Vatican City, Nov 5, 2008 / 10:16 am
In the presence of thousands at St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI continued his weekly teachings on St. Paul, speaking about the apostle’s proclamation of the resurrection. The Holy Father noted that the true believer obtains salvation professing with his lips that Jesus is Lord and believing in his heart that God has raised him from the dead.
Looking at St. Paul, the Pontiff explained, we are offered an example of how to evangelize, explained the Holy Father. In preaching Jesus Christ risen from the dead, “St. Paul is not concerned with presenting a comprehensive doctrinal exposition, but approaches the subject by responding to the concrete doubts and queries that were put to him by the faithful.”
St. Paul concentrated "on essentials: we have been 'justified' - that its made just, saved - by Christ Who died and rose for us. What emerges above all is the fact of the resurrection, without which Christian life would be simply absurd.”
"On that Easter morning,” the Holy Father continued, "something extraordinary yet at the same time very real happened, something marked by specific signs recorded by numerous witnesses.” For Paul, “the resurrection is linked to the testimony of those who had direct experience” with the risen Christ. This not only involved seeing and feeing, but also with “an inner light that compels us to recognize what the exterior senses record as objective fact.”