Pope quotes bishop from 1700 years ago

One of the many great things our Pope Benedict XVI is doing is quietly and in an easy to understand manner teaching the basic foundations of our two thousand year old faith in the words of those men and women who actually lived it.

I am always boggled by non-Catholic Christians who think that the church fell out of the sky at the time of the "Reformation." Here the Pope teaches about a Catholic bishop who lived 300 years after Jesus Christ.

(Just a fact for further perspective. By the beginning of the 4th century when Afraates lived there had already been just over thirty Popes in sequence, having started with St. Peter the Apostle, of course, as the first Pope. Since many Popes did not have long individual reigns, some due to martyrdom or mishap, there is already a long unbroken chain of authentic Popes even by the time of this bishop, who lived only 300 years after Jesus Christ himself was on earth. If one looks at the continuity of the message and the theological faith and history the Catholic Church is truly a miracle of continuity of the message of Christ and the legacy of the original Apostles).

http://www.zenit.org/article-21071?l=english

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The Pope concluded this during today's general audience in which he presented the teachings of Bishop Afraates "the wise," who lived in what is modern day Iraq. The Pontiff called the bishop "one of the most important and enigmatic characters of fourth-century Syriac Christianity."

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While the Pontiff explained that little is known of Afraates' life, he did leave 23 speeches known as "Expositions," in which he discusses various topics of Christian life.

"He writes in a simple style, with short sentences and at times contrasting parallelisms; nevertheless he manages to make consistent speeches by developing articulated arguments," said Benedict XVI.

He noted that one of the most important teachings of the bishop is on prayer, "and particularly on Christ as the master of prayer."

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The Holy Father cited a prayer written by Afraates: "Prayer is accepted when it gives relief to your neighbor. The prayer is heard when it includes the forgiveness of sins. Prayer is strong when it is full of God’s strength."

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"A man that has been injured in battle," says Aphraates, "is not ashamed to put himself in the hands of a doctor. ... Equally so, he who has been injured by Satan should not be ashamed to admit his fault and to distance himself from it, asking for the medicine of penance."

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"It is not a secondary consideration in the spiritual life of a Christian," said the Pope. "By remaining humble, even in his earthly surroundings, a Christian can establish a relationship with the Lord."

"God is attracted to the man who loves, it is right to love humility and to stay humble," the Holy Father said, quoting Aphraates. "Humble individuals are simple, patient, loving, honest, righteous, experts in what is good, prudent, serene, wise, calm, peaceful, merciful, ready to convert, benevolent, profound, thoughtful, beautiful and attractive."

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I used olive color for the "snip" markers, imagining picking olives, since I forgot to buy some for my Thanksgiving relish tray LOL.