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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus
Message
On the Parables of Mercy
"The Road That Jesus Shows"
H.H. Benedict XVI
September 16, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Today the liturgy re-proposes for our meditation the 15th chapter of
the Gospel of Luke, one of the high points and one of the most
moving of all pages of sacred Scripture. It is beautiful to think
that wherever in the whole world the Christian community gathers to
celebrate the Sunday Eucharist, there resounds on this day this good
news of truth and of salvation: God is merciful love. The evangelist
Luke has gathered together three parables of divine mercy in this
chapter. The two shorter ones that are also found in Matthew and
Mark are those of the lost sheep and the lost coin; the third one --
long, detailed and unique to Luke’s Gospel -- is the celebrated
parable of the merciful Father, typically referred to as the
"parable of the prodigal son."
In this page of the Gospel it seems as though we can almost hear the
voice of Jesus, who reveals the countenance of his Father and our
Father. At bottom, this is what he came into the world for: To speak
to us of the Father; to make him known to us, lost children, and to
reawaken in our hearts the joy of belonging to him, the hope of
being forgiven and restored to our full dignity, the desire to live
in his house forever, the house that is also our house.
Jesus recounted the three parables of mercy because the Pharisees
and the scribes spoke ill of him, seeing that he allowed sinners to
draw near to him and he even ate with them (cf. Luke 15:1-3). Thus,
he explained, with his usual language, that God does not want even
one of his children to be lost and his soul overflows with joy when
a sinner converts. True religion therefore consists in being in tune
with this heart "rich in mercy," which asks us to love everyone,
even those who are distant and those who are our enemies, imitating
the heavenly Father who respects everyone’s freedom and draws all to
himself with the invincible force of his fidelity. This is the road
that Jesus shows to those who want to be his disciples: "Do not
judge … do not condemn … forgive and you will be forgiven; give and
it will be given to you … be merciful as your Father in heaven is
merciful" (Luke 6:36-38). In these parables we find very concrete
indications for our daily conduct as believers.
In our time, humanity needs the mercy of God to be vigorously
proclaimed and witnessed to. The beloved John Paul II, who was a
great apostle of divine mercy, intuited this pastoral urgency. He
dedicated his second encyclical to the merciful Father and
throughout his pontificate he was a missionary of mercy to all
nations. After the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, which obscured
the dawn of the third millennium, he invited Christians and men of
good will to believe that God’s mercy is stronger than every evil
and that in the cross of Christ there is found the salvation of the
world. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, whom we contemplated
yesterday as the sorrowful one at the foot of the cross, obtain for
us the gift of always trusting in the love of God, and may she help
us to be merciful as our Father in heaven.
[After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father addressed the pilgrims
gathered at Castel Gandolfo in Italian, saying:]
This morning in Poland, at the shrine of Lichen, Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, my secretary of state, in my name proclaimed as blessed
Father Stanislao Papczynski, founder of the Congregation of Marian
Clerics. I address a cordial greeting to the faithful gathered
together for this happy occasion and to the many people who are
devoted to this newly beatified son of the Church in whom they
venerate a priest who was exemplary in preaching, in the formation
of the laity, a father of the poor and an apostle of intercessory
prayer for the dead.
And also this morning in Bordeaux, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins,
prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, in my name
proclaimed as blessed Sister Marie Celine of the Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, a professed nun of the Second Order of St.
Francis. She wanted her life, which was marked by the cross, to be a
sign of Christ’s love, as she herself said: "I thirst to be a rose
of charity."
I would also like to mention Father Basile Antoine-Marie Moreau,
founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, who was beatified
yesterday in Le Mans by Cardinal Saraiva Martins. I entrust in a
special way to the intercession of these newly beatified their
spiritual sons and daughters, that they follow with ardor the
luminous testimony of the prophets of God, who is Lord of every
life.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the "Montreal
Protocol" on the substances that deplete the ozone layer, causing
grave damage for human beings and the ecosystem. In the last two
decades, thanks to exemplary collaboration between politicians,
scientists and economists within the international community,
important results have been obtained with positive repercussions on
present and future generations. I desire that, on the part of
everyone, cooperation intensify to the end of promoting the common
good, development, and the safeguarding of creation, returning to
the alliance between man and the environment, which must be a mirror
of God the Creator, from whom we come and toward whom we are
journeying.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[In English, the Holy Father said:]
I extend heartfelt greetings to the English-speaking visitors here
today. In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear of God’s infinite merciful
love for all those who stray from the right path. With great
confidence we turn to him and ask his forgiveness for the times we
may have offended him. Upon all of you, and upon your families and
loved ones at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[Again in Italian, the Holy Father said:]
I am happy to welcome the prior general and the confreres of the
Order of St. Augustine, who are celebrating their general chapter in
these days. I assure them of a remembrance in prayer, that the Lord
favor with abundant graces the work of the chapter and the life of
the entire order in the various countries of the world in which it
is present.
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