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                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   FAITH STRENGTHENED WHEN ILLUMINATED BY THE DIVINE WORD   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 5 DEC 2010 (VIS) - At noon today, the second Sunday of Advent,   
   the Holy Father stood at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the   
   faithful present in St. Peter's Square.   
      
   "This Sunday's Gospel," the Pope said, "presents St. John the Baptist who,   
   following a noted prophecy by Isaiah, went into the Judean desert and with his   
   preaching called the people to conversion in order to prepare for the imminent   
   arrival of the Messiah [...] The precursor of Christ, situated between the Old   
   and New Covenants, is like a star who precedes the rising of the Sun, of   
   Christ".   
      
   During the Advent season "we are also called to listen to the voice of God   
   crying out in the wilderness of the world through Sacred Scripture, especially   
   when it is preached with the strength of the Holy Spirit. In fact, faith is   
   fortified when it is most illuminated by the divine Word", the pontiff added.   
      
   "The Virgin Mary is the model of listening ", Benedict XVI concluded, citing   
   the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini: "As we contemplate in the Mother of   
   God a life totally shaped by the word, we realize that we too are called to   
   enter into the mystery of faith, whereby Christ comes to dwell in our lives".   
   ANG/ VIS 20101206 (210)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)