ANGELUS OF 8/3/08
Bressanone
The Holy Father has been in Bressanone as a guest of the seminary since Monday, July 28, for a period of rest. At noonday today, the Pope led the recitation of the Angelus at Piazza Duomo. Here is a translation of his words before and after the prayers.
He began in German:
Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you all with a heartfelt Gruess Gott!
Before everything else, I must say a very heartfelt Thank You to you, dear Bishop Egger, who have made this feast of faith possible. You have made it possible for me to retrace my past and at the same time to look forward to the future.
Once more, to spend my holiday here in beautiful Brixen, this place where art and culture and man's goodness all come together. My heartfelt thanks for everything.
And of course I thank everyone who has contributed so that I can spend days of quiet and peace here. Thank you all who have organized everything. I wish to thank from my hear all the authorities of the city, the province, the region and the national government; the volunteers, the doctors and health workers, the forces of law and order all working together .... I am sure I have not remembered everyone.
But a very heartfelt 'Vergelt's Gott' [May God reward you!] to all - you are all in my prayers. That is the only way that I can say thanks, that I can try to say Thank You.
Of course, above all, let us thank the good God himself who has given us this land, who has gifted us today with this brilliant sunny day.
Which brings us to the liturgy today. The first reading reminded us that the greatest things in life are not bought, they cannot be paid for, but that the most important and elementary things in life can only be received as gifts - the sun and its light, the air that we breathe, water, the beauty of the earth, love, friendship, life itself.
All these truly central 'goods' of life are things we cannot buy but only receive as gifts. And the second reading adds that this also means there are things that no one can take away from us, that no dictatorship, nor destructive force can rob.
No one can take away from us that we are loved by God, whom each of us knows and loves in Christ, and as long as we have this, then we are not poor but rich.
The Gospel takes a further step in this respect. When we have received so much from God then we too must be giving - spiritually, in that we can give goodness, friendship, love, but also materially - the Gospel narrates about the sharing of bread.
Both should penetrate our souls: that we should be 'giving' persons since we are recipients, that we should pass on the gifts we get of goodness and love and friendship, but at the same time, to all those who are needy and whom we can help, we must also give materially, and thus seek to make the world more human, which is to say, closer to God.
He continued in Italian:
Now, dear friends, I invite you to join me in devout and filial remembrance of the servant of God, Pope Paul VI, on the thirtieth anniversary of his death three days from now. It was on the evening of August 6, 1978, that he rendered his soul back to God - the evening of the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, mystery of divine light which always held a singular fascination for his spirit.
As the Supreme Pastor of the Church, Paul VI led the people of God to contemplate the face of Christ, Redeemer of man and Lord of history.
And it was precisely this loving orientation of mind and heart towards Christ that was one of the principles of the Second Vatican Council, a fundamental attitude that my venerated predecessor John Paul II carried on and relaunched in the Great Jubilee of 2000.
In the center of everything, always Christ! In the center of Sacred Scriptures and of Tradition, in the heart of the Church, the world and the entire universe.
Divine Providence called Giovanni Battista Montini from the See of Milan to that of Rome at a most sensitive moment for the (Second Vatican) Council - when the inspiration of Blessed John XXIII risked not taking shape.
How can we not thank the Lord for His fertile and courageous pastoral action? As we get a wider and more knowledgeable perspective on the past, then it appears to us that Paul VI's merit seems even greater, almost superhuman, in having presided at the Conciliar sessions, in leading the Council to a happy ending, and in governing the agitated post-Conciliar phase.
We can truly say, with the Apostle Paul, that the grace of God 'in him was not in vain' (cfr 1 Cor 15,10): he made full use of his outstanding gifts of intelligence and his passionate love for the Church and for mankind.
As we give thanks to God for the gift of this great Pope, let us commit ourselves to treasure his teachings.
He ended in German:
In the final period of the Council, Paul VI wished to render a particular homage to the Mother of God and solemnly proclaimed her 'Mother of the Church'. To her, the Mother of Christ, to the Mother of the Church, to our Mother, let us now turn by praying the Angelus.
After the Angelus, he delivered this special message in Italian:
Dear friends,
On Friday, August 8, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad open in Beijing. It is my pleasure to address to the host country, to the organizers and to the participants - most especially the athletes - my heartfelt greeting, with the wish that everyone may give the best of himself in the genuine Olympic spirit.
I have followed with deep sympathy this great sports encounter - the most important and awaited on the international level - and I sincerely hope that it may offer to the international community a valid example of coexistence among persons of the most diverse origins, each respecting their common dignity.
May sport once again be a token of brotherhood and peace among peoples!
In his greetings to various language groups, he reiterated his message about Paul VI, as he did in English:
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors united with us here in Bressanone for this Angelus prayer.
Wednesday, the feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration, marks the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI. As we recall this great Pontiff who concluded the Second Vatican Council and guided the first phase of the post-conciliar renewal, let us give thanks for his wise teaching, his passionate love of the Church, and his desire to draw all people to the contemplation of Christ’s glory.
Dear friends, during these summer holidays, may you grow closer to the Lord in prayer, and may he shed the light of his face upon you and your families!
After the Angelus at Piazza Duomo, the Holy Father walked over to the nearby parish church of St. Michael the Archangel where he greeted the faithful who had gathered there, mostly older people and sick and disabled persons. Again he started his greeting in German:
Dear friends,
I am very happy that I can be with you in this parish church, where in previous vacations I have come to pray and where I experienced many beautiful things - including concerts.
Praying in these places is always relevant. The Lord is with us and sustains us.
I wish you all blessed days and the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is a blessing for the healthy but most especially for the sick. Let us all be together in prayer.
Then, in Italian:
Dear friends!
I am very happy to be in this parish church. I have prayed a lot, during previous vacations, in this Church, which is, for me, a place of prayer in the presence of the Lord. And it is in [prayer that we are all united.
May the Lord be with you, I am praying for you. Pray for me, as well, so that we may feel the goodness of the Lord despite all the problems
we face, and so move ahead in difficult days as well as in the good ones. I give you all my prayers and my blessing.
His last words were in German:
Praise be the name of the Lord!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/08/2008 20:10]