VATICAN - “Advent is a time for Christians to increase their hope that it is possible with God’s help to build a new world” Pope Benedict XVI says at the Angelus

Monday, 28 November 2005

Vatican City (Fides Service) - Advent, “a season of great religious beauty intrinsic with hope and spiritual expectation”, was the theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s reflection before the midday Angelus prayer on 27 November, 1st Sunday of Advent. “Every time the Christian community prepares to commemorate the birth of the Redeemer - the Pope said -, it is filled with deep joy which it communicates to some extent to the rest of society. In Advent Christians live a twofold movement of the spirit: on the one hand they look to the final destination of their wandering in history, the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling with emotion the birth in Bethlehem, they look fondly at the Christmas Nativity Scene. Christian hope looks to the future but is nevertheless rooted in an event of the past.”
Referring to the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent the Holy Father said it was important “to be ready to welcome the Lord when he unexpectedly comes”, because “the Christian community yearns for his manifestation and St Paul writing to the Corinthians encouraged them to trust in God’s faithfulness and to live in such a way as to be found ‘blameless’ on the day of the Lord’s coming”.
Lastly after saying that “Advent is a time for Christians to increase their hope that with God’s help it is possible to build a new world”, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned once again the Gaudium et spes Constitution of the Second Vatican Council “imbued with Christian hope”. Quoting chapter 39, the Pope said: “the expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one. We will find the fruits of our labour in fact when Christ hands his eternal and universal kingdom to the Father. May Most Holy Mary, Woman of Advent, help us to be watchful and active in this season of grace as we await the Lord”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2005; righe 24, parole 342)


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