Vatican
City, February 25, 2013 (Zenit.org)
Junno Arocho
Esteves | 242 hits
An
estimated 200,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square for the final Angelus
address of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy. Greeted by cheers and songs, the Holy
Father thanked the faithful for their affection. Pope Benedict will officially
resign from the See of St. Peter this Thursday at 8:00pm. 
Speaking
on the Sunday gospel regarding the Lord's transfiguration, Pope Benedict XVI
emphasized the significance of Jesus' transfiguration while he was praying.
"Jesus’
[prayer] is a profound experience of his relationship with the Father during a
kind of spiritual retreat on a high mountain together with Peter, James, and
John, the 3 disciples who are always present in the moments of the Master’s
divine manifestations," the Holy Father said.
Pope
Benedict went on to emphasize the importance of prayer, saying that without it,
any work of the "apostolate and charity is reduced to activism."
"Moreover,
to pray is not to isolate oneself from the world and its contradictions, as
Peter wished to do on Tabor. Prayer, rather, leads us back to the journey, to
action. 'The Christian life,' I wrote in my Message for this Lent, 'consists in
continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down,
bearing the love and strength drawn from him, so as to serve our brothers and
sisters with God’s own love.'
The Holy
Father spoke on his impending retirement, saying that the Word of God addresses
him in a particular, to which the faithful responded with applause.
"The
Lord is calling me to “scale the mountain,” to dedicate myself still more to
prayer and to meditation," the Pope said. "But this does not mean
abandoning the Church – on the contrary, if God asks this of me, it is to serve
the Church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have tried
to do so hitherto, but in a way that is more adapted to my age and my strength.
Let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: may she help us always to
follow the Lord Jesus in prayer and in active charity."
Eyes
Fixed on Christ
Addressing
the English speaking pilgrims who were present, Pope Benedict conveyed his
"gratitude, affection and closeness in prayer" since announcing his
retirement on February 11th.
"As
we continue our Lenten journey towards Easter, may we keep our eyes fixed on
Jesus the Redeemer, whose glory was revealed on the mount of the
Transfiguration. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings!" the
Pope said.
Concluding
his address, Pope Benedict XVI again thanked the pilgrims, and called on the
faithful to continue to pray for him and the Church.
"I
thank you for the affection and for sharing, especially in prayer, this
important moment for me and for the Church. I wish everyone a good Sunday and a
good week. Thank you! We are always close in prayer," the Holy Father
said.
--- ---
---
On
ZENIT's web page:
For the
full text of Pope Benedict's Final Angelus Address, go to: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-the-transfiguration--4
(February 25, 2013) ©
Innovative Media Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment