Here’s an analysis that might be helpful to reporters getting ready for the papal visit: John Thavis of CNS does a very nice job of examining the Pope’s Psalm Sunday homily and drawing from it continuing themes of Benedict’s message:

The exclusion of God from personal and social life, the pope has argued, inevitably leads to the idea that “we ourselves are our only measure.” The resulting problems, he said, already can be seen, and include widespread alienation and unhappiness, diminished respect for human life, and environmental irresponsibility.

This is the bread and butter of Pope Benedict’s teaching ministry. He relies heavily and creatively on Scripture, convinced that New Testament parables and Old Testament lessons can speak to the modern human condition.
He explores the relationship between truth and freedom in terms that are designed to be provocative, because he believes the faith should prod and challenge people. As he once said, the church should be teaching people that it’s not enough to be and think “more or less like everyone else.”
And he always draws these prescriptions back to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
As he said during his last foreign trip, to Austria in September, Christianity is “more than and different from a moral code, from a series of requirements and laws. It is the gift of friendship that lasts through life and death.”
The pope’s U.S. audiences will no doubt hear a similar exploration of the roots of the faith.
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