Vatican City (AsiaNews) - May God gift to the Middle
East, "longed-for peace" and may Benedict XVI's journey to Lebanon "encourage Christians and to promote peace and brotherhood throughout the
region." Two
days ahead of his departure for Beirut, Benedict XVI asks faithful to
"accompany the visit with prayer" during which he will deliver the
Post-Synodal Exhortation on the Middle East and will meet "the many
components of Lebanese society: civil and ecclesiastical leaders, the faithful Catholics
of different rites, other Christians, Muslims and Druze of this region. " I
thank the Lord for this wealth that will continue only if they live in peace
and lasting reconciliation. "
On
the eve of departure, the Pope spoke of the journey both in Italian and in
French, a language he will use in his speeches in the country of the cedars, at
the end of the general audience. In
particular, Benedict XVI urged " all Christians in the Middle
East, whether native or newcomer, to be builders of peace and
enactors of reconciliation. I ask God to strengthen the faith of Christians in Lebanon and the whole Middle
East region, and to fill them with hope. I thank God for their
presence and encourage the whole Church to be in solidarity with them, so that
the Christians of the region might continue to bear witness to Christ in those
blessed lands, by seeking communion in unity. " The
Pope emphasized that " The history of the Middle East
teaches us the important and often critical role played by the various
Christian communities in interfaith and intercultural dialogue. I ask God to
give this part of the world peace it so desires, in respect for legitimate
differences. . God bless Lebanon and the Middle East.
"
Previously,
in the catechesis for the weekly audience, the Pope said that as Christians,
"we can never lose hope, we know that on the path of our life we often
encounter violence, falsehood, hatred, persecution, but that does not
discourage us" because
"we know that the victory is God's." For
this reason the Church, which "lives in history, not closed in on itself,
but courageously facing its journey in the midst of hardship and suffering,
stating emphatically that evil ultimately does not conquer good, darkness does
not obscure the glory of God.
"
This
perspective leads us to raise to God and Jesus, a prayer of "praise and
thanksgiving": This is the lesson that Benedict proposed today to eight
thousand people present for the general audience, explaining "prayer in
the second part of Revelation ". It
tells us that "God is not indifferent to our prayers, He intervenes,
shakes and disrupts the system of the Evil One": "confronted with
evil one has the impression of not being able to do anything, but it is through
prayer that God rnders our weakness fruitful".
"All
our prayers, despite all our limitations reach the heart of God, none of them are
lost, and they are answered, even if sometimes mysteriously, because God is
love and infinite mercy."
God,
therefore, acts in history and St.
John's prophecy offers "points of reference from
which to read history." "The
first symbol is the throne on which a figure sits that John does not describe,
because He exceeds any human representation and he can only hint at the sense
of beauty and joy he feels prostrate before Him. This mysterious character is
God, God Almighty who
did not remain within the confines of Heaven, but came close to man, entering
into a covenant with him, so that God is heard in history, in a mysterious but
real way, His voice symbolized by the thunder and lightning".
"The
second symbol is the book which contains God's plan for events and men, which is
sealed with seven seals, and no one is able to read it. Faced with man's
inability to read God's plan, John feels
a deep sadness that brings him to tears. But there is a remedy to the loss of
man before the mystery of history: someone is able to open the book and to
enlighten him. And here the third symbol: Christ, 'Lamb
slain in the sacrifice of the Cross, but who is standing as a sign of His
resurrection. And it is the Lamb, Christ Crucified and Risen, who gradually
opens the seals and reveals the plan of God, the profound meaning of history " .
Benedict
XVI explains the symbols and what they say: "They remind us of the path to
enable us to read the facts of history and of our own lives. Raising our eyes
to God's Heaven, in a constant relationship with Christ, opening our hearts and
our minds to Him in
personal and community prayer, we learn to see things in a new way and to grasp
their truest sense. Prayer is like a window that allows us to keep our gaze on
God, not only to remind us if the goal towards
which we are headed, but also to let the will of God illuminate our earthly
journey and help us to live with intensity and commitment. "