Through periods of trial and liberation, God is always with His people, says Pope

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The continued presence of God with His people throughout history was the major theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s weekly Wednesday audience, held earlier today at the Vatican.

22,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square to hear the Holy Father as he continued his ongoing catechesis on the psalms--today speaking on the latter half of Psalm 135, which he called, “thanksgiving for God’s salvation.”Benedict first recalled that the first part of the psalm proclaims "faith in God the Creator, Who reveals Himself through His works of creation," while the second half leads us to "the presence of God ... in the history of salvation."

The Pope pointed out that God’s presence with his people, Israel, is particularly made manifest in the events of the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the journey through the desert.

"Desert and sea," said the Pope, "represent the passage through evil and oppression to receive the gift of freedom and of the promised land."He said that during the future time of humiliation - trials and oppression which would later befall the people- “Israel would always encounter the saving hand of the God of freedom and love.

"Pinnacle of HistoryPope Benedict went on to explain that Psalm 135 contains within it "two modalities of the one divine revelation [which] are intertwined: the cosmic, and the historical.”

He said that “the Lord is, of course, transcendent as the Creator and Arbiter of existence, but He is also near to His creatures, entering into space and time. Indeed, His presence among us reaches its pinnacle in the Incarnation of Christ.

"The Pope cited the Fathers of the Church who testify to this fact and, he said, “see the apex of the history of salvation, and the supreme sign of the Father's merciful love, in the gift of the Son as Savior and Redeemer of humanity.

"Benedict concluded his prepared catechesis by recalling St. Cyprian who, in his tractate on "Works of Charity and Alms-giving," reflects on "the great deeds God has accomplished for His people in Christ."

Afterwards, speaking off-the-cuff, the Pope noted that "With these words, the holy doctor of the Church adds something to what the psalmist said: that the true gift of the Son of God is the gift of the Incarnation, in which He gave Himself to us, and which remains with us in the Eucharist, in His Word, every day until the end of history.""We often run the risk”, he continued, “of our memory of the evil we have suffered being stronger than our memory of good.”

The psalm however, “awakens our recollection of goodness, of all the good the Lord has done and continues to do, that we may finally know what the psalmist so joyfully says: the truth that God's mercy is eternal, it is present day after.22,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square to hear the Holy Father as he continued his ongoing catechesis on the psalms--today speaking on the latter half of Psalm 135, which he called, “thanksgiving for God’s salvation.

”Benedict first recalled that the first part of the psalm proclaims "faith in God the Creator, Who reveals Himself through His works of creation," while the second half leads us to "the presence of God ... in the history of salvation." The Pope pointed out that God’s presence with his people, Israel, is particularly made manifest in the events of the exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the journey through the desert.

"Desert and sea," said the Pope, "represent the passage through evil and oppression to receive the gift of freedom and of the promised land."He said that during the future time of humiliation - trials and oppression which would later befall the people- “Israel would always encounter the saving hand of the God of freedom and love."Pinnacle of HistoryPope Benedict went on to explain that Psalm 135 contains within it "two modalities of the one divine revelation [which] are intertwined: the cosmic, and the historical.”

He said that “the Lord is, of course, transcendent as the Creator and Arbiter of existence, but He is also near to His creatures, entering into space and time. Indeed, His presence among us reaches its pinnacle in the Incarnation of Christ.

"The Pope cited the Fathers of the Church who testify to this fact and, he said, “see the apex of the history of salvation, and the supreme sign of the Father's merciful love, in the gift of the Son as Savior and Redeemer of humanity."Benedict concluded his prepared catechesis by recalling St. Cyprian who, in his tractate on "Works of Charity and Alms-giving," reflects on "the great deeds God has accomplished for His people in Christ."

Afterwards, speaking off-the-cuff, the Pope noted that "With these words, the holy doctor of the Church adds something to what the psalmist said: that the true gift of the Son of God is the gift of the Incarnation, in which He gave Himself to us, and which remains with us in the Eucharist, in His Word, every day until the end of history."

"We often run the risk”, he continued, “of our memory of the evil we have suffered being stronger than our memory of good.” The psalm however, “awakens our recollection of goodness, of all the good the Lord has done and continues to do, that we may finally know what the psalmist so joyfully says: the truth that God's mercy is eternal, it is present day after.