(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus with the faithful in St
Peter’s Square this Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent. Tens of thousands of pilgrims
were on hand, beneath a bright and unseasonably warm Roman sky.
Speaking from
his window in the Apostolic Palace above the Square ahead of the traditional prayer
of Marian devotion, the Holy Father placed the Lenten season on which the Church is
embarked in the context of the Year of Faith. “In this Year of Faith,” he said, “Lent
is a favorable time to rediscover the faith in God as the basic criterion of our life
and the life of the Church.”
The Pope went on to say that this always involves
a struggle – a real spiritual combat – because the spirit of evil that is opposed
to our sanctification seeks to throw us off the path that God has set out for us.
Noting that it is for this reason that the Church traditionally proclaims the Gospel
narrative of Christ’s temptation in the desert on the first Sunday of Lent, Pope Benedict
said, “The tempter is subtle: he does not push us directly toward evil, but to a false
good.”
The Holy Father went on to explain that, ultimately, what is at stake
in the temptations is faith. “In the decisive moments of life,” he said, “but, if
we look closely, in every moment, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the
self, or God?” It was a theme to which Pope Benedict returned during his greetings
to Pilgrims in English: Listen:
Today we
contemplate Christ in the desert, fasting, praying, and being tempted. As we begin
our Lenten journey, we join him and we ask him to give us strength to fight our weaknesses.
Let me also thank you for the prayers and support you have shown me in these days.
May God bless all of you!
The Angelus this Sunday was the second-to-last
scheduled before Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation becomes effective at 8PM Rome Time
on February 28th. Rev. Mr. Raymond Donnelly of the clergy of Clogher and
a seminarian at the Pontifical Irish College was one of the scores of thousands of
pilgrims in the Square. “I think it is very sad to see the Holy Father retiring,”
he told Vatican Radio, adding, “we pray and wish him well – and I trust in his very
good judgment in this decision.”
Beginning Sunday evening, Pope Benedict is
spending the week in Lenten spiritual retreat, together with members of the Curia
and the Pontifical household, under the direction of the President of the Pontifical
Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. The Pope has no public engagements
scheduled for this week.