Text 1173, 62 rader
Skriven 2006-03-16 21:56:12 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
===================================================
Hello All!

                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

NEW CATECHESIS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRIST AND CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St.
Peter's Square in the presence of 30,000 people, Benedict XVI began a new cycle
of catechesis dedicated to the mystery of the relationship between Christ and
the Church in the light of the experience of the Apostles and the task with
which they were entrusted.

"The Church was constituted upon the foundation of the Apostles as a community
of faith, hope and charity," the Pope explained. This began "when certain
fishermen in Galilee met Jesus, and allowed themselves to be conquered ... by
his invitation: ... 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'."

"After Mary, pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is the Apostles, their
word and their testimony, that convey the truth of Christ to us. Yet theirs is
not an isolated mission, it is part of a mystery of communion, one that
involves the entire People of God and takes place in stages, from the old to
the new Covenant."

The Holy Father highlighted the fact that Jesus' message "is completely
misunderstood" if separated "from the context of the faith and hope of the
chosen people," because "Jesus addressed Himself first of all to Israel in
order to 'gather them' together in the eschatological time that had arrived
with Him. Jesus' preaching, like John's, is both a call of grace and a sign of
contradiction and judgement for the entire people of God."

For this reason, although the preaching of Jesus is "always a call to
individual conversion, ... to interpret Christ's announcement of the Kingdom in
individualistic terms would be unilateral and groundless," because in biblical
tradition and despite its novelty, "it is clear that the entire mission of the
Son-made-flesh has a community goal."

The choice of the twelve Apostles, a number that recalls the tribes of Israel,
"reveals the significance of the prophetic-symbolic action inherent in the new
institution. ... Choosing the Twelve, introducing them to communion of life
with Him and rendering them participants in His mission of announcing the
Kingdom, ... Jesus wishes to say that the definitive time has arrived in which
God's promises are fulfilled."

"Thus, the twelve Apostles are the clearest sign of Jesus' will concerning the
existence and mission of His Church, the guarantee that there is no contrast
between Christ and the Church. And the slogan that became fashionable some
years ago: 'Yes to Jesus, no to the Church,' is completely irreconcilable with
the intentions of Christ."

Benedict XVI concluded: "Between the Son of God made flesh and His Church there
exists a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity, by virtue of which
Christ is present today in His people, and especially in those who are the
successors of the Apostles."
AG/RELATION CHRIST:CHURCH/... VIS 060315 (470)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)