A prayerful encounter

A few hours ago, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, who is currently in the midst of an apostolic journey in the Czech Republic, met with priests, religious, members of Lay Movements, and seminarians in the Cathedral of Prague.

In some parts of the world, it is easy to be a Catholic today, especially when there is support from family, friends and others who share the path of faith. In some locales, it is easy to practice faith because the civic state does not impose any restrictions, but in other parts of the world, faith is not so easy. For some, the mere utterance of a credo or an admission of adherence to a specific faith tradition can spell certain trial, persecution and even death.

In his address to the Catholics gathered in the Cathedral of Prague, the Holy Father paid particular homage to the example of saints who planted the seed of faith in the land of the Czech Republic, and to some more modern-day heroes of faith who, even within the last century, suffered persecution, but chose to remain faithful to their call to spread the gospel.

Especially in moments of trial, we need to rely on the love of Christ which sustains us, which gives us hope and which allows us to continue living. Christians gathered in Prague look to the Vicar of Christ for words of encouragement, for they live in a land where support for the Christian Way is sadly lacking, but oft times, it is in places where great efforts have been made to eradicate or ignore the message of the Gospel, or the value of faith, that faith itself and Christ's love is embedded even more strongly in the hearts of believers.

It is good that Catholics and Christians in other parts of the world can also have access to the words of the Holy Father, and that by means of modern-day communication, we too can enter into the meditation which his words enflame in the hearts of those who hear them, for we all need to be fed with such words. We all need our faith to be watered with love, with charity and with inspiration, so that each of us can fulfill his-her call to be salt for the earth, and light for the world (cf Mt 5:13-16).