Entry 0332: Reflections on the Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
by Pope Benedict XVI
On one occasion
during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a reflection on the Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time, on 6 March 2011. Here is the text of the brief reflection
delivered prior to the recitation of the Angelus.
Let us invoke the
help of the Virgin Mary, whose life was marked by fidelity to the Word of God. Let
us contemplate her in the Annunciation, at the foot of the Cross, and now, sharing
in the glory of the Risen Christ. Like her, let us renew our “yes” and confidently
entrust our journey to God.
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 6 March 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
This Sunday’s Gospel
presents the conclusion of the “Sermon on the Mount”, where the Lord Jesus, through
the Parable of the two houses — one built on the rock and the other on sand — invites
the disciples to listen to his words and to put them into practice (see Mt
7:24). Thus he places the disciple and his journey of faith in the perspective of
the Covenant, constituted by the relationship God weaves with man through the gift
of his Word, entering into communication with us.
The Second Vatican
Council says: “Invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his
friends, and moves among them in order to invite and receive them into his own company”
(Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, no. 2). “In this
vision every man and woman appears as someone to whom the Word speaks, challenges
and calls to enter this dialogue of love through a free response” (Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, no. 22).
Jesus is the living
Word of God. When he taught, people recognized in his words the divine authority
itself and they felt the Lord’s closeness, his merciful love, and praised God. In
every epoch and in every place those who have the grace of knowing God, especially
through reading the holy Gospel, are fascinated by him. They recognize that in his
preaching, in his actions and in his Person, he reveals the true face of God to
us and at the same time reveals us to ourselves. This gives us the joy of being
children of the Father who is in Heaven, and points out to us the solid foundation
on which to build our life.
Yet human beings
often do not build their action and life on this identity; they prefer the sands
of ideology, power, success and money, believing they will find in these things
stability and the answer to the irrepressible demand for happiness and fullness
that they carry in their soul.
And as for us, on
what do we wish to build our life? Who can truly respond to the restlessness of
the human heart? Christ is the rock of our life! He is the eternal and definitive
Word who overcomes every kind of adversity, difficulty or hardship (see Verbum
Domini, no. 10).
May the word of God
permeate the whole of our life, thought and action, as the First Reading of today’s
Liturgy from the Book of Deuteronomy proclaims: “Therefore take these words of mine
into your heart and your soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be
a pendant on your forehead” (11:18).
Dear brothers and
sisters, I urge you to make room every day for the word of God, to nourish yourselves
with it and to meditate ceaselessly upon it. It is also a precious help and refuge
from a superficial activism that may satisfy pride momentarily but ultimately leaves
you empty and dissatisfied.
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