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ERabino - Analysis of the article on Pope Benedict XVI
by ERabino - (2013-02-27)
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Right from the title the reader expect the article to be about Pope Benedict XVI and his last Angelus to all the devoted people, before leaving Vatican City.
The article is visibly displaced into three paragraphs. The first one is a part of Pope Bendedict XVI's speech ( which will also be repeated in the last paragraph) and it has the function to introduce the main topic: the farewell of the 85 years old Pope. The second paragraph provides the setting and the atmosphere. The last one is the Holy Father’s Angelus address translated by Vatican Radio.
Pope Benedict XVI feels that his moment has come: God has called him to "climb the mountain"  the "high mountain" where Jesus, God's son, lives "in the company of Peter, James and John , the three disciples always present in moments of divine manifestation  of the Master". He has dedicated his entire life to God and now he finally listened to His Word. And in all this he is not alone. Millions of devoted people, Christians or not, coming from all part of the world ( as the description of the setting and the atmosphere in the second paragraph confirms) are in St.Peter square to listen to what he has to say, to listen to his last lesson and to say "I was there when it all happened".
Moreover the words of Pope Benedict XVI are particularly strong in terms of what being a Christian means. As a matter of fact words such as " scaling, climb, serve, not abbandoning, back down,..." make the reader realize that there is nothing harder than being a Christian and make a deal with God.
In addition, by reading carefully Pope Benedict XVI's words, it seems like God has really talked to him ( " The Lord is calling me", "God is asking me", ...). It follows that it is probably possible to have a dialogue with Him, to really believe in Him, in His strenght and in the power of religion. But, at this point, the intelligent reader should ask himself: "Does God really choose people on Earth to spread his Message?" "Do all the Popes in history simbolyze the "successors" of Christ?" We may never know all this because we'have not been "selected" but the speech of Pope Benedict XVI may also be applied to all the people in the world and not only to Christians.
As a matter of fact, as well as "the Christian life  consists in continuously scaling the mountain to meet God and then coming back down, bearing the love and strength drawn from him, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with God’s own love ", people's ife ( and with people I mean all the others who are not Christian)has to have a goal otherwise , why do we think we're here? It may not be a religious goal, it may not be our meeting with God but there has to be a goal in our life ootherwhise it would make no sense call it life.
The previous quote also suggests an idea of solidariety something that in this world people started to forget. The Pope has a mission (if we can call it in this way): he "climbs the mountain" and then he comes back down to share with "brothers and sisters" all he has received from God. This is a lesson that, in the modern society, the "mass society", where paradoxically what counts the most is our personal success, we should all learn. Being Christian doesn't necessarily mean being alone, outside of the world.