Pilegrim på Nebofjellet

Paven på Mount Nebo. Foto: CNA

På sin andre dag i Jordan, startet Paven dagen med et pilegrimsbesøk på Nebofjellet, 800 meter over havet, stedet der Moses i følge tradisjonen skuet inn i det forjettede land.

Benedikt XVI reflekterte:

"Here, on the heights of Mount Nebo, the memory of Moses invites us to "lift up our eyes" to embrace with gratitude not only God's mighty works in the past, but also to look with faith and hope to the future which he holds out to us and to our world. Like Moses, we too have been called by name, invited to undertake a daily exodus from sin and slavery towards life and freedom, and given an unshakeable promise to guide our journey. In the waters of Baptism, we have passed from the slavery of sin to new life and hope. In the communion of the Church, Christ's Body, we look forward to the vision of the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, where God will be all in all. From this holy mountain Moses directs our gaze on high, to the fulfilment of all God's promises in Christ."

Paven poengterte og understreket også det dype bånd mellom Kirken og Det jødiske folk:

"The ancient tradition of pilgrimage to the holy places also reminds us of the inseparable bond between the Church and the Jewish people. From the beginning, the Church in these lands has commemorated in her liturgy the great figures of the Patriarchs and Prophets, as a sign of her profound appreciation of the unity of the two Testaments. May our encounter today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of Sacred Scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word of God calls us!"

Se video fra Mount Nebo

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KI - Katolsk Informasjonstjeneste (Oslo) (9. mai 2009)