The Holy Father is visiting the Ambrosian See this weekend for the "World Meeting of Families". Here are some of his words pronounced yesterday and today:
Saint Peter and the Church:
Saint Peter and the Church:
As it is well known, Saint Ambrose came from a Roman family and always kept alive his link with the Eternal City and with the Church of Rome, extolling and praising the primacy of the Bishop who presides it. In Peter - he affirms - "there is the foundation of the Church and the magisterium of discipline" (De virginitate, 16, 105); and also the known declaration, "Where Peter is, there is the Church" (Explanatio Psalmi 40, 30, 5).
June 1, 2012
Christ builds His Church through the hands of priests:
If Christ, to build His Church, delivers Himself into the hands of the priest, then the priest must in turn entrust himself to Christ without reserve. Love for the Lord Jesus is both the soul of and the reason for priestly ministry.
On priestly celibacy and consecrated virginity:
Without doubt, love for Jesus is for all Christians, but it acquires particular significance for the celibate priest and for those who have responded to the vocation to consecrated life. The source and model for repeating our daily 'yes' to God's will is only and always in Christ. ... In her [the Blessed Virgin Mary], we may, in fact, recognise that 'chaste and detached life, which Christ the Lord chose for Himself and which His Mother also embraced', a life filled with obedience to the will of God.
June 2, 2012
Follow the Lord when He calls you:
Every day, including here today, the Lord is calling you to great things. Remain open to what He is suggesting and, if He calls you to follow Him on the path of the priesthood or consecrated life, do not say no! It would be wasteful laziness! Jesus will fill your hearts for all your lives!
June 2, 2012
