Pope's closeness with flood victims in thailand, Italy

(October 31, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday expressed his closeness with the victims of the recent floods in Thailand and Italy. Addressing a vast crowd in St. Peter's Square after reciting his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with them, the Pope recalled the devastation caused by heavy rains in the two countries. Thailand's worst flooding in half a century has claimed 381 lives over the last three months. In Italy, floods and mudslides last week devastated coastal areas of Liguria and Tuscany and killed nine people. The Pope said he wanted to express his closeness with those suffering and assure them of his prayers.
Before the ‘Angelus’, the Pope urged Christians who are called to teach to pray that they can always bear witness in action to what they preach. The Pope took his cue from Sunday’s reading from Mathew’s Gospel where Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees who do not practise what they preach. "They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them." “Good doctrine should be welcomed,” the Pope said, “but risks being lost because of incoherent behaviour”. However, the Pope said Jesus’ attitude is exactly the opposite. He practices the first commandment of love, which he teaches to all, and can say that it is a light and soft weight because he helps us to carry it along with Him." The Pope said, Jesus also strongly condemns vanity, and notes that working 'to be admired by the people " places you at the mercy of human approval, undermining the values that underpin the authenticity of the person.