It is not sin which is at the heart of the sacramental celebration but rather God's mercy, which is infinitely greater than any guilt of ours.

- Address to the Course on the Internal Forum, 7 March 2008

Those who trust in themselves and in their own merits are, as it were, blinded by their ego and their heart is hardened in sin. Those, on the other hand, who recognize that they are weak and sinful entrust themselves to God and obtain from him grace and forgiveness.

- Address to the Course on the Internal Forum, 7 March 2008

No believer should die in loneliness and neglect.

- Address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, 25 February 2008

When, at the moment of death, the relationship with God is fully realized in the encounter with "him who does not die, who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life; then we "live'" (Spe Salvi, n. 27).

- Address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, 25 February 2008

The Lord of life is present beside the sick person as the One who lives and gives life, the One who said: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10).

- Address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, 25 February 2008

The earthly experience concludes with death, but through death full and definitive life beyond time unfolds for each one of us.

- Address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, 25 February 2008

The further the human being distances himself from God, the more closely God pursues him with his merciful love.

- Homily, 24 February 2008

Faith is born from the encounter with Jesus, recognized and accepted as the definitive Revealer and Saviour in whom God's Face is revealed.

- Homily, 24 February 2008

If there is a physical thirst for water that is indispensable for life on this earth, there is also a spiritual thirst in man that God alone can satisfy.

- Homily, 24 February 2008

Every believer is in danger of practising a false religiosity, of not seeking in God the answer to the most intimate expectations of the heart but on the contrary, treating God as though he were at the service of our desires and projects.

- Homily, 24 February 2008

The Church thus urgently needs people with a deep and sound faith, a well-grounded culture and genuine human and social sensitivity, of Religious and priests who dedicate their lives to being on these very frontiers to bear witness and to help people understand that on the contrary there is profound harmony between faith and reason, between the Gospel spirit, the thirst for justice and initiatives for peace.

- Address to the Jesuit General Convention, 21 February 2008

It is not oceans or immense distances that challenge the heralds of the Gospel but the boundaries resulting from an erroneous or superficial vision of God and man that stand between faith and human knowledge, faith and modern science, faith and the commitment to justice.

- Address to the Jesuit General Convention, 21 February 2008

I wondered if Pope Benedict XVI might ever carry a different pastoral staff. No I wonder if he'll keep using this one of if he'll keep switching them now and again. I might be tempted to switch them around, just to keep people guessing.

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Christ's heart is divine-human: in him God and man meet perfectly, without separation and without confusion. He is the image, or rather, the incarnation of God who is love, mercy, paternal and maternal tenderness, of God who is Life.

- Angelus Address, 9 March 2008

[B]odily death is a sleep from which God can awaken us at any moment.

- Angelus Address, 9 March 2008

One cannot contemplate Mary without being attracted by Christ and one cannot look at Christ without immediately perceiving the presence of Mary.

- Message for the 16th World Day of the Sick

Mary is a model of total self-abandonment to God's will.

- Message for the 16th World Day of the Sick

[I]f the Lord's voice is to be heard, an atmosphere of silence is essential.

- Homily, 1 February 2008

Indeed, even though it may seem that the priest's life does not attract most people's interest, it is in fact the most interesting and necessary adventure for the world, the adventure of showing, of making present, the fullness of life to which we all aspire. It is a very demanding adventure; and it could not be otherwise since the priest is called to imitate Jesus, who "came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20: 28).

- Homily, 1 February 2008

God does not abandon us...his love comes to us where we are, with our misery and our weakness, to offer us a new possibility of goodness.

- Letter to Romans on Education

In giving alms, we offer something material, a sign of the greater gift that we can impart to others through the announcement and witness of Christ, in whose name is found true life.

- Message for Lent 2008, 5

In gratuitously offering himself, the Christian bears witness that it is love and not material richness that determines the laws of his existence. Love, then, gives almsgiving its value; it inspires various forms of giving, according to the possibilities and conditions of each person.

- Message for Lent 2008, 5

Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of love.

- Message for Lent 2008, 5

By drawing close to others through almsgiving, we draw close to God; it can become an instrument for authentic conversion and reconciliation with Him and our brothers.

- Message for Lent 2008, 4

There is little use in giving one’s personal goods to others if it leads to a heart puffed up in vainglory: for this reason, the one, who knows that God “sees in secret” and in secret will reward, does not seek human recognition for works of mercy.

- Message for Lent 2008, 3

Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us.

- Message for Lent 2008, 3

If, in accomplishing a good deed, we do not have as our goal God’s glory and the real well being of our brothers and sisters, looking rather for a return of personal interest or simply of applause, we place ourselves outside of the Gospel vision.

- Message for Lent 2008, 3

The disciple is to be concerned with God’s greater glory.

- Message for Lent 2008, 3

[W]e are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we possess: these, then, are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His providence for our neighbor.

- Message for Lent 2008

Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor’s needs and to share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness.

- Message for Lent 2008

The human being wants to know what everything around him is. He wants truth.

- Address to the La Sapienza Univeristy, 17 January 2008

In the New Testament, the word “bishop” – episkopos –, the immediate meaning of which indicates an “overseer”, had already been merged with the Biblical concept of Shepherd: the one who observes the whole landscape from above, ensuring that everything holds together and is moving in the right direction. Considered in such terms, this designation of the task focuses the attention first of all within the believing community. The Bishop – the Shepherd – is the one who cares for this community; he is the one who keeps it united on the way towards God, a way which, according to the Christian faith, has been indicated by Jesus – and not merely indicated: He himself is our way. Yet this community which the Bishop looks after – be it large or small – lives in the world; its circumstances, its history, its example and its message inevitably influence the entire human community. The larger it is, the greater the effect, for better or worse, on the rest of humanity. Today we see very clearly how the state of religions and the situation of the Church – her crises and her renewal – affect humanity in its entirety. Thus the Pope, in his capacity as Shepherd of his community, is also increasingly becoming a voice for the ethical reasoning of humanity.

- Address to the La Sapienza Univeristy, 17 January 2008

As it did then, evangelization today also demands total and faithful adherence to God's Word, adherence to Christ first of all and attentive listening to his Spirit who guides the Church, docile obedience to the Pastors whom God has chosen to guide his people and prudent, frank dialogue with the social, cultural and religious bodies of our time. All this presupposes, as is well known, close communion with the one who calls us to be his friends and disciples, a unity of life and action nourished by listening to his Word, by contemplation and by prayer, by detachment from the mindset of the world and by ceaseless conversion to his love so that it may be he, Christ, who lives and works in each one of us. Here lies the secret of the authentic success of every Christian's apostolic and missionary commitment, and especially of those who are called to a more direct service of the Gospel.

- Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., 10 January 2008

God's Word, therefore, is first "received", that is, listened to, and then, as it penetrates the heart, it is "welcomed", and those who receive it recognize that God speaks through his messenger: in this way his Word acts in believers.

- Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., 10 January 2008

Indeed, without true friendship with Jesus, it is impossible for a Christian, especially a priest, to fulfil the mission the Lord entrusts to him.

- Address to the community of Almo Collegio Capranica, 19 January 2008

A man who is distant from God is also distant from himself, estranged from himself, he can find himself only by meeting God. This path leads to himself, to his true self and identity.

- General Audience, 30 January 2008

Distance from God means distance from oneself.

- General Audience, 30 January 2008

The presence of God in man is deep and at the same time mysterious. It can however be discovered and recognized deep down in oneself.

- General Audience, 30 January 2008

The harmony between faith and reason means above all that God is not far away; he is not far from our reasoning or from our lives; he is close to every human being, close to our hearts and close to our reason if we truly follow his path.

- General Audience, 30 January 2008

Papal Intentions for February

General Intention: That the mentally handicapped may not be marginalized but respected and lovingly helped to live in a way dignifying of their physical and social conditions.

Mission Intention: That Institutes of Consecrated Life, so flourishing in mission countries, may rediscover the missionary dimention and faithful to the radical choice of Gospel counsels, be generous in bearing witness to Christ and proclaiming Him to the ends of the earth.

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Heaven does not belong to the geography of space, but to the geography of the heart. And the heart of God, during the Holy Night, stooped down to the stable: the humility of God is Heaven. And if we approach this humility, then we touch Heaven. Then the Earth too is made new.

- Homily, 25 December 2007

Thus Christmas is a feast of restored creation. It is in this context that the Fathers interpret the song of the angels on that holy night: it is an expression of joy over the fact that the height and the depth, Heaven and Earth, are once more united; that man is again united to God. According to the Fathers, part of the angels’ Christmas song is the fact that now angels and men can sing together and in this way the beauty of the universe is expressed in the beauty of the song of praise. Liturgical song – still according to the Fathers – possesses its own peculiar dignity through the fact that it is sung together with the celestial choirs. It is the encounter with Jesus Christ that makes us capable of hearing the song of the angels, thus creating the real music that fades away when we lose this singing-with and hearing-with.

- Homily, 25 December 2007

The power that comes from the Cross, the power of self-giving goodness – this is the true kingship. The stable becomes a palace – and setting out from this starting-point, Jesus builds the great new community, whose key-word the angels sing at the hour of his birth: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to those whom he loves” – those who place their will in his, in this way becoming men of God, new men, a new world.

- Homily, 25 December 2007

The message of Christmas makes us recognize the darkness of a closed world, and thereby no doubt illustrates a reality that we see daily. Yet it also tells us that God does not allow himself to be shut out. He finds a space, even if it means entering through the stable; there are people who see his light and pass it on.

- Homily, 25 December 2007

In some way, mankind is awaiting God, waiting for him to draw near. But when the moment comes, there is no room for him. Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such urgent need of all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others – for his neighbour, for the poor, for God. And the richer men become, the more they fill up all the space by themselves. And the less room there is for others.

- Homily, 25 December 2007

Mary is Mother, but a Virgin Mother; Mary is a virgin, but a Mother Virgin. If either of these aspects is ignored, the mystery of Mary as the Gospels present her to us, cannot be properly understood.

- Homily, 1 January 2007

The Church, like the Virgin, does none other than show Jesus, the Saviour, to everyone, and reflects to each one the light of his face, the splendour of goodness and truth.

- Angelus Address, 1 January 2007

When man allows himself to be enlightened by the splendour of truth, he inwardly becomes a courageous peacemaker.

- Angelus Address, 1 January 2006

What sense does it make to celebrate Christmas if we don't acknowledge that God has become man? The celebration becomes empty.

- General Audience, 19 December 2007

The Child, adored 2,000 years ago by the shepherds in a cave of Bethlehem, never stops visiting us in our daily life as we, like pilgrims, walk toward the Kingdom.

- General Audience, 19 December 2007

The vigilance of Advent means to live unter the eyes of the Judge and to prepare ourselves and the world for justice. By living under the eyes of the God-Judge, we can open the world to the arrival of his Son, preparing our hearts to welcome "the Lord who comes."

- General Audience, 19 December 2007

The Christian significance of waiting for justice implies that we begin to live under the eyes of the Judge, according to the criteria of the Judge; that we begin to live in his presence, rendering justice in our lives. By being just, putting ourselves in the presence of the Judge, we await Justice.

- General Audience, 19 December 2007

On one hand, Christmas is a commemoration of the incredible miracle of the birth of God's only Son, born of the Virgin Mary in the cave of Bethlehem. On the other hand, Christmas exhorts us to keep watch and pray, waiting for our Redeemer, who will come "to judge the living and the dead."

- General Audience, 19 December 2007

[O]ne can lose the way even at Christmas, one can exchange the true celebration for one that does not open the heart to Christ's joy.

- Angelus Address, 16 December 2007

Yes, joy enters the hearts of those who put themselves at the service of the lowly and poor. God abides in those who love like this and their souls rejoice. If, instead, people make an idol of happiness, they lose their way and it is truly hard for them to find the joy of which Jesus speaks. Unfortunately, this is what is proposed by cultures that replace God by individual happiness, mindsets that find their emblematic effect in seeking pleasure at all costs, in spreading drug use as an escape, a refuge in artificial paradises that later prove to be entirely deceptive.

- Angelus Address, 16 December 2007

The mystery of Bethlehem reveals to us God-with-us, the God close to us and not merely in the spatial and temporal sense; he is close to us because he has, as it were, "espoused" our humanity; he has taken our condition upon himself, choosing to be like us in all things save sin in order to make us become like him. Christian joy thus springs from this certainty: God is close, he is with me, he is with us, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as a friend and faithful spouse. And this joy endures, even in trials, in suffering itself. It does not remain only on the surface; it dwells in the depths of the person who entrusts himself to God and trusts in him.

- Angelus Address, 16 December 2007

In trial and in sickness, God mysteriously visits us, and if we abandon ourselves to his will, we can experience the power of his love.

- Homily, 2 December 2007

Gathered every Sunday in the Lord’s House, we are consumed by Christ’s love and truth and empowered to bring hope to the world.

- Address to the Bishops of Korea, 3 December 2007

This sacrament of initiation, far more than a social ritual or welcome into a particular community, is the initiative of God.

- Address to the Bishops of Korea, 3 December 2007

When men and women are drawn away from the Lord’s dwelling place they inevitably wander in a wilderness of individual isolation and social fragmentation.

- Address to the Bishops of Korea, 3 December 2007

Teach us, Mary,
to believe, to hope, to love with you;
show us the way that leads to peace,
the way to the Kingdom of Jesus.
You, Star of Hope,
who wait for us anxiously in the everlasting light
of the eternal Homeland,
shine upon us and guide us through daily events,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen!

- Address, 8 December 2007

And it is today, in the present, that our future destiny is being played out. It is our actual conduct in this life that decides our eternal fate. At the end of our days on earth, at the moment of death, we will be evaluated on the basis of our likeness - or lack of it - to the Child who is about to be born in the poor grotto of Bethlehem, because he is the criterion of the measure that God has given to humanity. The Heavenly Father, who expressed his merciful love to us through the birth of his Only-Begotten Son, calls us to follow in his footsteps, making our existence, as he did, a gift of love. And the fruit of love is that fruit which "befits repentance", to which John the Baptist refers while he addresses cutting words to the Pharisees and Sadduccees among the crowds who had come for Baptism.

- Angelus Address, 9 December 2007

At stake is the relationship between existence here and now and what we call the "hereafter": this is not a place in which we end up after death; on the contrary, it is the reality of God, the fullness of life towards which every human being is, as it were, leaning. God responded to this human expectation in Christ with the gift of hope.

- Homily, 1 December 2007

In fact, if God is lacking, hope is lacking. Everything loses its "substance".

- Homily, 1 December 2007

Advent, therefore, is a favourable time for the rediscovery of a hope that is not vague and deceptive but certain and reliable, because it is "anchored" in Christ, God made man, the rock of our salvation.

- Homily, 1 December 2007

It is faith in Christ that enlightens Christians regarding sickness and the condition of the aged person, as in every other event and phase of existence. Jesus, dying on the Cross, gave human suffering a transcendent value and meaning. Faced with suffering and sickness, believers are invited to remain calm because nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of Christ. In him and with him it is possible to face and overcome every physical and spiritual trial and to experience, exactly in the moment of greatest weakness, the fruits of Redemption. The Risen Lord manifests himself to those who believe in him as the Living One who transforms human existence, giving even sickness and death a salvific sense.

- Address to the 22nd International Congress of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care,

17 November 2007

Christians are called to assume the condition of a "servant", following in Jesus' footsteps, that is, spending their lives for others in a free and disinterested way. It is not the search for power and success but humble self-giving for the good of the Church that must mark our every action and our every word. True Christian greatness, in fact, does not consist in dominating but in serving.

- Homily, 24 November 2007

Jesus wants you to be his true friends, and for this it is necessary for you to cultivate a close relationship with Him constantly in prayer and docile listening to his Word. He wants you to be his witnesses, and for this it is necessary for you to be committed to living the Gospel courageously and expressing it in concrete acts of love of God and generous service to your brothers and sisters. The Church needs you too and is counting on your contribution.

- Message for the 94th World Day of Migrants and Refugees,

18 October 2007

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[S]tudy constitutes a providential opportunity to advance on the journey of faith, because a well-cultivated intelligence opens the heart of man to listen to the voice of God, emphasizing the importance of discernment and humility.

- Address to the Italian Catholic University Federation,

9 November 2007

To believe in study" means to recognize that study and research - especially during the university years - have an intrinsic power to widen the horizons of human intelligence, as long as academic study remains demanding, rigorous, serious, methodical and progressive.

- Address to Members of the Italican Catholic University Federation,

9 November 2007

[I]t is ever more necessary to repropose the example of the Christian Martyrs, both from ages past and from our own times, whose life and witness, culminated in the outpouring of blood, manifest the love of God in a supreme way.

- Letter on the occassion of the 12th Public Session of the Pontifical Academies,

8 November 2007

This "body" of Christ that embraces the humanity of all times and places is the Church.

-Address to the Bishops of Portugal, 10 November 2007

The hope of Christians is directed to the future, but always remains well rooted in a past event.

-Angelus Address, 27 November 2005

[source]

Wahoo!

Today the Press Office of the Holy See announced news of great joy: the second Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Spe salvi, will be presented Friday next, the Feast of the Apostle Saint Andrew:

VATICAN CITY, NOV 23, 2007 (VIS) - The new Encyclical of Benedict XVI, "Spe salvi," will be presented in the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on Friday, November 30. The document will be presented by Cardinal Georges Marie Martin Cottier O.P., pro-theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household, and by Cardinal Albert Vanhoye S.J., professor emeritus of New Testament exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

I don't know about you, but I'm very excited about this. I know what I'm doing a week from today...

[N]ot even death can make the believer's hope fruitless, because for our sake Christ entered the sanctuary of Heaven, and it is there that he desires to lead us, after having prepared a place for us (cf. Jn 14: 1-3).

- Homily, 5 November 2007

It is consoling and salutary, in praying for the deceased, to meditate upon Jesus' trust in his Father and thus to let oneself be enveloped by the serene light of this absolute abandonment of the Son to the will of his "Abba".

- Homily, 5 November 2007

In their Saints the Christian faithful discover the ripe fruit of a faith that has marked their history. This patrimony is passed on down the centuries with various expressions in popular piety and art, together with the moral, civic and social values of their national identity.

-Address to the Ambassador of Ecuador, 27 October 2007

Hat tip to the American Papist.

Only through a deep spirit of prayer and the help of the Holy Spirit are we able to understand the Bible.

- General Audience, 14 November 2007

In truth, to converse with God and with his word means to be in heaven's presence, that is to say, in God's presence.

- General Audience, 14 November 2007

What am I doing?

[source]

Shall we go for a ride?

[source]

We must never forget that the Word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go. What is very modern today will be very antiquated tomorrow. On the other hand, the Word of God is the Word of eternal life, it bears within it eternity and is valid for ever. By carrying the Word of God within us, we therefore carry within us eternity, eternal life.

- General Audience, 7 November 2007

The privileged place for reading and listening to the Word of God is the liturgy, in which, celebrating the Word and making Christ's Body present in the Sacrament, we actualize the Word in our lives and make it present among us.

- General Audience, 7 November 2007

We must not read Sacred Scripture as a word of the past but as the Word of God that is also addressed to us, and we must try to understand what it is that the Lord wants to tell us. However, to avoid falling into individualism, we must bear in mind that the Word of God has been given to us precisely in order to build communion and to join forces in the truth on our journey towards God. Thus, although it is always a personal Word, it is also a Word that builds community, that builds the Church. We must therefore read it in communion with the living Church.

- General Audience, 7 November 2007

He wants to make us - sometimes through periods of emptiness and inner isolation - attentive and capable of "hearing" his silent presence not only "above the star-strewn vault", but in the innermost depths of our soul. It is here that the spark of divine love glows that can set us free for what we truly are.

- Address after a Vatican Concert

[T]rue joy is rooted in that freedom which, basically, God alone can give.

- Address after a Vatican Concert

The Lord desires to give each one the grace of a beautiful and good existence and the hope that makes it possible to find life's true meaning through the dangers of daily life.

- Address to the Bishops of Gabon

Yes, true hope is only born from the Blood of Christ and blood poured out for him. There is blood which is the sign of death, but there is also blood that expresses love and life.

- Homily, 21 October 2007

God cannot change things without our conversion, and our true conversion begins with the "cry" of the soul imploring forgiveness and salvation. Christian prayer is not, therefore, an expression of fatalism or inertia; on the contrary, it is the opposite of evasion from reality, from consoling intimism. It is the force of hope, the maximum expression of faith in the power of God who is Love and does not abandon us.

- Homily, 21 October 2007

Faith assures us that God hears our prayers and grants them at the appropriate moment, although our daily experience seems to deny this certainty.

- Homily, 21 October 2007

[T]he power that changes the world and transforms it into the Kingdom of God, in silence and without fanfare, is faith - and prayer is the expression of faith. When faith is filled with love for God, recognized as a good and just Father, prayer becomes persevering, insistent, it becomes a groan of the spirit, a cry of the soul that penetrates God's Heart. Thus, prayer becomes the greatest transforming power in the world. In the face of a difficult and complex social reality, as yours certainly is, it is essential to strengthen hope which is based on faith and expressed in unflagging prayer.

- Homily, 21 October 2007

Truth is not dependent upon consensus but precedes it and makes it possible, generating authentic human solidarity.

- Address to the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea

It [unbloody martyrdom] is the silent and heroic testimony of many Christians who live the Gospel without compromises, fulfilling their duty and dedicating themselves generously in service to the poor. This martyrdom of ordinary life is a particularly important witness in the secularized societies of our time. It is the peaceful battle of love that all Christians, like Paul, have to fight tirelessly; the race to spread the Gospel that commits us until death.

-Angelus Address, 28 October 2007

...baptism commits Christians to participate boldly in the spread of the Kingdom of God, cooperating if necessary with the sacrifice of one's own life.

-Angelus Address, 28 October 2007

...the supreme witness of giving blood [martyrdom] is not an exception reserved only to some individuals, but a realistic possibility for all Christian people.

- Angelus Address, 28 October 2007