The Service to Communion

ZENIT News Agency ^ | April 5, 2006 | Benedict XVI

[ELS]

The Service to Communion

"Church Is Totally of the Spirit, But It Has a Structure"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 5, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the general audience, on the theme "The Service to Communion."

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

In the new series of catecheses, which we began a few weeks ago, we wish to consider the origins of the Church to understand Jesus' original plan and in this way understand what is essential in the Church, which endures with the passing of time. We also want to understand the reason for our being in the Church and how we must commit ourselves to live it at the beginning of a new Christian millennium.

Reflecting on the early Church, we can discover two aspects: The first aspect is forcefully underlined by St, Irenaeus of Lyon, martyr and great theologian of the end of the second century, the first to leave us, in a certain sense, a systematic theology.

St. Irenaeus writes: "Where the Church is, there also is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace, as the Spirit is truth" ("Adversus Haereses," III, 24, 1: PG 7, 966). Therefore, there is a profound relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit edifies the Church and gives it truth and, as St. Paul says, infuses love in the hearts of believers (cf. Romans 5:5).

But, in addition, there is a second aspect. This profound relationship with the Spirit does not eliminate our humanity, with all its weakness and, in this way, the community of disciples experienced from the beginning not only the joy of the Holy Spirit, the grace of truth and love, but also trial, made up above all by the contrast between the truths of faith and the resulting lacerations of communion.

Just as a communion of love has existed from the beginning and will exist until the end (cf. 1 John 1:1ff), so, sadly, from the beginning division has also erupted. We must not be surprised by the fact that it exists also today: "They went out from us," says the First Letter of John, "but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us" (2:19).

Therefore, the danger always exists, in the vicissitudes of the world and also in the weaknesses of the Church, of losing the faith and thus, of also losing love and fraternity. Therefore, it is a specific duty of those who believe in the Church of love and want to live in her, to recognize this danger also and to accept that communion is not possible with those who do not abide in the doctrine of salvation (cf. 2 John 9-11).

That the early Church was clearly aware of these possible tensions in the living of communion is shown very well in the First Letter of John. There is no other voice in the New Testament that is raised so forcefully to underline the reality of the duty of fraternal love among Christians, but that same voice addresses with drastic severity adversaries, who have been members of the community but no longer are.

The Church of love is also the Church of truth, understood above all as fidelity to the Gospel entrusted by the Lord Jesus to his own. Christian fraternity is born from the fact of being children of the same Father by the Spirit of truth: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). But, to live in unity and peace, the family of the children of God needs someone who will keep them in the truth and guide them with wise and authoritative discernment: This is what the ministry of the apostles is called to do.

And here we come to an important point. The Church is totally of the Spirit, but it has a structure, the apostolic succession, which has the responsibility to guarantee the Church's permanence in the truth given by Christ, from which the capacity to love also proceeds. The first summary of the Acts of the Apostles expresses with great effectiveness the convergence of these values in the life of the early Church: "They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship ('koinonia'), to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42).

Communion is born from faith aroused by the apostolic preaching, it is nourished from the breaking of bread and prayer, and is expressed in fraternal charity and service. We are before the description of the communion of the early Church in the richness of her internal dynamisms and her visible expressions: The gift of communion is kept and promoted in particular by the apostolic ministry, which in turn is a gift for the whole community.

The apostles and their successors therefore are custodians and authoritative witnesses of the deposit of faith given to the Church, and they are also the ministers of charity: two aspects that go together. They must always think of the inseparable character of this double service, which in fact is the same: truth and charity, revealed and given by the Lord Jesus. In this connection, they carry out above all a service of love: the charity they must live and promote cannot be separated from the truth they keep and transmit.

Truth and love are two sides of the same gift, which proceeds from God and which, thanks to the apostolic ministry, is kept in the Church and comes to us in our present [time]! Through the service of the apostles and their successors we also receive the love of the Triune God to communicate the truth that makes us free (cf. John 8, 32)! All this which we see in the early Church leads us to pray for the successors of the apostles, for all bishops, and for the Successors of Peter so that they will really be custodians of truth and at the same time of charity, so that they will really be apostles of Christ, so that their light, the light of truth and charity will never be extinguished in the Church and the world.

[Translation by ZENIT]

[At the end of the Audience, the Pope read the following summary in English:]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Holy Spirit is the source of the communion, uniting Christ's disciples among themselves and with God. In the fine phrases of St. Irenaeus: "Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit is, there is the Church and all grace" ("AH," III, 24:1).

The presence of the Spirit, however, does not eliminate human weakness, and thus, from the beginning, the Church's communion in love has coexisted with human division and disunity. The ministry of the apostles, by maintaining the Church in God's saving truth and leading her with authority, is ultimately a service of communion in love.

As we see in the Book of Acts, truth and love converged in the life of the early Church: The first Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). Thanks to the apostolic ministry, this communion in truth and love is constantly preserved in the Church. Through the apostles and their successors, we encounter the love of the Triune God and the truth that makes us free (cf. John 8:32)!

[Benedict XVI then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

I am happy to offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present at today's audience, including the class from the NATO Defense College, and the groups from England, Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and the United States of America. May your time in Rome strengthen your faith and renew your love for the Lord and his Church. May God bless you all!

© Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

[ELS]

Pope Benedict XVI gives his blessing as he is driven through the crowd in St. Peter's Square prior to his weekly general audience at the Vatican , Wednesday, April 5, 2006 (CPP/Alessia Giuliani)

Pope Benedict XVI removes his skull cap and tries to place it under his thigh during a windy general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 5, 2006. The pontiff later gave his skull cap to his aide Rev. Georg Gaenswein. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)

Pope Benedict XVI smiles as he leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City April 5, 2006. (CPP/Alessia Giuliani)

Pope Benedict XVI smiles as he leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City April 5, 2006. (CPP/Alessia Giuliani)

[ELS]

Weekly audience ping!

Please let me know if you want to be on or off of this list.

[ELS]

From another article on Zenit:

A strong wind blew during the general audience. At one point, the Holy Father wrung applause from the faithful when he said: "The wind is not always identical to the Holy Spirit, but it can also make us think of the force of the Holy Spirit."

[AnAmericanMother]

He looks so sweet with his hair in disarray. I love his hair . . .

Like everybody's favorite uncle . . . the one who seems a little gruff but is really kindness itself . . .

[ELS]

I picked the third picture because of his smile. One can see the warmth in his eyes (even with the "watermarks" that CPP puts in their larger photos).

[ELS]

As I was looking through the photos of today's audience, with so many showing his shoulder capelet (don't know the official term for it) being blown all over, I thought of Coco Chanel's use of little weights in the hem of her suits. Maybe his tailor could sew little weights into the hem of the capelet.

[PandaRosaMishima]

Benedict XVI looks rather rakish with his hair tossed about like that! He seems to be growing more vigorous over the months. He started his papacy with those sad "iron eyes" like a ship's captain; now they tend to sparkle.
The wind blowing off his zucchetto, do you think it's John Paul having some fun with his old friend?

[torqemada]

God Bless His Holiness & may he have a long & healthy life.

[Nihil Obstat]

I was able to watch it on EWTN this morning. What a huge crowd! God bless Pope Benedict. Saint Peter pray for him.

[Tax-chick]

I agree - I love that snowy hair!

[AnAmericanMother]

I think he was sad because he was considering the death of his old friend, the dangers facing the church, and the tremendous burden that he was taking up. I know that would give me the "thousand yard stare."

I think God has supplied his need.

My shepherd will supply my need; Jehovah is his name.
In pastures green he leadeth me, beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake His ways,
And leads me for His mercy's sake in paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death His presence is my stay,
One word of His supporting grace drives all my fears away;
His hand in sight of all my foes doth still my table spread,
My cup with blessings overflows, His oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days;
Oh, may Thy house be my abode and all my work be praise;
There would I find a settled rest, while others go and come;
No more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home.

- Isaac Watts, para. Psalm 23.

[AnAmericanMother]

BTW, I've never heard the expression "iron eyes". Where does it come from?

[PandaRosaMishima]

Just made it up really; same thing as the "thousand yard stare" really. Loosely means having a gaze that pierces right through you; you KNOW you aren't going to get away with monkey business with this person! Kind of like the eyes of a good clipper-ship captain, always on the alert, on the lookout for what ever happens.
Pope Benedict must know he has a heavy role to fill; I pray he is growing into his role as shepherd. I did see him smile this morning.

[AnAmericanMother]

Here's the hymn setting:

"My Shepherd Will Supply My Need."

Mr. Watts may have been a Dissenter, but he sure could write a hymn. And Virgil Thomson hit a home run with this setting.

[AnAmericanMother]

Whoa! While I was getting the "My Shepherd" file off a Thomson recording I found this:

How Brightly Shines the Morning Star

Another perfect marriage of text and tune. (And sung with more appropriate dynamics by a chamber group instead of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which tends to beat everything it sings over the head with a blunt instrument . . . )

[onyx]

THANK YOU!

[ELS]

You're welcome.

[onyx]

I love the pics on this thread.
That's one reason I was so upset with myself for losing track of it.

[ELS]

I love the pics on this thread.

They are keepers, aren't they? I can't say how many times I saw a photo on the Web that I loved and didn't save it, thought I would be able to get back to it later, and then never came across it again. :-(

The photos above come mainly from Catholic Press Photo. They have thumbnail images that are relatively small. If you click on a thumbnail image, the link takes you to the larger version of the image, but it has those little "watermarks" on it.

[onyx]

Oh, they're water marks!
I wondered.
I thought they were taken from a lousy television screen! LOL.
Thank you for the link.
I have bookmarked this thread.