Angelus –
November 10, 2013
Dear brothers and sisters, hello!
This Sunday’s Gospel presents us Jesus
contending with the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. And it is precisely
on this topic that they pose a question to Jesus to give him trouble and
ridicule faith in the resurrection of the dead. They propose a hypothetical
situation: “A woman had seven husbands, who died one after the other,” and they
ask Jesus: “Whose wife will she be after her death?” Jesus, always meek and
patient, first of all responds that life after death does not have the same
parameters as life on earth. Eternal life is another life, in another
dimension, where, among other things, there will be no marriage, which is
linked to our existence in this world. The resurrected, Jesus says, will be
like angels, and they will live in a different state that we cannot experience
or imagine now. And this is how Jesus explains things.
But then Jesus, so to speak, launches a
counterattack. And he does this by citing Sacred Scripture with a simplicity
and an originality that fills us with admiration for our Master, the only
Master! Jesus finds the proof of the resurrection in the episode about Moses
and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), where God reveals himself as the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The name of God is connected to the men and women to
which he binds himself, and this link is stronger than death. And we can also
say of God’s relationship with us, with each one of us: He is our God! He is
the God of each one of us! It is as if he bore our name. It pleases him to say
it, and this is the covenant. This is why Jesus says: “God is not the God of
the dead but of the living, because everyone lives for him” (Luke 20:38). And
this is the decisive link, the fundamental covenant, the covenant with Jesus:
he himself is the Covenant, he himself is the Life and the Resurrection
because, with his crucified love, he overcame death. In Jesus, God gives us eternal
life, he gives it to everyone, and thanks to him everyone has the hope of a
life still more true than this one. The life that God prepares for us is not
merely an embellishment of this present life: it transcends our imagination,
because God continually awakens wonder in us with his love and with his mercy.
So, what will happen is precisely the contrary
of what the Sadducees expected. It is not this life that illuminates eternity,
the other life, the one that awaits us, but eternity – that life – that illuminates
and gives hope to the earthly life of each one of us! If we look at things only
with human eyes, we are brought to say that man’s journey runs from life to
death. This is obvious! But this is only the case if we look at things with
human eyes. Jesus stands this perspective on its head and says that our
pilgrimage runs from death to life: to fullness of life! We are on a journey,
on pilgrimage toward the fullness of life, and that life is what enlightens us
on our journey! So, death is behind us, at our backs, not in front of us.
Before us there is the God of the living, the God of the covenant, the God who
bears my name, our name, as he said: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob,” also the God with my name, with your name, with your name..., with our
name. God of the living! ... Before us is the final defeat of sin and death,
the beginning of a new time of joy and of light without end. But already on
this earth, in prayer, in the Sacraments, in fraternity, we meet Jesus and his
love, and in this way we can have a foretaste of the risen life. Our experience
of his love and his fidelity lights a fire in our heart and increases our faith
in the resurrection. In fact, if God is faithful and loves, it cannot be for a
limited time: fidelity is eternal, it cannot change. God’s love is eternal, it
cannot change! It is not for a limited time: it is forever! And to go forward!
He is faithful forever and he awaits us, each of us, he accompanies each of us
with this eternal fidelity.
[Following the recitation of the Angelus, the
Holy Father greeted those present in St. Peter’s Square:]
Today in Paderborn ,
Germany ,
Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel will be proclaimed blessed. Foundress of the
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, she lived in the 19th century. The
Eucharist was the source from which she drew spiritual energy to dedicate
herself with untiring charity to the weakest. Let us praise the Lord for her
witness!
Blessed Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel
I would like again to assure the people of the Philippines
and that region, who have been struck by a massive typhoon, of my closeness to
them. Unfortunately, there are many victims and enormous damage. Let us pray
for a moment in silence and then to Our Lady for these brothers and sisters of
ours and let us try also to help them concretely. Let us pray in silence. [And
then after a pause:] Hail Mary...
Today is the 75th anniversary of the so-called
“Kristallnacht,” the night of violence against Jews, their synagogues, homes
and businesses [in Germany
and Austria ]
November 9-10, 1938. It marked a sad step toward the tragedy of the Shoah. Let
us renew our nearness and solidarity with the Jewish people, our big brothers.
And we pray to God that the memory of the past, the memory of past sins help us
to be ever more vigilant against every form of hatred and intolerance.
This Sunday in Italy the Day of Thanksgiving is
celebrated. I join my voice to that of the bishops, expressing my nearness to
the agricultural world, especially to young people who have chosen to work the
land. I encourage those who work to ensure that no one goes without healthy and
adequate food.
I greet all the pilgrims, who have come from
different countries, the families, the parish groups, the associations; in
particular I greet the faithful of the dioceses of Liguria , accompanied by Cardinal Bagnasco
and by the other bishops of the region.
I greet the Istituto Secolare Operaie
Parrocchiali, the Centro Académico Romano Fundación, the faithful from the
United States of America and
from Tahiti, along with those from Riccione, Avezzano, Torino ,
Bertonico e Celano. A special thought goes out to the young people of the
Pontifical Missionary Societies, the young people from Pescara and Monte San
Savino and the Green Cross of Alessandria.
I wish everyone a good Sunday. Goodbye and have
a good lunch!
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