ANGELUS TODAY
I'm so glad there were so many photos taken today at the Angelus. From the EWTN broadcast, he looked and sounded very well, Deo gratias!
Jesus heals a leper:
It evokes salvation history,
says Pope Benedict
February 12, 2012
Healing beyond the physical was the theme of Pope Benedict’s weekly Angelus address, delivered this morning in St. Peter’s Square. The Holy Father spoke about today’s Gospel, which relates how a leper had come to Christ, saying “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus replied, saying, “I do will it, be made clean.”
“In that gesture and in those words of Christ,” the Pope said, “is the whole history of salvation - it embodies the will of God to heal, to cleanse us from the evil that disfigures us and destroys our relationships”.
Pope Benedict gave an “existential commentary” on this Gospel passage in the life of Saint Francis, who recognised Christ in a leper. When, overcoming his initial revulsion, Francis embraced the leper, “Jesus healed him of his leprosy — that is, his pride — and converted him to the love of God. This,” the Pope said, “is the victory of Christ, which is our deep healing and our resurrection to new life!”
The Pope concluded his remarks with a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose apparition at Lourdes was commemorated yesterday. Our Lady, he said, gave to St. Bernadette, the visionary of Lourdes, a timeless message: the call to prayer and penance.
At the end of his address, Pope Benedict made an urgent appeal for an end to violence and bloodshed in Syria. He called all people to remember in prayer the victims of the conflict. And he called on everyone—and above all the political authorities in Syria—to favor the path of dialogue, reconciliation and commitment to peace.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words:
Dear brothers and sisters:
Last Sunday, we saw that Jesus, in his public life, healed many sick persons, showing that ?God wants life for man, life in full. .
The Gospel this Sunday (Mk 1,40-45) shows us Jesus in contact with the disease that was considered at that time as the worst of all because it made the person 'impure' and therefore to be excluded from social relationships. We speak of leprosy.
A special law (cfr Lv 13-14) reserved to priests the task of declaring a person 'leprous', meaning impure. Likewise, it was up to the priest to recognize if he was healed and therefore to readmit the the healed patient to normal life.
As Jesus preached in the villages of Galilee, a leper came to him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean". Jesus did not avoid contact with the man, but prompted by his intimate participation in his condition, held out his hand to touch him - violating a legal ban - and said, "I do will it. Be made clean".
In that gesture and in those words of Christ is contained the entire history of salvation - embodying the will of God to heal us, to purify us of the evil that disfigures us and ruins our relationships.
In that contact between Jesus and the leper, every barrier came down between God and human impurity, between the sacred and its opposite, certainly not to deny the existence of evil and its negative power, but to show that the love of God is stronger than any evil, even that which is most contagious and horrible.
Jesus took upon himself our infirmities - he took on our leprosy so that we could be purified.
A splendid existential commentary to this Gospel episode is the famous experience of St. Francis of Assisi that he summarizes thus at the start of his spiritual testament: "The Lord said to me, Brother Francis, to start doing penitence this way. When I was in sin, it seemed to me too repellent to look at lepers. But the Lord himself led me to be among them and I employed mercy with them. Leaving them, what had seemed repellent to me became a gentleness of spirit and body. Afterwards, I waited a while and then left the world" (FF, 110).
Jesus was present In those lepers, whom Francis met when he was still, as he said, 'in sin'. And when he approached one of them, overcoming his own repugnance, embraced him, Jesus healed him, Francis of his own leprosy - namely, of his pride - converting him to the love of God.
Such is the victory of Christ, who is our profound healing and our resurrection to a new life.
Dear friends, let us address our prayer to the Virgin Mary, whom we celebrated yesterday in commemorating her apparitions in Lourdes. Our Lady conveyed to St. Bernadette a message that is ever actual: the invitation to prayer and to penitence.
Through his Mother, Jesus always comes to us to free us of every ailment of the body and the soul. Let us allow ourselves to be touched and purified by him, and let us use mercy towards our brothers.
After the prayers, he said this:
I have been following with much apprehension the tragic and growing episodes of violence in Syria. In recent days, they have resulted in numerous victims. I remember the victims in prayer, among whom are children; the wounded, and all who suffer the consequences of a conflict that has become ever more a cause of concern.
I also renew an urgent appeal to put an end to the violence and bloodshed. Finally, I call on everyone - especially the political authorities in Syria - to choose the way of dialog, of reconciliation and of commitment to peace.
It is urgent to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the various components of the nation, as well as to the hopes of the international community that is concerned for the common good of the entire society and the region.
In English, he said:
I am pleased to welcome all of you to Saint Peter’s Square on this cold morning, especially the students and staff of Sion-Manning School from London.
At Mass today, the Gospel tells us of how our Lord willingly cured a leper. May we not be afraid to go to Jesus, beg him to heal our sinfulness, and bring us safely to eternal life. God bless you and your loved ones!
A small item I ought to have seen earlier - since it is a denial story, I will simply piggyback it on this post:
Pope has no plans
to visit Iran
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 12 (AP) — The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI receives many invitations and that a trip to Lebanon is under consideration but that there are no plans for a visit to Iran.
The Italian news agency ANSA on Wednesday quoted Iran's ambassador to the Holy See as saying Iran issued an invitation to the Pope in 2010 and that he would be welcomed to that country with "enthusiasm."
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the Pope does have a Middle East trip "under study," a possible September visit to Lebanon to present a document on the future of the church in the region.
But why didn't the reporters ask Lombardi about Dublin??? It's a far more likely possibiiity than Iran!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/02/2012 07:21]