VATICAN - At First Sunday of Advent Angelus, Benedict XVI highlights that “Jesus Christ is not only for Christians, or believers, but for all men,” and recalls that “the Church does not cease to combat AIDS, through her institu
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tions and the personnel dedicated to it.”
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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The contemporary world needs above all hope: It is needed by developing peoples, but also by those economically developed. We increasingly see that we are in the same boat and that we must all be saved together. Above all, seeing so many false securities crumble, we realize that we need a trustworthy hope, and this is found only in Christ...Hence, we can affirm that Jesus Christ is not only for Christians, or believers, but for all men, because he, who is the center of faith, is also the foundation of hope. He is the hope that every human being constantly needs.” These were the words with which the Holy Father Benedict XVI opened his speech prior to the praying of the Angelus on Sunday, November 29, the First Sunday of Advent, in addressing pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
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Making reference to the new Liturgical Year, which begins with Advent, the time of preparation for the Birth of the Lord, the Holy Father highlighted that the II Vatican Council insists on the fact that “Christ is the center of the liturgy. It is similar to the sun, around which rotate the planets. Around the liturgy rotate the Blessed Virgin Mary -- she is the closest -- and the martyrs and the other saints.” He then invited us all to gaze upon the Virgin Mary, who “fully incarnates the humanity that lives in hope based on faith in the living God,” the Virgin of Advent: “Let us enter her school, to truly enter this time of grace and to welcome, with joy and responsibility, the coming of God to our personal and social history.”
After the Angelus, the Holy Father recalled World AIDS Day, with these words: “This coming Dec. 1 the World AIDS Day will be observed. My thought and my prayer go to all persons affected by this sickness, in particular children, to the poorest and to those who are rejected. The Church does not cease to combat AIDS, through her institutions and the personnel dedicated to it. I exhort everyone to make their own contribution with prayer and care, so that those who are affected by the HIV virus will feel the presence of the Lord who gives support and hope. Finally, I hope that, by multiplying and coordinating efforts, this sickness will be halted and eradicated.” (SL)
(Agenzia Fides 30/11/2009)
Links:
Text of the Holy Father's address, in various languages
https://www.fides.org/_gestione/fidesweb/attachments/index/lan:ita#
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