'Here is your God'; Pope Marks Second Sunday of Advent

(07 Dec 08 - RV) “For those populations worn out by misery and hunger, for the ranks of refugees, for all those people who suffer grave and systematic violations of their rights, the Church stands out as a beacon high on the mountain of faith to proclaim:’ Here is your God’


The prophetic announcement of the coming of Christ and with him the promise of salvation was at the heart of Pope Benedict’s Angelus reflections:


“The Church puts before us, on this second Sunday of Advent, the figure of John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare a way for the Lord”.


Speaking in Italian before the Marian Prayer to the thousands of pilgrims and visitors who filled St Peter’s Square waving national flags and parochial banners, Pope Benedict said that through his death and resurrection, “Christ brought to completion the ancient promise: the passage from the kingdom of evil to the kingdom of God, from the reign of sin and death to the reign of love and life”.


“During this Advent season, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Christ, let us prepare a place for him in our hearts”.


Then in greeting the various language groups, Pope Benedict paused for a moment to dwell on the death Friday, of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexij II.


“We are united in prayer with our Orthodox brothers and sisters” he said “entrusting his eternal soul to the goodness of the Lord”.


The Holy Father also looked forward to his meeting next Thursday’s with students from Rome’s Universities, an encounter he described as particularly enjoyable for him. He noted that during the meeting following mass in St Peters, in honour of the Pauline year he will entrust St Paul’s letter to the Romans to the young men and women.


Concluding Pope Benedict also greeted seminarians and priests from the Marian Order of the Immaculate Conception, who Monday on the feast of Our Lady mark the jubilee anniversary of the reform of their Congregation. Then entrusting all those gathered before him and those listening from home to the intercession of the Virgin, he bid farewell:

“I invoke God’s abundant blessings upon all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home”.