Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – In his catechesis given at the General Audience on January 14, the Holy Father Benedict XVI spoke of the two “twin” letters of Saint Paul: the Letter to the Colossians and the Letter to the Ephesians. “Both have ways of speaking that are only found in those two,” the Pope explained, in addition to the fact that that both offer a so-called “domestic code,” “a series of recommendations directed to husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves.”
“Even more important is to see that only in these two letters is confirmed the title 'head,' kefalé, given to Jesus Christ. And this title is used on two levels. In the first sense, Christ is understood as the head of the Church. This means two things: above all, that he is the governor, the director, the one in charge who guides the Christian community as its leader and lord,” the Pope said. “And the other meaning is that it is as the head that he raises and vivifies all the members of the body of which he is head...That is, he is not just one who directs, but one who is organically connected to us, from whom comes also the strength to act in an upright way. In both cases, the Church considers itself submitted to Christ, both to follow his superior leading -- the commandments -- and to welcome all of the vital flow that come from him. His commandments are not just words, mandates, but are vital forces that come from him and help us...That's why, if we are united to Christ, we should fear no enemy and no adversity; but, this also means that we should remain closely united to him, without letting go!”
Continuing his explanation, the Holy Father recalled that for the pagan world, the world was full of spirits, many of them being dangerous and against which one had to defend himself, “the proclamation that Christ is the only victor and that he who is united to Christ did not have to fear anyone, appeared as a true liberation.” “The same is true also for the paganism of today, because also the current followers of these ideologies see the world as full of dangerous powers. To these people, it is necessary to announce that Christ is the conqueror, such that one who is with Christ, who remains united to him, should not fear anything or anyone...Even the whole cosmos is submitted to him, and to him it converges as to its own head...Therefore, there is not, on one hand, a great material world and on the other hand, this small reality of the history of our land, the world of people: Everything is one in Christ. He is the head of the cosmos; also the cosmos has been created by him, it has been created for us insofar as we are united to him. This is a rational and personalistic vision of the universe.” In this perspective, “the Church recognizes that Christ is greater than she is, given that his lordship also extends beyond her limits, and...only the Church is classified as the body of Christ, not the cosmos. All of this means that we should consider positively earthly realities, because Christ recapitulates them in himself, and at the same time, we should live our specific ecclesial identity in plenitude, which is the most homogeneous to the identity of Christ himself.”
One of the typical concepts that arises in these two Pauline letters is that of “mystery,” which “makes reference to the inscrutable divine design over the destiny of man, of peoples and of the world.” The Holy Father explained that the two Epistles tell us that in Christ is found the fulfillment of this mystery. “If we are with Christ, even though we cannot intellectually understand everything, we know that we are in the nucleus and on the path of truth. He is in his totality, and not only one aspect of his person or one moment of his existence, he who gathers in himself the plenitude of the unsearchable divine plan of salvation...Mere intellectual categories here prove insufficient, and recognizing that many things are beyond our rational capacities, we should trust in the humble and joyful contemplation, not just of the mind, but also of the heart. The fathers of the Church, on the other hand, tell us that love understands much more than reason alone.”
In the final part of the catechesis, the Pope returned to the concept of the Church as the Spouse of Christ. “The Church is not just a fiancé, but the real spouse of Christ. He, we could say, has conquered her for himself, and he has done this with the price of his life...But moreover, he is concerned for her beauty, not just that already acquired in baptism, but also that which should grow each day thanks to a blameless life...From here to the common experience of Christian marriage, the step is a small one; conversely, it's not even clear what is the author's point of initial reference -- whether it is the relationship Christ-Church, from whose light the union between man and woman should be conceived; or if instead it is the datum of the experience of conjugal union, from whose light the relationship between Christ and the Church should be conceived. But both aspects mutually enlighten one another.”
Benedict XVI concluded by recalling that these two Letters of the Apostle Paul “are a great catechesis, from which we can learn not just how to be good Christians, but also how to come to be truly persons.If we begin to understand that the cosmos is the footprint of Christ, we learn our right relationship with the cosmos, with all of the problems of its conservation. We learn to see [the problems] with reason, but with reason moved by love, and with the humility and the respect that permits acting in a correct way. And if we think that the Church is the body of Christ, that Christ has given himself for her, we learn how to live with Christ in reciprocal love, the love that unites us to God and that makes us see the other as an image of Christ, as Christ himself.”
Greeting the pilgrims present in various languages, the Pope especially named the French pilgrimage that accompanied the relics of Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, recently beatified on World Mission Sunday, and then asked all to join in praying for the 6th World Meeting of Families which is taking place during these days in Mexico City: “May this important event in the Church once again manifest the beauty and value of the family, filling everyone with a new energy to work in favor of this irreplaceable fundamental cell of society and of the Church.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/1/2009)
