The Incarnation answers man's longing to see God's face, Pope tells audience

January 16, 2013

"The search for the face of God is unimaginably changed” by the Incarnation, Pope Benedict XVI observed at his weekly public audience on January 16.

The Old Testament relates the story of the people of Israel seeking to know God, and God communicating to his Chosen People, the Pope said. “Salvation history,” he said, “is the story of this relationship of God who progressively reveals Himself to mankind."

The Jewish people, the Pope continued, sought a personal relationship with a God “who is not locked away in his heaven, looking down on humanity from on high.” With the birth of Jesus, this relationship is fulfilled “in a way that goes beyond all expectations.”

“Jesus does not tell us something about God's nearness, doesn't simply speak of the Father,” the Pope observed; “He reveals the face of God to us."

Pope Benedict argued: “The desire to truly know God, that is, to see the face of God, is inherent to every human being, including atheists.” By nature, man longs to know his Creator. Salvation history tells the story of God’s responses to that longing.

As he concluded his Wednesday audience, the Pontiff reminded his listeners that the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will begin on Friday, January 18. He asked all the faithful “to pray, asking insistently of God, for the great gift of unity between all of the Lord's disciples.”

 

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Further information:

• Seeking the Face of God (VIS)
• That Christians Might Profess Together That Jesus is Savior (VIS)