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Monday, October 20, 2008

LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOUR ARE INSEPARABLE

VATICAN CITY, 19 OCT 2008 (VIS) - At 9 a.m. today the Pope travelled by helicopter to Pompeii in Southern Italy. There he celebrated Mass in the square of the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary at 10.30 a.m. and, in the afternoon, led the praying of the Rosary.

  Addressing his homily to 50,000 faithful, the Holy Father said that he had come on a pastoral visit to Pompeii "especially to entrust the assembly of the Synod of Bishops taking place in the Vatican to the Mother of God".

  Commenting on today's readings of the Mass, Benedict XVI emphasised "the wonderful expression by Zephaniah who, addressing Jerusalem, says: the Lord 'will renew you in His love'. Yes, the love of God has this power: to renew all things beginning with the human heart, which constitutes His work of art where the Holy Spirit best accomplishes His transformative action.

  "With His grace," the Pope added, "God renews human beings' hearts, forgiving our sins, reconciling us to Him, and infusing in us the strength to do good. All this becomes apparent in the lives of the saints and we see it in particular in the apostolic work of Blessed Bartolo Longo, the founder of the new Pompeii".

  Referring to the second reading taken from the Letter to the Romans in which St. Paul "exhorts love", the Pope said that "these pages delineate a programme for the life of a Christian community, whose members have been renewed by love and who continually strive to renew themselves in order to discern the will of God and not to fall into the conformity of a worldly mentality".

  "The characteristic of Christian civilisation," he added, "is charity: God's love that is translated into love of others".

  Speaking of Blessed Bartolo Longo, the Holy Father stressed "his numerous charitable initiatives for our brothers and sisters who are most in need. Incited by love, he had the capacity to project a new city that arose around the Marian shrine like an emanation of his own light of faith and hope. A Marian citadel of charity … was founded here in this valley, rescuing and promoting it. Thanks to God the history of the Church is full of experiences like this. … They are experiences of fraternity that show the face of a different society, like leaven in a social context. The strength of charity is irresistible: it is love that truly carries the world forward"!

  The Pope highlighted the fact that Blessed Longo, like St. Paul, "from being a persecutor of the Church became an apostle", because "he had moved away from the Christian faith, becoming militantly anticlerical and even participating in spiritualist and superstitious practices. … With his personal conversion he bore witness to a great spiritual force that transforms us from within, making us capable of carrying out great things according to God's plan".

  "Pompeii", emphasised the Holy Father, "is an example of how faith can work in the city of man, creating apostles of charity who place themselves at the service of the weak and the poor, and who work to that even the weakest may be respected in their dignity and find acceptance and support. Here in Pompeii it is evident that the love of God and neighbour are inseparable. … Here, at Mary's feet, families come to find or to fortify the happiness of love that keeps them united".

  At the end of the homily the Pope highlighted the importance of praying the Rosary: "It is a contemplative prayer that is accessible to all: large and small, laity and clergy, the learned and the uneducated. It is the spiritual bond with Mary that allows us to remain united to Jesus, to conform ourselves to Him, to assimilate His feelings, and to act as He acted. The rosary is a spiritual 'weapon' in the fight against evil and all violence, for peace in our hearts, our families, our society, and our world".

  At the end of Mass and before praying the Angelus, Benedict XVI led the Supplication to the Virgin of the Rosary written by Blessed Longo in 1883, which is traditionally prayed on the first Sunday of October.
PV-ITALY/MASS/POMPEII                    VIS 20081020 (710)


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