Pope Sunday 'Angelus' message

(December 8, 2008) The Advent season represents for the Christian an exodus from the world of sin and death to that of life and love, according to Pope Benedict XVI. Before praying the weekly midday Angelus on Sunday with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope explained that just as in the Old Testament, when God liberated the Israelites from "bitter exile in Babylon," so too during Advent, the Lord speaks "to the heart of his people and, through them, to the whole of humanity, to proclaim salvation." "For populations worn out by misery and hunger, for throngs of refugees, for those who suffer grave and systematic violations of their rights,” the Pope said, “the Church is as a sentinel on the mountain of faith and she announces to them: 'Behold your God! The Lord your God comes in power.'" "Christian hope," he said, "transcends the legitimate desire for a social and political liberation, because what Jesus began is a new humanity that comes 'from God,' but which at the same time germinates on our earth, to the extent that it lets itself be impregnated by the Spirit of the Lord." "Justice and peace, in fact, are God's gift,” the Pope explained, “but they require men and women who are 'good soil,' ready to receive the good seed of his Word."
After praying Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Benedict expressed his solidarity with the thousands affected by the heavy rains in southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina state. Torrential rains have caused flooding and more than 4,000 mudslides. Some 122 have died and more than 1.5 million people have been evacuated. "I call upon the protection of the Most High for all, that he might repay the Brazilian people and the national and foreign officials who have lent their assistance to the victims in this time of deep consternation," the Pontiff said.
During Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Benedict also urged for prayers for the repose of the soul of late Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who passed away on Friday in Moscow at the age of 79. The Holy Father is sending delegation to participate in the funeral of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch scheduled for Tuesday at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in the Russian capital. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity will lead a 5-member delegation to the funeral. The body of Patriarch Alexy II has been lying in state in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior since Saturday to permit the Orthodox faithful an opportunity to pay their respects. Relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church have been strained over Orthodox accusations that the Vatican was poaching converts in former Soviet nations, an accusation the Vatican denies. Pope Benedict also greeted English-speaking pilgrims present at Sunday’s ‘Angelus’. Listen: