At 5:00pm local time this afternoon (11:00am EST), inside the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of First Vespers for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, which was followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the traditional chanting of the Te Deum at the conclusion of the calendar year, and the Eucharistic blessing. At the conclusion of the celebration, Pope Francis went to the crib which has been set up in Saint Peter's Square.
In the fullness of time, God sent his Son (Gal 4:4).
The Son sent by the Father pitched his tent in Bethlehem of Efrata, so small to be among the villages of Judah (Mi 5,1); he lived in Nazareth, a town never mentioned in Scripture except to say: can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Jn 1:46), and died discarded by the great city, by Jerusalem, crucified outside its walls. God's decision is clear: to reveal his love he chooses the small city, the scorned city, and when he reaches Jerusalem he associates with people who are sinners and with those who are considered to be the discarded. None of the inhabitants of the city realized that the Son of God made man was walking in their streets, probably not even his disciples: only with the resurrection would they fully understand the Mystery that is present in Jesus.
The words and signs of salvation that He performed in the city aroused amazement and momentary enthusiasm, but they were not accepted in their full meaning: shortly they would no longer be remembered, when the Roman governor would ask: Do you want Jesus or Barabbas to be set free? Outside the city, Jesus would be crucified, high on Golgotha, condemned by the gaze of all the inhabitants and derided by their sarcastic comments. But from there, from the cross, the new tree of life, the power of God would draw everyone to himself. And also the Mother of God, who is the Sorrowful mother beneath the cross, was about to extend her motherhood to all men. The Mother of God is the Mother of the Church and her maternal tenderness reaches all mankind.
In the city, God set up his tent ..., and from there he never left! His presence in the city, even in our city of Rome, must not be manufactured, but discovered, revealed (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, 71). It is we who must ask God for the grace of new eyes, capable of a contemplative gaze, that is, a gaze of faith that discovers God who lives in our houses, in our streets, in our squares (EG, 71). The prophets, in Scripture, warn against the temptation to link the presence of God only to the temple (Jer 7,4): He lives among his people, walks with us and lives his life. His loyalty is concrete, expressed in proximity to the daily existence of his children. Indeed, when God wants to make all things new through his Son, he does not start from the temple, but from the womb of a small and poor woman of his People. God's choice is extraordinary! History does not change through the powerful men of civil and religious institutions, but it started with the women on the periphery of the empire, like Mary, and from their sterile wombs, like that of Elizabeth.
In Psalm 147, which we prayed a little while ago, the psalmist invites Jerusalem to glorify God, because He sends his Word to earth, his message runs fast (Ps 147: 4). By means of his Spirit, who pronounces his Word in every human heart, God blesses his children and encourages them to work for peace in the city. Tonight I would like our gaze on the city of Rome to take things from the point of view of the gaze of God. The Lord rejoices in seeing how many realities of good are made every day, how many efforts and how much dedication to promoting fraternity and solidarity there are. Rome is not just a complicated city, with many problems, with inequalities, corruption and social tensions. Rome is a city where God sends his Word, which nestles through the Spirit in the hearts of its inhabitants and pushes them to believe, to hope despite everything, to love by fighting for the good of all.
I think of many courageous people, believers and non-believers, who I have met in recent years and who represent the beating heart of Rome. Truly God has never stopped changing the history and face of our city through the people: the little ones and the poor who live there. He chooses them, inspires them, motivates them to act; he makes them supportive, pushes them to activate networks, to create virtuous bonds, to build bridges and not walls. It is precisely through the thousand streams of the living water of the Spirit that the Word of God fertilizes the city and makes it's otherwise sterile appearance a joyful mother of children (Ps 113: 9).
And what does the Lord ask of the Church of Rome? He entrusts us with his Word and pushes us to throw ourselves into the fray, to involve us in the meeting and in relationships with the inhabitants of the city so that his message will run fast. We are called to meet others and listen to their existence, their cry for help. Listening is already an act of love! Having time for others, dialoguing, recognizing with a contemplative gaze the presence and action of God in their lives, witnessing the new life of the Gospel with deeds rather than words, is truly a service of love that changes reality. In doing so, in fact, new air is circulating in the city and also in the Church, the desire to get back on the road, to overcome the old logic of opposition and fences, to collaborate together, building a more just and fraternal city.
We must not be afraid or feel inadequate for such an important mission. Let us remember: God does not choose us because of our skill, but precisely because we are and we feel small. We thank him for his grace that has sustained us in this year and with joy we raise our song of praise to him.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Homily of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the celebration of First Vespers
for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
In the fullness of time, God sent his Son (Gal 4:4).
The Son sent by the Father pitched his tent in Bethlehem of Efrata, so small to be among the villages of Judah (Mi 5,1); he lived in Nazareth, a town never mentioned in Scripture except to say: can anything good come out of Nazareth? (Jn 1:46), and died discarded by the great city, by Jerusalem, crucified outside its walls. God's decision is clear: to reveal his love he chooses the small city, the scorned city, and when he reaches Jerusalem he associates with people who are sinners and with those who are considered to be the discarded. None of the inhabitants of the city realized that the Son of God made man was walking in their streets, probably not even his disciples: only with the resurrection would they fully understand the Mystery that is present in Jesus.
The words and signs of salvation that He performed in the city aroused amazement and momentary enthusiasm, but they were not accepted in their full meaning: shortly they would no longer be remembered, when the Roman governor would ask: Do you want Jesus or Barabbas to be set free? Outside the city, Jesus would be crucified, high on Golgotha, condemned by the gaze of all the inhabitants and derided by their sarcastic comments. But from there, from the cross, the new tree of life, the power of God would draw everyone to himself. And also the Mother of God, who is the Sorrowful mother beneath the cross, was about to extend her motherhood to all men. The Mother of God is the Mother of the Church and her maternal tenderness reaches all mankind.
In the city, God set up his tent ..., and from there he never left! His presence in the city, even in our city of Rome, must not be manufactured, but discovered, revealed (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, 71). It is we who must ask God for the grace of new eyes, capable of a contemplative gaze, that is, a gaze of faith that discovers God who lives in our houses, in our streets, in our squares (EG, 71). The prophets, in Scripture, warn against the temptation to link the presence of God only to the temple (Jer 7,4): He lives among his people, walks with us and lives his life. His loyalty is concrete, expressed in proximity to the daily existence of his children. Indeed, when God wants to make all things new through his Son, he does not start from the temple, but from the womb of a small and poor woman of his People. God's choice is extraordinary! History does not change through the powerful men of civil and religious institutions, but it started with the women on the periphery of the empire, like Mary, and from their sterile wombs, like that of Elizabeth.
In Psalm 147, which we prayed a little while ago, the psalmist invites Jerusalem to glorify God, because He sends his Word to earth, his message runs fast (Ps 147: 4). By means of his Spirit, who pronounces his Word in every human heart, God blesses his children and encourages them to work for peace in the city. Tonight I would like our gaze on the city of Rome to take things from the point of view of the gaze of God. The Lord rejoices in seeing how many realities of good are made every day, how many efforts and how much dedication to promoting fraternity and solidarity there are. Rome is not just a complicated city, with many problems, with inequalities, corruption and social tensions. Rome is a city where God sends his Word, which nestles through the Spirit in the hearts of its inhabitants and pushes them to believe, to hope despite everything, to love by fighting for the good of all.
I think of many courageous people, believers and non-believers, who I have met in recent years and who represent the beating heart of Rome. Truly God has never stopped changing the history and face of our city through the people: the little ones and the poor who live there. He chooses them, inspires them, motivates them to act; he makes them supportive, pushes them to activate networks, to create virtuous bonds, to build bridges and not walls. It is precisely through the thousand streams of the living water of the Spirit that the Word of God fertilizes the city and makes it's otherwise sterile appearance a joyful mother of children (Ps 113: 9).
And what does the Lord ask of the Church of Rome? He entrusts us with his Word and pushes us to throw ourselves into the fray, to involve us in the meeting and in relationships with the inhabitants of the city so that his message will run fast. We are called to meet others and listen to their existence, their cry for help. Listening is already an act of love! Having time for others, dialoguing, recognizing with a contemplative gaze the presence and action of God in their lives, witnessing the new life of the Gospel with deeds rather than words, is truly a service of love that changes reality. In doing so, in fact, new air is circulating in the city and also in the Church, the desire to get back on the road, to overcome the old logic of opposition and fences, to collaborate together, building a more just and fraternal city.
We must not be afraid or feel inadequate for such an important mission. Let us remember: God does not choose us because of our skill, but precisely because we are and we feel small. We thank him for his grace that has sustained us in this year and with joy we raise our song of praise to him.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
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