Let God's Light Shine Forth

Tonight I spent time reading "The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI: Let God's Light Shine Forth" by Robert Moynihan. The book included many statements and works by Our Holy Father. I wanted to share some segments of the book that I've read so far that I have found intriguing.

"His recollection of his childhood Easters reveal the extent to which Benedict's faith sprang out of a rich fabric of Christian symbolism, still almost 'baroque' in comparison with post-Vatican II liturgy introduced in the 1960s: 'For all of Holy Week, the windows of the church were covered by black coverings. Even in daytime, the church was shrouded in a darkness dense with mystery. But the instant the parish priest sang out the verse that announced "He is Risen!" the coverings were suddenly pulled back from the windows and a radiant light flooded the entire church: it was the most impressive representation of the resurrection of Christ I can imagine" (9).

"Benedict has long argued that the 'absence of God' in the modern world, the 'secularization' of the modern 'globalized' society, has created a society in which the human person no longer has a sure protection against the depredations of power or, more importantly, any clear understanding of the meaning and ultimate destination of his life" (4).

Benedict's words: "I would say the word 'conversion' is the key word, one of the key words, of St. Augustine, and our culture also has a need for conversion. Without conversion one does not arrive at the Lord. This is true of the individual and this is true of the culture as well..." (36).

(Moynihan, Robert, ed. "The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI: Let God's Light Shine Forth". New York: DoubleDay, 2005.)