"THE LORD WILL PREPARE A BANQUET FOR ALL PEOPLES"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 19, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's Lenten Message for 1999, written on the theme "The Lord will prepare a banquet for all peoples." It was published in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese.

The Pontifical Council Cor Unum has, in recent years, assumed the responsibility of publishing this annual Message which the Pope, since 1973, has addressed to the universal Church.

Following are excerpts:

"The Lord will prepare a banquet for all peoples. These words which inspire the present Lenten Message lead us first to reflect upon the gracious providence of the Heavenly Father towards all men and women. "

"Lent is the favorable time to offer to the Lord sincere thanks for the wonders he has done for humanity in every age, and especially in the Redemption when he did not spare his own Son."

"The Lenten journey prepares us for the celebration of Christ's Passover, the mystery of our salvation. Anticipating this mystery, there is the banquet which the Lord celebrates with his disciples on Holy Thursday, offering himself under the signs of bread and wine."

"The banquet is a sign of joy, because in it we see the intense communion of all who take part. ... Many of our brothers and sisters can bear their situation of misery, discomfort and sickness only because they are certain that one day they will be called to the eternal banquet of heaven."

"Lent invites us to overcome the temptation of seeing the realities of this world as definitive and to recognize that 'our homeland is in heaven'.

"This year of preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 is meant to help us renew our sense that God is the Father who in the beloved Son shares with us his own life."

"The experience of the Father's love urges Christians to give of themselves to others, obeying a logic of service and solidarity in openness to their brothers and sisters. ... New forms of poverty and the pressing questions which trouble many hearts await a concrete and appropriate response. Those who are lonely, those on the margins of society, the hungry, the victims of violence, those who have no hope must be able to experience, in the Church's loving care, the tenderness of the Heavenly Father."

"Our thoughts go especially to those excluded from the banquet of everyday consumerism."

"It is not only individuals who have opportunities to show their readiness to invite the poor to share in their prosperity. International institutions, national governments and the centres controlling the world economy must all undertake brave plans and projects to ensure a more just sharing of the goods of the earth, both within individual countries and in relations between nations."

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