Pope’s General Audience of Wednesday, Dec. 2

Every week on Wednesday, the Pope holds a public meeting, called the general audience, during which pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome have a chance of seeing and hearing him speak. The Holy Father delivers a spiritual reflection and greets various groups in their languages, including in English. The General Audience of December 2 was held in the open in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. It began with aides taking turns in reading a scripture passage in various languages. An aide greeted the Pope on behalf of the English-speaking pilgrims, and presented the various groups to him. Pope Benedict then delivered a reflection in English.

Listen:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, we now turn to William of Saint-Thierry, an outstanding monastic theologian and a close friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. William took active part in the twelfth-century movement of monastic renewal and, after serving as abbot of Saint-Thierry, he entered the Cistercian monastery of Signy. A central theme of his writings is the nature and power of love, seen as the ultimate vocation and the driving force of the human spirit. For William, this innate human drive finds perfection in the love of the triune God, the source and goal of all love. As the culmination of a process of purification and integration of the affections, the love of God brings supreme human fulfilment, and a profound experiential knowledge of both God and the world about us. In William’s celebrated phrase, Amor ipse intellectus est – love itself brings knowledge. By contemplation of the mysteries of the faith, we grow in the image of God and, by uniting our will to his, we become one with him. May the example and teaching of William of Saint-Thierry strengthen our desire to love God above all things and to let that love overflow in love of our neighbour. May we thus discover authentic joy and the foretaste of eternal bliss.
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, including the priests from Scotland celebrating their ordination jubilees and the students and staff from Saint Mary’s High School, Casino, Australia. May your advent visit to Rome be a time of deep spiritual renewal. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings!

 
After speaking to other groups in their languages, Pope Benedict recalled Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhoration, “Reconciliation and Penance”, issued exactly 25 years ago on Dec. 2. Speaking in Italian, Pope Benedict said the document stressed the importance of the sacrament of penance or confession in the life of the Church. On this anniversary, the Holy Father recalled a few extraordinary apostles of the confessional, tireless dispensers of Divine Mercy, such as St. John Mary Vianney, St. Joseph Cafasso, St. Leopold Mandić and St. Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio. The Holy Father wished that their witness of faith and charity encourage youth to avoid sin and plan their future in generous service to God and neighbour. He wished they help the sick to experience the mercy of Christ crucified in their suffering, and help newly-married couples create a stable atmosphere of faith and reciprocal understanding in the family. Finally he also wished that the examples of these saints, assiduous and faithful ministers of Divine pardon be for priests, especially during this Year for Priests, and for all Christians, an invitation to always trust in the goodness of God, by approaching and celebrating the sacrament of forgiveness with confidence. Pope Benedict concluded Wednesday’s General Audience with his blessing.