CARDINAL POUPARD, POPE'S SPECIAL ENVOY TO LYONS

Vatican City,  (VIS) - In a letter made public yesterday the Holy Father nominated Cardinal Paul Poupard, emeritus president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, as his special envoy at the concluding celebrations of the Jubilee Year dedicated to the Venerable Servant of God Pauline Jaricot, the 150th anniversary of her death and the 50th anniversary of the decree of her heroic virtues, to be held in Lyons on 9 January 2013.

The cardinal special envoy will be accompanied by a mission composed of the following members: Msgr. Francois Duthel, postulator of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Pauline Jaricot, and Fr. Daniel Carnot, ex superior general of the Society of African Missions.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City,  (VIS) -  The Holy Father appointed:

- Msgr. David P. Talley of the clergy of Atlanta, U.S.A, as auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese (area 55,521, population 6,998,399, Catholics 857,000, priests 228, permanent deacons 242, religious 125), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Columbus, U.S.A. in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1989. He has a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome, and has served in a number of pastoral roles. He was named prelate of honour by his Holiness in 2000.

- Appointed Msgr. Stephen Jensen, vicar general of Vancouver, Canada, as bishop of Prince George (area 345,600, population 249,000, Catholics 54,600, priests 18, religious 23), Canada. The bishop-elect was born in North Vancouver, Canada in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1980. He was named prelate of honour in 1996 and since 2009 has been vicar general, dean of the Presbyteral Council and diocesan consultor for the archdiocese. He succeeds Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

BENEDICT XVI: WHERE DOES JESUS COME FROM?

Vatican City, 2 January 2013 (VIS) - During the catechesis of the first general audience of 2013, which was celebrated in the Paul VI Hall with over 7,000 people in attendance, the Holy Father addressed the theme of Christ's birth, "something so radically new that it was capable of changing the course of history", and Jesus' origin.

The Lord's nativity, the Holy Father commented, "once again illuminates the darkness that often surrounds our world and our hearts with its light, and brings hope and joy. Where does this light come from? From the grotto in Bethlehem where the shepherds found 'Mary and Joseph and the Child lying in the manger'. Before this Holy Family another, deeper question arises: How can this small and weak Child bring a newness so radical into the world that it is capable of changing the course of history? Isn't there something mysterious in his origin that goes beyond that cavern?" ...

"In the four Gospels, the answer to the question 'where does Jesus come from?' emerges clearly: his true origin is the Father, God. He comes entirely from Him, but in a different way than any other prophet or messenger of God who preceded Him. This origin of the mystery of God, 'whom nobody knows', is already contained in the stories of His childhood in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which we are reading during Christmastime. The angel Gabriel announces: 'The Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God'. We repeat these words every time that we recite the Creed, the profession of faith: 'et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine', 'and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary'. At this phrase we kneel because the veil that hid God is, so to say, opened and His unfathomable and inaccessible mystery touches us. God becomes Emmanuel, 'God with us'. When we listen to the Masses composed by the great masters of sacred music―I'm thinking, for example, of Mozart's Coronation Mass―we immediately notice how they linger over this phrase in a particular way, almost wanting to try to express with the universal language of music that which words cannot make manifest: the great mystery of God made flesh, of God made man". ...

"This affirmation of the Creed does not concern God's eternal being but rather speaks to us of an action that the three divine Persons take part in and that is realized 'ex Maria Virgine'. Without her, God's entrance into human history would not have been achieved and that which is central to our Profession of Faith would not have taken place: God is God with us. Mary thus undeniably pertains to our faith in the God who acts, who enters into history. She puts her entire being at His disposition, she 'accepts' becoming the place of God's indwelling."

"Some times, even along the path and in the life of faith, we can sense our poverty, our inadequacy in front of the witness to be given to the world. But God chose precisely a humble woman, in an unknown village, in one of the furthest provinces of the great Roman Empire. Always, even amidst the most arduous difficulties to be faced, we must have faith in God, renewing our faith in His presence and in His action in our story as in that of Mary. Nothing is impossible to God! With Him our existence always walks upon a safe path and is open to a future of steadfast hope."...

"What happens in Mary, through the action of the Holy Spirit himself, is a new creation. God, who has called being from nothingness with the Incarnation, gives life to a new beginning of humanity. The Fathers of the Church repeatedly speak of Christ as the new Adam in order to emphasize the beginning of the new creation with the birth of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This brings us to reflect upon how faith also supposes in us a newness so strong as to produce a second birth. In fact, at the beginning of being Christians is the Baptism that makes us reborn as children of God, that makes us to participate in the filial relationship that Jesus has with the Father. And I would like to note that Baptism is received, "we are baptised"―it is a passive verb―because nobody is capable of converting themselves into a child of God by themselves. It is a gift that is freely conferred... Only if we are open to God's action, as Mary was, only if we entrust our life to the Lord as to a friend in who we trust completely, does everything change. Our lives acquire new meaning and a new face: that of the children of a Father who loves us and never abandons us". ...

"There is another element in the words of the Annunciation. The angel says to Mary: 'the power of the Most High will overshadow you'. This is a reminder of the holy cloud that, during the Exodus, covered the tent of meeting over the ark of the Covenant, which the people of Israel carried with them, indicating the presence of God. Mary, therefore, is the new holy tent, the new ark of the Covenant. With her 'yes' to the archangel's words, God receive a dwelling place in this world. What the universe cannot contain dwells in the womb of a virgin".

"Let us return to the question with which we began, that of Jesus' origin, summed up in Pilate's question: 'Where are you from?'. From our reflection it appears clear, from the beginning of the Gospels, what Jesus' true origin is: He is the only begotten Son of the Father. He comes from God. We are facing the great and disconcerting mystery that we celebrate in this time of Christmas: the Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This is an announcement that resounds ever new and which carries with it hope and joy to our hearts because each time it gives us the certainty that, even if we often feel weak, poor, incapable of facing the difficulties and the evil of the world, the power of God is always acting and works wonders precisely in our weakness. His grace is our strength".

BENEDICT XVI: THE SAME SECURITY THAT A CHILD FEELS IN THE ARMS OF A LOVING AND ALL-POWERFUL FATHER

Vatican City, 1 January 2013 (VIS) - On Tuesday, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Holy Father presided over Mass in the Vatican Basilica. Concelebrating were cardinals Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state, and Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; archbishops Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, and Beniamino Stella, president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy; along with Bishop Mario Toso, S.D.B., secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Yesterday also marked the 46th World Day of Peace, the theme for which is "Blessed are the Peacemakers".

Following are extracts from the homily given by Pope Benedict XVI:

"Although the world is sadly marked by 'hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism,' as well as by various forms of terrorism and crime, I am convinced that 'the many different efforts at peacemaking which abound in our world testify to mankind’s innate vocation to peace. In every person the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which coincides in a certain way with the desire for a full, happy and successful human life. ... Man is made for the peace which is God’s gift. All of this led me to draw inspiration for this Message from the words of Jesus Christ: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’. This beatitude 'tells us that peace is both a messianic gift and the fruit of human effort … It is peace with God through a life lived according to His will. It is interior peace with oneself, and exterior peace with our neighbours and all creation'. Indeed, peace is the supreme good to ask as a gift from God and, at the same time, that which is to be built with our every effort.

We may ask ourselves: what is the basis, the origin, the root of peace? How can we experience that peace within ourselves, in spite of problems, darkness and anxieties? The reply is given to us by the readings of today’s liturgy. The biblical texts, especially the one just read from the Gospel of Luke, ask us to contemplate the interior peace of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. During the days in which 'she gave birth to her first-born son', many unexpected things occurred: not only the birth of the Son but, even before, the tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not finding room at the inn, the search for a chance place to stay for the night; then the song of the angels and the unexpected visit of the shepherds. In all this, however, Mary remains even tempered, she does not get agitated, she is not overcome by events greater than herself; in silence she considers what happens, keeping it in her mind and heart, and pondering it calmly and serenely. This is the interior peace which we ought to have amid the sometimes tumultuous and confusing events of history, events whose meaning we often do not grasp and which disconcert us.

... Here, dear brothers and sisters, is the foundation of our peace: the certainty of contemplating in Jesus Christ the splendour of the face of God the Father, of being sons and daughters in the Son, and thus of having, on life’s journey, the same security that a child feels in the arms of a loving and all-powerful Father. The splendour of the face of God, shining upon us and granting us peace, is the manifestation of his fatherhood: the Lord turns his face to us, he reveals himself as our Father and grants us peace. Here is the principle of that profound peace – 'peace with God' – which is firmly linked to faith and grace, as Saint Paul tells the Christians of Rome. Nothing can take this peace from believers, not even the difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings, trials and darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does not deceive because 'God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us'.

May the Virgin Mary, whom today we venerate with the title of Mother of God, help us to contemplate the face of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. May she sustain us and accompany us in this New Year: and may she obtain for us and for the whole world the gift of peace. Amen!"

THE LIGHT OF GOD, A BLESSING FOR HUMANITY

Vatican City, 1 January 2013 (VIS) - At the end of this morning's Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with faithful and pilgrims gathered below in St. Peter's Square. Before reciting the Marian prayer, the pontiff addressed a few words to them:

"Happy New Year to all! On this first day of 2013 I would like to send God's blessing to each and every man and woman in the world. I pronounce it with the old form found in Sacred Scripture: 'the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace'.

Just as the sun's light and heat are a blessing for the earth, so is the light of God for humanity when He makes His face to shine upon us. This is what has happened with the birth of Jesus Christ! God has made His face to shine upon us: at the beginning in a very humble, hidden manner -- in Bethlehem only Mary and Joseph and a few shepherds were witness to this revelation -- but little by little, like the sun passing from dawn to noon, the light of Christ has grown and extended everywhere. Including the brief time of his earthly life, Jesus of Nazareth made God's face to shine on the Holy Land and then, through the Church enlivened by his Spirit, he extended to all peoples the Gospel of peace. 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests'. This is the angels' song on Christmas and it is the song of Christians under the heavens, a song that moves from our hearts and lips to concrete action, to the gestures of love that build dialogue, understanding, and reconciliation.

This is why the Church, eight days after Christmas, celebrates the World Day of Peace when, just like Mary the Virgin Mother, she shows the world the newborn child, Jesus the Prince of Peace. Yes, this child who is the Word of God made flesh, comes to bring us a peace that the world cannot offer. His mission is to break down 'the dividing wall of enmity' that separates us. And when, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he proclaims the 'Beatitudes', among these is 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God'. Who are those who work for peace? They are all those who, day after day, try to vanquish evil through good, with the strength of truth, with the arms of prayer and forgiveness, with the job done honestly and well, with scientific research that serves life, with works of corporal and spiritual charity. The peacemakers are many but they make no noise. Like leaven in dough, they make humanity grow according to God's plan.

On this first Angelus of the new year, we ask the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, to bless us as a mother blesses her children who are about to leave on a journey. A new year is like a journey; with God's light and grace may it be a path toward peace for all persons and all families, for all countries and the entire world."