Vatican City, Dec 2, 2007 / 09:44 am
Presiding over today’s Angelus on the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the awakening of hearts to the hope of Christ and assured that it is His love, not science, which will redeem man. Without Jesus, man and the world “will be deprived of hope.”
Referring to his second Spe Salvi encyclical published last Friday, the Pope explained that the New Testament stresses that “the word 'hope' is linked closely to the word 'faith'.” This gift alters the lives of those who receive it, “as evidenced by the experience of so many saints and holy people.”
Science, hope, salvation
At the beginning of this new liturgical year, the Holy Father emphasized that “today it has become apparent, that man and the world need God – or they will be “deprived of hope,” he said.
“Science contributes greatly to the good of mankind, but not to the degree of redemption. Man is redeemed by love, which makes personal and social life good and beautiful. For that reason, great hope is guaranteed by God, the God who is love, that in Jesus came and gave his life and will return at the end of time,” he concluded.