Selected quotes of Pope Benedict XVI offered daily for prayer and reflection….

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Redemption
 


It is not science that redeems man: Man is redeemed by love.

 
Encyclical Letter
'Spe Salvi'

 
 
 
Redemption
 


The greatest liberty is to say ‘yes,’ to conform with the will of God. Only in saying ‘yes’ does man really become himself. Transferring one’s will to the divine will, that is how a true man is born. That is how we are redeemed.

 
General Audience
25 June 2008

 
 
 
Redemption
 


We are invited to fix our gaze on the ineffable mystery that Mary treasured for nine months in her virginal womb: the mystery of God who is made man. This is the first foundation of the redemption. The second is the death and Resurrection of Jesus and these two inseparable aspects express a single divine plan: to save humanity and its history, assuming them fully by taking on the entire burden of all the evil that oppresses it.

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
21 December 2008

 
 
 
Redemption
 


It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love. This applies even in terms of this present world. When someone has the experience of a great love in his life, this is a moment of “redemption” which gives a new meaning to his life. But soon he will also realize that the love bestowed upon him cannot by itself resolve the question of his life. It is a love that remains fragile. It can be destroyed by death. The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38- 39). If this absolute love exists, with its absolute certainty, then—only then—is man “redeemed”, whatever should happen to him in his particular circumstances. This is what it means to say: Jesus Christ has “redeemed” us.

 
Encyclical Letter
'Spe Salvi'