ANGELUS TODAY
Pope Benedict on Gaudete Sunday:
'Look to the light of Christ
not the lights of commercialism'
December 11, 2011
Pope Benedict began his Sunday at the Roman parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie where he celebrated Mass and underlined the importance of community spirit. He also referred to the season of Advent which was a theme he returned to back at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus.
He told the faithful in St Peter’s Square that Christians were called to live this period before Christmas without being distracted by commercial messages and by the festive lights even if low key as a result of the economic crisis.
Instead, he continued, they should look to Christ the “true light of the world”.
In this season, he said “ we should live waiting for Jesus, and not stop waiting for his coming.”
As is tradition on this particular Sunday of Advent, thousands of children with their parents gathered in St Peter’s Square for the traditional blessing of the “bambinelli”, the little statuettes of the baby Jesus that are placed in the manger of their home Nativity scenes.
To the children, the Holy Father had a special message. “Dear children,” he said, “when you pray in front of your Nativity scene, remember me as well, as I remember you. Thank you and Merry Christmas!”
Reflecting on this Sunday’s liturgy called “Gaudete” the Pope said, it was an invitation to a joyful and not a sad watchfulness.
The essence of true joy underlined the Pope is not having fun in order to divert ourselves from our responsibilities, which at times is important, but it is something much more, it is our ability to have a true relationship with God.
Before his pluri-lingual greetings to the faithful, the Pope recalled the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and stressed that the first right is the right to life.
He also welcomed the representatives of the Movement for Life, who are in Rome for the ‘Mother of Teresa Prize’, which is awarded in memory of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolari Movement.
To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present today for this Angelus prayer. In today’s Gospel, we hear the voice of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness, encouraging us to prepare the way of the Lord. Through renewed faith, prayer and penance, may we too become authentic heralds of the Lord’s coming among us at Christmas. May God bless all of you!
Here is a full translation of the Pope's words at the Angelus yesterday:
Dear brothers and sisters:
The liturgical texts of this season of Advent renew the invitation for us to live awaiting Jesus, not to cease expecting his coming, so we can keep ourselves in an attitude of openness and readiness for the encounter with him.
The vigilance of the heart which the Christian is called on to exercise always in everyday life, especially characterizes this time during which we prepare with joy for the mystery of the Nativity (cfr Advent Preface II).
The external environment offers the usual commercial messages, even if perhaps to a lesser degree because of the economic crisis. The Christian is invited to live Advent without being distracted by the lights, but knowing how to give the right value to things, in order to keep our interior sight on Christ.
If, in fact, we persevere, "vigilant in prayer and exultant in praise" (ibid.), our eyes will be able to recognize in him the true light of the world who comes to illuminate our shadows.
In particular, the liturgy for this Sunday, called Gaudete Sunday, invites us to rejoice, to a vigilance that is not sad but joyous. "Gaudete in Domino semper" - rejoice in God always - St. Paul writes (Phil 4,4).
True joy is not the fruit of diverting oneself, in the etymological sense of the word di-vertire, namely, to escape the tasks of life and its responsibilities. True joy is bound to something more profound. Of course, it is important to find time, in the daily pace of life that is often frenetic, for rest, for relaxation, but true joy is bound to our relationship with God.
Whoever has encountered Christ in his own life experiences in the heart a serenity and joy that no one and no situation can take away. St. Augustine understood this very well. In his search for truth, for peace, for joy, after having searched for them in vain in multiple things, he concluded with the famous statement that the human heart is restless, and cannot find serenity and peace until it rests in God (cfr Confessions, I,1,1).
True joy is not a simple and fleeting state of mind, nor something one achieves through one's own efforts, but a gift. It is born from the encounter with the living person of Jesus, from making room for him in us, from welcoming the Holy Spirit who guides our life.
It is the invitation by the Apostle Paul who says, "May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Ts 5,23).
During this Advent, let us reinforce the certainty that the Lord has come among us and continuously renews his presence of comfort, love and joy. Let us trust in him. As St. Augustine also says, in the light of his experience, the Lord is closer to us than we are to ourselves - "interior intimo meo et superior summo meo" (Confessions, III,6,11).
Let us entrust our journey to the Immaculate Virgin whose spirit exulted in God the Savior. May she guide our hearts in joyously awaiting the coming of Jesus, a waiting that is rich in prayer and good works.
After the prayers, he had a number of messages:
Dear brothers and sisters, today my first greeting is for the children of Rome who have come for the traditional blessing of the bambinelli ([statuettes of the Baby Jesus] organized by the Centro Oratori Romani ['oratorio', plural oratori, is the Italian word for a parish recreation center].
Thank you to everyone! Dear children, when you pray before your Christmas creches, remember me as I remember you. I thank you, and have a Merry Christmas!
I am happy to greet the representatives of the Movement for Life from various European countries who are gathered in Rome on the occasion of the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Prize given out in memory of Chiara Lubich [late founder of the Focolari movement].
Dear friends, on the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us remember that the first of all rights is the right to life. I wish you everything good in your activities.
I also invite all the students of Rome's universities to the celebration of Vespers in preparation for Christmas. This will be next Thursday, December 15, at St. Peter's Basilica.
[He proceeded to his plurilingual greetings.]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/12/2011 14:07]