Pope Confirms Need of Man's Search for Meaning

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Every man and woman needs to find a reason for living, and the revelation of God's face provides one, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this Sunday before he prayed the midday Angelus with crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

The Holy Father noted how the liturgy of the day returned to the meditation of the Gospel proclaimed on Christmas day, St. John's Prologue.

He called the text a "staggering synthesis of the entire Christian faith."

"It begins on high," the Pontiff explained: "'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God'; [and] here is the unprecedented and humanly inconceivable novelty: 'And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.'"

"This is not a rhetorical image, but a lived experience," the Pope declared. "John, an eyewitness, relates it. […] It is not the erudite word of a rabbi or a doctor of the law, but the passionate testimony of a humble fisherman who, attracted when he was young by Jesus of Nazareth, in the three years of common life with him and the other apostles, experienced love. […] He saw him die on the cross and appear resurrected, and he received together with the others his Spirit.

"From this whole experience, meditated upon in his heart, John arrived to a certainty: Jesus is the Wisdom of God incarnated, in his eternal Word, who became a mortal man."

Benedict XVI explained how Christ's coming was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. And, he noted the importance of this revelation of God for people of every age.

"Every man and every woman needs to find a deep meaning for their own existence," the Pope said. "And for this, books are not enough, not even sacred Scripture. The Child of Bethlehem reveals and communicates to us the true 'face' of the good and faithful God, who loves us and who does not abandon us even in death."

He added: "The first one who opened her heart and contemplated 'the Word made flesh' was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. A humble girl from Galilee thus became the 'seat of wisdom.' Like the Apostle John, each one of us is invited to 'take her into our homes,' to deeply know Jesus and experience faithful and unfailing love. This is my hope for each of you, dear brothers and sisters, at the beginning of this new year."