France Called a Hope for the Church

Vatican Aide Evaluates Lourdes Trip

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The eldest daughter of the Church is a source of hope, says a Vatican spokesman, who affirmed that particularly the youth of France give the Church reason to look forward to the future.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, spoke of France and Benedict XVI's trip there last week on the most recent edition of Vatican Television's "Octava Dies."

"The Pope's trip to France was certainly blessed by largely positive results, as the majority of observers have recognized," he said. "The visit to Lourdes was expected to unfold in a serene atmosphere of intense spirituality but it was not necessarily foreseen that the Paris visit would be accompanied by such respectful attention from French society and that the local Church would succeed in demonstrating such vitality and significant participation. But this is what happened. This is no reason for triumphalism but it is a reason for confidence and hope."

"With his typical lucidity and coherence," Father Lombardi continued, "the Pope proposed his vision of the relationship between secularity and faith: Authentic secularity does not prescind from the spiritual dimension, but recognizes that this is the guarantee of our freedom and the autonomy of terrestrial realities."

The spokesman recalled how the Holy Father said that seeking God and being on the journey to God, "remains today, like yesterday, the master and fundamental way of every true culture."

"The fact that these claims can be made today," Father Lombardi said, "in places that are highly representative of European politics and culture, and that they are received with attention and appreciation rather than prejudicial opposition, encourages one to think that even in the changed historical situation, the Christian faith and the Catholic Church are called to make their most precious contribution -- we even say necessary -- to the building of the civilization of the new millennium."

"The Church in France -- and especially the young people who welcomed him with such enthusiasm -- is preparing this civilization," the Jesuit concluded. "It is also an encouragement for many other countries."

Recollection In God

When I feel that the suffering is more than I can bear, I take refuge in the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and I speak to Him with profound silence (Diary, 73).

In order to hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one's soul and to keep silence; not a gloomy silence, but an interior silence; that is to say, recollection in God (Diary, 118).

On the Last Who Are First

"Being Called Itself Is Already the First Recompense"

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Perhaps you remember when, on the day of my election to the pontificate, I addressed the crowd in St. Peter's Square and I presented myself, in an off the cuff way, as a worker in the Lord's vineyard. Well, in today's Gospel (cf. Matthew 20:1-16a), Jesus recounts the parable of the owner of the vineyard, who at different hours of the day calls laborers to come work in his vineyard. And in the evening he gives to all of them the same wage -- one denarius -- provoking the protest of the laborers who had been there from the first hour.

It is clear that that denarius represents eternal life, a gift that God reserves for everyone. Indeed, precisely those who are considered "last," if they will accept it, become "first," while the "first" can run the risk of becoming "last." The first message of this parable is in the fact itself that the owner does not tolerate, so to speak, unemployment: He wants everyone to work in his vineyard. And in reality, being called itself is already the first recompense: Being able to work in the Lord's vineyard, putting yourself at his service, cooperating in his project, constitutes in itself an inestimable reward, which repays all toil.

But this is understood only by those who love the Lord and his Kingdom. Those who, instead, work solely for the pay will never recognize the value of this priceless treasure.

St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist, is the one who reports this parable that is read in today's liturgical feast. I would like to emphasize that Matthew experienced this story firsthand (cf. Matthew 9:9). In fact, before Jesus called him, Matthew was employed as a publican and for this reason was considered a public sinner by the Jews and was excluded from "the Lord's vineyard."

But everything changes when Jesus, walking by the customs house, looks at him and says "Follow me." Matthew got up and followed him. From publican he immediately became a disciple of Christ. From being "last" he finds himself as "first," thanks to the logic of God, which -- for our good fortune! -- is different from the world's logic.

"My thoughts are not your thoughts," the Lord says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, "your ways are not my ways" (Isaiah 55:8).

St. Paul too, whose special jubilee year we are celebrating, experienced the joy of feeling himself called by the Lord and working in his vineyard. And how much work he did! But, as he himself confessed, it was God's grace that worked through him, that grace that transformed him from a persecutor of the Church into an apostle of the Gentiles. "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain," St. Paul says. But he immediately adds: "But if living in the body means doing work that is fruitful, I do not know which to choose" (Philippians 1:21-22). Paul understood well that working for the Lord is already recompense on this earth.

The Virgin Mary, who a week ago I had the joy of venerating at Lourdes, is the perfect vine in the Lord's vineyard. From her there grew the blessed fruit of divine love: Jesus, Our Savior. May she help us to respond always and with joy to the Lord's call, and to find our happiness in the possibility of toiling for the Kingdom of Heaven.

[After the Angelus, the Holy Father said:]

In recent weeks Caribbean countries -- Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic in particular -- and the southern United States, especially Texas, have been hit hard by hurricanes. I would again like to assure all of those dear people that I am remembering them in my prayers. I hope that help will soon arrive in the areas that have suffered the most damage. The Lord desires that, at least in these circumstances, solidarity and fraternity prevail above all else.

This Thursday, Sept. 25, there will be a high level meeting, in the context of the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations, to verify the accomplishment of the objectives established by the "Millennium Declaration" of Sept. 8, 2000. On the occasion of this important gathering, in which the leaders of all the countries of the world will be together, I would like to renew the invitation to take up and apply with courage the necessary measures to eliminate extreme poverty, hunger and lack of education and the scourge of the pandemics that harm the most vulnerable above all.

Such a commitment, while demanding sacrifices in these moments of worldwide economic difficulties, will not be without important benefits for the development of nations who are in need of help and for the peace and well-being of the entire planet.

France Called a Hope for the Church

Dairy from St. Faustina

On Silence, Solitude

Recollection In God

On the Last Who Are First