Vatican City, Oct 24, 2007 / 07:03 am
In front of more than 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI held his weekly general audience today. The Church Father he turned his attention to for his catechesis was St. Ambrose of Milan.
Benedict said that Ambrose's example should teach everyone that living out the faith cannot be a role that they play like a clown, but rather that their faith and life should be one seamless witness.
The Holy Father demonstrated that St. Ambrose achieved this union by meditating on the Scriptures, a method that he learned from Origen. Benedict explained that it was Ambrose who "brought meditation upon the Scriptures into the Latin world, ... introducing the practice of 'lectio divina' to the West." This practice "guided all his own preaching and writing which flow, in fact, from his listening ... to the Word of God."
The bishop saint made certain that those who wished to become Christians "learnt first the art of correct living" in order "to be prepared for the great Mysteries of Christ." His preaching was founded on "the reading of Sacred Scripture" with the aim of "living in conformity with divine Revelation.