Pope: Believers in God, have values that go against prevailing fashions and opinions
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Believing in God "makes us carries of values which often do not coincide with the prevailing fashion and opinion and "requires us to adopt criteria and a conduct which do not belong to the common way of thinking", and not fear going "against the grain" to live our faith, resisting the temptation to "conform".
This is the real meaning of the "I believe in God," which begins with the Creed, the basic profession of faith to which Benedict XVI has announced that, in this Year of Faith, he will dedicate a series of general audience catechesis. In today's audience, the Pope also had a thought for Indonesia, which was hit by a "great flood that has devastated the capital Jakarta." Expressing his "closeness" to the people affected, he launched an appeal for solidarity "so no one lacks the necessary aid."
The "I believe in God", at the centre of his reflections today with the eight thousand people present in the Paul VI, is "a fundamental affirmation, deceptively simple in its essence, but which opens the infinite world of our relationship with the Lord and with His mystery. Believing in God implies attachment to him, welcoming his Word and joyful obedience to His revelation. "
It is God who "speaks to men as friends, speaks to us so that, in faith and with faith, we enter into communion with Him", he speaks in Sacred Scripture. And in the Letter to the Hebrews, the first example of the great biblical figures who "believe and trust in God" is Abraham, "the father of all believers." In response to the divine call, he " he went out, not knowing where he was to go....". But "How would we respond to an invitation like that? It is, in fact, a departure in the dark, not knowing where God will lead him, it is a journey that calls for obedience and radical trust, which only faith can access".
Then, "when we say, "I believe in God," we say, like Abraham: "I trust you, I entrust myself to You, Lord," but not as Someone to run to only in times of difficulty or to whom to dedicate a few moments of the day or of the week. Saying "I believe in God" means grounding my life in Him, letting His Word guide each day, in the concrete choices without fear of losing something of myself".
"Faith makes us pilgrims on earth, inserted into the world and history, but on the way to the heavenly homeland".
"In many societies God has become the "great absentee" and there are many and diverse idols now in His place, above all possession. And also the significant and positive progress in science and technology have created in humans an illusion of omnipotence and self-sufficiency, and a growing self-centeredness, which has created many imbalances within relationships and social behaviours".
"And yet, the thirst for God (cf. Ps 63.2) has not been extinguished and the Gospel message continues to resonate through the words and deeds of many men and women of faith. Abraham, the father of believers, continues to be the father of many children who are willing to walk in his footsteps and set out in obedience to the divine call, trusting in the benevolent presence of the Lord and accepting His blessing to be a blessing for all. It is the blessed world of faith to which we are all called, to walk without fear following the Lord Jesus Christ. And sometimes it is difficult journey, one that even knows trial and death, but one that is open to life, in a radical transformation of reality that only the eyes of faith can see and enjoy in abundance".
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