Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent "are buried with Christ in Baptism,
are also raised with him"
(cf. Col 2:12)
Dear brothers and sisters,
Lent, which leads us to the celebration of Easter, the Church is a liturgical very valuable and important, in view of which I am pleased to say a specific word in order to live with due diligence. While watching the final encounter with his spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charity, he intensified his way of cleansing the spirit, to draw more generously to the mystery of redemption, new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface of Lent) .
1. This life there has already been forwarded on the day of our baptism, when, "become partakers of the death and resurrection of Christ," è iniziata per noi “l’avventura gioiosa ed esaltante del discepolo” (Omelia nella Festa del Battesimo del Signore, 10 gennaio 2010) . San Paolo, nelle sue Lettere, insiste ripetutamente sulla singolare comunione con il Figlio di Dio realizzata in questo lavacro. Il fatto che nella maggioranza dei casi il Battesimo si riceva da bambini mette in evidenza che si tratta di un dono di Dio: nessuno merita la vita eterna con le proprie forze. La misericordia di Dio, che cancella il peccato e permette di vivere nella propria esistenza “gli stessi sentimenti di Cristo Gesù” (Fil 2,5) , viene comunicata all’uomo gratuitamente.
The Apostle of the Gentiles, in his Letter to the Philippians, expresses the sense of transformation that takes place with the participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, indicating the goal: that "I may know Him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of its suffering, making me according to his death, hoping to attain the resurrection from the dead " (Phil. 3.10 to 11) . Baptism, therefore, is not a rite of the past, but an encounter with Christ which the whole existence of the baptized, God gives life and calls him to a sincere conversion, initiated and sustained by grace, which leads to reach the adult height of Christ.
A link to the particular alloy Baptism Lent as a favorable moment to experience the saving grace. The Fathers of Vatican II have called all the pastors of the Church to use "more abundantly the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy" (Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109) . Always, in fact, the Church combines the celebration of the Easter Vigil Baptism: Sacrament takes place in this great mystery why the man dies to sin, is made partaker of new life in the Risen Christ and receive the same Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rom 8:11) . This free gift should always be revived in ciascuno di noi e la Quaresima ci offre un percorso analogo al catecumenato, che per i cristiani della Chiesa antica, come pure per i catecumeni d’oggi, è una scuola insostituibile di fede e di vita cristiana: davvero essi vivono il Battesimo come un atto decisivo per tutta la loro esistenza.
2. Per intraprendere seriamente il cammino verso la Pasqua e prepararci a celebrare la Risurrezione del Signore - la festa più gioiosa e solenne di tutto l’Anno liturgico - che cosa può esserci di più adatto che lasciarci condurre dalla Parola di Dio? Per questo la Chiesa, nei testi evangelici delle domeniche di Quaresima, ci leads to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, making us retrace the path of Christian initiation: for the catechumens, the prospect of receiving the sacrament of rebirth for those who are baptized, in view of new and decisive steps in following Christ and in the gift more fully to Him
the first Sunday of the Lenten journey highlights our human condition here on earth. The victorious battle against the temptations, which begins the mission of Jesus is an invitation to become aware of its fragility to receive the grace that frees us from sin and gives new strength in Christ, Way, Truth and life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Adultorum Christianae, 25) . It 'a strong reminder to remember how the Christian faith involving the example of Jesus and in union with him, a struggle "against the rulers of this dark world" (Eph 6:12) , where the devil is all 'work and not get tired, even today, groped the man who wants to get closer to the Lord Christ comes out victorious, to open our hearts to hope and lead us to overcome the temptations of evil.
The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord places before our eyes the glory of Christ, the resurrection and anticipates announcing the deification man. The Christian community is aware of being carried out, as the apostles Peter, James and John, "aside, on a high mountain" (Mt 17:1) to welcome again in Christ, as sons in the Son, the gift of Grace of God: "This is my Son, my beloved in him I am well pleased. Listen to " (v. 5) . E 'invitation to move away from the noise of everyday life to plunge into God's presence: He wants to send, every day, a word that penetrates into the depths of our spirit, which discerns the good and evil (cf. Heb 4 12) and strengthens the will to follow the Lord.
The question of Jesus to the Samaritan woman: "Give me a drink" (Jn 4:7) , which is presented on the third Sunday in the liturgy, expressing the love of God for every man and wants to raise our heart the desire of the gift of the 'water welling up to eternal life " (v. 14) is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is of Christians," true worshipers "able to pray to the Father" in spirit and truth " (v. 23) . Only this water can quench our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, irrigation the deserts of the soul restless and dissatisfied, "until they rest in God," the celebrated words of St. Augustine.
The "Sunday of the man born blind" presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel challenges each of us: "You believe in the Son of Man?". "I believe, Lord!" (Jn 9,35.38) says the man born blind with joy, speaking on behalf of every believer. The miracle of healing is the sign that Christ, with the view, wants to open our inner eye, because our faith to become ever deeper and we acknowledge him as our only Saviour. He lights up all the darkness of life and leads man to live as "children of light".
When, in the fifth Sunday, there was proclaimed the resurrection of Lazarus, 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 is the time to put all sincerity, together with Martha, all the hope in Jesus of Nazareth: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world" (v. 27) . Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to exceed the limits of death, to live without him in the end faith in the resurrection and the hope of eternal life, open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created man for the resurrection and the life, and this truth gives the true dimension and definitive history of the men in their personal lives and their social life, culture, politics, the economy. Without the light of faith, the whole universe ends up locked inside a tomb with no future, no hope.
The Lenten journey is fulfilled in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil in the Holy Night: by renewing the promises baptism, we reaffirm that Christ is Lord of our life, the life that God has told us when we are reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, "and we reaffirm our firm commitment to match the action of grace to be his disciples.
3. We immerse ourselves in the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, pushes us every day to free our hearts from the weight of material things, from a selfish relationship with the "earth", which impoverishes us and prevent us from being available and open to God and neighbor. In Christ, God has revealed as Love (1 Jn 4.7 to 10) . The Cross of Christ, "the word of the Cross expresses God's saving power (cf. 1 Cor 1:18) who gives himself to raise man up and bring salvation: love in its most radical form (cf. Enc . Deus Caritas Est, 12) . Through traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, expressions of commitment to conversion, Lent prepares us for life in an increasingly radical love of Christ. Fasting, which may have different motivations for the Christian buys a profoundly religious significance: the poor by making it our table to learn to overcome selfishness live in the logic of giving and love endure the deprivation of something - and not just unnecessary - we learn to look away from our self, to find someone close to us and acknowledge God in the faces of our brothers. For the Christian fasting has nothing intimate, but more open to God and to man's needs, and makes love to God is also love of neighbor (cf. Mk 12:31) .
On our journey we also face the temptation of having, the greed of money, which undermines the primacy of God in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, abuse and death, which is why the Church, especially during Lent, refers to the practice of almsgiving, the capacity, ie,-sharing. Idolatry of the goods, however, not only leaves the other, but bare man, he makes you unhappy, it deceives, deceives him without realizing what it promises, because it places the material things instead of God, the only source of life . How to understand the fatherly kindness of God if our hearts are full of themselves and of their projects, with which there is an illusion of being able to secure the future? The temptation is to think like the rich man's story: "My soul, you have many goods for many years ...." We know the opinion of the Lord: "Thou fool, this night you will be prompted for your life ..." (Luke 12.19-20) . The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of the primacy of God and the attention to the other, to rediscover our good Father and receive his mercy.
Throughout the period of Lent, the Church provides us with a particular abundance meditating on the Word of God and internalized to live every day, we learn a valuable and irreplaceable form of prayer, so attentive listening to God, continues to speak to our hearts, feeding the faith journey that we started on the day of Baptism. Prayer allows us to acquire a new conception of time without the prospect of eternity and transcendence, in fact, it simply marks our steps towards a horizon that has no future. In prayer we find, however, time for God, to know that "his words shall not pass" (cf. Mk 13:31) , to enter into that intimate communion with him that "no one can take away" (cf. Jn 16 , 22) and that opens us to hope that does not disappoint us, to eternal life.
In summary, the Lenten journey in which we are invited to contemplate Mystery of the Cross, is "becoming compliant to the death of Christ" (Phil 3:10) to implement a deep conversion of our lives: let us turn from the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul on the road to Damascus steer decision with our lives according to the will of God, free us from our selfishness, overcoming the instinct to dominate others and looking forward to the charity of Christ. The season of Lent is a favorable moment to acknowledge our own weakness, accept, with sincere amendment of life, renewing the grace of the Sacrament of Penance and the decision to walk with Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, through the personal encounter with our Savior and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our baptism. We renew this Lent the reception of the grace that God has given us at that time, to enlighten and guide all our actions. As the sacrament signifies and actually, we are called to live each day with a following of Christ ever more generous and genuine. In our route, we rely on the Virgin Mary, who created the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, as you immerse ourselves in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus and have eternal life.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
