By accident, almost, I've seen Pope Benedict XVI twice already -- at a distance. The first time I needed to take care of some immigration details at the Questura (police department), and when I came out, I walked a block to St Peter's to buy stamps, actually. I'd forgotten that it was Wednesday, and the pope gives his weekly general audience that day. I would have expected him to be in Aula Paolo VI (the audience hall) inside Vatican City, since this took place on 16 November, but there were so many pilgrims still arriving in Rome that Benedict was continuing to address huge crowds (about 100,000 people) in Piazza San Pietro.
The sound system is fabulous, and there are big screens now in the square so you can see the closeups -- but I could see him in the distance across the square as well. It helps that he wears white because he stands out in the crowd of darker autumn colors!
His talk was quite simple in content and encouraging in tone. He was commenting on Psalm 136 and the Exodus, which has that great refrain: "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and his mercy endures forever."
The pope spoke about how God become humble because he is merciful and compassionate. This is why, he said, we need to trust God and dwell on the good things that can transform our lives. Then he said something that really struck me: "Our danger is that the memory of evil, of those evils suffered, may often be stronger than the memory of good … The psalms tells us to wake up to the memory of Good, and especially of all the good that the Lord has done and is doing for us."
E' vero -- the pope concluded. "It's true, then: God's mercy is forever, and is present day after day" -- giorno per giorno.
Consoling and powerful words from pope Ratzinger - Benedict XVI.
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