Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Advent is a time that encourages greater use of "that inner toughness, that strength of soul that allow us not to despair, in our waiting for a good that is slow to come, but to await it, indeed, prepare for it with confidence". This was Benedict XVI’s exhortation on the this third Sunday of Advent, addressed to 25 thousand people present in St Peter's Square for the Angelus.
Among them, in a Roman tradition, about two thousand children, holding high the "Baby Jesus" they will put in the nativity scenes in their homes, to be blessed by the Pope. Greeting them, after the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI asked: "When you place your baby Jesus in a cave or stable, say a prayer for the Pope and his intentions."
Before the Angelus, Benedict XVI, who this morning made a pastoral visit to the Roman parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe, said that today the liturgy offers a passage from the Letter of St. James, which opens with these words: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord."(James 5:7). It seems to me more important than ever - he continued – in today’s world, to stress the value of perseverance and patience, virtues that belonged to the regular abilities of our ancestors, but are now less popular in a world that instead exalts change and the ability to adapt to new and different situations. Without taking anything away from these aspects, which are also a human quality, Advent calls us to strengthen inner tenacity, the strength of soul that allow us not to despair, as we await the good that is slow to come, but instead, to wait, to confidently prepare for that moment ".
"See how the farmer - says St. James -: See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand"(James 5.7 to 8). The comparison with the farmer is very expressive: those who have sown the field, has months of patient and constant waiting ahead of him, but knows that the seed completes its cycle in the meantime, thanks to the rains of autumn and spring. The farmer is not fatal, but is a model of a mindset that combines a balanced faith and reason, because on the one hand, he knows the laws of nature and does his job well, and, second, he trusts in Providence, because some fundamental things are not in his hands, but in the hands of God. Patience and perseverance are the perfect synthesis between human endeavor and trusting in God. "
"Make your hearts firm," says the Scripture. How can we do this? How can we empower our hearts, already rather fragile, and made even more unstable by the culture in which we are immersed? We are not lacking in help: the Word of God. In fact, while everything passes and is silenced, the Word of God does not pass. If the vicissitudes of life make us feel lost and all certainty seems to collapse, we find a compass for orientation, we have an anchor so as not to go adrift. And here the model offered to us is that of the prophets, that is those people whom God has called to speak on His behalf. The prophet finds his joy and strength in the Word of God, and, while men often seek happiness on other roads that prove wrong, he announces the true hope, the one that does not disappoint because it is based on God's loyalty. Every Christian, by virtue of Baptism, received this prophetic dignity: may each one of us rediscover it and nourish it through listening to God’s Word".
