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“The Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope, and charity. Through the Apostles, we come to Jesus himself. The Church begins to establish herself when some fishermen of Galilee meet Jesus, allowing themselves to be won over by his gaze, his voice, his warm and strong invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”2
At the start of the third millennium, my beloved predecessor John Paul II invited the Church to contemplate the Face of Christ.3 Continuing in the same direction, I would like to show in this book how it is precisely the light of that Face that is reflected on the face of the Church,4 notwithstanding the limits and shadows of our fragile and sinful humanity. After Mary, a pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is from the Apostles, through their word and witness, that we receive the truth of Christ. Their mission is not isolated, however, but is situated within a mystery of communion that involves the entire People of God and is carried out in stages from the Old to the New Covenant.
In this regard, it must be said that the message of Jesus is completely misunderstood if it is separated from the context of the faith and hope of the Chosen People: like John the Baptist, his direct Precursor, Jesus above all addresses Israel5 in order to “gather” it together in the eschatological time that arrived with him. And like that of John, the preaching of Jesus is at the same time a call of grace and a sign of contradiction and of justice for the entire People of God.
And so, from the first moment of his salvific activity, Jesus of Nazareth strives to gather together the People of God. Even if his preaching is always an appeal for personal conversion, in reality he continually aims to build the People of God whom he came to bring together, purify and save. Footnotes
1. Editor’s note: The material in this book is derived from catecheses given by Pope Benedict XVI during his weekly general audiences from March 15, 2006, to February 14, 2007. The texts have been edited slightly to facilitate presentation in book form. The date each address was originally presented is annotated in the footnotes. 2. Mk 1:17; Mt 4:19 3. cf. Pope John Paul II Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 16ff. 4. cf. Second Vatican Council Lumen Gentium, n. 1 5. cf. Mt 15:24
Taken from the "Introduction," The Apostles: The Origins of the Church and Their Co-workers, Pope Benedict XVI, Our Sunday Visitor, 2007. To order please click here»
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