Luanda, Angola, Mar 21, 2009 / 11:13 am
During his homily on Saturday morning in Luanda, Angola, Pope Benedict addressed bishops, priests, religious, members of ecclesial movements and catechists and explained that through the Sacrament of Baptism, all believers are unified in Christ.
Reflecting on the teachings of St. Paul, the patron saint of Luanda, the Holy Father noted that the Apostle to the Gentiles "speaks to us from personal experience about this God Who is rich in mercy."
The decisive event in the life of St. Paul, explained Benedict XVI, "was his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul saw the Risen Lord and from then on "saw everything in the light of this perfect stature of humanity in Christ."
The Pontiff explained that when we know the Lord, as St. Paul did, we are brought into a "new dimension" which "integrates matter and through which a new world arises."