God's light is extinguished, man's divine dignity is also extinguished. Then
the human creature would cease to be God's image, to which we must pay honour
in every person, in the weak, in the stranger, in the poor. Then we would no
longer all be
brothers and sisters, children of the one Father, who belong to one another on
account of that one Father. The kind of arrogant violence that then arises,
the way man then despises and tramples upon man: we saw this in
all its cruelty in the last century. Only if God's light shines over man and
within him, only if every single person is desired, known and loved by God is
his dignity inviolable, however wretched his situation may be. ... And through
the centuries,
while there has been misuse of religion, it is also true that forces of
reconciliation and goodness have constantly sprung up from faith in the God
Who became man. Into the darkness of sin and violence, this faith has shone a
bright ray of peace and
goodness, which continues to shine.
"So Christ is our peace. ... How could we now do other than pray to Him:
Yes, Lord, proclaim peace today to us too, whether we are far away or near at
hand. Grant also to us today that swords may be turned into ploughshares, that
instead of weapons
Subject: VISnews121228
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
for warfare, practical aid may be given to the suffering. Enlighten those who
think they have to practise violence in your name, so that they may see the
senselessness of violence and learn to recognize your true face. Help us to
become people 'with
whom you are pleased' – people according to your image and thus people
of peace".
"Let us go over to Bethlehem, says the Church's liturgy to us today.
Trans-eamus is what the Latin Bible says: let us go 'across', daring to step
beyond, to make the 'transition' by which we step outside our habits of
thought and habits of life,
across the purely material world into the real one, across to the God Who in
His turn has come across to us".
"Let us go over to Bethlehem: as we say these words to one another, along
with the shepherds, we should not only think of the great 'crossing over' to
the living God, but also of the actual town of Bethlehem and all those places
where the Lord lived,
ministered and suffered. Let us pray at this time for the people who live and
suffer there today. Let us pray that there may be peace in that land. Let us
pray that Israelis and Palestinians may be able to live their lives in the
peace of the one God
and in freedom. Let us also pray for the countries of the region, for Lebanon,
Syria, Iraq and their neighbours: that there may be peace there, that
Christians in those lands where our faith was born may be able to continue
living there, that Christians
and Muslims may build up their countries side by side in God’s peace.
"The shepherds made haste. Holy curiosity and holy joy impelled them. In
our case, it is probably not very often that we make haste for the things of
God. God does not feature among the things that require haste. The things of
God can wait, we think
and we say. And yet He is the most important thing, ultimately the one truly
important thing. Why should we not also be moved by curiosity to see more
closely and to know what God has said to us? At this hour, let us ask Him to
touch our hearts with the
holy curiosity and the holy joy of the shepherds, and thus let us go over
joyfully to Bethlehem, to the Lord Who today once more comes to meet us".
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 24 December 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop
Thomas Vu Dinh Hieu, auxiliary of Xuan Loc, Viet Nam, as coadjutor bishop of
Bui Chu (area 1,350, population 1,859,000, Catholics 394,453, priests 163,
religious 799), Viet
Nam.
___________________________________________________________
THE VISITATION REPRESENTS THE BEAUTY OF HOSPITALITY
Vatican City, 23 December 2012 (VIS) - The Gospel of this fourth Sunday of
Advent preceding the birth of the Lord narrates Mary's visit to her relative
Elizabeth. "This episode is not merely a simple gesture of courtesy, but
rather depicts with great
simplicity the encounter between the Old and New Testaments", explained the
Pope to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus. "The
two women, both expectant mothers, incarnate both expectation and the expected
One. The older
Elizabeth symbolises Israel, whereas the younger Mary carries within her the
fulfilment of expectation, to the benefit of all humanity".
"Elizabeth, welcoming Mary, recognises that God's promise to humanity is
being realised and exclaims: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is
the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord should come to
me?”. John's
leap for joy recalls David's dance when he accompanied the entrance of the Ark
of the Covenant into Jerusalem. The soon-to-be-born John exults with joy
before Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, who bears Jesus in her womb, the Son
of God made man.
"The scene of the Visitation also expresses the beauty of hospitality:
where there is mutual welcome, listening, accommodating the other, there we
find God and the joy that emanates from him. Let us imitate Mary during the
Christmas season, visiting
those who are in difficulty, especially the sick, prisoners, the elderly and
children. And let us also imitate Elizabeth who welcomes the guest as if he
were God Himself: unless we wish for the Lord we will never know Him; unless
we expect Him, we will
never meet Him, unless we seek Him, we will never find Him. With the same joy
as Mary, who hastens to Elizabeth, we too must approach the Lord, who in turn
comes to us. Let us pray that all men seek God, and in doing so discover that
it is God Himself
who comes first to us", concluded the Holy Father.
___________________________________________________________
NOTICE
Vatican City, 28 December 2012 (VIS) - The staff of the Vatican Information
Service wishes all its readers a Happy New Year. The next VIS bulletin will be
transmitted on Wednesday 2 January 2013.
___________________________________________________________
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