Being Christian is no easy task, Pope says

(August 24, 2009) It's not easy being a Christian today just as it was in Jesus’ time, since the Lord asks believers to swim against the current in following his teachings. Pope Benedict XVI hit home this point on Sunday while addressing the crowd that gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south-east of Rome, to pray the midday Marian ‘Angelus’ with him. The Holy Father was reflecting on Sunday Gospel reading, 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 then asked the Twelve: 'Do you also wish to leave?'" The Holy Father pointed out 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. The Pope further pointed out that following Christ "fills the heart with joy and gives complete meaning to our existence," but it also “brings difficulties and renunciations because very often we must go against the current."
After the Marian prayer and blessing, the pope sent greetings to the participants in the 30th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, which opened on Sunday in the Italian city of Rimini, organised by the Communion and Liberation movement. Commenting on the theme of the meeting, “Knowledge is always an event”, the Pope said "I wish the meeting is an opportunity to understand that 'Learning is not only a material act, because ... In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised.' A written message sent earlier on the Pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was read at Sunday’s opening Mass of the week-long conference. Among some 700,000 people attending the meeting are former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former governor of Florida, US, Jeb Bush. Communion and Liberation was initiated in 1954 by Fr Luigi Giussani for the education to Christian maturity of its adherents and collaboration in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary life.
Sunday’s midday ‘Angelus’ was Pope Benedict’s first public appearance since having the cast removed from his fractured right wrist. He joked saying his hand was “freed,” but still a bit lazy. The pontiff clearly favoured his left hand while blessing the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for his traditional noon blessing, but he was able to bless the crowd with his right hand. The right wrist however remained covered with a white bandage. “As you can see, my hand is freed from the cast, but it's still a bit lazy,” Benedict said to applause. “I still have to stay in the school of patience, but we'll carry on,” the 82-year-old pontiff said. He broke his wrist during a late-night fall while on vacation in the papal Alpine cottage in Les Combes, in northern Italy, on July 17. The cast was removed on Friday and doctors said it was healing well.