GENERAL AUDIENCE: NEW INVITATION TO PRAY FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 10, 2001 (VIS) - During today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about the Canticle of the prophet Jeremiah, in which God frees and reunites his people in joy.

The Canticle of Jeremiah, the Holy Father said before 25,000 people, announces the consolation of Israel. "It is an oracle that makes one dream! It describes a future in which the exiled 'will see and sing', and will find not only the temple of the Lord, but also all good things. ... The Canticle insists on this perspective: God wants to make man fully happy."

"History," he continued, "tells us that this dream has still not been realized" on account of the "unfaithfulness" of the people. "Not only will the exiled people not return from the North, but the same Judea will be occupied by Nebuchadnezzar. ... The days of bitterness will then begin."

"Nevertheless," added John Paul II, "the invitation to joy that distinguishes this oracle does not lose significance." The verses "describe in vibrant terms the love of God for his people. ... This love constitutes the guiding thread that unites the phases of Israel's history, in her joys and in her sadness, in her successes and her failures."

The Pope affirmed that "on the solid rock of this love, the invitation to the joy of our Canticle evokes a future ... that has been achieved in the new alliance with the death and resurrection of Christ and with the gift of the Spirit. Nevertheless, it will be accomplished definitively with the eschatological return of the Lord."

"The Christian life," he concluded, "is called to be a true 'jubilee', threatened only by our sin." Because of this, we are called "to root our life in Christ, our Redeemer, and search for the secret of true joy in our personal and community life in Him."

In his greetings to the English-speaking pilgrims, the Holy Father invited all "to pray for peace and to be committed to building a world without violence, founded on respect for the dignity of every human being."

The Pope blessed a bronze door - 2.5 meters high and 1.4 meters wide ' made by an Italian sculptor. It will be placed in the Church of St. Catalina in Bethlehem. The Pope expressed his desire that this work "be a further message of peace for the land of Palestine."

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