Believing in Jesus Christ gives people strength to face the normal challenges of life and is not another burden to carry, Pope Benedict XVI said. “Journeying with Christ — traveling the path with Christ — isn’t a burden added to the already heavy load that is our life, something that makes our burden even heavier,” the pope said Feb. 16 at his weekly general audience.
Drawing on the example of the life and writings of St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic, Pope Benedict said faith in Christ “is a light, a force that helps us carry our burdens.” The pope told an estimated 4,000 people gathered for the audience: “If a man has a great love, this love almost gives him wings, and he has an easier time supporting all the challenges of life.” The mid-February audience was the third that Pope Benedict dedicated to one of the “doctors of the church,” men and women who made important contributions to Catholic theological understanding.
Pope Benedict said it’s understandable that people look at St. John of the Cross, one of the greatest mystical writers in Christian history, and ask, “Does he have anything to say to us normal Christians?”
VATICAN CITY (CNS)