we indifferent, distracted, busy about other things? From Jesus’ banquet parables we realize that he knows all about empty places at table, invitations refused, lack of interest in him and his closeness. For us, the empty places at the table of the Lord’s wedding feast, whether excusable or not, are no longer a parable but a reality, in those very countries to which he had revealed his closeness in a special way. Jesus also knew about guests who come to the banquet without being robed in the wedding garment – they come not to rejoice in his presence but merely out of habit, since their hearts are elsewhere. In one of his homilies Saint Gregory the Great asks: Who are these people who enter without the wedding garment? What is this garment and how does one acquire it? He replies that those who are invited and enter do in some way have faith. It is faith which opens the door to them. But they lack the wedding garment of love. Those who do not live their faith as love are not ready for the banquet and are cast out. Eucharistic communion requires faith, but faith requires love; otherwise, even as faith, it is dead.

From all four Gospels we know that Jesus’ final meal before his passion was also a teaching moment. Once again, Jesus urgently set forth the heart of his message. Word and sacrament, message and gift are inseparably linked. Yet at his final meal, more than anything else, Jesus prayed. Matthew, Mark and Luke use two words in describing Jesus’ prayer at the culmination of the meal: “eucharístesas” and “eulógesas” – the verbs “to give thanks” and “to bless”. The upward movement of thanking and the downward movement of blessing go together. The words of transubstantiation are part of this prayer of Jesus. They are themselves words of prayer. Jesus turns his suffering into prayer, into an offering to the Father for the sake of mankind. This transformation of his suffering into love has the power to transform the gifts in which he now gives himself. He gives those gifts to us, so that we, and our world, may be transformed. The ultimate purpose of Eucharistic transformation is our own transformation in communion with Christ. The Eucharist is directed to the new man, the new world, which can only come about from God, through the ministry of God’s Servant.

From Luke, and especially from John, we know that Jesus, during the Last Supper, also prayed to the Father – prayers which also contain a plea to his disciples of that time and of all times. Here I would simply like to take one of these which, as John tells us, Jesus repeated four times in his Priestly Prayer. How deeply it must have concerned him! It remains his constant prayer to the Father on our behalf: the prayer for unity. Jesus explicitly states that this prayer is not meant simply for the disciples then present, but for all who would believe in him (cf. Jn 17:20). He prays that all may be one “as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). Christian unity can exist only if Christians are deeply united to him, to Jesus. Faith and love for Jesus, faith in his being one with the Father and openness to becoming one with him, are essential. This unity, then, is not something purely interior or mystical. It must become visible, so visible as to prove before the world that Jesus was sent by the Father. Consequently, Jesus’ prayer has an underlying Eucharistic meaning which Paul clearly brings out in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:16ff.). With the Eucharist, the Church is born. All of us eat the one bread and receive the one body of the Lord; this means that he opens each of us up to something above and beyond us. He makes all of us one. The Eucharist is the mystery of the profound closeness and communion of each individual with the Lord and, at the same time, of visible union between all. The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. It reaches the very mystery of the Trinity and thus creates visible unity. Let me say it again: it is an extremely personal encounter with the Lord and yet never simply an act of individual piety. Of necessity, we celebrate it together. In each community the Lord is totally present. Yet in all the communities he is but one. Hence the words “una cum Papa nostro et cum episcopo nostro” are a requisite part of the Church’s Eucharistic Prayer. These words are not an addendum of sorts, but a necessary expression of what the Eucharist really is. Furthermore, we mention the Pope and the Bishop by name: unity is something utterly concrete, it has names. In this way unity becomes visible; it becomes a sign for the world and a concrete criterion for ourselves.

Saint Luke has preserved for us one concrete element of Jesus’ prayer for unity: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Lk 22:31). Today we are once more painfully aware that Satan has been permitted to sift the disciples before the whole world. And we know that Jesus prays for the faith of Peter and his successors. We know that Peter, who walks towards the Lord upon the stormy waters of history and is in danger of sinking, is sustained ever anew by the Lord’s hand and guided over the waves. But Jesus continues with a prediction and a mandate. “When you have turned again…”. Every human being, save Mary, has constant need of conversion. Jesus tells Peter beforehand of his coming betrayal and conversion. But what did Peter need to be converted from? When first called, terrified by the Lord’s divine power and his own weakness, Peter had said: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Lk 5:8). In the light of the Lord, he recognizes his own inadequacy. Precisely in this way, in the humility of one who knows that he is a sinner, is he called. He must discover this humility ever anew. At Caesarea Philippi Peter could not accept that Jesus would have to suffer and be crucified: it did not fit his image of God and the Messiah. In the Upper Room he did not want Jesus to wash his feet: it did not fit his image of the dignity of the Master. In the Garden of Olives he wielded his sword. He wanted to show his courage. Yet before the servant girl he declared that he did not know Jesus. At the time he considered it a little lie which would let him stay close to Jesus. All his heroism collapsed in a shabby bid to be at the centre of things. We too, all of us, need to learn again to accept God and Jesus Christ as he is, and not the way we want him to be. We too find it hard to accept that he bound himself to the limitations of his Church and her ministers. We too do not want to accept that he is powerless in this world. We too find excuses when being his disciples starts becoming too costly, too dangerous. All of us need the conversion which enables us to accept Jesus in his reality as God and man. We need the humility of the disciple who follows the will of his Master. Tonight we want to ask Jesus to look to us, as with kindly eyes he looked to Peter when the time was right, and to convert us.

After Peter was converted, he was called to strengthen his brethren. It is not irrelevant that this task was entrusted to him in the Upper Room. The ministry of unity has its visible place in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Dear friends, it is a great consolation for the Pope to know that at each Eucharistic celebration everyone prays for him, and that our prayer is joined to the Lord’s prayer for Peter. Only by the prayer of the Lord and of the Church can the Pope fulfil his task of strengthening his brethren – of feeding the flock of Christ and of becoming the guarantor of that unity which becomes a visible witness to the mission which Jesus received from the Father.

“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you”. Lord, you desire us, you desire me. You eagerly desire to share yourself with us in the Holy Eucharist, to be one with us. Lord, awaken in us the desire for you. Strengthen us in unity with you and with one another. Grant unity to your Church, so that the world may believe. Amen.

© Copyright 2011 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Homilia Benedykta XVI w trakcie liturgii Wieczerzy Pąńskiej, 21 kwietnia 2011

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Dear young people!

It is a moving experience each year on Palm Sunday as we go up the mountain with Jesus, towards the Temple, accompanying him on his ascent. On this day, throughout the world and across the centuries, young people and people of every age acclaim him, crying out: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

But what are we really doing when we join this procession as part of the throng which went up with Jesus to Jerusalem and hailed him as King of Israel? Is this anything more than a ritual, a quaint custom? Does it have anything to do with the reality of our life and our world? To answer this, we must first be clear about what Jesus himself wished to do and actually did. After Peter’s confession of faith in Caesarea Philippi, in the northernmost part of the Holy Land, Jesus set out as a pilgrim towards Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. He was journeying towards the Temple in the Holy City, towards that place which for Israel ensured in a particular way God’s closeness to his people. He was making his way towards the common feast of Passover, the memorial of Israel’s liberation from Egypt and the sign of its hope of definitive liberation. He knew that what awaited him was a new Passover and that he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. He knew that in the mysterious gifts of bread and wine he would give himself for ever to his own, and that he would open to them the door to a new path of liberation, to fellowship with the living God. He was making his way to the heights of the Cross, to the moment of self-giving love. The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being.

Our procession today is meant, then, to be an image of something deeper, to reflect the fact that, together with Jesus, we are setting out on pilgrimage along the high road that leads to the living God. This is the ascent that matters. This is the journey which Jesus invites us to make. But how can we keep pace with this ascent? Isn’t it beyond our ability? Certainly, it is beyond our own possibilities. From the beginning men and women have been filled – and this is as true today as ever – with a desire to “be like God”, to attain the heights of God by their own powers. All the inventions of the human spirit are ultimately an effort to gain wings so as to rise to the heights of Being and to become independent, completely free, as God is free. Mankind has managed to accomplish so many things: we can fly! We can see, hear and speak to one another from the farthest ends of the earth. And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good. Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history. Our limitations have also remained: we need but think of the disasters which have caused so much suffering for humanity in recent months.

The Fathers of the Church maintained that human beings stand at the point of intersection between two gravitational fields. First, there is the force of gravity which pulls us down – towards selfishness, falsehood and evil; the gravity which diminishes us and distances us from the heights of God. On the other hand there is the gravitational force of God’s love: the fact that we are loved by God and respond in love attracts us upwards. Man finds himself betwixt this twofold gravitational force; everything depends on our escaping the gravitational field of evil and becoming free to be attracted completely by the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, elevates us and grants us true freedom.

Following the Liturgy of the Word, at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer where the Lord comes into our midst, the Church invites us to lift up our hearts: “Sursum corda!” In the language of the Bible and the thinking of the Fathers, the heart is the centre of man, where understanding, will and feeling, body and soul, all come together. The centre where spirit becomes body and body becomes spirit, where will, feeling and understanding become one in the knowledge and love of God. This is the “heart” which must be lifted up. But to repeat: of ourselves, we are too weak to lift up our hearts to the heights of God. We cannot do it. The very pride of thinking that we are able to do it on our own drags us down and estranges us from God. God himself must draw us up, and this is what Christ began to do on the cross. He descended to the depths of our human existence in order to draw us up to himself, to the living God. He humbled himself, as today’s second reading says. Only in this way could our pride be vanquished: God’s humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards.

Psalm 24, which the Church proposes as the “song of ascent” to accompany our procession in today’s liturgy, indicates some concrete elements which are part of our ascent and without which we cannot be lifted upwards: clean hands, a pure heart, the rejection of falsehood, the quest for God’s face. The great achievements of technology are liberating and contribute to the progress of mankind only if they are joined to these attitudes – if our hands become clean and our hearts pure, if we seek truth, if we seek God and let ourselves be touched and challenged by his love. All these means of “ascent” are effective only if we humbly acknowledge that we need to be lifted up; if we abandon the pride of wanting to become God. We need God: he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands – by faith, in other words – sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love.

The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind. It was passionately disputed by the Platonic philosophers of the third and fourth centuries. For them, the central issue was finding the means of purification which could free man from the heavy load weighing him down and thus enable him to ascend to the heights of his true being, to the heights of divinity. Saint Augustine, in his search for the right path, long sought guidance from those philosophies. But in the end he had to acknowledge that their answers were insufficient, their methods would not truly lead him to God. To those philosophers he said: recognize that human power and all these purifications are not enough to bring man in truth to the heights of the divine, to his own heights. And he added that he should have despaired of himself and human existence had he not found the One who accomplishes what we of ourselves cannot accomplish; the One who raises us up to the heights of God in spite of our wretchedness: Jesus Christ who from God came down to us and, in his crucified love, takes us by the hand and lifts us on high.

We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure! Grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, “which seeks your face, O God of Jacob” (cf. Ps 24:6). Amen.

© Copyright 2011 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Homilia Benedykta XVI w Niedzielę Palmową,
17 kwietnia 2011

Fr. Astor L. Rodriguez CM is a Vincentian priest since 18 years. A zealous and vigorous, deeply committed to youth ministry and always enjoying contacts with other people. An Excellent, talented preacher. His sermons, as you will notice, are very special experience for everyone who listens to them. Native in Brooklyn, NY with Puerto Rican ancestors. He is parochial vicar in St. John the Baptist parish, Brooklyn, NY He speaks Spanish fluently, unfortunately he does not speak Polish except for few words.

Listen to Fr. Astor’s talk:
DAY ONE – Monday, April 4
DAY TWO – Tuesday, April 5

Thanking our Confrere from other part of Brooklyn we back up pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Fr. Marek Sobczak CM in his words, “Thank you Fr. Astor! We would like to thank you for finding time to be with us and for sharing with us your faith and love for Jesus! Thank you for leading us on our spiritual path toward Easter!”

Watch some pictures from the Eucharist lead by Fr. Astor Rodriguez CM

Podobnie jak w ubiegłym roku postaramy się co tydzień udostępnić Wam nagrania kazań pasyjnych z kościoła św. Stanisława Kostki na Brooklynie, w Nowym Jorku. Będą one umieszczone jako poszczególne wiadomości na stronie głównej oraz zakładce «HOMILIES & SERMONS», gdzie znajdziecie także kazania pasyjne z 2010 roku. Przypominamy także, że treść nabożeństwa z dołączonymi nagraniami znajdziecie w zakładce «GORZKIE ŻALE».

Kazanie Pasyjne – 1 Niedziela Wielkiego Postu 2011

Lent has begun. It is the time of going into the desert, time of reflection and repentance. It is the time to meet Merciful God. According to Polish tradition Gorzkie Zale and Stations of the Cross are the most important devotions during the Lent. Sermons on Passion of Christ are  essential part of the devotion, which usually is celebrated in Polish.   We realize, some of You cannot attend it due to various reasons. Also, we realize for those of You who are not speaking Polish it might be somehow inconvenient, but we invite you to join your neighbors in this time of meditation and prayer. In the first, so called Passion Sermon, this year Fr. Jan Szylar CM preaching in the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Brooklyn, NY said, “we will look at the values which lacked makes our Christian life impossible. We will take a look at manifestation of faith, hope, and love, truth, and obedience in time of Christ’s Passion as well as their denial: disbelief, despair, hatred, lying, disobedience.” This Sunday’s theme was “Belief and Unbelief”.

As we did last year, we are delivering sermons preached during Gorzki Zale devotion on our webpage (they are in Polish).  Each Sunday sermons during Gorzkie Zale might be listened to or downloaded from here or from «HOMILIES & SERMONS» subpage of our website. Text of the Gorzkie Zale (Bitter Lamentations) in Polish, including performance by Polish Military Choir is available at «GORZKIE ŻALE». English translation is coming soon.

We deliver sermons preached in St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Greenpoint, NY. Preacher this year is Fr. Jan Szylar CM. The sermons are in Polish only.  We believe our offer will be helpful in your spiritual pathway through the Lent.

“The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death,” which is why during Lent the church encourages almsgiving, “which is the capacity to share,” Pope Benedict XVI said in the message for Lent 2011 which was released at a Vatican on February 22. The theme of the the message was taken from the Letter to the Colossians: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him.” In his message, the Pope took the year’s Lenten Sunday Gospels and used them to draw lessons he said would be helpful in making the Lenten journey toward Christian conversion.

“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 theLetter 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 LiturgySacrosanctum 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” (Mt 17: 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?” (Jn 11: 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. EncyclicalDeus 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 practice almsgiving – 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 deep conversion 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

 Libreria Editrice Vaticana