God surprises his faithful and gives them strength

This morning in Saint Peter's Square, the Holy Father presided at the celebration of the Mass which was attended by participants in the Marian Day of Prayer, part of the Year of Faith celebrations.  During the course of the Mass, the Holy Father shared the following thoughts.

Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis

for the celebration of the Mass

commemorating the Marian Day of Prayer

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things (Ps 98:1). Today we consider one of the marvellous 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: God surprises us, God asks us to be faithful, God is our strength.

First: God surprises us. The story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, is striking. 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 water 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 and perplexed. 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. 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 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). God always 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: Do I fear what God might ask of me, or what he does ask of me? Do I let myself be surprised by God, as Mary was, or do I remain caught up in my own security, in my plans? Do I truly let God into my life? How do I respond to 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. This is the second thing: to remember Christ always and to persevere in faith. God surprises us with his love, but he asks us to be faithful in following him. Think of all the times we were excited about something or other, some initiative, some task, but then, 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 taken on. Often it is easy enough to say yes, but then we fail to repeat this yes each and every day.

Mary said her yes to God: a yes which upset her simple life in Nazareth, and not only once. Any number of times she had to utter a heartfelt yes at moments, 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 on the cross.

Am I a Christian by fits and starts, or am I a Christian full-time? The culture of the ephemeral, the relative, also takes it toll on the way we live our faith. God asks us to be faithful to him, daily, in our everyday actions. 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.

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. To know how to give thanks, to give praise for everything that the Lord has done for us.

Let us look to 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: the Magnificat, a canticle of praise and thanksgiving to God not only for what he did for her, but for what he has done throughout the history of salvation. Everything is his gift; he is our strength! Saying thank you is so easy, and yet so hard! How often do we say thank you to one another 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? Often we take everything for granted! This happens with God too. 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.