Posted on 10/13/2013 6:13:00 AM PDT by markomalley
The Pope celebrated mass in St Peter’s square this morning in honour of the Marian Day, an event organised as part of the Year of Faith on the anniversary of the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (13th of October 1917).
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 Mary’s faithfulness to God: seeing her only Son hanging on the Cross. The faithful woman, still standing, utterly heartbroken, yet faithful and strong.
And I ask myself: am I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? Our culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes its toll on the way we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday life. He goes on to say that, even if we are sometimes unfaithful to him, he remains faithful. In his mercy, he never tires of stretching out his hand to lift us up, to encourage us to continue our journey, to come back and tell him of our weakness, so that he can grant us his strength. This is the real journey: to walk with the Lord always, even at moments of weakness, even in our sins. Never to prefer a makeshift path of our own. That kills us. Faith is ultimate fidelity, like that of Mary.
The last thing: God is our strength. I think of the ten lepers in the Gospel who were healed by Jesus. They approach him and, keeping their distance, they call out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Lk 17:13). They are sick, they need love and strength, and they are looking for someone to heal them. Jesus responds by freeing them from their disease. Strikingly, however, only one of them comes back, praising God and thanking him in a loud voice. Jesus notes this: ten asked to be healed and only one returned to praise God in a loud voice and to acknowledge that he is our strength. Knowing how to give thanks, to give praise for everything that the Lord has done for us.
Take Mary. After the Annunciation, her first act is one of charity towards her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth. Her first words are: “My soul magnifies the Lord”, in other words, a song of praise and thanksgiving to God not only for what he did for her, but for what he had done throughout the history of salvation. Everything is his gift. If we can realise that everything is God’s gift, how happy will our hearts be! Everything is his gift. He is our strength! Saying “thank you” is such an easy thing, and yet so hard! How often do we say “thank you” to one another in our families? These are essential words for our life in common. “Excuse me”, “sorry”, “thank you”. If families can say these three things, they will be fine. “Excuse me”, “sorry”, “thank you”. How often do we say “thank you” in our families? How often do we say “thank you” to those who help us, those close to us, those at our side throughout life? All too often we take everything for granted! This happens with God too. It is easy to approach the Lord to ask for something, but to go and thank him: “Well, I don’t need to”.
As we continue our celebration of the Eucharist, let us invoke Mary’s intercession. May she help us to be open to God’s surprises, to be faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and thank him, for he is our strength. Amen.
But the Godhead isn’t a circle. It’s a triangle, with God the Father at the top. Where pray tell, does Mary fit in the triangle?I'm speaking of the circle that encompasses a mother and her child [and the father too]. This is a circle that should not be broken. If a child in the family respects only his father, there will be insurmountable problems. That's why kids of divorce have such a tough time of it. The parents have broken the circle.
Hmmmm...ok. I thought the husband, wife, children was a triangle, too. With the father/husband/man at the top. He is the head of the family. That would make it a triangle, too. Like the Godhead.
That actually assumes that you were actually “engaging” in some kind of discourse. I considered it more like a barking noise, at best.My only regret is that I was not able to comment in a more appropriate but "biting" fashion. As far as "barking," I'll be hearing [back] plenty of that in purgatory... :)
Hmmmm...ok. I thought the husband, wife, children was a triangle, too. With the father/husband/man at the top. He is the head of the family. That would make it a triangle, too. Like the Godhead.In our family Jesus [Father, Son and Holy Spirit] is at the top, then Mary, then the angels and saints, then my spouse, then our children. And we have um, 5 pets too; the two dogs join us [they sit in the car] at Mass every day! :)
That certainly explains a LOT!
Also, the mods ban new posters with unacceptably rude or profane handles.
The difference is your calling him "Puny" is making it personal whereas his handle is not focused on any particular Freeper and is therefore not making it personal.I understand what you are saying, but the one word I would not use to describe the core group at Free Republic [patriots -- regardless of their faith belief -- who would give their lives for this once great nation] is puny. Whether it's directed at one or a plethora of 1's, it's still disrespectful, but that's just my opinion.
You doth protest too much. Go your way with your goddess. If my handle was directed at FR Catholics, I’d have named myself Pope Gregory, since he attributed the Papacy to all the Bishops of the See. People really get obsessed when you stomp their idols.
That's because Jesus is not still hanging on the cross.
He died, was buried, and rose again. The cross and the tomb are empty.
THAT'S victory.
Whatever appeared at Lourdes was not Mary.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
why wouldn't He be willing to forgive. He willingly went to the cross to pay for the sins that Catholics imply He's not willing to forgive.
He preached a lot about forgiveness but isn't willing to forgive by Himself without Mary putting in a good word for us?
How warped is that?
There is only ONE mediator between God and man and that's Jesus, NOT Mary.
Yup!
Wow, right to son of satan in one post, and a textbook example of reductio ad absurdum to boot. Let me guess, you were never captain of the debate team, were you?
If he can keep people from finding God through jesus Christ, I have no doubt he’d be happy to provide health, wealth, and miracles galore.
What does it matter to him how we live our lives here in the matter of material possessions and creature comforts if someone can burn for eternity because it kept them from the one true living God?
Truth hurts, doesn’t it!
Gonna have to do better than that, Bro. Seriously, do you think I give a damn about what you think of me an my salvation? On the day of judgement, you’re the one who’s going to have to account for the goofiness that you espouse on a daily basis.
I’m praying for you, E-S. Mary, Queen of all Saints, pray for Editor-Surveyor, that he may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!
You doth protest too much. Go your way with your goddess. If my handle was directed at FR Catholics, I’d have named myself Pope Gregory, since he attributed the Papacy to all the Bishops of the See. People really get obsessed when you stomp their idols.I'm obsessed about some stuff, it is true, but your handle isn't one of them. I think it is dopey, in that you profess to be a Christ-loving individual, and then go on to call all you converse with, by way of your nic, Puny Humans. One wonders if you would address Christ in the same fashion.
If he can keep people from finding God through jesus Christ, I have no doubt he’d be happy to provide health, wealth, and miracles galore.The devil is tricky without a doubt; walking the way of unapproved apparitions is unwise imo, but since I believe in the Church's process of uncovering the truth from fraud regarding apparitions, I only have love for Lourdes.
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