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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On Preparing the Scene for the Word
"The Word of God Is the Subject That Moves History"
H.H. Benedict XVI
December 6, 2009
www.zenit.org
Dear
brothers and sisters!
On this second Sunday of Advent the liturgy proposes the Gospel
passage in which St. Luke prepares the scene, so to speak, in which
Jesus will open and begin his public mission (Luke 3:1-6). The
evangelist shines the spotlight on John the Baptist, who was the
precursor of the Messiah, and traces with great precision the
coordinates in space and time of his preaching. Luke writes: "In the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his
brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of
Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of
Zechariah in the desert" (Luke 3:1-2). Two things draw our
attention. The first is the abundance of references to all the
political and religious authorities of Palestine in 27-28 A.D.
Evidently the evangelist wants to point out to the reader or
listener that the Gospel is not a myth, but the account of a true
story, that Jesus of Nazareth is a historical personage inserted in
that precise context. The second element worthy of note is that,
after this ample historical introduction, the subject becomes "the
word of God," presented as a force that descends from on high and
comes to rest upon John the Baptist.
Tomorrow is the liturgical memorial of St. Ambrose, the great Bishop
of Milan. I take from a comment of his on this evangelical text:
"The Son of God," he writes, "before gathering the Church together,
acts first of all in his humble servant. Thus, St. Luke says well
that the word of God descended upon John, the son of Zachariah, in
the desert, because the Church did not have its beginning from men,
but from the Word" (Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam Libris X
Comprehensa, 2, 67). This, therefore is the meaning: The Word of God
is the subject that moves history, inspires prophets, prepares the
way for the Messiah, convokes the Church. Jesus himself is the
divine Word that became flesh in Mary's virginal womb: In him God is
fully revealed, he has spoken and given us everything, opening the
treasuries of his truth and of his mercy to us. St. Ambrose
continues in his commentary: "So, the Word descended that the earth,
which before had been a desert, would produce its fruits for us"
(ibid.).
Dear friends, the most beautiful flower that has sprung up from the
word of God is the Virgin Mary. She is the first fruits of the
Church, garden of God on earth. But, while Mary is the Immaculate
One -- as we will celebrate her the day after tomorrow -- the Church
has constant need of purifying herself, because sin infects all her
members. In the Church there is always a struggle taking place
between the desert and the garden, between the sin that parches the
earth and the grace that waters it so that it produces abundant
fruits of holiness. Let us therefore pray to the Mother of the Lord
that she will help us, in this Advent season, to "straighten" our
ways, letting ourselves be guided by the word of God.
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various
languages. In Italian he said:]
Tomorrow there will open in Copenhagen the U.N. conference on
climate change through which the international community intends to
fight global warming. I hope that the work will help to identify
actions respectful of creation and favorable to solidary development
founded on the dignity of the human person and oriented toward the
common good. The safeguarding of creation requires sober and
responsible lifestyles that would benefit the poor and future
generations. In this perspective, to guarantee the conferences
complete success, I invite all persons of good will to respect the
laws placed by God in nature and to rediscover the moral dimension
of human life.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[In English he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for
this Angelus. In today’s Gospel we hear the voice of John the
Baptist calling out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the
Lord!" May this Advent season be for us a time of repentance so
that, when Christ comes, we may welcome Him with joy, share in his
wisdom and become one with him. Upon each of you and your loved ones
at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings!
A good Sunday to all!
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