TRÁI TIM MẸ:  NƠI CON NƯƠNG NÁU - ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN VỚI CHÚA

"Chúa Giêsu muốn dùng con để làm cho Mẹ được nhận biết và yêu mến"

January 7, 2009 - Wednesday after Epiphany      DAILY LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "Take heart, it is I; have no fear" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): PROCLAIMING CHRIST WITH WORDS AND THE WITNESS OF LIFE; FOLLOW THE PATH OF GOODNESS WITH RESOLVE; CALLS FOR PEACE IN GAZA AND RELEASE OF KIDNAPPED CHILDREN SAINT OF THE DAY St. John Neumann  GENERAL MARIOLOGY The Mother of God The Patristic Tradition until the End of the Fourth Century The First Testimonies about the Divine Maternity before the Appearance of the Technical Term Theotókos DIVINE MERCY On Trust My Strength and My Only Hope  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: Pope On the Epiphany     Monthly Index

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

Wednesday (1/7): "Take heart, it is I; have no fear" Scripture: Mark 6:45-52  (alternate reading: Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25) 45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-sa'ida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 51 And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Meditation: Does the Lord ever seem distant to you? After the great miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Jesus sends his disciples away to fend for themselves in the dark of the night while a storm begins to brew on the sea. Although they were experienced fishermen, they were fearful for their lives. The Lord’s sudden presence on the sea only made them more fearful!  Mark says they were terrified (verse 50), not only because the sea was threatening to drown them. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost waiting for their imminent destruction. Jesus had to calm them with his reassuring voice: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” Jesus gave them the courage to cast their anxiety and fear on him who is Lord of the seas as well as their lives. Scripture reminds us that no fear can overtake us if we put our trust in God's love and care for us. John the Evangelist tells us that God's love abides in us and perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:16,18). Aren’t we like the apostles when we experience trials and adversity? While the Lord may at times seem distant to us, he, nonetheless is constantly present at our side. The scriptures remind us that the Lord is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Whatever storms make beset us, he promises to “bring us to our desired haven” (Psalm 107:29-30). The Lord keeps watch over us at all times, and especially in our moments of temptation and difficulty. Do you rely on the Lord for his strength and help? Jesus assures us that we have no need of fear if we trust in Him and in his great love for us. When calamities and trials threaten to overwhelm you, how do you respond? With fear and panic, or with faith and trust in God's love and presence with you? “Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your saving help and watchful presence, especially in times of adversity.  Fortify my faith with courage and hope that I may never waver in my trust in you”. Psalm 72:1-2, 10-13 1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son! 2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice! 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! 12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

PROCLAIMING CHRIST WITH WORDS AND THE WITNESS OF LIFE VATICAN CITY, 6 JAN 2009 (VIS) - The Pope celebrated Mass today, the Solemnity of the Lord's Epiphany, in the Vatican Basilica.   In his homily the Holy Father affirmed that Latin tradition identifies the Epiphany, "the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ", with "the Magi's visit to the Christ Child in Bethlehem and thus interprets it above all as the revelation of the Messiah of Israel to pagan peoples".   "This year, 2009, which marks the fourth centenary of Galileo's first observations with the telescope and is especially dedicated to astronomy, we cannot but give special attention to the symbol of the star, which is very important in the Gospel story of the Magi, who were most likely astronomers".   Benedict XVI noted that "while pagan theology divinised the elements and forces of the cosmos, Christian faith, in fulfilling Biblical revelation, contemplates one God, the Lord and Creator of all the universe".   "Divine love, incarnated in Christ, is the fundamental and universal law of creation. It should not be understood poetically but as a reality. ... This means that the stars and planets, the entire universe, are not governed by a blind force; they do not just obey the dynamics of matter. That is why cosmic elements are not to be divinised but, just the opposite, a personal will is in and over all things, the Spirit of God, which in Christ is revealed as Love. This is why", he said, "humans - as St. Paul writes to the Colossians - are not slaves of cosmic 'powers', but rather are free, are capable of interacting with God's creative freedom".   Continuing, the Pope said that "He is at the origin of everything and governs all, not as a cold and anonymous driving force but rather as Father, Spouse, Friend, Brother, as Logos, the 'Word-Reason' who joined with our mortal flesh once for all and who has fully shared our condition, revealing the overabundant power of His grace".   The Holy Father highlighted that "Christian thought compares the cosmos to a 'book' - as Galileo himself said - considering it the work of an author Who expresses Himself through the 'symphony' of creation".   There is no shadow, however dark it may be, capable of overshadowing the light of Christ. This is why, for those who believe in Christ, hope never fades, not even today in the face of the severe social and economic crisis that humanity finds itself mired in, in the face of the destructive hatred and violence that does not stop covering many regions of the world in blood, in the face of the selfishness and human pretension of establishing ourselves as God that at times leads to dangerous alterations in the divine design for the life and dignity of the human being, for the family and the harmony of creation".   Benedict XVI affirmed that "our effort to free human life and the world from the poisoning and contamination that could destroy the present and the future maintains its value and meaning - as I wrote in my Encyclical 'Spe Salvi' - even if we, apparently, do not succeed or if it seems that we are impotent in the face of hostile forces".   "The universal lordship of Christ works upon the Church in a special way". In this context he gave assurances that "the Church is proud of nothing but her Lord: light does not proceed from her and the glory is not hers. However, it is her joy, which no one can take away, to be the 'sign and instrument' of the One who is 'lumen gentium', the light of peoples".   The Holy Father emphasised that "the grace of God made St. Paul a star to peoples" and he invited all to pray for the pastors of the Church, "so that, taking in the Word of God daily, we might faithfully transmit it to our brothers and sisters".   "Let us also pray", he concluded, "for the faithful, because all Christians are called by Baptism and Confirmation to proclaim Christ, the light of the world, with words and the witness of their lives". HML/EPIPHANY/...                                                                                VIS 090107 (690) FOLLOW THE PATH OF GOODNESS WITH RESOLVE VATICAN CITY, 6 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Following this morning's Mass in the Vatican Basilica for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, at midday the Pope appeared at the window of his private study to pray the Angelus with thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square below.   The Holy Father referred to the episode of the Magi, as recounted by the Gospel of St. Matthew. "Each time we hear this story", he said, "we are struck by the marked contrast between the attitude of the Magi, on the one hand, and that of Herod and the Jews on the other. In fact the Gospel say that, on hearing the words of the Magi, King Herod 'was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him'. Their reactions can be understood in different ways: Herod was alarmed because he saw in the person the Magi were seeking a rival to himself and his children, while the leaders and inhabitants of Jerusalem seem more than anything amazed, as if awakened from a torpor and in need of reflection".   "Why, then, was Jerusalem frightened?" asked the Pope. "It seems as if the Evangelist almost wishes to anticipate what will later be the stance of the high priests of the Sanhedrin, and of part of the people, towards Jesus during His public life. ... This brings to mind how, immediately before the Passion, Jesus wept over Jerusalem because it had failed to recognise the time of its visitation from God. Here we touch upon one of the crucial points of the theology of history: the drama of the faithful love of God in the person of Jesus, Who 'came to what was His own, and his own people did not accept Him'".   Benedict XVI highlighted how "in the light of the whole Bible, this attitude of hostility or ambiguity, or superficiality, represents that of each human being and of the 'world' - in a spiritual sense - when they close themselves to the mystery of the true God, Who came to us in the disarming meekness of love. Jesus, 'king of the Jews', is the God of mercy and faithfulness. He wishes to reign in love and truth and asks us to convert, to abandon evil works and resolutely to follow the path of goodness.   "In this sense", he added, "'Jerusalem' is all of us". May the Virgin Mary, who faithfully accepted Jesus, help us not to close our hearts to His Gospel of salvation. Let us, rather, allow ourselves to be conquered and transformed by Him, the 'Emanuel', the God Who came among us to make us a gift of His peace and His love". ANG/EPIPHANY/...                                                                                VIS 090107 (450) CALLS FOR PEACE IN GAZA AND RELEASE OF KIDNAPPED CHILDREN VATICAN CITY, 6 JAN 2009 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus at midday today, the Pope greeted faithful of the Oriental Churches who, in accordance with the Julian calendar, celebrate Christmas tomorrow.   The Holy Father expressed the hope that "the memory of the birth of the Saviour may awaken in their hearts the joy of being loved by God", then added: "The thought of these, our brothers and sisters in the faith, carries me spiritually to the Holy Land and the Middle East. With grave concern I continue to follow the violent armed clashes taking place in the Gaza Strip. While underlining that hatred and refusal of dialogue cannot but lead to war, I would like today to encourage the initiatives and efforts of all those people who, holding peace dear to their hearts, are seeking to help Israelis and Palestinians to agree to sit around a table and talk. May God support the efforts of those courageous 'builders of peace'".   Benedict XVI then went on to point out how the Epiphany "in many countries is also a feast for children. My special thoughts, then, go out to all children, who are the richness and blessing of the world, and especially to the many who are denied a peaceful childhood.   "I would like to draw particular attention", he added, "to the scores of babies and children who, in recent months including the Christmas period, in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been kidnapped by armed bands who have attacked villages causing many victims and wounded. I appeal to the perpetrators of these inhuman brutalities to restore the children to their families and to a future of security and development, to which they have the right alongside those dear peoples. At the same time I express my spiritual closeness to the local Churches which have also been affected in their personnel and their works, while exhorting the pastors and faithful to remain strong and firm in hope".   The Pope went on: "Episodes of violence against children, which unfortunately exist also in other parts of the world, seem even more deplorable considering the fact that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a commitment the international community is called to renew in order to defend, safeguard and promote infancy all over the world. May the Lord help the people who work every day in the service of the new generations helping them to become protagonists of their own future".   "The World Day of Missionary Childhood", he concluded, "which is celebrated on today's Feast of the Epiphany, is a good occasion to underscore the fact that babies and children can play an important role in spreading the Gospel and in works of solidarity towards their more needy peers. May the Lord reward them!" ANG/PEACE GAZA CHILDREN/...                                              VIS 090107 (490) RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

January 7, 2009 St. Raymond of Penyafort (1175-1275)   Since Raymond lived into his hundredth year, he had a chance to do many things. As a member of the Spanish nobility, he had the resources and the education to get a good start in life. By the time he was 20, he was teaching philosophy. In his early 30s he earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law. At 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils that had been made in 80 years since a similar collection by Gratian. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals. They were looked upon as one of the best organized collections of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law. Earlier, Raymond had written for confessors a book of cases. It was called Summa de casibus poenitentiae. More than just a list of sins and penances, it discussed pertinent doctrines and laws of the Church that pertained to the problem or case brought to the confessor. At the age of 60, Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon. He didn’t like the honor at all and ended up getting sick and resigning in two years. He didn’t get to enjoy his peace long, however, because when he was 63 he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order, the successor of St. Dominic. Raymond worked hard, visited on foot all the Dominicans, reorganized their constitutions and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted, Raymond, then 65, resigned. He still had 35 years to oppose heresy and work for the conversion of the Moors in Spain. He convinced St. Thomas Aquinas to write his work Against the Gentiles. In his100th year the Lord let Raymond retire. Comment: Raymond was a lawyer, a canonist. Legalism is one of the things that the Church tried to rid herself of at Vatican II. It is too great a preoccupation with the letter of the law to the neglect of the spirit and purpose of the law. The law can become an end in itself, so that the value the law was intended to promote is overlooked. But we must guard against going to the opposite extreme and seeing law as useless or something to be lightly regarded. Laws ideally state those things that are for the best interests of everyone and make sure the rights of all are safeguarded. From Raymond, we can learn a respect for law as a means of serving the common good. Quote: “He who hates the law is without wisdom,/and is tossed about like a boat in a storm” (Sirach 33:2). RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

The Mother of God  By Fr. Manfred Hauke    The following article is an excerpt from a chapter in the recently published Marian anthology, Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and Consecrated Persons, Seat of Wisdom Books, A Division of Queenship, 2008. Fifteen international Mariology experts contributed to the text. The book features a foreword by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke and has 17 chapters divided into four parts: 1. Mary in Scripture and the Early Church; 2. Marian Dogma; 3. Marian Doctrine; and 4. Marian Liturgy and Devotion. The book is now available from Queenship Publications. To obtain a copy, visit queenship.org. Visit books.google.com and search on "Mariology: A Guide" to view the book in its entirety, or simply click here. Asst. Ed. (continued) The Patristic Tradition until the End of the Fourth Century (24)   The First Testimonies about the Divine Maternity before the Appearance of the Technical Term Theotókos In the beginning of the patristic tradition, the maternity of Mary is emphasized against Gnostic heresies, which denied the true humanity of Jesus. As early as the first century, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107), one of the Apostolic Fathers, stresses the real birth and death of Jesus Christ against the idea that our Lord was not truly born of Mary and only "appeared" to die on the Cross. This heretical view is called "Docetism" (from dokein, to seem). Ignatius teaches the true corporality of the incarnate Son of God: Be deaf whenever one speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, of Mary, who was really born, ate and drank, was really persecuted under Pontius Pilate … who really rose from the dead (25). Together with the real birth of Christ by the Virgin Mary, Ignatius also underlines the unity of Christ, who as the eternal Son of God unites divinity and humanity: "There is but one physician, bodily and spiritual, born and unborn, God who became flesh, true life in death, from Mary, from God, first suffering and then impassible, Jesus Christ, our Lord" (26). Christ is only one personal subject, but he unites in himself divine and human attributes. Speaking of him as "God who became flesh" reflects the truth that later came to be called "communication of idioms:" the divine and human attributes ("idioms" are the specific proprieties) can be attributed to the same divine person in which they "communicate." The unity of Christ as the divine person, the eternal Son who has assumed a human nature, is the systematical basis from which we can speak of Mary as Mother of God. The technical term "hypostatic union" only comes into use later on, but what it signifies is perfectly present in the Church’s teaching from the beginning, as we can see with the example of Ignatius. The most important Father who combats Gnosticism is Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons at the end of the second century. He was brought up in the circle of Bishop Polycarp at Smyrna, who was himself a pupil of the Apostle John. Irenaeus refutes the Docetism of Marcion: According to his heretical position, Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary, but came to earth as an adult, first presenting himself in the synagogue of Capernaum. Marcion also held that Jesus’ body was not a true body but only an illusion; for this reason Marcion eliminated the infancy narratives in the gospels (27). The Gnostics from the school of Valentinus accepted the maternity of Mary, but only in an improper way: according to them, the Son of God came to earth with a heavenly body which only passed through the womb of Mary as water passes through a channel (28). According to these Docetist errors, Jesus "was born through a virgin, but not of a virgin, and in a womb, not of a womb" (29). Whereas Marcionites said that Jesus only appeared to have a human body, without becoming human, and Valentinians pretended that he became human without receiving anything from Mary, Irenaeus teaches that Jesus really and truly became man from the Virgin; otherwise his saving Passion would be without any importance for us (30). "The Son of God was born of the Virgin" (31). Presenting together the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary and the rebirth of Christians from the "maternal womb" of baptism in the Church, Irenaeus gives a strong hint as to the relation between the divine maternity of Mary and the spiritual maternity of the Church: the Son of God, the "pure one purely opens the pure womb, which regenerates men in God, which he himself had made pure" (32). The true maternity of the Virgin Mary is also affirmed, against Gnostic errors, in professions of faith such as the catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem (+387): the Word "became man not apparently or in our fantasy, but really. He did not pass through the Virgin like passing through a channel, but he has really taken flesh from her" (33). For this reason, the professions of faith (like the Apostles’ Creed or the creed formulated by the councils of Nicea and Constantinople) do not say that the Son of God is born "by" the Virgin Mary (per in Latin, dià in Greek), but "from" or "of" the Holy Virgin (ex Maria Virgine, in Greek, ek) (34). The maternity of Mary guarantees the true humanity of Jesus Christ. As Mother of the Son of God, Mary also manifests the divinity of Christ. The decisive basis for the divine maternity is the communication of idioms, formulated in the third century by Tertullian: the Son of God is "born" and then "died" on the Cross. (35) This theological foundation is more important than the phrase "Mother of God," which does not yet appear in the works of this theologian. In the same century, the Alexandrian theologian Origen had probably already used the expression Theotókos (36), but his Christology poses some problems as to the communication of idioms (37). The Council of Nicea (325) defends the divinity of Christ against Arius, for whom the divine Word was not God but only a magnificent creature existing from time immemorial. The technical term for "Mother of God," Theotókos, which literally means "God-bearer" in Greek, was already being used in Egypt before Nicea. The Greek term which literally means "Mother of God," mêter theou, was used later on, and more rarely. The first incontrovertible use of the term Theotókos is found around the year 320 in the letter of Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, who announces the deposition of Arius to Alexander, bishop of Constantinople: After this we know of the resurrection of the dead, the first-fruits of which was our Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed, and not merely in appearance, carried a body, of Mary, Mother of God, who at the end of times came to the human race to put away any sin, was crucified and died, and yet without any detriment to his divinity, being raised from the dead, taken up into heaven, and seated at the right hand of Majesty (38). In this text, we find the title "Mother of God" as part of a profession of faith promulgated in a circular letter from the Alexandrian Bishop Alexander, head of the Egyptian Church, to his fellow bishops. Its use without need of comment, in such an official text, presupposes that its use had already become commonplace some time before, allowing us to arrive at a date of around the third century for the origin of the term. This provenience is confirmed by an early papyrus of the famous prayer Sub Tuum Praesidium found in the desert of Egypt: the text comes from the third or (latest) from the fourth century (39): "Under your mercy, we take refuge, Mother of God, do not reject our supplications in necessity. But deliver us from danger. (You) alone chaste, alone blessed" (40). (to be continued)  RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On Trust My Strength and My Only Hope I trust in You, O merciful God, and I wish to be the first to manifest to You that confidence which You demand of souls (Diary, 615). My Jesus, my strength and my only hope, in You alone is all my hope. My trust will not be frustrated (Diary, 746). I do not fear anything, although the storm is raging, and frightful bolts strike all around me, and I then feel quite alone. Yet, my heart senses You, and my trust grows, and I see all Your omnipotence which upholds me (Diary, 761). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

On the Epiphany "Jesus Came to the World With Great Humility and in Secret"   VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today, the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Epiphany, the "manifestation" of the Lord. The Gospel recounts how Jesus came to the world with great humility and in secret. St. Matthew, nonetheless, refers to the arrival of the Magi, who came from the East, guided by a star, to render homage to the recently born king of the Jews. Each time I listen to this narrative, I am impressed by the clear contrast between the attitude of the Magi, on one hand, and that of Herod and the Jews. The Gospel says that, upon listening to the worlds of the Magi, "King Herod [...] was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" (Matthwe 2:3). This reaction can be understood in various ways: Herod became alarmed because he saw in the one the Magi searched for a competitor for him and his sons. The authorities and inhabitants of Jerusalem, however, seemed astonished more than anything else, as if they woke up from a certain lethargy and needed time to think. Isaiah, in reality, had announced: "For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:5). So then, why did Jerusalem become worried? It seems that the Evangelist wanted to anticipate the position that the high priests and the Sanhedrin would take, as well as that of the populous, with regard to Jesus during his public life. Certainly, it highlights the fact that knowledge of Scripture and the messianic prophecies don't lead all to open themselves to him and his word. Christ recalls this, before the passion, when he cries over Jerusalem because it had not recognized the time of its visitation (cf. Luke 19:44). He we touch upon one of the crucial points of the theology of history: the drama of the faithful love of God in the person of Jesus, who "came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him" (John 1:11). In light of the entire Bible, this attitude of hostility, ambiguity or superficiality represents that of every man and of the "world" -- in the spiritual sense -- when it closes itself to the mystery of the true God, who comes to meet us with the disarming meekness of love. Jesus, the "King of the Jews" (cf. John 18:37), is the God of mercy and fidelity; he wants to reign with in love and truth, and asks us to convert, to abandon evil works and that we take up with decision the path of the good. "Jerusalem," as such, in this sense, is all of us. May the Virgin Mary, who welcomed Jesus with faith, help us to not close our heart to his Gospel of salvation. Let us allow ourselves to be conquered and transformed by him -- the "Emmanuel" (God with us) -- to give us peace and love. [After praying the Angelus, the Pope said:] I direct my heartfelt congratulation to the brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches who follow the Julian calendar and will celebrate Christmas tomorrow. May the memory of the birth of the Savior spark in your hearts more and more the joy of being loved by God. Recalling our brothers and sisters in faith takes me spiritually to the Holy Land and to the Middle East. I am deeply worried about the violent armed confrontations that are taking place on the Gaza border. While I confirm that hate and the rejection of dialogue doesn't bring anything but war, I would like to encourage the initiatives and efforts of those who, loving peace, are trying to help the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down at a table and talk. May God support the commitment of these builders of peace! In many countries, the feast of the Epiphany is also a celebration of children. I am thinking especially of all children, who are the treasure and blessing of the world, and above all of those who are denied a serene childhood. I wish to call attention, in particular, to the situation of hundreds of children and adolescents who, in these past months, which included Christmas, have been kidnapped by armed gangs that have attacked small towns in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which have resulted in numerous victims and wounded. I call out to the authors of these inhuman brutalities to return these young people to their families and to a future of security and development, which is their right, together with these beloved populations. I wish to express at the same time my spiritual closeness to the local Churches, whose members and works have been hurt, while I exhort the pastors and faithful to remain strong and firm in hope. Episodes of violence against children, which unfortunately also occurs in other parts of the world, are even more deplorable give that in 2009 the 20th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child will be celebrated: a commitment that the international community is called to renew so that it can defend and promote childhood throughout the world. May the Lord help those who work on a daily basis to serve the new generations -- and they are innumerable! -- helping them to be protagonists of the future. Furthermore, the Day of the Child Missionary, which is celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany, is an opportune occasion to highlight that children and adolescents have an important role to play in the diffusion of the Gospel and in the works of solidarity with those of their same age who are in need. May the Lord reward them! [The Pope then greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English, he said:] I greet all the English-speaking visitors who join us for this Angelus prayer. On this feast of the Epiphany, the Church celebrates the revelation of Christ, the Eternal Son of the Father, as the light of the nations and the Saviour of all mankind. May the radiance of the Lord's glory fill you and your families with deep spiritual joy, and draw men and women everywhere to faith and new life in him!     RETURN TO TOP

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