Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNews) – A thought for “the people of Peru, stricken by a devastating earthquake” was at the centre of Benedict XVI’s Angelus address today, in the courtyard of the pontifical residence of Castel Gandolfo. “For the numerous dead – said the pontiff – I invoke Our Lord’s peace, for the injured a speedy recovery and for the thousands left destitute and in misery I promise you this: the Church is with you, with spiritual and material solidarity”. As a sign of his closeness, the pope announced that he would be sending Secretary of State Card. Tarcisio Bertone, “who has long expressed his desire to visit Peru, in the next few days he will travel there to personally witness my solidarity with the nation and the concrete aid of the Holy See”.
The pope’s reflection was inspired by a passage from this Sunday’s Gospel: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division" (Luke 12, 51). “Whoever has a minimal understanding of the Gospel – explained the pontiff – knows that this is the greatest of all messages for peace; Christ himself, as Saint Paul writes, “is our peace” (Eph. 2,14), who died and rose again to break down our enemies walls and build the kingdom of God which is love, joy, and peace. How then do we explain these, his words?”.
The answer is that his peace “is not synonymous with a simple absence of conflict. On the contrary, Christ’s peace is the result of a constant battle against evil. The battle that Jesus has decided to undertake is not against man or human powers, but against man’s enemy, God’s enemy; Satan”.
“Those who chose to resist this enemy and remain faithful to God and to all that is good – continue the pontiff – must realise that they will have to face incomprehension and even at times persecution. Thus all those who choose to follow Christ and commit themselves uncompromisingly to the truth must know that they will meet opposition and will become, despite their best efforts, a symbol of division among people, even within their own families”.
In the footsteps of Jesus, Christians must become “instruments of peace”: “not an inconsistent and apparent peace – clarified Benedict XVI – but a real peace, pursued with courage and determination in the every day battle so good may prevail over evil ( Rm 12, 21) and paying the personal price that this demands”.
The Virgin Mary –concluded the Pope – “shared her Son’s battle against evil, right up to the Martyrdom of her soul, and she continues to share it until the end of time. We invoke her maternal intercession, so that she may help us to always be witnesses of Christ’s peace, and never bow to comprises with evil”.
At the end of the Marian prayer, the pope greeted among others, participants in the Rimini Meeting pf friendship among peoples, which opened today; the weeklong cultural event, organised by Communion and Liberation this year has as its theme: “Truth, the destiny for which we have all been made”. The pope augured that the meeting become an occasion for fruitful reflection and discussion to realise man’s most important vocation: “the search for truth that is the search for God”. ( Enc. Fides et ratio, Proemio)”.
