VATICAN CITY, 15 NOV 2009 (VIS) - In his remarks before praying the Angelus today, Benedict XVI spoke of the end of the liturgical year, quoting the passage from the Gospel of St. Mark in which Christ speaks of the end of time in these words: "heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away".
"Jesus declares that everything is destined to 'pass away'", said the Pope. "Not only the earth but heaven too, here to be understood in its cosmic sense and not as a synonym for God. Sacred Scripture knows no ambiguity: all creation is finite, including the elements deified by ancient mythologies. There is no confusion between the creation and the Creator - rather, there is a clear difference - and with this net distinction Jesus affirms that His words 'will not pass away'; that is, they are of God and, hence, eternal".
Those who listen to Christ's words "form part of the Kingdom of God; that is, they live under His lordship. They remain in the world but they are no longer of the world. They carry in themselves the seed of eternity, a principle of transformation which even now reveals itself in living a good life, animated by charity, which in the end will lead to the resurrection of the flesh".
The Holy Father continued: "The Virgin Mary is the living sign of this truth. Her heart was the 'good earth' which accepted the Word of God with complete readiness, so that all her life, transformed in accordance with the image of her Son, was introduced body and soul into eternity, anticipating the eternal vocation of all human beings".
After praying the Angelus Benedict XVI greeted participants in the plenary assembly of the European Episcopal Commission for the Media, which is currently being held in the Vatican. He then recalled the fact that today marks the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
In this context he said: "I entrust the deceased to God, and encourage those who travel the roads of the world to be prudent and to show a spirit of responsibility for the gift of health and life, their own and that of others".
ANG/ETERNITY TRAFFIC/... VIS 20091116 (380)
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