GENERAL AUDIENCE: GREATNESS OF GOD IN CREATION AND HISTORY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 31, 2001 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II spoke on the Canticle of Isaiah (Is 45:15-26) in which the greatness of God in creation and history is shown.

The Pope noted that "The historical background from which this meditation springs is that of the surprising liberation which God obtains for His people, at the time of the Babylonian exile. ... The certainty of the providential action of God is the source of hope for the believer, who knows he can count upon the constant presence of He 'who formed the earth and made it, He (who) established it'."

"God," he affirmed, "is by definition the Only One. Nothing can compare to Him. Everything is subordinate to Him." In this regard the Pope recalled that the prophet Isaiah reproaches "all forms of idolatry, often concealed in the attitudes with which men and things are considered as absolute values and substitutes for God Himself, more than in the improper use of images."

The hymn, he continued, refers to history, "in which Israel was able to experience many times the beneficent and merciful power of God, His faithfulness and His providence."

"God proclaims: 'Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other'. In this way it becomes clear that the predilection with which God has chosen Israel as His people is not an act of exclusion, but instead an act of love in which all of humanity is destined to benefit. Already in the Old Testament, that 'sacramental' conception of the history of salvation stands out, which sees in the special election of the sons of Abraham, and then of the disciples of Christ in the Church, not a privilege which 'closes' or 'excludes', but the sign and the instrument of a universal love."

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