JOHN PAUL II

ANGELUS

Sunday, 2 January 2005

1. The Gospel reading of Christmas Day resounds once more in the liturgy on this first Sunday of the new year:  "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (Jn 1: 14).

The Word of God is the Eternal Wisdom that acts in the universe and in history. It is Wisdom that is fully revealed in the mystery of the Incarnation, in order to establish a kingdom of life, love and peace.

2. In its turn, faith teaches us that even in the most difficult and painful trials - such as the disaster that has struck Southeast Asia in these past days - God never abandons us:  he came, in the mystery of Christmas, to share our existence.

The Child of Bethlehem is the One who, on the vigil of his death of redemption, will leave to us the commandment to love one another as he has loved us (cf. Jn 13: 34). It is in the concrete fulfilment of "his" commandment that he makes his presence felt.

3. This evangelical message grounds the hope of a better world, on the condition that we walk in "his" love. At the beginning of a new year, may the Mother of the Lord help us to make this programme of life our own.

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