Pope Benedict XVI - Teaching and learning the love of God : being a priest today : selected writings

TEACHING AND LEARNING
THE LOVE OF GOD

JOSEPH RATZINGER

Being a Priest Today

Selected Writings

With a Foreword by Pope Francis
and an Introduction by Gerhard Cardinal Mller

Edited by Pierluca Azzaro and Carlos Granados

Translated by Michael J. Miller

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Original Italian edition:
Insegnare e imparare lamore di Dio

Spanish edition:
Ensenar y aprender el amor de Dios
con ocasion del 65. aniversario de la ordenacion
sacerdotal del Papa emvito
2016 Libreria Editrice Vaticana;
2016 Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos
Madrid, Spain

German edition:
Die Liebe Gottes lehren und lernen: Priestersein heute
2016 Libreria Editrice Vaticana; 2016 Verlag Herder GmbH,
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Cover design by Roxanne Mei Lum

2017 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-62164-167-4 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-68149-773-0 (EB)
Library of Congress Control Number 2017932738
Printed in the United States of America

Holy Oils: Signs of Gods Healing Power and Diocesan Unity
At the Chrism Mass, 1978

Becoming Spiritual Clergymen (Johann Michael Sailer) in the Breathing Space of the Spirit
At the Chrism Mass, 1979

Eucharist and Pentecost as the Origin of the Church
At the Chrism Mass, 1981

By Surrendering Ourselves, We Also Find Ourselves
Farewell Meeting with Priests and Deacons, 1982

Toward a Supportive Christianity
On the Patronal Feast of the Priestly Society of Saint Salvator
Straubing, 1998

Acting in Persona Christi : The Threefold Ministry of the Priest
Freising, 1977

Gestures of Priestly Ordination: Imposition of Hands and Anointing of the Hands
During the Ordination of Five Priests from the Jesuit Order in Munich, 1977

Becoming an Offering with Christ for the Salvation of Mankind
Freising, 1978

Giving the Answer of Life: The Example of Blessed Maximilian Kolbe
Freising, 1979

Peter: The Original Model of Priestly Mission
Freising, 1981

The Priest-Monk: One Who Prays for the People
Mariawald, 1991

Entering into the Mystery of the Grain of Wheat
Rome, Saint Paul outside the Walls, 1993

A Body You Have Prepared for Me
Porto Santa Rufina, La Storta (Rome), 2000

Making the Deacon Jesus Christ Present in the Age of the Church
Munich, September 1977

Telling Others the Gospel Vividly
Munich, February 1978

The DeaconMaster of Thanksgiving
Munich, December 1978

Living on Christs Yes
Munich, February 1979

Faithfully Awaiting
Munich, December 1979

Called to Nuptial Service
Munich, January 1980

Joy in Christ
Munich, December 1980

Your Place in the Liturgy Is the Gospel!
Munich, December 1981

To Enter with Him into the Ministry of Life
Munich, February 1982

Fishers of Men
For Franz Niegel, Berchtesgaden, 1954

The Priest: A Man Who Blesses
For Franz Niedermayer, Kirchanschring, 1955

Meditation on the Day of a First Mass
In the Rhineland, 1962

So that Gods Word Might Remain: On the Burden and the Joy of the Prophet
For Karl Besler, Traunstein, 1973

A Guide Directed by Jesus Christ
Fortieth Jubilee of Episcopal Consecration of Bishop Paul Rusch
Innsbruck, 1978

Peace as One of the Names of the Eucharist
Seventieth Birthday of Auxiliary Bishop Ernst
Tewes Munich, 1978

On the Way to the Depths of the Mystery of Christ
Fortieth Priestly Jubilee of the Ordination Class of 1939
Freising, 1979

Being There for Gods Mercy
Thirtieth Priestly Jubilee of the Ordination Class of 1951
Freising, 1981

Being Close to the People
Twenty-Fifth Priestly Jubilee of the Ordination Class of 1957
Freising, 1982

The Great Venture of Priestly Service
Sixtieth Priestly Jubilee of G. R. Vinzenz Irger
Munich, 1983

Doing the One Thing Necessaryand Becoming Rich in Gods Sight
Sixtieth Priestly Jubilee of Bishop Rudolf Graber
Plankstetten, 1986

Being a Witness of Christs Helpless Power
Golden Priestly Jubilee of Monsignor Konrad Miller
Munich, 1987

A Spokesman of Reconciliation
Eightieth Birthday of Franz Cardinal Hengsbach
Essen, 1990

Conversion to the Light
Fortieth Priestly Jubilee of the Ordination Class of 1951
Munich, 1991

The Interior Center of Priestly Life
Twenty-Fifth Priestly Jubilee of Father Martin Bialas
Schwarzenfeld, 1993

Preparing People to Receive Jesus
Eightieth Birthday and Golden Jubilee of Father Ignatius Glasmacher
Maria Eck, 1994

Teaching and Learning the Love of God Fortieth Priestly Jubilee of Monsignor Franz Niegel
Unterwssen, 1994

... Enlisted in Service so that Jesus Mission Remains Effective
Twenty-Fifth Episcopal Jubilee of Doctor Hubert Luthe
Essen, 1994

On the Ministry of the Bishop
Thirtieth Episcopal Jubilee of Friedrich Cardinal Wetter
Munich, 1998

The Church Lives by Abiding with Christ and Standing by Him
Silver Episcopal Jubilee of Cardinal Meisner, Auxiliary Bishop Dick, and Auxiliary Bishop Plger
Cologne, 2000

Bringing Christ to the People and the People to Christ
Golden Priestly Jubilee of Monsignor Georg Schuster, Pastor Emeritus Alfons Karpf, Pastor Emeritus Ludwig Radlmaier, Georg Warmedinger, S.T.D., and Pastor Emeritus Johann Warmedinger
Munich-Pasing, 2000

By His Holiness Pope Francis

Every time I read the works of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, it becomes clear to me that he pursued theology on his knees and still does: on his knees, because we see that he is not only a preeminent theologian and master of the faith, but a man who really believes, really prays. We see that he is a man who embodies holiness, a man of peace, a man of God. And so he embodies in an exemplary way the essence of all priestly work: that deep rootedness in God without which all organizational talent, all supposed intellectual superiority, all money and power are useless. He embodies that constant relation to the Lord Jesus without which nothing is true any longer, everything becomes routine, priests almost become salaried employees, bishops become bureaucrats, and the Church is not Christs Church but something that we have created, a non-governmental organization that ultimately is superfluous.

The priest is the man who embodies Christs presence and... bear[s] witness to his saving mercy, Benedict XVI observes in his Letter Proclaiming a Year for Priests . While reading this book, you will come to see clearly how much he himself, in the sixty-five years of his priestly ministry, has lived and continues to live this priestly activity in an exemplary way, has borne and continues to bear witness to it.

As Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Mller has so authoritatively reaffirmed, the theological work of Joseph Ratzingerand then later of Benedict XVIassures him a place among such great theologians on the Chair of Peter as Leo the Great, the saintly Pope and Doctor of the Church.

With his renunciation of the active exercise of the Petrine ministry, Benedict XVI decided to place himself now entirely at the service of prayer: The Lord is calling me to scale the mountain, to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church; indeed, if God asks me this it is precisely so that I may continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried to do so until now, he said in his final, moving Angelus message. From this perspective I would like to add also to the correct observation by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that perhaps today in particular, as Pope Emeritus, he gives us in an especially clear way one of his greatest lessons of theology on his knees.