| Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. -I Corinthians 4:1 |
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The Holy Father Speaks
It seems to me that at the heart of Pope Benedict
XVI lies the heart of a poet. His writings are
especially evocative and beautiful and I want to
help others hear the words, the teachings, and the
wisdom of our current Holy Father.
On this page I have, and will continue to,
collected some of my favorite quotes from this
Bishop of Rome and have placed them in various
categories to help for easier reference and
browsing. May the words of our Holy Father
inspire and build up our faith.
It seems to me that at the heart of Pope Benedict
XVI lies the heart of a poet. His writings are
especially evocative and beautiful and I want to
help others hear the words, the teachings, and the
wisdom of our current Holy Father.
On this page I have, and will continue to,
collected some of my favorite quotes from this
Bishop of Rome and have placed them in various
categories to help for easier reference and
browsing. May the words of our Holy Father
inspire and build up our faith.
On Advent
"In Advent, the liturgy often repeats and assures us, as though seeking to defeat
our mistrust, that God "is coming"; He comes to be with us, in each one of our
situations; he comes to live among us, to live with and in us; he comes to the
distances that divide and separate us; he comes to reconcile us with himself and
with one another. He comes in the history of humanity to knock on the door of
every man and woman of good will to offer individuals, families and peoples the
gift of fraternity, concord and peace." [Angelus Address, 3 December 2006]
"During Advent, the Christian population relives a double movement of the spirit.
On one hand, it raises its gaze to the final goal of pilgrimage in history, which is
the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling his birth in Bethlehem
with emotion, it bends down before the crib. The hope of Christians is directed to
the future, but always remains well rooted in a past event." [Angelus Address, 27
November 2005]
"We could say that Advent is the time in which Christians must awaken in their
hearts the hope of being able, with the help of God, to renew the world."
[Angelus Address, 27 November 2005]
On Adoration
"In the sacred host, he is present, the true treasure, always waiting for us. Only
by adoring this presence do we learn how to receive him properly - we learn the
reality of communion, we learn the Eucharistic celebration from the inside."
{Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Adoration is recognizing that Jesus is my Lord, that Jesus shows me the way to
take, and that I will live well only if I know the road that Jesus points out and
follow the path he shows me. Therefore, adoration means saying: 'Jesus, I am
yours. I will follow you in my life, I never want to lose this friendship, this
communion with you.' I could also say that adoration is essentially an embrace
with Jesus in which I say to him: 'I am yours, and I ask you, please stay with me
always.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On the Ascension of the Lord
"We rejoice that Christ our savior has taken his place at the right hand of the
Father, because where he has gone, we hope to follow." [Regina Caeli ADdress,
21 May 2006]
"The meaning of this last gesture is twofold. Above all, ascending on 'high', he
unequivocally reveals his divinity: He returns to where he came from, that is, to
God, after having fulfilled his mission on earth. Moreover, Christ ascends to
heaven with the humanity he had assumed and which has resurrected from the
dead: That humanity is ours, transfigured, divinized, made eternal. The
Ascension, therefore, reveals the 'supreme vocation' (Gaudium et Spes, n. 23) of
ever person - called to the eternal life of the kingdom of God, kingdom of love,
light and peace." [Regina Caeli Address, 21 May 2006]
On Baptism
"Baptism means precisely this, that we are not dealing with an event in the past,
but that a qualitative leap in world history comes to me, seizing hold of me in
order to draw me on." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me' (Galatians 2:20). I live, but
I am no longer I...No, this phrase is an expression of what happened at baptism.
My 'I' is taken away from me and is incorporated into a new and great subject.
This means that my 'I' is back again, but now transformed, broken up, opened
through incorporation into the other, in whom it acquires its new breadth of
existence." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"The great explosion of the Resurrection has seized us in baptism so as to draw us
on." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"In the mystery of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and
brings us in turn closer to each other." {Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12
September 2006]
On Catechesis
"In fact, sound catechesis relies on the support of strong Christian families which
are never selfish in character, constantly directed toward the other and founded
upon the sacrament of matrimony." [Papal Address to Bishops of Ghana, 24 April
2006]
On Chastity
"To live a chaste life also means to give up the need to belong, to take on a
lifestyle that is sober and modest." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
On the Church
"The Church, at its core, is a Eucharistic community, and therefore a communion in
the Body of the Lord." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"The barque of the Church is forever being buffeted by the wind of ideologies that
penetrate it with their waters, seemingly condemning it to sink. And yet, precisely
in the Church's suffering, Christ is victorious. In spite of everything, faith in Him
always draws new strength. Today also the Lord commands the waters, and
shows himself as Lord over the elements. He stays on his boat, the ship of the
Church. Thus even in the ministry of Peter there is revealed the weakness of what
comes from man, but also the strength of God." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"Do not be afraid to build your life on the Church and with the Church." [Meeting
with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"The Church is totally of the Spirit, but it has a structure, the apostolic succession,
which has the responsibility to guarantee the Church's permanence in the truth
given by Christ, from which the capacity to love also proceeds." [General
Audience, 5 April 2006]
"The Church does not become older in the course of the years. On the contrary it
grows younger, because she is forever moving toward the Lord, meaning she is
going toward the spring from which youth, newness, refreshment, and the
strength of life comes." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15 August 2005]
"My dear young friends, love the word of God and love the Church, and this will
give you access to a treasure of very great value and will teach you how to
appreciate its richness. Love and follow the Church, for it has received from its
Founder the mission of showing people the way to true happiness." [Message to
the Youth of the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On the Commandments
"There is no contradiction between God's law and human freedom: God's law
correctly interpreted neither attenuates nor, even less, eliminates man's freedom.
On the contrary, it guarantees and fosters this freedom because, as the Catechism
of the Catholic Church reminds us, 'freedom ... attains its perfection when
directed toward God, our beatitude' (no. 1731)." [Papal Address to Membres of
the Pontifical Biblical Commission, 27 April 2006]
On Confession
"...to prepare for Easter with a good confession continues to be a duty which must
be fully appreciated, as it offers us the possibility to begin our life again and this
new beginning is realized in the joy of the Risen One and in the communion of
forgiveness that it gives us. Conscious that we are sinners, but trusting in divine
mercy, let us allow ourselves to be reconciled by Christ to experience more
intensely the joy that he communicates to us in his resurrection." [General
Audience, 12 April 2006]
"Even if, as I said, it is not necessary to go to confession before each Communion,
it is very helpful to confess with a certain regularity. It is true: Our sins are
always the same, but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week, even if
the dirt is always the same; in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again.
Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen but it builds up. Something similar can be
said about the soul, for me myself; If I never go to confession, my soul is
neglected and in the end I am pleased with myself and no longer understand that
I must always work hard to improve, that I must make progress. And this
cleansing of the soul which Jesus gives us in the sacrament of confession helps us
to make our consciences more alert, more open, and hence, it also helps us to
mature spiritually and as human persons." [Address to First Communicants, 15
October 2005]
On the Creed
"The creed is not a collection of propositions; it is not a theory. It is anchored in
the event of baptism - a genuine encounter between God and man. In the mystery
of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and brings us in turn
closer to each other." [Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
On the Cross
"With the Cross, Jesus opens wide the door of God, the door between God and
men. Now it is open. But also from the other side the Lord knocks with his
Cross: He knocks at the door of the world, at the doors of our hearts, which so
often and in such great numbers are closed to God. And he speaks to us more or
less in this way: If the proofs that God gives of himself in creation do not succeed
in opening you to him; if the word of Scripture and the message of the Church
leave you indifferent - then look at me, your Lord and your God." [Homily, 1
April 2007]
"Yes, the Cross reveals the fullness of God's love for us. Love that was crucified,
that did not end with the scandal of Good Friday but culminates in the joy of the
Resurrection and the Ascension to Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit - the
Spirit of love through which, even tonight, sins are remitted and forgiveness and
peace are granted." [Homily, 29 March 2007]
"In fact, being Christian is only possible with our gaze fixed on the cross of our
Redeemer." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
On the Crucifixion of Christ
"What on the outside is simply brutal violence, from within becomes an act of total
self-giving love." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
On Death
"At the end of life, death deprives us of all that is earthly, but not of that Grace
and sacramental 'character' by virtue of which we are indissolubly associated with
Our Lord and Savior's Paschal Mystery. Emptied of all but clothed in Christ: thus
do the baptized cross the threshold of death and are presented to the just and
merciful God." [Homily, 4 November 2006]
On the Dignity of Life
"The holiness of God was no longer recognized, and consequently contempt was
shown for the sacredness of human life." [Visit to the Synagogue of Cologne, 19
August 2005]
On Discipleship
"It has to do with an interior change of life. It demands that I no longer be closed
in considering my self-realization as the principal purpose of my life. It demands
that I give myself freely to an Other - for truth, for love, for God who, in Jesus
Christ, precedes me and points out the way." [Homily, 1 April 2007]
"What matters is to put Jesus Christ at the center of our lives, so that our identity
is characterized essentially by the encounter, by communion with Christ and his
Word. In his light, every other value must be recovered and purified of possible
dross." [General Audience Address, 25 October 2006]
"We need to recognize our mission in history and to strive to carry it out. What is
needed is not fear, but responsibility - responsibility and concern for our own
salvation, and for the salvation of the whole world." [Homily, 12 September 2006]
"To belong to Christ means to keep the flame of love always burning in our
heart,continually fed by the richness of faith, not only when this brings with it
interior joy but also when it is joined to difficulty, aridity and suffering. Prayer is
the nourishment for the interior life, intimate conversation of the consecrated soul
with the divine Spouse." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"Belonging to the Lord means to be on fire with his incandescent love, to be
transformed into the splendor of his beauty: Our littleness is offered to him as a
sacrifice of sweet fragrance so that it becomes a witness of the greatness of his
presence for our epoch, which has great need to be inebriated by the richness of
his grace." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"Our priority condition to the following of Christ, therefore, is abnegation,
detachment from all that is not him. The Lord wants men and women who are
free, not bound, able to give up everything to follow him and to find in him alone
their very all." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"We are not listening to any person: we are listening to Jesus. We are not asked to
commit to just anything; we are asked to commit ourselves to the words of Jesus."
[Meeting with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"The way of an authentically Christian life equals faithfulness to the promises of
holy Baptism." [Meeting with the People, Rynek Square, Wadowice, Poland, 27
May 2006]
""When we abandon ourselves to the living God, when in humility of mind we
have recourse to him, a kind of hidden stream of divine life pervades us."
[Address to Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives of
Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the
encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction." [Deus Caritas Est 1]
"The Ten Commandments are not a burden, but a sign-post showing the path
leading to a successful life." [Visit to the Synagogue of Cologne, 19 August 2005]
"Among Christians, fraternity is not just a vague sentiment, nor is it a sign of
indifference to truth. It is grounded in the supernatural reality of the one Baptism
which makes us members of the one Body of Christ." [Ecumenical Meeting, 19
August 2005]
"Let yourselves be inflamed by the fire of the Spirit, so that a new Pentecost will
renew your hearts. Through you, may other young people everywhere come to
recognize in Christ the true answer to their deepest aspirations, and may they
open their hearts to receive the Word of God Incarnate, who died and rose from
the dead for the salvation of the world." [Visit to the Cathedral of Cologne, 18
August 2005]
"The Lord's ways are not easy, but we are not made for ease." [Address to his
countrymen, 25 April 2005]
"God's yoke is God's will, which we accept. And this will does not weigh down
upon us, oppressing us and taking away our freedom. To know what God wants,
to know where the path of life is found - this was Israel's joy, this was her great
privilege. It is also our joy: God's will does not alienate us, it purifies us - even if
this can be painful - and so it leads us to ourselves." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April
2005]
"Therefore, all that remains now is for me and all of us together to accept from
providence the will of God and to do our best to correspond to it, helping one
another in the fulfillment of our respective duties at the service of the Church."
[Address to Cardinals, 22 April 2005]
"Many times we feel like useless servants, and it is true. And, despite this, the
Lord calls us friends; he makes us his friends; he gives us his friendship." [Homily
before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
On Episcopal Ministry
"Feeding the Lord's flock, therefore, is a ministry of vigilant love that demands
our total dedication, to the last drop of energy and, if necessary, the sacrifice of
our lives." [Address to the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops, 1 June 2006]
On Eternal Life
"'Eternal life,'" however, does not mean for us Christians simply a life that lasts
forever, but rather a new quality of existence fully immersed in God's love, which
frees us from evil and death and which puts us in an everlasting communion with
all the brothers and sisters who share in the same love." [Angelus Address, 1
November 2006]
"Eternal life, blessed immortality, we have not by ourselves or in ourselves, but
through a relation -- through existential communion with him who is truth and
love and is therefore eternal: God himself." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"Life comes to us from being loved by him who is life; it comes to us from
living-with and loving-with him. I, but no longer I: This is the way of the cross,
the way that 'crosses over' a life simply closed in on the I, thereby opening up the
road towards true and lasting joy." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
On the Eucharist
"In the sacred Host, he is present, the true treasure, always waiting for us. Only
by adoring this presence do we learn to receive him properly - we learn the reality
of communion, we learn the Eucharistic celebration from the inside." {Homily,
Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"The Eucharist is, in fact, the 'treasure' of the Church, the precious heritage that
her Lord has left her. And the Church guards this heritage with the greatest care,
celebrating it daily in the holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels,
distributing it to the sick, and as viaticum to those on their last journey." [Angelus
Address, 18 June 2006]
"By carrying the Eucharist through the streets and squares, we wish to submerge
the bread descended from heaven in the everyday of our lives; we want Jesus to
walk where we walk; to live where we live. Our world, our lives, must become
his temple." [Angelus Address, 18 June 2006]
"In the Eucharist, adoration must become union." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21
August 2005]
"In their hearts, people always and everywhere have somehow expected a change,
a transformation of the world. Here now is the central act of transformation that
alone can truly renew the world: violence is transformed into love, and death into
life. Since this act transmutes death into love, death as such is already conquered
from within, the resurrection is already present in it. Death is, so to speak,
mortally wounded, so that it can no longer have the last world." [Eucharistic
Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"All other changes remain superficial and cannot save." [Eucharistic Celebration,
21 August 2005]
"Bread and wine become his Body and Blood. But it must not stop there, on the
contrary, the process of transformation must now gather momentum. The Body
and Blood of Christ are given to us so that we ourselves will be transformed in
our turn. We are to become the Body of Christ, his own flesh and blood. We all
eat the one bread, and this means that we ourselves become one. In this way,
adoration, as we said earlier, becomes union. God no longer simply stands before
us, as the one who is totally Other. He is within us, and we are in him."
[Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"...It is not we who are celebrating for ourselves, but it is the living God himself
who is preparing a banquet for us." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"This is a gift of love that is truly worth more than all the rest of my life. That day
[First Communion] I made the promise: 'Lord, I always want to be with You, but
above all I want You to be with me.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15
October 2005]
"Whoever receives Christ in the reality of this Body and Blood cannot keep this
gift to himself, but is impelled to share it in courageous witness of the Gospel, in
service to brothers in difficulty, in forgiveness for offenses. For some, moreover,
the Eucharist is the seed of a specific call to leave everything to go and proclaim
Christ to those who still do not know him." [Angelus Address, 23 October 2005]
"In the Eucharist, we contemplate the sacrament of this living synthesis of the law:
Christ gives us, with himself, the full realization of the love for God and the love
for our brothers. And this love of his, he communicates to us when we are
nourished by his Body and Blood." [Homily, 23 October 2005]
On Evangelization
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"We cannot bring to the world the Good News which is Christ himself in person if
we ourselves are not deeply united with Christ, if we do not know him
profoundly, personally, if we do not live on his Words." [At the Close of the
Papal Spiritual Exercises, 5 March 2006]
On Faith
"Faith is not mean to instill fear; Rather is meant - surely - to call us to
accountability. We are not mean to waste our lives, misuse them, or spend them
selfishly." [Mass, 12 September 2006]
"First, faith is simple. We believe in God - in God, who is the Beginning and the
End of human life. We believe in a God who enters into a relationship with us
human beings, who is our origin and future. Consequently, faith is, always and
inseparably, hope: the certainty that we have a future and will not end up as
nothing. And faith is love, since God's love is 'contagious'. A second thing also
becomes clear: The creed is not a collection of propositions; it is not a theory. It is
anchored in the event of baptism - a genuine encounter between God and man. In
the mystery of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and brings us
in turn closer to each other." [Homily, Mass in Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"Truly, those who believe are never alone." [Homily, Mass in Regensburg, 12
September 2006]
"Faith, therefore, which is a very personal human act, remains a choice of our
freedom which can also be rejected." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Believing means creating a very personal bond with our Creator and Redeemer,
by virtue of the Holy Spirit who works in our hearts, and making this bond the
foundation of our whole lives." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Believing means surrendering ourselves to God and entrusting our destiny to
him. Believing means entering into a personal relationship with our Creator and
Redeemer in the power of the Holy Spirit, and making this relationship the basis
of our whole life." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"What we believe is important, but even more important is the One in whom we
believe." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"To believe means first to accept as true what our mind cannot fully comprehend.
We have to accept what God reveals to us about himself, about ourselves, about
everything around us, including the things that are invisible, inexpressible and
beyond our imagination. This act of accepting revealed truth broadens the
horizon of our knowledge and draws us to the mystery in which our lives are
immersed." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"A strong faith must endure tests. A living faith must always grow. Our faith in
Jesus Christ, to be such, must frequently face others' lack of faith." [Meeting with
the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"Faith does not mean accepting a certain number of abstract truths about the
mysteries of God, of man, of life and death, of future realities. Faith consists in an
intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship based on love of him who loved
us first (cf. I John 4:11), even to the total offering of himself." [Homily in Pilsudzki
Square, Warsaw, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Hence faith is a gift, but at the same time it is a task." [Homily in Pilsudzki
Square, Warsaw, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Even when the believer feels lonely and is surrounded by risks and hostility, his
faith must be serene because the Lord is always with us; his power surrounds us
and protects us." [General Audience, 3 August 2005]
"It [the Christian faith] is a very rich legacy. We need to be worthy of it." [Visit
to the Cathedral of Cologne, 18 August 2005]
"I would like to show them how beautiful it is to be Christian, because the
widespread idea which continues to exist is that Christianity is composed of laws
and bans which one has to keep and, hence, is something toilsome and
burdensome - that one is freer without such a burden. I want to make clear that it
is not a burden to be carried by a great love and realization, but it is like having
wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a
great breadth, a large community. As Christians we are never alone - in the sense
that God is always with us, but also in the sense that we are always standing
together in a large community, a community for The Way, that we have a project
for the future - and in this way a Being which is worth believing in. This is the joy
of being a Christian and is the beauty of believing." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15
August 2005]
"Christianity is full of undiscovered dimensions and it shows itself fresh and anew
if one poses his questions again fundamentally." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15
August 2005]
"When God disappears, man is not greater; He loses divine dignity, the splendor
of God in his face." [Homily at Castel Gandolfo, 16 August 2005]
"Those who believe are never alone - neither in life nor in death." [Inaugural
Homily, 24 April 2005]
"'Adult' is not a faith that follows the waves in fashion and the latest novelty.
Adult and mature is a faith profoundly rooted in friendship with Christ. This
friendship opens us to all that is good and gives us the measure to discern
between what is true and what is false, between deceit and truth." [Homily
before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"The faithful one lifts his eyes to the Lord and waits for a divine reaction, to
perceive a gesture of love, a look of benevolence." [General Audience, 15 June
2005]
On the Family
"This Gospel episode [Luke 2:41-52] reveals the most authentic and profound
vocation of the family: that of supporting each one of its members on the path of
discovery of God and of the plan he has ordained for them. Mary and Joseph
educated Jesus above all by their example: From his parents, he learned all the
beauty of faith, of the love of God and of his law, as well as the exigencies of
justice, which finds its fulfillment in love (Romans 13:10). From them he learned
first of all that one must do God's will, and that the spiritual bond is worth more
than that of blood." [Angelus Address, 31 December 2006]
On the Fear of the Lord
"Perhaps this is a phrase with which we are not very familiar or do not like very
much. But 'fear of God' is not anguish; it is something quite different. As
children, we are not anxious about the Father but we have fear of God, the
concern not to destroy the love on which our life is based. Fear of God is that
sense of responsibility that we are bound to possess, responsibility for the portion
of the world that has been entrusted to us in our lives. It is responsibility for the
good administration of this portion of the world and of history, and one thus
helps the just building of the world, contributing to the victory of goodness and
peace." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
On First Communion
"I understood that Jesus had entered my heart, he had actually visited me. And
with Jesus, God himself was with me. And I realized that this is a gift of love that
is truly worth more than all the other things in life can give...I promised the Lord
as best I could: 'I always want to stay with you,' and I prayed to him, 'but above
all, stay with me.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On Forgiveness
"Forgiveness leads people towards a deeper and richer humanity, awakening in
each one the best of himself or herself. ... Forgivness is, in a certain way, the
perfecting of the frail and imperfect human justice, making it possible to heal the
wounds that have sometimes permanently marked people in their very depths and
to re-establish in the best possible way the human relations that have been
destabilized." [Address to the Ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of
Algeria, 1 December 2005]
On God
"This is the most important, most central truth about God. To all for whom it is
difficult to believe in God, I say again today: 'God is love.' Dear friends, be
witnesses to this truth. You will surely be if you place yourselves in the school of
Mary." [Address to Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives
of Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"God says what he does and does what he says." [Message to the Youth of the
World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day}
On the Gospel
"Yet there can be no false compromise, no watering down of the Gospel."
[Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"With the light and strength that come from this gift, namely the Gospel which the
Holy Spirit ceaselessly makes alive and active, we can proclaim Christ fearlessly
and invite everyone not to be afraid to open their hearts to him, for we are
convinced that in him is found the fullness of life and happiness." [Meeting with
the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of
darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death
and brings us into the splendour of God's light, into true life." [Inaugural Homily,
24 April 2005]
"There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the
encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to
speak to others of our friendship with Him." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
"Be under no illusion. An incomplete Catholic teaching is a contradiction in itself
and cannot be fruitful in the long term. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
goes hand in hand with the need for conversion and love that encourages, that
knows the way, that teaches an understanding that with God's grace even what
seems impossible becomes possible." [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November
2005]
On Holiness
"Holiness does not consist in not making mistakes or never sinning. Holiness
grows with the capacity for conversion, repentance, willingness to begin again,
and above all with the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness." [General
Audience, 31 January 2007]
"Holiness demands a constant effort but it is possible for all since it is not just the
work of man but is above all a gift of God, who is thrice holy (cf. Isaiah 6:3)."
[Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ and faithful obedience to his will."
[Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
On the Holy Spirit
"It is as if saying that the Holy Spirit, namely, the Spirit of the Father and of the
Son, becomes the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, from which
rises incessantly to God a movement of prayer, of which we cannot even specify
the terms. The Spirit, in fact, makes up for our deficiencies and offers the Father
our adoration, along with our most profound aspirations. Obviously this calls for
a level of great vital communion with the Spirit. It is an invitation to be ever more
sensitive, more attentive to this presence of the Spirit in us, to transform it into
prayer, to experience this presence and to learn in this way to pray, to speak with
the Father as children in the Holy Spirit." [General Audience, 15 November 2006]
"Therefore, there is a profound relationship between the Holy Spirit and the
Church." [General Audience, 5 April 2006]
"This profound relationship with the Spirit does not eliminate our humanity, with
all its weakness and, in this way, the community of disciples experienced from the
beginning not only the joy of the Holy Spirit, the grace of truth and love, but also
trial, made up above all by the contrast between the truths of faith and the
resulting lacerations of communion." [General Audience, 5 April 2006]
On Hope
"The hope of Christians is directed to the future, but always remains well rooted
in a past event." [Angelus Address, 27 November 2005]
On Humanity
"In the heart of every man - a beggar for love - is a thirst for love." [Homily, 29
March 2007]
On Humor
"I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to
be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take
everything too tragically. I'd also say its necessary for my ministry. A writer
once said that angels can fly because they don't take themselves too seriously.
Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didnt' think we were so important."
"Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk, 5 August 2006]
On Jesus Christ
"The more we imitate Christ and remain united to him, the more we enter into the
mystery of divine holiness." [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"In the measure that we accept his proposal and follow him - everyone according
to his own circumstances - we too can participate in his beatitude." [Homily, All
Saints' Day, 2006]
"God does not leave us groping in the dark. He has shown himself to us as a man.
In his greatness he has let himself become small. 'Whoever has seen me has seen
the Father,' Jesus says (John 14:9). God has taken on a human face. He has loved
us even to the point of letting himself be nailed to the cross for our sake, in order
to bring the sufferings of mankind to the very heart of God." [Homily, Mass in
Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfillment and
become redeemed joy." [Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"In Christ the beauty of truth and the beauty of love converge; but love, as people
know, also calls for the willingness to suffer, a willingness which for those who
love one another can even extend to the sacrifice of life (cf. John 15:13)!" [Message
to the Second World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, 22
May 2006]
"His power is not a power according to the rules of this world. It is a power of
goodness, of truth and love, which is stronger than death. Yes, his promise is true:
the power of death, the gates of hell, will not prevail against the Church He built
for Peter (cf. Matthew 16:18), and that He, precisely in this way, continues to build
up in person." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"...the Lord is continually on a journey towards the Cross, towards the lowliness
of the suffering and slain servant of God, but at the same time, he is also headed
toward the vastness of the world, in which He goes before us as the Risen Lord,
in order that the light of his word and the presence of his love may shine forth in
the world; he is on a journey because it is through Him, the crucified and risen
Christ, [that] God enters the world." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"In short, building on Christ means basing all your desires, aspirations, dreams,
ambitions and plans on his will. It means saying to yourself, to your family, to
your friends, to the whole world and, above all to Christ: 'Lord, in life I wish to
do nothing against you, because you know what is best for me. Only you have
the words of eternal life' (cf. John 6:68). My friends, do not be afraid to lean on
Christ! Long for Christ, as the fountain of your life! Enkindle within you the
desire to build your life on him and for him! Because no one who depends on the
crucified love of the Incarnate Word can even lose." [Meeting the Young People,
Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"Keep your eyes fixed on him. Let him form you, so that in your ministry you will
be able to show him to all who approach you." [Address to Men and Women
Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives of Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa,
Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Jesus is the way of perfection, the living and personal synthesis of perfect
freedom in total obedience to God's will." [Papal Address to Members of the
Pontifical Biblical Commission, 27 April 2006]
"Out of love, he could allow himself to be killed, but precisely by doing so he
broke the definitiveness of death, because in him the definitiveness of life was
present. He was one single reality with indestructible life, in such a way that it
burst forth anew through death. Let us express the same thing from another
angle. His death was an act of love. At the Last Supper he anticipated death and
transformed it into self-giving." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"He holds us up. Let us always fix our gaze on him and extend our hands to him.
Let us allow him to take us by the hand, and we will not drown, but will serve life
which is stronger than death, and love which is stronger than hatred." [Homily,
Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"Friendship with the Master assures the soul profound peace and serenity, even in
dark moments and the most difficult trials." [Angelus Address, 15 January 2006]
"Jesus is your true friend and Lord; enter into a relationship of true friendship
with him! He is expecting you and in him alone will you find happiness."
[Message for the first National Day of Young Catholics of the Netherlands, 21
November 2005]
"Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him." [Eucharistic
Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"The new King, to whom they [the Magi] now paid homage, was quite unlike
what they were expecting. In this way they had to learn that God is not as we
usually imagine him to be." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"He contrasts the noisy and ostentatious power of this world with the defenceless
power of love, which succumbs to death on the Cross, and dies ever anew
throughout history; yet it is this same love which constitutes the new divine
intervention that opposes injustice and ushers in the Kingdom of God. God is
different - that is what they [the Magi] come to realize. And it means that they
themselves must now become different, they must learn God's ways." [Youth
Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The better you know Jesus the more his mystery attracts you. The more you
discover him, the more you are moved to seek him. This is a movement of the
spirit which lasts throughout life..." [Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
"Each one of us may address him familiarly; each one may turn to him. The Lord
always hears our voice. We may distance ourselves inwardly from him. We can
live with our backs turned to him, but he always awaits us, and is always close to
us." [Homily at St. John Lateran, 8 May 2005]
"The human race - every one of us - is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer
knows the way. The Son of God will not let this happen; he cannot abandon
humanity in so wretched a condition. He leaps to his feet and abandons the glory
of heaven, in order to go in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the
Cross. He takes it upon his shoulders and carries our humanity; he carries us all -
he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep." [Inaugural Homily,
24 April 2005]
"If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are
we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps
afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes
life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our
freedom? And once again the Pope [John Paul II] said: No! 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. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And
so, today, with great strength and conviction, on the basis of long personal
experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He
takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to
him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to
Christ - and you will find true life. Amen. [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
"Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: To find Christ means to find the mercy of
God." [Homily before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"The more we love Jesus, the more we know him, and the more our genuine
freedom grows, as well as the joy of being redeemed." [Homily before the
Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"We do not see him with our eyes but we see that wherever Jesus is, people
change, they improve...Therefore, we do not see the Lord himself but we see the
effects of the Lord." [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On Joy
"Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfillment and
become redeemed joy." [Homily, 12 September 2006]
"The source of Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God, loved
personally by our Creator, by the One who holds the entire universe in his hands
and loves each one of us and the whole great human family with a passionate and
faithful love, a love greater than our infidelities and sins, a love which forgives."
[Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5
June 2006]
"The most authentic joy, in fact, is in the relationship with him [Jesus], having
found, followed, known, and loved him thanks to a continuous tension of the
mind and heart." [Angelus Address, 15 January 2006]
"True joy is something different from pleasure; joy grows and continues to mature
in suffering, in communion with the Cross of Christ. It is here alone that the true
joy of faith is born, from which even they are not excluded if they learn to accept
their suffering in communion with that of Christ." [Address to the Clergy of
Aosta, 25 July 2005]
On Justice
"Christians are called to seek justice always, but posses an inner impulse to love
that goes beyond justice itself." [Address to the International Christian Union of
Business Executives, 4 March 2006]
On Lent
"...this is the gift and duty for each one of us during the season of Lent: to listen to
Christ, like Mary. To listen to him in his Word, contained in Sacred Scripture. To
listen to him in the events of our lives, seeking to decipher in them the messages
of Providence. Finally, to listen to him in our brothers and sisters, especially in
the lowly and the poor, to whom Jesus himself demands our concrete love. To
listen to Christ and obey his voice: this is the principle way, the only way, that
leads to the fullness of joy and of love." [Angelus Address, 12 March 2006]
"For this reason, Lent is a time of listening to the truth, it is a propitious moment
to be converted to love, as the profound truth - the truth of God - is, at the same
time, love." [General Audience, 1 March 2005]
On the Liturgy
"The liturgy is the privileged place to listen to the divine Word, which renders
present the Lord's salvific acts, but it is also the circle in which the communitarian
prayer rises which celebrates divine love. God and man meet in a saving embrace,
which finds its fulfillment precisely in the liturgical celebration." [General
Audience, 5 October 2005]
On Love
"In our life all is a gift of his love. How is it possible to remain indifferent before
so great a mystery? How is it possible to not respond to the love of the heavenly
Father by leading a life of grateful children?" [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"In Christ the beauty of truth and the beauty of love converge; but love, as people
know, also calls for the willingness to suffer, a willingness which for those who
love one another can even extend to the sacrifice of life (cf. John 15:13)!" [Message
to the Second World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, 22
May 2006]
"On the contrary, Christian faith and ethics do not wish to stifle love but to make
it healthy, strong and truly free: this is the exact meaning of the Ten
Commandments, which are not a series of 'noes' but a great 'yes' to love and to
life." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of
Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Anyone who knows he is loved is in turn prompted to love. It is the Lord
himself, who loved us first, who asks us to place at the centre of our lives love for
him and for the people he has loved." [Address tot he Participants in the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"To love him [Jesus] is to remain in dialogue with him, in order to know his will
and to put it into effect promptly." [Homily, Pilsudzki Square, Warsaw, Poland,
26 May 2006]
"What other response can we give to a love so great, if not that of a heart that is
open and ready to love? But what does it mean to love Christ? It means trusting
him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis, in the
hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come. Entrusting ourselves to
Christ, we lost nothing, we gain everything. In his hands our life acquires its true
meaning. Love for Christ expresses itself in the will to harmonize our own life
with the thoughts and sentiments of his Heart. This is achieved through interior
union based on the grace of the Sacraments, strengthened by continuous prayer,
praise, thanksgiving and penance." [Homily, Pilsudzki Square, Warsaw, Poland,
26 May 2006]
"The experience of God's love is lived by man as a 'call' to which he must
respond." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"Everything in this world will pass away. In eternity only Love will remain."
[Homily, 25 March 2006]
"Jesus' hour is the hour in which love triumphs." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21
August 2005]
"In the end, in fact, love alone enables us to live, and love is always also suffering:
it matures in suffering and provides the strength to suffer for good without taking
oneself into account at the actual moment." [Address to the Clergy of Aosta, 25
July 2005]
"Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer." [Inaugural
Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Mary
"Let us be attracted by her beauty, reflection of divine glory, so that 'the God that
is coming' will find in each one of us a good and open heart, which he can fill with
his gifts." [Angelus Address, 3 December 2006]
"Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The angel does not enter
our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by
name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and
faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy
servants who have used well the gifts he has given us." [Homily, Vespers in
Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Mary leaves everything to the Lord's judgment. At Nazareth she gave over her
will, immersing it in the will of God: Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be
with me according to your word (Luke 1:38). And this continues to be her
fundamental attitude. This is how she teaches us to pray: not by seeking to affirm
our own will and our own desires before God, but by letting him decide what he
wants to do. From Mary we learn graciousness and readiness to help, but we also
learn humility and generosity in accepting God's will, in the confident conviction
that whatever he says in response will be best for us." [Homily, Mass in Altotting
11 September 2006]
"We do not praise God sufficiently by keeping silent about his saints, especially
Mary, 'the holy one' who became his dwelling place on earth. The simple and
multiform light of God appears to us exactly in its variety and richness only in the
countenance of the saints, who are the true mirrors of his light. And it is precisely
by looking at Mary's face that we can see more clearly than in any other way the
beauty, goodness and mercy of God. In her face we can truly perceive the divine
light." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"...Mary does not merely invite our admiration and veneration, but she guides us,
shows us the way of life, shows us how we can become blessed, how to find the
path of happiness." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"On contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we also understand that the earth is
not our definitive homeland and that, if we live constantly oriented to eternal
goods, one day we will share in her same glory. For this reason, despite the many
daily difficulties, we must not lose serenity or peace." [General Audience, 16
August 2006]
"We are sure that, from on high, Mary follows our steps with gentle trepidation,
gives us serenity in the hour or darkness and storm, and gives us security with
her maternal hand." [General Audience, 16 August 2006]
On Music
"This [SC, 112] means that music and song are more than an embellishment of
worship; they are themselves part of the liturgical action." [Address at Basilica in
Regensburg, 13 September 2006]
"Solemn sacred music, with choir, organ, orchestra and the singing of the people,
is not an addition of sorts that frames the liturgy and makes it more pleasing, but
an important means of active participation in worship." [Address at Basilica in
Regensburg, 13 September 2006]
On the Organ
"The organ has always been considered, and rightly so, the king of musical
instruments, because it takes up all the sounds of creation and gives resonance to
the fullness of human sentiments. By transcending the merely human sphere, as
all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ's great range of timbre,
from 'piano' through to a thundering of 'fortissimo,' makes it an instrument
superior to all others. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of
human life. The manifold possibilities of the organ in some way reminds us of the
immensity and the magnificence of God." [Address at Basilica in Regensburg, 13
September 2006]
On Parents
"Dear parents! I ask you to help your children to grow in faith, I ask you to
accompany them on their journey toward holy Communion, on their journey
toward Jesus and with Jesus. Please, go with your children to Church and take
part in the Sunday Eucharistic celebration! You will see that this is not time lost;
rather, it is the very thing that can keep your family truly united and centered.
Sunday becomes more beautiful, the whole week becomes more beautiful, when
you go to Sunday Mass together. And please, pray together at home too: at meals
and before going to bed. Prayer does not only bring us nearer to God but also
nearer to one another. It is a powerful source of peace and joy. Family life
becomes more joyful and expansive whenever God is there and his closeness is
experienced in prayer." [Homily, 11 September 2006]
"Parents are called to help their children to discover the value and importance of
responding to the invitation of Christ, who summons the whole Christian family
to Sunday Mass. An especially significant state in this educational journey is First
Communion, a true celebration for the parish community which welcomes its
smallest children to the Lord's Table for the first time." [Angelus Address, 12
June 2005]
On the Pope
"Do not forget that Peter who is watching our gathering from the window of God
the Father, nor this Peter who is standing in front of you, nor any successive Peter
will ever be opposed to you or the building of a lasting house on the rock.
Indeed, he will offer his heart and his hands to help you construct a life on Christ
and with Christ." [Meeting with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland,
27 May 2006]
On Pope John Paul II
"How alone we all felt after the passing of John Paul II - the Pope who for over
twenty-six years has been our shepherd and guide on our journey through life!"
[Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Prayer
"The Lord does not close his eyes to the needs of his children, and if he seems at
times insensitive to their requests, it is only in order to test them and to temper
their faith." [Angelus Address, 14 August 2005]
"To pray is to say: 'Jesus, I am Yours, I never want to lose this friendship, this
communion with You.'" [Address to First Communicants, 15 October 2005]
On Pride
"The great temptation of the proud, who want to be like God, the arbiter of good
and evil (cf. Genesis 3:5), is decisively rejected by the person of prayer who
chooses humble and spontaneous trust in the One Lord." [General Audience, 10
August 2005]
On the Priesthood
"The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in
promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an
expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in the
spiritual life." [Meeting with the Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May
2006]
"At the moment of your ordination, through the liturgical sign of the imposition of
hands, Christ took you under his special protection; you are concealed under his
hands and in his Heart. Immerse yourselves in his love, and give him your love!"
[Meeting the Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May 2006]
"Today I am meeting you, priests called by Christ to serve him in the new
millennium. You have been chosen from among the people, appointed to act in
relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Believe in the power of your
priesthood! By virtue of the sacrament, you have received all that you are."
[Meeting with Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May 2006]
"At the center [of the ordination rite] is the very ancient gesture of the imposition
of hands, with which he took possession of me saying: 'You belong to me.' But
along with this, he also said: 'You are under the protection of my hands. You are
under the protection of my heart. You are kept in the palm of my hand and
because of this, you find yourself in the vastness of my love. Remain in the space
of my hands and give me yours." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"The Lord has placed his hands on us and he now wants our hands so that they
will become his hands in the world. He wants them to no longer be instruments
to take things, men, the world for us, to reduce it to our possession, but that,
instead, they transmit his divine touch, being at the service of his love." [Homily,
Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"This is the profound meaning of being a priest: to become a friend of Jesus Christ.
We should commit ourselves again to this friendship everyday." [Homily, Holy
Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"The time we dedicate to this [prayer] is truly time of pastoral activity. A priest
must be above all a man of prayer." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"To be a friend of Jesus, to be a priest means to be a man of prayer. So we
recognize it and come out of the ignorance of simple servants. So we learn to live,
to suffer and to act with him and for him." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April
2006]
The pastor must be inspired by Christ's holy zeal: for him it is not a matter of
indifference that so many people are living in the desert. And there are so many
kinds of desert. There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst the
desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of
God's darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the
goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the
internal deserts have become so vast." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On the Pure Heart
"That heart is pure that does not pretend and does not sully itself with lies and
hypocrisy. A heart that remains transparent like water rises up, for it does not
know duplicity. That heart is pure that does not weary itself with the
drunkenness of pleasure; a heart whose love is true and not only a passion of the
moment." [Homily, 1 April 2007]
On Redemption
"It is not power, but love that redeems us!" [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On the Resurrection
"The Resurrection is not a thing of the past, the Resurrection has reached us and
seized us. We grasp hold of it, we grasp hold of the risen Lord, and we know
that he holds us firmly even when our hands grow weak. We grasp hold of his
hand, and thus we also hold on to one another's hands, and we become one single
subject, not just one thing. I, but no longer I: This is the formula of Christian life
rooted in baptism, the formula of the Resurrection within time. I, but no longer I:
If we live in this way, we transform the world. It is a formula contrary to all
ideologies of violence, it is a program opposed to corruption and to the desire for
power and possession." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"We know, however, that evil does not have the last word, as he who triumphs is
Christ crucified and risen, and his victory is manifested with the force of merciful
love. His resurrection gives us this certainty: Despite all the darkness in the
world, evil does not have the last word." [General Audience, 12 April 2006]
On the Sacred Heart, Devotion to
"Gazing at the side pierced by the lance, where shines God's boundless will for
salvation, cannot then be considered as a passing form of veneration or devotion.
The adoration of God's love, which found historical-devotional expression in the
symbol of the pierced heart, remains irreplaceable for a living relationship with
God." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of
Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"In this way, we will be able to understand better what it means to know in Jesus
Christ the love of God, to experience it, keeping our gaze fixed on him, until we
live completely from the experience of his love, to be able to witness it afterward
to others." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"Adoration of the love of God, which has found in the symbol of the 'pierced
heart' its historical-devotional experience, continues to be vital for a living
relationship with God." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of
the Society of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
On the Saints
"Hence, also among the saints there are oppositions, discords and controversies.
And this is very consoling for me, as we see that the saints have not 'fallen from
heaven.' They are men like us, with complicated problems." [General Audience,
31 January 2007]
"The saints are not a restricted caste of elect but a crowd without number toward
which, today, the liturgy exhorts us to life our eyes." [Homily, All Saints' Day,
2006]
"Many there are whose faces and names we do not know but with the eyes of
faith we see them shine like stars full of glory in the divine firmament." [Homily,
All Saints' Day, 2006]
"Gazing upon the luminous example of the saints the great desire to be like the
saints is awakened in us; happy to live near God, in his light, int he great family of
the friends of God. Being a saint means living close to God, living in his family.
And this is the vocation of all of us, vigorously reaffirmed by the Second Vatican
Council, and on this day brought to our attention in a solemn way. But how can
we become saints, friends of God? An initial response to this question is this: To
be saints it is not necessary to perform extraordinary deeds and works, nor is it
necessary to possess exceptional charisms. But to listen to Jesus and then to
follow him and not lose heart in the face of difficulties." [Homily, All Saints' Day,
2006]
"The example of the saints encourages us to follow in their footsteps, to experience
the joy of those who entrust themselves to God, because the only cause of sadness
is to live far from him." [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"For us they are encouraging examples to imitate; they assure us that if we follow
this path, the way of love, with fidelity, we too, as the psalmist sings, will be
satisfied with God's presence (cf. Psalm 17[16]:15)". [Papal Address at Shrine of
the Holy Face, Manoppello, Italy, 1 September 2006]
"We do not praise God sufficiently by keeping silent about his saints, especially
Mary, 'the holy one' who became his dwelling place on earth. The simple and
multiform light of God appears to us exactly in its variety and richness only in the
countenance of the saints, who are the true mirrors of his light. And it is precisely
by looking at Mary's face that we can see more clearly than in any other way the
beauty, goodness and mercy of God. In her face we can truly perceive the divine
light." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"In their lives, as if in a great picture-book, the riches of the Gospel are revealed.
They are the shining path which God himself has traced throughout history and is
still tracing today." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The saints and the blesseds did not doggedly seek their own happiness, but
simply wanted to give themselves, because the light of Christ had shone upon
them. They show us the way to attain happiness, they show us how to be truly
human." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The saint is he who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth
to be progressively transformed by it. Because of this beauty and truth, he is
ready to renounce everything, even himself. The love of God is enough, which he
experiences in the humble and disinterested service to the neighbor, especially to
those who cannot give back in return." [Homily, 23 October 2005]
On Salvation
"It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our
Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and
true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of
what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever
save us apart from love?" [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
On the Scriptures
"The reading of sacred Scriptures is prayer, it must be prayer - it must emerge
from prayer and lead to prayer." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"My dear young friends, love the word of God and love the Church, this will give
you access to a treasure of very great value and will teach you how to appreciate
it's richness. Love and follow the Church, for it has received from its Founder the
mission of showing people the way to true happiness." [Message to the Youth of
the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
"My dear young friends, meditate often on the word of God, and allow the Holy
Spirit to be your teacher. You will then discover that God's way of thinking is not
the same as that of humankind's. You will find yourselves led to contemplate the
real God and to read the events of history through his eyes. You will savour in
fullness the joy that is born of truth." [Message to the You th of the World on the
Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
"My dear young friends, I urge you to become familiar with the Bible, and to have
it at hand so that it can be your compass pointing out the road to follow. By
reading it, you will learn to know Christ." [Message to the Youth of the World on
the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On the Sick
"Dear friends who are sick, who are marked by suffering in body or soul, you are
most closely united to the Cross of Christ, and at the same time, you are the most
eloquent witnesses of God's mercy. Through you and through your suffering, he
bows down towards humanity in love. You who say in silence: 'Jesus, I trust in
you' teach us that there is no faith more profound, no hope more alive and no love
more ardent than the faith, hope and love of a person who in the midst of
suffering places himself securely in God's hands. May the human hands of those
who care for you in the name of mercy be an extension of the open hands of God.
I would so willingly embrace each one of you. But since this is impossible, I draw
you spiritually to my heart, and I impart my Blessing in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." [Encounter with the Sick,
Krakow-Lagiewniki, Poland, 27 May 2006]
On Suffering
"We suffer on account of God's patience. And yet, we need his patience."
[Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Sunday
"If the Church tells us that the Eucharist is an essential part of Sunday, this is no
mere positivism or thirst for power. On Easter morning, first the women and
then the disciples had the grace of seeing the Lord. From that moment on, they
knew that the first day of the week, Sunday, would be his day, the day of Christ
the Lord. The day when creation began became the day when creation was
renewed. Creation and redemption belong together. That is why Sunday is so
important. It is good that today, in many cultures, Sunday is a free day, and is
often combined with Saturday so as to constitute at 'week-end' of free time. Yet
this free time is empty if God is not present." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August
2005]
On the Ten Commandments
"On the contrary, Christian faith and ethics do not wish to t stifle love but to make
it healthy, strong and truly free: this is the exact meaning of the Ten
Commandments, which are not a series of 'noes' but a great 'yes' to love and to
life." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of
Rome, 5 June 2006]
On Truth
"There can be no dialogue at the expense of truth; the dialogue must advance in
charity and truth." [Ecumenical Meeting, 19 August 2005]
"Be under no illusion. An incomplete Catholic teaching is a contradiction in itself
and cannot be fruitful in the long term. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
goes hand in hand with the need for conversion and love that encourages, that
knows the way, that teaches an understanding that with God's grace even what
seems impossible becomes possible." [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November
2005]
"The clarity and beauty of the Catholic faith are such that they brighten human life
even today!" [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November 2005]
On Vocations
"Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The angel does not enter
our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by
name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and
faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy
servants who have used well the gifts he has given us." [Homily, Vespers in
Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Lord, look upon these troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel,
witnesses to you, persons who can point the way toward life in abundance! Look
upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us
laborers! With this petition we knock on God's door; but with the same petition
the Lord is also knocking on the doors of our own heart. Lord do you want me?
Is it not perhaps too big for me? Am I too small for this? Do not be afraid, the
angel said to Mary. Do not fear: I have called you by name, God says through the
Prophet Isaiah (43:1) to us - to each of us." [Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11
September 2006]
"To be with Jesus and, being sent, to go out to meet people - these two things
belong together and together they are the heart of a vocation, of the priesthood.
To be with him and to be sent out - the two are inseparable. Only one who is
with him comes to know him and can truly proclaim him. Anyone who has been
with him cannot keep to himself what he has found; instead, he has to pass it on."
{Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"His soul is filled with amazement, which makes him ask in prayer: 'Lord, why
me?' But love knows no 'why'; it is a free gift to which one responds with the gift
of self." [Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
"There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles
anchored firmly in the word of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of
our times and prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide. It is this that the Lord
asks of you, it is to this that the Church invites you, and it is this that the world -
even though it may not be aware of it - expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not
be afraid to respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to
follow him in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in
him and you will not be disappointed." [Message to the Youth of the World on
the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On Young People
"Continue to guide them with true fatherly care toward a deeper knowledge of
their crucified and risen Lord, always providing them with sound catechesis in the
faith." [Address to the Bishops of Malawi, 29 September 2006]
"First of all, I'd say that I am very happy there are young people who want to be
together, who want to be together in faith and who want to do something good.
The tendency to do good is very strong in young people, just think of the many
kinds of volunteer work they do. The commitment of offering your own personal
contribution to help the needy of this world is a great thing. One idea might be to
encourage them in this sphere: Go ahead! Look for opportunities to do good!
The world needs this desire to do good, it needs this commitment! Then another
message might be this: the courage to make definitive decisions! Young people
are very generous but when they face the risk of a life-long commitment, be it
marriage or a priestly vocation, they are afraid. The world is moving
dramatically: nowadays I can continually do whatever I want with my life with all
its unpredictable future events. By making a definitive decision am I myself not
tying up my personal freedom and depriving myself of freedom of movement?
Reawaken the courage to make definitive decisions: they are really the only ones
that allow us to grow, to move ahead and to reach something great in life. They
are the only decisions that do not destroy our freedom but offer to point us in the
right direction. Risk making this leap, so to speak, towards the definitive and so
embrace life fully: this is something I'd be happy to communicate to them."
[Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk, 5 August 2006]
"It is especially adolescents and your people, who feel within them the pressing
call to love, who need to be freed from the widespread prejudice that Christianity,
with its commandments and prohibitions, sets too many obstacles in the path of
the joy of love and, in particular, prevents people from fully enjoying the
happiness that men and women find in their love for one another." [Address to
the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Dear children and young people of Rome, I would like to ask you in turn to
entrust yourself to the Church and to love and trust her, because in her the Lord
is present and because she seeks nothing but your good." [Address to the
Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Young people, in fact, are not looking for a Church which panders to youth but
one which is truly young in spirit; a Church completely open to Christ, the new
Man." [Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"...young people, who are searching for the fullness of life despite their
weaknesses and limitations, urge their Pastors to listen to their questions and to
do everything possible to help them understand the one true answer, which is
Christ." [Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"So I think that, in any case, among young people the sentiment is spreading that
all these diversions we are being offered and the entire leisure industry, in spite
of everything that one does and can do, buy and can sell, this cannot be
everything, that there must be something more about it." [Vatican Radio
Interview, 15 August 2005][Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
"In Advent, the liturgy often repeats and assures us, as though seeking to defeat
our mistrust, that God "is coming"; He comes to be with us, in each one of our
situations; he comes to live among us, to live with and in us; he comes to the
distances that divide and separate us; he comes to reconcile us with himself and
with one another. He comes in the history of humanity to knock on the door of
every man and woman of good will to offer individuals, families and peoples the
gift of fraternity, concord and peace." [Angelus Address, 3 December 2006]
"During Advent, the Christian population relives a double movement of the spirit.
On one hand, it raises its gaze to the final goal of pilgrimage in history, which is
the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling his birth in Bethlehem
with emotion, it bends down before the crib. The hope of Christians is directed to
the future, but always remains well rooted in a past event." [Angelus Address, 27
November 2005]
"We could say that Advent is the time in which Christians must awaken in their
hearts the hope of being able, with the help of God, to renew the world."
[Angelus Address, 27 November 2005]
On Adoration
"In the sacred host, he is present, the true treasure, always waiting for us. Only
by adoring this presence do we learn how to receive him properly - we learn the
reality of communion, we learn the Eucharistic celebration from the inside."
{Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Adoration is recognizing that Jesus is my Lord, that Jesus shows me the way to
take, and that I will live well only if I know the road that Jesus points out and
follow the path he shows me. Therefore, adoration means saying: 'Jesus, I am
yours. I will follow you in my life, I never want to lose this friendship, this
communion with you.' I could also say that adoration is essentially an embrace
with Jesus in which I say to him: 'I am yours, and I ask you, please stay with me
always.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On the Ascension of the Lord
"We rejoice that Christ our savior has taken his place at the right hand of the
Father, because where he has gone, we hope to follow." [Regina Caeli ADdress,
21 May 2006]
"The meaning of this last gesture is twofold. Above all, ascending on 'high', he
unequivocally reveals his divinity: He returns to where he came from, that is, to
God, after having fulfilled his mission on earth. Moreover, Christ ascends to
heaven with the humanity he had assumed and which has resurrected from the
dead: That humanity is ours, transfigured, divinized, made eternal. The
Ascension, therefore, reveals the 'supreme vocation' (Gaudium et Spes, n. 23) of
ever person - called to the eternal life of the kingdom of God, kingdom of love,
light and peace." [Regina Caeli Address, 21 May 2006]
On Baptism
"Baptism means precisely this, that we are not dealing with an event in the past,
but that a qualitative leap in world history comes to me, seizing hold of me in
order to draw me on." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me' (Galatians 2:20). I live, but
I am no longer I...No, this phrase is an expression of what happened at baptism.
My 'I' is taken away from me and is incorporated into a new and great subject.
This means that my 'I' is back again, but now transformed, broken up, opened
through incorporation into the other, in whom it acquires its new breadth of
existence." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"The great explosion of the Resurrection has seized us in baptism so as to draw us
on." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"In the mystery of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and
brings us in turn closer to each other." {Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12
September 2006]
On Catechesis
"In fact, sound catechesis relies on the support of strong Christian families which
are never selfish in character, constantly directed toward the other and founded
upon the sacrament of matrimony." [Papal Address to Bishops of Ghana, 24 April
2006]
On Chastity
"To live a chaste life also means to give up the need to belong, to take on a
lifestyle that is sober and modest." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
On the Church
"The Church, at its core, is a Eucharistic community, and therefore a communion in
the Body of the Lord." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"The barque of the Church is forever being buffeted by the wind of ideologies that
penetrate it with their waters, seemingly condemning it to sink. And yet, precisely
in the Church's suffering, Christ is victorious. In spite of everything, faith in Him
always draws new strength. Today also the Lord commands the waters, and
shows himself as Lord over the elements. He stays on his boat, the ship of the
Church. Thus even in the ministry of Peter there is revealed the weakness of what
comes from man, but also the strength of God." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"Do not be afraid to build your life on the Church and with the Church." [Meeting
with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"The Church is totally of the Spirit, but it has a structure, the apostolic succession,
which has the responsibility to guarantee the Church's permanence in the truth
given by Christ, from which the capacity to love also proceeds." [General
Audience, 5 April 2006]
"The Church does not become older in the course of the years. On the contrary it
grows younger, because she is forever moving toward the Lord, meaning she is
going toward the spring from which youth, newness, refreshment, and the
strength of life comes." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15 August 2005]
"My dear young friends, love the word of God and love the Church, and this will
give you access to a treasure of very great value and will teach you how to
appreciate its richness. Love and follow the Church, for it has received from its
Founder the mission of showing people the way to true happiness." [Message to
the Youth of the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On the Commandments
"There is no contradiction between God's law and human freedom: God's law
correctly interpreted neither attenuates nor, even less, eliminates man's freedom.
On the contrary, it guarantees and fosters this freedom because, as the Catechism
of the Catholic Church reminds us, 'freedom ... attains its perfection when
directed toward God, our beatitude' (no. 1731)." [Papal Address to Membres of
the Pontifical Biblical Commission, 27 April 2006]
On Confession
"...to prepare for Easter with a good confession continues to be a duty which must
be fully appreciated, as it offers us the possibility to begin our life again and this
new beginning is realized in the joy of the Risen One and in the communion of
forgiveness that it gives us. Conscious that we are sinners, but trusting in divine
mercy, let us allow ourselves to be reconciled by Christ to experience more
intensely the joy that he communicates to us in his resurrection." [General
Audience, 12 April 2006]
"Even if, as I said, it is not necessary to go to confession before each Communion,
it is very helpful to confess with a certain regularity. It is true: Our sins are
always the same, but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week, even if
the dirt is always the same; in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again.
Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen but it builds up. Something similar can be
said about the soul, for me myself; If I never go to confession, my soul is
neglected and in the end I am pleased with myself and no longer understand that
I must always work hard to improve, that I must make progress. And this
cleansing of the soul which Jesus gives us in the sacrament of confession helps us
to make our consciences more alert, more open, and hence, it also helps us to
mature spiritually and as human persons." [Address to First Communicants, 15
October 2005]
On the Creed
"The creed is not a collection of propositions; it is not a theory. It is anchored in
the event of baptism - a genuine encounter between God and man. In the mystery
of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and brings us in turn
closer to each other." [Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
On the Cross
"With the Cross, Jesus opens wide the door of God, the door between God and
men. Now it is open. But also from the other side the Lord knocks with his
Cross: He knocks at the door of the world, at the doors of our hearts, which so
often and in such great numbers are closed to God. And he speaks to us more or
less in this way: If the proofs that God gives of himself in creation do not succeed
in opening you to him; if the word of Scripture and the message of the Church
leave you indifferent - then look at me, your Lord and your God." [Homily, 1
April 2007]
"Yes, the Cross reveals the fullness of God's love for us. Love that was crucified,
that did not end with the scandal of Good Friday but culminates in the joy of the
Resurrection and the Ascension to Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit - the
Spirit of love through which, even tonight, sins are remitted and forgiveness and
peace are granted." [Homily, 29 March 2007]
"In fact, being Christian is only possible with our gaze fixed on the cross of our
Redeemer." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
On the Crucifixion of Christ
"What on the outside is simply brutal violence, from within becomes an act of total
self-giving love." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
On Death
"At the end of life, death deprives us of all that is earthly, but not of that Grace
and sacramental 'character' by virtue of which we are indissolubly associated with
Our Lord and Savior's Paschal Mystery. Emptied of all but clothed in Christ: thus
do the baptized cross the threshold of death and are presented to the just and
merciful God." [Homily, 4 November 2006]
On the Dignity of Life
"The holiness of God was no longer recognized, and consequently contempt was
shown for the sacredness of human life." [Visit to the Synagogue of Cologne, 19
August 2005]
On Discipleship
"It has to do with an interior change of life. It demands that I no longer be closed
in considering my self-realization as the principal purpose of my life. It demands
that I give myself freely to an Other - for truth, for love, for God who, in Jesus
Christ, precedes me and points out the way." [Homily, 1 April 2007]
"What matters is to put Jesus Christ at the center of our lives, so that our identity
is characterized essentially by the encounter, by communion with Christ and his
Word. In his light, every other value must be recovered and purified of possible
dross." [General Audience Address, 25 October 2006]
"We need to recognize our mission in history and to strive to carry it out. What is
needed is not fear, but responsibility - responsibility and concern for our own
salvation, and for the salvation of the whole world." [Homily, 12 September 2006]
"To belong to Christ means to keep the flame of love always burning in our
heart,continually fed by the richness of faith, not only when this brings with it
interior joy but also when it is joined to difficulty, aridity and suffering. Prayer is
the nourishment for the interior life, intimate conversation of the consecrated soul
with the divine Spouse." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"Belonging to the Lord means to be on fire with his incandescent love, to be
transformed into the splendor of his beauty: Our littleness is offered to him as a
sacrifice of sweet fragrance so that it becomes a witness of the greatness of his
presence for our epoch, which has great need to be inebriated by the richness of
his grace." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"Our priority condition to the following of Christ, therefore, is abnegation,
detachment from all that is not him. The Lord wants men and women who are
free, not bound, able to give up everything to follow him and to find in him alone
their very all." [Address to Religious Superiors, 22 May 2006]
"We are not listening to any person: we are listening to Jesus. We are not asked to
commit to just anything; we are asked to commit ourselves to the words of Jesus."
[Meeting with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"The way of an authentically Christian life equals faithfulness to the promises of
holy Baptism." [Meeting with the People, Rynek Square, Wadowice, Poland, 27
May 2006]
""When we abandon ourselves to the living God, when in humility of mind we
have recourse to him, a kind of hidden stream of divine life pervades us."
[Address to Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives of
Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the
encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive
direction." [Deus Caritas Est 1]
"The Ten Commandments are not a burden, but a sign-post showing the path
leading to a successful life." [Visit to the Synagogue of Cologne, 19 August 2005]
"Among Christians, fraternity is not just a vague sentiment, nor is it a sign of
indifference to truth. It is grounded in the supernatural reality of the one Baptism
which makes us members of the one Body of Christ." [Ecumenical Meeting, 19
August 2005]
"Let yourselves be inflamed by the fire of the Spirit, so that a new Pentecost will
renew your hearts. Through you, may other young people everywhere come to
recognize in Christ the true answer to their deepest aspirations, and may they
open their hearts to receive the Word of God Incarnate, who died and rose from
the dead for the salvation of the world." [Visit to the Cathedral of Cologne, 18
August 2005]
"The Lord's ways are not easy, but we are not made for ease." [Address to his
countrymen, 25 April 2005]
"God's yoke is God's will, which we accept. And this will does not weigh down
upon us, oppressing us and taking away our freedom. To know what God wants,
to know where the path of life is found - this was Israel's joy, this was her great
privilege. It is also our joy: God's will does not alienate us, it purifies us - even if
this can be painful - and so it leads us to ourselves." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April
2005]
"Therefore, all that remains now is for me and all of us together to accept from
providence the will of God and to do our best to correspond to it, helping one
another in the fulfillment of our respective duties at the service of the Church."
[Address to Cardinals, 22 April 2005]
"Many times we feel like useless servants, and it is true. And, despite this, the
Lord calls us friends; he makes us his friends; he gives us his friendship." [Homily
before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
On Episcopal Ministry
"Feeding the Lord's flock, therefore, is a ministry of vigilant love that demands
our total dedication, to the last drop of energy and, if necessary, the sacrifice of
our lives." [Address to the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops, 1 June 2006]
On Eternal Life
"'Eternal life,'" however, does not mean for us Christians simply a life that lasts
forever, but rather a new quality of existence fully immersed in God's love, which
frees us from evil and death and which puts us in an everlasting communion with
all the brothers and sisters who share in the same love." [Angelus Address, 1
November 2006]
"Eternal life, blessed immortality, we have not by ourselves or in ourselves, but
through a relation -- through existential communion with him who is truth and
love and is therefore eternal: God himself." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"Life comes to us from being loved by him who is life; it comes to us from
living-with and loving-with him. I, but no longer I: This is the way of the cross,
the way that 'crosses over' a life simply closed in on the I, thereby opening up the
road towards true and lasting joy." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
On the Eucharist
"In the sacred Host, he is present, the true treasure, always waiting for us. Only
by adoring this presence do we learn to receive him properly - we learn the reality
of communion, we learn the Eucharistic celebration from the inside." {Homily,
Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"The Eucharist is, in fact, the 'treasure' of the Church, the precious heritage that
her Lord has left her. And the Church guards this heritage with the greatest care,
celebrating it daily in the holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels,
distributing it to the sick, and as viaticum to those on their last journey." [Angelus
Address, 18 June 2006]
"By carrying the Eucharist through the streets and squares, we wish to submerge
the bread descended from heaven in the everyday of our lives; we want Jesus to
walk where we walk; to live where we live. Our world, our lives, must become
his temple." [Angelus Address, 18 June 2006]
"In the Eucharist, adoration must become union." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21
August 2005]
"In their hearts, people always and everywhere have somehow expected a change,
a transformation of the world. Here now is the central act of transformation that
alone can truly renew the world: violence is transformed into love, and death into
life. Since this act transmutes death into love, death as such is already conquered
from within, the resurrection is already present in it. Death is, so to speak,
mortally wounded, so that it can no longer have the last world." [Eucharistic
Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"All other changes remain superficial and cannot save." [Eucharistic Celebration,
21 August 2005]
"Bread and wine become his Body and Blood. But it must not stop there, on the
contrary, the process of transformation must now gather momentum. The Body
and Blood of Christ are given to us so that we ourselves will be transformed in
our turn. We are to become the Body of Christ, his own flesh and blood. We all
eat the one bread, and this means that we ourselves become one. In this way,
adoration, as we said earlier, becomes union. God no longer simply stands before
us, as the one who is totally Other. He is within us, and we are in him."
[Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"...It is not we who are celebrating for ourselves, but it is the living God himself
who is preparing a banquet for us." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"This is a gift of love that is truly worth more than all the rest of my life. That day
[First Communion] I made the promise: 'Lord, I always want to be with You, but
above all I want You to be with me.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15
October 2005]
"Whoever receives Christ in the reality of this Body and Blood cannot keep this
gift to himself, but is impelled to share it in courageous witness of the Gospel, in
service to brothers in difficulty, in forgiveness for offenses. For some, moreover,
the Eucharist is the seed of a specific call to leave everything to go and proclaim
Christ to those who still do not know him." [Angelus Address, 23 October 2005]
"In the Eucharist, we contemplate the sacrament of this living synthesis of the law:
Christ gives us, with himself, the full realization of the love for God and the love
for our brothers. And this love of his, he communicates to us when we are
nourished by his Body and Blood." [Homily, 23 October 2005]
On Evangelization
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"We cannot bring to the world the Good News which is Christ himself in person if
we ourselves are not deeply united with Christ, if we do not know him
profoundly, personally, if we do not live on his Words." [At the Close of the
Papal Spiritual Exercises, 5 March 2006]
On Faith
"Faith is not mean to instill fear; Rather is meant - surely - to call us to
accountability. We are not mean to waste our lives, misuse them, or spend them
selfishly." [Mass, 12 September 2006]
"First, faith is simple. We believe in God - in God, who is the Beginning and the
End of human life. We believe in a God who enters into a relationship with us
human beings, who is our origin and future. Consequently, faith is, always and
inseparably, hope: the certainty that we have a future and will not end up as
nothing. And faith is love, since God's love is 'contagious'. A second thing also
becomes clear: The creed is not a collection of propositions; it is not a theory. It is
anchored in the event of baptism - a genuine encounter between God and man. In
the mystery of baptism, God stoops to meet us; he comes close to us and brings us
in turn closer to each other." [Homily, Mass in Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"Truly, those who believe are never alone." [Homily, Mass in Regensburg, 12
September 2006]
"Faith, therefore, which is a very personal human act, remains a choice of our
freedom which can also be rejected." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Believing means creating a very personal bond with our Creator and Redeemer,
by virtue of the Holy Spirit who works in our hearts, and making this bond the
foundation of our whole lives." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Believing means surrendering ourselves to God and entrusting our destiny to
him. Believing means entering into a personal relationship with our Creator and
Redeemer in the power of the Holy Spirit, and making this relationship the basis
of our whole life." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"What we believe is important, but even more important is the One in whom we
believe." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"To believe means first to accept as true what our mind cannot fully comprehend.
We have to accept what God reveals to us about himself, about ourselves, about
everything around us, including the things that are invisible, inexpressible and
beyond our imagination. This act of accepting revealed truth broadens the
horizon of our knowledge and draws us to the mystery in which our lives are
immersed." [Homily, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 28 May 2006]
"A strong faith must endure tests. A living faith must always grow. Our faith in
Jesus Christ, to be such, must frequently face others' lack of faith." [Meeting with
the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"Faith does not mean accepting a certain number of abstract truths about the
mysteries of God, of man, of life and death, of future realities. Faith consists in an
intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship based on love of him who loved
us first (cf. I John 4:11), even to the total offering of himself." [Homily in Pilsudzki
Square, Warsaw, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Hence faith is a gift, but at the same time it is a task." [Homily in Pilsudzki
Square, Warsaw, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Even when the believer feels lonely and is surrounded by risks and hostility, his
faith must be serene because the Lord is always with us; his power surrounds us
and protects us." [General Audience, 3 August 2005]
"It [the Christian faith] is a very rich legacy. We need to be worthy of it." [Visit
to the Cathedral of Cologne, 18 August 2005]
"I would like to show them how beautiful it is to be Christian, because the
widespread idea which continues to exist is that Christianity is composed of laws
and bans which one has to keep and, hence, is something toilsome and
burdensome - that one is freer without such a burden. I want to make clear that it
is not a burden to be carried by a great love and realization, but it is like having
wings. It is wonderful to be a Christian with this knowledge that it gives us a
great breadth, a large community. As Christians we are never alone - in the sense
that God is always with us, but also in the sense that we are always standing
together in a large community, a community for The Way, that we have a project
for the future - and in this way a Being which is worth believing in. This is the joy
of being a Christian and is the beauty of believing." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15
August 2005]
"Christianity is full of undiscovered dimensions and it shows itself fresh and anew
if one poses his questions again fundamentally." [Vatican Radio Interview, 15
August 2005]
"When God disappears, man is not greater; He loses divine dignity, the splendor
of God in his face." [Homily at Castel Gandolfo, 16 August 2005]
"Those who believe are never alone - neither in life nor in death." [Inaugural
Homily, 24 April 2005]
"'Adult' is not a faith that follows the waves in fashion and the latest novelty.
Adult and mature is a faith profoundly rooted in friendship with Christ. This
friendship opens us to all that is good and gives us the measure to discern
between what is true and what is false, between deceit and truth." [Homily
before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"The faithful one lifts his eyes to the Lord and waits for a divine reaction, to
perceive a gesture of love, a look of benevolence." [General Audience, 15 June
2005]
On the Family
"This Gospel episode [Luke 2:41-52] reveals the most authentic and profound
vocation of the family: that of supporting each one of its members on the path of
discovery of God and of the plan he has ordained for them. Mary and Joseph
educated Jesus above all by their example: From his parents, he learned all the
beauty of faith, of the love of God and of his law, as well as the exigencies of
justice, which finds its fulfillment in love (Romans 13:10). From them he learned
first of all that one must do God's will, and that the spiritual bond is worth more
than that of blood." [Angelus Address, 31 December 2006]
On the Fear of the Lord
"Perhaps this is a phrase with which we are not very familiar or do not like very
much. But 'fear of God' is not anguish; it is something quite different. As
children, we are not anxious about the Father but we have fear of God, the
concern not to destroy the love on which our life is based. Fear of God is that
sense of responsibility that we are bound to possess, responsibility for the portion
of the world that has been entrusted to us in our lives. It is responsibility for the
good administration of this portion of the world and of history, and one thus
helps the just building of the world, contributing to the victory of goodness and
peace." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
On First Communion
"I understood that Jesus had entered my heart, he had actually visited me. And
with Jesus, God himself was with me. And I realized that this is a gift of love that
is truly worth more than all the other things in life can give...I promised the Lord
as best I could: 'I always want to stay with you,' and I prayed to him, 'but above
all, stay with me.'" [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On Forgiveness
"Forgiveness leads people towards a deeper and richer humanity, awakening in
each one the best of himself or herself. ... Forgivness is, in a certain way, the
perfecting of the frail and imperfect human justice, making it possible to heal the
wounds that have sometimes permanently marked people in their very depths and
to re-establish in the best possible way the human relations that have been
destabilized." [Address to the Ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of
Algeria, 1 December 2005]
On God
"This is the most important, most central truth about God. To all for whom it is
difficult to believe in God, I say again today: 'God is love.' Dear friends, be
witnesses to this truth. You will surely be if you place yourselves in the school of
Mary." [Address to Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives
of Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa, Poland, 26 May 2006]
"God says what he does and does what he says." [Message to the Youth of the
World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day}
On the Gospel
"Yet there can be no false compromise, no watering down of the Gospel."
[Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"With the light and strength that come from this gift, namely the Gospel which the
Holy Spirit ceaselessly makes alive and active, we can proclaim Christ fearlessly
and invite everyone not to be afraid to open their hearts to him, for we are
convinced that in him is found the fullness of life and happiness." [Meeting with
the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of
darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death
and brings us into the splendour of God's light, into true life." [Inaugural Homily,
24 April 2005]
"There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the
encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to
speak to others of our friendship with Him." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
"Be under no illusion. An incomplete Catholic teaching is a contradiction in itself
and cannot be fruitful in the long term. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
goes hand in hand with the need for conversion and love that encourages, that
knows the way, that teaches an understanding that with God's grace even what
seems impossible becomes possible." [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November
2005]
On Holiness
"Holiness does not consist in not making mistakes or never sinning. Holiness
grows with the capacity for conversion, repentance, willingness to begin again,
and above all with the capacity for reconciliation and forgiveness." [General
Audience, 31 January 2007]
"Holiness demands a constant effort but it is possible for all since it is not just the
work of man but is above all a gift of God, who is thrice holy (cf. Isaiah 6:3)."
[Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ and faithful obedience to his will."
[Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
On the Holy Spirit
"It is as if saying that the Holy Spirit, namely, the Spirit of the Father and of the
Son, becomes the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, from which
rises incessantly to God a movement of prayer, of which we cannot even specify
the terms. The Spirit, in fact, makes up for our deficiencies and offers the Father
our adoration, along with our most profound aspirations. Obviously this calls for
a level of great vital communion with the Spirit. It is an invitation to be ever more
sensitive, more attentive to this presence of the Spirit in us, to transform it into
prayer, to experience this presence and to learn in this way to pray, to speak with
the Father as children in the Holy Spirit." [General Audience, 15 November 2006]
"Therefore, there is a profound relationship between the Holy Spirit and the
Church." [General Audience, 5 April 2006]
"This profound relationship with the Spirit does not eliminate our humanity, with
all its weakness and, in this way, the community of disciples experienced from the
beginning not only the joy of the Holy Spirit, the grace of truth and love, but also
trial, made up above all by the contrast between the truths of faith and the
resulting lacerations of communion." [General Audience, 5 April 2006]
On Hope
"The hope of Christians is directed to the future, but always remains well rooted
in a past event." [Angelus Address, 27 November 2005]
On Humanity
"In the heart of every man - a beggar for love - is a thirst for love." [Homily, 29
March 2007]
On Humor
"I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to
be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take
everything too tragically. I'd also say its necessary for my ministry. A writer
once said that angels can fly because they don't take themselves too seriously.
Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didnt' think we were so important."
"Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk, 5 August 2006]
On Jesus Christ
"The more we imitate Christ and remain united to him, the more we enter into the
mystery of divine holiness." [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"In the measure that we accept his proposal and follow him - everyone according
to his own circumstances - we too can participate in his beatitude." [Homily, All
Saints' Day, 2006]
"God does not leave us groping in the dark. He has shown himself to us as a man.
In his greatness he has let himself become small. 'Whoever has seen me has seen
the Father,' Jesus says (John 14:9). God has taken on a human face. He has loved
us even to the point of letting himself be nailed to the cross for our sake, in order
to bring the sufferings of mankind to the very heart of God." [Homily, Mass in
Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfillment and
become redeemed joy." [Homily, Mass at Regensburg, 12 September 2006]
"In Christ the beauty of truth and the beauty of love converge; but love, as people
know, also calls for the willingness to suffer, a willingness which for those who
love one another can even extend to the sacrifice of life (cf. John 15:13)!" [Message
to the Second World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, 22
May 2006]
"His power is not a power according to the rules of this world. It is a power of
goodness, of truth and love, which is stronger than death. Yes, his promise is true:
the power of death, the gates of hell, will not prevail against the Church He built
for Peter (cf. Matthew 16:18), and that He, precisely in this way, continues to build
up in person." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"...the Lord is continually on a journey towards the Cross, towards the lowliness
of the suffering and slain servant of God, but at the same time, he is also headed
toward the vastness of the world, in which He goes before us as the Risen Lord,
in order that the light of his word and the presence of his love may shine forth in
the world; he is on a journey because it is through Him, the crucified and risen
Christ, [that] God enters the world." [Homily, 29 June 2006]
"To the extent that we nourish ourselves on Christ and are in love with him, we
feel within us the incentive to bring others to him: indeed, we cannot keep the joy
of the faith to ourselves; we must pass it on." [Address to the Participants at the
Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"In short, building on Christ means basing all your desires, aspirations, dreams,
ambitions and plans on his will. It means saying to yourself, to your family, to
your friends, to the whole world and, above all to Christ: 'Lord, in life I wish to
do nothing against you, because you know what is best for me. Only you have
the words of eternal life' (cf. John 6:68). My friends, do not be afraid to lean on
Christ! Long for Christ, as the fountain of your life! Enkindle within you the
desire to build your life on him and for him! Because no one who depends on the
crucified love of the Incarnate Word can even lose." [Meeting the Young People,
Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland, 27 May 2006]
"Keep your eyes fixed on him. Let him form you, so that in your ministry you will
be able to show him to all who approach you." [Address to Men and Women
Religious, Seminarians, and Representatives of Ecclesial Movements, Czestochowa,
Poland, 26 May 2006]
"Jesus is the way of perfection, the living and personal synthesis of perfect
freedom in total obedience to God's will." [Papal Address to Members of the
Pontifical Biblical Commission, 27 April 2006]
"Out of love, he could allow himself to be killed, but precisely by doing so he
broke the definitiveness of death, because in him the definitiveness of life was
present. He was one single reality with indestructible life, in such a way that it
burst forth anew through death. Let us express the same thing from another
angle. His death was an act of love. At the Last Supper he anticipated death and
transformed it into self-giving." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"He holds us up. Let us always fix our gaze on him and extend our hands to him.
Let us allow him to take us by the hand, and we will not drown, but will serve life
which is stronger than death, and love which is stronger than hatred." [Homily,
Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"Friendship with the Master assures the soul profound peace and serenity, even in
dark moments and the most difficult trials." [Angelus Address, 15 January 2006]
"Jesus is your true friend and Lord; enter into a relationship of true friendship
with him! He is expecting you and in him alone will you find happiness."
[Message for the first National Day of Young Catholics of the Netherlands, 21
November 2005]
"Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him." [Eucharistic
Celebration, 21 August 2005]
"The new King, to whom they [the Magi] now paid homage, was quite unlike
what they were expecting. In this way they had to learn that God is not as we
usually imagine him to be." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"He contrasts the noisy and ostentatious power of this world with the defenceless
power of love, which succumbs to death on the Cross, and dies ever anew
throughout history; yet it is this same love which constitutes the new divine
intervention that opposes injustice and ushers in the Kingdom of God. God is
different - that is what they [the Magi] come to realize. And it means that they
themselves must now become different, they must learn God's ways." [Youth
Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The better you know Jesus the more his mystery attracts you. The more you
discover him, the more you are moved to seek him. This is a movement of the
spirit which lasts throughout life..." [Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
"Each one of us may address him familiarly; each one may turn to him. The Lord
always hears our voice. We may distance ourselves inwardly from him. We can
live with our backs turned to him, but he always awaits us, and is always close to
us." [Homily at St. John Lateran, 8 May 2005]
"The human race - every one of us - is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer
knows the way. The Son of God will not let this happen; he cannot abandon
humanity in so wretched a condition. He leaps to his feet and abandons the glory
of heaven, in order to go in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the
Cross. He takes it upon his shoulders and carries our humanity; he carries us all -
he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep." [Inaugural Homily,
24 April 2005]
"If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are
we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps
afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes
life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our
freedom? And once again the Pope [John Paul II] said: No! 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. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And
so, today, with great strength and conviction, on the basis of long personal
experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He
takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to
him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to
Christ - and you will find true life. Amen. [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
"Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: To find Christ means to find the mercy of
God." [Homily before the Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"The more we love Jesus, the more we know him, and the more our genuine
freedom grows, as well as the joy of being redeemed." [Homily before the
Conclave, 18 April 2005]
"We do not see him with our eyes but we see that wherever Jesus is, people
change, they improve...Therefore, we do not see the Lord himself but we see the
effects of the Lord." [Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
On Joy
"Only by looking to Jesus Christ does our joy in God come to fulfillment and
become redeemed joy." [Homily, 12 September 2006]
"The source of Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God, loved
personally by our Creator, by the One who holds the entire universe in his hands
and loves each one of us and the whole great human family with a passionate and
faithful love, a love greater than our infidelities and sins, a love which forgives."
[Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5
June 2006]
"The most authentic joy, in fact, is in the relationship with him [Jesus], having
found, followed, known, and loved him thanks to a continuous tension of the
mind and heart." [Angelus Address, 15 January 2006]
"True joy is something different from pleasure; joy grows and continues to mature
in suffering, in communion with the Cross of Christ. It is here alone that the true
joy of faith is born, from which even they are not excluded if they learn to accept
their suffering in communion with that of Christ." [Address to the Clergy of
Aosta, 25 July 2005]
On Justice
"Christians are called to seek justice always, but posses an inner impulse to love
that goes beyond justice itself." [Address to the International Christian Union of
Business Executives, 4 March 2006]
On Lent
"...this is the gift and duty for each one of us during the season of Lent: to listen to
Christ, like Mary. To listen to him in his Word, contained in Sacred Scripture. To
listen to him in the events of our lives, seeking to decipher in them the messages
of Providence. Finally, to listen to him in our brothers and sisters, especially in
the lowly and the poor, to whom Jesus himself demands our concrete love. To
listen to Christ and obey his voice: this is the principle way, the only way, that
leads to the fullness of joy and of love." [Angelus Address, 12 March 2006]
"For this reason, Lent is a time of listening to the truth, it is a propitious moment
to be converted to love, as the profound truth - the truth of God - is, at the same
time, love." [General Audience, 1 March 2005]
On the Liturgy
"The liturgy is the privileged place to listen to the divine Word, which renders
present the Lord's salvific acts, but it is also the circle in which the communitarian
prayer rises which celebrates divine love. God and man meet in a saving embrace,
which finds its fulfillment precisely in the liturgical celebration." [General
Audience, 5 October 2005]
On Love
"In our life all is a gift of his love. How is it possible to remain indifferent before
so great a mystery? How is it possible to not respond to the love of the heavenly
Father by leading a life of grateful children?" [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"In Christ the beauty of truth and the beauty of love converge; but love, as people
know, also calls for the willingness to suffer, a willingness which for those who
love one another can even extend to the sacrifice of life (cf. John 15:13)!" [Message
to the Second World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, 22
May 2006]
"On the contrary, Christian faith and ethics do not wish to stifle love but to make
it healthy, strong and truly free: this is the exact meaning of the Ten
Commandments, which are not a series of 'noes' but a great 'yes' to love and to
life." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of
Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Anyone who knows he is loved is in turn prompted to love. It is the Lord
himself, who loved us first, who asks us to place at the centre of our lives love for
him and for the people he has loved." [Address tot he Participants in the Ecclesial
Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"To love him [Jesus] is to remain in dialogue with him, in order to know his will
and to put it into effect promptly." [Homily, Pilsudzki Square, Warsaw, Poland,
26 May 2006]
"What other response can we give to a love so great, if not that of a heart that is
open and ready to love? But what does it mean to love Christ? It means trusting
him even in times of trial, following him faithfully even on the Via Crucis, in the
hope that soon the morning of the Resurrection will come. Entrusting ourselves to
Christ, we lost nothing, we gain everything. In his hands our life acquires its true
meaning. Love for Christ expresses itself in the will to harmonize our own life
with the thoughts and sentiments of his Heart. This is achieved through interior
union based on the grace of the Sacraments, strengthened by continuous prayer,
praise, thanksgiving and penance." [Homily, Pilsudzki Square, Warsaw, Poland,
26 May 2006]
"The experience of God's love is lived by man as a 'call' to which he must
respond." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"Everything in this world will pass away. In eternity only Love will remain."
[Homily, 25 March 2006]
"Jesus' hour is the hour in which love triumphs." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21
August 2005]
"In the end, in fact, love alone enables us to live, and love is always also suffering:
it matures in suffering and provides the strength to suffer for good without taking
oneself into account at the actual moment." [Address to the Clergy of Aosta, 25
July 2005]
"Feeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer." [Inaugural
Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Mary
"Let us be attracted by her beauty, reflection of divine glory, so that 'the God that
is coming' will find in each one of us a good and open heart, which he can fill with
his gifts." [Angelus Address, 3 December 2006]
"Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The angel does not enter
our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by
name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and
faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy
servants who have used well the gifts he has given us." [Homily, Vespers in
Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Mary leaves everything to the Lord's judgment. At Nazareth she gave over her
will, immersing it in the will of God: Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be
with me according to your word (Luke 1:38). And this continues to be her
fundamental attitude. This is how she teaches us to pray: not by seeking to affirm
our own will and our own desires before God, but by letting him decide what he
wants to do. From Mary we learn graciousness and readiness to help, but we also
learn humility and generosity in accepting God's will, in the confident conviction
that whatever he says in response will be best for us." [Homily, Mass in Altotting
11 September 2006]
"We do not praise God sufficiently by keeping silent about his saints, especially
Mary, 'the holy one' who became his dwelling place on earth. The simple and
multiform light of God appears to us exactly in its variety and richness only in the
countenance of the saints, who are the true mirrors of his light. And it is precisely
by looking at Mary's face that we can see more clearly than in any other way the
beauty, goodness and mercy of God. In her face we can truly perceive the divine
light." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"...Mary does not merely invite our admiration and veneration, but she guides us,
shows us the way of life, shows us how we can become blessed, how to find the
path of happiness." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"On contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we also understand that the earth is
not our definitive homeland and that, if we live constantly oriented to eternal
goods, one day we will share in her same glory. For this reason, despite the many
daily difficulties, we must not lose serenity or peace." [General Audience, 16
August 2006]
"We are sure that, from on high, Mary follows our steps with gentle trepidation,
gives us serenity in the hour or darkness and storm, and gives us security with
her maternal hand." [General Audience, 16 August 2006]
On Music
"This [SC, 112] means that music and song are more than an embellishment of
worship; they are themselves part of the liturgical action." [Address at Basilica in
Regensburg, 13 September 2006]
"Solemn sacred music, with choir, organ, orchestra and the singing of the people,
is not an addition of sorts that frames the liturgy and makes it more pleasing, but
an important means of active participation in worship." [Address at Basilica in
Regensburg, 13 September 2006]
On the Organ
"The organ has always been considered, and rightly so, the king of musical
instruments, because it takes up all the sounds of creation and gives resonance to
the fullness of human sentiments. By transcending the merely human sphere, as
all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ's great range of timbre,
from 'piano' through to a thundering of 'fortissimo,' makes it an instrument
superior to all others. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of
human life. The manifold possibilities of the organ in some way reminds us of the
immensity and the magnificence of God." [Address at Basilica in Regensburg, 13
September 2006]
On Parents
"Dear parents! I ask you to help your children to grow in faith, I ask you to
accompany them on their journey toward holy Communion, on their journey
toward Jesus and with Jesus. Please, go with your children to Church and take
part in the Sunday Eucharistic celebration! You will see that this is not time lost;
rather, it is the very thing that can keep your family truly united and centered.
Sunday becomes more beautiful, the whole week becomes more beautiful, when
you go to Sunday Mass together. And please, pray together at home too: at meals
and before going to bed. Prayer does not only bring us nearer to God but also
nearer to one another. It is a powerful source of peace and joy. Family life
becomes more joyful and expansive whenever God is there and his closeness is
experienced in prayer." [Homily, 11 September 2006]
"Parents are called to help their children to discover the value and importance of
responding to the invitation of Christ, who summons the whole Christian family
to Sunday Mass. An especially significant state in this educational journey is First
Communion, a true celebration for the parish community which welcomes its
smallest children to the Lord's Table for the first time." [Angelus Address, 12
June 2005]
On the Pope
"Do not forget that Peter who is watching our gathering from the window of God
the Father, nor this Peter who is standing in front of you, nor any successive Peter
will ever be opposed to you or the building of a lasting house on the rock.
Indeed, he will offer his heart and his hands to help you construct a life on Christ
and with Christ." [Meeting with the Young People, Blonie Park, Krakow, Poland,
27 May 2006]
On Pope John Paul II
"How alone we all felt after the passing of John Paul II - the Pope who for over
twenty-six years has been our shepherd and guide on our journey through life!"
[Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Prayer
"The Lord does not close his eyes to the needs of his children, and if he seems at
times insensitive to their requests, it is only in order to test them and to temper
their faith." [Angelus Address, 14 August 2005]
"To pray is to say: 'Jesus, I am Yours, I never want to lose this friendship, this
communion with You.'" [Address to First Communicants, 15 October 2005]
On Pride
"The great temptation of the proud, who want to be like God, the arbiter of good
and evil (cf. Genesis 3:5), is decisively rejected by the person of prayer who
chooses humble and spontaneous trust in the One Lord." [General Audience, 10
August 2005]
On the Priesthood
"The faithful expect only one thing from priests: that they be specialists in
promoting the encounter between man and God. The priest is not asked to be an
expert in economics, construction or politics. He is expected to be an expert in the
spiritual life." [Meeting with the Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May
2006]
"At the moment of your ordination, through the liturgical sign of the imposition of
hands, Christ took you under his special protection; you are concealed under his
hands and in his Heart. Immerse yourselves in his love, and give him your love!"
[Meeting the Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May 2006]
"Today I am meeting you, priests called by Christ to serve him in the new
millennium. You have been chosen from among the people, appointed to act in
relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Believe in the power of your
priesthood! By virtue of the sacrament, you have received all that you are."
[Meeting with Clergy, Warszawa Cathedral, Poland, 25 May 2006]
"At the center [of the ordination rite] is the very ancient gesture of the imposition
of hands, with which he took possession of me saying: 'You belong to me.' But
along with this, he also said: 'You are under the protection of my hands. You are
under the protection of my heart. You are kept in the palm of my hand and
because of this, you find yourself in the vastness of my love. Remain in the space
of my hands and give me yours." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"The Lord has placed his hands on us and he now wants our hands so that they
will become his hands in the world. He wants them to no longer be instruments
to take things, men, the world for us, to reduce it to our possession, but that,
instead, they transmit his divine touch, being at the service of his love." [Homily,
Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"This is the profound meaning of being a priest: to become a friend of Jesus Christ.
We should commit ourselves again to this friendship everyday." [Homily, Holy
Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"The time we dedicate to this [prayer] is truly time of pastoral activity. A priest
must be above all a man of prayer." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"To be a friend of Jesus, to be a priest means to be a man of prayer. So we
recognize it and come out of the ignorance of simple servants. So we learn to live,
to suffer and to act with him and for him." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April
2006]
The pastor must be inspired by Christ's holy zeal: for him it is not a matter of
indifference that so many people are living in the desert. And there are so many
kinds of desert. There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst the
desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of
God's darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the
goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the
internal deserts have become so vast." [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On the Pure Heart
"That heart is pure that does not pretend and does not sully itself with lies and
hypocrisy. A heart that remains transparent like water rises up, for it does not
know duplicity. That heart is pure that does not weary itself with the
drunkenness of pleasure; a heart whose love is true and not only a passion of the
moment." [Homily, 1 April 2007]
On Redemption
"It is not power, but love that redeems us!" [Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On the Resurrection
"The Resurrection is not a thing of the past, the Resurrection has reached us and
seized us. We grasp hold of it, we grasp hold of the risen Lord, and we know
that he holds us firmly even when our hands grow weak. We grasp hold of his
hand, and thus we also hold on to one another's hands, and we become one single
subject, not just one thing. I, but no longer I: This is the formula of Christian life
rooted in baptism, the formula of the Resurrection within time. I, but no longer I:
If we live in this way, we transform the world. It is a formula contrary to all
ideologies of violence, it is a program opposed to corruption and to the desire for
power and possession." [Homily, Easter Vigil, 15 April 2006]
"We know, however, that evil does not have the last word, as he who triumphs is
Christ crucified and risen, and his victory is manifested with the force of merciful
love. His resurrection gives us this certainty: Despite all the darkness in the
world, evil does not have the last word." [General Audience, 12 April 2006]
On the Sacred Heart, Devotion to
"Gazing at the side pierced by the lance, where shines God's boundless will for
salvation, cannot then be considered as a passing form of veneration or devotion.
The adoration of God's love, which found historical-devotional expression in the
symbol of the pierced heart, remains irreplaceable for a living relationship with
God." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of
Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"In this way, we will be able to understand better what it means to know in Jesus
Christ the love of God, to experience it, keeping our gaze fixed on him, until we
live completely from the experience of his love, to be able to witness it afterward
to others." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society
of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
"Adoration of the love of God, which has found in the symbol of the 'pierced
heart' its historical-devotional experience, continues to be vital for a living
relationship with God." [Letter to Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of
the Society of Jesus, 15 May 2006]
On the Saints
"Hence, also among the saints there are oppositions, discords and controversies.
And this is very consoling for me, as we see that the saints have not 'fallen from
heaven.' They are men like us, with complicated problems." [General Audience,
31 January 2007]
"The saints are not a restricted caste of elect but a crowd without number toward
which, today, the liturgy exhorts us to life our eyes." [Homily, All Saints' Day,
2006]
"Many there are whose faces and names we do not know but with the eyes of
faith we see them shine like stars full of glory in the divine firmament." [Homily,
All Saints' Day, 2006]
"Gazing upon the luminous example of the saints the great desire to be like the
saints is awakened in us; happy to live near God, in his light, int he great family of
the friends of God. Being a saint means living close to God, living in his family.
And this is the vocation of all of us, vigorously reaffirmed by the Second Vatican
Council, and on this day brought to our attention in a solemn way. But how can
we become saints, friends of God? An initial response to this question is this: To
be saints it is not necessary to perform extraordinary deeds and works, nor is it
necessary to possess exceptional charisms. But to listen to Jesus and then to
follow him and not lose heart in the face of difficulties." [Homily, All Saints' Day,
2006]
"The example of the saints encourages us to follow in their footsteps, to experience
the joy of those who entrust themselves to God, because the only cause of sadness
is to live far from him." [Homily, All Saints' Day, 2006]
"For us they are encouraging examples to imitate; they assure us that if we follow
this path, the way of love, with fidelity, we too, as the psalmist sings, will be
satisfied with God's presence (cf. Psalm 17[16]:15)". [Papal Address at Shrine of
the Holy Face, Manoppello, Italy, 1 September 2006]
"We do not praise God sufficiently by keeping silent about his saints, especially
Mary, 'the holy one' who became his dwelling place on earth. The simple and
multiform light of God appears to us exactly in its variety and richness only in the
countenance of the saints, who are the true mirrors of his light. And it is precisely
by looking at Mary's face that we can see more clearly than in any other way the
beauty, goodness and mercy of God. In her face we can truly perceive the divine
light." [Homily, 15 August 2006]
"In their lives, as if in a great picture-book, the riches of the Gospel are revealed.
They are the shining path which God himself has traced throughout history and is
still tracing today." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The saints and the blesseds did not doggedly seek their own happiness, but
simply wanted to give themselves, because the light of Christ had shone upon
them. They show us the way to attain happiness, they show us how to be truly
human." [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
"The saint is he who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth
to be progressively transformed by it. Because of this beauty and truth, he is
ready to renounce everything, even himself. The love of God is enough, which he
experiences in the humble and disinterested service to the neighbor, especially to
those who cannot give back in return." [Homily, 23 October 2005]
On Salvation
"It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our
Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and
true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of
what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever
save us apart from love?" [Youth Vigil, 20 August 2005]
On the Scriptures
"The reading of sacred Scriptures is prayer, it must be prayer - it must emerge
from prayer and lead to prayer." [Homily, Holy Thursday, 13 April 2006]
"My dear young friends, love the word of God and love the Church, this will give
you access to a treasure of very great value and will teach you how to appreciate
it's richness. Love and follow the Church, for it has received from its Founder the
mission of showing people the way to true happiness." [Message to the Youth of
the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
"My dear young friends, meditate often on the word of God, and allow the Holy
Spirit to be your teacher. You will then discover that God's way of thinking is not
the same as that of humankind's. You will find yourselves led to contemplate the
real God and to read the events of history through his eyes. You will savour in
fullness the joy that is born of truth." [Message to the You th of the World on the
Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
"My dear young friends, I urge you to become familiar with the Bible, and to have
it at hand so that it can be your compass pointing out the road to follow. By
reading it, you will learn to know Christ." [Message to the Youth of the World on
the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On the Sick
"Dear friends who are sick, who are marked by suffering in body or soul, you are
most closely united to the Cross of Christ, and at the same time, you are the most
eloquent witnesses of God's mercy. Through you and through your suffering, he
bows down towards humanity in love. You who say in silence: 'Jesus, I trust in
you' teach us that there is no faith more profound, no hope more alive and no love
more ardent than the faith, hope and love of a person who in the midst of
suffering places himself securely in God's hands. May the human hands of those
who care for you in the name of mercy be an extension of the open hands of God.
I would so willingly embrace each one of you. But since this is impossible, I draw
you spiritually to my heart, and I impart my Blessing in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." [Encounter with the Sick,
Krakow-Lagiewniki, Poland, 27 May 2006]
On Suffering
"We suffer on account of God's patience. And yet, we need his patience."
[Inaugural Homily, 24 April 2005]
On Sunday
"If the Church tells us that the Eucharist is an essential part of Sunday, this is no
mere positivism or thirst for power. On Easter morning, first the women and
then the disciples had the grace of seeing the Lord. From that moment on, they
knew that the first day of the week, Sunday, would be his day, the day of Christ
the Lord. The day when creation began became the day when creation was
renewed. Creation and redemption belong together. That is why Sunday is so
important. It is good that today, in many cultures, Sunday is a free day, and is
often combined with Saturday so as to constitute at 'week-end' of free time. Yet
this free time is empty if God is not present." [Eucharistic Celebration, 21 August
2005]
On the Ten Commandments
"On the contrary, Christian faith and ethics do not wish to t stifle love but to make
it healthy, strong and truly free: this is the exact meaning of the Ten
Commandments, which are not a series of 'noes' but a great 'yes' to love and to
life." [Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of
Rome, 5 June 2006]
On Truth
"There can be no dialogue at the expense of truth; the dialogue must advance in
charity and truth." [Ecumenical Meeting, 19 August 2005]
"Be under no illusion. An incomplete Catholic teaching is a contradiction in itself
and cannot be fruitful in the long term. The proclamation of the Kingdom of God
goes hand in hand with the need for conversion and love that encourages, that
knows the way, that teaches an understanding that with God's grace even what
seems impossible becomes possible." [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November
2005]
"The clarity and beauty of the Catholic faith are such that they brighten human life
even today!" [Address to Austrian Bishops, 5 November 2005]
On Vocations
"Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The angel does not enter
our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by
name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and
faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy
servants who have used well the gifts he has given us." [Homily, Vespers in
Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"Lord, look upon these troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel,
witnesses to you, persons who can point the way toward life in abundance! Look
upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us
laborers! With this petition we knock on God's door; but with the same petition
the Lord is also knocking on the doors of our own heart. Lord do you want me?
Is it not perhaps too big for me? Am I too small for this? Do not be afraid, the
angel said to Mary. Do not fear: I have called you by name, God says through the
Prophet Isaiah (43:1) to us - to each of us." [Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11
September 2006]
"To be with Jesus and, being sent, to go out to meet people - these two things
belong together and together they are the heart of a vocation, of the priesthood.
To be with him and to be sent out - the two are inseparable. Only one who is
with him comes to know him and can truly proclaim him. Anyone who has been
with him cannot keep to himself what he has found; instead, he has to pass it on."
{Homily, Vespers in Altoetting, 11 September 2006]
"His soul is filled with amazement, which makes him ask in prayer: 'Lord, why
me?' But love knows no 'why'; it is a free gift to which one responds with the gift
of self." [Meeting with Seminarians, 19 August 2005]
"There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles
anchored firmly in the word of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of
our times and prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide. It is this that the Lord
asks of you, it is to this that the Church invites you, and it is this that the world -
even though it may not be aware of it - expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not
be afraid to respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to
follow him in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in
him and you will not be disappointed." [Message to the Youth of the World on
the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]
On Young People
"Continue to guide them with true fatherly care toward a deeper knowledge of
their crucified and risen Lord, always providing them with sound catechesis in the
faith." [Address to the Bishops of Malawi, 29 September 2006]
"First of all, I'd say that I am very happy there are young people who want to be
together, who want to be together in faith and who want to do something good.
The tendency to do good is very strong in young people, just think of the many
kinds of volunteer work they do. The commitment of offering your own personal
contribution to help the needy of this world is a great thing. One idea might be to
encourage them in this sphere: Go ahead! Look for opportunities to do good!
The world needs this desire to do good, it needs this commitment! Then another
message might be this: the courage to make definitive decisions! Young people
are very generous but when they face the risk of a life-long commitment, be it
marriage or a priestly vocation, they are afraid. The world is moving
dramatically: nowadays I can continually do whatever I want with my life with all
its unpredictable future events. By making a definitive decision am I myself not
tying up my personal freedom and depriving myself of freedom of movement?
Reawaken the courage to make definitive decisions: they are really the only ones
that allow us to grow, to move ahead and to reach something great in life. They
are the only decisions that do not destroy our freedom but offer to point us in the
right direction. Risk making this leap, so to speak, towards the definitive and so
embrace life fully: this is something I'd be happy to communicate to them."
[Interview with Bayerische Rundfunk, 5 August 2006]
"It is especially adolescents and your people, who feel within them the pressing
call to love, who need to be freed from the widespread prejudice that Christianity,
with its commandments and prohibitions, sets too many obstacles in the path of
the joy of love and, in particular, prevents people from fully enjoying the
happiness that men and women find in their love for one another." [Address to
the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Dear children and young people of Rome, I would like to ask you in turn to
entrust yourself to the Church and to love and trust her, because in her the Lord
is present and because she seeks nothing but your good." [Address to the
Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006]
"Young people, in fact, are not looking for a Church which panders to youth but
one which is truly young in spirit; a Church completely open to Christ, the new
Man." [Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"...young people, who are searching for the fullness of life despite their
weaknesses and limitations, urge their Pastors to listen to their questions and to
do everything possible to help them understand the one true answer, which is
Christ." [Meeting with the German Bishops, 21 August 2005]
"So I think that, in any case, among young people the sentiment is spreading that
all these diversions we are being offered and the entire leisure industry, in spite
of everything that one does and can do, buy and can sell, this cannot be
everything, that there must be something more about it." [Vatican Radio
Interview, 15 August 2005][Catechetical Dialogue with Children, 15 October 2005]
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