At noon today in Rome, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims who were gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, happy feast day!
The readings for today's Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary present two crucial passages in the history of relations between man and God: we can say that our history goes back to the origins of good and evil. These two passages lead us back to the origins of good and evil.
The book of Genesis demonstrates the first no, the original no, the human no, when man preferred to look toward his own interests rather than those of his Creator, wanted to do his own thing, chose to rely on himself. But, in doing so, he cut himself off from communion with God, got lost and began to be afraid, hid himself and accused others around him (cf Gn 3:10, 12). These are symptoms: fear is always a symptom of a no that has been spoken to God, it shows that we have said no to God; accusing others and not looking toward ourselves when something is wrong demonstrates that I have distanced myself from God. This is a sin. But the Lord does not leave man at the mercy of his own wrongdoing; he immediately seeks us out and asks a question that is filled with apprehension: Where are you? (Gn 3:9) As if to say: Stop, think: where are you? This is the question asked by a father or a mother who is seeking a lost son: Where are you? In what condition have you found yourself? And God does this with such patience, to the point of closing the gap that has been created. This is one of the scripture passages.
The second crucial passage, narrated in today's gospel, speaks of the moment when God came to live among us, made himself one of us. And this was possible because of a great yes - the sinful response was no; this one is yes, a great yes - the yes that Mary offered at the moment of the Annunciation. Because of this yes, Jesus began his journey on the paths of humanity; he began this journey in Mary, spending the first months of life in the womb of his mommy; he was not yet an adult, strong, but he was accompanied all the way by a human being. He made himself one of us, in all things except one, except for sin. This is the reason why he chose Mary, the only sinless creature, immaculate. In the gospel, with only one word, she was described as full of grace (Lk 1:28), that is to say filled with grace. This means that in her, who was immediately filled with grace, there was no room for sin. Even now, when we turn to her, we recognize this beauty: we call upon her with the words full of grace, with no shadow of evil.
Mary responds to God's plan by saying: Here am I, the servant of the Lord (Lk 1:38). She does not say: Ah, this time I will do what God wants, I will make myself available, then we will see ... No. Hers is a full and total yes, a life-long unconditional yes. In the same way as the original no closed off the passage between man and God, so Mary's yes opened the path between God and us. This is the most important yes in all of history, the humble yes that overcomes the profound no that was spoken in the beginning, the faithful yes that heals disobedience, the available yes that overshadows the self-centredness of sin.
For all of us too, there is a history of salvation that includes yes and no spoken to God. At times, however, we are experts at saying yes: we are good at pretending not to understand what God wants and what our conscience suggests. We are also inventive; to avoid saying no to God, we say: Sorry, I can't, not today, perhaps tomorrow, tomorrow would be better, tomorrow I will pray, I will do something good, tomorrow. And this cleverness distances us from saying yes, it distances us from God and leads us to saying no, the no of sin, the no of mediocrity. The famous yes but ... yes Lord, but ... However, by doing this, we close ourselves off from good, and evil takes advantage of the yes that we have ignored. Every one of us has a collection within us. Think about it, we can find many such missed opportunities. On the other hand, every unconditional yes spoken to God provides a new origin for a new story: saying yes to God is really original, it is original, not sinfulness, which makes us old from within. Have you ever thought of this, that sin makes us old from within? It immediately makes us old! Every yes offered to God makes our story of salvation fresh: our own story and the story of others. Like Mary did with her yes.
On our Advent journey, God wants to visit us and is waiting for our yes. Let us think: today, what yes should I offer to God? Let's think about it, it would be good for us to do so. And we will find the voice of the Lord in that of God, asking us to do something, to take a step forward. I believe in You, I love You; do with me what you will. This is our yes. With generosity and trust, like Mary, we can say today, each one of us, a personal yes to God.
(Original text in Italian)
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday, a strong earthquake struck the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia. I want to assure my prayers for the victims and for their families, for those who are wounded and for all those who have lost their homes. May the Lord give strength to the people and support the work being done by aid workers.
I affectionately greet all of you, pilgrims who are present today, especially families and parish groups. I greet the faithful form Rocca di Papa with the Christmas torches, the Rebecca Project group who work with babies in need, and the faithful from Biella.
On this feast of Mary Immaculate, Catholic Action Italy is experiencing a renewal of their promises. I send a special thought to all their diocesan and parish associations. May the Virgin bless Catholic Action and make it more and more a school of holiness and of generous service to the Church and to the world.
This afternoon, I will go to the Piazza di Spagna to renew the traditional act of homage and to pray at the feet of the monument to the Immaculate Conception. Afterward, I will go to Santa Maria Maggiore to pray before the Salus Populi Romani. I ask you to unite yourselves spiritually with me in this gesture, that expresses our filial devotion to our heavenly Mother.
I wish you all a good feast and a fruitful journey through Advent with the guidance of the Virgin Mary. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, happy feast day!
The readings for today's Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary present two crucial passages in the history of relations between man and God: we can say that our history goes back to the origins of good and evil. These two passages lead us back to the origins of good and evil.
The book of Genesis demonstrates the first no, the original no, the human no, when man preferred to look toward his own interests rather than those of his Creator, wanted to do his own thing, chose to rely on himself. But, in doing so, he cut himself off from communion with God, got lost and began to be afraid, hid himself and accused others around him (cf Gn 3:10, 12). These are symptoms: fear is always a symptom of a no that has been spoken to God, it shows that we have said no to God; accusing others and not looking toward ourselves when something is wrong demonstrates that I have distanced myself from God. This is a sin. But the Lord does not leave man at the mercy of his own wrongdoing; he immediately seeks us out and asks a question that is filled with apprehension: Where are you? (Gn 3:9) As if to say: Stop, think: where are you? This is the question asked by a father or a mother who is seeking a lost son: Where are you? In what condition have you found yourself? And God does this with such patience, to the point of closing the gap that has been created. This is one of the scripture passages.
The second crucial passage, narrated in today's gospel, speaks of the moment when God came to live among us, made himself one of us. And this was possible because of a great yes - the sinful response was no; this one is yes, a great yes - the yes that Mary offered at the moment of the Annunciation. Because of this yes, Jesus began his journey on the paths of humanity; he began this journey in Mary, spending the first months of life in the womb of his mommy; he was not yet an adult, strong, but he was accompanied all the way by a human being. He made himself one of us, in all things except one, except for sin. This is the reason why he chose Mary, the only sinless creature, immaculate. In the gospel, with only one word, she was described as full of grace (Lk 1:28), that is to say filled with grace. This means that in her, who was immediately filled with grace, there was no room for sin. Even now, when we turn to her, we recognize this beauty: we call upon her with the words full of grace, with no shadow of evil.
Mary responds to God's plan by saying: Here am I, the servant of the Lord (Lk 1:38). She does not say: Ah, this time I will do what God wants, I will make myself available, then we will see ... No. Hers is a full and total yes, a life-long unconditional yes. In the same way as the original no closed off the passage between man and God, so Mary's yes opened the path between God and us. This is the most important yes in all of history, the humble yes that overcomes the profound no that was spoken in the beginning, the faithful yes that heals disobedience, the available yes that overshadows the self-centredness of sin.
For all of us too, there is a history of salvation that includes yes and no spoken to God. At times, however, we are experts at saying yes: we are good at pretending not to understand what God wants and what our conscience suggests. We are also inventive; to avoid saying no to God, we say: Sorry, I can't, not today, perhaps tomorrow, tomorrow would be better, tomorrow I will pray, I will do something good, tomorrow. And this cleverness distances us from saying yes, it distances us from God and leads us to saying no, the no of sin, the no of mediocrity. The famous yes but ... yes Lord, but ... However, by doing this, we close ourselves off from good, and evil takes advantage of the yes that we have ignored. Every one of us has a collection within us. Think about it, we can find many such missed opportunities. On the other hand, every unconditional yes spoken to God provides a new origin for a new story: saying yes to God is really original, it is original, not sinfulness, which makes us old from within. Have you ever thought of this, that sin makes us old from within? It immediately makes us old! Every yes offered to God makes our story of salvation fresh: our own story and the story of others. Like Mary did with her yes.
On our Advent journey, God wants to visit us and is waiting for our yes. Let us think: today, what yes should I offer to God? Let's think about it, it would be good for us to do so. And we will find the voice of the Lord in that of God, asking us to do something, to take a step forward. I believe in You, I love You; do with me what you will. This is our yes. With generosity and trust, like Mary, we can say today, each one of us, a personal yes to God.
(Original text in Italian)
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday, a strong earthquake struck the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia. I want to assure my prayers for the victims and for their families, for those who are wounded and for all those who have lost their homes. May the Lord give strength to the people and support the work being done by aid workers.
I affectionately greet all of you, pilgrims who are present today, especially families and parish groups. I greet the faithful form Rocca di Papa with the Christmas torches, the Rebecca Project group who work with babies in need, and the faithful from Biella.
On this feast of Mary Immaculate, Catholic Action Italy is experiencing a renewal of their promises. I send a special thought to all their diocesan and parish associations. May the Virgin bless Catholic Action and make it more and more a school of holiness and of generous service to the Church and to the world.
This afternoon, I will go to the Piazza di Spagna to renew the traditional act of homage and to pray at the feet of the monument to the Immaculate Conception. Afterward, I will go to Santa Maria Maggiore to pray before the Salus Populi Romani. I ask you to unite yourselves spiritually with me in this gesture, that expresses our filial devotion to our heavenly Mother.
I wish you all a good feast and a fruitful journey through Advent with the guidance of the Virgin Mary. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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