Maria, ster van de evangelisatie

During his Angelus on Tuesday, Pope Benedict said “the Feast of All Saints is a good time to lift our gaze from the realities of the world… to the enormity of God, who encompasses all eternity and holiness. “ 

He said holiness is the vocation of all the baptized, and all the people of God are called to be saints.

The Pope then turned his thoughts to Wednesday’s commemoration of All Souls.

Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of recent flooding in Thailand and Italy. The Holy Father began his remarks to the faithful following the Angelus prayer this Sunday in St Peter’s Square by recalling the devastation in both countries. “Dear brothers and sisters,” he said, “I express my closeness to the people of Thailand hit by serious flooding, as well as in Italy, to those of Liguria and Tuscany, recently damaged by the consequences of heavy rains.”

God’s “concern” for every human being, shown especially by the protection of guardian angels, was one of the focal points of Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks to the faithful gathered for the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope also discussed this Sunday's Gospel, noting that the reading from the 21^st chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, “closes with a particularly severe warning from Jesus, addressed to the chief priests and elders of the people: Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. (Matt. 21.43).”

New evangelisation was at the heart of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Sunday before the recitation of the Angelus, his last before a visit to Germany. Speaking to the many people who had gathered in the courtyard of the Papal Summer Residence at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father said that “Today we live in an epoch of new evangelisation. Vast horizons are opening to the Gospel, while traditionally Christian regions are called to rediscover once again the beauty of the faith”.

“We must give ourselves much exercise both in fraternal correction, which requires a great deal of humility and simplicity of heart, and in prayer, so that what we offer up to God in Heaven might be the prayer of a community truly united in Christ.” These were some of the words Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the Papal Summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, for the Sunday Angelus. Reflecting on the Sunday Gospel readings, which focus on fraternal charity in the life of the community, the Holy Father recalled how the brotherly love also involves a "sense of mutual responsibility," which includes calling a brother who has fallen into sin back to the right path - first personally and then, gradually, at the community level. 

The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated by Christians of East and West, and for the Catholic Church, the dogma of the Assumption was proclaimed in 1950. Pope Benedict XVI called these things to mind in his remarks to the faithful ahead of the angelus prayer at noon on Monday, the Feast of the Assumption, telling the faithful that in Mary we see the goal towards which all people are making their way, who know how to bind their lives to Jesus’ own, who know how to follow Him as Mary did. “This feast,” he said, “speaks therefore of our future: it tells us that we too will be with Jesus in the joy of God and invites us to have courage, to believe that the power of the Resurrection of Christ can work in us as well, and make us men and women who every day try to live as resurrected, carrying the light of goodness into the darkness of evil in the world.”

Pope Benedict XVI appealed for the victims of piracy today, saying he hopes all those taken on the high seas will receive humane and respectful treatment, and praying that the families of those being held remain strong in the faith, and not lose the hope that they will see their loved ones again soon. The Pope’s appeal was just one of the ways in which the Holy Father marked this Sunday’s World Maritime Day, organized by the Apostleship of the Sea each year to draw attention to the spiritual, moral and material challenges facing seafarers and their families.

Just a few days before leaving the Vatican for the Papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the “rest” offered my Jesus Christ.

Speaking during his Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope said just as in the time of the Gospel, many people in the poorest countries are burdened by poverty; and even in the richest countries, people face dissatisfaction and depression. He said Jesus says to all of them, “come unto me”.

BRUSSEL (KerkNet/RadVat/KatholiekNederland) – Paus Benedictus XVI bezoekt op 19 juni, Drievuldigheidszondag, het ministaatje San Marino. Hoewel de paus zich tijdens het bezoek op het grondgebied van de Republiek San Marino zal bevinden, is er geen sprake van een staatsbezoek. De paus brengt slechts een pastoraal bezoek aan het bisdom San Marino-Montefeltro, dat zowel in Italië als San Marino ligt.