Pope’s first Sunday ‘Angelus’ of 2010

(January 4, 2010) Our hope does not rely on improbable predictions or economic forecasts, important though they may be, nor does it depend on the sense of a general religiosity or on some kind of fatalism cloaked in faith, but rather our hope and trust is in God who shared our history through Jesus Christ. This was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his first Sunday ‘Angelus’ of 2010. Speaking at midday to a large crowd gathered below his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square he said this year there will still be problems in the world both for families and the Church, but he invited all to hope in the Lord who in Jesus Christ completely and definitively revealed his will to be with man, to share his history and guide us to his Kingdom of love and life. This great hope drives and sometimes amends our human hopes, the Holy Father said as renewed his best wishes for the New Year. God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus is humanity's true reason for hope, he said. However, he pointed out that God’s plan for man is not achieved automatically because it is a project of love, and love generates freedom and calls for freedom. Even though the coming of Christ has already defeated the negative force of the Evil One, yet every man and every woman is responsible for accepting him in their lives, each day. Therefore, 2010 will be more or less "good" to the extent that each one of us, in accordance with our responsibilities, will be able to work with the grace of God,” the Pope added.