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Monday, June 9, 2008

MERCY: SUMMARY OF THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUN 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, in order to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered there.

  Quoting a phrase of the Prophet Hosea - "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" - the Pope said "this is a keyword, one of the words that introduces us into the heart of Holy Scripture".

  "The context in which Jesus makes this phrase His own", the Pope continued, "is the calling of Matthew, who by profession was a publican, in other words a tax collector for the Roman imperial authorities and for that reason considered by the Jews as a public sinner". When Jesus, accompanied by His disciples, went to sit at dinner with Matthew, the Pharisees were scandalised but He told them: 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ... I have come to call not the righteous but sinners'".

  "At this point, Matthew the Evangelist, ever attentive to the link between the Old and New Testaments, puts Hosea's prophecy on Jesus' lips: 'Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifice'. The importance of this expression of the prophet is such that the Lord later uses it again in a different context, concerning the observation of the Sabbath. On this occasion too He takes it upon Himself to interpret the precept, revealing Himself as the 'Lord' of legal institutions. Turning to the Pharisees, He adds: 'If you had known what this means - I desire mercy not sacrifice - you would not have condemned the guiltless'".

  "Thus", the Holy Father added, "Jesus, the Word made flesh, has, so to say, 'identified' Himself in this oracle of Hosea. He made it His own with all His heart and carried it out with His actions, even at the cost of upsetting the sensibilities of the leaders of His people. This word of God has come to us, through the Gospels, as one of the summaries of the entire Christian message: true religion consists in loving God and neighbour. This is what gives value to worship and to the practice of precepts".

  After praying the Angelus, the Pope recalled the Polish miners who lost their lives in a recent accident at a mine in Borynia. "I pray for the grace of eternal rest for them", he said, "spiritual comfort for their families, and a speedy recovery for the injured. May merciful God protect us from sudden death!"
ANG/MERCY ACCIDENT BORYNIA/...                VIS 20080609 (440)


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