Happy All Saints Day, too --here's the Papal homily in English (for which God bless Zenit.) My favorite lines:
Today the Church celebrates her dignity as "mother of the saints, image of the eternal city" (Alessandro Manzoni), and manifests her beauty as immaculate bride of Christ, the source and exemplar of all holiness. She does not lack for riotous and indeed rebellious children, but it is in the saints that she recognizes her characteristic traits and precisely in them she savors her deepest joy.A bit of apologetics, too:
"of what use is our praise of the saints, our tribute of glory, our solemnity that we celebrate?" A famous homily of St. Bernard for the feast of All Saints begins with this question. It is a question that we could ask ourselves even today. The reply that St. Bernard gives is also pertinent to us: "Our saints," he says, "have no need of our honors and they gain nothing from our commemoration. For myself, I must confess, that when I think of the saints, I feel enflamed by great desires" (Homily 2, "Opera Omnia," ed. Cisterc, 5, 364 ff.).
Behold the meaning of today's solemnity: Gazing upon the luminous example of the saints the great desire to be like the saints is awakened in us; happy to live near to God, in his light, in the 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…
And we accomplish this how?
it is not necessary to perform extraordinary deeds and works, nor is it necessary to possess exceptional charisms. But this only tells us what sainthood is not. The positive answer is that to become a saint it is above all necessary to listen to Jesus and then to follow him and not lose heart in the face of difficulties.And then (boring old Pope, again with the love stuff):
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). In the second reading the Apostle John observes: "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are" (1 John 3:1). It is God therefore who loved us first and in Jesus he has made us adoptive sons. 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?They’ve got the Angelus message, too, which focuses on yesterday’s All Souls Day celebration (which continues all week, by the way –get your loved ones to heaven.):
Does modern man still look for this eternal life or does he think that it belongs to a mythology that we have moved beyond? In this our time, more so than in the past, we are so absorbed by earthly things that it is hard for us to think of God as a protagonist in history and in our own lives. Human existence, however, by its very nature, is directed toward something greater, which transcends it. The yearning in human beings for the fullness of justice, truth and happiness is irrepressible.
It’s short & worthwhile –RTWT. Also, scroll around at Open Book for pictures of the Pope praying for the dead on All Souls’ Day, and a great description of the Vigil of All Saints at the Dominican House of Studies right here in DC.
Papal Politics: The Turkish Prime Minister not only won’t greet the Pope at the airport, he won’t greet him at all; the Pope forgives.
And our buddy Hugo is about to shut down all religious education in Venezuela.
By the way, if you ever care to write the Pope a letter (maybe a Christmas card?), here’s the address:
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Citta del Vaticano
(or benedictxvi@vatican.va).
Finally: it's only tenuously popery, but Rick Santorum is Catholic –and I get a kick out this ad.
