AUDIENCE: CALL FOR PEACE IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

VATICAN CITY, JUN 6, 2001 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II spoke about David's Canticle of Praise in the first book of Chronicles: "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power."

The Pope explained that the Canticle reflects the "immense joy" of the Israelite community for the preparations for building the Temple. "However," he continued, "the Canticle only briefly pauses on human satisfaction, in order to focus immediately on the glory of God. ... David thus expresses the profound truth that all is grace. In a certain sense what has been readied for the temple is nothing other than the restitution for what Israel received in the inestimable gift of the alliance established by God with the Fathers."

"All of the beautiful and good which man experiences, must be attributed to the One Who is at the origin of all things and governs everything. Man knows that what he possesses is a gift from God, as David goes on to emphasize in the Canticle. ... "This view of reality as gift from God, helps us to combine the sentiments of praise and recognition in the Canticle with the authentic 'offertorial' spirituality that the Christian liturgy enables us to live above all in the Eucharistic celebration."

The Holy Father recalled that David was tempted by wealth and power "while (he) organized the construction of the temple. That which is a universal temptation could have been a temptation for him: to act as if one is absolute arbiter of what one possesses." However, "the prayer articulated in this Canticle brings man back to his dimension as a 'poor man' who receives everything."

At the end of the audience, after greeting the pilgrims in various languages, John Paul II made the following appeal:

"Worrying news has arrived from the Central African Republic about the clashes taking place in that beloved nation and particularly about the painful trials to which the capital Bangui is subjected. For my part, I am close to those populations and I ask all of the groups fighting to lay down their arms and cooperate in restoring a climate of harmony in the country. For these goals I invite you to pray together with me to the Lord, in order that He instil thoughts of peace and reconciliation in hearts."

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