Bringing good out of evil, prayer for China

This Wednesday Pope Benedict launched an appeal at the end of his audience in a sign of support and solidarity with the Church in China. Speaking to an estimated 8 thousand pilgrims in the Paul VI Audience hall the Pope said “I commend to your prayers and to those of Catholics throughout the world the Church in China, which, as you know, is going through a particularly difficult time”.

Official sources have confirmed that from December 7^th to 9^th next, the Communist government has convoked a National Assembly of Catholic Representatives in Beijing, to elect new leaders to the Patriotic Association, an organism defined by Pope Benedict in his 2007 Letter to China’s Catholics, as incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

Only one week ago the Holy Father had expressed his profound regret over the illicit ordination of a bishop in Chengde, Hebei province. An ordination which a number of bishops in communion with the pope were forced to attend by authorities. A Holy See statement described the event as a painful wound on communion.

“We ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians”, - the Pope continued on Wednesday – “ to sustain all the Chinese Bishops, who are so dear to me, so that they may courageously bear witness to their faith, placing all their hope in the Saviour whom we are awaiting. We also entrust to the Virgin Mary all the Catholics of that beloved country, that, through her intercession, they may be able to live an authentic Christian life in communion with the universal Church, contributing in this way also to the harmony and common good of their noble people”.

His appeal followed a catechises centred on having faith in Divine Providence even when it seems that evil prevails. This week, in his series on great female figures from the Church in the Middle Ages the Holy Fathers gaze came to rest on a very English saint, revered by Catholic and Anglicans alike: Julian of Norwich.

Considered one of the greatest English mystics, little is known of her life aside from her writings. She was known to have lived during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a time of great turbulence for the Church, rocked by schism following the return of the popes from Avignon, and for her country, at war with France. Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she was an anchoress (a type of hermit living in a cell attached to the church, engaged in contemplative prayer).

Pope Benedict said “Julian is best known for her book, Revelations of Divine Love, which recounts sixteen visions or “showings” which she received during a grave illness. The Revelations are centred on the love of Christ; in Julian’s own words: “love is our Lord’s meaning”.”

Pope Benedict continued “They exude an optimism grounded in the certainty that we are loved by God and protected by his providence; as Julian says, in speaking of God’s power to bring good out of evil: “all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well”.

Julian’s mysticism, he added “echoes the prophet Isaiah in using the imagery of a mother’s love to describe the affectionate care which God shows for his children, culminating in the incarnation of his Son and the fulfilment of his promises. Like so many holy women in every age, in spite of her withdrawal from the world Julian became a much-sought spiritual guide. In our own lives, may we draw profit from her teaching that God is the love which transforms our lives, bringing joy and peace to our hearts and, through us, to those all around us”.

Finally the Holy Father greeted all those present at the audience: “I extend a warm welcome to the many student groups present at today’s Audience. Upon all the English-speaking visitors, especially those from Malaysia, Australia and the United States of America, I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ”. Listen to the full report by Emer McCarthy: