Pope Benedict XVI’s words at the end of the Spiritual Exercises

(February 27, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI at the end of his annual spiritual exercises on Saturday, 27^th of February, thanked the preacher, the Salesian Father Enrico Dal Covolo for the Retreat on the theme of Priesthood and said that he really felt once again what it means to be a Priest. He appreciated the preacher for the passionate and very personal way with which he guided him and the Curia in their in the journey towards Christ, the path of renewal of our priesthood. At the Background said the Holy Father, the prayer of Solomon, "For a heart I'm listening." In fact it seems to sum up all the Christian vision of man: man is not perfect in himself but man needs to be in relationship with the other. The Pope said that we have St. Luke presenting Mary, the woman of heart who had the grace to listen and contemplated the Word of God. The Pontiff added that at the time of the conception of the Eternal Word in the womb of the Virgin, the Holy Spirit came to Mary through her hearing and listening and she conceived the Eternal Word that became flesh. Pope Benedict thanked Don Henry for having shown the voice of five exemplary figures of the priesthood, beginning with Ignatius of Antioch to the beloved and venerable Pope John Paul II. The Pope concluded with the words: “We really felt again what it means to be priests, becoming more and more like priests and the need to stress and the need to recognise our mission. These days we have deepened, with the help of God, our consecration, so we move with new courage to face our mission.”