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30 - 18.10.2008
SOMMARIO
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CELEBRAZIONE DEI PRIMI VESPRI DELLA XXIX DOMENICA DEL TEMPO “PER
ANNUM” (SABATO, 18 OTTOBRE 2008 - POMERIDIANO)
CELEBRAZIONE DEI PRIMI VESPRI DELLA XXIX DOMENICA DEL TEMPO “PER
ANNUM” (SABATO, 18 OTTOBRE 2008 - POMERIDIANO)
- PAROLE DEL SANTO PADRE
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DISCORSO
DEL PATRIARCA ECUMENICO BARTOLOMEO I
Sabato 18 ottobre 2008, alle ore 17.00 nella Cappella Sistina, in
occasione della partecipazione del Patriarca Ecumenico Bartolomeo I
alla XII Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi, il
Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha presieduto la celebrazione dei Primi
Vespri della XXIX domenica del tempo “per annum”. Partecipavano il
Patriarca Ecumenico Bartolomeo I, i Membri della Presidenza del
Sinodo dei Vescovi, 60 Cardinali e Patriarchi, 170 Arcivescovi e
Vescovi, 200 Presbiteri, Religiosi e Laici partecipanti alla XII
Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi.
PAROLE DEL SANTO PADRE
Nel corso della Celebrazione, dopo l’intervento del Patriarca
Ecumenico, il Santo Padre ha pronunciato le seguenti parole:
Santità,
con tutto il cuore vorrei dire "Grazie" a Lei per queste Sue parole.
L'applauso dei Padri era molto più che espressione di cortesia, era
veramente espressione di una profonda gioia spirituale e di una
esperienza viva della nostra comunione. In questo momento abbiamo
realmente vissuto il "Sinodo": siamo stati insieme in cammino nella
terra della Parola divina sotto la guida di Vostra Santità e ne
abbiamo gustato la bellezza, con la grande gioia di essere
ascoltatori della Parola di Dio, di essere posti a confronto con
questo dono della sua Parola.
Quanto Lei ha detto era profondamente nutrito dello spirito dei
Padri, della Sacra Liturgia e proprio per questo anche fortemente
contestualizzato nel nostro tempo, con un grande realismo cristiano
che ce ne fa vedere le sfide. Abbiamo visto che andare al cuore
della Sacra Scrittura, incontrare realmente la Parola nelle parole,
penetrare nella parola di Dio apre anche gli occhi per il nostro
mondo, per la realtà di oggi.
E questa era anche un'esperienza gioiosa - un'esperienza di unità
forse non perfetta, ma vera e profonda. Ho pensato: i vostri Padri,
che Ella ha citato ampiamente, sono anche i nostri Padri, e i nostri
sono anche i vostri: se abbiamo Padri comuni, come potremmo non
essere fratelli tra noi? Grazie, Santità. Le Sue parole ci
accompagneranno nel lavoro della prossima settimana, ci
illumineranno e saremo anche nella prossima settimana - e oltre - in
cammino comune con Lei.
Grazie, Santità.
[00315-01.01] [NNNNN] [Testo originale: italiano]
DISCORSO DEL
PATRIARCA ECUMENICO BARTOLOMEO I
Riportiamo di seguito il discorso del Patriarca Ecumenico
Bartolomeo I:
Your Holiness,
Synodal Fathers,
It is at once humbling and inspiring to be graciously invited by
your Holiness to address the XII Ordinary General Assembly of this
auspicious Synod of Bishops, an historical meeting of Bishops of the
Roman Catholic Church from throughout the world, gathered in one
place to meditate on "the Word of God" and deliberate on the
experience and expression of this Word "in the Life and Mission
of the Church."
This gracious invitation of Your Holiness to our Modesty is a
gesture full of meaning and significance - we dare say an historic
event in itself. For it is the first time in history that an
Ecumenical Patriarch is offered the opportunity to address a Synod
of the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, and thus be part of
"the life of" this sister Church at such a high level. We regard
this as a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit leading our
Churches to a closer and deeper relationship with each other, an
important step towards the restoration of our full communion.
It is well known that the Orthodox Church attaches to the Synodical
system fundamental ecclesiogical importance. Together with primacy
synodality constitutes the backbone of the Church's government and
organization. As our Joint International Commission on the
Theological Dialogue between our Churches expressed it in the
Ravenna document, this interdependence between synodality and
primacy runs through all the levels of the Church's life: local,
regional and universal. Therefore, in having today the privilege to
address Your Synod our hopes are raised that the day will come when
our two Churches will fully converge on the role of primacy and
synodality in the Church's life, to which our common Theological
Commission is devoting its study at the present time.
The theme to which this episcopal synod devotes its work is of
crucial significance not only for the Roman Catholic Church but also
for all those who are called to witness to Christ in our time.
Mission and evangelization remain a permanent duty of the Church at
all times and places; indeed they form part of the Church's nature,
since she is called “Apostolic” both in the sense of her
faithfulness to the original teaching of the Apostles and in that of
proclaiming the Word of God in every cultural context everytime. The
Church needs, therefore, to rediscover the Word of God in every
generation and make it head with a renewed vigour and persuasion
also in our contemporary world, which deep in its heart thirsts for
God's message of peace, hope and charity.
This duty of evangelization would have been, of course, greatly
enhanced and strengthened, if all Christians were in a position to
perform it with one voice and as a fully united Church. In his
prayer to the Father little before His passion our Lord has made it
clear that the unity of the Church is unbreakably related with her
mission "so that the world may believe" (John 17, 21). It is,
therefore, most appropriate that this Synod has opened its doors to
ecumenical fraternal delegates so that we may all become aware of
our common. duty of evangelization as well as of the difficulties
and problems of its realization in today' s world. This Synod has
undoubtedly been studying the subject of the Word of God in depth
and in all its aspects, theological as well as practical and
pastoral. In our modest address to you we shall limit ourselves to
sharing with you some thoughts on the theme of your meeting, drawing
from the way the Orthodox tradition has approached it throughout the
centuries and in the Greek patristic teaching, in particular. More
concretely we should like to concentrate on three aspects of the
subject, namely: an hearing and speaking the Word of God through
the Holy Scriptures; on seeing God's Word in nature and above
all in the beauty of the icons; and finally on touching
and sharing God's Word in the communion of saints and the
sacramental life of the Church. For all these are, we think, crucial
in the life and mission of the Church.
In so doing, we seek to draw a rich Patristic tradition, dating to
the early third century and expounding a doctrine of five spiritual
senses. For listening to God's Word, beholding God's Word, and
touching God's Word are all spiritual ways of perceiving the unique
divine mystery. Based on Proverbs 2.5 about "the divine faculty of
perception (aἵsqhsiϚ),"
Origen of Alexandria claims:
This sense unfolds as sight for contemplation of immaterial forms,
hearing for discernment of voices, taste for savoring the living
bread, smell for sweet spiritual fragrance, and touch for handling
the Word of God, which is grasped by every faculty of the soul.
The spiritual senses are variously described as "five senses of the
soul," as "divine" or "inner faculties," and even as "faculties of
the heart" or "mind." This doctrine inspired the theology of the
Cappadocians (especially Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa) as
much as it did the theology of the Desert Fathers (especially
Evagrius of Pontus and Macarius the Great).
1. Hearing and Speaking the Word through Scripture
At each celebration of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,
the presiding celebrant at the Eucharist entreats "that we may be
made worthy to hear the Holy Gospel." For "hearing, beholding and
handling the Word of life" (1 Jn 1:1) are not first and foremost our
entitlement or birthright as human beings; they are our privilege
and gift as children of the living God. The Christian Church is,
above all, a scriptural Church. Although methods of interpretation
may have varied from Church Father to Church Father, from "school"
to "school," and from East to West, nevertheless, Scripture was
always received as a living reality and not a dead book.
In the context of a living faith, then, Scripture is the living
testimony of a lived history about the relationship of a living God
with a living people. The Word, "who spoke through the prophets" (Nicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed), spoke in order to·be heard and take effect. It is primarily
an oral and direct communication intended for human beneficiaries.
The scriptural text is, therefore, derivative and secondary; the
scriptural text always serves the spoken word. It is not conveyed
mechanically, but communicated from generation ta generation as a
living word. Through .the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord vows:
As rain and snow descend from heaven, watering the earth ... so
shall my word go from mouth to mouth, accomplishing that which I
purpose. (55:10-11)
Moreover, as St. John Chrysostom explains, the divine Word
demonstrates profound considerateness
(sugκatάbasiϚ)
for the personal diversity and cultural contexts of those hearing
and receiving. Adaptation of the divine Word to the specific
personal readiness and the particular cultural context defines the
missionary dimension of the Church, which is called to transform the
world through the Word. In silence as in declaration, in prayer as
in action, the divine Word addresses the whole world, "preaching to
all nations" (Mt 28:19) without either privilege or prejudice to
race, culture, gender and class. When we carry out that divine
commission, we are assured: "Behold, I am with you always." (Mt
28:20) We are called to speak the divine Word in all languages, "becoming
all things to all people, that [we] might by all means save some."
(1 Cor 9:22)
As disciples of God's Word, then, it is today more imperative than
ever that we provide a unique perspective - beyond the social,
political, or economic on the need to eradicate poverty, to provide
balance in a global world, to combat fundamentalism or racism, and
to develop religious tolerance in a world of conflict. In responding
to the needs of the world's poor, vulnerable and marginalized, the
Church can prove a defining marker of the space and character of the
global community. While the theological language of religion and
spirituality differs from the technical vocabulary of economics and
politics, the barriers that at first glance appear to separate
religious concerns (such as sin, salvation, and spirituality) from
pragmatic interests (such as commerce, trade, and politics) are not
impenetrable, crumbling before the manifold challenges of social
justice and globalization.
Whether dealing with environment or peace, poverty or hunger,
education or healthcare, there is today a heightened sense of common
concern and common responsibility, which is felt with particular
acuteness by people of faith as well as by those whose outlook is
expressly secular. Our engagement with such issues does not of
course in any way undermine or abolish differences between various
disciplines or disagreements with those who look at the world in
different ways. Yet the growing signs of a common commitment for the
well-being of humanity and the life of the world are encouraging. It
is an encounter of individuals and institutions that bodes well for
our world. And it is an involvement that highlights the supreme
vocation and mission of the disciples and adherents of God' s Word
to transcend political or religious differences in order to
transform the entire visible world for the glory of the invisible
God.
2. Seeing the Word of God - The Beauty of Icons and Nature
Nowhere is the invisible rendered more visible than in the beauty of
iconography and the wonder of creation. In the words of the champion
of sacred images, St. John of Damascus: "As maker of heaven and
earth, God the Word was Himself the first to paint and portray icons."
Every stroke of an iconographer's paintbrush - like every word of a
theological definition, every musical note chanted in psalmody, and
every carved stone of a tiny chapel or magnificent cathedral -
articulates the divine Word in creation, which praises God in
everyliving being and every living thing. (cf. Ps. 150.6)
In affirming sacred images, the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea
was not concerned with religious art; it was the continuation and
confirmation of earlier definitions about the fullness of the
humanity of God's Word. Icons are a visible reminder of our heavenly
vocation; they are invitations to rise beyond our trivial concerns
and menial reductions of the world. They encourage us to seek the
extraordinary in the very ordinary, to be filled with the same
wonder that characterized the divine marvel in Genesis: "God saw
everything that He made; and, indeed, it was very good." (Gn.
1:30-31) The Greek (Septuagint) word for “goodness” is κάλλοϚ,
which implies - etymologically and symbolically - a sense of "calling."
Icons underline the Church's fundamental mission to recognize that
all people andall things are created and called to be "good" and
"beautiful".
Indeed, icons remind us of another way of seeing things, another way
of experiencing realities, another way of resolving conflicts. We
are asked to assume what the hymnology of Easter Sunday calls "another
way of living." For we have behaved arrogantly and dismissively
toward the natural creation. We have refused to behold God's Word in
the oceans of our planet, in the trees of our continents, and in the
animals of our earth. We have denied our very own nature, which
calls us to stoop low enough to hear God's Word in creation if we
wish to "become participants of divine nature." (2 Pet 1:4) How
could we ignore the wider implications of the divine Word assuming
flesh? Why do we fail to perceive created nature as the extended
Body of Christ?
Eastern Christian theologians always emphasized the cosmic
proportions of divine incamation. The incarnate Word is intrinsic to
creation, which came to be through divine utterance. St. Maximus the
Confessor insists on the presence of God's Word in all things (cf.
CoL 3.11); the divine Logos stands at the center of the world,
mysteriously revealing its original principle and ultimate purpose (cf.
1 Pet 1:20). This mystery is described by St. Athanasius of
Alexandria:
As the Logos [he writes], he is not contained by anything and yet
contains everything; He is in everything and yet outside of
everything ... the firstborn of the whole world in its every aspect.
The entire world is a prologue to the Gospel of John. And when the
Church fails to recognize the broader, cosmic dimensions of God’s
Word, narrowing its concerns to purely spiritual matters, then it
neglects its mission to implore God for the transformation - a1ways
and everywhere, "in all places of His dominion" - of the whole
polluted cosmos. It is no wonder that on Easter Sunday, as the
Paschal celebration reaches its climax, Orthodox Christians sing:
Now everything is filled with divine light: heaven and earth, and
all things beneath the earth. So let all creation rejoice.
All genuine "deep ecology" is, therefore, inextricably linked with
deep theology:
"Even a stone”, writes Basil the Great, "bears the mark of God's
Word. This is true of an ant, a bee and a mosquito, the smallest of
creatures. For He spread the wide heavens and laid the immense seas;
and He created the tiny hollow shaft of the bee's sting."
Recalling our minuteness in God's wide and wonderful creation only
underlines our central role in God's plan for the salvation of the
whole world.
3. Touching and Sharing the Word of God - The Communion of Saints
and the Sacraments of Life
The Word of God persistently "moves outside of Himself in ecstasy" (Dionysius
the Areopagite), passionately seeking to "dwell in us" ( Jn 1:14),
that the world may have life in abundance. (Jn 10:10) God's
compassionate mercy is poured and shared "so as to multiply the
objects of His beneficence." (Gregory the Theologian) God assumes
all that is ours, "in every respect being tested as we are, yet
without sin" (Heb 4:15), in order to offer us all that is God's and
render us God’s by grace. ''Though rich, He becomes poor that we
might become rich," writes the great Apostle Paul (2 Cor 8:9), to
whom this year is so aptly dedicated. This is the Word of God;
gratitude and glory are due to Him.
The word of God receives His full embodiment in creation, above all
in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It is there that the Word
becomes flesh and allows us not simply to hear or see Him but to
touch Him with our own hands, as St. John declares (I John l:l)
and make Him part of our own body and blood (σύσσωμοι καί σύναιμοι)
in the words of St. John Chrysostom.
In the Holy Eucharist the Word heard is at the same time
seen and shared (κοινωνία). It is not accidental that in
the early eucharistic documents, such as the book of Revelation and
the Didache, the Eucharist was associated with prophesy,
and the presiding bishops were regarded as successors of the
prophets (e.g. Martyrion Polycarpi). The Eucharist was already by St.
Paul (I Cor 11) described as "proclamation" of Christ's death and
Second Coming. As the purpose of Scripture is essentially the
proclamation of the Kingdom and the announcement of eschatological
realities, the Eucharist is a foretaste of the Kingdom, and in this
sense the proclamation of the Word par excellence. In the Eucharist
Word and Sacrament became one reality. The word ceases to be "words"
and becomes a Person, embodying in Himself all human beings
and all creation.
Within the life of the Church, the unfathomable self-emptying (κένωσιϚ)
and generous sharing (κοινωνία) of the divine Logos is reflected in
the lives of the saints as the tangible experience and human
expression of God's Word in our community. In this way, the Word of
God becomes the Body of Christ, crucified and glorified at the same
time. As a result, the saint has an organic relationship with heaven
and earth, with God and all of creation. In ascetic struggle, the
saint reconciles the Word and the world. Through repentance and
purification, the saint is filled - as Abba Isaac the Syrian insists
- with compassion for all creatures, which is the ultimate humility
and perfection.
This is why the saint loves with warmth and spaciousness that are
both unconditional and irresistible. In the saints, we know God's
very Word, since - as St. Gregory Palamas claims - God and His
saints share the same glory and splendor." In the gentle presence of
a saint, we learn how theology and action coincide. In the
compassionate love of the saint, we experience God as “our father”
and God's mercy as “steadfastly enduring.” (Ps 135, LXX) The saint
is consumed with the fire of God's love. This is why the saint
imparts grace and cannot tolerate the slightest manipulation or
exploitation in society or in nature.
The saint simply does what is "proper and right" (Divine Liturgy of
St. John Chrysostom), always dignifying humanity and honoring
creation. "His words have the force of actions and his silence the
power of speech." (St. Ignatius of Antioch)
And within the communion of saints, each of us is called to “become
like fire". (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), to touch the
world with the mystical force of God's Word, so that - as the
extended Body of Christ - the world, too, might say: "Someone
touched me!" (cf. Mt 9.20) Evil is only eradicated by holiness, not
by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals
and transforms. Imbued with the life of the sacraments and the
purity of prayer, we are able to enter the innermost mystery of
God's Word. It is like the tectonic plates of the earth's crust: the
deepest layers need only shift a few millimeters to shatter the
world's surface. Yet for this spiritual revolution to occur, we must
experience radical metanoia - a conversion of attitudes,
habits and practices - for ways that we have misused or abused God's
Word, God's gifts and God's creation.
Such a conversion is, of course, impossible without divine grace; it
is not achieved simply through greater effort or human willpower. "For
mortals, it is impossible; but for God all things are possible." (Mt
19:26) Spiritual change occurs when our bodies and souls are grafted
onto the living Word of God, when our cells contain the life-giving
blood-flow of the sacraments, when we are open to sharing all things
with all people. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us, the sacrament of
“our neighbor” cannot be isolated from the sacrament of "the altar."
Sadly, we have ignored the vocation and obligation to share. Social
injustice and inequality, global poverty and war, ecological
pollution and degradation result from our inability or unwillingness
to share. If we claim to retain the sacrament of the altar, we
cannot forgo or forget the sacrament of the neighbor - a fundamental
condition for realizing God's Word in the world. within the life and
mission of the Church.
Beloved Brothers in Christ,
We have explored the patristic teaching of the spiritual senses,
discerning the power of hearing and speaking God's Word in Scripture,
of seeing God's Word in icons and nature, as well as of touching and
sharing God's Word in the saints and sacraments. Yet, in order to
remain true to the life and mission of the Church, we must
personally be changed by this Word. The Church must resemble the
mother, who is both sustained by and nourishes through the food she
eats. Anything that does not feed and nourish everyone cannot
sustain us either. When the world does not share the joy of Christ's
Resurrection, this is an indictment of our own integrity and
commitment to the living Word of God. Prior to the celebration of
each Divine Liturgy, Orthodox Christians pray that this Word will be
"broken and consumed, distributed and shared" in communion. And "we
know that we have passed from death to life when we love our
brothers" and sisters (1 Jn 3:14).
The challenge before us is the discernment of God's Word in the face
of evil, the transfiguration of every last detail and speck of this
world in the light of Resurrection. The victory is already present
in the depths of the Church, whenever we experience the grace of
reconciliation and communion. As we struggle - in ourselves and in
our world - to recognize the power of the Cross, we begin to
appreciate how every act of justice, every spark of beauty, every
word of truth can gradually wear away the crust of evil. However,
beyond our own frail efforts, we have the assurance of the Spirit,
who “help us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26) and stands beside us as
advocate and "comforter" (Jn 14:6),penetrating all things and "transforming
us - as St. Symeon the New Theologian says - into everything that
the Word of God says about the heavenly kingdom: pearl, grain of
mustard seed, leaven, water, fire, bread, life and mystical wedding
chamber." Such is the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, whom we
invoke as we conclude our address, extending to Your Holiness our
gratitude and to each of you our blessings:
Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth
present everywhere and filling all things;
treasury of goodness and giver of life:
Come, and abide in us.
And cleanse us from every impurity;
and save our souls.
For you are good and love humankind.
Amen!
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