Pope urges faithful to maintain inner peace and serenity despite outward disturbances

Aug 15, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The faithful need not lose their serenity and peace amid the noise and occurrences of daily life as this world is not their “final homeland,” said Pope Benedict XVI today during his usual Wednesday general audience.

“There are people today who live like they are never going to die or as if everything ends with death; some behave as if man is the only maker of one’s destiny, as if God doesn’t exist, sometimes even denying that there is any room for God in our world,” he said.
 
“The great successes of technology and science, which have notably improved the human condition, however, leave us without answers to the deepest problems of the human spirit,” he continued.

“Only an opening to the mystery of God, who is love, can fill our heart’s thirst for truth and for happiness; only the possibility of eternity can give authentic value to historical events and above all to the mystery of human fragility, of suffering and of death.”

Reflecting on the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, which was celebrated yesterday, he said Christians understand that “this world is not our final homeland” by contemplating Mary in heavenly glory.

“If we live constantly turned toward heaven, we will one day be sharing in this same glory,” he said. “This is why, despite the thousands of difficulties of daily life, we do not have to lose serenity and peace.”

People are so caught up in daily occurrences that they often forget the spiritual reality of the Assumption, which offers hope and “constitutes an important truth of the faith,” he said.

After greeting the faithful assembled in seven languages, the Pope recalled Br. Roger Schutz, the founder of Taizé, who was assassinated on this day last year while he was in prayer in the community chapel in France.

“[Br. Roger’s] witness of Christian faith and ecumenical dialogue was a precious teaching for entire generations of young people,” he said. “We ask the Lord that the sacrifice of his life contribute to consolidating the commitment to peace and solidarity among those who have the future of humanity at heart.”