"Christ went on the Pope asks people to respond to evil first and foremost with a serious soul searching and the commitment to purge their life. Otherwise he says , we will die, we will all die in the same way". As a matter of fact, commented Benedict XVI, "the only ultimate fate of those people and societies that live without ever questioning themselves is ruin. Instead, conversion, although it does not spare people from problems or catastrophes, enables them to face them in a different ‘way’. First and foremost, it helps prevent evil, by defusing some of its threats". At any rate, "it defeats evil with good, while not always in terms of facts which sometimes are independent of our will it certainly does in spiritual terms". In other words, explained the Holy Father, "conversion defeats evil in its root, which is sin, even if it cannot always avoid its consequences". Then, the Pope addressed the Most Holy Virgin "that She may help every Christian find again the greatness, I’d say, the beauty of conversion. May She help us understand that repenting and correcting one’s behaviour is not pure self-righteousness, but the most effective way to improve oneself and society". "This is very aptly expressed concluded Benedict XVI by a well-chosen sentence: Lighting a match is worth more than cursing the dark".
