Pope Benedict XVI in English - Weekly General Audience

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today’s catechesis we turn to Saint Maximus the Confessor, a heroic defender of the Church’s faith in the true humanity of Christ amid the bitter theological controversies of the seventh century. Born in Palestine, Maximus became a monk and lived in Constantinople, Roman Africa and Rome itself. In his preaching and writings he defended the mystery of the incarnation and opposed the monothelite heresy, which refused to acknowledge the presence of an integral human will in Jesus Christ. Maximus clearly understood that our salvation depends on Christ’s complete humanity, which necessarily includes a human will capable of freely cooperating with the divine will in achieving the work of our redemption. The salvation of man, and indeed the entire cosmos, is central to the theology of Saint Maximus. Through the incarnation of the Son of God, the whole universe is now redeemed and unified. Christ is thus the one absolute Value, to whom all worldly values are directed. This vision of a “cosmic liturgy”, centred on the Incarnate Lord, ought to inspire the efforts of Christians today to make our world conform ever more fully to its ultimate meaning and goal in God’s saving plan.
 Dear Brothers and Sisters, I offer a warm welcome, together with the assurance of my closeness in prayer, to the group of pilgrims from the International Foundation for the Service of Deaf Persons. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Pakistan and the United States of America, I cordially invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.