Ask Sister Mary Martha: Santos Carver

Ask Sister Mary Martha: Santos Carver

Some of my favorite B16 quotes re: WYD 2008

From the "Message of the Holy Father B16 to the Young people of the world on the occasion of the 23 WYD, 2008:

- Never forget that the Church, in fact humanity itself, all the people around you now and those who await you in the future, expect much from you young people, because you have within you the supreme gift of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus.

- Apostolic and missionary fruitfulness is not principally due to programmes and pastoral methods that are cleverly drawn up and “efficient”, but is the result of the community’s constant prayer (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75)

- The Servant of God John Paul II wrote that, even prior to action, the Church’s mission is to witness and to live in a way that shines out to others (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 26)

- I invite you to observe how the Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore the supreme testimony of his love for us, a love that is specifically expressed as the “yes to life” that God wills for each of his creatures. This “yes to life” finds its fullness in Jesus of Nazareth and in his victory over evil by means of the redemption.

- We are the fruits of this mission of the Church through the working of the Holy Spirit.

- My dear young friends, the Holy Spirit continues today to act with power in the Church, and the fruits of the Spirit are abundant in the measure in which we are ready to open up to this power that makes all things new.

- You might ask, how can we allow ourselves to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and to grow in our spiritual lives? The answer, as you know, is this: we can do so by means of the Sacraments, because faith is born and is strengthened within us through the Sacraments, particularly those of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, which are complementary and inseparable (cf. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1285)

- Only Christ can humanize humanity and lead it to its “divinization”

- There are those who think that to present the precious treasure of faith to people who do not share it means being intolerant towards them, but this is not the case, because to present Christ is not to impose Him (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 80). Moreover, two thousand years ago twelve Apostles gave their lives to make Christ known and loved.

- In particular, I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries. The difficulty that adults undoubtedly find in approaching the sphere of youth in a comprehensible and convincing way could be a sign with which the Spirit is urging you young people to take this task upon yourselves. You know the ideals, the language, and also the wounds, the expectations, and at the same time the desire for goodness felt by your contemporaries. This opens up the vast world of young people’s emotions, work, education, expectations, and suffering ... Each one of you must have the courage to promise the Holy Spirit that you will bring one young person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider best, knowing how to “give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but [to] do it with gentleness and reverence” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15).

- Be prepared to put your life on the line in order to enlighten the world with the truth of Christ; to respond with love to hatred and disregard for life; to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth.

- Remember: the Church has confidence in you!

Matthew 5:20-26

It is easy to get angry, because anger is a feeling that rises when we think we are faced with an evil that is difficult to overcome. Thus if we think someone wants to harm us, our actions will be guided by anger. There is a problem, though: We get angry about things that are not really an evil in themselves, but only an evil for us. When we want silence, any noise gets us angry. When we are hungry, an empty refrigerator gets us angry. Jesus goes as far as to teach that killing a man and getting angry with him are analogous evils. This is because our tendency to anger lies in self-centeredness, and when we are angry with a person, we treat him in a way that denies his dignity.

Luke 11:29-32

It is hard to trust God. It's hard to live in a culture of skepticism and believe in Jesus at all. I think that "What's the point?" is the question most people ask themselves. John 10:10 - "I came so that you might have life and have it to the full!" It's hard to see and understand Jesus when we're living in the dark. And the dark is everything that keeps us from God.

God never moves - he is watching us, looking for us, crying out for us. He even makes sure we "bump into him" every now and then.

He thirsts for you. He wants to give us life to the full. He knows what that means. We just can't see him.

Psalm 34: 4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

"From all their distress God rescues the just."

I'm wondering if everyone thinks they're included in the just, the way everyone thinks that they're middle class. I mean, everyone can't be middle class considering that there are huge ranges. So, I suppose everyone can't be "the just" which leads me to consider that maybe I'm not part of the just. Although, I hope to be.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and those who are crushed in spirit he saves."

I have a good friend who is pregnant but who just found out that her baby might have a terrible chromosomal condition which will only allow her baby to live for hours after he or she is born. I think that the Lord is close to her. I've got nothing on that kind of brokenheartedness.

Matthew 9: 14-15

"Lord, you guide all things toward the perfection for which you brought them into existence. I hope in you."

Fasting helps us to break our egotism. To put Jesus and Others before ourselves and to see the great need that there is in the world - the need to know that Jesus wants nothing except for each person to feel His unconditional love.

He thirsts for you.

Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6

"Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."

"Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed...but the efforts of a prolonged battle can please Christ more than an easy and comfortable victory." Love the fight and not the fall! Push past who you are to where He is.

When I am weak, Then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).