At noon today in Rome (6:00am EST), 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 gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The liturgy for this fourth Sunday of Advent focuses on the figure of Mary, the Virgin Mother, waiting to give birth to Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Let us fix our gaze on her, a model of faith and charity; we can ask ourselves: what were your thoughts during all those months of waiting? The answer comes from today's Gospel passage, the story of Mary's visit to her elderly relative, Elizabeth (cf Lk 1: 39-45). The angel Gabriel had told her that Elizabeth was expecting a son and was already in the sixth month (cf Lk 1:26.36). And then the Virgin, who had just conceived Jesus by the work of God, had left Nazareth in Galilee, and reached the mountains of Judea, where she found her cousin.
The Gospel says: She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Lk 1:40). Surely she was happy for her, for her motherhood, and Elizabeth in turn greeted Mary saying: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord has come to me? (Lk 1:42-43). And she immediately praises her faith: Blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of what the Lord had told her (v.45). There is an evident contrast between Mary, who had faith, and Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, who had doubted and not believed in the promise of the angel; therefore he remained silent until the birth of John.
This episode helps us to read the mystery of man's encounter with God with a very special light. This was an encounter that was not under the banner of amazing prodigies, but rather in the name of faith and charity. In fact, Mary was blessed because she believed: the encounter with God is the fruit of faith. Zaccaria instead, who doubted and did not believe, remained deaf and dumb. He grew in faith during the long silence: without faith we inevitably remain deaf to the consoling voice of God; and we remain unable to pronounce words of consolation and hope for our brothers. We see them every day: people who have no faith or who have very little faith, when they have to approach a person who are suffering, speaking words of circumstance, but which can not reach the heart because they have no strength. He has no strength because he has no faith, and if he has no faith the words that can reach the heart of others do not come. Faith, in turn, is nourished in charity. The Evangelist tells us that Mary went with haste (Lk 1:39) to find Elizabeth: in a hurry, not anxious, not anxious, but in a hurry, in peace. She got up: a gesture full of concern. She could have stayed home to prepare for the birth of her son, instead she cared first of all for others, other than herself, demonstrating in fact that she was already a disciple of the Lord she was carrying in her womb. The event of the birth of Jesus began like this, with a simple gesture of charity; moreover, authentic charity is always the fruit of God's love.
The gospel account of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, which we heard today in the Mass, prepares us to live Christmas well, communicating to us the dynamism of faith and charity. This dynamism is the work of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Love who made Mary's virginal womb fruitful and who urged her to come to the service of her elderly relative. A dynamism full of joy, as we see in the meeting between these two mothers, which is a hymn of joyous exultation in the Lord, who does great things with the little ones who trust in Him.
May the Virgin Mary obtain for us the grace of living an outward focused Christmas, but not dispersed, outward focused: in the centre of our focus there is not our I, but the You of Jesus and our brothers and sisters, especially those who need a helping hand. Then we will leave room for love that, even today, wants to become flesh and come to live among us.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
My thoughts go, right now, to the populations of Indonesia, affected by violent natural disasters, which have caused serious losses in human lives, numerous missing and homeless people and extensive material damage. I invite everyone to join me in prayer for the victims and their loved ones. I am spiritually close to those who are displaced and to all the people who are being tried at this time, imploring God for relief in their suffering. I call upon the International Community so that our solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters is never lacking.
Let us pray together ... Hail Mary ...
I greet all of you, the faithful of Rome as well as pilgrims from Italy and from various countries. The day after tomorrow will be Christmas and my thoughts go especially to families, who are reunited these days: those who live far from their parents leave and go back home; brothers and sisters try to find each other ... At Christmas it is beautiful and important to be together in the family.
But many people do not have this possibility, for different reasons; and today I would like to speak in a special way to all those who are far from their family and from their homeland. Dear brothers and sisters, our heavenly Father does not forget you and does not abandon you. If you are a Christian, I wish you the gift of finding in the Church a true family, where you can experience the warmth of fraternal love. And to all - those who are far from their family, Christians and non-Christians - I say: the doors of the Christian community are open, Jesus is born for everyone and gives everyone the love of God. I wish you a good Sunday. Do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye.
(Original text in Italian)
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The liturgy for this fourth Sunday of Advent focuses on the figure of Mary, the Virgin Mother, waiting to give birth to Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Let us fix our gaze on her, a model of faith and charity; we can ask ourselves: what were your thoughts during all those months of waiting? The answer comes from today's Gospel passage, the story of Mary's visit to her elderly relative, Elizabeth (cf Lk 1: 39-45). The angel Gabriel had told her that Elizabeth was expecting a son and was already in the sixth month (cf Lk 1:26.36). And then the Virgin, who had just conceived Jesus by the work of God, had left Nazareth in Galilee, and reached the mountains of Judea, where she found her cousin.
The Gospel says: She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Lk 1:40). Surely she was happy for her, for her motherhood, and Elizabeth in turn greeted Mary saying: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord has come to me? (Lk 1:42-43). And she immediately praises her faith: Blessed is she who believed in the fulfillment of what the Lord had told her (v.45). There is an evident contrast between Mary, who had faith, and Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, who had doubted and not believed in the promise of the angel; therefore he remained silent until the birth of John.
This episode helps us to read the mystery of man's encounter with God with a very special light. This was an encounter that was not under the banner of amazing prodigies, but rather in the name of faith and charity. In fact, Mary was blessed because she believed: the encounter with God is the fruit of faith. Zaccaria instead, who doubted and did not believe, remained deaf and dumb. He grew in faith during the long silence: without faith we inevitably remain deaf to the consoling voice of God; and we remain unable to pronounce words of consolation and hope for our brothers. We see them every day: people who have no faith or who have very little faith, when they have to approach a person who are suffering, speaking words of circumstance, but which can not reach the heart because they have no strength. He has no strength because he has no faith, and if he has no faith the words that can reach the heart of others do not come. Faith, in turn, is nourished in charity. The Evangelist tells us that Mary went with haste (Lk 1:39) to find Elizabeth: in a hurry, not anxious, not anxious, but in a hurry, in peace. She got up: a gesture full of concern. She could have stayed home to prepare for the birth of her son, instead she cared first of all for others, other than herself, demonstrating in fact that she was already a disciple of the Lord she was carrying in her womb. The event of the birth of Jesus began like this, with a simple gesture of charity; moreover, authentic charity is always the fruit of God's love.
The gospel account of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, which we heard today in the Mass, prepares us to live Christmas well, communicating to us the dynamism of faith and charity. This dynamism is the work of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Love who made Mary's virginal womb fruitful and who urged her to come to the service of her elderly relative. A dynamism full of joy, as we see in the meeting between these two mothers, which is a hymn of joyous exultation in the Lord, who does great things with the little ones who trust in Him.
May the Virgin Mary obtain for us the grace of living an outward focused Christmas, but not dispersed, outward focused: in the centre of our focus there is not our I, but the You of Jesus and our brothers and sisters, especially those who need a helping hand. Then we will leave room for love that, even today, wants to become flesh and come to live among us.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters!
My thoughts go, right now, to the populations of Indonesia, affected by violent natural disasters, which have caused serious losses in human lives, numerous missing and homeless people and extensive material damage. I invite everyone to join me in prayer for the victims and their loved ones. I am spiritually close to those who are displaced and to all the people who are being tried at this time, imploring God for relief in their suffering. I call upon the International Community so that our solidarity and support for our brothers and sisters is never lacking.
Let us pray together ... Hail Mary ...
I greet all of you, the faithful of Rome as well as pilgrims from Italy and from various countries. The day after tomorrow will be Christmas and my thoughts go especially to families, who are reunited these days: those who live far from their parents leave and go back home; brothers and sisters try to find each other ... At Christmas it is beautiful and important to be together in the family.
But many people do not have this possibility, for different reasons; and today I would like to speak in a special way to all those who are far from their family and from their homeland. Dear brothers and sisters, our heavenly Father does not forget you and does not abandon you. If you are a Christian, I wish you the gift of finding in the Church a true family, where you can experience the warmth of fraternal love. And to all - those who are far from their family, Christians and non-Christians - I say: the doors of the Christian community are open, Jesus is born for everyone and gives everyone the love of God. I wish you a good Sunday. Do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye.
(Original text in Italian)
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