VATICAN - Pope at the General Audience speaks of Saint Paul's teachings on the sacraments: “through the Word and the Sacraments, the Lord is near in every aspect of our life”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – In beginning the catechesis held during the General Audience on December 10, the Holy Father Benedict XVI repeated what he had spoke of the week before, on the beginnings of human history, “polluted by the abuse of created freedom, which tries to separate itself from the Divine Will,” and then spoke of the “new beginning of history and history in Jesus Christ, Who is man and God. With Him...while the first history begins, so to speak, with biology, the second begins with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Risen Christ. This Spirit created at Pentecost the beginning of the new humanity, the new community, the Church, the Body of Christ.”
The Pope then explained how the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, becomes “my Spirit.” “The Spirit of Christ knocks on the doors of my heart, it touches me from within,” Benedict XVI said. “But, as the new humanity must be a true body, as the Spirit must unite us and truly create a community, since it is a characteristic of the new beginning that capacity to overcome divisions and build bridges among the dispersed, this Spirit of Christ uses two visible elements of union: the Word of announcement and the Sacraments, especially Baptism and the Eucharist...The faith is not a product of our own thought, our reflection; it is something new that we cannot invent, but can only receive as a gift, as something entirely new, made by God. Faith comes not from reading but from listening. It is not only an interior experience but a relationship with Someone. It implies an encounter with what is announced, and implies the existence of another who announces and creates communion.”
In regards to the announcement, the Holy Father mentioned that “he who announces does not speak of himself, but is sent. He enters into a plan of mission that begins with Jesus' being sent by the Father, passing along to the Apostles – the word 'apostle' means 'one who is sent' – and continues with the minister, in the missions handed down by the Apostles. The new fabric of history appears in this plan of mission, in which in the end we hear of God Himself, His personal Word, the Son speaks to us, comes to us. The Word has become flesh, Jesus, in order to truly create a new humanity. Thus, the Word of announcement becomes Sacrament in Baptism, which is rebirth by water and the Spirit.”
Taking up what Saint Paul affirms regarding Baptism in the Letter to the Romans (6:3-4), Benedict XVI said, “No one can baptize himself, he needs another person. No one can become Christian by himself. Becoming Christian is a passive process. Only by another person's intervention can we become Christians. And this 'other' that makes us Christians, that gives us the gift of faith, is in the first place, the community of believers, the Church...A Christianity that is autonomous, self-produced, is a contradiction in itself...The community must live in the same passive process: only Christ can build the Church. Christ is the true giver of the Sacraments...The second thing is this: Baptism is more than a washing. It is death and resurrection...A new life truly begins in that moment. Becoming Christian is more than a cosmetic operation that adds on a little something more to an already more or less complete life. It is a new beginning, it is rebirth: death and resurrection. Obviously, in the resurrection all the goodness of the previous life re-emerges. The third thing is: the matter forms a part of the Sacrament. Christianity is not a purely spiritual reality. It implies the body. It implies the cosmos. It extends towards the new heavens and new earth.”
Taking into consideration the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Holy Father mentioned “with what profound respect Saint Paul verbally transmits the tradition of the Eucharist that he has received from the testimonies of those the Last Supper,” and observed that: “In giving us the chalice, the Lord offers us the true sacrifice. The only true sacrifice is the love of the Son. With the gift of this love, this eternal love, the world enters into the new covenant. Celebrating the Eucharist means that Christ offers us Himself, His love, in order to conform us to Himself and thus create a new world.” The second important aspect of the doctrine of the Eucharist concerns “the personal and social character of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Christ unites Himself to each one of us in a personal manner, and the same Christ also unites Himself with the man and the woman I have at my side. The bread is for me and for the others. Thus, Christ unites us all to Himself and unites us all with one another. We receive Christ in communion. And yet, Christ likewise unites Himself to my neighbor: Christ and our neighbor are inseparable in the Eucharist. Thus, we are one bread, one body. A Eucharist without solidarity with others is an abuse of the Eucharist...Christ gives us His Body in the Eucharist, He gives Himself in His Body and thus makes us His Body, uniting us to His risen body...We are truly united to the risen body of Christ, and thus united to one another. The Church is not simply a corporation like the State, she is a body. She is not a mere organization, but an authentic organism.”
The Pope's final comments were on the Sacrament of Marriage, that Paul defines as a “great mystery.” The mutual submission should adopt a vocabulary of love, taking the love of Christ for the Church as its model. This Christ-Church relationship makes the theological aspect of matrimonial love a priority, and elevates the affective relationship between spouses. People will enjoy a rewarding experience of true marriage if a constant human and emotive development remains united to the effectiveness of the Word and the significance of Baptism.” Benedict XVI then concluded his catechesis by affirming that “through the Word and the Sacraments, the Lord is near in every aspect of our life,” and encouraged all to pray “that we may be increasingly more touched in the intimacy of our very being by this nearness, so that joy may come forth – the joy that comes forth when Jesus is truly near.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 11/12/2008)