VATICAN - The Pope presents Roman university students with Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans: “May this be substantial nourishment for your faith, leading you to believe more and better and also to reflect upon yourselves so that you might come to a ‘mature’ faith and, at the same time live this faith.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – In the afternoon of December 11, at the close of the Eucharistic Celebration presided by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, for Rome's university students, in preparation for Christmas, the Holy Father Benedict XVI made an appearance in the Vatican Basilica, where he greeted the students and presented them with Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans.
The Pope mentioned that “the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of the Apostle to the Gentiles is helping the entire Church to rediscover its proper and fundamental missionary vocation and, at the same time, to make full use of the inexhaustible theological and spiritual treasure of the Pauline letters...I am convinced that for you, from a personal as well as the communal and apostolic point of view of the university, studying the person and message of St. Paul is a very enriching opportunity.”
Benedict XVI highlighted that this text “is without a doubt one of the most important cultural texts of all time. It is and continues to be principally a living message for the living Church, and thus I place it this evening in your hands. May this text, which arises from the heart of the Apostle, be substantial nourishment for your faith, leading you to believe more and better and also to reflect upon yourselves so that you might come to a ‘mature’ faith and, at the same time live this faith, putting it into practice according to the truth of Christ’s commandment. Only in this way can the faith that one professes become ‘credible’ for others as well, who are conquered by the eloquent testimony of our deeds.”
The Christian message had the strength to destroy “the wall of separation” between the Jews and pagans, the Pope said. And it “maintains this ever-new strength, capable of destroying other walls that are built up in every context and age. The fount of this strength is in the Spirit of Christ, to which Paul makes a conscientious appeal.” Thus, Benedict XVI, highlighted the fact that “salvation is a gift that is always open to personal acceptance,” and this is the essential content of Baptism, which is being presented this year to the university students as the Sacrament to rediscover and, for some, to be received. “Being 'baptized in Christ' means being spiritually immersed in the death that is the act of the infinite and universal love of God, capable of rescuing every person and creature from slavery to sin and death.”
At the close of his address, the Pope mentioned that what he was presenting to the university students “is a message of faith, yes, but at the same time, a truth that illumines the mind, opening it according to God's horizons; it is a truth that guides our lives, because the Gospel is the way to reach fullness of life. This way has been set by Jesus, moreover He Himself is the Way, who from the Father has come to us, so that through Him we could reach the Father. This is the mystery of Advent and Christmas.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 12/12/2008)