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Pope Offers Test to See If God Is Within

Reflects on Experience of Symeon the New Theologian

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- There is a way to find out if God is dwelling and working within us, says Benedict XVI: We can ask if we respond to offenses by forgiving and to hatred with love.

The Pope offered this discernment criterion today when he dedicated the general audience in Paul VI Hall to a reflection on Symeon the New Theologian.

The Holy Father said that the 11th-century monk "calls us all to attention to the spiritual life, to the hidden presence of God in us, to honesty of conscience and purification, to conversion of heart, so that the Holy Spirit will be present in us and guide us."

The Pope proposed that attention to our interior growth is "even more important" than the "just" preoccupation with our physical growth.

And interior growth, he explained, consists in "knowledge of God, in true knowledge, not only taken from books, but interior, and in communion with God, to experience his help at all times and in every circumstance."

Confirming Christ

Benedict XVI pointed to something Symeon experienced that confirmed for the monk that God was within him.

He recounted: "[Symeon] began to feel like 'a poor man who loves his brothers.' [...] He saw around him many enemies that wanted to set snares for him and harm him but despite this he felt in himself an intense movement of love for them. How to explain this?

"Obviously, such love could not come from himself, but must spring from another source. Symeon understood that it came from Christ present in him and all was clarified for him: He had the sure proof that the source of love in him was the presence of Christ and that to have in oneself a love that goes beyond one's personal intentions indicates that the source of love is within."

The Pope affirmed that Symeon's experience is important for us today, "to find the criteria that will indicate to us if we are really close to God, if God exists and lives in us."

"God's love grows in us if we are really united to him in prayer and in listening to his word, with openness of heart," the Holy Father explained. "Only divine love makes us open our hearts to others and makes us sensitive to their needs, making us regard everyone as brothers and sisters and inviting us to respond with love to hatred, and with forgiveness to offense."

Being Christian Is No Easy Task, Admits Pope

Says Christ's Teachings Still Cause Scandal

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- It's not easy being a Christian today, just as it wasn't in Christ's time, since the Lord asks believers to swim against the current in following his teachings, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today in an address to crowds gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for the praying of the midday Angelus.

The Holy Father was reflecting on the Gospel reading from St. John for today's Mass, which describes how many of Christ's followers abandoned him because of his affirmation, "If you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of man or drink of his blood, you shall not have life within you."

"Jesus, however, does not soften his statements," the Pontiff noted. "[I]ndeed, he turns to the Twelve directly and asks: 'Do you also wish to leave?'"

Benedict XVI contended that this "provocative question" is not just for the Apostles, but also for the believers "of every age."

"Today too," he said, "not a few are scandalized by the paradox of the Christian faith. Jesus' teaching seems 'hard,' too difficult to put into practice. There are thus those who reject it and abandon Christ; there are those who try to 'adapt' the word to the fashions of the times, distorting its meaning and value.

"'Do you also wish to leave?' This disturbing provocation resounds in our hearts and awaits a personal response from each person."

Following Peter

The Holy Father went on to say that Jesus is "not satisfied with a superficial and formal following," but rather calls believers to participate "'in his thinking and in his willing' all of our lives."

This following "fills the heart with joy and gives complete meaning to our existence," the Pope added. But, he also said, "it brings difficulties and renunciations because very often we must go against the current."

Pointing to Peter, who as the first Pope, reiterated his adhesion to Christ in the name of the Apostles, Benedict XVI said that "we too can repeat Peter's answer, aware of course of our human fragility, but confident in the power of the Holy Spirit, who expresses himself and manifests himself in communion with Jesus."

"Faith is a gift of God to man and it is, at the same time, man's free and total entrusting of himself to God," he added. "Faith is the docile listening to the word of the Lord, that is the 'lamp' for our steps and the 'light' on our way.

"If we open our hearts to Christ with confidence, if we let ourselves be conquered by him, we too can experience, together with the Cur� d'Ars, 'that our only happiness on this earth is to love God and to know that he loves us.'"

"Let us ask the Virgin Mary," the Pope concluded, "always to keep alive in us this faith impregnated by love, which made her, the humble girl of Nazareth, Mother of God and model for all believers."

Pope Urges Selflessness Faced to Economic Crisis

Challenges Youth to Find Right Road to Life

ROMANO CANAVESE, Italy, JULY 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that even in the midst of economic difficulty, strength comes from living Gospel values such as respect for human life and the family.

The Pope stated this today while addressing the crowd gathered to pray the midday Angelus in the Ruggia plaza of Romano Canavese, close to Les Combes in the Aosta Valley, northern Italy, where he is spending some vacation days.

He acknowledged the region's Christian roots, a land that "was bathed in the blood of martyrs at an early date."

Among them was St. Solutore, the Pontiff noted, admitting that "until now I did not know his name but I am always grateful to discover new saint intercessors."

Despite the town's "long history of faith" and hardworking inhabitants, the Holy Father recognized that "many families are experiencing a difficult economic situation because of the scarcity of jobs."

He affirmed that he tried to address this widespread problem in his latest encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," which was released to the public July 7.

"I hope that it will be able to mobilize forces to renew the world!" Benedict XVI added.

Building the future

He continued: "Dear friends, do not be discouraged!

"Providence always helps those who do good and dedicate themselves to justice; it helps those who do not think only of themselves but of those who are worse off."

The Pope reminded his listeners of how their ancestors once had to emigrate to find work, but then the tables turned and economic development brought jobs back to the region.

He explained, "The fundamental values of the family and respect for human life, sensibility for social justice, the capacity to endure toil and sacrifice, the strong link to Christian faith through parish life and especially through participation at Holy Mass, have been your strength over the centuries."

"These same values," the Pontiff said, "will permit today's generations to build their future with hope, giving life to a true solidarity and a fraternal society, in which all the various spheres, institutions and economy are permeated by an evangelical spirit."

He challenged the young people in a particular way, to analyze "what sort of culture is emerging around you."

The Holy Father encouraged them to look at the proposed examples and models around them, and "determine whether they are such as to encourage you to follow the ways of the Gospel and authentic freedom."

He continued, "Youth is full of resources, but it must be helped to overcome the temptation of easy and illusory ways, to find the road of true and abundant life."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: http://zenit.org/article-26496?l=english

Benedict XVI Says Love Defines Man's Journey

Affirms Christ's Cross Is Key to Success and Peace


VATICAN CITY, APRIL 5, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that love, a true gift of self as exemplified in the Cross of Jesus, gives meaning to life, and that its absence brings emptiness and boredom.

The Pope said this in a homily this morning at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square. He blessed palm and olive branches and presided over the liturgical celebration.

The Pontiff explained that Jesus, the King who entered Jerusalem in a triumphal procession, comes to introduce a new type of kingdom.

This kingdom, he said, "passes through the cross." He added, "Because Jesus gives himself totally, he can as the Risen One belong to everyone and make himself present to all."

The Holy Father noted that Christ's kingdom is also "universal" and "knows no more borders."

This is possible, he said, "because it is not a political kingdom, but is based solely on the free adhesion of love -- a love that, for its part, answers to the love of Jesus Christ that has given itself for all."

He continued: "Universality includes the mystery of the cross -- the overcoming of ourselves, obedience toward the universal word of Jesus Christ in the universal Church.

"Universality is always an overcoming of ourselves, a renunciation of something that is ours. Universality and the cross go together. Only in this way can peace be created."

Selflessness

Benedict XVI affirmed: "He who wants to have his life for himself, live only for himself, squeeze out everything for himself and exploit all the possibilities -- he is the one who loses his life.

"It becomes boring and empty. Only in abandoning ourselves, only in the disinterested gift of the 'I' in favor of the 'Thou,' only in the 'Yes' to the greater life, precisely the life of God, our life too becomes full and more spacious."

He added: "Love, in fact, means leaving yourself behind, giving yourself, not wanting to hold on to yourself, but becoming free from yourself: not getting preoccupied with yourself -- what will become of me -- but looking ahead, toward the other -- toward God and the people whom he sends to me.

"It is this principle of love that defines man's journey, it is once again identical with the mystery of the cross, with the mystery of death and resurrection that we encounter in Christ."

The Pope emphasized that this "Yes" to the Lord must be repeated every day, especially when "we just want to hang on to that 'I.'" He added, "There is no successful life without sacrifice."

Real prayer

Though it is difficult, he affirmed, we can pray like Jesus, who "felt driven to ask that he be spared the terror of the passion."

The Pontiff continued: "Before God we must not take refuge in pious phrases, in a world of make-believe. Praying also means struggling with God."

"In the end," he said, "God's glory, his lordship, his will is always more important and more true than my thoughts and my will."

The Holy Father added: "And this is what is essential in our prayer and in our life: understanding this right order of reality, accepting it interiorly; trusting in God and believing that he is doing the right thing; understanding that his will is the truth and is love; understanding that my life will be a good life if I can learn how to conform to this order.

"The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the guarantee that we can truly entrust ourselves to God. It is in this way that his kingdom is realized."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of homily: http://zenit.org/article-25577?l=english

Do you desire to be confident?

Are you one of the many people who want to have self-confidence?

I have noticed that there are a lot of book about gaining self-confidence. There are also a lot of articles and talks on how to boost your confidence. If there are so many books, articles and talks on this topic, it means that there is a big market wanting such information. It also means that there are a lot of people who want to gain self-confidence.

Our society is plague with insecurity, which I personally blame advertising and the media for such thing, that self-confidence has become a precious commodity.

Self-confidence is a good thing. It helps one person to be positive and accomplish more. But I believe it also has its limits.

Self-confidence is based on your “self.” It is based on what you have or what you can do. If you are honest with yourself, you know you have limits. You know that your self-confidence can only go so far. To go further is an illusion which many pop-psychologists preach.

There is something better than self-confidence. Jesus-confidence!

Jesus-confidence is the best because our confidence is based on Jesus who is God. We all have limits but Jesus does not. When we put our trust on Jesus we can move mountains. What is impossible for man is possible for God.

Having Jesus confidence also makes you more courageous. You know that you are being supported by someone bigger than you. You know that God’s grace can accomplish anything, so you are not easily disheartened when you encounter a mountain on your way. You know Jesus can move the mountain or lift you up to fly cross it. It also makes you more courageous because you know that Jesus will catch you if you fall or made a mistake.

Having Jesus-confidence is better because He does NOT change and we humans do. Self-confidence is based on your state or what you can do, but that is dependent on a lot of factors, like your health for one. If those factors are taken away from you, could still be self-confident?

It is hard to put your confidence in shifting sands. We are such fragile beings. Our self-confidence may shatter with one disease or accident. Or even just plain old age. But Jesus is eternal. He is unchangeable. He is the Rock we can build our confidence on. Jesus can still make us great even if we are stripped of all our strengths. It will be His strength that will lift us up.

I leave you with a beautiful passage from St Paul.

“I CAN DO EVERYTHING through Christ who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13

Now THAT is confidence!

Blog by Daxx Bondoc
(www.inspirationalblogs.com)

*If you want to repost this blog please include “ From Inspirationalblogs.com “ and the end.

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