God loves us despite our shortcomings and sins, and his love gives meaning to our lives and to the life of the world. Pope Benedict XVI More Quotes by Pope Benedict XVI More Quotes From Pope Benedict XVI Only if there is love, if hearts are opened, can one person truly know the other. Pope Benedict XVI inspiration faith heart Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light. Pope Benedict XVI light humility children But Palm Sunday tells us that ... it is the cross that is the true tree of life. Pope Benedict XVI sunday crosses tree We live in a society in which it seems that every space, every moment must be 'filled' with initiatives, activity, sound; often there is not even time to listen and dialogue... Let us not be afraid to be silent outside and inside ourselves, so that we are able not only to perceive God's voice, but also the voice of the person next to us, the voices of others. Pope Benedict XVI voice inspiration faith 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. Pope Benedict XVI expression self jesus I am convinced that music really is the universal language of beauty which can bring together all people of good will on earth Pope Benedict XVI earth together people We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires. Pope Benedict XVI ego catholic moving People from the world's richest countries should be prepared to accept the burden of debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries, and should urge their leaders to fulfill the pledges made to reduce world poverty, especially in Africa, by the year 2015. Pope Benedict XVI country people years Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly - it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation. Pope Benedict XVI achievement essence religious Faith was intended precisely for the simple, but the quest for certainty and simplicity becomes dangerous when it leads to fanaticism and narrow-mindedness. When reason as such becomes suspect, then faith itself becomes falsified. Pope Benedict XVI quests simplicity simple To some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation. Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough. Pope Benedict XVI faith dream jobs Silence 'is so lacking in this world which is often too noisy, which is not favorable to recollection and listening to the voice of God. In this time of preparation for Christmas, let us cultivate interior recollection so as to receive and keep Jesus in our lives.' Pope Benedict XVI voice silence jesus At the time of Galileo the Church remained much more reasonable than Galileo himself. The process against Galileo was reasonable and just. Pope Benedict XVI church process christianity From the point of view of the Christian faith, man comes in the profoundest sense to himself not through what he does but through what he accepts. He must wait for the gift of love, and love can only be received as a gift... One must wait for it, let it be given to one. And one cannot become wholly man in any other way than by being loved, by letting oneself be loved... If he declines to let himself be presented with the gift, then he destroys himself. Pope Benedict XVI inspiration christian faith While we too always seek other signs, other wonders, we do not realize that he is the real sign, God made flesh; he is the greatest miracle of the universe: all the love of God hidden in a human heart, in a human face. Pope Benedict XVI miracle real heart Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness. Listen to God. Adore Him in the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI eucharist adore silence It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastors wherever it occurs. ... The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in work, in action and in law. Pope Benedict XVI speech church law Over the pope as expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there stands one's own conscience which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. Pope Benedict XVI pope requirements expression Advent, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning, invites us to pause in silence to understand a presence. It is an invitation to understand that the individual events of the day are hints that God is giving us, signs of the attention he has for each one of us. Pope Benedict XVI powerful silence giving The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right – it is the very opposite. It is “a deep wound in society”. Pope Benedict XVI abortion pro-life opposites
