Pope Benedict XVI meditates on the opening blessing of Ephesians, in which the Father’s saving work is revealed and accomplished through Jesus Christ. God freely chooses humanity in Christ for holiness and adoptive sonship, granting grace in super-abundant measure and making its wisdom known through the Holy Spirit. Christ is the unifying centre of creation, history, and the Church: as its Head, he recapitulates and reconciles all things in heaven and on earth. Through the Incarnation, death, and resurrection, the Word makes the invisible God visible, conquers sin and death, restores the human person, and draws all people toward peace. Benedict welcomes pilgrims, blesses them, commends the Italian National Anti-Usury Council, and invites the young, sick, and newly married to prepare for Advent through prayer, the Eucharist, and Scripture.