Benedict XVI found in the Word of God the truth that humans long for, remembers cardinal

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, celebrated a Mass today, December 31, in memory of Pope Benedict XVI, two years after his death, remembering that he discovered in the Word of God the true “meaning of human life”.

“In the word of the living God he found that truth that human beings long for in the depths of their hearts. In his constant orientation towards the truth of the word of God, Pope Benedict XVI credibly taught us what is the meaning of human life“, he indicated in his homily pronounced this morning in the Vatican Grottoes, at the altar of the tomb of Saint Peter, in the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95, is remembered as a brilliant theologian and defender of the faith, who promoted reconciliation between faith and reason. His humble resignation from the pontificate in 2013 showed his deep sense of pastoral responsibility. Retired to prayer, he left a legacy of service, simplicity and love for the truth.

In his homily this Tuesday, Cardinal Koch highlighted that at the center of the life and work of Benedict XVI “is the Word, this sense of God.” “But this word is neither abstract nor pure theory, but rather The Gospel says that this Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”.

“Therefore, the word of God has a concrete face, it looks at us and grants us dignity, which is the highest dignity of human beings. And, because he has a face, a name, he is called Jesus of Nazareth, the Emmanuel, the God with us. In Him, God himself showed his true face and gave us his love. That is why we understand that, for Benedict XVI, the Logosthe Word of God, is deeply related to love: God himself is love, God is charity”continued the Cardinal.

Benedict XVI lived and preached that this divine love “makes us immortal” and that in the love of God lies “the ultimate reason why, in human life, the last word can never be death, but rather the love of God.” . For him, heaven is the “consoling promise of God,” a place open to all.

“Heaven, for Pope Benedict, is, therefore, a profound, communal reality. Heaven knows no isolation; It is the open community of saints, therefore, the fulfillment of all human coexistence, which is not competition, but a consequence of pure openness to the face of God. Hence it is completely evident that the Christian confession of eternal life is nothing other than the confession that God is real,” said Cardinal Koch.

The main objective of Pope Benedict XVI: “To put God at the center of attention”

In his own words, he summed up his mission: “Putting God at the center of attention.” In a world where God is often forgotten or perceived as unnecessary, the Pontiff recalled that “there could be no greater priority than allowing today’s human being to access God, his truth and beauty.”

This centrality of God, which constitutes the lasting legacy of Benedict XVI’s theology, unfailingly encompasses talk of eternal life. “Whoever says God, also says eternal life, because whoever God loves, he gives part of himself, of his eternity,” Cardinal Koch specified.

“The confession of God inevitably leads to faith in eternal life, because, without an answer to man’s search for God, death would remain a cruel enigma,” explained the cardinal.

In the light of the Christian faith, Cardinal Koch recalls, “eternal life does not begin only after our death, but it already begins now, in our earthly life.”

“In the most profound and beautiful moment of our lives, it is given to us in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, like the medicine of immortality, which gives us an anticipated experience of eternal life,” he said.

The homily concluded with a call to hope in eternity, where, according to Pope Benedict XVI, death is not the end, but “a passage to the living God.” As Cardinal Koch recalled, Benedict XVI lived his faith to the end, pronouncing as his last word: ‘Lord, I love you.’”

“We, on the other hand, still live in the atrium of eternity and offer our gratitude for the life and work of Pope Benedict XVI in the great prayer of thanksgiving of the Church, in the Eucharist that we are celebrating,” added the cardinal. , inviting the faithful to join in the hope that, as he himself taught, “the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”