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

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Death
 


Man needs eternity; for him, any other hope is too brief, too limited. Man is explainable only if there is a Love which overcomes all isolation, even the isolation of death, in a totality which transcends time and space. Man is explainable, he finds his most profound meaning, only if God exists. And we know that God ceased to be distant, that He came close to us.

 
General Audience
Paul VI Audience Hall
2 November 2011

 
 
 
Death
 


In the perspective of Gospel wisdom, death itself is the bearer of a healthy teaching because it forces us to look reality in the face; it pushes us to recognize the transience of that which appears great and strong in the eyes of the world. In the face of death every reason for human pride vanishes and instead what seriously matters comes to the fore. Everything comes to an end, every one of us is passing through this world. Only God has life in himself; he is life. Ours is a life of participation, given ab alio, thus a man can gain eternal life only because of the particular relationship that the Creator himself has established with him. But God, on seeing man distancing himself from him, made a further step, he created a new relation between himself and us; He, Christ, "laid down his life for us" (1 Jn 3: 16).

 
Homily
Vatican Basilica
3 November 2008

 
 
 
Death
 


The One who shows us the way beyond death is the One who shows us how to overcome destruction and fear: thus it is Jesus who is the true teacher of life (cf. Spe Salvi, 6). His death and resurrection mean that we can say to the Father "you have restored us to life!"

 
Address
St Joseph's Seminary
Yonkers, New York
19 April 2008

 
 
 
Death
 


Christ breaks down the wall of death, and in Him there resides the fullness of God, which is life, eternal life. Therefore death had no power over Him.

 
Angelus
St. Peter's Square
10 April 2011

 
 
 
Death
 


In Baptism, in the company of Christ, we have already made that cosmic journey to the very abyss of death. At his side and, indeed, drawn up in his love, we are freed from fear. He enfolds us and carries us wherever we may go – he who is Life itself.

 
Homily
Easter Vigil
St Peter's Basilica
7 April 2007

 
 
 
Death
 


Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life; and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.

 
Lenten Message
22 February 2011

 
 
 
Death
 


Faith reminds us that there is no need to be afraid of the death of the body because, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's [Romans 14: 8]. And with St Paul, we know that even if we are separated from our bodies we are with Christ, whose Risen Body, which we receive in the Eucharist, is our eternal and indestructible dwelling place.

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
5 November 2006

 
 
 
Death
 


Let us invoke from the Lord, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy and of St Joseph, the grace to prepare ourselves serenely to depart this world whenever he may desire to call us, in the hope of being able to dwell for ever with him in the company of the Saints and of our departed loved ones.

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
5 November 2006

 

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