Tomorrow evening in our parish centre there's the first of a series of video talks by Cardinal Cantalamessa, who was Preacher to the Papal household for over 40 years (1980 - 2024). I've read the book about his life (in the form of an interview) published a couple of years ago but haven't really heard him preaching. The video series is called Life in Christ, which is inspired by St. Paul's letter to the Romans. I'm looking forward to it and trust it will be a good Lenten preparation for Easter. I was looking around on YouTube earlier and noticed this one, which looks like it's the full film about Cardinal Cantalamessa's life and work.
Thank you I will watch this later. Actually the Papal Preacher chosen by Pope Leo this year is a Cistercian Bishop from Norway is superb. I don't know how they choose him as he is quite wonderful but they did. Bishop Erik Varden https://www.osvnews.com/trappist-bi...vent-calls-catholics-to-hope-in-the-darkness/
Excerpts from the Foreword by Ralph Martin: "The book is in the form of an interview. The interviewer, Italian journalist Aldo Maria Valli, really asked the right questions and gave Fr. Cantalamessa the opportunity to provide very full answers. It is published on the occasion of the eightieth birthday of Fr. Cantalamessa, his fifty-five years as a Capuchin Franciscan, and his thirty-fifth year as the official Preacher to the Papal Household. He is the longest serving papal preacher ever and has served St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis. The book is filled with wonderful details about his upbringing, his call to religious life at the age of twelve, his advancement in the academic world, and his “second conversion” and “baptism in the Holy Spirit” through his encounter with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which led him to leave the academic world and become a preacher known throughout the world. He also speaks of the last six years during which he has lived a more contemplative life in conjunction with a small cloistered monastery of Capuchin sisters in the countryside about an hour outside of Rome—when his continuing travels permit! While filled with interesting and inspiring biographical details, the book also gives a rather full account of the particular themes that Fr. Cantalamessa has preached on over the years and why he thinks they are so relevant to the life of the Church and world today. And what are some of these themes? I would say that perhaps the main themes Fr. Cantalamessa seeks to emphasize is the primacy of grace, the need to announce the basic Gospel message of God’s love and mercy for the world, and the importance of a personal encounter with the Lord and the decision to become a disciple of Jesus. His very short summary of the basic message is: “Jesus is Lord!” with all that that implies for conversion and life. He explains that the cultural situation the Church faces today has radically changed and the faith is no longer transmitted though strong family ties and an intact Catholic culture. He points out that many of the baptized don’t understand what being a Catholic really means and need to be evangelized (or re-evangelized) and brought to that basic encounter with Christ, out of which flows an understanding of his teaching and the role of the Church. He makes a strong case that we need to begin with the person of Jesus today; only after that will people understand the true nature of the Church and the moral teaching of Jesus." "He makes the challenging claim that today the Church is closer to the situation of the early Church—when it was a persecuted minority dominated by an aggressive and hostile secular culture—than anything we’ve known in our lifetime, and he emphasizes the need to adjust in light of these new circumstances." "The interviewer, of course, asked Fr. Cantalamessa about his thirty-five years of preaching each Friday during Advent and Lent to the pope and those who work in the Vatican. (For those who are interested, each season’s talks have been published as distinct books and can be easily ordered through ordinary online channels. They are inspiring and insightful!) Even though Fr. Cantalamessa was called by the Lord to leave his university life, he knows it was good preparation for his future role as papal preacher, just as his experience of baptism in the Spirit was a more proximate preparation. He recounts the poignant scene where, before he knew he was going to be appointed as papal preacher, he stood far below the window of the papal apartment that faces St. Peter’s Square and felt inspired to shout out in a loud voice to John Paul II: “Courage, courage!” Fortunately the square was empty, and the window to the pope’s apartment was closed! He later recounted this scene in one of the first sermons he gave to Pope John Paul II. He also recounts how, at his urging, Pope John Paul II opened the Advent and Lenten sermons to women who worked in the curia and other female guests; previously only men could attend. Occasionally when Fr. Cantalamessa expresses some theological opinions, one wishes he could develop them more fully in order to understand his reasoning, but he himself invites his readers to feel free to disagree with him on these occasions. This book is delightful, inspiring, encouraging, and it makes one wish to fervently thank God for the life and work of Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. The providential hand of God on his life and work is manifest. May we all give ourselves to God and proclaim with Fr. Cantalamessa with joyful assent: Jesus is Lord!" Dr. Ralph Martin is Director of Graduate Theology Programs at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization in Rome, and President of Renewal Ministries in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
