At the Angelus on the first day of the New Year, Francis renewed the invocation of Mary’s intercession for peace and “for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI”, a faithful minister of the Gospel and of the Church.
Tiziana Campisi and Antonella Palermo, Vatican City
He turns again to Benedict XVI, who arrived yesterday at the home of the Father, Pope Francis, in his first Angelus of 2023, and asks the faithful to pray for him, imploring the Virgin Mary. He also does this by leaving a few moments of silence in prayer. Then he also recalls the media coverage of the figure of the Pope Emeritus.
“The beginning of a new year is entrusted to Mary Most Holy, whom we celebrate today as the Mother of God. In these hours we ask your intercession especially for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who left this world yesterday morning. We all come together, with one heart and one soul, to give thanks to God for the gift of this faithful minister of the gospel and the church.”
Maria’s language
Francis’ reflection focuses on Mary who is silent “in the grotto where Jesus was born”, “receiving with amazement the mystery that lives, keeping everything in her heart and above all caring for the child” who The Gospel describes “to lie in the manger”, that is, to lie down carefully. The Pope explains that these words convey the idea that “Mary’s own language is that of motherhood: to care for the child with tenderness”.
“This is the greatness of Mary: while the angels are celebrating, the shepherds are coming, and everyone is praising God aloud for what has happened, Mary does not speak, does not entertain the guests and does not explain what has happened to her, she does not steal the show; on the contrary, it puts the child first and takes loving care of it.”
Francis quotes the poet Alda Merini to better understand Maria’s attitude: “She also knew how to be solemnly silent, […] because she did not want to lose sight of her God.” She reiterates that “the typical language of motherhood is the tenderness of care,” which postpartum mothers express by “putting their babies at the center of all their attention.” , feeds her, holds her in her arms, lays her “gently in the cradle”.
Learning to care for creation and those in need
And care is also the language of Our Lady, the Pope continues, who “like all mothers”, carrying life in her womb, “speaks to us about our future” and exhorts us, “if we really want the new year, be good , if we want to rebuild hope”, that “we leave the languages, gestures and options inspired by selfishness and learn the language of love, which is caring. That said, caring is a new language that goes against those languages of selfishness.”
“This is the obligation: care for our lives, each of us must care for our lives; mind your time, mind your soul; care for creation and the environment in which we live; and even more, to care for our neighbor, for those whom the Lord has placed by our side, and for our brothers and sisters who are in need and demand our attention and compassion. There, as we contemplate the Virgin and Child caring for the child, we learn to care for others, including ourselves, for our inner health, for our spiritual life, for our charity.”
Faced with the tragedy of war, responsibility and compassion
Finally, recalling that today is the World Day of Peace, Francis recommends “regaining awareness of the responsibility entrusted to us to build the future”.
“In the face of the personal and social crises we are experiencing, in the face of the tragedy of war, “we are called to face the challenges of our world with responsibility and compassion. And we can do that if we take care of each other and take care of our common home together.”
And at the end of his Marian meditation, the Pope exhorts us once again to pray to Our Lady and to ask her for help so that she may know how to look at our neighbor with love.
“We implore Mary Most Holy, Mother of God, to empower us in this time tainted by distrust and indifference, to enable us to be compassionate and caring, to enable us to move and stop in front of one another as often as necessary.”
On the Solemnity of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the Pope implores peace through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, symbol of “hope” and mother of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace. Y…