Pope says Christ is with church, like he was with disciples in storm

Published: 2006-03-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite troubles and tensions, Christ is with his church just as he was with the disciples caught in a storm on the sea, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope, thanking retired Cardinal Marco Ce of Venice for leading his March 5-11 Lenten retreat, said the cardinal's 22 meditations strengthened him and top Vatican officials. The weeklong retreat, the pope said, was a "period of physical and spiritual rest." Pope Benedict also spoke about his retreat March 12 during his midday recitation of the Angelus with thousands of visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square. Comparing the retreat to the disciples' experience of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, the Sunday Gospel reading, the pope spoke about the "grace of having a strong experience of God." For a moment, he said, it gives people a hint of heaven. "Usually, it is a brief experience which God occasionally concedes, especially in view of harsh trials," the pope said. "No one, however, can live on Tabor while on this earth," he said.

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