God is indeed Awesome!! On this unforgettable day I thank my
Lord Jesus Christ for having allowed me to be present at St. Peter’s Square
during the last public audience of Pope Benedict XVI, just one day before his
resignation. This event was simply a feast of faith, a celebration of joy, and
a party of thanksgiving to God together with the Pope for all the blessings
that Our Loving Father in Heaven continues to pour on our personal lives, on
our Church, and on the world. God is Good and He is the only source of true Joy
and Holiness.
Listening to the Pope’s last public message to the Church
and the world, many essential truths have remained with me and so I share them
gladly with all of you. The first message he announced was the Good News that
God our Father loves us all so much that He sent his son Jesus to the world
to save us from death. In this time of Lent, he said, we are to behave in a
manner worthy of God’s Love for God desires that we answer to his Love with
love. The Pope went on to remind us that we are a Church, the Church of Christ
on Earth. He reminded us all that the source of strength of each member of the
Church and of the entire Church is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pope
compared the Church to a boat on the Sea of Galilee. He said that during his
papacy He has always, every moment, felt the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ
on this boat. He has felt the perfect consolation of Jesus during the difficult
moments. And so, the Pope invites us to be certain that the Risen Christ is
always with us. The Pope also invites us to trust Jesus alone abandoning
ourselves in God’s arms like a baby in his mother’s arms! Finally, the Pope said towards the end of his
message that Jesus is the guide of this boat, Jesus is our only Shepherd and
the one that is in control of the Church for Christ indeed loves us.
I arrived to the Square at 6:15 am. After a difficult
entrance into the Square once they opened the gates at 7:45 I was blessed to be
near the area reserved for priests and seminarians. It was hard to enter due to
the thousands of persons around me. I was one of the first ones to access this area which was still pretty
empty and I found a seat on the front row. One special moment during the audience was the long applause and the standing ovation for Benedict XVI at the end of the papal message. During the message in German a music band from the Pope's home town played a very traditional song that made the Pope smile. During his round on the popemobile around the piazza he stopped every time to receive babies in his arms and to bless them. I prayed for all you along with the Pope. We said the Our Father together one last time and for the last time he imparted on us his Apostolic blessing, which was highly emotional. Both when I got there and once I
left the Square I saw thousands of faithful Catholics from all over the world who
came from their nations of origin and places where they live just to join the
Pope in this moment. The Square had more than 250.000 persons participating in the audience. As I wrote yesterday, this papal audience had the
excitement of a World Youth Day. I also felt an intense spirituality as the one
during the prayers made when JPII was beatified. This time, though, we had
hearts full of hope and trust in God, knowing that as this Pope has made a
decision according to the Divine Will, our Merciful and Loving Lord will
continue to be in control of this boat that is His Church and will bring us all
safely Home!
Here are the promised pictures: See pictures, click here!
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