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                               VIS-Press releases

IT IS GOD, NOT GRAND PROMISES, WHO CHANGES THE WORLD

VATICAN CITY, 12 DEC 2010 (VIS) - This morning the Pope made a pastoral visit
to the parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe on the outskirts of Rome, where he
celebrated Mass. As of the year 2009, the parish community has a new church,
dedicated to that Polish Franciscan saint and martyr.

In his homily, the Pope highlighted how "Advent is a pressing invitation to us
all to allow God to enter ever more deeply into our lives, our homes, our
neighbourhoods, our communities, that we may have light amidst so much darkness
and so much daily fatigue".

Noting how "with the passage of time the parish community has grown and become
partly transformed, with the arrival of many people from the countries of
Eastern Europe and other States", the Pope underlined the importance "of
creating opportunities for dialogue and favouring mutual understanding between
people from different cultures, backgrounds and social conditions".

"Here, as in all parishes", he said, "it is necessary to
begin with those
'close by' then reach those 'far away', in order to bring an evangelical
presence into the places in which we live and work. In parishes, everyone
should be able to enjoy an adequate formation and to experience the community
dimension which is a fundamental characteristic of Christian life", a community
"that involves everyone, united in listening to the Word of God and in
celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist".

Commenting then on today's Gospel reading in which John the Baptist asks
whether Jesus is the Judge Who will change the world, or whether we must wait
for another, Benedict XVI affirmed that "many prophets, ideologues and
dictators have come and said: 'No, not him! He has not changed the world! We
have!' And they created their empires, their dictatorships, their totalitarian
regimes which were meant to change the world. And they did change it, but
destructively. Today we know that all that is left of these grand promises is
great emptiness and great destruction".

"The Lord, in the silent way characteristic of Him, replies: 'See what I have
done. I have not brought a bloody revolution, I have not changed the world by
force; but I have lit many lights which together form a great path of light
over the millennia".

The Pope then turned his attention to St. Maximilian Kolbe "who volunteered to
die of hunger in order to save the life of a married man", to St. Damian de
Veuster "who lived and died with and for lepers", and to Mother Teresa of
Calcutta "who brought light to so many people who, after a life spent without
light, died with a smile because they were touched by the light of God's love.

"And so we could go on", he added, "and we would see, as the
Lord said in His
reply to John, that it is not violent revolution or great promises that change
the world, but the silent light of truth, of God's goodness, which is the sign
of His presence and gives us the certainty that we are fully loved, that we are
not forgotten, that we are not the result of chance but of a will to love".

The Pope concluded his homily by highlighting how "God is close, ... but we are
often far away. Let us, then draw close, let us come into the presence of His
light, let us pray to the Lord and, in the contact of prayer, let us become a
light for others".
HML/VIS 20101213 (590)

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