MASS FOR BEGINNING OF ACADEMIC YEAR AT PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITIES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 24, 2003 (VIS) - Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, presided this afternoon at a Mass for the beginning of the academic year of the Roman ecclesiastical universities.

Cardinal Grocholewski read the homily prepared by the Pope who was not present. In his talk, he urged rectors, professors and students to "accompany the effort of study with prayer, meditation with the constant search for the Lord's will."

He commented on the first reading in which St. Paul says "I do not do the good I wish, but the evil I do not wish," noting that this speaks about "the incapacity of human beings to do good and avoid evil. There is, however, a way out: victory over evil comes to us from the benevolence of God, All merciful, which is manifested in Christ. ... Christ, who died and rose from the dead, has overcome evil and has freed us from sin. He is our salvation."

"This news of salvation resounds incessantly also in our time and is the heart of the mission of the ecclesiastical community. Man is looking for - today, as in the past - satisfying answers to questions on the significance of life and death. During the period of theological formation, dear young people, you prepare yourselves to be able to provide answers about the faith in a way which is appropriate for the language and mentality of our time. May everything, therefore, be oriented to this dignified mission: to proclaim Christ and the liberating strength of His gospel."

The Pope recalled what Vatican Council II said about the "permanent duty of the Church 'to examine the signs of the time and to interpret them in the light of the Gospel so that, in a way suitable to each generation, it may respond to the perennial questions of men on the meaning of the present and future life and on their reciprocal relationship'." In concluding, the Holy Father urged that "this be the spirit" with which professors and students dedicate themselves to their studies during these years of "theological and pastoral formation."

HML;...;...;ECCLESIASTICAL UNIVERSITIES;VIS;20031027;Word: 370;