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JOHN PAUL II

ANGELUS

Castel Gandolfo
Sunday, 1 September 2002

 


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

1. In many countries, the month of September means the return to work and school activities following the summer pause, which I hope was serene and profitable for all. Some took advantage of the summer to participate in courses of prayer and spiritual formation, programmes of work and service. Now is the time to share the experiences with family, friends, groups, communities and associations, bringing to daily life enthusiasm, serenity and joy. This is the way to be the "salt and light" of the earth, as I reminded the young people gathered in Toronto for World Youth Day.

 

2. From the psychological point of view, it is not easy to return to daily life. In fact, sometimes it might be difficult to return again to one's daily obligations. However, it is in our daily work ("ferialità") that God calls us to acquire that maturity of the spiritual life which consists in living the ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

 

Indeed, we achieve holiness by following Jesus, not by avoiding reality and its trials, but by facing them in the light and strength of his Spirit. As today's liturgy emphasizes, all of this finds its greatest enlightenment in the mystery of the Cross. Jesus asks believers to take up their own cross every day and follow him (cf. Matthew 16:24), imitating him in the total gift of self to God and one's neighbour.

 

The Holy Father then greeted the pilgrims in French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

 

To the English-speaking

 

3. I am pleased to welcome the new students of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. May your study of theology deepen your love for Christ and make you joyful and effective witnesses to the Gospel. My greetings also go to the students from the Rome campus of the University of Dallas. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, I cordially invoke the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

To the Spanish-speaking

 

I am happy to greet the Spanish-speaking pilgrims. May the Lord grant you abundant grace and blessing so you can do his will every day of your life.

 

To the Portuguese-speaking

 

I greet the Portuguese-speaking pilgrims and among them the group of the Mission of the Conventual Franciscans of Viseu. To all of you as a pledge of abundant divine gifts, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.

 

To Polish pilgrims

 

Now I wish to greet the pilgrims from Poland: from Sanok, the Franciscan Handbell Ringers; the Catholic gymnasium from Łodz and individual pilgrims.

 

The First of September recalls the start, the outbreak of the Second World War and all the tragic events of that war. In thought and in prayer we embrace the millions of victims of the horror of the war and all those who fought heroically for the freedom of our country. May the suffering and the sad experiences of those who survived the war contribute to the building of a lasting peace which is the right and the good of all. God bless all of you, both those who listen to me here and on Polish soil, in Kraków, everyone. "From plague, famine and war, deliver us, O Lord".

4. May the Virgin Mary teach and help us to make of our life a humble and joyful hymn of praise to God, in whose eyes one act of love is worth more than splendid undertakings. May Mary support us in our daily obligations so that, as the Apostle exhorts us today,
we may not be conformed to the mentality of the world, but may be transformed by the renewal of our minds to "be able to discern the will of God" (cf. Romans 12,2).

 

 

Acknowledgment: We thank the Vatican Publisher for allowing us to publish the Homilies of Saint Pope John Paul II, so that they could be accessed by more people all over the world; as a source of God’s encouragements to all of us. 

In speaking to the German Bishops, I recalled that worship is "not a luxury... but a priority". To seek Jesus must be the constant desire of believers, young people and adults, of the faithful and of their pastors. This seeking must be encouraged, supported and guided.

Faith is not merely the attachment to a complex of dogmas, complete in itself, that is supposed to satisfy the thirst for God, present in the human heart.

On the contrary, it guides human beings on their way through time toward a God who is ever new in his infinity.

Christians, therefore, are at the same time both seekers and finders. It is precisely this that makes the Church young, open to the future, rich in hope for the whole of humanity.

- Pope Benedict XVI

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

Castel Gandolfo
Sunday, 28 August 2005

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

My ecclesial experience in Cologne last week with a vast number of young people from every corner of the world, accompanied by many Bishops, priests, and men and women religious on the occasion of World Youth Day, was truly extraordinary. It was an event of grace for the entire Church.

 

When I spoke to the Bishops of Germany shortly before returning to Italy, I said that young people were addressing a request to us: "Help us to be disciples and witnesses of Christ. Like the Magi we have come to find him and to worship him".

 

The young people left Cologne for their own cities and nations, enlivened by great hope but without losing sight of the many difficulties, obstacles and problems that accompany an authentic search for Christ and faithful adherence to his Gospel.

 

Not only youth, but also communities and the Pastors themselves must become more and more aware of a fundamental fact about evangelization: wherever God does not have pride of place, wherever he is not recognized and worshipped as the Supreme Good, human dignity is at risk.

It is therefore urgent to bring our contemporaries to "rediscover" the authentic face of God, who revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. Thus, the humanity of our time will also be able, like the Magi, to fall to their knees and adore him.

 

In speaking to the German Bishops, I recalled that worship is "not a luxury... but a priority". To seek Jesus must be the constant desire of believers, young people and adults, of the faithful and of their pastors. This seeking must be encouraged, supported and guided.

 

Faith is not merely the attachment to a complex of dogmas, complete in itself, that is supposed to satisfy the thirst for God, present in the human heart.

 

On the contrary, it guides human beings on their way through time toward a God who is ever new in his infinity.

 

Christians, therefore, are at the same time both seekers and finders. It is precisely this that makes the Church young, open to the future, rich in hope for the whole of humanity.

 

St Augustine, whom we are commemorating today, has some marvellous thoughts about the invitation found in Psalm 105[104]: "Quaerite faciem eius semper - constantly seek his face" (v. 3).

He points out that this invitation is not only valid for this life but also for eternity. The discovery of "God's Face" is never ending. The further we penetrate into the splendour of divine love, the more beautiful it is to pursue our search, so that "amore crescente inquisitio crescat inventi - the greater love grows, the further we will seek the One who has been found" (Enarr. in Ps 105[104]: 3; CCL 40, 1537).

 

This is the experience to which, deep down, we too aspire. May the intercession of the great Bishop of Hippo obtain it for us! May the motherly help of Mary, the Star of Evangelization whom we now invoke with the prayer of the Angelus, obtain it for us.

 

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After the Angelus, the Pope said:

 

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today's Angelus, including a group of staff and seminarians from the Pontifical North American College. May your time here at Castel Gandolfo, and in Rome, be filled with joy and deepen your love of the universal Church. Upon you all, I invoke the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I thank you all for the pleasant visit and I wish everyone a good Sunday.

Indeed, when Jesus begins to speak openly of the fate that awaits him in Jerusalem, in other words that he will have to suffer many things and be killed in order subsequently to be raised, ...

If, to save us, the Son of God had to suffer and die on the Cross, it was certainly not by a cruel design of the heavenly Father. The reason is the gravity of the illness from which he came to heal us: it was such a serious, mortal disease that it required all his Blood. Indeed, it was with his death and Resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death and re-established God's lordship. Yet the battle is not over.

In our world today, where the forces that divide and destroy seem to dominate, Christ does not cease to offer to all his clear invitation: anyone who wants to be my disciple must renounce his own selfishness and carry the cross with me. Let us invoke the help of the Blessed Virgin who followed Jesus first and to the very end on the way of the Cross. May she help us to walk in the Lord's footsteps with determination, to experience from this moment, even in trial, the glory of the Resurrection.

- Pope Benedict XVI

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo
Sunday, 31 August 2008

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

Today too, the Apostle Peter, like last Sunday, appears in the foreground of the Gospel. However, whereas last Sunday we admired him for his forthright faith in Jesus, whom he proclaimed the Messiah and Son of God, this time, in the episode that immediately follows, he shows a faith that is still immature and too closely bound to the mentality of "this world" (cf. Romans 12: 2). Indeed, when Jesus begins to speak openly of the fate that awaits him in Jerusalem, in other words that he will have to suffer many things and be killed in order subsequently to be raised, Peter protests saying: "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you" (Matthew 16: 22). It is obvious that the Teacher and the disciple follow two opposite ways of thinking. Peter, in accordance with a human logic, is convinced that God would never permit his Son to end his mission by dying on the Cross. Jesus, on the contrary, knows that in his immense love for mankind the Father sent him to give his life for them and that if this should involve the Passion and the Cross, it is right that it should happen in this manner. Moreover he knows that the last word will be the Resurrection. Although Peter's protest was spoken in good faith and for sincere love of the Master, to Jesus it sounds like a temptation, an invitation to save himself, whereas it is only by losing his life that he will receive new and eternal life for us all.

 

If, to save us, the Son of God had to suffer and die on the Cross, it was certainly not by a cruel design of the heavenly Father. The reason is the gravity of the illness from which he came to heal us: it was such a serious, mortal disease that it required all his Blood. Indeed, it was with his death and Resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death and re-established God's lordship. Yet the battle is not over. Evil exists and resists in every generation, as we know, in our day too. What are the horrors of war, violence to the innocent, the wretchedness and injustice unleashed against the weak other than the opposition of evil to the Kingdom of God? And how is it possible to respond to so much wickedness except with the unarmed and disarming power of love that conquers hatred and of life that has no fear of death? It is the same mysterious power that Jesus used, at the cost of being misunderstood and abandoned by many of his own.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, in order to bring the work of salvation fully to completion, the Redeemer continues to associate to himself and his mission men and women who are prepared to take up their cross and follow him. Consequently, just as for Christ carrying the cross was not an option but a mission to be embraced for love, so it is for Christians too. In our world today, where the forces that divide and destroy seem to dominate, Christ does not cease to offer to all his clear invitation: anyone who wants to be my disciple must renounce his own selfishness and carry the cross with me. Let us invoke the help of the Blessed Virgin who followed Jesus first and to the very end on the way of the Cross. May she help us to walk in the Lord's footsteps with determination, to experience from this moment, even in trial, the glory of the Resurrection.

 

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After the Angelus:

 

In recent weeks the news has recorded an increase in episodes of illegal immigration from Africa. Crossing the Mediterranean to the continent of Europe, seen as a landing place of hope in order to escape adverse and frequently unbearable situations, often becomes a tragedy; the tragedy that occurred a few days ago seems to have been worse than the previous ones because of the large number of victims. Migration is a phenomenon that has existed since the dawn of human history and has, therefore, always characterized relations between peoples and nations. The emergency which it has become in our day, however, challenges us and while it calls for our solidarity at the same time demands effective political responses. I know that many regional, national and international organizations are concerned with the matter of illegal migration and I applaud and encourage them so that they may continue their praiseworthy action with a sense of responsibility in a humanitarian spirit. The countries of origin must also show a sense of responsibility, not only because it is their citizens who are concerned but also to remove the causes of illegal migration, as well as to eliminate at the root all the forms of crime connected with it. For their part, the European countries and all those that are immigration destinations are called, among other things, in common accord, to develop increasingly adequate initiatives and structures to meet the needs of illegal migrants. Moreover the latter should also be made aware of the value of their own life, which is a unique good, always precious, and must be protected from the grave risks to which they are exposed in the search to improve their condition. They should also be made aware of the duty of legality which is obligatory for everyone. As as Father, I feel a profound duty to call everyone's attention to the problem and to ask for the generous collaboration of individuals and institutions in order to face it and find ways to solve it. May the Lord accompany us and make our efforts fruitful!

 

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Angelus prayer. In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals to his disciples his coming passion, death and resurrection. He also teaches us that, to follow him, we too must enter into the mystery of the cross. Faithful obedience to God and loving service of our neighbour do not always come easily. But to embrace the cross of Christ is to share in his victory. May the Lord keep us in his love! I wish you all a pleasant stay in Castel Gandolfo and Rome, and a blessed Sunday!

 

 

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21 September 2014