Pope: Advent, time of waiting, as with all human existence
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Advent, which begins today, is a "time of waiting ", which on one hand recalls the "waiting" for the birth of Jesus, and on the other opens up to his return. Moreover, this waiting, Benedict XVI pointed out today, marks the entire existence of man, so that "we could say that man is alive as long waits, until hope is alive his heart”.
To 20 thousand people in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus, the Pope spoke about the time of waiting, but, in greetings to the French and the Poles present, he also mentioned the issue of respect for unborn life, to which, last night, he dedicated the first Vespers of Advent. "We pray in particular - he said - for respect for nascent life" and so that" in future the world will become a civilization of love and life"
Before the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI spoke of waiting, “waiting - he said - is a dimension that runs through out our existence be it personal, family or society. Waiting and expectation is part of thousands of situations, from the smallest and most trivial to the most important, it involves us completely and deeply. Let us think, for example, of a married couple waiting for a child, waiting for a relative or friend who comes to visit us from afar, let us think of a young person waiting for results of an important exam, or a job interview, in relationships, the expectation of meeting with one’s beloved, waiting for a reply to a letter, or for forgiveness ... You could say that man is alive as long as he is in waiting, as long as hope is alive in his heart. And man is recognised by his expectations: our moral and spiritual 'stature' can be measured by what we expect, by what we hope for”.
"Each one of us, therefore, especially in this time that prepares us for Christmas, should ask ourselves: And I, what do I expect? What, at this point in my life, is my heart yearning for? And this same question can be put at a family, community, national level. What do you expect, together? What unites our aspirations, what have they in common? In the time preceding the birth of Jesus, expectations for the coming of the Messiah, were high in Israel, an anointed descendant of King David, who would finally free the people from all moral and political slavery and establish the Kingdom of God, but no one had imagined that the Messiah would be born from a humble girl who was Mary Joseph 's betrothed".
"Not even she would have thought as much, and yet expectation for the Saviour was so great in her heart, her faith and hope were so ardent that He found in her a worthy mother. Moreover, God himself had prepared her, before the beginning of time. There is a mysterious correspondence between expectation of God and of Mary, the creature 'full of grace' is totally transparent to the loving plan of the Most High. May we learn from her, Woman of Advent, to live our daily routine with a new spirit, with the deep feeling of expectation that only the coming of God can fulfil".
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