AMGELUS TODAY
The Holy Father led noontime Angelus prayers in St. Peter's Square after returning from his pastoral visit to the Roman suburb of Prato Fiorito.
Here is a translation of his words before and after the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters:
On this third Sunday of Advent, the liturgy offers us a passage from the Letter of St. James which opens weith this exhortation: "Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord" (James 5,7).
I think it is even more important, in our day, to underscore the importance of constancy and patience, virtues that belonged to the normal baggage of our fathers, but that are less popular today, ina world that instead exalts change and teh capacity to adapt to ever newer and more diverse situations.
Without taking away anything from these aspects, which are qualities of the human being, Advent alls on us to potentiate that interior tenacity, the resistance of teh spirit that allows us not to despasir of waiting for a good that is late in coming, but rather to await it by preparing for this coming with active trust.
"See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth", St. James writes, "being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord is at hand" (James 5,7-8).
The comparison with the peasant is very expressive: he who sows his field faces months of patient and constant waiting, but he knows that meanwhile, the seed will complete its cycle, thanks to the rains of autumn and spring.
The farmer is not a fatalist, but he is the model for a mentality which unites faith and reason in a balanced way, because on the one hand, he knows the laws of nature and does his work well; and on the other hand, he trusts in Providence, because some fundamental things are not in his hands, but in God's hands. Patience and perseverance constitute a synthesis of human commitment and trust in God.
"Cheer up your hearts", Scripture says. How can we do this? How can we make our hearts stronger, already fragile as they are, and made even more unstable by the culture in which we are immersed?
We do not lack for help: We have the Word of God. Indeed, while everything passes and changes, the Word of the Lord does not pass away. If the events of life make us feel lost and every certainty seems to crumble, we have a compass to find our orientation, we have an anchor so that we do not end up drifting.
The model offered us in today's liturgy is that of the prophets, namely, those persons whom God has called on to speak in his name. The prophet finds his joy and his strength in the Word of the Lord, and even as men often seek happiness through ways that prove to be wrong, he announces true hope, that which does not disappoint because it is founded on fidelity to God.
Every Christian, by virtue of baptism, receives the dignity of the prophet: May everyone rediscover it and nourish it, with assiduous listening to the Divien Word. May this be obtained for us by the Virgin Mary, whom the Gospel calls 'blessed' because she believed in teh fulfillment of the words of God. (cfr Lk 1,45).
After the prayers, he said this:
My first greeting goes today to the children and young people of Rome, who have come here for the traditional blessing of the Bambinelli for their Nativity scenes.
Dear young friends, when you place the Baby Jesus in a cave or in a stable, say a prayer for the Pope and his intentions. Thank you.
I also greet your parents, teachers and catechists, and I thank the Centro Oratori Romani for the initiative, as well as the friends of the pediatric dispensary Santa Marta.
I also wish to remind you that next Thursday afternoon, December 16, I will celebrate in St. Peter's Basilica the Liturgy of Vespers with the students of the Roman universities, in preparation for the Holy Nativity.
In English, he said this:
I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for our Angelus prayer. The liturgy of this Third Sunday of Advent, marked by joyful expectation of the Lord’s coming, invites us to open our eyes to the many signs of Christ’s saving power in our midst.
May these days of preparation for Christmas be for all of us a time of attentiveness to God’s word, genuine conversion and interior renewal. Upon you and your families I invoke joy and peace in Jesus our Saviour.
'Today's Gospel teaches
patience and perseverance'
12 DEC 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict arrived back at the Vatican Sunday in time for the recitation of the Angelus, after a a pre-Christmas pastoral visit to the Roman parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
For Italian children, the third Sunday of Advent is a very special day to be in St Peter’s Square as it is the time when the Holy Father blesses the 'Bambinelli' (Baby Jesus) images for the Nativity scenes in their homes.
On this rather chilly Sunday, an estimated 25,000 people packed into the square which included around 2 thousand children.
Greeting them in particular after the Marian prayer the Pope said, "When you place your Baby Jesus in a cave or stable, say a prayer for the Pope and his intentions."
Before reciting the Angelus prayer Pope Benedict described Advent as a time that encourages greater use of "that inner toughness, that strength of soul that allow us not to despair, in our waiting for a good that is slow to come, but await it, he said, indeed, prepare for it with confidence".
“May these days of preparation for Christmas be for all of us a time of attentiveness to God’s word, genuine conversion and interior renewal.”
The Pope also drew inspiration from a passage in the Letter of St. James, which says “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord."
Referring to this text he underlined the importance of perseverance and patience, virtues he said, that belonged to the regular abilities of our ancestors, but are now less popular in a world that instead exalts change and the ability to adapt to new and different situations.”
The Pope then called on people to open their hearts, which, he said, can become fragile by events in daily life, to the Word of God which does not pass and anchors us so as not to go adrift.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/12/2010 20:02]