Last evening at 8:00pm local time in Rome, at the conclusion of the Marian month, Cardinal Angelo
Comastri, the Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City and Archpriest of
the Basilica of Saint Peter presided at the recitation of the rosary last night
in Saint Peter’s Square.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis was present for the Marian
celebration. At the conclusion of the
gathering, after the singing of the Litanies and before imparting his blessing
to the numerous faithful who were present, the Pope shared a mediation with
those who were present.
Meditation of His Holiness, Pope Francis
prepared for the gathering in Saint Peter's Square
for the recitation of the Rosary
Tonight we have prayed together the Holy Rosary; together,
we have retraced some of the key events in the journey of Jesus, of our
salvation … and we did it with the One who is our Mother, Mary, the One who
guides us with her firm hand toward her Son Jesus. Always, Mary guides us to Jesus.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of the
blessed Virgin Mary to her relative Elizabeth.
I would like to meditate with you on this mystery, demonstrating how
Mary deals with the journey of her life, with great realism, humanity and concretely.
Three words sum up Mary’s attitude: listen, decision,
action; listen, decision, action. These
are words that indicate a way for us too to understand that which the Lord asks
of us in life. Listen, decision, action.
Listen. Where does
the gesture of Mary to visit her relative Elizabeth come from? From a word spoken by the Angel of God: Elizabeth your kinswoman, in her old age has
also conceived and will bear a son … (Lk 1:36). Mary knows how to listen to God. Be careful: this is not a simple hearing, a superficial hearing, but
listening done with attention, with welcome, with openness to God. It is not done in a distracted fashion, like
we might be tempted to do at times when we listen to the Lord or to others: we
hear the words, but we don’t really listen.
Mary is attentive to God, she listens to God.
But Mary also listens to the facts, she interprets the
events of her life, she is attentive to concrete realities and doesn’t merely
consider superficial understandings, she goes into the deep, in order to
discover the true significance. Her
relative Elizabeth, who is already elderly, is expecting a son: this is a
fact. But Mary is attentive to the
significance of this fact, she knows how to welcome it: Nothing
is impossible for God (Lk 1:37).
This is true also in our life: we listen to God who speaks, and we also
listen to the daily realities, paying attention to people, to the facts because
the Lord stands at the door of our lives and knocks in many different
ways. He places signs along our path,
and gives us the ability to see them.
Mary is the mother of listening, attentive listening to God and also
attentive listening to the events of our lives.
The second word: decision.
Mary doesn’t live life hurriedly, with
difficulty, but as Saint Luke points out, she pondered all these things in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51). Also at the decisive moment of the
Annunciation by the Angel, she asked How
is this possible? (Lk 1:34). But she
doesn’t stop, even at the moment of reflection, she goes a step further: she
decides. She doesn’t live life hurriedly
– only when it is necessary to do things
quickly. Mary doesn’t allow herself
to be carried away by the events of her life, she doesn’t avoid the burden of
decision. And this is true also in the
fundamental choice that will change her life: Behold the handmaiden of the Lord … (cf. Lk 1:38), true in the
context of daily choices, but also rich in meaning. I am reminded of the story of the wedding at
Cana (cf. Jn 2:1-11): there too, we see the reality, humanity and concreteness
of Mary, who is attentive to the facts, to the problems; she sees and
understands the difficulty faced by the two young newlyweds who discover that
there is no more wine for the feast, she reflects and knows that Jesus can do
something, and she decides to ask her Son to intervene: They have no more wine (cf. v. 3).
Decide.
Sometimes in life it is difficult to make decisions, we have
a tendency to postpone them, to let others decide for us, we often prefer to
get carried away by events, following the popular decision of the moment:
sometimes we know what we should do, but we don’t have the courage or we find
it to difficult because it means going against the current. Mary, at the moment of the Annunciation, in
the Visitation, at the wedding of Cana, goes against the current. Mary goes against the current; she chooses to
listen to God, to reflect and to seek to understand the reality, and she
decides to entrust herself entirely to God.
Despite her pregnancy, she decides to visit her elderly relative, she
decides to rely on the Son, insisting on that which is necessary to restore the
joy of the wedding.
The third word: action.
Mary Mary set out on the road
and went with haste … (cf. Lk 1:39).
Last Sunday, I pointed out this characteristic of Mary: despite the
difficulties, the criticism she had received for her decision to leave, she did
not stop at anything. At this point, she
goes in haste. In
prayer, before God who speaks, reflecting and meditating on the events of her
life, Mary is not in a hurry, she does not let herself get carried away by the
heat of the moment, she does not get carried away by certain events. But when she
clearly understands what God wants, knows what to do, she does not hesitate, does
not delay, but goes with haste. St. Ambrose says: the grace of the Holy Spirit will not delay (Expos. Evang. Century.
Lucam, II, 19: PL 15.1560). Mary’s action is a consequence of her obedience to
the angel, but united in charity she goes to Elizabeth to assist her, and in
this journey outside of his home, by herself, motivated by love, she brings
what is most precious : Jesus, she brings the Son.
Sometimes, even
we stop listening and reflecting on what we should do, perhaps we also clearly
understand that we must make a decision, but we do not make the transition to
action. And above all, we do not put ourselves in the game by going quickly toward others to bring them our
help, our understanding, our charity, to bring for us too, like Mary did, that
which is most precious and that which we have received: Jesus and his Gospel,
made known in words and especially in the concrete witness of our actions.
Mary, the woman
of hearing, decision and action.
Mary, the woman
who listens, open our ears; so that we might hear the word of your Son Jesus
among the thousands of words of this world and so that we might listen to the
reality in which we live, every person we meet, especially those who are poor,
needy, distressed.
Mary, woman of decision,
enlighten our minds and our hearts, because we obey the Word of Your Son Jesus,
without hesitation, give us the courage to decide not to get carried away and
let others control our lives.
Mary, woman of
action, help our hands and our feet to move quickly
to others, to bring them the charity and the love of your Son, Jesus, to take
the light of the Gospel into the world like you do. Amen.
At the conclusion
of the celebration, the Holy Father greeted the faithful in the following words:
Thank you for praying this Rosary together, for this communion around the Mother. May she bless us all, make us more like brothers. Good night and rest well!
Thank you for praying this Rosary together, for this communion around the Mother. May she bless us all, make us more like brothers. Good night and rest well!
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