POPE RECALLS FLOOD VICTIMS IN THAILAND AND ITALY

VATICAN CITY, 30 OCT 2011 (VIS) - At midday today Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope commented on today's reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, in which the Apostle invites us to accept the Gospel "not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word". By doing so "we can faithfully accept the admonitions Jesus addresses to our conscience, and behave accordingly. In today's reading He reproaches the scribes and Pharisees, who had the role of leaders in the community, because their behaviour was in open contrast with the teachings they rigorously sought to impose upon others. ... Good doctrine must be welcomed, but it risks being invalidated by incoherent behaviour. ... Jesus' approach is the exact opposite: He is the first to practise the commandment of love, which He teaches to everyone. And His is but a light burden because He helps us to carry it with Him.

"Referring to leaders who oppress the freedom of others in the name of their own authority, St. Bonaventure identified the true leader, saying that 'no one can teach or even practise, nor arrive at knowledge of the truth unless the Son of God is present'. ... We are, then, called to follow the Son of God, the Word incarnate, Who expressed the truth of His teachings through His own faithfulness to the will of the Father, through His gift of self. ... Jesus also firmly condemned vanity, noting that those who act 'to be seen by others' place themselves at the mercy of human approval, undermining the values that support the authenticity of the individual".

The Holy Father called for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, particularly for "those in the Christian community who are called to the ministry of teaching, that through their actions they may always bear witness to the truth they transmit in words".

Following the Marian prayer, the Holy Father expressed his closeness "to the people of Thailand who have suffered serious floods, and for the people of the Italian regions of Liguria and Tuscany, which have also been badly affected by torrential rain. I give them assurances of my prayers".
ANG/ VIS 20111031 (390)