Vatican
City, 1 January 2013 (VIS) - On Tuesday, the Solemnity of Mary,
Mother of God, the Holy Father presided over Mass in the Vatican
Basilica. Concelebrating were cardinals Tarcisio Bertone, secretary
of state, and Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical
Council for Justice and Peace; archbishops Giovanni Angelo Becciu,
substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, Dominique
Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, and Beniamino Stella,
president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy; along with Bishop
Mario Toso, S.D.B., secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace. Yesterday also marked the 46th World Day of Peace, the
theme for which is "Blessed are the Peacemakers".
Following
are extracts from the homily given by Pope Benedict XVI:
"Although
the world is sadly marked by 'hotbeds of tension and conflict caused
by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the
prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds
expression in an unregulated financial capitalism,' as well as by
various forms of terrorism and crime, I am convinced that 'the many
different efforts at peacemaking which abound in our world testify to
mankind’s innate vocation to peace. In every person the desire for
peace is an essential aspiration which coincides in a certain way
with the desire for a full, happy and successful human life. ... Man
is made for the peace which is God’s gift. All of this led me to
draw inspiration for this Message from the words of Jesus Christ:
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of
God’. This beatitude 'tells us that peace is both a messianic gift
and the fruit of human effort … It is peace with God through a life
lived according to His will. It is interior peace with oneself, and
exterior peace with our neighbours and all creation'. Indeed, peace
is the supreme good to ask as a gift from God and, at the same time,
that which is to be built with our every effort.
We
may ask ourselves: what is the basis, the origin, the root of peace?
How can we experience that peace within ourselves, in spite of
problems, darkness and anxieties? The reply is given to us by the
readings of today’s liturgy. The biblical texts, especially the one
just read from the Gospel of Luke, ask us to contemplate the interior
peace of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. During the days in which 'she
gave birth to her first-born son', many unexpected things occurred:
not only the birth of the Son but, even before, the tiring journey
from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not finding room at the inn, the search
for a chance place to stay for the night; then the song of the angels
and the unexpected visit of the shepherds. In all this, however, Mary
remains even tempered, she does not get agitated, she is not overcome
by events greater than herself; in silence she considers what
happens, keeping it in her mind and heart, and pondering it calmly
and serenely. This is the interior peace which we ought to have amid
the sometimes tumultuous and confusing events of history, events
whose meaning we often do not grasp and which disconcert us.
...
Here, dear brothers and sisters, is the foundation of our peace: the
certainty of contemplating in Jesus Christ the splendour of the face
of God the Father, of being sons and daughters in the Son, and thus
of having, on life’s journey, the same security that a child feels
in the arms of a loving and all-powerful Father. The splendour of the
face of God, shining upon us and granting us peace, is the
manifestation of his fatherhood: the Lord turns his face to us, he
reveals himself as our Father and grants us peace. Here is the
principle of that profound peace – 'peace with God' – which is
firmly linked to faith and grace, as Saint Paul tells the Christians
of Rome. Nothing can take this peace from believers, not even the
difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings, trials and
darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does
not deceive because 'God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us'.
May
the Virgin Mary, whom today we venerate with the title of Mother of
God, help us to contemplate the face of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
May she sustain us and accompany us in this New Year: and may she
obtain for us and for the whole world the gift of peace. Amen!"
No comments:
Post a Comment