Spe Savi 1st Part

SPE SALVISaved by Hope : 

SPE SALVISaved by Hope

First warning : 

First warning It is his second Encyclical Letter (first one was about Charity) Released by the Vatican on November 30, 2007, feast day of St Andrew. It is 79 pages long and theologically it is challenging. So it will take anyone a while to read and digest it mentally.

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So, let us start asking for help in order to understand it well. Let’s go to the end: Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother,teach us to believe, to hope, to love with you.Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way! Pope Benedict XVI...SPE SALVI

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"Spe Salvi", which takes its Latin title from a quote by St Paul (in hope we were saved), is an appeal to a pessimistic world to find strength in Christian hope. n.1 The goal must be in place Then we can face our present, even if it is arduous

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Without God, in a dark world, with a dark future. CHRISTIANITY IS: A) Good news (informative) B) REDEMPTION (performative) n.2 Before Christ, people without hope (temples, altars, rituals

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Pope Benedict XVI has appropriately addressed the concerns of the faithful who at times “appear to lose hope.” “Our God is not a political God, He is the good shepherd who identified Himself with the poor, the hopeless, downtrodden which is all summarized in the Encyclical…”

n.3 : 

n.3 Josephine Bakhita (1869 — February 1947) Born in Sudan At the age of nine she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders and over the course of the next eight years was sold and resold five times in the markets Bakhita suffered much brutality during her captivity. On one occasion, one of her owner's sons beat her so severely that she spent a month unable to move from a straw bed. 144 scars She is venerated as a modern African saint, and as a saint with a special relevance to slavery and oppression.

n.3 : 

n.3 Life Historical Timeline 1869 Born in OLGOSSA, a village in DARFUR, Sudan (Africa). 1875 Kidnapped, sold as a slave more than once. 1883 Sold to the Italian Consul, Callisto Legnani. 1885 Traveled to Italy. Given to Augusto Michieli. 1888 Stayed in Venice at the Catechumenate run by the Canossian Sisters. 1890 9 January: Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion in Venice. 1893 Entered the Canossian Novitiate in Venice. 1927 10 August: Perpetual Profession Venice. 1947 8 February: Holy Death - Schio. 1978 1st December: Decree on the heroism of her virtues. 1992 17 May: Beatification St. Peter's Square, Rome. 1997 30 August: A relic of Saint Bakhita was sealed in the Alter Table of the Mother of Africa Chapel. 2000 1 October - Canonization

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Witness of love Her humility, her simplicity and her constant smile won the hearts of all the citizens. “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!” During her agony, she re-lived the terrible days of her slavery and more then once she begged the nurse who assisted her: “Please, loosen the chains... they are heavy!” It was Mary Most Holy who freed her from all pain. Her last words were: “Our Lady! Our Lady!”, and her final smile testified to her encounter with the Mother of the Lord.

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“I am definitively loved, and whatever happens to me-I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good” LIBERATION: no longer a slave, redeemed (from slavery of sin) A) Receive it B) Bring hope to others.

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Christianity is not a programme of social revolution It is an encounter with the living God It is an encounter with HOPE: -Informs about the way to take -Performs a transformation in man Then: no more classes, slavery, distinctions in race, status, etc. We are all children of God. Slavery is abolished (Onesimus’ story) nn.4-5 Mission of Jesus Christ is informative and performative

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Some people, on the contrary, are skeptical of everything: n. 6 Jesus is the teacher (philosopher) and the shepherd.

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Jesus' wisdom n. 6 Jesus is the teacher (philosopher), a rabbi

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Expression of a tranquil & simple life He knows the way “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want … Even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I fear no evil, because you are with me” (Ps 23) n. 6 Jesus is the shepherd.

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HOPE IN CHRIST It is worth giving one’s life like the martyrs, or the act of self-renunciation of those following a vocation (leave behind everything in order to follow him) Need of -PATIENCE (perseverance, constancy, endure trials, until one receives what it is promised) -COURAGE (avoid timidity, human respect) nn. 8 & 9 Jesus is the teacher and the shepherd. CONSEQUENCES

Slide 16: 

nn.10-17 What is promised? ETERNAL LIFE Entrance though Baptism (faith) Faith must grow Love the other life more than this one For some people, this life is more important, and the other one is an impediment for the joy in this one - Fear of death: is death a burden or a blessing? Is death the end or the beginning? What is blessed life? Happiness? What is Christina hope for (for this life or for eternal life)? - Jesus’ promise of an eternal joy that “no one will take from you” (St Jn 16: 22)

Slide 17: 

nn.10-17 What is promised? ETERNAL LIFE Should the a Christian abandon the world and the others. Is salvation and hope individualistic? NO, because union with God leads to union with others (n. 14) Also those living in monasteries live for the others. We need the prayers of the monasteries. And work has nobility God wants our dominion over creation, but counting with him. The problem lies when we want to do without him in our “progress”. Faith runs the risk of being relegated to the inner conscience, and it is considered as a barrier for progress and life in the world.

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PROGRESS: Reason, science, freedom (the new hope) French revolution New discoveries and technical achievements, new interpretation of nature, a new philosophy. Redemption, hope and happiness may be obtained with new sciences. Proletarian revolution (politics & economy). Socialization of means of production. Perfect world would be achieved… nn. 18-23 Kingdom of God or Kingdom of human progress

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Perfect world would be achieved… Brave new world… But the reality has been different, already experienced in history: revolutions, misery, appalling destruction. Redemption is not external, mechanicistic. Man is not just matter. He has freedom: there is good and evil. So, progress can be good or evil. It can make a good or evil man. Man needs ethical formation nn. 18-23 Kingdom of God or Kingdom of human progress

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N. 23 “MAN NEEDS GOD, OTHERWISE HE REMAINS WITHOUT HOPE” “REASON NEEDS FAITH IF IT IS TO BE COMPLETELY ITSELF: REASON AND FAITH NEED ONE ANOTHER IN ORDER TO FULFILL THEIR TRUE NATURE AND THEIR MISSION” nn. 18-23 Kingdom of God or Kingdom of human progress