Sunday, Nov 27, 2005, Pope Benedict welcomed the new Church Year:
“....During Advent, the Christian population relives a double movement of the spirit. On one hand, it raises its gaze to the final goal of pilgrimage in history, which is the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other, recalling his birth in Bethlehem......”
Date: 2005-11-27
At Start of Advent
A Time "Full of Hope and Spiritual Expectation"
VATICAN
CITY, NOV. 27, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today, when greeting the
crowds in St. Peter's Square before he prayed the midday Angelus.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
With this Sunday Advent begins, an extremely evocative time from the religious
point of view, as it is full of hope and spiritual expectation. Every time the Christian community prepares to remember the
birth of the Redeemer, it feels a tremor of joy, which is communicated, in a
certain measure, to the whole of society.
During Advent, the Christian population relives a double movement of the
spirit. On one hand, it raises its gaze to the final goal of pilgrimage in
history, which is the glorious return of the Lord Jesus; on the other,
recalling his birth in Bethlehem with emotion, it bends down before the crib. The hope of Christians
is directed to the future, but
always remains well rooted in a past event. In the fullness of time, the Son of
God was born of the Virgin Mary, "born of woman, born under the law,"
as St. Paul writes (Galatians
4:4).
The Gospel invites us today to remain vigilant while awaiting the last coming
of Christ. "Watch!" says Jesus, "for you do not know when the
master of the house will come" (Mark 13:35-37). The brief parable of the master who left on a trip and of the
servants, in charge of taking his place, manifests the importance of being
ready to receive the Lord, when he comes unexpectedly. The Christian community awaits his "manifestation"
with longing, and the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Corinthians, exhorts
them to have confidence in God's fidelity, and to live so that when he returns
he will find them "guiltless" (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:7-9) in the day of
the Lord. For this reason, very appropriately, at the beginning of Advent the
liturgy puts on our lips the invocation of the Psalm: "Show us thy
steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation" (Psalm 84:8).
We could say that Advent is the time in which Christians must awaken in their
hearts the hope of being able, with the help of God, to renew the world. In
this connection, I would also
like to recall today the Second Vatican Council's constitution "Gaudium et
Spes" on the Church in the contemporary world: It is a text profoundly
permeated with Christian hope.
I am referring in particular to Number 39, entitled: "New Earth and New Heaven."
In it, one can read: "We are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling
place and a new earth where justice will abide (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:13). Nevertheless, "the expectation of a new earth must not weaken, but
rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one." We will rediscover
the good fruits of our efforts, in fact, when Christ hands to his father his eternal and universal kingdom.
May Mary most holy, virgin of Advent, enable us to live this time of grace
watching and committed while awaiting the Lord.
[After the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in different languages. In
English, he said:]
On the First Sunday of Advent I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and
visitors present for our Angelus prayer. May this season of joyful expectation and spiritual preparation for the
Lord's coming be a time of sincere conversion and interior renewal for all
Christians. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke God's blessings of
wisdom, joy and peace.
[Translation by ZENIT] http://www.zenit.org/english/