I have a mustard seed; and I am not afraid to use it. Pope Benedict XVI More Quotes by Pope Benedict XVI More Quotes From Pope Benedict XVI The deepest poverty is the inability of joy, the tediousness of a life considered absurd and contradictory. This poverty is widespread today, in very different forms in the materially rich as well as the poor countries. The inability of joy presupposes and produces the inability to love, produces jealousy, avarice - all defects that devastate the life of individuals and of the world. This is why we are in need of a new evangelization - if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works... this art can only be communicated by [one] who has life - he who is the Gospel personified. Pope Benedict XVI faith country art There is no other possibility for possessing certitude with regard to one's life apart from self-abandonmen t, in a continuous crescendo, into the hands of a love that seems to grow constantly because it has its origin in God. Pope Benedict XVI possibility self hands Islam has a total organization of life that is completely different from ours; it embraces simply everything,...There is a very marked subordination of woman to man; there is a very tightly knit criminal law, indeed, a law regulating all areas of life, that is opposed to our modern ideas about society. One has to have a clear understanding that it is not simply a denomination that can be included in the free realm of a pluralistic society. Pope Benedict XVI organization law men What does Sunday, the day of the Lord, mean for us? It is a day for rest and for family, but first of all a day for Him. Pope Benedict XVI sunday doe mean To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust. Pope Benedict XVI sunday easter light Hope is practiced through the virtue of patience, which continues to do good even in the face of apparent failure, and through the virtue of humility, which accepts God's mystery and trusts him even at times of darkness. Pope Benedict XVI humility darkness faces We become new if we let ourselves be grasped and shaped by the new Man, Jesus Christ. He is the new Man par excellence. In him the new human existence became reality and we can truly become new if we deliver ourselves into his hands and let ourselves be moulded by him. Pope Benedict XVI men reality jesus Peace, however, is not merely a gift to be received: it is also a task to be undertaken. In order to be true peacemakers, we must educate ourselves in compassion, solidarity, working together, fraternity, in being active within the community and concerned to raise awareness about national and international issues and the importance of seeking adequate mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth, the promotion of growth, cooperation for development and conflict resolution. 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God', as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount Pope Benedict XVI blessed son jesus Advent is the spiritual season of hope par excellence, and in this season the whole Church is called to be hope, for itself and for the world. Pope Benedict XVI church excellence spiritual In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves. Pope Benedict XVI depth silence ideas God is our Father and loves us, even when his silence remains incomprehensible. Pope Benedict XVI and-love silence father The real 'action' in the liturgy in which we are all supposed to participate is the action of God himself. This is what is new and distinctive about the Christian liturgy: God himself acts and does what is essential. Pope Benedict XVI essentials real christian To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves - these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself. Pope Benedict XVI justice men order It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love. Pope Benedict XVI fleeing unions suffering Purgatory basically means that God can put the pieces back together again. That He can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life. Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being. Pope Benedict XVI fullness-of-life heart mean The freedom to kill is not a true freedom, but a tyranny that reduces human beings to slavery. Pope Benedict XVI abortion slavery tyranny Ultimately, in the battle against lies and violence, truth and love have no other weapon than the witness of suffering. Pope Benedict XVI inspiration faith lying Dancing is not a form of expression for the Christian liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI dancing expression christian If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful, and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Pope Benedict XVI inspiration faith beautiful Dear young people, let me now ask you a question. What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Pope Benedict XVI foundation generations people
