Tough As Nails – Open Letter to God

We are willing to discard the person for the part.

“We’ve made great strides”,  “…a long way, Baby.”

You and Your creation shall serve us.

Yes, that is our “Way”.

It makes perfect sense to us.

After all, You are invisible,

As invisible as a child within the womb,

That is, until the flesh is torn away.

We have the technology.

See, no cringing here. “Just do it!”

We’re tough as nails.

You are familiar with nails?

Yes, tough as nails.

In this world you have to be!

Hello.  Knock, knock.  Are You there?

…. See, He doesn’t care.

You hold Your anger, so we say,

“Where is this God of yours?”.

Our world crumbles,

Chaos all around.

Evidence of Your absence or Your ire?

It doesn’t matter.

You are the Past. We are Now!

If I pull Your beard, will You awaken.

Are You like us?

Will You take a poll

Or turn Your blind eyes?

In Your retirement or death,

We’ve found our voice. We’ve found our fist!

Not to worry. We’ve come a long way.

Crowned ourselves God!

©2010 Joann Nelander

Golgotha of Jasna Gora–Paintings

H/T Julia : Golgotha of Jasna Gora - Artist: Jerzy Duda Gracz

More Golgotha of Jasna Gora

Remembering the Seasons of My Soul

Old year passes,
Becoming yet another ghost,
Withered as leaves,
Crumbled, and carried aloft
By winter winds,
Too soon scattered
By the breezes of Time.

Is it truly spent,
Dead and long forgotten,
Living but in memory?
May not reflection
Call it from the grave,
Uncover the gain
Hold it fast
To live again?

How has its many waters
Blessed thee and me,
As sacred signs?
Will it, as muse, retain a power
For its having been,
And then no more?

What saints and angels
Sent my way,
Colored its day?
In sorrow,
Who came to hold my hand?
In joy,
Who shared my hearth?

Were there hugs, and smiles,
And laughter to tilt the scale of grief?
Can kisses and embraces be resurrected,
That fires of love be stoked
To warm and blaze anew?

Has my thanksgivings
Been recorded in the pyre,
Written in the embers now glowing
As tiger eyes flashing from the ash.

Years come, doomed , too soon to go,
But let them not hurry
To a crypt without a wake.
Drink the happy wine of memory,
Sip, as the seasons turn.
Contemplate and savor
The seasons of your soul.

©2011  Joann Nelander

St. Juan Diego – Model of Humility

 

"Listen and let it penetrate your heart … do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?"
(Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)

Happy Juan Diego, true and faithful man! We entrust to you our lay brothers and sisters so that, feeling the call to holiness, they may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, sustain the efforts of parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favour upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced.

Beloved Juan Diego, "the talking eagle"! Show us the way that leads to the "Dark Virgin" of Tepeyac, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God. Amen.

(Words of Pope John Paul II from the homily at the canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin)

"I thank you, Father … that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was your gracious will" (Mt 11:25-26).

Election Prayer–Urgent!

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people [in] America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to Your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen.

Composed by Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Imprimatur: +Rene H. Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, July 7, 1992
Published by Eternal Life in 1992

New Book!

Ebook is now live in Apple’s iBookstore.You can locate it in the iBookstore here

ebook is now live in Apple’s iBookstore.You can locate it in the iBookstore here

Listening With My Heart by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

Hello, and welcome to. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts this  Catholic Carnival.

To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for the week.

 Make sure that post links back to  Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post at RAnn’s site.

Here are my contributions from the past week:

Miracle of the Sun – Oct 13, 1917 – Apparitions of Fatima

USCCB Responds To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential Debate

Argument From Size

My Bump by the Brown-eyed Keyz- Music Video

Graced to Be

Moments of Grace

Born Alive

Life Begins – Science of the Womb

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

Hello, and welcome to. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts this  Catholic Carnival.

To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. In it, discuss and link to your posts for the week.

 Make sure that post links back to  Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post at RAnn’s site.

Here are my contributions from the past week:

That Man, Job

“I Thirst”

Angelic Companion, Mine

Act Of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Savings on Print Copies of My Books

You Are the Music

Jesus, You are the music
Playing on the stage of my life.
You are the witness of my acts.
You are my faithful critic.

You behold and hold
My life up to Your Light
That its rays may reveal
The holes in my performance.

Thus seeing,
I wisely turn, and say,
Heal me.
Help me.
Act on my behalf,
For I still don’t know
How Love lives my life,
And plays in me,
Save You direct me.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Fiat

“Fiat”
To Mary’s “Fiat,”
O say, “Amen. Amen. Amen.”

“Fiat,” my gift to You, my King.
I give You,
Here in my heart,
Mary’s “Fiat.”,
That so inflamed the Heart of the Father,
That He gave her His Kingdom,
Enfleshed in His Son.

The instant Mary formed
Her ascent to the Will of God,
In her heart and mind,
And formed the word, “Fiat.”
God began His Human Life
In the womb of the Virgin.

O Mary, more than a Chalice,
For of your seed sprang the God-Man,
Fully human,
Fully Divine,
Of You in the Spirit,
Eucharist conceived
In Immaculate Splendor.

Thanksgiving began
In the heaven of your soul,
And took flesh
From the heaven of your being.
Amen. Amen. Amen.

Father, my gift to You this morning,
Mary’s “Fiat”.
May it ring out
From this lowly earth,
That heaven come down,
And live among Men.

Rain down Truth and Beauty,
Born of a Virgin,
His Body forever bearing
Her donation.
Mystery, Divine,
Remember Your Love
Throughtout Time.

©2012 Joann Nelander

My Heart Sings – Poetry & Prayer

The music of God is all about us. When I listen in the Spirit, my heart sings.
With these pages, I wish to share the lyric of the songs I hear in the silence of my prayer.

My Heart Sings by Joann Salerno Nelander | Make Your Own Book

Fear Not

 Fear not to approach

And behold the child.

See, it is you!

He holds His treasure

Cradled in the arms

Of His Only Begotten Son.

No memory of sins forgiven

No repugnance,

For past crimes vanish,

Banished, by His flaming Love.

The Spirit and the Bride

Say “Come!”

©2012 Joann Nelander

Wounded Love

Thomas wanted reality.
Thomas wanted answers.
Thomas wanted undeniable proof.

He trusted his mind.
He trusted his senses.
He walked by sight,
But feared to trust
The witnesses of Resurrection.

A God, with wounds of Love, understood.
A God, marked by our disbelief,
Stood before him,
In plain sight.

Thomas finger my wounds.
Feel the warmth of human flesh.
Feel the throbbing of My Heart,
Bounding against
Your hand in My Side.

Thomas, you sought only
The trappings of reality.
Am I real now,
Real enough for you,
My friend?

Standing, face to face,
Before I Am,
Bought to his knees
By living, breathing, proof,
He stands in our place.

Humbled by faith’s awakening,
Before the True Witness,
Senses satisfied,
Content, now, and forever,
He’ll follow blindly,
Unto death,
Into eternity.

“My Lord and my God.”

Copyright Joann Nelander 2012
All rights reserved

O, Holy Fetus,

O, Holy Fetus,
One cell, two cells,
Cell upon cell,
You took shape,
Within the Virgin’s womb.

O Holy Child,
Born to die,
You were born in Bethlehem
City of Promise,
But conceived in Nazareth,
Crossroad of sinners,
Now graced
By the Holy.

Cell upon cell,
Grace upon grace,
The Virgin’s
“Fiat”
Alleluia!

Copyright Joann Nelander 2012

All rights reserved

Ash Wednesday – Little Black Mark on Your Head Today

When the going gets tough, Catholic on!

Counting Stars

I counted stars today.
Just as prophets and dreamers,
Glimpsing God through the darkness,
My wonder mounted and took wing.
I, too, beheld
The promise of eternity,
Stretched across the eons.

Mere points of light
In a midnight sky,
Announcing Truth veiled in mystery,
Of things hidden and unseen,
Of ages long past and yet to be.
Who with me
Knows that there is more,
Much more?

Lanterns hung in the heavens
Make of me their lampstand,
That Eternal Light
Might shine more brightly,
Giving voice to creation.

No dumb marvel,
Rather angelic themes,
To sing high praises
In celestial chants,
For all who turn their gaze
Heavenward, counting,
And loosing count,
Journey home.

Copyright 2012 Joann Nelander

My entry for Bluebell Books Short Story Slam Week 18

Image Credit:  
http://chance-of-sunshine.blogspot.com/2011/09/umbrella-season.html

Pray Along with the Church

Marvelous praying of today’s Divine Office: Office of Readings

More- everyday, throughout the day, at divineoffice.org

Flower of God

Matt13 :3 Parable of the Sower

 
 
I want to be the Lord’s flower,
Perfect in every way.
God has favored even the lowly weed with beauty.

Look on me, the ragged tare,
To fashion a blossom
According to Your way.
 
 

©2011 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

The Story of Jonah – As You’ve Never Heard It Before

or click here if it won’t play

H/T to St. Blogustine

Golgotha of Jasna Gora

H/T Julia : Golgotha of Jasna Gora – Artist: Jerzy Duda Gracz

More Golgotha of Jasna Gora

Monday -Joyful Mysteries

Hell – the Abandonment of Hope

We are made with a longing to look upon the face of God.  This is our hope; this is our fulfillment.  What eternal frustration to reject that for which we are made.

We catch a glimpse of  souls on the way to hell, frolicking and laughing in apparent merriment, quipping “How dull a place, heaven.”  Self-satisfied and mocking, they murmur one to the other, “Give me the place of movers and shakers”; “Yes, a place for interesting, unbridled, minds.” “Amen, a place for unleashed and raw emotion.”

Dante has the hell-bent, running in constant activity after a banner upon which nothing is written. To what end the writhing corruption of sin, the lust for feeling until nothing is felt at all.

We are made for so much more.

St Bridget 12 year prayer-7 wounds of Jesus

A  wonderful prayer for Lent and a prayer with promises,,,Say everyday!

Sent from my iPod

St Bridget 12 year prayer-7 wounds of Jesus

The 12 Year Prayers:

O Jesus, now I wish to pray the Lord’s Prayer seven times in unity with the love with which You sanctified this prayer in Your Heart. Take it from my lips into Your Divine Heart. Improve and complete it so much that it brings as much honor and joy to the Trinity as You granted it on earth with this prayer. May these pour upon Your Holy Humanity in Glorification to Your Painful Wounds and the Precious Blood that You spilled from them.

First Prayer: The Circumcision

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You the first wounds, the first pains, and the first Bloodshed as atonement for my and all of humanity’s sins of youth, as protection against the first mortal sin, especially among my relatives.

Second Prayer: The Suffering on the Mount of Olives

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You the terrifying suffering of Jesus’ Heart on the Mount of Olives and every drop of His Bloody Sweat as atonement for my and all of humanity’s sins of the heart, as protection against such sins and for the spreading of Divine and brotherly Love.

Third Prayer: The Flogging

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You the many thousands of Wounds, the gruesome Pains, and the Precious Blood of the Flogging as atonement for my and all of humanity’s sins of the Flesh, as protection against such sins and the preservation of innocence, especially among my relatives.

Fourth Prayer: The Crowning of Thorns

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You the Wounds, the Pains, and the Precious Blood of Jesus’ Holy Head from the Crowning with Thorns as atonement for my and all of humanity’s sins of the Spirit, as protection against such sins and the spreading of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.

Fifth Prayer: The Carrying of the Cross

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You the Sufferings on the way of the Cross, especially His Holy Wound on His Shoulder and its Precious Blood as atonement for my and all of humanity’s rebellion against the Cross, every grumbling against Your Holy Arrangements and all other sins of the tongue, as protection against such sins and for true love of the Cross.

Sixth Prayer: The Crucifixion

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, through Mary’s unblemished hands and the Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer You Your Son on the Cross, His Nailing and Raising, His Wounds on the Hands and Feet and the three streams of His Precious Blood that poured forth from these for us, His extreme tortures of the Body and Soul, His precious Death and its non-bleeding Renewal in all Holy Masses on earth as atonement for all wounds against vows and regulations within the Orders, as reparation for my and all of the world’s sins, for the sick and the dying, for all holy priests and laymen, for the Holy Father’s intentions toward the restoration of Christian families, for the strengthening of Faith, for our country and unity among all nations in Christ and His Church, as well as for the Diaspora.

Seventh Prayer: The Piercing of Jesus’ Side

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, then:

Eternal Father, accept as worthy, for the needs of the Holy Church and as atonement for the sins of all Mankind, the Precious Blood and Water which poured forth from the Wound of Jesus’ Divine Heart. Be gracious and merciful toward us. Blood of Christ, the last precious content of His Holy Heart, wash me of all my and others’ guilt of sin! Water from the Side of Christ, wash me clean of all punishments for sin and extinguish the flames of Purgatory for me and for all the Poor Souls. Amen.

Helping Jesus Carry the Cross

Reflection on The Fifth Station: Simon the Cyrene helps Jesus carry His Cross.

Who can understand the humility of God who holds power over the whole universe and yet enlists the help of a Simon to help Him carry His Cross.  Richard Garnaut says:

I imagine Simon was reluctant to take part in your shame.  He had no idea at all (that those)who watched and jeered at him would pass into oblivion,  while his name would go down in history and eternity as the one who helped his God in need.

Is it not so with me, dear Jesus? Even when I carry my cross reluctantly as Simon did it benefits my soul. If I keep my eyes on you and watch how you suffered, I will be able to bear my cross with greater fortitude.

You bore the Cross and looked on it and held it fondly before you passed it on to me.  You watch me and give me strength just as you did Simon.  When I enter your kingdom, I shall know just as Simon knows, what marvels your Cross has wrought in my soul.

Today the Catholic Church Honors Paul Miki and His Companions.

Today the Catholic Church honors Paul Miki and his companions.

From an account of the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his
companions, by a contemporary writer.
(Cap. 14, 109-110: Acta Sanctorum Febr. 1, 769)
You shall be my witnesses

The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behavior was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to Gods goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life. Brother Francis Branco also thanked God in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our Father and Hail Mary.

Our brother, Paul Miki, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his congregation he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his sermon with these words: As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.

Then he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis most of all. When a Christian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven, his hands, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on him.

Anthony, hanging at Louis side, looked toward heaven and called upon the holy namesJesus, Mary! He began to sing a psalm: Praise the Lord, you children! (He learned it in catechism class in Nagasaki. They take care there to teach the children some psalms to help them learn their catechism.) Others kept repeating Jesus, Mary! Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die.

Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight, all the Christians cried out, Jesus, Mary! And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very skies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. It was over in a very short time.

Read more here

Sent from my iPod

St. Juan Diego – Model of Humility

“Listen and let it penetrate your heart … do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?“
(Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)

Happy Juan Diego, true and faithful man! We entrust to you our lay brothers and sisters so that, feeling the call to holiness, they may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, sustain the efforts of parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favour upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced.

Beloved Juan Diego, “the talking eagle”! Show us the way that leads to the “Dark Virgin” of Tepeyac, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God. Amen.

(Words of Pope John Paul II from the homily at the canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin)

“I thank you, Father … that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Mt 11:25-26).

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – Dec. 8th

Podcast for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

H/T  the Jesuits in Britain.

Visit pray-as-you-go.org for a marvelous prayer experience.  Get God on your pod.

Knight of the Immaculata

A wonderful and profound way to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: consider the Prayer of Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a means of spiritual renewal.

Prayer of Total Consecration
By St. Maximilian Kolbe

Immaculata, Queen of heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, N…, a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and, “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the world.” Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against your enemies.

Commentary on consecration prayer

Advent Reflection

As this Dec. 7th, the 68th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, causes us to reflect on war and suffering, the Church has us read:

Isaiah 35: 1-10

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals lurk
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.
It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.

Isaiah sees each man’s part, “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak. Say to those whose hearts are frightened, ‘Be strong, fear not! Here is your God’ ” With Isaiah, Pope Benedict XVI sees every man’s participation in this coming of peace, this becoming of each and every man and woman. Benedict sees the vocation of all as integral in their fulfillment and God’s destiny for His people.

St. Augustin wrote:

The garden of the Lord, brethren, includes - yes, it truly includes - includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people, and the violets of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, my dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation; Christ suffered for all. It was very truly written about him: who wishes all men to be saved, and to come to the acknowledgement of the truth.

In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict quotes Pope Paul V in  Populorum Progressio:

“ Progress, in its origin and essence, is first and foremost a vocation: “in the design of God, every man is called upon to develop and fulfill himself, for every life is a vocation.” This is what gives legitimacy to the Church’s involvement in the whole question of development. If development were concerned with merely technical aspects of human life, and not with the meaning of man’s pilgrimage through history in company with his fellow human beings, nor with identifying the goal of that journey, then the Church would not be entitled to speak on it.”

Further, Pope Benedict challenges every woman/man, every generation,

“Love in truth — caritas in veritate — is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development. Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value.

Benedict goes on to say:

“Fidelity to man requires fidelity to the truth, which alone is the guarantee of freedom (Jn 8:32) and of the possibility of integral human development. For this reason the Church searches for truth, proclaims it tirelessly and recognizes it wherever it is manifested. This mission of truth is something that the Church can never renounce.”

Benedict with Isaiah calls us to a journey and a service to truth which sets us free, despite the constantly changing life-patterns of the society of peoples and nations.