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Pope Benedict XVI- Message- Lent |
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2008
January 29, 2008
"Christ made Himself
poor for you" (2 Cor.
8,9)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters!
1. Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen
the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us
to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more
merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the Lenten period, the
Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that
accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior
renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For this year's
Lenten Message, I wish to spend some time reflecting on the practice
of almsgiving, which represents a specific way to assist those in
need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us
from attachment to worldly goods. The force of attraction to
material riches and just how categorical our decision must be not to
make of them an idol, Jesus confirms in a resolute way: "You cannot
serve God and mammon" (Lk 16,13). 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. This is the aim of the special collections in favor of the
poor, which are promoted during Lent in many parts of the world. In
this way, inward cleansing is accompanied by a gesture of ecclesial
communion, mirroring what already took place in the early Church. In
his Letters, Saint Paul speaks of this in regard to the collection
for the Jerusalem community (cf. 2 Cor 8-9; Rm 15, 25-27).
2. According to the teaching of the Gospel, we 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. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church
reminds us, material goods bear a social value, according to the
principle of their universal destination (cf. n. 2404)
In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly admonishes the one who possesses and
uses earthly riches only for self. In the face of the multitudes,
who, lacking everything, suffer hunger, the words of Saint John
acquire the tone of a ringing rebuke: "How does God's love abide in
anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in
need and yet refuses to help?" (1 Jn 3,17). In those countries whose
population is majority Christian, the call to share is even more
urgent, since their responsibility toward the many who suffer
poverty and abandonment is even greater. To come to their aid is a
duty of justice even prior to being an act of charity.
3. The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving:
it must be hidden: "Do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing," Jesus asserts, "so that your alms may be done in
secret" (Mt 6,3-4). Just a short while before, He said not to boast
of one's own good works so as not to risk being deprived of the
heavenly reward (cf. Mt 6,1-2). The disciple is to be concerned with
God's greater glory. Jesus warns: "In this way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven" (Mt 5,16). Everything, then, must be done
for God's glory and not our own. This understanding, dear brothers
and sisters, must accompany every gesture of help to our neighbor,
avoiding that it becomes a means to make ourselves the center of
attention. 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. In
today's world of images, attentive vigilance is required, since this
temptation is great. 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. How could we not thank God for the many
people who silently, far from the gaze of the media world, fulfill,
with this spirit, generous actions in support of one's neighbor in
difficulty? 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.
4. In inviting us to consider almsgiving with a more profound gaze
that transcends the purely material dimension, Scripture teaches us
that there is more joy in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20,35).
When we do things out of love, we express the truth of our being;
indeed, we have been created not for ourselves but for God and our
brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5,15). Every time when, for love of
God, we share our goods with our neighbor in need, we discover that
the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned to us as a
blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction and joy. Our
Father in heaven rewards our almsgiving with His joy. What is more:
Saint Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the
forgiveness of sins: "Charity," he writes, "covers a multitude of
sins" (1 Pt 4,8). As the Lenten liturgy frequently repeats, God
offers to us sinners the possibility of being forgiven. The fact of
sharing with the poor what we possess disposes us to receive such a
gift. In this moment, my thought turns to those who realize the
weight of the evil they have committed and, precisely for this
reason, feel far from God, fearful and almost incapable of turning
to Him. 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.
5. Almsgiving teaches us the generosity of love. Saint Joseph
Benedict Cottolengo forthrightly recommends: "Never keep an account
of the coins you give, since this is what I always say: if, in
giving alms, the left hand is not to know what the right hand is
doing, then the right hand, too, should not know what it does
itself" (Detti e pensieri, Edilibri, n. 201). In this regard, all
the more significant is the Gospel story of the widow who, out of
her poverty, cast into the Temple treasury "all she had to live on"
(Mk 12,44). Her tiny and insignificant coin becomes an eloquent
symbol: this widow gives to God not out of her abundance, not so
much what she has, but what she is. Her entire self.
We find this moving passage inserted in the description of the days
that immediately precede Jesus' passion and death, who, as Saint
Paul writes, made Himself poor to enrich us out of His poverty (cf.
2 Cor 8,9); He gave His entire self for us. Lent, also through the
practice of almsgiving, inspires us to follow His example. In His
school, we can learn to make of our lives a total gift; imitating
Him, we are able to make ourselves available, not so much in giving
a part of what we possess, but our very selves. Cannot the entire
Gospel be summarized perhaps in the one commandment of love? The
Lenten practice of almsgiving thus becomes a means to deepen our
Christian vocation. 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.
6. Dear brothers and sisters, Lent invites us to "train ourselves"
spiritually, also through the practice of almsgiving, in order to
grow in charity and recognize in the poor Christ Himself. In the
Acts of the Apostles, we read that the Apostle Peter said to the
cripple who was begging alms at the Temple gate: "I have no silver
or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazarene, walk" (Acts 3,6). 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. Let this time, then, be marked by a personal and
community effort of attachment to Christ in order that we may be
witnesses of His love. May Mary, Mother and faithful Servant of the
Lord, help believers to enter the "spiritual battle" of Lent, armed
with prayer, fasting and the practice of almsgiving, so as to arrive
at the celebration of the Easter Feasts, renewed in spirit. With
these wishes, I willingly impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 30 October 2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
©
Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they
Pierced!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
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