BENEDICT XVI

HE SPEAKS TO
US AS FRIENDS
Excerpts from the Pope's speeches dedicated to the Year of Faith

OUR EXISTENCE ALWAYS
JOURNEYS ON SAFE GROUND
The Nativity of the Lord illuminates the gloom that often envelops our world and our hearts and with its light brings hope and joy. Where does this light come from? From the Bethlehem Grotto where the shepherds found "Mary and Joseph, and the Babe, lying in a manger" (Lk 2:16). Another, deeper question arises before this Holy Family: How can that tiny, frail Child have brought into the world a newness so radical that it changed the course of history? The question of Jesus' origins recurs over and over again. It is the same question that the Procurator Pontius Pilate asked during the trial: "Where are you from?" (Jn 19:9). Yet His origins were quite clear. In John's Gospel when the Lord says: "I am the bread which came down from heaven," the Jews reacted, murmuring, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" (Jn 6:41, 42). Moreover, a little later the citizens of Jerusalem strongly opposed Jesus' messianic claim, asserting that "where this man comes from" was well known; and that "when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from" (Jn 7:27). Jesus Himself points out how inadequate their claim to know His origins is and by so doing He already offers a clue to knowing where He came from: "I have not come of My own accord; He who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know" (Jn 7:28). Jesus was of course a native of Nazareth, He was born in Bethlehem; but what is known of His true origins? In the four Gospels, the answer is clear as to where Jesus "comes from." His true origins are in the Father, God; He comes totally from Him, but in a different way from that of any of God's prophets or messengers who preceded Him. This origin in the mystery of God, "whom no one knows" is already contained in the infancy narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that we are reading during this Christmastide. The Angel Gabriel proclaimed: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Lk 1:35). We repeat these words every time we recite the Creed, the Profession of Faith: "Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto, ex Maria Virgine," "and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary." At this sentence we kneel, for the veil that concealed God is lifted, as it were, and His unfathomable and inaccessible mystery touches us: God becomes the Emmanuel, "God-with-us."

This affirmation of the Creed does not concern God's eternal being but, rather, speaks to us of an action in which the three divine Persons take part and which is brought about "ex Maria Virgine." Without Mary, God's entry into the history of humanity would not have achieved its purpose, and what is central to our Profession of Faith would not have taken place: God is a "God-with-us." Thus, Mary belongs irrevocably to our faith in God who acts, who enters history. She makes her whole person available, she "agrees" to become God's dwelling place.
Sometimes, on our journey and in our life of faith, we can sense our poverty, our inadequacy in the face of the witness we must offer to the world. However, God chose, precisely, a humble woman, in an unknown village, in one of the most distant provinces of the great Roman Empire. Nothing is impossible for God! With Him our existence always journeys on safe ground and is open to a future of firm hope.
The Evangelist Luke recorded the Archangel Gabriel's words: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (1:35). Two references are obvious: the first is to the moment of the Creation. At the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we read that "the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters" (1:2); this is the Creator Spirit who gave life to all things and to the human being. What is brought about in Mary, through the action of this same divine Spirit, is a new creation: God, who called forth being from nothing, by the Incarnation gives life to a new beginning of humanity. The Fathers of the Church sometimes speak of Christ as the new Adam in order to emphasize that the new creation began with the birth of the Son of God in the Virgin Mary's womb. This makes us think about how faith also brings us a newness so strong that it produces a second birth. Indeed, at the beginning of our life as Christians there is Baptism, which causes us to be reborn as children of God and makes us share in the filial relationship that Jesus has with the Father. And I would like to point out that Baptism is received, we "are baptized"–it is passive–because no one can become a son of God on his own. It is a gift that is freely given.
General Audience,
Paul VI Audience Hall, January 2, 2013

GOD DID NOT STOP AT WORDS,
BUT SHOWED US HOW TO LIVE
In these days, the term the "Incarnation" of God has rung out several times in our churches, expressing the reality we celebrate at Holy Christmas: the Son of God was made man, as we say in the Creed. But what does this word, so central to the Christian faith, mean? Incarnation derives from the Latin incarnatio. St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Irenaeus used this term in reflecting on the Prologue to the Gospel according to St. John, in particular in the sentence "the Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14). Here the word "flesh," according to the Hebrew usage, indicates man in his whole self, the whole man, but in particular in the dimension of his transience and his temporality, his poverty and his contingency. This was in order to tell us that the salvation brought by God, who became man in Jesus of Nazareth, affects man in his material reality and in whatever situation he may be. God assumed the human condition to heal it from all that separates it from Him, to enable us to call Him by the name of "Abba, Father," and truly to be children of God.
"The Word was made flesh" is one of those truths to which we have grown so accustomed that the greatness of the event it expresses barely makes an impression on us. Thus, it is important to recover our wonder at the mystery, to let ourselves be enveloped by the grandeur of this event: God, the true God, Creator of all, walked our roads as a man. And He did not do so with the splendor of a sovereign who dominates the world with His power, but with the humility of a child.

The event of the Incarnation, of God who became man, like us, shows us the daring realism of divine love. God's action, in fact, was not limited to words. On the contrary, we might say that He was not content with speaking, but entered into our history, taking upon Himself the effort and burden of human life. The Son of God truly became a man. He was born of the Virgin Mary in a specific time and place, in Bethlehem during the reign of the Emperor Augustus, under the Governor Quirinius. He grew up in a family, He had friends, He formed a group of disciples, He instructed the Apostles to continue His mission and ended the course of His earthly life on the Cross. The way God acted gives us a strong incentive to question ourselves on the reality of our faith, which must not be limited to the sphere of sentiment, of the emotions; rather, it must enter into the practicality of our existence, that is, it must touch our everyday life and give it practical guidance. God did not stop at words, but showed us how to live, sharing in our own experience, except for sin. Faith has a fundamental aspect that does not only involve our mind and heart but also our whole life. St. John says that the Word, the Logos, was with God in the beginning and that everything was done through the Word and nothing that exists was done without Him (cf. Jn 1:1-13). That same Word, who has always existed with God, who is God Himself and through whom and for whom all things were created (cf. Col 1:16-17), became man: the eternal and infinite God immersed Himself in human finiteness, in His creature, to bring back man and the whole of creation to Himself. In that Child, the Son of God contemplated at Christmas, we can recognize the true face not only of God but also of the human being; and only by opening ourselves to His grace and seeking to follow Him every day do we fulfill God's plan for us, for each one of us.
General Audience,
Paul VI Audience Hall , January 9, 2013

THE WISH SIMPLY TO SEE WHO
HE IS, WHO HE IS FOR US
In the history of the People of Israel we can retrace the stages of a long journey during which God made Himself known, revealed Himself, and entered history with words and actions. In order to do this, He used mediators, such as Moses, the Prophets, and the Judges, who communicated His will to the people, reminding them of the requirement of faithfulness to the Covenant and keeping alive their expectation of the complete and definitive fulfillment of the divine promises. At Holy Christmas, we contemplated the realization of these very promises: the Revelation of God reaching its culmination, its fullness. In Jesus of Nazareth, God really visited His people, He visited humanity in a manner that surpassed every expectation: He sent His Only-Begotten Son: God Himself became man. Jesus does not tell us something about God, He does not merely speak of the Father but is the Revelation of God, because He is God and thus reveals the face of God. In the Prologue to his Gospel, St. John wrote: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known" (Jn 1:18).
I would like to dwell on the phrase: "reveals God's face." In this regard, St. John, in His Gospel, records for us a significant event that we have just heard. When he was approaching the Passion, Jesus reassured His disciples, asking them not to be afraid and to have faith. At a certain point, the Apostle Philip asked Jesus: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied" (Jn 14:8). Jesus' answer is a reply not only to Philip but also to us and it ushers us into the heart of Christological faith; the Lord affirmed: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). These words sum up the newness of the New Testament, that newness which appeared in the Bethlehem Grotto: God can be seen, God has shown His face, He is visible in Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, there is a figure with whom the theme of "the face of God" is connected in a special way: Moses. The man whom God chose to set His people free from slavery in Egypt, giving him the Law of the Covenant and leading him to the Promised Land. Well, in Chapter 33 of the Book of Exodus it says that Moses had a close and confidential relationship with God: "The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (v. 11). By virtue of this trust, Moses was able to ask God: "Show me your glory," and God's response was clear: "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you My name".... But He said, "You cannot see My face; for man shall not see Me and live.... There is a place by Me.... You shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen" (vv. 18-23). Thus, on the one hand, there was the face-to-face conversation as between friends but, on the other, the impossibility in this life of seeing the face of God, which remained hidden; sight is restricted. The Fathers said that these words, "You shall see My back," meant you can only follow Christ, and in following Him you see the mystery of God from behind; God can be followed by seeing His back.
Something completely new happened, however, with the Incarnation. The search for God's face was given an unimaginable turning-point, because this time this face could be seen: it is the face of Jesus, of the Son of God who became man. The desire to know God truly, that is, to see God's face, is innate in every human being, even in atheists. And perhaps we unconsciously have this wish simply to see who He is, what He is, who He is for us. However, this desire is fulfilled in following Christ; in this way, we see His back and, in the end, we see God too as a friend; in Christ's face we see His face. The important thing is that we not only follow Christ in our needy moments or when we find a slot in our daily occupations, but in our life as such. The whole of our life must be oriented to meeting Jesus Christ, to loving Him; and, in our life we must allocate a central place to loving our neighbor, that love which, in the light of the Crucified One, enables us to recognize the face of Jesus in the poor, in the weak, and in the suffering. This is only possible if the true face of Jesus has become familiar to us through listening to His word, in an inner conversation with Him, in entering this word so that we truly meet Him, and of course, in the Mystery of the Eucharist. In the Gospel of St. Luke, the passage about the two disciples of Emmaus who recognize Jesus in the breaking of bread is important; prepared by the journey with Him, by the invitation to stay with them that they had addressed to Him and by the conversation that made their hearts burn within them, in the end they saw Jesus. For us, too, the Eucharist is the great school in which we learn to see God's face, we enter into a close relationship with Him; and at the same time we learn to turn our gaze to the final moment of history when He will satisfy us with the light of His face.
General Audience,
Paul VI Audience Hall, January 16, 2013

AFFIRMING "I BELIEVE" IMPELS
US TO COME OUT OF OURSELVES
The opening words of the "Creed" are: "I believe in God." It is a fundamental affirmation, seemingly simple in its essence, but it opens on to the infinite world of the relationship with the Lord and with His mystery. Believing in God entails adherence to Him, the acceptance of His word, and joyful obedience to His revelation. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Faith is a personal act–the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals Himself" (n. 166). The ability to say one believes in God is therefore both a gift–God reveals Himself, He comes to meet us–and a commitment, it is divine grace and human responsibility in an experience of conversation with God who, out of love, "addresses men as His friends" (Dei Verbum, n. 2) and He speaks to us, so that, in faith and with faith, we are able to enter into communion with Him.
Where can we listen to God and to His word? Sacred Scripture, in which the word of God becomes audible to us and nourishes our life as "friends" of God, is fundamental. The entire Bible narrates God's revelation of Himself to humanity. The entire Bible speaks of faith and teaches us faith by narrating a history in which God carries out His plan of redemption and makes Himself close to people, through an array of shining figures who believe in Him and entrust themselves to Him, to the fullness of revelation in the Lord Jesus.
And it is on Abraham himself that I wish to reflect and to focus our attention, since he is the first great figure and reference for speaking of faith in God: What did God ask of this patriarch? He asked him to set out, leave his own country to journey to the land that He would show him: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you" (Gen 12:1). How would we have responded to such an invitation? In fact, it meant setting out with no directions, no knowledge of where God would lead him; it was a journey that demanded radical obedience and trust, to which faith alone gives access. Yet the dark unknown–to which Abraham had to go–was lit by the light of a promise; God added to His order a reassuring word that unfolded to Abraham a future, life in fullness: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great… and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves" (Gen 12:2, 3).
Faith led Abraham to take a paradoxical path. He was blessed but without the visible signs of blessing: he received the promise that he would become a great people, but with a life marked by the barrenness of his wife Sarah; he was led to a new homeland but had to live there as a foreigner; and the only land he was permitted to possess was a lot in which to bury Sarah (cf. Gen 23:1-20). Abraham was blessed because in faith he was able to discern the divine blessing, going beyond appearances and trusting in God's presence even when God's paths seemed mysterious to him.
What does this mean to us? When we affirm "I believe in God," we are saying, like Abraham, "I trust in You, I entrust myself to You, O Lord," but not as to Someone to turn to solely in times of difficulty or to whom to devote a few moments of the day or week. Saying, "I believe in God," means founding my life on Him, letting His Word guide it every day, in practical decisions, without fear of losing some part of myself. When, in the Rite of Baptism, the question is asked three times: "Do you believe?"–in God, in Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit–the holy Catholic Church and the other truths of the faith, the triple response is in the singular: "I do," because it is my own life that with the gift of faith must be given a turning point; it is my life that must change, that must be converted. Every time we take part in a Baptism, we should ask ourselves how we ourselves live daily the great gift of faith.

Abraham teaches us faith and, as a stranger on this earth, points out to us the true homeland. Faith makes us pilgrims on earth, integrated into the world and into history, but bound for the heavenly homeland. Believing in God thus makes us harbingers of values that often do not coincide with the fashion and opinion of the moment. It requires us to adopt criteria and assume forms of conduct that are not part of the common mindset. Christians must not be afraid to go "against the current" in order to live their faith, resisting the temptation to "conform." In many of our societies, God has become the "great absent One" and many idols have supplanted Him, multiform idols, especially possession and the autonomous "I." And even the major and positive breakthroughs of science and technology have instilled in people an illusion of omnipotence and self-sufficiency, and an increasing egotism which has created many imbalances in interpersonal relations and social behavior.
Nevertheless, the thirst for God (cf. Ps 63[62]:1-2) has not been quenched and the Gospel message continues to resonate in the words and deeds of numerous men and women of faith. It is the blessed world of faith to which we are all called, in order to walk fearlessly, following the Lord Jesus Christ. And at times it is a difficult journey that also undergoes trial and death, but that opens to life in a radical transformation of reality that only the eyes of faith can perceive and enjoy to the full.
Affirming "I believe in God" impels us, therefore, to set out, to come out of ourselves, exactly as Abraham did, to bring to the daily situation in which we live the certainty that comes to us from faith: namely, the certainty of God's presence in history today, too; a presence that brings life and salvation and opens us to a future with Him for a fullness of life that will know no end.
General Audience,
Paul VI Audience Hall January 23, 2013