(August 24, 2009) It's not easy being a Christian today just as it was in Jesus’
time, since the Lord asks believers to swim against the current in following his teachings.
Pope Benedict XVI hit home this point on Sunday while addressing the crowd that gathered
at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south-east of Rome, to pray the
midday Marian ‘Angelus’ with him. The Holy Father was reflecting on Sunday Gospel
reading, which describes how many of Christ's followers abandoned him because of his
affirmation, "If you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of man or drink of his blood,
you shall not have life within you." Jesus then asked the Twelve: 'Do you also wish
to leave?'" The Holy Father pointed out that this "provocative question" is not just
for the Apostles, but also for the believers "of every age." "Today too," he said,
"not a few are scandalized by the paradox of the Christian faith. Jesus' teaching
seems 'hard,' too difficult to put into practice. There are thus those who reject
it and abandon Christ; there are those who try to 'adapt' the word to the fashions
of the times, distorting its meaning and value. The Pope further pointed out that
following Christ "fills the heart with joy and gives complete meaning to our existence,"
but it also “brings difficulties and renunciations because very often we must go against
the current." After the Marian prayer and blessing, the pope sent greetings to
the participants in the 30th edition of the Meeting for Friendship among Peoples,
which opened on Sunday in the Italian city of Rimini, organised by the Communion and
Liberation movement. Commenting on the theme of the meeting, “Knowledge is always
an event”, the Pope said "I wish the meeting is an opportunity to understand that
'Learning is not only a material act, because ... In all knowledge and in every act
of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much
like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised.' A written message
sent earlier on the Pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, was read at Sunday’s opening Mass of the week-long conference. Among some
700,000 people attending the meeting are former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
and former governor of Florida, US, Jeb Bush. Communion and Liberation was initiated
in 1954 by Fr Luigi Giussani for the education to Christian maturity of its adherents
and collaboration in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary
life. Sunday’s midday ‘Angelus’ was Pope Benedict’s first public appearance since
having the cast removed from his fractured right wrist. He joked saying his hand
was “freed,” but still a bit lazy. The pontiff clearly favoured his left hand while
blessing the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence in Castel
Gandolfo for his traditional noon blessing, but he was able to bless the crowd with
his right hand. The right wrist however remained covered with a white bandage. “As
you can see, my hand is freed from the cast, but it's still a bit lazy,” Benedict
said to applause. “I still have to stay in the school of patience, but we'll carry
on,” the 82-year-old pontiff said. He broke his wrist during a late-night fall while
on vacation in the papal Alpine cottage in Les Combes, in northern Italy, on July
17. The cast was removed on Friday and doctors said it was healing well.