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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus
Message
ALL SAINTS DAY
On All Saints' Day
"God Invites Everyone to Form Part of His Holy People"
H.H. Benedict XVI
November 1, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
On this solemnity of All Saints' Day, our hearts surpass the limits
of time and space and open up to the vastness of heaven. In the
early days of Christianity, the members of the Church were also
called "saints." In the first Letter to the Corinthians, for
example, St. Paul addresses "you who have been sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours" (1
Corinthians 1:2). In fact, the Christian is already holy, because
baptism unites him to Jesus and the paschal mystery, but at the same
time he has to become holy, conforming himself to Jesus ever more
intimately.
Sometimes it is thought that sainthood is a privilege reserved only
for the chosen few. Actually, to become a saint is the task of every
Christian, and what's more, we could even say it's the task of
everyone! The Apostle wrote that God has blessed us from all
eternity and has chosen us in Christ "to be holy and without blemish
before him" (Ephesians 1:3-4). All human beings are therefore called
to sainthood, which ultimately consists in living as children of
God, in that "likeness" to him according to which humanity was
created.
All human beings are children of God, and they all should become
what they are through the demanding path of freedom. God invites
everyone to form part of his holy people. The "way" is Christ, the
son, the Holy One of God: No one reaches the Father if not through
him (cf. John 14:6).
The Church has wisely placed in close succession the feast of All
Saints' Day with the commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. May
our prayers of praise to God and veneration of the beatific souls,
whom today's liturgy presents to us as "a great multitude, which no
one could count, from every nation, race, people and tongue"
(Revelation 7:9), be united to our intercessory prayers for those
who have preceded us in the passage from this world to eternal life.
To them we will dedicate our prayers tomorrow in a special manner,
and celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice. In fact, the Church invites
us to pray for them every day, offering our daily sufferings and
weariness so that, completely purified, they may enjoy forever the
light and peace of the Lord.
In the center of the assembly of saints shines the Virgin Mary,
"humble and more exalted than any creature" (Dante, Paradise,
XXXIII, 2). Placing our hand in hers, we feel ready to walk with
more energy along the way of sainthood. To her we entrust our daily
tasks, and we pray to her today for our dearly departed with the
profound hope of one day finding ourselves together again with them
in the glorious community of saints.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[After the Angelus, the Pope greeted the people in several
languages. In English, he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at
today's Angelus. The Solemnity of All Saints calls us to deepen our
communion with the great figures of the Church who radiate the
splendour of God’s kingdom of truth and love.
May we strive to imitate their heroic virtues and follow their
example along the path of perfection. I wish you and your families a
happy feast day. May God bless you all!
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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