General Audiences: On the Creed for the Year of Faith
General Audiences: On the Creed for the Year of Faith
Pope Benedict XVI
1. A Return to God
The Creed will be the guiding thread of the new series of Catecheses dedicated to the Year of Faith that the Holy Father inaugurated at the General Audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, 17 October 2012: "I would like to offer you help," he explained, "in taking up and deepening your knowledge of the central truths of cosmic reality".
2. Why Believe Today
Does it still make sense to believe in a world in which science and technology have unfolded horizons unthinkable until a short time ago but which have been unable to dispel the shadows of the new forms of slavery afflicting humanity? This is the disturbing question that the Holy Father asked at the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 24 October 2012.
3. The Place of Faith
On 31 October 2012, the Holy Father continued his meditations on "faith" with the many faithful who had gathered in St Peter's Square. Faith is not a personal act: it is "born in the Church, leads to her and lives in her". "Our faith is truly personal only if it is also communal."
4. That Mysterious Desire for God
"Man carries within himself a mysterious desire for God." This "fascinating aspect of the human and the Christian experience" was the topic of the Pope's Catechesis at the General Audience on Wednesday, 7 November 2012, in St Peter's Square.
5. Three Paths that Lead to God
At the General Audience on 14 November, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father addressed the question of how to overcome the practical atheism that clouds the lives of so many: by contemplating the beauty of creation, by turning within to understand our thirst for the infinite, by faith leading to an encounter with God.
6. The Reasonableness of Faith
Faith and reason are not in opposition or conflict: together they help us understand the meaning and message of divine revelation. The Holy Father reasserted this at the General Audience on 21 November 2012, in the Paul VI Hall, continuing his Reflections for the Year of Faith.
7. Speaking of God in Our Time
"How can we talk about God in our time?" This was the Holy Father's topic at the General Audience on Wednesday, 28 November 2012, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. The Pope listed conditions for communicating the truth about God in today's world.
8. On the Pauline Hymn That Ushers in Advent
At the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 5 December 2012, in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall the Holy Father dwelt on God's plan for us of mercy and love, "described in terms full of joy, wonder and thanksgiving" at the beginning of St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians.
9. Searching for Signs of God in a Distracted World
Advent reminds us over and over again that "God did not take himself away from the world, he is not absent, he has not left us to ourselves, but comes to meet our needs in various ways", the Holy Father said at the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, 12 December 2012.
10. The Silent Force That Triumphs Over the World's Power
On 19 December 2012, in the Paul VI Hall, at the General Audience — the 43rd and the last of 2012 — the Holy Father spoke about Mary's joy at the Annunciation, a joy that came from the grace of being in communion with God.
11. From a Woman's Womb Comes the New Creation
The first General Audience in 2013 was held on Wednesday morning, 2 January. In his Catechesis for the faithful gathered in the Paul VI Hall, Benedict XVI reflected on the true origins of Jesus. "His true origins are in the Father, God," and as expressed in the Creed, “by the Holy Spirit [he] was incarnate of the Virgin Mary.”
12. The Mystery of a God with the Heart of a Man
On 9 January 2013, to the faithful present for the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke of the great mystery of God who "came down from heaven to enter our flesh". The Holy Father reflected on the meaning of the Incarnation, to refresh our appreciation for the wonder of it.
13. Even Nonbelievers Seek the Face of God
Continuing his Catecheses on the year of Faith the Holy Father commented on the Revelation of God's face at the General Audience on Wednesday, 16 January 2013, in the Paul VI Audience Hall. "The desire to know God truly, that is, to see God's face, is innate in every human being, even atheists", said the Pope.
14. Christians Against the Current
"To live out their faith, Christians must not be afraid to go against the current, to resist the temptation to conform", the Holy Father said. Speaking to the faithful at the General Audience in the Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, 23 January 2013, he began a new series of reflections on the Creed, focusing on the testimony of the biblical figure of Abraham.
15. A Father Who Never Tires of Us
It is difficult today to talk about the fatherhood of God, especially in the Western world. However, in revealing God the Bible shows us what being a loving father truly means. This was the subject of the Holy Father's Catechesis at the General Audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Wednesday morning, 30 January 2013.
16. The World Is a Gift from the Creator
In the age of science and technology, does it make sense to talk about 'creation'? This is the troubling question that the Holy Father addresses at the General Audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall on Wednesday, 6 February 2013. The truth, replies the Pope, is that the origin of the world lies in God's eternal reason, the Word or Logos.
17. The Church Is Christ's
To the throngs of the faithful who filled the Paul VI Audience Hall for the General Audience on Ash Wednesday, 13 February 2013, the Holy Father suggested for the Lenten Season a spiritual itinerary, the path of conversion.
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