Vatican City, 15 November 2015 (VIS) –
At midday today Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in
the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with the faithful
gathered in St. Peter's Square, and to reflect on the Gospel reading
of the day's liturgy in which Jesus, before his last Passover, spoke
of the final events of human history, marked with apocalyptic signs:
wars, famine, cosmic catastrophes. However, he said, these elements
are not the essential part of the message. The central nucleus around
which the words of Jesus revolve is Him: He Himself, the mystery of
His person, His death and His resurrection, and his coming at the end
of time”.
“Our final destination is the
encounter with the risen Lord”, Francis explained. “We do not
await a time or a place; rather, we are going to encounter a person:
Jesus. Thus the problem is not 'when' these premonitory signs of the
last days will occur, but rather that we find ourselves prepared. It
is also not about knowing how these things will happen, but instead
how we have to act today, in awaiting them. We are called to live in
the present, building our future with serenity and trust in God. …
The prospect of the end does not distract us from the present life,
but instead leads us to regard our current days with hope. … And
our hope has a face: the face of the Risen Lord. … The triumph of
Jesus at the end of time will be the triumph of the cross, the
demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself out of love for one's
neighbour, in imitation of Christ, is the only victorious power, the
only stable point in the midst of the upheavals of the world”.
The Lord Jesus “is not only the
destination point of our earthly pilgrimage, but also a constant
presence in our lives ... and this is why when we speak of the future
and project ourselves toward it, it always leads us back to the
present. He counters the false prophets, the fortune-tellers who
predict that the end of the world is near; He counters fatalism. …
He wishes to direct His disciples in every age away from curiosity
about dates, predictions, horoscopes, and concentrate their attention
on today in history. … This presence of Jesus calls us to
anticipation and vigilance that excludes both impatience and
lethargy; both refuge in the future and imprisonment in the current
moment and in worldliness”.
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