(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus this Sunday with the faithful
gathered beneath his window in St. Peter’s Square. The focus of his remarks ahead
of the traditional Marian prayer was this Sunday’s Gospel reading, taken from the
13th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, which deals with the
end times and is known as the eschatological discourse. Listen to our report:
“Everything
passes,” said Pop Benedict, “but the Word of God does not change, and each of us is
responsible for his behavior before it.” Pope Benedict went on to say, “It is upon
this, that we shall be judged.”
It was a theme to which the Holy Father returned
in his English-language remarks to pilgrims and visitors after the Angelus
prayer:
"I greet all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present for
today’s Angelus. This Sunday, as the liturgical year draws to a close, Jesus tells
us that although heaven and earth will pass away, His words will remain. Let us pledge
ourselves to build our lives more and more on the solid foundation of His holy word,
the true source of life and joy. May God bless all of you!"
Speaking in Spanish,
the Holy Father recalled the beatification – on Saturday – of María Pérez Crescencia,
a religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden, who lived
in the early part of the last century. Pope Benedict celebrated the newly Blessed
Maria as, “a model of evangelical gentleness animated by faith.”