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rachelm31f6b's review
3.0
I finally finished this book. It was really heavy (my brain can't always wrap around books like this). It was really good though, as evidenced by the amount of quotes I wrote down. Written by Pope Benedict when he was a Cardinal it delves into the origins of the church and takes a look at how the church is today. Glad I read it but also glad I'm done. :)
“God is the father of the family, Jesus the master of the house, and it therefore stands to reason that he addresses the members of this people as children, even though they are adults, and that to gain true understanding of themselves, those who belong to this people must first lay down their grown-up autonomy and acknowledge themselves as children before God (cf. Mk 10:24, Mt 11:25). 9” (p. 23-24).
“Hence, Communion means the fusion of existences; just as in the taking of nourishment the body assimilates foreign matter to itself, and is thereby enabled to live, in the same way my ‘I’ is ‘assimilated’ to that of Jesus, it is made similar to him in an exchange that increasingly breaks through the lines of division”(p. 37).
“In this history we repeatedly encounter two situations. On the one hand, the papacy remains the foundation of the Church in virtue of a power that does not derive from herself. At the same time, individual popes have again and again become a scandal because of what they themselves are as men, because they want to precede, not follow, Christ, because they believe that they must determine by their own logic the path that only Christ himself can decide: ‘You do not think God’s thoughts, but man’s’(Mt 16:23).”(p. 61).
“The Church is founded upon forgiveness. Peter himself is a personal embodiment of this truth, for he is permitted to be the bearer of the keys after having stumbled, confessed and received the grace of pardon”(p. 64).
“She is held together by forgiveness, and Peter is the perpetual living reminder of this reality: she is not a communion of the perfect but a communion of sinners who need and seek forgiveness”(p. 64).
“Having said all that, the site of Peter’s martyrdom nonetheless appears clearly as the chief bearer of his supreme authority and plays a preeminent role in the formation of tradition”(p. 71).
“That its center is forgiveness is both its intrinsic condition and the sign of distinctive character of God’s power”(p. 73).
“praising the Lord, who does not abandon the Church and who desired to manifest that he is the rock through Peter, the little stumbling stone”(p. 74).
“It is not the perfecting of one’s own self that makes one holy but the purification of the self through its fusion into the all-embracing love of Christ: it is the holiness of the triune God himself”(p. 95).
“All of this shows, in conclusion, that the readiness to suffer also belongs to the episcopal office. Whoever regarded this office above all as an honor or as an influential position would misunderstand its essential nature. Without the readiness to undergo suffering, this tack cannot be exercised. Precisely in this way the bishop is in communion with his Lord; precisely in this way he knows himself to be a ‘servant of your joy’ (2 Cor. 1:24)”(p. 103).
“When we inquire about the center of the New Testament, we come immediately to Christ himself. What is new about it is not, strictly speaking, ideas-the novelty is a person: God who becomes man and draws man to himself”(p. 111).
“the gift of grace that always comes from without and can be attained only in receiving”(p. 120).
“The Church as a whole must be God’s dwelling in the world and the place where he is adored”(p. 126).
“This rage at the Church, or disappointment with her, has a particular quality, because in their heart of hearts people expect more of her than of all worldly institutions. It is in the Church that the dream of a better world should be realized”(p. 135).
“Just as our aim in politics is to introduce at long last a better world, we think that we must establish-perhaps as a first step toward the political goal-a better Church: a Church full of humanity, pervaded by a spirit of brotherhood and large-minded creativity, a place of reconciliation of all and for all”(p. 136).
[“no one must any longer remain a passive receiver of the gift of Christian existence. Rather, all should be active agents of it”(p. 137)]
“But there is no human life without suffering, and he who is incapable of accepting suffering is refusing himself the purifications that alone allow us to reach maturity. In communion with Christ, pain becomes meaningful, not only for myself, as a process of ablatio in which God purges me of the dross that conceals his image, but beyond me, for the whole, so that we can all say with Saint Paul: ‘But not I rejoice in my sufferings for you and so complete in my flesh what is still lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church’ (Col 1:24)”(p. 155).
“’None of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord; whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s’(Rom 14:7f)”(p. 156).
“God is the father of the family, Jesus the master of the house, and it therefore stands to reason that he addresses the members of this people as children, even though they are adults, and that to gain true understanding of themselves, those who belong to this people must first lay down their grown-up autonomy and acknowledge themselves as children before God (cf. Mk 10:24, Mt 11:25). 9” (p. 23-24).
“Hence, Communion means the fusion of existences; just as in the taking of nourishment the body assimilates foreign matter to itself, and is thereby enabled to live, in the same way my ‘I’ is ‘assimilated’ to that of Jesus, it is made similar to him in an exchange that increasingly breaks through the lines of division”(p. 37).
“In this history we repeatedly encounter two situations. On the one hand, the papacy remains the foundation of the Church in virtue of a power that does not derive from herself. At the same time, individual popes have again and again become a scandal because of what they themselves are as men, because they want to precede, not follow, Christ, because they believe that they must determine by their own logic the path that only Christ himself can decide: ‘You do not think God’s thoughts, but man’s’(Mt 16:23).”(p. 61).
“The Church is founded upon forgiveness. Peter himself is a personal embodiment of this truth, for he is permitted to be the bearer of the keys after having stumbled, confessed and received the grace of pardon”(p. 64).
“She is held together by forgiveness, and Peter is the perpetual living reminder of this reality: she is not a communion of the perfect but a communion of sinners who need and seek forgiveness”(p. 64).
“Having said all that, the site of Peter’s martyrdom nonetheless appears clearly as the chief bearer of his supreme authority and plays a preeminent role in the formation of tradition”(p. 71).
“That its center is forgiveness is both its intrinsic condition and the sign of distinctive character of God’s power”(p. 73).
“praising the Lord, who does not abandon the Church and who desired to manifest that he is the rock through Peter, the little stumbling stone”(p. 74).
“It is not the perfecting of one’s own self that makes one holy but the purification of the self through its fusion into the all-embracing love of Christ: it is the holiness of the triune God himself”(p. 95).
“All of this shows, in conclusion, that the readiness to suffer also belongs to the episcopal office. Whoever regarded this office above all as an honor or as an influential position would misunderstand its essential nature. Without the readiness to undergo suffering, this tack cannot be exercised. Precisely in this way the bishop is in communion with his Lord; precisely in this way he knows himself to be a ‘servant of your joy’ (2 Cor. 1:24)”(p. 103).
“When we inquire about the center of the New Testament, we come immediately to Christ himself. What is new about it is not, strictly speaking, ideas-the novelty is a person: God who becomes man and draws man to himself”(p. 111).
“the gift of grace that always comes from without and can be attained only in receiving”(p. 120).
“The Church as a whole must be God’s dwelling in the world and the place where he is adored”(p. 126).
“This rage at the Church, or disappointment with her, has a particular quality, because in their heart of hearts people expect more of her than of all worldly institutions. It is in the Church that the dream of a better world should be realized”(p. 135).
“Just as our aim in politics is to introduce at long last a better world, we think that we must establish-perhaps as a first step toward the political goal-a better Church: a Church full of humanity, pervaded by a spirit of brotherhood and large-minded creativity, a place of reconciliation of all and for all”(p. 136).
[“no one must any longer remain a passive receiver of the gift of Christian existence. Rather, all should be active agents of it”(p. 137)]
“But there is no human life without suffering, and he who is incapable of accepting suffering is refusing himself the purifications that alone allow us to reach maturity. In communion with Christ, pain becomes meaningful, not only for myself, as a process of ablatio in which God purges me of the dross that conceals his image, but beyond me, for the whole, so that we can all say with Saint Paul: ‘But not I rejoice in my sufferings for you and so complete in my flesh what is still lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church’ (Col 1:24)”(p. 155).
“’None of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord; whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s’(Rom 14:7f)”(p. 156).
conordugan's review
5.0
On rereading this book, I had to move it up from 4 to 5 stars. What an incredible little book. I don't have anything too smart to say about it, just that it helped in my understanding of the Church and what true communion means. There are so many wonderful nuggets in this book and while it really is a series of essays that are combined, the whole thing hangs together quite well. If you want a window into the communio theology that is at the heart of Ratzinger-Benedict's thought, this is a good starting place.
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