Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - “Communion in time: Tradition”. This was the theme Pope Benedict XVI chose for his meditation at the weekly general audience on Wednesday 27 April in St Peter’s Square. “Ecclesial Communion is brought about and sustained by the Holy Spirit and safeguarded and fostered by the apostolic ministry- the Pope explained -. This communion, that we call Church, extends not only to all believers at one certain moment in time, it embraces all times and all generations”. Through the Holy Spirit “the experience of the Risen Lord lived by the first apostolic community when the Church began can be lived again and again by later generations, because it is transmitted and made present in the faith, worship and communion of the pilgrim People of God… This transmission of the treasures of redemption, which renders the Christian community the ongoing actualisation, through the power of the Spirit, of that original communion, is the apostolic Tradition of the Church”.
The Holy Father then explained that “we refer to it in this way because it was born of the testimony of the Apostles and the disciples in the very beginning, it was handed on under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the writings of the New Testament and in the sacramental life, in the life of faith, and to it - to this Tradition, which is the whole always relevant reality of the gift of Jesus - the Church continually refers as its foundation and its rule through uninterrupted succession in the apostolic ministry”.
The Risen Jesus entrusted explicitly to the Apostles the task of making disciples of all nations, promising his presence and help to the end of time. “The universal nature of redemption requires, besides, that the memorial of Easter be celebrated without interruption in history until Christ returns in glory”. This making present the saving presence of the Lord Jesus through the ministry of the apostles and the whole life of the people of the New Covenant is the action of the Holy Spirit. “Through the working of the Paraclete the Apostles and their successors are able to contnue in time the mission received from the Lord … It is therefore the Holy Spirit which, through the laying on of hands and the prayer of the Apostles, consecrates and sends new missionaries of the Gospel ”. The Holy Father then said “in times of solemn decision in the life of the Church, the Spirit is present to guide her ” and he continued: “This continual bringing about the active presence of the Lord Jesus in his people, the work of the Holy Spirit expressed in the Church by means of the apostolic ministry and fraternal communion, is what, in the theological sense, is meant by the term Tradition: it is not simply the material transmission of what was given in the beginning to the Apostles, it is the effective presence of the Lord Jesus, crucified and risen, who accompanies and guides in the Spirit the community he has gathered together”.
“ Tradition is the communion of the faithful around their legitimate Bishops in the course of history, a communion which the Holy Spirit nourishes, guaranteeing the link between the experience of apostolic faith lived by the community of the first disciples and the present day experience of Christ in his Church…Thanks to Tradition, guaranteed by the ministry of the Apostles and their successors, the water of life gushing from the side of Christ and his saving blood reach the men and women of every era. Therefore Tradition is the continual presence of the Saviour who comes to meet us, to redeem us and sanctify us in the Spirit through the ministry of his Church to the glory of the Father”. Concluding his meditation the Holy Father summarised his teaching: “Tradition is not the transmission of things or words, a collection of things long dead. Tradition is a living river which connects us to the origins, the living river in which the origins are present, the great river which leads us to the door of eternity”.
At the end of the audience the Pope made the following appeal: “Today marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic accident at Chernobyl nuclear power station. On this occasion I feel the duty to express deep appreciation to families, associations, civil administrations and Christian communities which in these twenty years organised accommodation and treatment for people, children especially suffering the consequences of that painful event. As once again we pray for the victims of this tragedy of such wide impact, for those who bear the scars of it on their bodies, we ask the Lord to enlighten those responsible for the future of humanity that with a united effort all energy may be put at the service of peace, with respect for the needs of humanity and nature.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 27/4/2006, righe 53, parole 754)
