From http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/10/13/pope_consacrates_world_to_immaculate_heart_of_mary_/en1-736956
The
Pope celebrated mass in St Peter’s square this morning in honour of the
Marian Day, an event organised as part of the Year of Faith on the
anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima
(13th of October 1917). He also consecrated the world to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ homily in English translation.
In
the Psalm we said: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done
marvellous things” (Ps 98:1). Today we consider one of the marvellous
things which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like
ourselves, she was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother of her
Creator.
Considering Mary in the light of the readings we have
just heard, I would like to reflect with you on three things: first, God
surprises us, second, God asks us to be faithful, and third, God is our
strength.
First: God surprises us. The story of Naaman, the
commander of the army of the king of Aram, is remarkable. In order to be
healed of leprosy, he turns to the prophet of God, Elisha, who does not
perform magic or demand anything unusual of him, but asks him simply to
trust in God and to wash in the waters of the river. Not, however, in
one of the great rivers of Damascus, but in the little stream of the
Jordan. Naaman is left surprised, even taken aback. What kind of God is
this who asks for something so simple? He wants to turn back, but then
he goes ahead, he immerses himself in the Jordan and is immediately
healed (cf. 2 Kg 5:1-4). There it is: God surprises us. It is precisely
in poverty, in weakness and in humility that he reveals himself and
grants us his love, which saves us, heals us and gives us strength. He
asks us only to obey his word and to trust in him.
This was the
experience of the Virgin Mary. At the message of the angel, she does not
hide her surprise. It is the astonishment of realizing that God, to
become man, had chosen her, a simple maid of Nazareth. Not someone who
lived in a palace amid power and riches, or one who had done
extraordinary things, but simply someone who was open to God and put her
trust in him, even without understanding everything: “Here I am, the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Lk
1:38). That was her answer. God constantly surprises us, he bursts our
categories, he wreaks havoc with our plans. And he tells us: trust me,
do not be afraid, let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and
follow me!
Today let us all ask ourselves whether we are afraid
of what God might ask, or of what he does ask. Do I let myself be
surprised by God, as Mary was, or do I remain caught up in my own safety
zone: in forms of material, intellectual or ideological security,
taking refuge in my own projects and plans? Do I truly let God into my
life? How do I answer him?
In the passage from Saint Paul which
we have heard, the Apostle tells his disciple Timothy: remember Jesus
Christ. If we persevere with him, we will also reign with him (cf. 2 Tim
2:8-13). This is the second thing: to remember Christ always – to be
mindful of Jesus Christ – and thus to persevere in faith. God surprises
us with his love, but he demands that we be faithful in following him.
We can be unfaithful, but he cannot: he is “the faithful one” and he
demands of us that same fidelity. Think of all the times when we were
excited about something or other, some initiative, some task, but
afterwards, at the first sign of difficulty, we threw in the towel.
Sadly, this also happens in the case of fundamental decisions, such as
marriage. It is the difficulty of remaining steadfast, faithful to
decisions we have made and to commitments we have made. Often it is easy
enough to say “yes”, but then we fail to repeat this “yes” each and
every day. We fail to be faithful.
Mary said her “yes” to God: a
“yes” which threw her simple life in Nazareth into turmoil, and not only
once. Any number of times she had to utter a heartfelt “yes” at moments
of joy and sorrow, culminating in the “yes” she spoke at the foot of
the Cross. Here today there are many mothers present; think of the full
extent of Mary’s faithfulness to God: seeing her only Son hanging on the
Cross. The faithful woman, still standing, utterly heartbroken, yet
faithful and strong.
And I ask myself: am I a Christian by fits
and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? Our culture of the ephemeral,
the relative, also takes its toll on the way we live our faith. God
asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday life. He goes on
to say that, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to him, he remains
faithful. In his mercy, he never tires of stretching out his hand to
lift us up, to encourage us to continue our journey, to come back and
tell him of our weakness, so that he can grant us his strength. This is
the real journey: to walk with the Lord always, even at moments of
weakness, even in our sins. Never to prefer a makeshift path of our own.
That kills us. Faith is ultimate fidelity, like that of Mary.
The
last thing: God is our strength. I think of the ten lepers in the
Gospel who were healed by Jesus. They approach him and, keeping their
distance, they call out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Lk 17:13).
They are sick, they need love and strength, and they are looking for
someone to heal them. Jesus responds by freeing them from their disease.
Strikingly, however, only one of them comes back, praising God and
thanking him in a loud voice. Jesus notes this: ten asked to be healed
and only one returned to praise God in a loud voice and to acknowledge
that he is our strength. Knowing how to give thanks, to give praise for
everything that the Lord has done for us.
Take Mary. After the
Annunciation, her first act is one of charity towards her elderly
kinswoman Elizabeth. Her first words are: “My soul magnifies the Lord”,
in other words, a song of praise and thanksgiving to God not only for
what he did for her, but for what he had done throughout the history of
salvation. Everything is his gift. If we can realise that everything is
God’s gift, how happy will our hearts be! Everything is his gift. He is
our strength! Saying “thank you” is such an easy thing, and yet so hard!
How often do we say “thank you” to one another in our families? These
are essential words for our life in common. “Excuse me”, “sorry”, “thank
you”. If families can say these three things, they will be fine.
“Excuse me”, “sorry”, “thank you”. How often do we say “thank you” in
our families? How often do we say “thank you” to those who help us,
those close to us, those at our side throughout life? All too often we
take everything for granted! This happens with God too. It is easy to
approach the Lord to ask for something, but to go and thank him: “Well, I
don’t need to”.
As we continue our celebration of the Eucharist,
let us invoke Mary’s intercession. May she help us to be open to God’s
surprises, to be faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and
thank him, for he is our strength. Amen.
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