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Castel Gandolfo, Italy, September 18 (CNA/EWTN News) .-

Pope Benedict XVI called upon all Catholics Sept. 18 to participate in a new evangelization of the world.

"Today's liturgy reminds us that we are all called to work in the vineyard of the Lord," he told pilgrims gathered to pray the midday Angelus at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

"He has given us diverse gifts, has assigned diverse tasks and determined diverse times for their performance. However, if we assume the work of our life with full dedication, we can expect the same pay: the joy of eternal participation the goodness of the Lord," he said.

The Pope based his comments on today's gospel reading in which Jesus recounts the parable of the vineyard owner who paid each of his workers the same wage regardless of how long they worked.

He also drew upon St. Paul's letter to the Philippians, written while the apostle was imprisoned and awaiting his death, in which he states that "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

This "new sense of life" comes from communion with Jesus Christ who, said the Pope, is "not just a historical figure, a master of wisdom, a religious leader," but is "a man in whom God dwells personally."

"His death and resurrection is the good news that, starting from Jerusalem, is intended to reach all individuals and peoples," said Pope Benedict. Thus all cultures are changed by being open to the truth that "God is love, he became man in Jesus and his sacrifice has redeemed humanity from the slavery of evil, making it a trustworthy hope."

"Today we live in an era of new evangelization," Pope Benedict said, drawing a parallel between the era of St. Paul and today. New evangelization is also a favored theme of his pontificate – the call to re-evangelize traditionally Christian parts of the world or, as the Pope put it today, the need for "regions of ancient Christian tradition" to "rediscover the beauty of faith."

"The protagonists of this mission are men and women who, like St. Paul can say: 'For me to live is Christ.' People, families and communities that agree to work in the vineyard of the Lord."

These are people who are "humble and generous" and who do not "ask for any reward other than to participate in the mission of Jesus and the Church."

"Dear friends," concluded the Pope, "the Gospel has transformed the world, and still is turning, like a river that irrigates a huge field."

After the Angelus, Pope Benedict addressed various language groups, including German pilgrims. He said he looked forward to his four-day visit to Germany later this week and hoped the people of his native land will "respond generously to the offer of the boundless love of God and work for the good that is in the world."

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Pope: Faith can Transform pain into Hope

God is never far from the persecuted, says Pope Benedict

By David Kerr

Vatican City, Sep 14, 2011 / (CNA/EWTN News).-

Pope Benedict XVI said Sept. 14 that Christians should continue to call upon God even in times of trial, when he may seem distant.

“The shadow of the Cross gives way to the bright hope of the Resurrection,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his weekly audience.

“We too, when we call upon him in times of trial, must place our trust in the God who brings salvation, who conquers death with the gift of eternal life.”

The Pope drew his observations from Psalm 22, which he described as “a heartfelt prayer of lamentation from one who feels abandoned by God.”

The writer of the psalm is “surrounded by enemies who are persecuting him,” and so he “cries out by day and by night for help, and yet God seems to remain silent.”

“My God , my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” is the cry of the psalmist to the Almighty.

Pope Benedict explained how the writer is despairing of the Lord rescuing him even though “the people of Israel called trustingly upon the Lord in times of trial, and he answered their prayer,” and in his own life “the Lord cared for him personally in his earlier life, as a child in his mother’s womb, as an infant in his mother’s arms.”

“Despite such adverse circumstances, though,” observed the Pope, “the psalmist’s faith and trust in the Lord remains.” So much so that he “ends on a note of confidence, as God’s name is praised before all the nations.”

The Pope said this is also the attitude all Christians should learn to have in times of near despair.

The best example of this trust in God the Father, said the Pope, is Jesus Christ himself, who also utters the words of Psalm 22 as he hangs on the cross of Calvary.

“He too seems to have been abandoned to a cruel fate,” noted the Pope, “while his enemies mock him, attacking him like ravenous and roaring lions, dividing his clothing among them as if he were already dead.”

Yet in his passion on Good Friday “in obedience the Father, the Lord Jesus, through abandonment and death, comes to give life and give it to all believers.”

Thus, by praying the “heartfelt and touching” Psalm 22, the individual Christian is brought to the foot of the Cross of Christ “to live out his passion and share the fruitful joy of the resurrection.”

Pope Benedict concluded the audience by imparting his apostolic blessing, before returning by helicopter to his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles south of Rome.