LOVERS OF TRUTH SHOULD EXPECT RIDICULE SAYS POPE

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, has reminded faithful that the truth is to be made known to all, but that such knowledge is costly, since there should be no separation between what they believe and how they live. The Pope made this statement recently during his trip to the United Kingdom, at the prayer Vigil at Hyde park, in spiritual preparation for the mass in Birmingham to beatify English Cardinal and convert from Anglicanism, John Henry Newman.
Speaking at the Vigil, the Holy Father asserted that the Cardinal is an “important influence in my own life and thought” and also said that the “drama of Newman's life invites us to examine our lives, to see them against the vast horizon of God's plan and to grow in communion with the Church of every time and place; the Church of the apostles, the Church of the martyrs, the Church of the saints, the Church which Newman loved and to whose mission he devoted his entire life”.
Further, the pontiff who spoke on lessons drawn from Cardinal Newman's life, each based on the role of truth, said that “in our day, ….. as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfillment of our deepest human aspiration ….” and also that “passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly.”
Giving the homily at the beatification ceremony, the Pope paid tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman who lived a life devoted to the priestly ministry, especially to preaching, teaching and writing. While noting that the cardinal's Motto “Heart speaks to heart” gives faithful an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, Pope Benedict also stressed that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms Christians into the divine likeness.
Continuing, Pope Benedict the XVI reiterated that the cardinal's teaching on prayer explains how the faithful is definitively taken into the service of one true master, who alone has a claim to their unconditional devotion …….. and has assigned a specific task to each one of them. More, the Pope noted that the definite service to which the cardinal was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing subjects of the day, while praying that through the intercession of the blessed John Henry Newman, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort.