Posted on 10/13/2013 6:13:00 AM PDT by markomalley
The Pope celebrated mass in St Peters square this morning in honour of the Marian Day, an event organised as part of the Year of Faith on the anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (13th of October 1917).
Please find below the full text of Pope Francis homily in English translation.
In the Psalm we said: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things (Ps 98:1). Today we consider one of the marvelous things which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like ourselves, she was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother of her Creator.
Considering Mary in the light of the readings we have just heard, I would like to reflect with you on three things: first, God surprises us, second, God asks us to be faithful, and third, God is our strength.
First: God surprises us. The story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, is remarkable. In order to be healed of leprosy, he turns to the prophet of God, Elisha, who does not perform magic or demand anything unusual of him, but asks him simply to trust in God and to wash in the waters of the river. Not, however, in one of the great rivers of Damascus, but in the little stream of the Jordan. Naaman is left surprised, even taken aback. What kind of God is this who asks for something so simple? He wants to turn back, but then he goes ahead, he immerses himself in the Jordan and is immediately healed (cf. 2 Kg 5:1-4). There it is: God surprises us. It is precisely in poverty, in weakness and in humility that he reveals himself and grants us his love, which saves us, heals us and gives us strength. He asks us only to obey his word and to trust in him.
This was the experience of the Virgin Mary. At the message of the angel, she does not hide her surprise. It is the astonishment of realizing that God, to become man, had chosen her, a simple maid of Nazareth. Not someone who lived in a palace amid power and riches, or one who had done extraordinary things, but simply someone who was open to God and put her trust in him, even without understanding everything: Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word (Lk 1:38). That was her answer. God constantly surprises us, he bursts our categories, he wreaks havoc with our plans. And he tells us: trust me, do not be afraid, let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and follow me!
Today let us all ask ourselves whether we are afraid of what God might ask, or of what he does ask. Do I let myself be surprised by God, as Mary was, or do I remain caught up in my own safety zone: in forms of material, intellectual or ideological security, taking refuge in my own projects and plans? Do I truly let God into my life? How do I answer him?
In the passage from Saint Paul which we have heard, the Apostle tells his disciple Timothy: remember Jesus Christ. If we persevere with him, we will also reign with him (cf. 2 Tim 2:8-13). This is the second thing: to remember Christ always to be mindful of Jesus Christ and thus to persevere in faith. God surprises us with his love, but he demands that we be faithful in following him. We can be unfaithful, but he cannot: he is the faithful one and he demands of us that same fidelity. Think of all the times when we were excited about something or other, some initiative, some task, but afterwards, at the first sign of difficulty, we threw in the towel. Sadly, this also happens in the case of fundamental decisions, such as marriage. It is the difficulty of remaining steadfast, faithful to decisions we have made and to commitments we have made. Often it is easy enough to say yes, but then we fail to repeat this yes each and every day. We fail to be faithful.
Mary said her yes to God: a yes which threw her simple life in Nazareth into turmoil, and not only once. Any number of times she had to utter a heartfelt yes at moments of joy and sorrow, culminating in the yes she spoke at the foot of the Cross. Here today there are many mothers present; think of the full extent of Marys faithfulness to God: seeing her only Son hanging on the Cross. The faithful woman, still standing, utterly heartbroken, yet faithful and strong.
And I ask myself: am I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? Our culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes its toll on the way we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday life. He goes on to say that, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to him, he remains faithful. In his mercy, he never tires of stretching out his hand to lift us up, to encourage us to continue our journey, to come back and tell him of our weakness, so that he can grant us his strength. This is the real journey: to walk with the Lord always, even at moments of weakness, even in our sins. Never to prefer a makeshift path of our own. That kills us. Faith is ultimate fidelity, like that of Mary.
The last thing: God is our strength. I think of the ten lepers in the Gospel who were healed by Jesus. They approach him and, keeping their distance, they call out: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! (Lk 17:13). They are sick, they need love and strength, and they are looking for someone to heal them. Jesus responds by freeing them from their disease. Strikingly, however, only one of them comes back, praising God and thanking him in a loud voice. Jesus notes this: ten asked to be healed and only one returned to praise God in a loud voice and to acknowledge that he is our strength. Knowing how to give thanks, to give praise for everything that the Lord has done for us.
Take Mary. After the Annunciation, her first act is one of charity towards her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth. Her first words are: My soul magnifies the Lord, in other words, a song of praise and thanksgiving to God not only for what he did for her, but for what he had done throughout the history of salvation. Everything is his gift. If we can realise that everything is Gods gift, how happy will our hearts be! Everything is his gift. He is our strength! Saying thank you is such an easy thing, and yet so hard! How often do we say thank you to one another in our families? These are essential words for our life in common. Excuse me, sorry, thank you. If families can say these three things, they will be fine. Excuse me, sorry, thank you. How often do we say thank you in our families? How often do we say thank you to those who help us, those close to us, those at our side throughout life? All too often we take everything for granted! This happens with God too. It is easy to approach the Lord to ask for something, but to go and thank him: Well, I dont need to.
As we continue our celebration of the Eucharist, let us invoke Marys intercession. May she help us to be open to Gods surprises, to be faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and thank him, for he is our strength. Amen.
And here we've been told all along how wonderful she was, so perfect and sinless and holy, which is why God chose her to be the vessel to carry Jesus.
Which is it I wonder?
If she's weak, she's not sinless. If she's just like we are, she not sinless.
Yes, she was told.
Luke 1:30-33 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Free will? Where in Scripture is that? Chapter and verse, please.
If a repetitious attack (You're digging yourself a hole") is giving as good as you can on defending your point of view then you shouldn't be on here with the adults while they're discussing a topic. Of course you're used to repetitious chants, prayers and that sort of stuff instead of putting your own words in the mix, right?
If Im speaking the truth, itll always be called ugly by somebody. All I have to do is obey God, and it is God, not man, who converts the soul.The saints spoke the Truth, but not in ugly fashion. If one has to reduce themselves to that type of delivery, is their faith really that strong to begin with?
Give us a chapter and verse on that one real quick. Which sermon did Jesus preach on that? Or for that matter, the Apostles? I honestly do not know who comes up with this stuff.
Jesus isn't off limits to us. Why on earth would anyone think that we have to go through anyone to get to Jesus. He's not untouchable.
He came to earth to live the life we couldn't live and die the death we couldn't die, and pay the price we couldn't pay. He ate and slept and walked and talked with the downtrodden and outcast. He healed the sick, touched the lepers, forgave the adulterers, welcomed the tax collectors.
And somehow Catholicism comes to the conclusion that we have to someone curry His favor to get to Him, like he's up there ready to zap us?
For crying out loud, He willingly came to earth to die for us so that we could be restored to a proper relationship with the Father. He doesn't need to be appeased by Mary for us.
What a warped view of Christ that is.
Mary was His mother, the lady whom He referred to as *Woman*. It was never recorded that He referred to her as *Mom* or some such equivalent. HE never exalted her the way that others do and the one time it was recorded that someone tried, He shot that down really quick.
The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us to Christ, not Mary. She's dead.
Yep. Mary. Still dead.
I honestly do not know who comes up with this stuff."Christian culture is essentially a spiritual culture and it finds its supreme expression in the personalities of the saints, the men [and women] who followed the Christian way of life to its ultimate conclusion. The saints influenced culture not only because they were spiritual leaders, but because they were the mirrors of perfection and the ideals of Christian behavior toward which popular devotion aspired." --Christopher Dawson
Tips hat to you, Rita; I enjoy your commentary... :)
You can certainly quote other peoples opinions. But they’re like elbows, about everyone has a couple.
I guess somebody decided that my comment was somehow unacceptable. Not sure exactly why, but, whatever.
I had suggested Psalm 2 and Psalm 16.
The point I was getting at was that several years ago I remember Catholics posting articles as “caucus” only to have a non-Catholic post the very same article a few hours later as “open” — and then proceeded to do what they were going to do anyway.
Sorry if you perceived that as “giving you the business” — that was not my intent.
And, as far as “posting and running” — I don’t “post and run.” If a non-Catholic has a legitimate question or has an intelligent point to make, I’ll respond. But otherwise, I just know how to ignore the garbage.
In the words of the illustrious management of this forum, “The demeanor of the poster says more about his own confession than the post says about yours. When he is being rude or mean it drives people away from his confession and towards yours. That is of course if you can resist the urge to meet fire with fire, in which case neither confession is appealing to the lurkers. The poster who turns the other cheek wins every single time.”
“For to get to see Jesus when you die, doesn’t it stand to reason you’d have to meet [go through] Mary first?, because that’s where He came from as a mere Babe, the sinless mother of God. “
It’s blasphemous, number one, since it places Mary into the Trinity and the pathway to salvation. I am quite confident that you are still in your sins, since there is simply no way that someone who has the Spirit could make such unholy confessions. Even most Catholics blush at these statements. It’s also worth noting that the scripture says that all have sinned. It is biblically illiterate, and ignores the actual sequence of salvation as explained in the scripture, which begins, first, with the predestination of God, who chose us in Him before the foundation of the world without regard for our merits: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”(2Ti 1:9). And then the working of the Holy Spirit, who applies the finished work of Christ and brings us to salvation, not through Mary: “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1Co 12:3).
Please spare me your blasphemous and insipid comments. I don’t care how offended you are or how hurt you are. I have no reason to respect these ugly and disgusting beliefs.
And, as far as posting and running I dont post and run. If a non-Catholic has a legitimate question or has an intelligent point to make, Ill respond. But otherwise, I just know how to ignore the garbage.Yes, but it's mainly garbage. So why post when you know what you're about to receive? Does this make Our Lady happy? All this junk. What do you think? And I understand not caucusing threads. But IMO it would be best if you defended Our Lady when doing so.
Even most Catholics blush at these statements...I have no reason to respect these ugly and disgusting beliefs.Did you think I came up with this on my own? Ha! Did you see my post #49?
I am quite confident that you are still in your sins, since there is simply no way that someone who has the Spirit could make such unholy confessions.P.S. I never said Mary was part of the Trinity. You did. Be careful how you read things.
“Did you think I came up with this on my own? Ha! Did you see my post #49? “
What do I care when you have no respect for the scripture? But incase you think your fiction has always been held, here are the true quotes from Augustine on the matter (there are a few fakes floating around!):
” It is written in the Gospel, of the mother and brethren of Christ, that is, His kindred after the flesh, that, when word had been brought to Him, and they were standing without, because they could not come to Him by reason of the crowd, He made answer, “Who is My mother? Or who are My brethren?” And stretching forth His Hand over His disciples, He says, “These are My brethren: and whosoever shall have done the will of My Father, that man is to Me brother, and mother, and sister.” What else teaching us, than to prefer to kindred after the flesh, our descent after the Spirit: and that men are not blessed for this reason, that they are united by nearness of flesh unto just and holy men, but that, by obeying and following, they cleave unto their doctrine and conduct. Therefore Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ, than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For to a certain one who said, “Blessed is the womb, which bare You,” He Himself made answer, “Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the Word of God, and keep it.” (Augustine, On Holy Virginity)
“But rather were those disciples brethren; for even those kinsmen would not be brethren were they not disciples: and to no advantage brethren, if they did not recognize their brother as their master. For in a certain place, when He was informed that His mother and His brethren were standing without, at the time He was speaking to His disciples, He said: “Who is my mother? Or who are my brethren?” And stretching out His hand over His disciples, He said, “These are my brethren; and, Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, the same is my mother, and brother, and sister.” Matthew 12:46-50 Therefore also Mary, because she did the will of the Father. What the Lord magnified in her was, that she did the will of the Father, not that flesh gave birth to flesh. Give good heed, beloved. Moreover, when the Lord was regarded with admiration by the multitude, while doing signs and wonders, and showing forth what lay concealed under the flesh, certain admiring souls said: “Happy is the womb that bare You:” and He said, “Yea, rather, happy are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11:27 That is to say, even my mother, whom you have called happy, is happy in that she keeps the word of God: not because in her the Word was made flesh and dwelt in us; but because she keeps that same word of God by which she was made, and which in her was made flesh. Let not men rejoice in temporal offspring, but let them exult if in spirit they are joined to God.” (Augustine, Tractate 10)
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
“P.S. I never said Mary was part of the Trinity.”
Oy, who said Papists don’t blush? What is she then, if one has to go through her to come to Jesus?
Joh_14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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