VATICAN CITY, NOV 20, 2005 (VIS) - Addressing pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus at midday, Benedict XVI reminded them that today, the final Sunday of the liturgical year, also marks the Solemnity of Christ the King.
"During His public life," the Pope said, "Jesus inaugurated the new Kingdom which 'is not of this world,' finally realizing it in full with His death and resurrection. Having risen from death, He appeared before the Apostles and said 'all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' This power springs from the love which God showed totally in the sacrifice of His Son. The Kingdom of Christ is a gift offered to men and women of all times so that everyone who believes in the Word incarnate may 'not perish but have eternal life'."
"'Christ, Alpha and Omega,' is the title of the concluding paragraph of the first part of the Vatican Council II Pastoral Constitution 'Gaudium et Spes,' promulgated forty years ago. ... It reads: 'The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings. ... Enlivened and united in His Spirit, we journey toward the consummation of human history, one which fully accords with the counsel of God's love: To reestablish all things in Christ, both those in the heavens and those on the earth'."
The Pope concluded: "'Gaudium et spes' interprets, in the light of the central position of Christ, the condition of contemporary man; his vocation and dignity, and all areas of his life: family, culture, economics, politics and the international community. This is the Church's mission yesterday, today and always: to announce and bear witness to Christ so that mankind, all men and women, may fully realize their vocation."
ANG/CHRIST KING/... VIS 20051121 (330)
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