Vatican City, 11 January 2015 (VIS) –
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord concludes the season of the
Nativity and the Pope, during the Angelus at midday today, commenting
on the passage in the Gospel of St. Mark – when the heavens open at
the moment at which John the Baptist baptises Jesus in the Jordan –
affirmed that this event marks the end of “the time of the closed
heavens, which indicated the separation of God and man as a
consequence of sin”.
Sin “alienates us from God and
ruptures the bond between earth and heaven, causing misery and
failure in our lives. The open heavens indicate that God has given
His grace so that the earth may bear His fruit. Thus the world
transforms into God's dwelling amid humanity, and each one of us has
the opportunity to meet the Son of God, experiencing all of His love
and infinite mercy. We find Him truly present in the Sacraments,
especially the Eucharist. We are able to recognise Him in the face of
our brothers, especially the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, and
refugees; they are the living flesh of the suffering Christ and the
visible image of the invisible God”.
With the Baptism of Jesus, not only did
the heavens open, but also “God speaks, making his voice resound
anew: 'You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased'. … And
then the Holy Spirit descends, in the form of a dove: this enables
Christ, the consecrated of the Lord, to inaugurate His mission, which
is our salvation”. The Holy Father remarked that the Holy Spirit is
forgotten in our prayers: “We need to ask for His help, His
strength, His inspiration. The Holy Spirit, that fully inspired the
life and ministry of Jesus, is the same Spirit that today guides
Christian existence, the existence of a man and a woman who say they
wish to be Christians. Placing under the action of the Holy Spirit
our life as Christians and the mission that we have all received by
virtue of our Baptism means rediscovering the apostolic courage
necessary to overcome easy worldly comforts. … A Christian or a
community that is deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit, Who urges us
to take the Gospel to the outermost limits of the world and of
society, also becomes a mute Christian or community, unable to speak
or to evangelise”.
“Remember to pray often that the Holy
Spirit might help us and give us strength and inspiration, leading us
forward”, concluded Pope Francis who, following the Angelus prayer,
asked the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, especially those
from Sri Lanka and the Philippines, to pray for him during his
apostolic trip to these two countries, to commence tomorrow.
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