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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On the Definitive Exodus
"From the Kingdom of Evil to the Kingdom of God"
H.H. Benedict XVI
December 7, 2008
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
For a week now we have been experiencing the liturgical season of
Advent: a time of openness to God's future, a time of preparation
for Christmas, when he, the Lord, who is the absolute novelty, came
to dwell in the midst of this fallen humanity to renew it from
within. In the Advent liturgy there resounds a message full of hope,
which invites us to lift up our gaze to the ultimate horizon, but at
the same time to recognize the signs of God-with-us in the present.
On this second Sunday of Advent, the Word of God assumes the
emotional aspects of the so-called Deutero-Isaiah, which finally
announces liberation to the Israelites, who have suffered decades of
bitter exile in Babylon: "Comfort, give comfort to my people," the
prophet says in God's name. "Speak to Jerusalem's heart and tell her
that her tribulation is over" (Isaiah 40:1-2). This is what the Lord
wants to do in Advent: to speak to the heart of his people and,
through them, to the whole of humanity, to proclaim salvation.
Today as well the Church's voice is lifted up: "Prepare a way for
the Lord in the desert" (Isaiah 40:3). For populations worn out by
misery and hunger, for throngs of refugees, for those who suffer
grave and systematic violations of their rights, the Church is as a
sentinel on the mountain of faith and she announces to them: "Behold
your God! The Lord your God comes in power" (Isaiah 40:11).
This prophetic announcement is realized in Jesus Christ. He, with
his preaching and then with his death and resurrection, fulfilled
the ancient promises, revealing a deeper and more universal
perspective. He inaugurated an exodus that was no longer a merely
earthly, historical, and as such provisional, exodus, but one that
was radical and definitive: the passage from the kingdom of evil to
the Kingdom of God, from the dominion of sin and death to that of
love and life. Because of this, Christian hope transcends the
legitimate desire for a social and political liberation, because
that what Jesus began is a new humanity that comes "from God," but
that at the same time germinates on our earth, to the extent that it
lets itself be impregnated by the Spirit of the Lord. It is thus a
matter of entering fully into the logic of faith: believing in God,
in his plan of salvation, and also working for the building up of
his Kingdom. Justice and peace, in fact, are God's gift, but they
require men and women who are "good soil," ready to receive the good
seed of his Word.
Jesus is the first fruit of this new humanity, the Son of God and
the Son of Mary. She, the Virgin Mother, is the "way" that God
himself prepared for his coming into the world. With all her
humility, Mary walks at the head of the new Israel in the exodus
from every exile, from all oppression, from every moral and material
slavery, toward "the new heavens and the new earth, in which justice
lives" (2 Peter 3:13). Let us entrust the desire for peace and
salvation of the men of our time to her maternal intercession.
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various
languages. In Italian he said:]
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Alexy II, died
on Friday. We join our Orthodox brethren in prayer to recommend his
soul to the goodness of the Lord, that he might welcome him into
this kingdom of light and peace.
On Thursday, Dec. 11, in the afternoon, following the Holy Mass at
which Cardinal Agostino Vallini will preside, I will meet with the
students of the Roman universities in the Basilica of St. Peter. In
observance of the Pauline Year, I will give the young students the
Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans. I will be happy to greet the
students, along with the rectors, the professors and the technical
and administrative staffs at this traditional gathering in
preparation for Christmas.
I am happy to address a special greeting to the Chierici Mariani
dell’Immacolata Concezione, who are beginning the jubilee of the
rebirth and reform of their congregation. Dear brothers, may the
Virgin Mary obtain abundant graces for you and help you always to
remain faithful to your charism.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[In English he said:]
I greet the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims who are gathered
here today. The Church puts before us, on this second Sunday of
Advent, the figure of John the Baptist, the voice crying in the
wilderness: "Prepare a way for the Lord". During this Advent season,
as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Christ, let us prepare a
place for him in our hearts. I invoke God's abundant blessings upon
all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home.
© Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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