Entry 0321: Reflections on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God,
by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate,
Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections
on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on December 31 and January 1 of the academic years 2005-2006,
2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013.
Here are the texts of the 24 reflections
delivered on these occasions.
Vatican Basilica, Sunday, 1 January 2006
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF THE
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Saturday,
31 December 2005
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
At the end of a year
which has been particularly eventful for the Church and for the world, mindful of
the Apostle’s order, “walk... established in the faith... abounding in thanksgiving”
(cf. Col 2: 6-7),
we are gathered together this evening to raise a hymn of thanksgiving to God, Lord
of time and of history.
I am thinking with
a profound and spiritual sentiment of 12 months ago, when for the last time beloved
Pope John Paul II made himself the voice of the People of God to give thanks to
the Lord, like this evening, for the numerous benefits granted to the Church and
to humanity. In the same evocative setting of the Vatican Basilica, it is now my
turn to ideally gather from every corner of the earth the praise and thanksgiving
raised to God at the end of 2005 and on the eve of 2006. Yes, it is our duty, as
well as a need of our hearts, to praise and thank the eternal One who accompanies
us through time, never abandoning us, and who always watches over humanity with
the fidelity of his merciful love.
We may well say that
the Church lives to praise and thank God. She herself has been an “action of grace”
down the ages, a faithful witness of a love that does not die, of a love that embraces
people of every race and culture, fruitfully disseminating principles of true life.
As the Second Vatican
Council recalls, “the Church prays and likewise labors so that into the People of
God, the Body of the Lord and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, may pass the fullness
of the whole world, and that in Christ, the head of all things, all honor and glory
may be rendered to the Creator, the Father of the universe” (Lumen
Gentium, no. 17).
Sustained by the
Holy Spirit, she “presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations
of God” (St Augustine ,
De Civitate Dei, XVIII, 51, 2), drawing strength from the Lord’s help. Thus,
in patience and in love, she overcomes “her sorrows and her difficulties, both those
that are from within and those that are from without”, and reveals “in the world,
faithfully, however darkly, the mystery of her Lord until, in the consummation,
it shall be manifested in full light” (Lumen Gentium, no. 8). The Church
lives from Christ and with Christ. He offers her his spousal love, guiding her through
the centuries; and she, with the abundance of her gifts, accompanies men and women
on their journey so that those who accept Christ may have life and have it abundantly.
This evening I make
myself first of all the voice of the Church of Rome to raise to Heaven our common
hymn of praise and thanksgiving. In the past 12 months, our Church of Rome has been
visited by many other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, to deepen the dialogue
of truth in charity that unites all the baptized, and together to experience more
keenly the desire for full communion. Many believers of other religions, however,
also wanted to testify to their cordial and brotherly esteem for this Church and
her Bishop, aware that the serene and respectful encounter conceals the heart of
a harmonious action in favor of all humanity.
And what can be said
of the many people of good will who have turned their gaze to this See in order
to build up a fruitful dialogue on the great values concerning the truth about man
and life to be defended and promoted? The Church always desires to be welcoming,
in truth and in charity.
As regards the journey
of the Diocese of Rome, I wish to reflect briefly on the diocesan pastoral programme,
which this year has focused attention on the family, choosing as a theme: “Family
and Christian community: formation of the
person and transmission of the faith”.
My venerable Predecessors
always made the family the centre of their attention, especially John Paul
II, who dedicated numerous Interventions to it. He was convinced, and said so on
many occasions, that the crisis of the family is a serious threat to our civilization
itself.
Precisely to underline
the importance of the family based on marriage in the life of the Church and of
society, I also wished to make my contribution by speaking at the Diocesan Congress
in St John Lateran last 6 June. I am delighted because the diocesan programme is
going smoothly with a far-reaching apostolic action which is carried out in the
parishes, at the prefectures and in the various ecclesial associations.
May the Lord grant
that the common effort lead to an authentic renewal of Christian families.
I take this opportunity
to greet the representatives of the religious and civil Communities of Rome present
at this end-of-year celebration. I greet in the first place the Cardinal Vicar,
the Auxiliary Bishops, priests, Religious and lay faithful from various parishes
who have gathered here; I also greet the City Mayor and the other Authorities. I
extend my thoughts to the entire Roman community whose Pastor the Lord called me
to be, and I renew to everyone the expression of my spiritual closeness.
At the beginning
of this celebration, enlightened by the Word of God, we sang the “Te Deum” with
faith. There are so many reasons that render our thanksgiving intense, making it
a unanimous prayer. While we consider the many events that have marked the succession
of months in this year that is coming to its end, I would like to remember especially
those who are in difficulty: the poorest
and the most abandoned people, those who have lost hope in a well-grounded sense
of their own existence, or who involuntarily become the victims of selfish interests
without being asked for their support or their opinion.
Making their sufferings
our own, let us entrust them all to God, who knows how to bring everything to a
good end; to him let us entrust our aspiration that every person’s dignity as a
child of God be respected.
Let us ask the Lord
of life to soothe with his grace the sufferings caused by evil, and to continue
to fortify our earthy existence by giving us the Bread and Wine of salvation to
sustain us on our way towards the Heavenly Homeland.
While we take our
leave of the year that is drawing to a close and set out for the new one, the liturgy
of this First Vespers ushers us into the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos.
Eight days after the birth of Jesus, we will be celebrating the one whom God
chose in advance to be the Mother of the Savior “when the fullness of time had come”
(Gal 4: 4).
The mother is the
one who gives life but also who helps and teaches how to live. Mary is a Mother,
the Mother of Jesus, to whom she gave her blood and her body. And it is she who
presents to us the eternal Word of the Father, who came to dwell among us. Let us
ask Mary to intercede for us.
May her motherly
protection accompany us today and for ever, so that Christ will one day welcome
us into his glory, into the assembly of the Saints: Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
Amen!
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD
XXXIX WORLD PEACE DAY
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 1 January 2006
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On this first day
of the year, the Church fixes her gaze on the heavenly Mother of God, who embraces
the Child Jesus, source of every blessing. “Hail, Holy Mother”, the liturgy sings,
“the Child to whom you gave birth is the King of Heaven and Earth for ever”.
The Angels’ proclamation
at Bethlehem resounds
in Mary’s motherly heart, filling it with wonder: “Glory to God in high heaven,
peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2: 14). And the Gospel adds
that Mary “treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart” (Lk 2:
19).
Like Mary, the Church
also treasures and reflects upon the Word of God, comparing it to the various changing
situations she encounters on her way.
Looking at Christ,
who came to earth to give us his peace, we celebrate on New Year’s Day the “World
Day of Peace”, begun by Pope Paul VI 38 years ago.
In my first Message
for this occasion, I wanted to take up once more this year a recurring theme in
the Magisterium of my venerable Predecessors, beginning with the memorable
Encyclical Pacem in Terris of Bl. John XXIII: the theme of truth as the foundation of authentic
peace. “In truth, peace”: this is the motto
that I propose for the reflection of every person of good will.
When man allows himself
to be enlightened by the splendor of truth, he inwardly becomes a courageous peacemaker.
We learn a great lesson from this liturgical season that we are living: to welcome the gift of peace, we must open ourselves
to the truth that is revealed in the person of Jesus, who taught us the “content”
and “method” of peace, that is, love.
Indeed, God, who
is perfect and subsisting Love, has revealed himself in Jesus, embracing our human
condition. In this way he has also pointed out to us the way of peace: dialogue, forgiveness, solidarity. This is the
only path that leads to true peace.
Let us turn our gaze
to Mary Most Holy, who today blesses the entire world, pointing out her divine Son,
the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9: 5). Let us trustfully invoke her powerful intercession
so that the human family, opening itself to the evangelical message, may fraternally
and peacefully pass the year which begins today.
With these sentiments,
I address my most heartfelt best wishes of peace and goodness to everyone present
here in St Peter’s Square, and to those who are joined by way of radio and television.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD AND
39th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In today’s liturgy
our gaze continues to be turned to the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Son
of God, while with particular emphasis we contemplate the Motherhood of the Virgin
Mary.
In the Pauline passage
we have heard (see Gal 4: 4), the Apostle very discreetly points to the One through
whom the Son of God enters the world: Mary
of Nazareth, Mother of God, Theotokos.
At the beginning
of a new year, we are invited, as it were, to attend her school, the school of the
faithful disciple of the Lord, in order to learn from her to accept in faith and
prayer the salvation God desires to pour out upon those who trust in his merciful
love.
Salvation is a gift
of God; in the first reading, it was presented as a blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you!... The Lord
look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Nm 6: 24, 26).
This is the blessing
that priests used to invoke upon the people at the end of the great liturgical feasts,
particularly the feast of the New Year. We are in the presence of a text packed
with meaning, punctuated by the Name of the Lord which is repeated at the beginning
of every verse. This text is not limited to the mere enunciation of principles but
strives to realize what it says.
Indeed, as is widely
known, in Semitic thought the blessing of the Lord produces well-being and salvation
through its own power, just as cursing procures disgrace and ruin. The effectiveness
of blessing is later more specifically brought about by God, who protects us (v.
24), favors us (v. 25) and gives us peace, which is to say in other words, he offers
us an abundance of happiness.
By having us listen
once again to this ancient blessing at the beginning of a new solar year, the liturgy,
as it were, encourages us in turn to invoke the Lord’s blessing upon the New Year
that is just beginning, so that it may be a year of prosperity and peace for us
all. It is precisely this wish that I would like to address to the distinguished
Ambassadors of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See who are taking part
in today’s liturgical celebration.
I greet Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, my Secretary of State. With him, I greet Cardinal Renato Raffaele
Martino and all the members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. I am
particularly grateful to them for their commitment to disseminating the annual Message
for the World Day of Peace, addressed to Christians and to all men and women of
good will.
I also offer a cordial
greeting to the many choirboys who with their singing add to the solemnity
of this Holy Mass, during which we ask God for the gift of peace for the whole world.
By choosing the theme
“In truth, peace” as the Message for the World Day of Peace, I wanted to
express the conviction that “whenever men and women are enlightened by the splendor
of truth, they naturally set out on the path of peace” (no. 3). How can we not
see in this an effective and appropriate realization of the Gospel just proclaimed,
in which we contemplated the scene of the shepherds on their way to Bethlehem to adore the Child?
(see Lk 2: 16).
Are not those shepherds,
whom the Evangelist Luke describes to us in their poverty and simplicity, obedient
to the Angel’s order and docile to God’s will, perhaps the image most easily accessible
to each one of us of the person who allows himself to be enlightened by the truth
and is thereby enabled to build a world of peace?
Peace! This great,
heartfelt aspiration of every man and every woman is built day after day by the
contribution of all and by treasuring the wonderful heritage passed down to us by
the Second Vatican Council with the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, which
says, among other things, that humanity will not succeed in “the establishment of
a truly human world for all men over the entire earth, unless everyone devotes himself
to the cause of true peace with renewed vigor” (no. 77).
The time in history
when the Constitution Gaudium et Spes was promulgated, 7 December 1965, was
not very different from our time. Then, as unfortunately also in our day and age,
tensions of various kinds were looming on the world horizon. In the face of the
lasting situations of injustice and violence that continue to oppress various parts
of the earth, in the face of those that are emerging as new and more insidious threats
to peace - terrorism, nihilism and fanatical fundamentalism - it is becoming more
necessary than ever to work together for peace!
A “start” of courage
and trust in God and man is necessary if we are to choose the path of peace. And
it must be on the part of all: individuals
and peoples, international organizations and world powers.
In the Message for
today’s event, I wanted in particular to call the United Nations Organization to
a renewed awareness of its responsibilities in encouraging the values of justice,
solidarity and peace in a world that is ever more marked by the vast phenomenon
of globalization.
If peace is the aspiration
of every person of good will, for Christ’s disciples it is a permanent mandate that
involves all; it is a demanding mission that impels them to announce and witness
to “the Gospel of Peace”, proclaiming that recognition of God’s full truth is an
indispensable pre-condition for the consolidation of the truth of peace.
May this awareness
continue to grow so that every Christian community becomes the “leaven” of a humanity
renewed by love.
“And Mary kept
all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Lk 2: 19).
The first day of
the year is placed under the sign of a woman, Mary. The Evangelist Luke describes
her as the silent Virgin who listens constantly to the eternal Word, who lives in
the Word of God. Mary treasures in her heart the words that come from God and, piecing
them together as in a mosaic, learns to understand them.
Let us too, at her
school, learn to become attentive and docile disciples of the Lord. With her motherly
help, let us commit ourselves to working enthusiastically in the “workshop” of peace,
following Christ, the Prince of Peace.
After the example
of the Blessed Virgin, may we let ourselves be guided always and only by Jesus Christ,
who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever! (Heb 13: 8). Amen.
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Sunday, 31 December 2006
Your
Eminences,
Venerable
Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Distinguished
Authorities,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We are gathered
in the Vatican Basilica to give thanks to the Lord at the end of the year and
to sing the Te Deum together. I cordially thank all of you
for wishing to join me on such an important occasion.
In the first
place, I greet the Cardinals, my venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in
the Priesthood, the men and women Religious, the consecrated persons and all
the lay faithful who represent the entire Ecclesial Community of Rome. In
particular I greet the Mayor of Rome and the other Authorities present.
On this evening
of 31 December, two different perspectives intersect: one is linked to the end
of the civil year, the other to the liturgical Solemnity of Mary Most Holy,
Mother of God, which concludes the Octave of Holy Christmas. The first event is
common to all, the second concerns believers. Their intersection confers a
special character upon this evening celebration, in a particular spiritual
atmosphere that is conducive to reflection.
The first, most
evocative, theme is linked to the dimension of time.
In the last hours
of every solar year we participate in some worldly “rites” which in the
contemporary context are mainly marked by amusement and often lived as an
evasion from reality, as it were, to exorcise the negative aspects and
propitiate improbable good luck. How different the attitude of the Christian
Community must be!
The Church is
called to live these hours, making the Virgin Mary’s sentiments her own. With
her, the Church is invited to keep her gaze fixed on the Infant Jesus, the new
Sun rising on the horizon of humanity and, comforted by his light, to take care
to present to him “the joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the
people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted” (Gaudium
et Spes, no. 1).
Consequently,
two different evaluations of the dimension of “time” confront each other, one
quantitative and the other qualitative.
On the one hand,
the solar cycle with its rhythms; on the other, what St Paul called the “fullness
of time” (see Gal 4: 4), that is, the culminating moment of the history of the
universe and of the human race when the Son of God was born in the world. The
time of the promises was fulfilled and, when Mary’s pregnancy reached its term,
“the earth”, a Psalm says, “yielded its increase” (Ps 67[66]: [7]6)
The coming of
the Messiah, foretold by the Prophets, is qualitatively the most important
event of all history, on which it confers its ultimate and full meaning. It is
not historical and political coordinates that condition God’s choice, but on
the contrary, the event of the Incarnation that “fills” history with value and
meaning.
We, who come
2,000 years after that event, can affirm this, so to speak, also a
posteriori, after having known the whole life of Jesus, until his death and
Resurrection. We are witnesses at the same time of his glory and his humility,
of the immense value of his coming and of God’s infinite respect for us human
beings and for our history.
He did not fill
time by pouring himself into it from on high, but “from within”, making himself
a tiny seed to lead humanity to its full maturation.
God’s style
required a long period of preparation to reach from Abraham to Jesus Christ,
and after the Messiah’s coming, history did not end but continued its course,
apparently the same but in reality visited by God and oriented to the Lord’s
second and definitive Coming at the end of time. We might say that Mary’s
Motherhood is a real symbol and sacrament of all this, an event at the same
time human and divine.
In the passage
from the Letter to the Galatians that we have just heard, St Paul said: “God sent forth his Son, born
of woman” (Gal 4: 4). Origen commented: “Note well that he did not say, “born by
means of a woman’ but “born of a woman’“ (Comment on the Letter
to the Galatians, PG 14, 1298).
This acute
observation of the great exegete and ecclesiastical writer is important: in
fact, if the Son of God had been born only “by means of” a woman, he would not
truly have taken on our humanity, something which instead he did by taking
flesh “of” Mary. Mary’s motherhood, therefore, is true and fully human.
The fundamental
truth about Jesus as a divine Person who fully assumed our human nature is
condensed in the phrase: “God sent forth his Son born of woman”. He is the Son
of God, he is generated by God and at the same time he is the son of a
woman, Mary. He comes from her. He is of God and of Mary.
For this reason
one can and must call the Mother of Jesus the Mother of God. This title,
rendered in Greek as Theotokos, probably appeared for the first time in
the very region of Alexandria ,
Egypt Turkey .
Indeed, thinking
back to that unforgettable Visit, how could I fail to express all my filial
gratitude to the Holy Mother of God for the special protection which she
granted to me in those days of grace?
Theotokos, Mother
of God: every time we recite the Hail Mary we address the Virgin with
this title, imploring her to pray “for us sinners”.
At the end of a
year, we feel a special need to call on the motherly intercession of Mary Most
Holy for the city of Rome , for Italy , for Europe
and for the whole world. Let us entrust to Mary, who is the Mother of Mercy
incarnate, particularly those situations to which the Lord’s grace alone can
bring peace, comfort and justice.
The Virgin heard
the Angel announcing her divine Motherhood say to her: “With God nothing will
be impossible” (Lk 1: 37). Mary believed and for this reason she is blessed
(see Lk 1: 45). What is impossible to man becomes possible to the one who
believes (see Mk 9: 23).
Thus, as 2006
draws to a close and the dawn of 2007 can already be glimpsed, let us ask the
Mother of God to obtain for us the gift of a mature faith: a faith that we
would like to resemble hers as far as possible, a clear, genuine, humble and at
the same time courageous faith, steeped in hope and enthusiasm for the Kingdom
of God, a faith devoid of all fatalism and wholly set on cooperating with the
divine will in full and joyful obedience and with the absolute certainty that
God wants nothing but love and life, always and for everyone.
Obtain for us, O
Mary, an authentic, pure faith. May you always be thanked and blessed, Holy
Mother of God! Amen!
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
XL WORLD
DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Monday, 1 January 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
At the beginning
of the New Year I am happy to greet all of you present here in St Peter’s Square,
and to those who are joined with us by radio and television, the most cordial wishes
of peace and goodness. Congratulations to all of you: peace and goodness! May the
light of Christ, the Sun that appeared on the horizon of humanity, illuminate your
way and accompany you throughout the whole of 2007!
With fortunate intuition,
my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, wished the year to open under
the protection of Mary Most Holy, venerated as the Mother of God.
The Christian community,
which in these days has remained in prayerful adoration before the crib, looks with
particular love to the Virgin Mary, identifying itself with her while contemplating
the newborn Baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
Like Mary, the Church
also remains in silence in order to welcome and keep the interior resonances of
the Word made flesh and in order not to lose the divine-human warmth that radiates
from his presence.
The Church, like
the Virgin, does none other than show Jesus, the Savior, to everyone, and reflects
to each one the light of his face, the splendor of goodness and truth.
Today, we contemplate
Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, in his prerogative of true “Prince of Peace” (Is
9: 6). He “is our peace”, come to break down the “wall of separation” that divides
humanity and peoples, which is “enmity” (Eph 2: 14).
For this reason,
Paul VI, of venerable memory, also wanted 1 January to become the World Day of
Peace: so that each new year begins in the light of Christ, the great peacemaker
of humanity.
True foundations
of peace
Today, I renew my
wish for peace to those governing and leading the nations and international organizations
and to all men and women of good will. I do this particularly with the special Message
that I have prepared, together with my collaborators of the Pontifical Council for
Justice and Peace, and whose theme this year is: “The human person, heart of peace”.
It touches on an
essential point, the value of the human person, which is the supporting column
of the entire, great edifice of peace.
Today, much is spoken
of human rights, but it is often forgotten that they need a stable, not relative,
not optional, foundation. And this can be none other than the dignity of the human
person. Respect for this dignity begins with the recognition and protection of the
person’s right to life and to freely profess his or her own religion.
To the Most Holy
Mother of God we confidently address our prayer, so that sacred respect for each
human person and the firm refusal of war and violence may develop in consciences.
Mary, you who have
given Jesus to the world, help us to welcome his gift of peace and to be sincere
and courageous builders of peace.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD AND
40th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Monday, 1 January 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
As in a mosaic, today’s
liturgy contemplates different events and messianic situations, but attention is
especially focused on Mary, Mother of God. Eight days after Jesus’ birth,
we commemorate the Mother, the Theotokos, the one who gave birth to the Child
who is King of Heaven and earth for ever (see Entrance Antiphon; Sedulius).
The liturgy today
meditates on the Word made man and repeats that he is born of the Virgin. It reflects
on the circumcision of Jesus as a rite of admission to the community and contemplates
God who, by means of Mary, gave his Only-Begotten Son to lead the “new people”.
It recalls the name given to the Messiah and listens to it spoken with tender sweetness
by his Mother. It invokes peace for the world, Christ’s peace, and does so through
Mary, Mediatrix and Cooperator of Christ (see Lumen Gentium, nos. 60-61).
We are beginning
a new solar year which is a further period of time offered to us by divine
Providence in the
context of the salvation inaugurated by Christ. But did not the eternal Word enter
time precisely through Mary? In the Second Reading we have just listened to, the
Apostle Paul recalls this by saying that Jesus was born “of woman” (Gal 4: 4).
In today’s liturgy
the figure of Mary, true Mother of Jesus, God-man, stands out. Thus,
today’s Solemnity is not celebrating an abstract idea but a mystery and an historic
event: Jesus Christ, a divine Person, is born of the Virgin Mary who is his Mother
in the truest sense.
Today too, Mary’s
virginity is highlighted, in addition to her motherhood. These are two prerogatives
that are always proclaimed together, inseparably, because they complement and qualify
each other. Mary is Mother, but a Virgin Mother; Mary is a virgin, but a Mother
Virgin. If either of these aspects is ignored, the mystery of Mary as the Gospels
present her to us, cannot be properly understood.
As Mother of Christ,
Mary is also Mother of the Church, which my venerable Predecessor, the Servant
of God Paul VI chose to proclaim on 21 November 1964 at the Second Vatican Council.
Lastly, Mary is the Spiritual Mother of all humanity, because Jesus on the
Cross shed his blood for all of us and from the Cross he entrusted us all to her
maternal care.
Let us begin this
new year, therefore, by looking at Mary whom we received from God’s hands as a precious
“talent” to be made fruitful, a providential opportunity to contribute to bringing
about the Kingdom
of God
In this atmosphere
of prayer and gratitude to the Lord for the gift of a new year, I am pleased to
address my respectful thoughts to the distinguished Ambassadors of the Diplomatic
Corps accredited to the Holy See who have desired to take part in today’s solemn
Celebration.
I cordially greet
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State. I greet Cardinal Renato Raffaele
Martino and the members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and express
to them my deep gratitude for the commitment with which they daily promote these
values, so fundamental to social life.
For this World Day
of Peace, I addressed the customary Message to the Governors and Leaders of Nations,
as well as to all men and women of good will. Its theme this year is: The human
person, the heart of peace.
I am deeply convinced
that “respect for the person promotes peace and that, in building peace, the foundations
are laid for an authentic integral humanism” (Message for World Peace Day,
1 January 2007, no. 1).
This commitment is
especially incumbent on every Christian who is called “to be committed to tireless
peace-making and strenuous defence of the dignity of the human person and his inalienable
rights” (Message, no. 16). Precisely because he is created in the image and
likeness of God (see Gn 1: 27), every human individual without distinction of race,
culture or religion, as a person is clothed in God’s same dignity. For this
reason he should be respected, nor can any reason ever justify an arbitrary use
of him, as if he were an object.
In the face of the
threats to peace that are unfortunately ever present, the situations of injustice
and violence that persist in various areas of the earth and the continuing armed
conflicts often overlooked by the majority of public opinion, as well as the danger
of terrorism that clouds the serenity of peoples, it is becoming more necessary
than ever to work for peace together. This, as I recalled in my Message,
is “both gift and task” (no. 3): a gift to implore with prayer and a task to
be carried out with courage, never tiring.
The Gospel narrative
we have heard portrays the scene of the shepherds of Bethlehem , who after hearing the Angel’s announcement
go to the grotto to worship the Child (see Lk 2: 16). Should we not look again at
the dramatic situation marking the very Land in which Jesus was born? How can we
not entreat God with insistent prayers for the day of peace to arrive as soon as
possible in that region too, the day on which the current conflict that has lasted
far too long will be resolved?
If a peace agreement
is to endure, it must be based on respect for the dignity and rights of every person.
I express to the representatives of the nations present here my hope that the International
Community will muster its forces so that a world may be built in God’s Name in which
the essential human rights are respected by all. For this to happen, people must
recognize that these rights are not only based on human agreements but “on man’s
very nature and his inalienable dignity as a person created by God” (Message,
no. 13).
Indeed, were the
constitutive elements of human dignity entrusted to changeable human opinions, even
solemnly proclaimed human rights would end by being weakened and variously interpreted.
“Consequently, it is important for international agencies not to lose sight of the
natural foundation of human rights. This would enable them to avoid the risk, unfortunately
ever-present, of sliding towards a merely positivistic interpretation of those rights”
(ibid.).
“The Lord bless
you and keep you... lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Nm
6: 24, 26). This is the formula of the Blessing we heard in the First Reading, taken
from the Book of Numbers. The Lord’s Name is repeated in it three times. This gives
one an idea of the intensity and power of the Blessing, whose last word is “peace”.
The biblical term
shalom, which we translate as “peace”, implies that accumulation of good
things in which consists the “salvation” brought by Christ, the Messiah announced
by the Prophets. We Christians therefore recognize him as the Prince of Peace. He
became a man and was born in a grotto in Bethlehem
to bring peace to people of good will, to all who welcome him with faith and love.
Thus, peace is truly
the gift and commitment of Christmas: the gift that must be accepted with
humble docility and constantly invoked with prayerful trust, the task that
makes every person of good will a “channel of peace”.
Let us ask Mary,
Mother of God, to help us to welcome her Son and, in him, true peace. Let us ask
her to sharpen our perception so that we may recognize in the face of every human
person, the Face of Christ, the heart of peace!
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Monday, 31 December 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
As this year is
also ending, we are gathered in the Vatican Basilica to celebrate First Vespers
of the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy, Mother of God. The liturgy makes this
important Marian feast coincide with the end and the beginning of the solar year.
Our hymn of gratitude for 2007 which is drawing to a close and for 2008 which
we are already glimpsing is therefore combined with contemplation of the
mystery of the divine motherhood. Time passes and its inexorable passing
induces us to raise our gaze in deep gratitude to the One who is eternal, to
the Lord of time. Let us thank him together, dear brothers and sisters, on
behalf of the entire diocesan community of Rome . I address my greeting to each one of
you. In the first place, I greet the Cardinal Vicar, the Auxiliary Bishops, the
priests and consecrated persons as well as all the lay faithful who are
gathered here. I greet Mr Mayor and the Authorities present, and I extend my
thoughts to the entire population of Rome
and in a special way to all those in conditions of difficulty and hardship. I
assure them all of my cordial closeness, strengthened by constant remembrance
in prayer.
In the short
Reading from the Letter to the Galatians that we have just heard, speaking of
the liberation of man brought about by God with the mystery of the Incarnation,
St Paul very discreetly mentions the One through whom the Son of God entered
the world: “when the time had fully come”, he wrote, “God sent forth his Son,
born of woman” (Gal 4: 4). The Church contemplates in the “woman” the
features of Mary of Nazareth, a unique woman because she was called to carry
out a mission that brought her into very close contact with Christ: indeed, it
was an absolutely unique relationship, because Mary is Mother of the Savior. Just
as obviously, however, we can and must affirm that she is our Mother because,
by living her very special maternal relationship with the Son, she shared in
his mission for us and for the salvation of all people. In
contemplating her, the Church makes out her own features: Mary lives faith and
charity; Mary is also a creature saved by the one Savior; Mary collaborates in
the initiative of the salvation of all humanity. Thus, Mary constitutes for the
Church her truest image: she in whom the Ecclesial Community must continually
discover the authentic sense of its own vocation and its own mystery.
This short but
intense Pauline passage then continues, showing how the fact that the Son
assumed human nature unfolds the perspective of a radical change of the actual
human condition. Paul says in it that “God sent forth his Son... to redeem
those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal
4: 4-5). The Incarnate Word transforms human life from within, sharing with us
his being as Son of the Father. He became like us in order for us to become
like him: children of the Son, hence, people free from the law of sin. Is this
not a fundamental reason to raise our thanksgiving to God? A thanksgiving which
can only be even more motivated at the end of a year, considering the many
benefits and his constant assistance that we have experienced over the period
of the past 12 months. This is why every Christian community gathers together
this evening and sings the Te Deum, a traditional hymn of praise and
thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity. This is what we shall also do at the end
of this liturgical meeting of ours, before the Most Blessed Sacrament.
As we sing we
will pray: “Te ergo, quæsumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine
redemisti: Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of
your own blood”. This is our prayer this evening: Come with your mercy, Lord,
to the aid of the inhabitants of our City in which, as elsewhere, serious needs
and poverty weigh on the lives of people and families, preventing them from
looking with trust to the future. Many, especially young people, are attracted
by a false exaltation or rather, by the profanation of the body and the
trivialization of sexuality; so it is difficult to list the many challenges
bound up with consumerism and secularism which call into question believers and
people of good will. To say it in a word, in Rome one also notes that lack of
hope and trust in life that constitutes the “obscure” evil of modern Western
society.
But if the
deficiencies are evident, there is no lack of light and reasons for hope on
which to implore special divine blessings. Precisely in this perspective, in
singing the Te Deum we shall pray: “Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine,
et benedic hereditati tuæ - Save your people, Lord, and bless your
inheritance”. O Lord, look upon and protect the diocesan community in
particular, committed on the educational front to responding ever more
vigorously to that great “educational emergency” of which I spoke last 11 June
when I met the participants in the diocesan convention, or in other words, the
increasing difficulty encountered in transmitting the basic values of life and
upright conduct to the new generations (see Address to the Diocese of Rome
Convention, 11 June 2007; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 20
June, p. 3). Let us calmly and with patient trust face this emergency first of
all in the context of the family. Moreover, it is certainly comforting to note
that the work undertaken in recent years by parishes, movements and
associations for the pastoral care of the family is continuing to develop and
bear fruit.
Also protect,
Lord, the missionary initiatives which involve the world of youth: they are
increasing and there are now an important number of young people who are
assuming responsibility and the joy of proclamation and Gospel witness in the
first person. In this context, how can we fail to thank God for the precious
pastoral service offered to the world by the Roman universities? It would be
appropriate to start something similar in schools, despite the numerous
difficulties.
Bless, Lord, the
many young men and adults who in recent decades have been ordained to the
priesthood for the Diocese of Rome. At the present time there are 28 deacons
who are awaiting priestly ordination, scheduled for next April. Thus, the
average age of the clergy is rejuvenated and it is also possible to respond to
the increase in pastoral needs, such as going to the help of other dioceses.
Especially in the suburbs, the need for new parish complexes is growing, and
there are eight currently under construction, after I myself had the pleasure
not long ago of consecrating the one most recently completed: the Parish of Santa
Maria del Rosario ai Martiri Portuensi. It is lovely to be able to tangibly
feel the joy and gratitude of the inhabitants of a neighborhood as they enter
their own new church for the first time.
“In te,
Domine, speravi: non confundar in æternum - Lord, show us your love and
mercy; for we put our trust in you”. The majestic hymn of the Te Deum ends
with this cry of faith, of total trust in God, with this solemn proclamation of
our hope. Christ is our “trustworthy” hope, and to this theme I dedicated my
recent Encyclical entitled Spe Salvi. But our hope is always
essentially also hope for others, and only thus is it truly hope for each one
of us (see no. 48). Dear brothers and sisters of the Church of Rome, let us ask
the Lord to make each one of us authentic leaven of hope in our various
milieus, so that it will be possible to build a better future for the whole
city. This is my wish for everyone on the eve of a New Year, a wish that I
entrust to the motherly intercession of Mary, Mother of God and Star of Hope.
Amen!
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
XLI WORLD
DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We have begun a new
year and I hope that it may be serene and profitable for all. I entrust it to the
heavenly protection of Mary, whom we invoke in today’s liturgy with her most ancient
and important title, that of Mother of God. With her “yes” to the Angel on the day
of the Annunciation, the Virgin conceived in her womb, through the work of the Holy
Spirit, the Eternal Word, and on Christmas Night gave birth to him. At Bethlehem , in the fullness
of time, Jesus was born of Mary; the Son of God was made man for our salvation,
and the Virgin became the true Mother of God. This immense gift that Mary has received
is not reserved to her alone, but is for us all. In her fruitful virginity, in fact,
God has given “to men the goods of eternal salvation..., because by means of her
we have received the Author of Life” (see Collect Prayer). Mary, therefore,
after having given flesh to the Only-Begotten Son of God, became the mother of believers
and of all humanity.
And it is precisely
in the name of Mary, Mother of God and of humanity, that we have been celebrating
for 40 years on the first day of the year the World Day of Peace. The theme I selected
for this year’s celebration is: “The human family, a community of peace”.
The same love that builds and unites the family, the vital cell of society,
supports the construction between the peoples of the earth of those relationships
of solidarity and collaboration that are suitable to members of the one human family.
Vatican Council II recalls this when it affirms that “all people comprise a single
community, and have a single origin.... One also is their final goal: God” (see
Nostra Aetate, no. 1). A strict bond therefore exists between families, society
and peace. “Consequently, whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution
of the family”, I note in the Message for this year’s World Day of Peace, “undermines
peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what
is in effect the primary “agency’ of peace” (no. 5). And then, “We do not
live alongside one another purely by chance; all of us are progressing along a common
path as men and women, and thus as brothers and sisters” (no. 6). It is thus truly
important that each one assumes the appropriate responsibilities before God and
recognizes in him the original source of his own existence and that of others. From
this knowledge flows a duty to make humanity into a true community of peace, based
on a “common law..., one which would foster true freedom... and protect the weak
from oppression by the strong” (no. 11).
May Mary, Mother
of the Prince of Peace, sustain the Church in her tireless work at the service of
peace, and help the community of peoples, which celebrates in 2008 the 60th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to travel a road of authentic solidarity
and stable peace.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
AND 41st
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Tuesday, 1st January 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, we are beginning
a new year and Christian hope takes us by the hand; let us begin it by invoking
divine Blessings upon it and imploring, through the intercession of Mary, Mother
of God, the gift of peace: for our families, for our cities, for the whole world.
With this hope, I greet all of you present here, starting with the distinguished
Ambassadors of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See who have gathered
at this celebration on the occasion of the World Day of Peace. I greet Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State, and Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and
all members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. I am particularly grateful
to them for their commitment to spread the Message for the World Day of Peace whose
theme this year is: “The human family, a community of peace”.
Peace. In the First
Reading from the Book of Numbers we heard the invocation: “The Lord... give you
peace” (6: 26); may the Lord grant peace to each one of you, to your families and
to the whole world. We all aspire to live in peace but true peace, the peace proclaimed
by the Angels on Christmas night, is not merely a human triumph or the fruit of
political agreements; it is first and foremost a divine gift to be ceaselessly implored,
and at the same time a commitment to be carried forward patiently, always remaining
docile to the Lord’s commands. This year, in my Message for today’s World Day of
Peace, I wanted to highlight the close relationship that exists between the family
and building peace in the world. The natural family, founded on the marriage of
a man and a woman, is “a “cradle of life and love’“ and “the first and indispensable
teacher of peace”. For this very reason the family is “the primary “agency’ of peace”,
and “the denial or even the restriction of the rights of the family, by obscuring
the truth about man, threatens the very foundations of peace” (see nos. 1-5). Since
humanity is a “great family”, if it wants to live in peace it cannot fail to draw
inspiration from those values on which the family community is based and stands.
The providential coincidence of various recurrences spur us this year to make an
even greater effort to achieve peace in the world. Sixty years ago, in 1948, the
General Assembly of the United Nations published the “Universal Declaration of Human
Rights”; 40 years ago my venerable Predecessor Paul VI celebrated the first World
Day of Peace; this year, in addition, we will be commemorating the 25th anniversary
of the Holy See’s adoption of the “Charter of the Rights of the Family”. “In the
light of these significant anniversaries” - I am repeating here what I wrote precisely
at the end of the Message - “I invite every man and woman to have a more lively
sense of belonging to the one human family, and to strive to make human coexistence
increasingly reflect this conviction, which is essential for the establishment of
true and lasting peace” [no. 15].
Our thoughts now
turn spontaneously to Our Lady, whom we invoke today as the Mother of God. It was
Pope Paul VI who moved to 1 January the Feast of the Divine Motherhood of Mary,
which was formerly celebrated on 11 October. Indeed, even before the liturgical
reform that followed the Second Vatican Council, the memorial of the circumcision
of Jesus on the eighth day after his birth - as a sign of submission to the law,
his official insertion in the Chosen People - used to be celebrated on the first
day of the year and the Feast of the Name of Jesus was celebrated the following
Sunday. We perceive a few traces of these celebrations in the Gospel passage that
has just been proclaimed, in which St Luke says that eight days after his birth
the Child was circumcised and was given the name “Jesus”, “the name given by the
Angel before he was conceived in [his Mother’s]... womb” (Lk 2: 21). Today’s feast,
therefore, as well as being a particularly significant Marian feast, also preserves
a strongly Christological content because, we might say, before the Mother, it concerns
the Son, Jesus, true God and true Man.
The Apostle Paul
refers to the mystery of the divine motherhood of Mary, the Theotokos,
in his Letter to the Galatians. “When the time had fully come”, he writes, “God
sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (4: 4). We find the mystery
of the Incarnation of the Divine Word and the Divine Motherhood of Mary summed up
in a few words: the Virgin’s great privilege is precisely to be Mother of the Son
who is God. The most logical and proper place for this Marian feast is therefore
eight days after Christmas. Indeed, in the night of Bethlehem , when “she gave birth to her first-born
son” (Lk 2: 7), the prophesies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled. “The virgin
shall be with child and bear a son”, Isaiah had foretold (7: 14); “Behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son”, the Angel Gabriel said to Mary (Lk 1: 31);
and again, an Angel of the Lord, the Evangelist Matthew recounts, appeared to Joseph
in a dream to reassure him and said: “Do not fear to take Mary for your wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son” (Mt 1:
20-21).
The title “Mother
of God”, together with the title “Blessed Virgin”, is the oldest on which all the
other titles with which Our Lady was venerated are based, and it continues to be
invoked from generation to generation in the East and in the West. A multitude of
hymns and a wealth of prayers of the Christian tradition refer to the mystery of
her divine motherhood, such as, for example, a Marian antiphon of the Christmas
season, Alma Redemptoris mater, with which we pray in these words: “Tu
quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius
- You, in the wonder of all creation, have brought forth your Creator, Mother
ever virgin”. Dear brothers and sisters, let us today contemplate Mary, ever-virgin
Mother of the Only-Begotten Son of the Father; let us learn from her to welcome
the Child who was born for us in Bethlehem. If we recognize in the Child born of
her the Eternal Son of God and accept him as our one Savior, we can be called and
we really are children of God: sons in the Son. The Apostle writes: “God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4: 4).
The Evangelist Luke
repeats several times that Our Lady meditated silently on these extraordinary events
in which God had involved her. We also heard this in the short Gospel passage that
the Liturgy presents to us today. “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in
her heart” (Lk 2: 19).
The Greek verb used,
sumbállousa, literally means “piecing together” and makes us think of a great
mystery to be discovered little by little. Although the Child lying in a manger
looks like all children in the world, at the same time he is totally different:
he is the Son of God, he is God, true God and true man. This mystery - the Incarnation
of the Word and the divine Motherhood of Mary - is great and certainly far from
easy to understand with the human mind alone.
Yet, by learning
from Mary, we can understand with our hearts what our eyes and minds do not manage
to perceive or contain on their own. Indeed, this is such a great gift that only
through faith are we granted to accept it, while not entirely understanding it.
And it is precisely on this journey of faith that Mary comes to meet us as our support
and guide. She is mother because she brought forth Jesus in the flesh; she is mother
because she adhered totally to the Father’s will. St Augustine wrote: “The divine motherhood would
have been of no value to her had Christ not borne her in his heart, with a destiny
more fortunate than the moment when she conceived him in the flesh” (De Sancta
Virginitate, 3, 3). And in her heart Mary continued to treasure, to “piece
together” the subsequent events of which she was to be a witness and protagonist,
even to the death on the Cross and the Resurrection of her Son Jesus.
Dear brothers and
sisters, it is only by pondering in the heart, in other words, by piecing together
and finding unity in all we experience, that, following Mary, we can penetrate the
mystery of a God who was made man out of love and who calls us to follow him on
the path of love; a love to be expressed daily by generous service to the brethren.
May the new year which we are confidently beginning today be a time in which to
advance in that knowledge of the heart, which is the wisdom of saints. Let us pray,
as we heard in the First Reading, that the Lord may “make his face to shine” upon
us, “and be gracious” to us (see Nm 6: 24-7) and bless us. We may be certain of
it: if we never tire of seeking his Face, if we never give in to the temptation
of discouragement and doubt, if also among the many difficulties we encounter we
always remain anchored to him, we will experience the power of his love and his
mercy. May the fragile Child who today the Virgin shows to the world make us peacemakers,
witnesses of him, the Prince of Peace. Amen!
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
The year that is
ending and that which is approaching on the horizon are both under the blessed
gaze of the Most Holy Mother of God. The artistic polychrome sculpture set here
next to the altar, which portrays her on a throne with the Child giving his
Blessing, also recalls her motherly presence. We are celebrating the First
Vespers of this Marian Solemnity, in which there are numerous liturgical
references to the mystery of the Virgin’s divine motherhood.
“O admirabile
commercium! O marvelous exchange!” Thus begins the Antiphon of the first
Psalm, to then continue: “man’s Creator has become man, born of a virgin”. “By
your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures”,
proclaims the Antiphon of the Second Psalm, which is echoed by the words of the
third Antiphon that introduce us to the canticle taken from the Letter of Paul
to the Ephesians: “Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush,
flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai. Pray for us, Mother of God”.
Mary’s divine motherhood is also highlighted in the brief Reading proclaimed
shortly beforehand, which proposes anew the well-known verses of the Letter to
the Galatians: “When the designated time had come, God sent forth his Son, born
of woman... so that we might our status as adopted sons” (Gal 4: 4-5). And
again, in the traditional Te Deum that we will raise at the end of our
celebration before the Most Holy Sacrament solemnly exposed for our adoration
singing, “Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis
uterum”, in English: “when you, O Christ, became man to set us free you did
not spurn the Virgin’s womb”.
Thus everything
this evening invites us to turn our gaze to the one who “received the Word of
God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world”, and for this very
reason the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council recalls “is acknowledged and
honored as being truly the Mother of God” (Lumen gentium, no. 53).
Christ’s Nativity, which we are commemorating in these days, is entirely
suffused with the light of Mary and, while we pause at the manger to
contemplate the Child, our gaze cannot fail to turn in gratitude also to his
Mother, who with her “yes” made possible the gift of Redemption. This is why
the Christmas Season brings with it a profoundly Marian connotation; the birth
of Jesus as God and man and Mary’s divine motherhood are inseparable realities;
the mystery of Mary and the mystery of the Only-Begotten Son of God who was
made man form a single mystery, in which the one helps to better understand the
other.
Mary Mother of
God Theotokos, Dei Genetrix. Since ancient times Our Lady has been honored
with this title. However, for many centuries in the West there was no feast
specifically dedicated to the divine Motherhood of Mary. It was introduced into
the Latin Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931 on the occasion of the 15th centenary
of the Council of Ephesus, and he chose to establish it on 11 October. On that
date, in 1962, the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated. It was then the
Servant of God Paul VI who restored an ancient tradition in 1969, fixing this
Solemnity on 1 January. In the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus of
2 February 1974, he explained the reason for his decision and its connection
with the World Day of Peace. “In the revised ordering of the Christmas period
it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the
restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God,” Paul VI wrote. “This
celebration... is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery
of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery
brings to the “holy Mother’.... It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing
adoration to the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad
tidings of the angels (see Lk 2: 14), and for imploring from God, through the
Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace” (no. 5).
This evening,
let us place in the hands of the heavenly Mother of God our choral hymn of
thanksgiving to the Lord for the gifts he has generously granted us during the
past 12 months. The first sentiment which spontaneously rises in our hearts
this evening is precisely that of praise and thanksgiving to the One who gave
us time, a precious opportunity to do good; let us combine with it our request
for forgiveness for perhaps not always having spent it usefully. I am glad to
share this thanksgiving with you, dear brothers and sisters who represent the
whole of our diocesan community to which I address my cordial greeting,
extending it to all the inhabitants of Rome .
I extend a particular greeting to the Cardinal Vicar and to the Mayor, both of
whom have begun their different missions this year one spiritual and religious,
the other civil and administrative at the service of this city of ours. I
extend my greeting to the Auxiliary Bishops, priests, consecrated people and
the very many lay faithful who have gathered here, as well as to the
authorities present. By coming into the world, the eternal Word of the Father
revealed to us God’s closeness and the ultimate truth about man and his eternal
destiny; he came to stay with us to be our irreplaceable support, especially in
the inevitable daily difficulties. And this evening the Virgin herself reminds
us of what a great gift Jesus gave us with his Birth, of what a precious “treasure”
his Incarnation constitutes for us. In his Nativity Jesus comes to offer us his
Word as a lamp to guide our steps; he comes to offer us himself and we must
always affirm him as our unfailing hope in our daily life, aware that “it is
only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly
becomes clear” (Gaudium et spes, no. 22).
Christ’s
presence is a gift that we must be able to share with everyone. It is for this
purpose that the diocesan community is making an effort to form pastoral
workers, so as to equip them to respond to the challenges modern culture poses
to the Christian faith. The presence of numerous highly qualified academic
institutions in Rome
and the many initiatives promoted by the parishes enable us to look confidently
to the future of Christianity in this city. As you well know, encountering
Christ renews our personal life and helps us to contribute to building a just
and fraternal society. This is why we as believers can also make a great
contribution to overcoming the current educational emergency. Thus, for a
profound evangelization and a courageous human promotion that can communicate
the riches that derive from the encounter with Christ to as many people as
possible, an increase in synergy among families, school and parishes is more
important than ever. For this I encourage each member of our diocese to
continue on the journey they have undertaken, together carrying out the
programme for the current pastoral year which aims precisely to “educate to
hope through prayer, action and suffering”.
In our times,
marked by uncertainty and concern for the future, it is necessary to experience
the living presence of Christ. It is Mary, Star of Hope who leads us to him. It
is she, with her maternal love, who can guide young people especially who bear
in their hearts an irrepressible question about the meaning of human existence
to Jesus. I know that various groups of parents, meeting in order to deepen
their vocation, are seeking new ways to help their children respond to the big
existential questions. I cordially urge them, together with the whole Christian
community, to bear witness to the new generations of the joy that stems from
encountering Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem
and did not come to take something from us but rather to give us everything.
On Christmas
night I had a special thought for children; instead, this evening it is young
people above all on whom I wish to focus my attention. Dear young people,
responsible for the future of this our city, do not be afraid of the apostolic
task that the Lord is entrusting to you. Do not hesitate to choose a lifestyle
that does not follow the current hedonistic mindset. The Holy Spirit assures
you of the strength you need to witness to the joy of faith and the beauty of
being Christian. The growing need for evangelization requires many laborers in
the Lord’s vineyard; do not hesitate to respond to him promptly if he calls
you. Society needs citizens who are not concerned solely with their own
interests because, as I recalled on Christmas Day, “If people look only to
their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart”.
Dear brothers
and sisters, this year is ending with an awareness of the spreading social and
financial crisis that now involves the whole world; a crisis that asks for
greater moderation and solidarity from all, so that they may go to the aid
especially of the individuals and families who are in the most serious
difficulty. The Christian community is already making efforts toward this and I
know that the diocesan Caritas and other relief agencies are doing their
utmost. Nonetheless, everyone’s collaboration is necessary, for no one can
think of building his own happiness alone. Although many clouds are gathering
on the horizon of our future, we must not be afraid. Our great hope as
believers is eternal life in communion with Christ and the whole family of God.
This great hope gives us the strength to face and to overcome the difficulties
of life in this world. This evening the motherly presence of Mary assures us
that God never abandons us if we entrust ourselves to him and follow his
teachings. Therefore, while we take our leave of 2008 and prepare to welcome
2009, let us present to Mary our expectations and hopes, as well as our fears
and the difficulties that dwell in our hearts, with filial affection and trust.
She, the Virgin Mother, offers us the Child who lies in the manger as our sure
hope. Full of trust, we shall then be able to sing at the end of the Te
Deum: “In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum - In you, Lord, is
our hope: and we shall never hope in vain”. Yes, Lord, in you we hope, today
and for ever; you are our hope. Amen!
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
XLII WORLD DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Thursday, 1 January 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On this first day
of the year, I am pleased to extend my very best wishes for peace and every good
to all of you present in St Peter’s Square and to those linked to us through radio
and television. They are wishes that the Christian faith renders, so to speak, “reliable”,
anchoring them in the event that we are celebrating in these days: the Incarnation
of the Word of God, born of the Virgin Mary. In effect, with and only with the grace
of the Lord can we always hope anew that the future will be better than the past.
This does not in fact mean to trust in a more fortunate destiny, or in the modern
trends of markets and of finance, but rather to make the effort ourselves to be
a little better and more responsible, to be able to count on the kindness of the
Lord. And this is always possible, because “[God] has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb
1: 2) and speaks to us continually, through the preaching of the Gospel and through
the voice of our conscience. In Jesus Christ the road to salvation has been shown
to all people a salvation that is first of all spiritual redemption but that involves
the entire human, including the social and historical, dimensions.
For this reason,
while the Church celebrates the divine Motherhood of Mary Most Holy on this day
that has been for more than 40 years the World Day of Peace, she points to Jesus
Christ as Prince of Peace to all. According to the tradition begun by the Servant
of God Pope Paul VI, I have written for this occasion a special Message, choosing
as its theme: “Fighting poverty to build peace”. In this way I wish
to place myself in dialogue once again with the leaders of nations and of international
institutions, offering the Catholic Church’s contribution for the promotion of a
world order worthy of man. At the beginning of a new year, my first goal is precisely
that of inviting all political leaders and ordinary citizens to not be discouraged
in the face of difficulties and failures, but instead to renew their efforts. In
the second half of 2008 an economic crisis of vast proportions emerged. That crisis
must be studied in depth, like a grave symptom whose cause requires investigation.
It is not enough as Jesus would say to sew new patches onto an old garment (see
Mk 2: 21). To put the poor in first place means to decisively implement that
kind of global solidarity that John Paul II had already indicated as necessary,
uniting market potential with that of civil society (cf. Message, 12),
in constant respect for the law and always in view of the common good.
Jesus Christ did
not organize campaigns against poverty, but he proclaimed the Gospel to the poor,
providing an integral redemption from moral and material misery. The Church does
the same, with its tireless work of evangelization and of human advancement. Let
us invoke the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, so that she may help all peoples to walk
together on the Way of peace.
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
AND 42nd WORLD DAY OF
PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Thursday, 1st January 2009
Venerable Brothers,
Mr Ambassadors,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On the first day
of the year, divine Providence brings us together for a celebration that moves us
each time because of the riches and beauty of its correspondence: the civil New
Year converges with the culmination of the Octave of Christmas on which the divine
Motherhood of Mary is celebrated, and this gathering is summed up felicitously in
the World Day of Peace. In the light of Christ’s Nativity, I am pleased to address
my best wishes to each one for the year that has just begun. I address them in particular
to Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and his collaborators of the Pontifical Council
for Justice and Peace, with special gratitude for their precious service. I also
address them to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and to the entire
Secretariat of State; and likewise, with deep cordiality, I address them to the
large number of Ambassadors present today. My good wishes echo the good wishes that
the Lord himself has just addressed to us in the liturgy of the Word. A Word which,
starting with the event in Bethlehem ,
recalled in its historical actuality by the Gospel of Luke (2: 16-21) and reinterpreted
in all its saving importance by the Apostle Paul (Gal 4: 4-7), becomes a Blessing
for the People of God and for all humanity.
Thus the ancient
Jewish tradition of blessing is brought to completion (Nm 6: 22-27): the priests
of Israel blessed the people
by putting the Lord’s Name upon them: “so shall they put my name upon the people
of Israel ”.
With a triple formula present in the First Reading the sacred Name was invoked upon
the faithful three times, as a wish for grace and peace. This remote custom brings
us back to an essential reality: to be able to walk on the way of peace, men and
women and peoples need to be illumined by the “Face” of God and to be blessed by
his “Name”. Precisely this came about definitively with the Incarnation: the coming
of the Son of God in our flesh and in history brought an irrevocable blessing, a
light that is never to be extinguished and offers believers and people of good-will
alike the possibility of building the civilization of love and peace.
The Second Vatican
Council said in this regard that “by his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in
a certain way united himself with each man” (Gaudium et spes, no. 22). This
union confirms the original design of a humanity created in the “image and likeness”
of God. In fact, the Incarnate Word is the one, perfect and consubstantial image
of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is the perfect man. “Human nature”, the Council
reaffirms: “by the very fact that it was assumed... in him, has been raised in us
also to a dignity beyond compare” (ibid.). For this reason the earthly history
of Jesus that culminated in the Paschal Mystery is the beginning of a new world,
because he truly inaugurated a new humanity, ever and only with Christ’s grace,
capable of bringing about a peaceful “revolution”. This revolution was not an ideological
but spiritual revolution, not utopian but real, and for this reason in need of infinite
patience, sometimes of very long periods, avoiding any short cuts and taking the
hardest path: the path of the development of responsibility in consciences.
Dear friends, this
is the Gospel way to peace, the way that the Bishop of Rome is called to reproprose
with constancy every time that he sets his hand to writing the annual Message
for the World Day of Peace. In taking this path it is at times necessary to
review aspects and problems that have already been faced but that are so important
that they constantly require fresh attention. This is the case of the theme I have
chosen for the Message this year: “Fighting poverty to build peace”. This is a theme
that lends itself to a dual order of considerations which I can only mention briefly
here. On the one hand the poverty Jesus chose and proposed and on the other, the
poverty to be combated in order to bring the world greater justice and solidarity.
The first aspect
acquires its ideal context during these days in the Christmas Season. The Birth
of Jesus in Bethlehem
reveals to us that God chose poverty for himself in coming among us. The scene that
the shepherds were the first to see and that confirmed the angel’s announcement
to them, was a stable in which Mary and Joseph had found shelter, and a manger in
which the Virgin had laid the newborn Child wrapped in swaddling clothes (see Lk
2: 7, 12, 16). God chose this poverty. He wanted to be born thus but we can
immediately add: he wanted to live and also to die in this condition. Why? St Alphonsus
Maria Liguori explains it in a Christmas carol that is known all over Italy :
“You, Creator of the world had no clothes, no fire, O my Lord. My dear Divine Child,
how I love this poverty, since for love you made yourself poorer still”. This is
the answer: love for us impelled Jesus not only to make himself man, but also to
make himself poor. Along these same lines we can quote St Paul’s words in the Second
Letter to the Corinthians: “For you are well acquainted”, he writes, with “the favor
shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake he made himself poor though
he was rich, so that you might become rich by his poverty” (8: 9). St Francis of
Assisi was an exemplary
witness of this poverty chosen for love. The Franciscan charism, in the history
of the Church and of Christian civilization, constitutes a widespread trend of evangelical
poverty which has done and continues to do such great good for the Church and for
the human family. Returning to St Paul ’s
wonderful synthesis on Jesus, it is significant also for our reflection today that
it was inspired in the Apostle precisely while he was urging the Christians of Corinth
to be generous in collecting money for the poor. He explains: “I do not mean that
others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance
at the present time should supply their want” (2 Cor 8: 13).
This is a crucial
point that brings us to the second aspect: there is a poverty, a deprivation, which
God does not desire and which should be “fought” as the theme of this World Day
of Peace says; a poverty that prevents people and families from living as befits
their dignity; a poverty that offends justice and equality and that, as such, threatens
peaceful co-existence. This negative acceptation also includes all the non-material
forms of poverty that are also to be found in the rich and developed societies:
marginalization, relational, moral and spiritual poverty (see Message for the
World Day of Peace 2009, no. 2). In my Message I wanted once again, following
in the wake of my Predecessors, to consider attentively the complex phenomenon of
globalization and its relation to widespread poverty. In the face of widespread
scourges such as pandemic diseases (ibid., no. 4), child poverty (ibid.,
no. 5), the food crisis (ibid., no. 7), I have unfortunately had to return
to denouncing the unacceptable arms race. On the one hand the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights is being celebrated, and on the other, military expenditure
is increasing, thereby violating the Charter of the United Nations, which
endeavors to reduce this expenditure to the minimum (see art. 26). Furthermore,
globalization eliminates certain barriers but it can build others (op. cit. Message
for the World Day of Peace 2009, no. 8). The international community and the
individual States must therefore always be alert; they must never lose sight of
the dangers of conflict. On the contrary, they must strive to keep the level of
solidarity high. The current global financial crisis must be seen in this regard
also as a bench test: are we ready to interpret it, in its complexity, as a challenge
for the future and not only as an emergency to which we must find short-term solutions?
Are we prepared to undertake a profound revision of the prevalent model of development
in order to correct it with concerted, far-sighted interventions? In reality, this
is required by the state of the planet’s ecological health and especially the cultural
and moral crisis whose symptoms have been visible for some time in every part of
the world, far more than by the immediate financial problems.
Thus it is necessary
to seek to establish a “virtuous circle” between the poverty “to be chosen” and
the poverty “to be fought”. This gives access to a path rich in fruits for humanity’s
present and future and which could be summarized thus: to fight the evil poverty
that oppresses so many men and women and threatens the peace of all, it is necessary
to rediscover moderation and solidarity as evangelical, and at the same time universal,
values. More practically, it is impossible to combat poverty effectively unless
one does what St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in other words if one does not seek
“to create equality”, reducing the gap between those who waste the superfluous and
those who lack what they need. This entails just and sober decisions, which are
moreover made obligatory by the need to administer the earth’s limited resources
wisely. When he says that Jesus Christ “for [our] sake became poor”, St Paul offers an important
indication not only from the theological point of view but also at the sociological
level; not in the sense that poverty is a value in itself, but because it is a condition
that demonstrates solidarity. When Francis of Assisi stripped himself of his possessions,
it was a decision to witness that was inspired in him directly by God, but at the
same time it shows everyone the way of trust in Providence . Thus, in the Church, the vow of poverty
is the commitment of some, but it reminds all of the need to be detached from material
goods and of the primacy of spiritual riches. This is therefore the message for
us today: the poverty of Christ’s Birth in Bethlehem , as well as being the subject of adoration
for Christians, is also a school of life for every man. It teaches us that to fight
both material and spiritual poverty, the path to take is the path of solidarity
that impelled Jesus to share our human condition.
Dear brothers and
sisters, I believe that the Virgin Mary must have asked herself this question several
times: why did Jesus choose to be born of a simple, humble girl like me? And then,
why did he want to come into the world in a stable and have his first visit from
the shepherds of Bethlehem ?
Mary received her answer in full at the end, having laid in the tomb the Body of
Jesus, dead and wrapped in a linen shroud (see Lk 23: 53). She must then have fully
understood the mystery of the poverty of God. She understood that God made himself
poor for our sake, to enrich us with his poverty full of love, to urge us to impede
the insatiable greed that sparks conflicts and divisions, to invite us to moderate
the mania to possess and thus to be open to reciprocal sharing and acceptance. Let
us trustingly address to Mary, Mother of the Son of God who made himself our brother,
our prayer that she will help us follow in his footsteps, to fight and overcome
poverty, to build true peace, which is opus iustitiae. Let us entrust to
her the profound desire to live in peace that wells up in the hearts of the vast
majority of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, once again jeopardized by the outbreak
of violence on a massive scale in the Gaza Strip, in response to other violent incidents.
Even violence, even hatred and distrust are forms of poverty perhaps the most appalling
“to fight”. May they not get the upper hand! In this regard the Pastors of those
Churches, in these distressing days, have made their voices heard. Together with
them and their beloved faithful, especially those of the small but fervent parish
of Gaza, let us place at Mary’s feet our anxieties for the present and our fears
for the future, and likewise the well-founded hope that with the wise and far-sighted
contribution of all it will not be impossible to listen to one another, to come
to one another’s help and to give concrete responses to the widespread aspiration
to live in peace, safety and dignity. Let us say to Mary: accompany us, heavenly
Mother of the Redeemer, throughout the year that begins today, and obtain from God
the gift of peace for the Holy Land and for all
humanity. Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Amen.
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Thursday, 31 December 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
At the end of a
year full of events for both the Church and the world we are meeting this
evening in the Vatican Basilica to celebrate First Vespers of the Solemnity of
Mary Mother of God and to raise a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord of time and
history.
It is first of
all the words of the Apostle Paul that we have just heard which shed a special
light on the conclusion of the year: “When the time had fully come, God sent
forth his Son, born of woman... so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal
4: 4-5).
The concentrated
Pauline passage speaks to us of “time... fully come”, and enlightens us as to
the content of these words. In the history of the human family, God wanted to
introduce his eternal Word, making him take on a humanity like our own. With
the Incarnation of the Son of God, eternity entered time and human history was
opened to absolute fulfilment in God. Time was, so to speak, “touched” by
Christ, the Son of God and of Mary, and received from him new and surprising
significance: it became a time of salvation and grace. In this same
perspective, we must consider the time of the year that is ending and of that
which is beginning so that we may put the most different events of our life
important or small, simple or undecipherable, joyful or sad under the sign of
salvation and hear the call God is addressing to us in order to lead us toward
a goal that lies beyond time itself: eternity.
The Pauline text
also means to underline the mystery of God’s closeness to all humankind. It is
the closeness proper to the mystery of Christmas: God makes himself man and man
is given the unheard-of possibility to be a son of God. All this fills us with
great joy and leads us to offer praise to God. We are called to say with our
voices, our hearts and our lives “thank you” to God for the gift of the Son,
the source and fulfilment of all the other gifts with which divine love fills
the existence of each one of us, of families, of communities, of the Church and
of the world. The hymn of the Te Deum which today rings out in churches
in every corner of the earth is intended as a sign of the joyful gratitude with
which we address God for all that he has offered us in Christ. Truly “from his
fullness have we all received, grace upon grace” (Jn 1: 16).
In keeping with
a happy custom, this evening I would like to thank the Lord with you in
particular for the superabundance of graces he has lavished upon our diocesan
community of Rome
in the course of the year that is coming to a close. I would like first of all
to address a special greeting to the Cardinal Vicar, to the Auxiliary Bishops,
to the priests, to the consecrated people, as well as to the many lay faithful
who are gathered here. I likewise greet the Mayor and Authorities present with
respectful cordiality. I then extend my thoughts to all who live in our city,
particularly those who are in situations of difficulty and hardship: I assure
to each and every one my spiritual closeness, strengthened by constant
remembrance in prayer.
As regards the
progress of the Diocese of Rome, I renew my appreciation of the pastoral
decision to dedicate time to review the ground covered in order to increase the
sense of belonging to the Church and to foster pastoral co-responsibility. To
emphasize the importance of this reappraisal, I too wished to make my own contribution
by addressing the Diocesan Convention at St John Lateran, in the afternoon of
last 26 May. I rejoice because the diocesan programme is proceeding positively,
with a far-reaching apostolic action. It is being carried out in the parishes,
the prefectures and the various ecclesial associations in two essential
contexts for the life and mission of the Church: the celebration of the Sunday
Eucharist and the witness of charity. I would like to encourage the faithful to
participate in large numbers in the assemblies that will be held in the various
parishes so as to make an effective contribution to building up the Church.
Today too, the Lord wants to make his love for humanity known to the
inhabitants of Rome
and entrusts to each one, in the diversity of ministries and responsibilities,
the mission of proclaiming his word of truth and of witnessing to charity and
solidarity.
Only by
contemplating the mystery of the Incarnate Word can human beings find the
answer to the great questions of human existence and thus discover the truth of
their own identity. For this reason the Church, throughout the world and also
here in the City, is working to promote the integral development of the human
person. I was therefore pleased to learn that a series of “cultural meetings in
the Cathedral” have been planned, whose theme will be my recent Encyclical Caritas
in Veritate.
For some years
many families, numerous teachers and parish communities have been dedicated to
helping young people build their future on firm foundations, especially on the
rock that is Jesus Christ. I hope that this renewed educational commitment may
increasingly achieve a fertile synergy between the ecclesial community and the
City so as to help young people plan their own lives. I likewise express the
wish that a precious contribution in this important area may come from the
Convention promoted by the Vicariate that will be held next March.
To be
authoritative witnesses of the truth about the human being prayerful listening
to the word of God is essential. In this regard, I would like above all to
recommend the ancient tradition of lectio divina. The parishes and the
various ecclesial realities, also thanks to the booklet prepared by the
Vicariate, will be able to promote this ancient practice and put it to good use
so that it becomes an essential part of ordinary pastoral care.
The word,
believed, proclaimed and lived impels us to acts of solidarity and sharing. In
praising the Lord for the help that the Christian communities have been able to
offer generously to all who have knocked at their door, I would like to
encourage all to persevere in their commitment to alleviating the difficulties
besetting many families, sorely tried by the economic crisis and unemployment.
May the Nativity of the Lord which reminds us of how God came to save us of his
own free will, taking on our humanity and giving us his divine life help every
person of good will to understand that it is only by opening oneself to God’s
love that human action is changed and transformed, becoming the leaven of a
better future for all.
Dear brothers
and sisters, Rome
needs priests who are courageous heralds of the Gospel and, at the same time,
reveal the merciful face of the Father. I invite young people not to be afraid
to respond with the complete gift of their lives to the call that the Lord
addresses to them to follow him on the path of priesthood or of consecrated
life.
I hope, from
this moment, that the meeting next 25 March, the 25th anniversary of the
institution of the World Youth Day and the 10th anniversary of the
unforgettable Day at Tor Vergata, may be for all the parish and religious
communities, and for the movements and associations, a strong moment of
reflection and invocation, to obtain from the Lord the gift of numerous
vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life.
As we take our
leave of the year that is ending and set out towards the new one, today’s
Liturgy ushers us into the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy, Mother of God. The
Blessed Virgin is Mother of the Church and Mother of each one of her members,
that is, Mother of each of us, in Christ. Let us ask her to accompany us with
her caring protection, today and for ever, so that Christ may one day welcome
into his glory, into the assembly of the Saints: Aeterna fac cum sanctis
tuis in gloria numerari. Alleluia! Amen!
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
43rd WORLD DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Friday, 1st January 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today the Lord grants
us to begin a new year in his Name and under the gaze of Mary Most Holy, the Solemnity
of whose Divine Motherhood we are celebrating today. I am glad to meet you for this
first Angelus of 2010. I address those of you who have gathered in large
numbers in St Peter’s Square and also those who have joined us in our prayer via
radio and television. I wish for you all that the year which has just begun may
be a time in which, with the Lord’s help, we may satisfy Christ and God’s will,
and thus also improve this world of ours.
One objective that
may be shared by everyone, an indispensable condition for peace, is the administration
of the earth’s natural resources fairly and wisely. “If You Want to Cultivate Peace,
Protect Creation”, is the timely theme to which I have dedicated my Message for
today’s 43rd World Day of Peace. When the Message was published, the Heads of State
and Government were meeting in Copenhagen for the
Summit on the climate
at which, once again, the urgent need for concerted approaches at the global level
became apparent. At this moment, however, I would like to stress the importance
that the decisions of individuals, families and local administrations also have
in the preservation of the environment. “We can no longer do without a real change
of outlook which will result in new life-styles” (see Message, no. 11). In
fact we are all responsible for the protection and care of creation. Therefore in
this field too education is fundamental; to learn to respect nature, to be increasingly
disposed; to begin building peace “with far-reaching decisions on the part of individuals,
families, communities and states” (ibid.).
If we must care for
the creatures that surround us, what consideration we should have for people, our
brothers and sisters! What respect for human life! On the first day of the year
I would like to address an appeal to the consciences of all who belong to armed
groups of any kind. I say to each and every one: stop, think and abandon the path
of violence! At the moment this step might seem impossible to you; but if you have
the courage to take it, God will assist you and you will feel returning to your
hearts the joy of peace which perhaps you have forgotten for some time. I entrust
this appeal to the intercession of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God. The Liturgy
today reminds us that eight days after the birth of the Child, together with Joseph
her husband she had him circumcised, in accordance with Mosaic law, and called him
Jesus, the name given to him by the Angel (see Lk 2: 21). This name, which means
“God saves”, is the fulfilment of God’s revelation. Jesus is the Face of God, he
is the blessing for every person and for all peoples, he is peace for the world.
Thank you, Blessed Mother, who gave birth to the Savior, the Prince of Peace!
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
43rd WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Venerable Brothers,
Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On the first day
of the New Year we have the joy and the grace of celebrating the Most Holy Mother
of God and, at the same time, the World Day of Peace. In both these events we are
celebrating Christ, Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary and our true peace! To all
of you who are gathered here: representatives of the world’s peoples, of the Roman
and universal Church, priests and faithful; and to all who are connected via radio
and television, I repeat the words of the ancient Blessing: “The Lord lift up his
countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Nm 6: 26). Today I wish to develop precisely
the theme of the Face and of faces, in the light of the word of God the Face of
God and human faces a theme that also gives us a key to the interpretation of the
problem of peace in the world.
We heard in both
the First Reading from the Book of Numbers and in the Responsorial Psalm, several
expressions with reference to God that contain the metaphor of the face: “The Lord
make his face to shine upon you, / and be gracious to you” (Nm 6: 25). “May God
be gracious to us and bless us /and make his face to shine upon us / that your way
may be known upon earth, / your saving power among all nations” (Ps 67[66]: 1-3).
The face is the expression of the person par excellence. It is what makes him or
her recognizable and from it transpire sentiments, thoughts and heartfelt intentions.
God by his nature is invisible, yet the Bible applies this image to him too. Showing
his face is an expression of his benevolence, whereas hiding it indicates his anger
and indignation. The Book of Exodus says that “The Lord used to speak to Moses face
to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33: 11), and again it was to Moses that
the Lord promised his closeness with a very unusual formula: “my presence [face]
will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex 33: 14). The Psalms show believers
to us as those who seek God’s Face (see Ps 27[26]: 8); 105[104]: 4), and who, in
worship, long to see him (Ps 42[41]: 3) and tell us that “the upright” shall “behold
his face” (Ps 11[10]: 7).
One may interpret
the whole biblical narrative as the gradual revelation of the Face of God, until
it reaches his full manifestation in Jesus Christ. “When the time had fully come”,
the Apostle Paul has reminded us today too, “God sent forth his Son”, (Gal 4: 4),
immediately adding, “born of woman, born under the law”. God’s Face took on a human
face, letting itself be seen and recognized in the Son of the Virgin Mary, who for
this reason we venerate with the loftiest title of “Mother of God”. She, who had
preserved in her heart the secret of the divine motherhood, was the first to see
the face of God made man in the small fruit of her womb. The Mother had a very special,
unique and, in a certain way, exclusive relationship with the newborn Son. The first
face a child sees is that of his mother and this gaze is crucial for his relationship
with life, with himself, with others and with God; it is also crucial if he is to
become a “son of peace” (Lk 10: 6). Among the many typologies of icons of the Virgin
Mary in the Byzantine tradition is the one called “of tenderness” that portrays
the Child Jesus with his face resting, cheek to cheek, against his Mother’s. The
Child gazes at the Mother and she is looking at us, almost as if to mirror for those
who are observing and praying the tenderness of God who came down to her from Heaven
and was incarnate in the Son of man, whom she holds in her arms. We can contemplate
in this Marian image something of God himself: a sign of the ineffable love that
impelled him “to give his Only Son” (see Jn 3: 16). But that same icon also shows
us, in Mary, the face of the Church which reflects Christ’s light upon us and upon
the whole world, the Church through which the Good News reaches every person: “You
are no longer a slave but a son” (Gal 4: 7), as once again we read in St Paul.
Brothers in the Episcopate
and in the Priesthood, Mr Ambassadors, dear friends, meditating on the mystery of
the Face of God and on the human face is a privileged path that leads to peace.
It starts, in fact, with a respectful look that recognizes a person in the face
of the other, whatever the color of his skin, whatever his nationality, language
or religion. But who, other than God, can guarantee, so to speak, the “depth” of
the human face? In fact, only if we have God in our hearts are we able to perceive
in the face of the other a brother in humanity, not a means but an end, not a rival
or enemy but another self, another facet of the infinite mystery of the human being.
Our perception of the world and, in particular, of our fellows, depends essentially
on the presence within us of God’s Spirit. It is a sort of “resonance”: those whose
hearts are empty only perceive flat images lacking in depth. On the other hand,
the more we are inhabited by God the more we are sensitive to his presence in our
surroundings: in all creatures and especially in other human beings, although the
human face, in turn marked by the trials of life and by evil, may be difficult to
appreciate and accept as an epiphany of God. With all the more reason then, to recognize
and respect each other as we really are, in other words as brothers and sisters,
we need to refer to the Face of a common Father who loves us all despite our limitations
and failings.
It is important to
be taught respect for others, even when they are different from us, from an early
age. Increasingly today classes in schools consist of children of various nationalities
but even when this is not the case their faces are a prophecy of the humanity we
are called to form: a family of families and peoples. The smaller these children
are, the more they awaken in us tenderness and joy at an innocence and brotherhood
that seem obvious to us despite their differences, they cry and laugh in the same
way, they have the same needs, they communicate spontaneously, they play together....
Children’s faces are like a reflection of God’s gaze on the world. So why extinguish
their smiles? Why poison their hearts? Unfortunately the icon of the Mother of the
God of Tenderness finds its tragic opposite in the sorrowful images of so many children
and their mothers at the mercy of war and violence, refugees, asylum seekers and
forced migrants. Faces hollowed by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by suffering
and desperation and the faces of little innocents are a silent appeal to our responsibility:
before their helpless plight, all the false justifications of war and violence fall
away. We must simply convert to projects of peace, lay down every kind of weapon
and strive all together to build a world that is worthier of the human being.
My Message for
today’s 43rd World Day of Peace, “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation”,
fits within the perspective of God’s Face and of human faces. Indeed, we can say
that the human being is capable of respecting creatures insofar as he bears in his
mind a full sense of life, otherwise he will be inclined to despise himself and
all that surrounds him, to have no respect for the environment in which he lives
and no respect for Creation. Those who can recognize in the cosmos the reflections
of the Creator’s invisible face, tend to have greater love for creatures and greater
sensitivity to their symbolic value. The Book of Psalms is especially rich in testimonies
of this truly human way of relating to nature: to the sky, the sea, mountains, hills,
rivers, animals.... “O Lord, how manifold are your works!” the Psalmist explains:
“In wisdom have you made them all; / the earth is full of your creatures” (Ps 104[103]:
24).
The perspective of
the “face” in particular invites us to reflect on what, also in this Message,
I have called “human ecology”. In fact there is a very close connection between
respect for the human being and the safeguard of creation. “Our duties towards the
environment flow from our duties towards the person, considered both individually
and in relation to others” (no. 12). If the person becomes degenerate the environment
in which he lives deteriorates; if culture is inclined to nihilism if not theoretical
practical nature cannot but pay the consequences. In fact, it is possible to note
a reciprocal influence between the human face and the “face” of the environment:
“when “human ecology’ is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits”
(Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, no. 51). I therefore renew my appeal to
invest in education, proposing as an objective, in addition to the necessary transmission
of technical and scientific notions, a broader and deeper “ecological responsibility”,
based on respect for human beings and their fundamental rights and duties. Only
in this way can the commitment to the environment truly become an education in peace
and in building peace.
Dear brothers and
sisters, a Psalm recurs in the Christmas Season that contains, amongst other things,
a wonderful example of how God’s coming will transfigure the creation and give rise
to a sort of cosmic celebration. This hymn begins with an invitation to all peoples
to praise: “Sing to the Lord a new song; / sing to the Lord, all the earth! / Sing
to the Lord, bless his Name” (Ps 96[95]: 1). Yet at a certain point this appeal
for exultation is extended to the whole of creation: “Let the Heavens be glad, and
let the earth rejoice; / let the sea roar, and all that fills it; / let the field
exalt, and everything in it! / Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy”
(vv. 11-12). The celebration of faith becomes a celebration of the human being and
of creation: that celebration which is also expressed at Christmas in decorations
on trees, in streets and in houses. Everything flourishes anew because God has appeared
in our midst. The Virgin Mother shows the Infant Jesus to the shepherds of Bethlehem , who rejoice and
praise the Lord (see Lk 2: 20). The Church renews the mystery for people of every
generation, she shows them God’s Face so that, with his Blessing, they may walk
on the path of peace.
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Friday, 31 December 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
At the end of a
year we meet this evening in the Vatican Basilica to celebrate First Vespers of
the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God and to raise a hymn of
thanksgiving for the innumerable graces she has given us, but also and above
all for Grace in person, namely for the living and personal Gift of the Father
which is his beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is this
gratitude for the gifts received from God in the time we are granted to live
that helps us to discover a great value inscribed in time: marked in its
annual, monthly, weekly and daily seasons, it is inhabited by the love of God,
by his gifts of grace; it is the time of salvation. Yes, eternal God has
entered and remains in human time. He has entered and remains in it with the
Person of Jesus, the Son of God made man, the Savior of the world. It is of
this that the Apostle Paul has reminded us in the brief Reading just proclaimed: “When the time had
fully come, God sent forth his Son… so that we might receive adoption as sons”
(Gal 4:4-5).
Thus the Eternal
enters time and renews it from the roots, freeing man from sin and making him a
son of God. Already “in the beginning”, that is, with the creation of the world
and of man in the world, the eternity of God caused time — in which human
history takes place from generation to generation — to unfold. With the coming
of Christ and with his redemption, we are now in the time that has “fully come”.
As St Paul points out, with
Jesus time fully comes, it reaches fulfilment, acquiring that meaning of
salvation and grace for which it was desired by God before the creation of the
world.
Christmas
reminds us of this “fullness” of time, in other words of the renewing salvation
which Jesus brought to all mankind. It reminds us of it and, mysteriously but
really, gives it to us ever anew. Our human time is full of evil, of suffering,
every kind of tragedy — from those caused by the wickedness of human beings to
those that derive from inauspicious natural events, — but henceforth and in a
definitive and indelible manner it contains the joyful and liberating newness
of Christ the Savior. Precisely in the Child of Bethlehem we can contemplate in
a particularly luminous and eloquent way the encounter of eternity with time,
as the Church’s Liturgy likes to express it. Christmas makes us rediscover God
in the humble, frail flesh of a Child.
Is this not
perhaps an invitation to rediscover God’s presence and his love which gives
salvation even in the brief and stressful hours of our daily life? Is it not
perhaps an invitation to discover that our human time — even in difficult and
demanding moments — is ceaselessly enriched by the Lord’s grace, indeed by
Grace, which is the Lord himself?
At the end of
this year 2010, before consigning the days and hours to God and to his just and
merciful judgment, I feel the need in my heart to raise our “thank you” to him
for his love for us.
In this
atmosphere of gratitude, I would like to address a special greeting to the
Cardinal Vicar, to the Auxiliary Bishops, to the priests, to the consecrated
people, as well as to the many lay faithful who are gathered here. I greet Hon.
Mr Mayor and the Authorities present. A special remembrance goes to all those
who are in difficulty and are spending these days of festivity in hardship and
suffering. I assure each and every one of my affectionate thoughts, which I
accompany with prayer.
Dear brothers
and sisters, our Church of Rome
is committed to helping all the baptized to live faithfully the vocation they
have received and to witness to the beauty of faith. In order to be authentic
disciples of Christ, an essential aid comes to us in the daily meditation of
the word of God which “is the basis”, as I wrote in my recent Apostolic
Exhortation Verbum Domini “of all authentic Christian spirituality” (no.
86).
For this reason
I wish to encourage everyone to cultivate an intense relationship with it, in
particular through the lectio divina, in order to have that light we
need to discern the signs of God in the present time and to proclaim the Gospel
effectively.
In Rome too, in fact, there
is an ever greater need for a renewed proclamation of the Gospel so that the
hearts of our city’s inhabitants may be opened to the encounter with that
Child, who was born for us, with Christ, Redeemer of man. For, as the Apostle
Paul recalls: “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the
preaching of Christ” (Rom 10:17), a useful help in this evangelizing action can
come — as was previously experienced during the City Mission in preparation for
the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 — from “Centers for listening to the Gospel”,
whose refoundation or revitalization I encourage, not only in condominiums but
also in hospitals, in work places and in those where the new generations are
formed and where culture is elaborated.
Indeed, the Word
of God became flesh for all and his truth is accessible to every human being
and to every culture.
I learned with
appreciation of the most recent commitment of the Vicariate in organizing the “Dialogues
in the Cathedral”, which have been held in the Basilica of St John Lateran.
These important meetings express the Church’s desire to encounter all those who
are in search of answers to the deep questioning of human life.
The privileged
place for listening to the Word of God is the celebration of the Eucharist. The
Diocesan Convention last June, in which I took part, wanted to highlight the
centrality of Holy Mass on Sundays in the life of every Christian community and
offered guidelines so that the beauty of the divine mysteries might be more
resplendent in the celebrative act and in the spiritual fruits that derive from
it.
I encourage
parish priests and priests to put into practice what was pointed out in the
pastoral programme: the formation of a liturgical group to animate the
celebration and a catechesis that helps everyone to become better acquainted
with the Eucharistic Mystery from which flows the witness of charity.
Nourished by
Christ, we too are attracted by the very act of total giving that impelled the
Lord to give his life itself, revealing in this way the immense love of the
Father. The witness of charity therefore possesses an essential theological
dimension and is profoundly united with the proclamation of the word.
At this
celebration of thanksgiving to God for the gifts received during the year, I
remember in particular the Visit I made to the Caritas Hostel at Termini
Station, where, through the service and generous dedication of numerous
volunteers, so many men and women can tangibly feel God’s love.
The present time
is still giving rise to anxiety about the precarious plight of many families
and asks the entire diocesan community to be close to those who are living in
conditions of poverty and hardship.
May God,
infinite Love, enflame the heart of each one of us with that love which
impelled him to give us his Only-Begotten Son.
Dear brothers
and sisters, we are asked to look to the future and to look to it with that
hope [trust] which is the last word of the “Te Deum”: “In te, Domine,
speravi: non confundar in aeternum! — O Lord, in you have I trusted, let me
never be confounded”. It is always Mary Most Holy, Mother of God, who gives us
Christ our Hope. May her arms, and especially her heart, continue to offer to
the world Jesus, her Son and our Savior, as they did to the shepherds and to
the Magi. All our hope is in him, because salvation and peace came from him for
every human being. Amen.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
44th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Saturday, 1st January 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
In this first Angelus
of 2011, I offer everyone my good wishes for peace and well-being as I entrust them
to Mary Most Holy, whom we celebrate today as Mother of God. At the beginning of
a new year the Christian people gathers in spirit at the Grotto in Bethlehem , where the Virgin
Mary gave birth to Jesus.
We ask the Mother
for her Blessing and she blesses us by showing us the Son: indeed, he in person,
is the Blessing. In giving us Jesus God has given us everything: his love, his life,
the light of truth, the forgiveness of sins; he has given us peace. Yes, Jesus Christ
is our peace (see Eph 2:14). He brought into the world the seed of love and
peace, that is stronger than the seed of hatred and violence; stronger, because
the Name of Jesus is superior to any other name, it contains the whole Lordship
of God, as the Prophet Micah announced: “But you, O Bethlehem... from you shall
come forth for me one who is to be ruler.... He shall stand and feed his flock in
the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.... And
this shall be peace” (5:1-4).
This is why on this
day, in front of the icon of the Virgin Mother, the Church invokes from God, through
Jesus Christ, the gift of peace: the World Day of Peace is a favorable opportunity
to reflect together on the great challenges our epoch confronts humanity with.
One such is religious
freedom, dramatically urgent in our day. For this reason, this year I have chosen
to dedicate my Message to the theme: “Religious freedom, the path to peace”.
Today we are witnessing
two opposing trends, two extremes, both negative: on the one hand secularism, which
marginalizes religion in order to confine it to the private sphere; and on the other,
fundamentalism which, on the contrary, would like to impose it upon everyone by
force.
In reality, “God
beckons humanity with a loving plan that, while engaging the whole person in his
or her natural and spiritual dimensions, calls for a free and responsible answer
which engages the whole heart and being, individual and communitarian” (Message
for the World Day of Peace 2011, no. 8).
Wherever religious
freedom is effectively acknowledged the dignity of the human person is respected
at its root, and through a sincere search for the true and the good, the moral conscience
and the institutions and civil coexistence themselves are strengthened (see ibid.,
no. 5). Religious freedom is therefore a privileged path for building peace.
Dear friends, let
us once again turn our gaze to Jesus in the arms of Mary, his Mother. In looking
at the One who is the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:6), we understand that peace is not
obtained with weapons nor with the power of economics, politics, culture or the
media.
Peace is achieved
by consciences that are open to the truth and to love. May God help us to progress
on this path in the New Year he is granting us to live.
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
44th WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Still immersed in
the spiritual atmosphere of Christmas, in which we have contemplated the mystery
of Christ’s birth, today we are celebrating the Virgin Mary, whom the Church venerates
as Mother of God with the same sentiments since she gave flesh to the Son of the
Eternal Father. The biblical Readings
of this Solemnity put the emphasis mainly on the Son of God made man and on the
“Name” of the Lord. The First Reading presents to us the solemn Blessing that the
priests pronounced over the Israelites on the great religious feasts: it is marked,
precisely, by the Name of the Lord, repeated three times, as if to express the fullness
and power that derive from this invocation. This text of liturgical Blessing, in
fact, calls to mind the riches of grace and peace that God gives to man, with a
benevolent attitude to him, and which is expressed by the “shining” of the divine
face and his “turning” it to us.
Today the Church
listens once again to these words, while she asks the Lord to bless the New Year
that has just begun, in the awareness that in the face of the tragic events that
mark history, in the face of the logistics of war that unfortunately have not yet
been fully overcome, God alone can move the human spirit in its depths and assure
hope and peace to humanity. By now it is a firm tradition, on the first day of the
year that, the Church throughout the world raise a unanimous prayer to invoke peace.
It is good to begin a new stretch of the journey by setting out with determination
on the path of peace. Today let us respond to the cry of so many men, women, children
and elderly people who are the victims of war, which is the most appalling and violent
face of history. Let us pray today that peace, which the Angels announced to the
shepherds on Christmas night, may reach everywhere: “super terram pax in hominibus
bonae voluntatis” (Lk 2:14). For this reason, especially with our prayers, we
wish to help every person and every people, in particular all those who have the
responsibility of government, to walk with ever grater determination on the path
of peace.
In the Second Reading
St Paul sums up in the adoption as sons the work of salvation brought about by Christ
in which the figure of Mary is honored. Thanks to her the Son of God, “born of woman”
(Gal 4:4), was able to come into the world as a real man, in the fullness of time.
This fulfilment, this fullness, concerns the past and the messianic expectations,
which were brought about, but at the same time also refers to fullness in the absolute
sense: in the Word made flesh, God said his ultimate and definitive word. Thus on
the threshold of a new year, the invitation to walk joyfully towards the light of
the “day that shall dawn... from on high” (Lk 1:78) resounds in this way, because
in the Christian perspective all time is inhabited by God, there is no future that
is not oriented to Christ and no fullness exists outside that of Christ.
Today’s Gospel passage
ends with the imposition of the Name of Jesus, while Mary participates in silence,
meditating in her heart upon the mystery of this Son of hers who in a completely
unique way is a gift of God. But the Gospel passage we have heard particularly highlights
the shepherds who returned “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen” (Lk 2:20). The Angel had announced to them that in the city of David, that
is, Bethlehem, the Savior was born and that they would find the sign: a babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (see Lk 2:11-12). Having left in haste,
they had found Mary and Joseph and the Child. Let us note that the Evangelist speaks
of Mary’s motherhood starting with the Son, with that “babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes”, because it is he — the Word of God (Jn 1:14) — who is the reference point,
the centre of the event that is being brought about, and it is he who ensures that
Mary’s motherhood is described as “divine”.
This priority attention
that today’s Readings
pay to the “Son”, to Jesus, does not lessen the Mother’s role, on the contrary,
it puts it in the right perspective: Mary, in fact, is the true Mother of God precisely
by virtue of her total relationship to Christ. Therefore, in glorifying the Son
one honors the Mother and in honoring the Mother one glorifies the Son. The title
of “Mother of God” which the Liturgy highlights today, stresses the unique mission
of the Blessed Virgin in the history of salvation: a mission that is at the root
of the worship and devotion which the Christian people reserve for her. Indeed,
Mary did not receive God’s gift for herself alone, but in order to bring him into
the world: in her fruitful virginity, God gave men and women the gifts of eternal
salvation (see Collect). And Mary continually offers her mediation to the
People of God, on pilgrimage through history towards eternity, just as she once
offered it to the shepherds of Bethlehem .
She, who gave earthly life to the Son of God, continues to give human beings divine
life, which is Jesus himself and his Holy Spirit. For this reason she is considered
the Mother of every human being who is born to Grace and at the same time is invoked
as Mother of the Church.
It is in the name
of Mary, Mother of God and of men, that since 1 January 1968 the World Day of Peace
has been celebrated throughout the world. Peace is a gift of God, as we heard in
the First Reading: May “the Lord… give you peace” (Nm 6:26). It is a messianic gift
par excellence, the first fruit of the love that Jesus gave us, it is our reconciliation
and pacification with God. Peace is also a human value to be achieved at the social
and political levels, but it is rooted in the mystery of Christ (see Second Vatican
Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et
Spes, nos. 77-90).
In this solemn celebration,
on the occasion of the 44th World Day of Peace, I am glad to address my respectful
greeting to the distinguished Ambassadors to the Holy See, with my best wishes for
their mission. Then a cordial brotherly greeting goes to my Secretary of State and
to the Heads of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, with a special thought for the
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and for his collaborators.
I would like to express to them my deep gratitude for their daily commitment to
promote peaceful coexistence among the peoples and arouse an ever deeper awareness
of peace in the Church and in the world. In this perspective, the ecclesial community
is ever more committed to working, in accordance with the instructions of the Magisterium,
to provide a reliable spiritual patrimony of values and principles in the continuous
quest for peace.
I wished to recall
in my Message for today’s Day, entitled “Religious freedom, the path to peace”:
“The world needs God. It needs universal, shared ethical and spiritual values, and
religion can offer a precious contribution to their pursuit, for the building of
a just and peaceful social order at the national and international levels” (no.
15). I therefore stressed that “religious freedom… is an essential element of a
constitutional State; it cannot be denied without at the same time encroaching on
all fundamental rights and freedoms, since it is their synthesis and keystone” (no.
5).
Humanity cannot appear
to be resigned to the negative power of selfishness and violence; it must not become
accustomed to conflicts that claim victims and jeopardize the future of peoples.
Before the threatening tensions of the moment and, especially, before the discrimination,
abuse and religious intolerance that today are striking Christians in particular
(see ibid., no. 1), I once again address a pressing invitation not to give in to
discouragement and resignation. I urge everyone to pray so that the efforts made
by various parties to promote and build peace in the world may be successful. For
this difficult task words do not suffice; what is needed is the practical and constant
effort of the leaders of Nations, and it is necessary above all that every person
be motivated by the authentic spirit of peace, to be implored ever anew in prayer
and to be lived in daily relations in every environment.
In this Eucharistic
celebration we have before our eyes, for our veneration, the image of Our Lady of
the Sacro Monte di Viggiano, so dear to the peoples of Basilicata . May the Virgin Mary give us her Son,
may she show us the Face of her Son, the Prince of Peace. May she help us to remain
in the light of this face that shines upon us (see Nm 6:25), in order to rediscover
all the tenderness of God the Father; may it be she who supports us in invoking
the Holy Spirit, so that he will renew the face of the earth and transform hearts,
dissolving their hardness in the face of the disarming goodness of the Child who
was born for us. May the Mother of God accompany us in this New Year; may she obtain
for us and for the whole world the desired gift of peace. Amen.
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Saturday, 31 December 2011
Dear
Cardinals,
Brother
Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished
Authorities,
Dear
Brothers and Sisters!
We have come
together in the Vatican Basilica to celebrate First Vespers of the Solemnity of
Mary, Mother of God, and to give thanks to the Lord at the end of the year by
singing the Te Deum together. I thank all of you for choosing to join
me for this occasion that is always so poignant and significant. In the first
place I greet the Cardinals, my brother Bishops and Priests, men and women
religious, consecrated persons and members of the lay faithful representing the
entire ecclesial community of Rome .
In a particular way I greet the Authorities present, beginning with the Mayor
of Rome, and I thank him for the gift of a chalice, a gift that is renewed
every year, in accordance with a fine tradition. I hope and pray that all will
remain committed to making this City ever more in tune with the values of
faith, culture and civilization that form an integral part of its vocation and
its thousands of years of history.
Another year is
drawing to a close, as we await the start of a new one: with some trepidation,
with our perennial desires and expectations. Reflecting on our life experience,
we are continually astonished by how ultimately short and ephemeral life is. So
we often find ourselves asking: what meaning can we give to our days? What
meaning, in particular, can we give to the days of toil and grief? This is a
question that permeates history, indeed it runs through the heart of every
generation and every individual. But there is an answer: it is written on the
face of a Child who was born in Bethlehem
two thousand years ago, and is today the Living One, risen for ever from the
dead. From within the fabric of humanity, rent asunder by so much injustice,
wickedness and violence, there bursts forth in an unforeseen way the joyful and
liberating novelty of Christ our Savior, who leads us to contemplate the
goodness and tenderness of God through the mystery of his Incarnation and Birth.
The everlasting God has entered our history and he remains present in a unique
way in the person of Jesus, his incarnate Son, our Savior, who came down to
earth to renew humanity radically and to free us from sin and death, to raise
us to the dignity of God’s children. Christmas not only recalls the historical
fulfilment of this truth that concerns us directly, but in a mysterious and
real way, gives it to us afresh.
How evocative it
is, at this close of a year, to listen again to the joyful message addressed by
Saint Paul to the Christians of Galatia: “when the time had fully come, God
sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5).
These words penetrate the heart of the history of us all and illumine it, or
rather, they save it, because since the Day of the Lord’s Nativity, the
fullness of time has reached us. So there is no more room for anxiety in the
face of time that passes, never to return; now there is room for unlimited
trust in God, by whom we know we are loved, for whom we live and to whom our
life is directed as we await his definitive return. Since the Savior came down
from heaven, man has ceased to be the slave of time that passes to no avail,
marked by toil, sadness and pain. Man is son of a God who has entered time so
as to redeem it from meaninglessness and negativity, a God who has redeemed all
humanity, giving it everlasting love as a new perspective of life.
The Church lives
and professes this truth and intends to proclaim it today with fresh spiritual vigor.
In tonight’s celebration we have special reasons to praise God for his mystery
of salvation, active in the world through the ministry of the Church. We have
so many reasons to thank the Lord for what our ecclesial community, at the
heart of the universal Church, is accomplishing in the service of the Gospel in
this City. In that regard, together with the Vicar General, Cardinal Agostino
Vallini, the Auxiliary Bishops, parish priests and the whole diocesan
presbyterate, I would like to thank the Lord especially for the promising
communal project aimed at tailoring day-to-day pastoral work to the demands of
our time, through the programme “Belonging to the Church and Pastoral Co-responsibility”.
The aim is give first priority to evangelization, so as to make the
participation of the faithful in the sacraments more responsible and more
fruitful, so that every person can speak of God to modern man and proclaim the
Gospel incisively to those who have never known it or have forgotten it.
In the Diocese
of Rome, as elsewhere, the most urgent pastoral challenge facing us is the quaestio
fidei. Christ’s disciples are called to reawaken in themselves and in
others the longing for God and the joy of living him and bearing witness to
him, on the basis of what is always a deeply personal question: why do I
believe? We must give primacy to truth, seeing the combination of faith and
reason as two wings with which the human spirit can rise to the contemplation
of the Truth (see Fides et Ratio, Prologue); we must ensure that the
dialogue between Christianity and modern culture bears fruit; we must see to it
that the beauty and contemporary relevance of the faith is rediscovered, not as
an isolated event, affecting some particular moment in our lives, but as a
constant orientation, affecting even the simplest choices, establishing a
profound unity within the person, so that he becomes just, hard-working,
generous and good. What is needed is to give new life to a faith that can serve
as a basis for a new humanism, one that is able to generate culture and social
commitment.
Within this
framework, at the Diocesan Conference held last June, the Diocese of Rome
launched a programme which sets out to explore more deeply the meaning of
Christian initiation and the joy of bringing new Christians into the faith. To
proclaim faith in the Word made flesh is, after all, at the heart of the Church’s
mission, and the entire ecclesial community needs to rediscover this
indispensable task with renewed missionary zeal. Young generations have an
especially keen sense of the present disorientation, magnified by the crisis in
economic affairs which is also a crisis of values, and so they in particular
need to recognize in Jesus Christ “the key, the centre and the purpose of the
whole of human history” (Gaudium et Spes, 10).
Parents are the
first educators in faith of their children, starting from a most tender age,
and families must therefore be supported in their educational mission by
appropriate initiatives. At the same time it is desirable that the baptismal
journey, the first stage along the formative path of Christian initiation, in
addition to fostering conscious and worthy preparation for the celebration of
the Sacrament, should devote adequate attention to the years following Baptism,
with appropriate programmes that take account of the life conditions that
families must address. I therefore encourage parish communities and other
ecclesial groupings to engage in continuing reflection on ways to promote a
better understanding and reception of the sacraments, by which man comes to
share in the very life of God. May the Church of Rome have no shortage of lay
faithful who are ready to make their own contribution to building living
communities that allow the Word of God to burst forth in the hearts of those
who have not yet known the Lord or have moved away from him. At the same time,
it is appropriate to create opportunities to encounter the City, giving rise to
fruitful dialogue with those who are searching for Truth.
Dear friends,
ever since God sent his only-begotten Son, so that we might obtain adoptive
sonship (see Gal 4:5), we can have no greater task than to be totally
at the service of God’s plan. And so I would like to encourage and thank all
the faithful from the Diocese of Rome who feel a responsibility to restore our
society’s soul. Thank you, Roman families, the first and fundamental cells of
society! Thank you, members of the many Communities, Associations and Movements
that are committed to animating the Christian life of our City.
Te Deum
laudamus! We praise you, O God! The Church suggests that we should not end
the year without expressing our thanks to the Lord for all his benefits. It is
in God that our last hour must come to a close, the last hour of time and
history. To overlook this goal of our lives would be to fall into the void, to
live without meaning. Hence the Church places on our lips the ancient hymn Te
Deum. It is a hymn filled with the wisdom of many Christian generations, who
feel the need to address on high their heart’s desires, knowing that all of us
are in the Lord’s merciful hands.
Te Deum
laudamus! This is also the song of the Church in Rome , for the wonders that God has worked and
continues to work in her. With hearts full of thanksgiving, let us prepare to
cross the threshold of 2012, remembering that the Lord is watching over us and
guarding us. To him this evening we wish to entrust the whole world. Let us
place in his hands the tragedies of this world and let us also offer him our
hopes for a brighter future. And let us place these prayers in the hands of
Mary, Mother of God, Salus Populi Romani. Amen.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
45th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 1st January 2012
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
The triple biblical
blessing rings out in the liturgy on this first day of the year. “The Lord bless
you and keep you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26). We
can contemplate the Face of God he himself made visible, he revealed himself in
Jesus; he is the visible image of the invisible God. And this is also thanks to
the Virgin Mary, whose greatest title we celebrate today; the title with which she
plays a unique role in the history of salvation, as Mother of God. In her womb the
Son of the Most High took our flesh and we can contemplate his glory (see Jn 1:14),
and feel his presence as God-with-us.
Thus we begin the
New Year 2012 by fixing our gaze on the Face of God, who is revealed in the Child
of Bethlehem, and on his Mother Mary who accepted the divine plan with humble abandonment.
Thanks to her generous “yes”, the true light that enlightens every man appeared
in the world (see Jn 1:9) and the way of peace was reopened to us.
Dear brothers and
sisters, today, by now a felicitous custom, we are celebrating the 45th World Day
of Peace. In the Message I addressed to Heads of State, Representatives of Nations
and to all people of good will whose theme is “Educating Young People in Justice
and Peace”, I wished to recall the need to offer the future generations suitable
educational curricula for an integral formation of the person which includes the
moral and spiritual dimension (see no. 3).
I wished to underline
in particular the importance of teaching
the values of justice and peace. Young people today look to the future with
a certain apprehension, drawing attention to certain aspects of their life that
need to be addressed, for example: “they want to receive an education which prepares
them more fully to deal with the real world, they see how difficult it is to form
a family and to find stable employment; they wonder if they can really contribute
to political, cultural and economic life in order to build a society with a more
human and fraternal face” (no. 1).
I ask you all to
have the patience and perseverance to seek justice and peace, to cultivate the taste
for what is just and true (see no. 5). Peace is never a good fully achieved, but
a goal for which we must all strive and for which we must all work.
Let us therefore
pray, despite the difficulties that sometimes make our way arduous, that this profound
aspiration may be expressed in concrete gestures of reconciliation, justice and
peace. Let us also pray that the leaders of nations may renew their readiness and
commitment to accept and encourage this irrepressible longing of humanity. Let us
entrust these wishes to the intercession of the Mother of the “King of Peace”, so
that the year which is beginning may be a time of hope and of peaceful coexistence
for the whole world.
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER
OF GOD
45th WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters!
On the first day
of the year, the liturgy resounds in the Church throughout the world with the ancient
priestly blessing that we heard during today’s first reading: “The Lord bless you
and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).
This blessing was entrusted by God, through Moses, to Aaron and his sons, that is,
to the priests of the people of Israel .
It is a triple blessing filled with light, radiating from the repetition of the
name of God, the Lord, and from the image of his face. In fact, in order to be blessed,
we have to stand in God’s presence, take his Name upon us and remain in the cone
of light that issues from his Face, in a space lit up by his gaze, diffusing grace
and peace.
This was the very
experience that the shepherds of Bethlehem
had, who reappear in today’s Gospel. They had the experience of standing in God’s
presence, they received his blessing not in the hall of a majestic palace, in the
presence of a great sovereign, but in a stable, before a “babe lying in a manger”
(Lk 2:16). From this child, a new light issues forth, shining in the darkness
of the night, as we can see in so many paintings depicting Christ’s Nativity. Henceforth,
it is from him that blessing comes, from his name – Jesus, meaning “God saves” –
and from his human face, in which God, the almighty Lord of heaven and earth, chose
to become incarnate, concealing his glory under the veil of our flesh, so as to
reveal fully to us his goodness (see Tit 3:4).
The first to be swept
up by this blessing was Mary the virgin, the spouse of Joseph, chosen by God from
the first moment of her existence to be the mother of his incarnate Son. She is
the “blessed among women” (Lk 1:42) – in the words of Saint Elizabeth’s
greeting. Her whole life was spent in the light of the Lord, within the radius of
his name and of the face of God incarnate in Jesus, the “blessed fruit of her womb”.
This is how Luke’s Gospel presents her to us: fully intent upon guarding and meditating
in her heart upon everything concerning her son Jesus (see Lk 2:19, 51).
The mystery of her divine motherhood that we celebrate today contains in superabundant
measure the gift of grace that all human motherhood bears within it, so much so
that the fruitfulness of the womb has always been associated with God’s blessing.
The Mother of God is the first of the blessed, and it is she who bears the blessing;
she is the woman who received Jesus into herself and brought him forth for the whole
human family. In the words of the liturgy: “without losing the glory of virginity,
[she] brought forth into the world the eternal light, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Preface
I of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
Mary is the mother
and model of the Church, who receives the divine Word in faith and offers herself
to God as the “good soil” in which he can continue to accomplish his mystery of
salvation. The Church also participates in the mystery of divine motherhood, through
preaching, which sows the seed of the Gospel throughout the world, and through the
sacraments, which communicate grace and divine life to men. The Church exercises
her motherhood especially in the sacrament of Baptism, when she generates God’s
children from water and the Holy Spirit, who cries out in each of them: “Abba, Father!”
(Gal 4:6). Like Mary, the Church is the mediator of God’s blessing for
the world: she receives it in receiving Jesus and she transmits it in bearing Jesus.
He is the mercy and the peace that the world, of itself, cannot give, and which
it needs always, at least as much as bread.
Dear friends, peace,
in the fullest and highest sense, is the sum and synthesis of all blessings. So
when two friends meet, they greet one another, wishing each other peace. The Church
too, on the first day of the year, invokes this supreme good in a special way; she
does so, like the Virgin Mary, by revealing Jesus to all, for as Saint Paul says,
“He is our peace” (Eph 2:14), and at the same time the “way” by which individuals
and peoples can reach this goal to which we all aspire. With this deep desire in
my heart, I am glad to welcome and greet all of you who have come to Saint Peter’s
Basilica on this 45th World Day of Peace: Cardinals, Ambassadors from so many friendly
countries, who more than ever on this happy occasion share with me and with the
Holy See the desire for renewed commitment to the promotion of peace in the world;
the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who with the Secretary
and the officials of the Dicastery work in a particular way towards this goal; the
other Bishops and Authorities present; the representatives of ecclesial Associations
and Movements and all of you, brothers and sisters, especially those among you who
work in the field of educating the young. Indeed – as you know – the role of education
is what I highlighted in my Message for this year.
“Educating Young
People in Justice and Peace” is a task for every generation, and thanks be to God,
after the tragedies of the two great world wars, the human family has shown increasing
awareness of it, as we can witness, on the one hand, from international statements
and initiatives, and on the other, from the emergence among young people themselves,
in recent decades, of many different forms of social commitment in this field. For
the ecclesial community, educating men and women in peace is part of the mission
received from Christ, it is an integral part of evangelization, because the Gospel
of Christ is also the Gospel of justice and peace. But the Church, in recent times,
has articulated a demand that affects everyone with a sensitive and responsible
conscience regarding humanity’s future; the demand to respond to a decisive challenge
that consists precisely in education. Why is this a “challenge”? For at least two
reasons: in the first place, because in the present age, so strongly marked by a
technological mentality, the desire to educate and not merely to instruct
cannot be taken for granted, it is a choice; in the second place, because the
culture of relativism raises a radical question: does it still make sense to educate?
And then, to educate for what?
Naturally now is
not the time to address these fundamental questions, which I have tried to answer
on other occasions. Instead I would like to underline the fact that, in the face
of the shadows that obscure the horizon of today’s world, to assume responsibility
for educating young people in knowledge of the truth, in fundamental values and
virtues, is to look to the future with hope. And in this commitment to a holistic
education, formation in justice and peace has a place. Boys and girls today are
growing up in a world that has, so to speak, become smaller, where contacts between
different cultures and traditions, even if not always direct, are constant. For
them, now more than ever, it is indispensable to learn the importance and the art
of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, dialogue and understanding. Young people
by their nature are open to these attitudes, but the social reality in which they
grow up can lead them to think and act in the opposite way, even to be intolerant
and violent. Only a solid education of their consciences can protect them from these
risks and make them capable of carrying on the fight, depending always and solely
on the power of truth and good. This education begins in the family and is developed
at school and in other formative experiences. It is essentially about helping infants,
children and adolescents to develop a personality that combines a profound sense
of justice with respect for their neighbour, with a capacity to address conflicts
without arrogance, with the inner strength to bear witness to good, even when it
involves sacrifice, with forgiveness and reconciliation. Thus they will be able
to become people of peace and builders of peace.
In this task of educating
young generations, a particular responsibility lies with religious communities.
Every pathway of authentic religious formation guides the person, from the most
tender age, to know God, to love him and to do his will. God is love, he is just
and peaceable, and anyone wishing to honor him must first of all act like a child
following his father’s example. One of the Psalms says: “The Lord does deeds of
justice, gives judgment for all who are oppressed ... The Lord is compassion and
love, slow to anger and rich in mercy” (Ps 102:6,8). In God, justice and
mercy come together perfectly, as Jesus showed us through the testimony of his life.
In Jesus, “love and truth” have met, “justice and peace” have embraced (see Ps
84:11). In these days, the Church is celebrating the great mystery of the Incarnation:
God’s truth has sprung from the earth and justice looks down from heaven, the earth
has yielded its fruit (see Ps 84:12,13). God has spoken to us in his Son
Jesus. Let us hear what God has to say: “a voice that speaks of peace” (Ps 84:9).
Jesus is a way that can be traveled, open to everyone. He is the path of peace.
Today the Virgin Mary points him out to us, she shows us the Way: let us walk in
it! And you, Holy Mother of God, accompany us with your protection. Amen.
TE
DEUM AND FIRST VESPERS
OF
THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Monday, 31 December 2012
Your
Eminences,
Venerable
Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Presbyterate,
Distinguished
Authorities,
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
I thank all of
you who have wished to take part in this liturgy of the last hour of the year
of the Lord 2012. This “hour” has a special intensity and in a certain way sums
up all the hours of the year that is about to end. I cordially greet the
cardinals, bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful, especially
those who represent the ecclesial community of Rome . In a special way I greet all the
authorities present, starting with the mayor of the city, and I thank them for
having come to share with us this moment of prayer and thanksgiving to God.
The Te Deum
we are raising to the Lord this evening, at the end of a solar year, is a hymn
of thanksgiving that opens with praise: “We praise you, O God: We acclaim you
as Lord” — and ends with a profession of trust — “in you, Lord, we put our
trust; we shall not be put to shame”. However the year went, whether it was
easy or difficult, barren or fruitful, let us give thanks to God. Indeed the Te
Deum contains deep wisdom, that wisdom which makes us say that in spite of
all good exists in the world and that this good is bound to win thanks be to
God, the God of Jesus Christ, who was born, died and rose again.
At times of
course it is hard to understand this profound reality, because evil is noisier
than goodness; an atrocious murder, widespread violence, grave forms of
injustice hit the headlines; whereas acts of love and service, the daily effort
sustained with fidelity and patience are often left in the dark, they pass
unnoticed. For this reason too, we cannot stop at reading the news if we wish
to understand the world and life; we must be able to pause in silence, in
meditation, in calm, prolonged reflection; we must know how to stop and think.
In this way our mind can find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life,
it can penetrate the events that occur in our life and in the world and can
attain that wisdom which makes it possible to see things with new eyes.
It is above all
in the recollection of the conscience that God speaks to us, so that we can
learn to evaluate truthfully our own actions and also the evil present within
us and around us. In this way we are able to start out afresh on a journey of
conversion that makes us wiser and better people, more capable of generating
solidarity and communion and of overcoming evil with good. Christians are
people of hope, even and above all when they face the darkness that often
exists in the world and has nothing to do with God’s plan but is the result of
the erroneous choices of human beings, for Christians know that the power of
faith can move mountains (see Mt 17:20): The Lord can illuminate even the
thickest darkness.
The Year of
Faith, which the Church is living, aims to inspire in every believer’s heart a
greater awareness that the encounter with Christ is the fount of true life and
of sound hope. Faith in Jesus makes possible a constant renewal in goodness, as
well as the ability to extricate ourselves from the quicksands of sin and to
start out afresh.
In the Word made
flesh it is possible, ever anew, to find the true identity of the human being
who realizes that he or she is the recipient of God’s infinite love and is
called to personal communion with him. The truth that Jesus Christ came to
reveal is the certainty that urges us to look with trust to the year we are
about to begin.
The Church,
which received the mission to evangelize from her Lord, knows well that the
Gospel is destined for all people — and in particular for the new generations —
to quench that thirst for truth which all people carry in their heart and which
is all too often obscured by the many things that fill life. This apostolic
commitment is all the more necessary when faith risks being clouded over in
cultural contexts that prevent it from taking root in individuals and from
being present in society.
On the one hand,
the growing number of believers of other religions, the difficulty of parish
communities in approaching youth and the spread of lifestyles impressed with
individualism and ethical relativism; and, on the other, the search of so many
people for meaning in their life and for a hope that does not disappoint cannot
leave us indifferent. Like the Apostle Paul (see Rom 1:14-15), each and every
member of the faithful in this city must feel that they owe it to the other
inhabitants to spread the Gospel!
For this very
reason, our Diocese has been committed for several years now to highlighting
the missionary dimension of ordinary pastoral care, so that believers,
sustained especially by the Sunday Eucharist, may become consistent disciples
and witnesses of Jesus Christ. Christian parents, who are the first to
inculcate the faith in their children, are called in a very special way to this
consistency of life.
The complexity
of life in a large city like Rome and in a culture that frequently seems
indifferent to God, makes it obligatory not to leave fathers and mothers alone
in this most crucial task; on the contrary, it obliges us to sustain them and
to accompany them in their spiritual life.
With this in
mind I encourage all those who work in family ministry to implement the
pastoral guidelines that resulted from the last Diocesan Convention dedicated
to baptismal and post-baptismal pastoral care. To keep the flame of faith alive
we need a generous commitment to developing programmes of spiritual formation
to accompany parents after the Baptism of their children and to offer them
practical suggestions so that, from the most tender age, the Gospel of Jesus
may be proclaimed.
The creation of
family groups in which people listen to the word of God and share their
experiences of Christian life helps to reinforce their feeling of belonging to
the ecclesial community and helps them to develop in friendship with the Lord.
It is likewise important also to build a relationship of cordial friendship
with those members of the faithful who, having had their child baptized,
distracted by the pressing needs of daily life, do not show much interest in
following up this experience: thus they will be able to feel the affection of
the Church which, like a caring mother, sets herself beside them to encourage
them in their spiritual life.
In order to
proclaim the Gospel and to enable all who do not yet know Jesus, or who have
abandoned him, to cross the threshold of the door of faith once again and to
live communion with God, it is indispensable to know in depth the meaning of
the truths contained in the Profession of Faith.
Therefore the
commitment to provide pastoral workers with a systematic formation that has
existed in the various Prefectures of the Diocese of Rome is a precious means
that must be pursued with commitment in the future too, to form lay people who
can readily echo the Gospel in every home and in every walk of life. This may
also be done through “listening centers” which proved so effective at the time
of the City Mission.
In this regard
the “Dialogues in the Cathedral” which have been held for years in the Basilica
of St John Lateran are an especially appropriate experience for meeting the
city and for having a dialogue with all those in search of God and of the truth
who are wondering about the great questions of human life.
As in past
centuries, so today too the Church of Rome is called to proclaim and to witness
tirelessly to the riches of Christ’s Gospel. Moreover she is called to do this
by supporting those who live in situations of poverty and marginalization, as
well as families in difficulty, especially when they have to help sick and
disabled people. I feel confident that the institutions, at their various
levels, will not fail in their action to ensure that all citizens have access
to what they need to live a dignified life.
Dear friends, on
the last evening of the year which is coming to its end and on the threshold of
the new one, let us praise the Lord! Let us express to “the Lord God, who is
and who was and who is to come” (Rev 1:8), repentance and the request for
forgiveness for our shortcomings, as well as sincere gratitude for the
innumerable benefits granted to us by the divine Good. In particular, let us
thank him for the grace and truth that have come to us through Jesus Christ. In
him lies the fullness of all human time. In him lies the future of every human
being. In him will be brought about the fulfilment of the hopes of the Church
and of the world. Amen.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
46th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Tuesday, 1st January 2013
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
A happy New Year
to you all! On the first day of 2013 I would like the blessing of God to reach each
and every man and woman of the world. I bless you with the ancient formula contained
in Sacred Scripture: “The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to
shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).
Just as the light
and the warmth of the sun are a blessing for the earth, so the light of God is for
humanity, when he causes his countenance to shine upon it: and this came about with
the birth of Jesus Christ! God has caused his face to shine upon us: in the beginning
in a very humble, hidden manner — at Bethlehem
only Mary and Joseph and some shepherds were witnesses of this revelation; but little
by little, just as the early morning sun reaches midday, the light of Christ has
increased and spread everywhere. Already during the short time of his earthly life,
Jesus of Nazareth caused God’s countenance to shine upon the Holy
Land ; and then, through the Church enlivened by his Spirit, he bestowed
the Gospel of peace on all the nations. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace among men with whom he is pleased” (Lk 2:14). This is the song of angels at
Christmas, and it is the song of the Christians under every sky; a song which flows
from hearts and lips into practical actions and gestures of love that build dialogue,
understanding and reconciliation.
For this reason,
eight days after the Nativity, when the Church — like the Virgin Mother Mary — shows
the newborn Jesus, Prince of Peace, to the world we celebrate the World Day of Peace.
Yes, that Child, who is the Word of God made flesh, came to bring a peace to men
that the world cannot give (see Jn 14:27). His mission is to break down the “dividing
wall of hostility” (see Eph 2:14); and when, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee , he proclaims his “Beatitudes”, among them
is also “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt
5:9). Who are the peacemakers? They are all those who, day after day, seek to conquer
evil with good, with the strength of the truth, with the arms of prayer and of forgiveness,
with honest work well-done, with scientific research that is at the service of life,
with the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The peacemakers are many, but they
make not a sound. Like the yeast in dough, they cause humanity to rise according
to God’s plan.
In this first Angelus
of the new year, let us ask Mary Most Holy, the Mother of God, to bless us,
just as the mother blesses her children who must leave on a journey. A new year
is like a journey: with the light and grace of God, may it be a path of peace for
every person and for every family, for every country and for the entire world.
SOLEMNITY
OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
46th
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
“May God bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.” We proclaimed these words from Psalm 66 after
hearing in the first reading the ancient priestly blessing upon the people of the
covenant. It is especially significant that at the start of every new year God sheds
upon us, his people, the light of his Holy Name, the Name pronounced three times
in the solemn form of biblical blessing. Nor is it less significant that to the
Word of God – who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14) as “the true
light that enlightens every man” (1:9) – is given, as today’s Gospel tells us, the
Name of Jesus eight days after his birth (see Lk 2:21).
It is in this Name
that we are gathered here today. I cordially greet all present, beginning with the
Ambassadors of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. I greet with affection
Cardinal Bertone, my Secretary of State, and Cardinal Turkson, with all the officials
of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; I am particularly grateful to them
for their effort to spread the Message for the World Day of Peace, which this year
has as its theme “Blessed are the Peacemakers”.
Although the world
is sadly marked by “hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances
of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic
mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism,” as
well as by various forms of terrorism and crime, I am convinced that “the many different
efforts at peacemaking which abound in our world testify to mankind’s innate vocation
to peace. In every person the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which
coincides in a certain way with the desire for a full, happy and successful human
life. In other words, the desire for peace corresponds to a fundamental moral principle,
namely, the duty and right to an integral social and communitarian development,
which is part of God’s plan for mankind. Man is made for the peace which is God’s
gift. All of this led me to draw inspiration for this Message from the words of
Jesus Christ: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of
God’ (Mt 5:9)” (Message, 1). This beatitude “tells us that peace
is both a messianic gift and the fruit of human effort … It is peace with God through
a life lived according to his will. It is interior peace with oneself, and exterior
peace with our neighbors and all creation” (ibid., 2, 3). Indeed, peace
is the supreme good to ask as a gift from God and, at the same time, that which
is to be built with our every effort.
We may ask ourselves:
what is the basis, the origin, the root of peace? How can we experience that peace
within ourselves, in spite of problems, darkness and anxieties? The reply is given
to us by the readings of today’s liturgy. The biblical texts, especially the one
just read from the Gospel of Luke, ask us to contemplate the interior peace of Mary,
the Mother of Jesus. During the days in which “she gave birth to her first-born
son” (Lk 2:7), many unexpected things occurred: not only the birth of the
Son but, even before, the tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not finding
room at the inn, the search for a chance place to stay for the night; then the song
of the angels and the unexpected visit of the shepherds. In all this, however, Mary
remains even tempered, she does not get agitated, she is not overcome by events
greater than herself; in silence she considers what happens, keeping it in her mind
and heart, and pondering it calmly and serenely. This is the interior peace which
we ought to have amid the sometimes tumultuous and confusing events of history,
events whose meaning we often do not grasp and which disconcert us.
The Gospel passage
finishes with a mention of the circumcision of Jesus. According to the Law of Moses,
eight days after birth, baby boys were to be circumcised and then given their name.
Through his messenger, God himself had said to Mary – as well as to Joseph – that
the Name to be given to the child was “Jesus” (see Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31);
and so it came to be. The Name which God had already chosen, even before the child
had been conceived, is now officially conferred upon him at the moment of circumcision.
This also changes Mary’s identity once and for all: she becomes “the mother of Jesus”,
that is the mother of the Savior, of Christ, of the Lord. Jesus is not a man like
any other, but the Word of God, one of the Divine Persons, the Son of God: therefore
the Church has given Mary the title Theotokos or Mother of God.
The first reading
reminds us that peace is a gift from God and is linked to the splendor of the face
of God, according to the text from the Book of Numbers, which hands down the blessing
used by the priests of the People of Israel in their liturgical assemblies. This
blessing repeats three times the Holy Name of God, a Name not to be spoken, and
each time it is linked to two words indicating an action in favor of man: “The Lord
bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face to shine upon you: the Lord lift
up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (6:24-26). So peace is the summit
of these six actions of God in our favor, in which he turns towards us the splendor
of his face.
For sacred Scripture,
contemplating the face of God is the greatest happiness: “You gladden him with the
joy of your face” (Ps 21:7). From the contemplation of the face of God
are born joy, security and peace. But what does it mean concretely to contemplate
the face of the Lord, as understood in the New Testament? It means knowing him directly,
in so far as is possible in this life, through Jesus Christ in whom he is revealed.
To rejoice in the splendor of God’s face means penetrating the mystery of his Name
made known to us in Jesus, understanding something of his interior life and of his
will, so that we can live according to his plan of love for humanity. In the second
reading, taken from the Letter to the Galatians (4:4-7), Saint Paul says as much as he describes the Spirit
who, in our inmost hearts, cries: “Abba! Father!” It is the cry that rises from
the contemplation of the true face of God, from the revelation of the mystery of
his Name. Jesus declares, “I have manifested thy name to men” (Jn 17:6).
God’s Son made man has let us know the Father, he has let us know the hidden face
of the Father through his visible human face; by the gift of the Holy Spirit poured
into our hearts, he has led us to understand that, in him, we too are children of
God, as Saint Paul says in the passage we have just heard: “The proof that you are
sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that
cries, ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal 4:6).
Here, dear brothers
and sisters, is the foundation of our peace: the certainty of contemplating in Jesus
Christ the splendor of the face of God the Father, of being sons in the Son, and
thus of having, on life’s journey, the same security that a child feels in the arms
of a loving and all-powerful Father. The splendor of the face of God, shining upon
us and granting us peace, is the manifestation of his fatherhood: the Lord turns
his face to us, he reveals himself as our Father and grants us peace. Here is the
principle of that profound peace – “peace with God” – which is firmly linked to
faith and grace, as Saint Paul
tells the Christians of Rome (see Rom 5:2). Nothing can take this peace
from believers, not even the difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings,
trials and darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does not
deceive because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
which has been given to us” (5:5).
May the Virgin Mary, whom today we venerate with
the title of Mother of God, help us to contemplate the face of Jesus, the Prince
of Peace. May she sustain us and accompany us in this New Year: and may she obtain
for us and for the whole world the gift of peace. Amen!
© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González