Weekly Meditation
Pope Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for April is "That Christians, even in difficult and complex situations of present-day society, may not tire of proclaiming with their lives that Christ's resurrection is the source of peace and hope."
The theme of our Holy Father's visit to our country is "Christ Our Hope". We live our lives fully and joyfully when we have hope. Embracing Jesus' teachings and example gives us a positive way of living. Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical on hope notes that St.Paul reminded the Ehpesians (Eph 2:12) that "before their encounter with Christ they were ‘without hope and without God in the world.'" (On Christian Hope, #2). Pope Benedict goes on to stress:
Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. So now we can say: Christianity was not only "good news" --- the communication of a hitherto unknown content. In our language we would say: the Christian message was not only "informative" but "performative." That means: the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known---it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.
May our prayer life these days in response to the pope's intention for April be not only "informative" but more "performative" in the way we live with hope. May Pope Benedict's visit which begins next week motivate us in new and fresh ways in our pursuit of this kind of living.
Bishop William R. Houck
President Emeritus, Catholic Extension