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Skriven 2006-11-06 22:13:06 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                               VIS-Press releases

SAINTLINESS MEANS LISTENING TO JESUS AND FOLLOWING HIM

VATICAN CITY, NOV 1, 2006 (VIS) - Today, Solemnity of All Saints, Benedict XVI
celebrated Mass in the Vatican Basilica.

In his homily he highlighted the fact that "saints are not an exclusive caste
of the chosen few, but a countless multitude towards whom today's liturgy
encourages us to direct our gaze. That multitude contains not only
officially-recognized saints, but the baptized from every age and nation who
have sought to enact divine will with love and faithfulness."

"Contemplating the shining example of the saints," said the Holy Father,
"awakens within us the great desire to be like them: happy to live near God, in
His light, in the great family of the friends of God. ... This is the vocation
of us all, clearly reiterated by Vatican Council II, and today solemnly brought
to our attention once again."

"In order to be saints," he continued, "it is not necessary to accomplish
extraordinary actions and works, nor to possess exceptional charisms. ... What
is above all necessary is to listen to Jesus and then to follow Him without
losing heart in the face of difficulties."

"The experience of the Church shows that all forms of sanctity, though
following different paths, always pass along the way of the cross, the way of
self-renouncement. The biographies of the saints describe men and women who,
compliant to the divine plan, at times faced indescribable trials and
suffering, persecutions and martyrdom."

"For us, the example of the saints is an encouragement to follow the same
footsteps and experience the joy of those who entrust themselves to God;
because the only true cause of sadness and unhappiness for mankind is to remain
distant from Him."

Sanctity, said the Holy Father, "requires a constant effort, but it is a
possibility for everyone because, more than being the work of man it is,
primarily, a gift of God, thrice Holy."

"In Christ," he concluded, "God gave us all of Himself, and He calls us to a
personal and profound relationship with Him. Thus, the greater our intimacy
with Jesus, and the more united to Him we are, the more we enter into the
mystery of divine sanctity. We discover that we are loved by Him with an
infinite love, and this encourages us in turn to love our brothers and sisters.
Loving always involves an act of self-renouncement, the 'loss of self', and it
is precisely for this reason that it makes us happy."
HML/SANCTITY/... VIS 061103 (420)

SUMMARY

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