This past weekend, His Holiness, Benedict XVI published his second encyclical letter entitled Spe salvi. Based on the advise offered by Saint Paul to the Church at Rome (Rom 8:24), Benedict's latest publication encourages us to remember that 'in hope we were saved'.
Who ever said that the Vatican think tanks were out of touch with modern marketing smarts? Having published his first encyclical Deus caritas est (God is love) on Christmas Day 2005, echoing the fact that God came among us in the form of a child to teach us love, Spe salvi, which focuses on the virtue of hope, was published just in time for the first Sunday of Advent - the season when we are reminded of God's hope for all people.
Just before repeating the traditional Angelus after the Sunday Mass celebrated in Saint Peter's Square yesterday, the Pope said that 'the world needs God, otherwise it remains without hope'.
Watch the commentaries that will now be published ... that have already begun to be written about this newest publication:
An initial commentary published by ZENIT is only the beginning. The now well-known blog Whispers in the Loggia quickly provided a link to the text, and in the coming days will doubtless publish at least one commentary about it.
Perhaps the contemplatives among us have gotten it right for years. In the midst of a world that seems to be chasing its tail at times in search of hope, the answer has been right in front of our eyes all along. God himself is the source of hope, and Advent calls us to rediscover the simple truth of (re)turning to Him who is the remedy for cultural despair.
No comments:
Post a Comment