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Pope Benedict XVI Quotes - Page 15

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Apostolic and missionary fruitfulness is not principally due to programmes and pastoral methods that are cleverly drawn up and efficient, but is the result of the community's constant prayer (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi,

Apostolic and missionary fruitfulness is not principally due to programmes and pastoral methods that are cleverly drawn up and "efficient", but is the result of the community's constant prayer (cf. "Evangelii Nuntiandi," 75). Moreover, for the mission to be effective, communities must be united, that is, they must be "of one heart and soul" (cf. Acts 4:32), and they must be ready to witness to the love and joy that the Holy Spirit instils in the hearts of the faithful (cf. Acts 4:32).

Pope Benedict XVI
Prayer, Heart, Cfs

The destruction of images, the first signs of which reach back to the 1920s, eliminated a lot of kitsch and unworthy art, but ultimately it left behind a void.

Pope Benedict XVI
Art, Kitsch, Void
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) (2016). “Joseph Ratzinger Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy”, p.90, Ignatius Press

The Cross is the approbation of our existence, not in words, but in an act so completely radical that it caused God to become flesh and pierced this flesh to the quick; that, to God, it was worth the death of his incarnate Son.

Pope Benedict XVI
Son, Flesh, Crosses
"The Spirit of the Liturgy". Book by Pope Benedict XVI, 2000.

I thank Missio, (Pontifical Mission Societies), the primary instruments for cooperation in the universal Church's universal mission in the world. Through their action, the proclamation of the Gospel bears witness to Christ and is lived out in service of our neighbour through justice for the poorest, education in isolated villages, medical care in remote areas, freedom from poverty, the reintegration of the marginalised, support for the development of peoples, the breaking down of ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages.

Pope Benedict XVI
Justice, Support, Church

Thanks to being profoundly rooted in Christ, he was able to bear a burden which transcends merely human abilities.

Pope Benedict XVI
Thankfulness, Able, Bears

Enough with the slaughters. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq!

Pope Benedict XVI
Iraq, Hatred, Violence

The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery, are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI
Baptized In, Community, Baptism
"Dominus Iesus". 2000.

Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family. No nation or business sector can ignore the ethical implications present in all economic and social development. With increasing clarity scientific research demonstrates that the impact of human actions in any one place or region can have worldwide effects.

Pope Benedict XVI
Impact, Environmental, Attention
Pope Benedict XVI's Letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on the Occasion of the Seventh Symposium of the Religion, Science and the Environment Movement, w2.vatican.va. September 1, 2007.

In the pierced heart of the Crucified, God's own heart is opened up - here we see who God is and what he is like. Heaven is no longer locked up. God has stepped out of his hiddenness.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Heart
"The Spirit of the Liturgy". Book by Pope Benedict XVI, 2000.

In the current economic situation, the temptation for the more dynamic economies is that of chasing after advantageous alliances that, nevertheless, can have harmful effects for poorer states, prolonging situations of extreme mass poverty of men and women and using up the earth's natural resources, entrusted to man by God the Creator-as Genesis says-that he might cultivate and protect it.

Pope Benedict XVI
Men, Temptation, Might

With the Synod Assembly, therefore, I heartily recommend to the Church's pastors and to the People of God the practice of Eucharistic Adoration, both individually and in community

Pope Benedict XVI
Practice, People, Community

The Church is missionary by nature and her principal task is evangelization, which aims to proclaim and to witness to Christ and to promote his Gospel of peace and love in every environment and culture.

Pope Benedict XVI
Church, And Love, Missionary
Pope Benedict XVI's Address to The Participants In The Fifth International Congress Of Military Ordinariates, w2.vatican.va. October 26, 2006.

Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others...I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries.

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, People, News

The proclamation of the Gospel remains the primary service that the Church owes to humanity, to offer the salvation of Christ to the man of our time, who is in many ways humiliated and oppressed, and to orientate in a Christian way cultural, social, and ethical transformations that are unfolding in the world.

Pope Benedict XVI
Christian, Men, Humanity
"Pope Benedict XVI on Evangelization". streetevangelization.com.

The missionary experience is part of Christian formation and it is important for adolescents and young people to be able to live it personally.

Pope Benedict XVI
Christian, People, Important

The Christian faith can never be separated from the soil of sacred events, from the choice made by God, who wanted to speak to us, to become man, to die and rise again, in a particular place and at a particular time.

Pope Benedict XVI
Christmas, Christian, Men
"The Spirit of the Liturgy". Book by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, (SF, CA: Ignatius), p. 164, 2000.

Today the great gift of God's Creation is exposed to serious dangers and lifestyles which can degrade it. Environmental pollution is making particularly unsustainable the lives of the poor of the world ... we must pledge ourselves to take care of creation and to share its resources in solidarity.

Pope Benedict XVI
Environmental, Care, Today

Dialogue is the fundamental unfolding of a gift of oneself to another.

Pope Benedict XVI
Diversity, Fundamentals, Unfolding

A thirst for the infinite is indelibly present in human beings. Man was created to have a relationship with God; we need him.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Men

The highest things, the things that really matter, we cannot achieve on our own; we have to accept them as gifts and enter in to the dynamic of the gift, so to speak.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Inspiration, Matter
Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger (2007). “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration”, p.268, Image

The human being of all times prays because he cannot fail to wonder about the meaning of his life, which remains obscure and discomforting of it is not put in relations to the mystery of God and if his plan for the world.

Pope Benedict XVI
World, Praying, Mystery
Pope Benedict XVI (2012). “A School of Prayer”, p.12, Scepter Publishers

How many people also in our time are in search of God, in search of Jesus and of his Church, in search of divine mercy, and are waiting for a "sign" that will touch their minds and their hearts! Today, as then, the Evangelist reminds us that the only "sign" is Jesus raised on the cross: Jesus who died and rose is the absolutely sufficient sign. Through him we can understand the truth about life and obtain salvation.

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, Heart, People

I believe that in a certain way this is proof of the truth of Christianity: Heart and reason encounter one another, beauty and truth converge, and the more that we ourselves succeed in living in the beauty of truth, the more that faith will be able to return to being creative in our time too, and to express itself in a convincing form of art.

Pope Benedict XVI
Faith, Art, Believe
"Reason Needs Beauty, Says Pontiff". zenit.org. August 19, 2008.

The rediscovery of the value of one's own Baptism is at the root of every Christian's missionary commitment, because as we see in the Gospel, those who allow themselves to be fascinated by Christ cannot fail to witness to the joy of following in his footsteps... We understand ever more that it is precisely in virtue of Baptism that we possess a co-natural missionary vocation.

Pope Benedict XVI
Christian, Commitment, Joy
Pope Benedict XVI's Angelus, w2.vatican.va. October 29, 2006.

The celebration of Lent, in the context of the Year of Faith, offers us a valuable opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity: between believing in God - the God of Jesus Christ - and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which guides us on the path of devotion to God and others.

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus, Believe, Opportunity

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