25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
Science and technology, fruits of human genius, make life easier but also cast long shadows—from a wounded Earth to atomic and biomedical dangers. They may shape the world, but they cannot explain why we live or overcome evil, suffering, and death.
The modern person is each of us—heart and mind, walking between hunger and fracture. We seek love as homes break; security and worth as old roots loosen; and freedom as shared moral ground erodes. Without the light of what we ought to do, freedom becomes the shadow of selfishness and force.
These wounds call for a higher wisdom—one that renews the mind, heart, and will, teaching us to love truth and goodness and to journey from the seen to the unseen.
We are invited to write a new chapter in Christian life as our world continues to change. The Gospel nurtured Europe’s roots, affirming human dignity, family, rights, and moral life. Today, we must choose between Christ, who reveals God as the source of truth, goodness, and freedom, and a horizon closed to transcendence and guided by consensus alone. History reminds us that without a higher star to guide us, power can overshadow the person and freedom can fade.
The hour is here: let wisdom become our light.
Excerpted from the words of His Holiness, Saint Pope John Paul II
ECUMENICAL MEETING AT THE LUTHERAN CATHEDRAL OF NIDAROS
Trondheim, Norway – 2 June 1989
Read the Vatican text
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