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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On Being Unafraid
"He Who Fears God Feels Interiorly the Security of a Child"
H.H. Benedict XVI
June 22, 2008
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus teaches us on the one hand "not to be
afraid of men" and on the other hand to "fear" God (cf. Matthew
10:26, 28). We are thus moved to reflect on the difference that
exists between human fears and the fear of God.
Fear is a natural part of life. From the time we are children we
experience forms of fear that are revealed to be imaginary or that
disappear. There are other fears that follow them that have a
precise basis in reality: These must be faced and overcome by human
effort and confidence in God. But there is also -- and today above
all -- a more profound form of fear of an existential type that
sometimes overflows into anxiety: It is born from a sense of
emptiness that is linked to a culture that is permeated by a
widespread theoretical and practical nihilism.
In the face of the ample and diversified panorama of human fears,
the word of God is clear: He who "fears" the Lord is "not afraid."
The fear of God, which the Scriptures define as the "beginning of
true wisdom," coincides with faith in God, with the sacred respect
for his authority over life and the world. Being "without the fear
of God" is equivalent to putting ourselves in his place, feeling
ourselves to be masters of good and evil, of life and death.
But he who fears God feels interiorly the security of a child in the
arms of his mother (cf. Psalm 130:2): He who fears God is calm even
in the midst of storms, because God, as Jesus has revealed to us, is
a Father who is full of mercy and goodness. He who loves God is not
afraid: "In love there is no fear," writes the Apostle John.
"Perfect love," he goes on, "casts out fear because fear has to do
with punishment and whoever is afraid is not perfected in love" (1
John 4:18).
The believer, therefore, is not afraid of anything, because he knows
that he is in the hands of God, he knows that evil is irrational and
does not have the last word, and that Christ alone is the Lord of
the world and life, the Incarnate Word of God, he knows that Christ
loved us to the point of sacrificing himself, dying on the cross for
our salvation.
The more we grow in this intimacy with God, impregnated with love,
the more easily we will defeat every kind of fear. In today's Gospel
passage Jesus exhorts us twice not to be afraid. He reassures us as
he did the apostles, as he did St. Paul, appearing to him is a
vision one night in a particularly difficult moment in his
preaching: "Do not be afraid," Jesus said to him, "for I am with
you" (Acts 18:9). Strengthened by Christ's presence and comforted by
his love, the Apostle of the Gentiles did not even fear martyrdom.
We are preparing to celebrate the bimillennium of St. Paul's birth
with a special jubilee year. May this great spiritual and pastoral
event awaken in us, too, a renewed confidence in Jesus Christ, who
calls us to announce and witness to his Gospel without being afraid
of anything.
I invite you, then, dear brothers and sisters, to prepare yourselves
to celebrate with faith this Pauline Year, which, if it may please
God, I will solemnly open next Saturday evening at 6 p.m. in the
Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, with the first vespers for
the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. From this moment we entrust
this great ecclesial initiative to the intercession of St. Paul and
Mary most holy, Queen of the Apostles and Mother of Christ, source
of our joy and our peace.
[Following the Angelus the Pope made the following remarks:]
With great emotion I learned this morning of the ferry that was
capsized in the typhoon that has raged in the Philippines. As I
assure the people of these islands who have suffered from Typhoon
Fengshen of my spiritual nearness, I offer a prayer to the Lord for
the victims of this new tragedy at sea in which many children also
seem to have been involved.
Today in Beirut, capital of Lebanon, Yaaqub da Ghazir Haddad, whose
name in the world was Khalil, a priest of the Order of Capuchin
Friars Minor and founder of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters
of the Cross of Lebanon, was beatified. Felicitations to his
spiritual daughters. I hope with all my heart that the intercession
of Blessed Abuna Yaaqub, joined with that of the saints of Lebanon,
will obtain for that beloved and martyred country, which has
suffered too much, progress toward a stable peace.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[The Holy Father also greeted the people in various languages. In
English, he said:]
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors
gathered for this Angelus prayer. Today's Gospel reminds us that we
are personally loved by our heavenly Father, whose providence
watches over us and frees us from all fear. May these consoling
words strengthen us in our witness to the joy and hope proclaimed by
the Gospel! Upon you and your families I cordially invoke the grace
and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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