Pontiff Encourages Work With the Poor
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that Jesus satisfies man’s “thirst for justice,” through his Divine love rather than political revolution.
The Pope stated this today in a public address before he prayed the midday Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
He reflected on today’s liturgy and the Gospel reading of the Beatitudes.
“The beatitudes are based on the existence of a divine justice,” the Pontiff affirmed, “which raises up those who have been wrongly humiliated and casts down those who have been exalted.”
He stated that “this justice and this beatitude are realized in the ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’ or the ‘Kingdom of God,’ which will be fulfilled at the end of time but is already present in history.”
“Where the poor are consoled and admitted to the banquet of life, there God’s justice is manifested,” the Holy Father said. “This is the task that the Lord’s disciples are called to undertake even now in the present society.”
Recalling his visit this morning to a Caritas shelter in Rome, he said, “From my heart I encourage those who work in such worthy institutions and those, in every part of the world, who freely engage in similar works of justice and love.”
Lent
Benedict XVI continued: “Justice is the theme that I have chosen for this year’s Message for Lent, which will begin on Wednesday — the day that we call Ash Wednesday.
“Today I would like to offer it to everyone, inviting all to read it and meditate on it.”
“The Gospel of Christ responds positively to the thirst for justice in man,” he said, “but in an unexpected and surprising way.”
“Jesus does not propose a revolution of a social or political type, but one of love, which he has already realized with his cross and his resurrection,” the Pope pointed out.
He added, “On these are founded the beatitudes, which propose a new horizon of justice, initiated by Easter, by which we can become just and build a better world.”
The Pontiff concluded by exhorting his listeners: “Let us allow ourselves to be led by [the Blessed Virgin] through the journey of Lent, to be liberated from the illusion of self-sufficiency, recognize that we need God, his mercy, and in this way enter into his kingdom of justice, of love and of peace.”
Full text: http://zenit.org/article-28350?l=english