Pope closed calendar year with prayers of thanks for the blessings of 2009
January 04, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI closed the calendar year with the traditional singing of the Te Deum in the Vatican basilica and the first Vespers for the January 1 feast of the Mother of God. In his homily the Holy Father referred to St. Paul’s statement that Jesus was born “in the fullness of time.” With the Nativity, the Pope said: “Time was, so to say, ‘touched by Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, and from Him received new and surprising meanings: it became a time of salvation and grace.”
In that context the Pontiff urged Christians to look at the passing year “under the sign of salvation” and to orient their lives toward “the goal that is beyond time.”
Speaking as Bishop of Rome, the Pope offered thanks to God for all the blessings of the diocese in the year 2009. He added a prayer that the diocese will make progress in the coming year in helping the faithful to “increase the sense of belonging to the Church.”
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