Pope Benedict XVl

It was with great sadness that I received the news of the demise of Pope Benedict XVl on Dec.31st while I was  attending the burial of Prof.K.K.Mathew at the Cathedral Cemetery at Chy. It was at a funeral earlier, eight years ago ,that we received the news of his resignation. Deepika issued a souvenir on that occasion where my article on the Pope was also included. Pope Benedict was a great theologian and his  explanations of the doctrines of the Church and the dogmas of the Faith are  very clear. He was really an intellectual with immense depth of knowledge. He is undoubtedly one of the great theologians of our time. The interviews he has  given to Peter Seewald were really  reappraisals of the doctrines of the faith as  applied to concrete situations.

The following are a few quotes from his book, Eschatology, on the Last Judgment.:

"The truth which has emerged as the fundamental orientation of man's existence in all the pathways of his life(is the judgment on on his life.).

Judgment is the truth of a man which has emerged as the fundamental orientation of his existence.

In terms of the sum total of decisions from out of which an entire life is constructed, the final direction  may be , in the end, a fumbling after readiness for God, valid no matter what wrong turnings  have been taken by and by.

God knows the shadows of our freedom better than we do ourselves." 

Benedict Up Close by Paul Bladde

 Paul Bladde is a journalist  and a great fan of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVl.He has published here a collection of his articles written detailing the the activities of the Pope during his eight years of papacy. It is a very interesting book , bringing to our mid all those great years of the papacy and the great events in which the Pope was involved.

Some key phrases and expressions that stand out in his account:

Someone in the crowd at the final homily of Pope Benedict said: troppo puro, troppo innocente, troppo santo."

His legacy: clarification,enlightenment: A radical enlightenment of the Catholic Church about itself .

He is not resigning but rather freely going ahead into the inner sanctum of the Church's prayer.

Pope in his last Angelus: "failures and difficulties must not lead us to discouragement....Our job is to cast the nets in faith.the Lord does the rest."(p.225)

He saw that the time had come.He did what he had to do.His initiatives are countless.He lowered one net after another from the Barque of Peter into the depths of the global sea.The harvest no longer belongs to him. Other personnel must now bring in those nets.(225).

Jesus of Nazareth-The Infancy Naratives

In his new book, Jesus of Nazareth--The Infancy Narratives, the Holy Father goes into the heart of the infancy narratives in the Gospels and brings out some aspects of those narratives which are helpful in changing and molding our attitudes to life. He has followed in this book the same method he has employed in the other two books of the same name. He goes into an exegetical explanation of the passages, examines them in the background of OT references and then applies them to contemporary life. Compared with the other two books, this book is a short introduction to the Gospel accounts of the birth of the Lord. But there are some reflections which are fresh and beautiful. He calls this book" a small antechamber to the two earlier volumes on the figure and the message of Jesus of Nazareth."
On the genealogy presented in Mathew's Gospel, the Holy Father points out  that although the genealogy traces the male line, "prior to Mary who appears at the end, four women are mentioned by name: Tamar,Rahab,Ruth and the wife of Uriah."  He mentions first the  traditional interpretation emphasizing  the mission of Jesus as the justification of sinners since these were considered sinners. The Holy Father  then points out that 'through them the world of the Gentiles enters the genealogy of Jesus---his mission to Jews and Gentiles is made manifest."
"The final sentence turns the whole genealogy around. Mary is a new beginning.Her child does not originate from any man, but is a new creation,conceived through the Holy Spirit.'
"Our true genealogy is faith in Jesus , who gives us a new origin, who brings us to birth  from God."

Advent--the Coming of the Lord

In the last chapter of the book ,Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Father speaks of the coming of the Lord as it  is expressed in the words"Maran Atha." He reminds us of the need to be vigilant as well as trusting. He points out that the knowledge of the protection of the Lord makes us joyful.
"The Lord is "on the mountain" of the  of the Father.  Therefore,He sees us.Therefore He can get into the boat of our life at any moment.Therefore we can always call on him; we can always be certain that he sees and hears us.
Keeping one's gaze freely fixed upon God in order to receive from him the criterion of right action and the capacity for it--that is what matters.
Vigilance means first of all openess to the good, to the truth , to God, in the midst of an often meaningless word and in the midst of the power of evil.It means that man tries with all his strength and with great sobriety to do what is right; it means that he lives, not according to his wishes, but according to te signpost of faith.
St.Bernard of Calirvaux speaks of a three fold advent of Christ, the first coming in flesh , the second in spirit and power and the last in his glory.Bernad bases his thesis on John 14: 23" If a man loves me , he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
"The  middle coming(adventus medius) takes place in a great variety of ways.The Lord comes through his word; he comes in the sacraments, especially in the most Holy Eucharist;he comes into my life through words or events.
He comes also through the lives of great saintly figures--through Francis and Dominicin the 12th and 13th  centuries and through Teresa of Avila,John of the Cross,Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier.
We have  to pray , Come, Lord Jesus.
His hands  remain strethched out over the world.The blessing hands   of Christ are like a roof that protects us.They are a gesture of opening up, tearing the world open so that heaven may enter in, may become 'present within it.
"In faith we know that Jesus holds his hands stretched out in blessing over us.That is the lasting motive of Christian joy."(Last words of the Book.)