Wednesday, January 04, 2012
"God accompanies man...."
I'm trying to place a quote. Blessed John Paul once said - or wrote - "God accompanies man on his journey through history". Can anyone trace this quote for me? I think it must have been connected with the marking of the Millenium. I quoted it to a friend and am now anxious to get it correct and give the source...
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4 comments:
THis may help:
Our limitations vis-à-vis nature and sorrow raise questions that the December 26 tsunami has brought to the fore. They inspired the remarks made by Card Angelo Sodano, the Holy See's Secretary of State, who, on behalf of Pope John Paul II, presided over a mass in St Peter's Basilica in memory of the victims of the tragic event.
"Once again," the Cardinal said, "man felt small vis-à-vis the complex planet on which we live."
"It was natural to turn to the sky to find an answer to the many questions that come forth in moments of loss. Some asked even why man, who landed a probe on Titan, a billion kilometres from earth, was impotent and unable to do anything about the disaster."
"Many asked whether the Christian faith can shed some light to the enigma of sorrow. The answer, for the believer, was immediate: God loves every human being and is always beside them with a father's love".
Cardinal Sodano quoted the answer a well-known writer's put in Christ's mouth, to whom a poor traveller had turned to after falling in the mud. "Where are you, God?" cried the pilgrim, mired in mud. Soon though, he heard a mysterious voice from above saying: "I am with you in the mud".
"This is what faith teaches us. God accompanies man in every moment of his life."
Whatever the Age, man asks the same question as to the meaning of sorrow.
If I'm right I'm pretty sure it's not God in the quote - I think you're placing two disjuncted quotes together which nevertheless forms an apposite paraphrase of His Holiness's intentions - it's actually suffering which accompanies us throughout History - with a reassurance that God is with us on the journey.
I'm practically certain it's from Salvici Dolores [1984]
Dear Joanna
Are you sure it wasn't perhaps Pope Benedict? I found an address by Pope Benedict with similar words. The title is: THE HOLY FATHER'S ADDRESS AT THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: "And here, we must turn our thought to the silent presence of God, who almost imperceptibly accompanies man on his long journey through history." You will have to search for the source in the Vatican archives. I think it is 2008 and the address took place in Genoa.
Kind regards,
David
Hi Joanna,
I found the following quote, "Endowed with such "existential" equipment, man sets out on his journey in the world. He begins to write his own history. Divine Providence accompanies him throughout his journey. Again we read in the Book of Sirach:
"Their ways are ever known to him,
they cannot be hidden from his eyes....
All their actions are clear as the sun to him,
his eyes are ever upon their ways" (Sir 17:13, 15)."
It is similar, and is from the Vatican website, from Blessed John Paul II, entitled: Divine Providence and Human Freedom
General Audience — May 21, 1986. I would have included the link, but it is dreadfully long! The entire address is quite comforting! I'm glad you asked for help, so I'd find it!
Stacy (USA)
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