AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 30, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his vicar general for the diocese of Rome and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference. The cardinal was accompanied by: Bishop Salvatore Fisichella, auxiliary of Rome for the southern sector and rector of the Pontifical Lateran University; Msgr. Lorenzo Leuzzi, director of the vicariate of Rome's office for University Pastoral Ministry and Fr. Pedro Olea Alvarez, C.S.I., chaplain of Rome's "La Terza" University.

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GENERAL AUDIENCE: DISCOVER THE DIVINE WORD IN CREATION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 30, 2002 (VIS) - Psalm 18, "God's glory in Creation," was the theme of the Pope's catechesis during the general audience which was held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

John Paul II explained that Psalm 18 "is not only a prayer of extraordinary intensity, but also a poetic hymn to the sun and the radiance it shines over the face of the earth. ... For the man of the Bible ... the sun is not a god, it is a creature at the service of the one Creating God."

The two parts of the Psalm, he went on, "are united by a common thread: God illuminates the universe with the radiance of the sun and illuminates humanity with the splendor of His Word, contained in biblical revelation."

"The night and the day are described as messengers who transmit the great news of creation. ... Men and women can discover that the world is not mute, but speaks of the Creator."

The Holy Father indicated that "the Psalm's solar imagery is taken up by the Christian paschal liturgy to describe Christ's triumphal exodus from the shadow of the tomb and His entrance into the fullness of the new life of the resurrection."

The Pope concluded: "The Christian interpretation of the Psalm does not eliminate its central message which is an invitation to discover the divine word present in the creation. As it says in the second part of the Psalm there exists another more exalted Word - more precious than light itself - that of biblical revelation."

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