Dear Saints,
It would be impossible for me to give adequate expression to Pope Benedict’s influence on my life.
Before I set foot in seminary, and prior to his becoming Pope, I had become intimately familiar with the life and work of Joseph Ratzinger, I had adopted his theological worldview as my own.
Some of the significant themes of his writings (some 60+ books as well as lectures and other such interventions that are now in print) found resonance in my own heart and mind, and became foundation stones of my life in Christ.
What I remember most fondly about Pope Benedict is how his theological work bore the mark of humility, which was reflected so well in his life of service. During his life there was a growing consensus that Benedict would one day be numbered among the Doctors of the Church (a select group of 37 saints who have been recognized for their extraordinary contributions to Catholic theology and doctrine), and yet not a whiff of pride taints his work.
Other thoughts and reflections of my heart include the fact that the arrangement of candlesticks on our altar is known as Benedictine, after Benedict XVI; my sense of the liturgy as cosmological is an insight I attribute to the recent pontiff; the centrality of love in Catholic thought and practice is at the heart of his work; and his commitment to the transcendental properties of being (truth, beauty, and goodness) opened my mind to the possibilities inherent in classical education. All of these thoughts and more deserve further reflection!
Of his many books that have been significant for my formation as a Catholic Christian and as a priest are Introduction to Christianity (which is really not an introduction to Christianity!), Principles of Catholic Theology, The Spirit of the Liturgy, and Jesus of Nazareth. Likewise, his encyclicals, addressed to all the Catholic faithful, are well worth the read: Deus Caritas Est, Spe Salvi, and Caritas in Veritate.
Before I leave you with a long quote from his first encyclical (see page 7), I’d like to close with Pope Benedict’s reported last words: “Jesus, I love you.” If we want to die with those words on our lips, we’ll have to live with those words on our lips.
Ora pro invicem,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John’s Gospel describes that event in these words: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should … have eternal life”; (3:16). In acknowledging the centrality of love,
Christian faith has retained the core of Israel’s faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might”; (6:4–5). Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbor found in the Book of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”; (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29–31). Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
— Deus caritas est, 1