Every week on Wednesday, the Pope holds a public meeting, called the general audience,
during which pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome have a chance of seeing and hearing
him speak in several languages. The general audience of April 18 was held outdoors
in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. It began with the reading in several languages
of a passage from the Acts of the Apostles. An aide extended hearty greetings to
the Pope on behalf of the English speaking pilgrims, especially for the 7th
anniversary of his election as Pope on April 19, Thursday. Pope Benedict then delivered
a discourse in English.
Listen: Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our continuing catechesis on Christian
prayer, we now turn from the prayer of Mary and the Apostles awaiting the coming of
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to the “little Pentecost” described in the fourth chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles. After the arrest and release of Peter and John, the
community joined in prayer and “the place where they were gathered together was shaken;
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness”
(v. 31). This prayer shows the unity of the early community, which asks only to proclaim
the word of God fearlessly in the face of persecution. It seeks to discern present
events in the light of God’s saving plan and the fulfilment of prophecy in the mystery
of Christ. It also begs God to accompany by his power the preaching of the Gospel.
May this prayer of the early Church inspire our own prayer. May we seek to discern
God’s loving plan in the light of Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
who bestows the hope which does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5). I offer a
warm welcome to the General Chapter of the Brothers of Saint Gabriel. I also greet
the group from the Faculty of Canon Law of Saint Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada.
I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. Upon all the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors, including those from England, Ireland, Finland, South Africa,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Trinidad, Canada and the United States, I
invoke the joy and peace of the Risen Lord.