Pope addresses first working session of Synod of Bishops

(October 08, 2012) The first working session of the 13^th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization began in the Vatican Monday morning, with Pope Benedict XVI urging Christians to be fired with the love of Christ. In his opening reflection to the first general congregation, Pope Benedict said that tepidity is the most serious danger to Christianity of today. “Tepidity discredits Christianity,” he told the 262 synod fathers, introducing the theme they will be dealing with in the coming three weeks, namely, “New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” “Fire,” the Pope explained, “is the light, warmth and strength that transforms.” “Human culture began when man discovered the power to create fire which destroys but above all transforms, renews and creates novelty, that of man who becomes the light of God.” “Faith must become in us the fire of love – a flame that truly fires my being and becomes a great passion of my being and thus fires my neighbour.” “This,” the Pope said, “is the essence of evangelization.” The Apostles did not launch the Church in the form of a Constituent Assembly under a constitution, the Pope explained. “The Church could only be born from an initiative of God, and hence even today it must begin with God,” he said. “We cannot make the Church, but we can only know that which He has created, because the Church does result from our work – it is God who acted first.” The Pope observed that the great suffering of mankind is linked to the doubt of whether behind the silence of the universe and the clouds of history there is God. “If He is there, what has He got to do with us? Why doesn’t He make Himself known?” In answer to this, the 85-year old Pope said, “God makes Himself hear in the Gospel. He broke his silence, to make Himself heard as God, who loves us and who makes Himself known to us.” “He is no more the great unknown; He has shown Himself and tells us how we should go about,” the Pope added.