Card. Bertone invites Nuncios to cultivate authentic spirituality

Vatican City, 22 June 2013: The Year of faith is characterized by an climate of intense religious fervor and their coming around the tomb of the Apostle Peter is an expression of it. The humble fisherman of Galilee, inspired by the Father, recognized in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter has been intimately united to Jesus, the only foundation of the Church, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, during the Mass he celebrated on Saturday for the Apostolic Nuncios who gathered in the Vatican marking the year of faith.

Speaking about the apostles Peter and Paul, he said: tapping into the memory of the two apostles share the same pastoral mission and, above all, joined in a mysterious way by the bloody death suffered by both here in Rome, we are called to faithfully maintaining the typical traits: humility and the fortress of St. Peter, the enthusiasm and apostolic zeal of St. Paul.

Looking at St. Peter and Paul, the Cardinal said that, we realize that the root of faith and source of the Church's mission consist first in friendship with the Lord Jesus. Peter and Paul were credible witnesses of the Gospel, especially because they were true friends of Christ, ready to give their life for him. That is what constitutes the Christian witness, he said adding that the Lord expects us to: being his friends, love him above all things, and nothing ever before his love.

Jesus' response to the invocation of Paul expresses the fundamental rule of his ministry: God's grace enables us to take a long missionary journey. Indeed, soon Paul understood the value of the suffering caused by the rejection that men opposed to the Gospel, from the serious inconvenience in the work of the ministry and the awareness of his own inadequacy. Finally, the Lord showed him that the narrowness of man does not constitute an obstacle to the divine power.
St. Paul today invites us not to hide, to accept with faith in our lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters, the paradox of the power of Christ that is manifested in our weakness and frailty, recognizing the resubmission of the Paschal mystery that death brings new life.

Recalling the biblical dictum "but seek first the kingdom of God", Cardinal Bertone told them that is 'the vital task of us men of faith, and especially you who have the high responsibility of representing the Successor of Peter at the Churches in different countries and at national and international authorities. And in their service to the Gospel, God has committed to give us his protection and his help.

The Cardinal invited them to ‘cultivate an authentic spirituality of worship, prayer, heart to heart with Christ, to always act as he acted. Source: VR Sedoc