Zenit
Reflects on his 8-Day Pilgrimage to Region
Even though the Holy Land seems to be a symbol of division and conflict, it’s actually a symbol of the peace and love that God wants for all his children, says Benedict XVI.
Before praying of the midday Regina Caeli with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope reflected today on his recent eight-day tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He returned Friday.
“The Holy Land, symbol of God’s love for his people and for the whole of humanity, is also a symbol of the freedom and the peace that God wants for all his children,” the Holy Father said. “In fact, however, the history of yesterday and today shows that precisely that Land has become the symbol of the opposite, that is, of divisions and interminable conflicts between brothers.”
The Pontiff explained that the Holy Land “has been called a ‘fifth Gospel,’ because here we see, indeed touch, the reality of the history that God realized together with men — beginning with the places of Abraham’s life to the places of Jesus’ life, from the incarnation to the empty tomb, sign of his resurrection.”
“Yes, God came to this land, he acted with us in this world,” he continued. “But here we can say still more: The Holy Land, because of its very history, can be considered a microcosm that recapitulates in itself God’s arduous journey with humanity.
“A journey that implicates even the cross with sin, but — with the abundance of divine love — the joy of the Holy Spirit too, the resurrection already begun, and it is the journey, through the valley of our suffering, to the Kingdom of God, the kingdom that is not of this world, but that lives in this world and must penetrate it with its power of justice and peace.”
“Salvation history begins with the election of one man, Abraham, and of people, Israel, but its aim is universality, the salvation of all nations,” Benedict XVI added. “Salvation history is always marked by this intersection of particularity and universality.”
