Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. View all ads.

Catholic World News News Feature

Lent requires confronting evil, Pope tells audience February 11, 2008

During his Angelus audience on February 10, the first Sunday in Lent, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the importance of spiritual warfare during the penitential season.

The spirit of Lent, the Pope told his midday audience, requires "looking evil in the face and preparing to fight against its influence-- and even more important, against its causes, all the way up to the ultimate cause, which is Satan." In this spiritual struggle, he continued, the faithful must acknowledge their own responsibility for evil and cultivate an attitude of reparation.

In making atonement for evil in the world-- including our own evil deeds-- Christians unite themselves with the Christ, the Pope continued. He reminded his audience that "the Cross, as heavy as it may be, is not synonymous with misfortune nor is it a disgrace to be avoided." On the contrary, he said, Christians should always be mindful that the path of the Cross is the road to victory.

As he concluded his remarks to the Sunday audience, Pope Benedict called attention to the World Day of the sick, which coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes: February 11. Although he explained that he would not be present for the observance on Monday in St. Peter's basilica, because he would be making his annual Lenten Retreat, the Holy Father assured the audience that he would remember the sick, and all those who care for them, in his prayers.