Vatican
City, 22 May 2013
(VIS) – “My presence here this afternoon represents, first of
all, a heartfelt 'thank you' to the Missionaries of Charity founded
by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who have worked here for 25 years,
with many volunteers, for the many people who are in need of
assistance. Thank you! All of you make the Church's love for the poor
visible … and with your daily service you are—as the Psalm
says—'You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing'. … How many people have you fed in these years; how
many wounded, above all wounded spiritually, have you cared for!”
With
these words Pope Francis addressed the missionaries, volunteers, and
residents in the Gift of Mary Hospitality House located within
Vatican City, just outside St. Peter's Square. He visited the
community yesterday, Tuesday 21 May, at around 5:30pm in the
afternoon, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Blessed John Paul
II's placing the house under the care of Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta. The Pope was welcomed by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, vicar
general of His Holiness for Vatican City, and the Superior General of
the Missionaries of Charity, Sr. Mary Prema Pierick, M.C., and the
sisters placed a garland of flowers around the pontiff's neck, in a
gesture from Hindu tradition. The house accommodates around 25 women
and feeds around 60 people on a daily basis.
In
his brief speech to the community, the Pope focused on three words:
house, gift, and Mary.
“This
structure, built and inaugurated by Blessed John Paul II,” he said,
“… is a 'home'. And when we say 'home', we mean a place of
welcome … where you can feel good, re-find yourself, feel part of …
a community. Even more profoundly, 'home' is a word with a typically
familial flavour that recalls the warmth, affection, and love that
can be felt in a family. A 'home' thus represents the most precious
human wealth, that of encounter, that of the relationships between
persons of different ages, cultures, and histories, but who live
together and who, together, help one another to grow. … And that is
what this house has sought to be for 25 years! At the border between
the Vatican and Italy, it is a powerful reminder to all of us—to
the Church, to the city of Rome—to always be more of a family, a
'home' in which we are open to welcome, to attention, and to
fraternity.”
“Then
there is a second very important word, 'gift', which qualifies this
house and defines it typical identity. … I mean that this house
gives welcome, material and spiritual support to you, dear guests,
coming from various parts of the world. But you also are a gift for
this house and for the Church. You tell us that loving God and our
neighbour is not something abstract but profoundly concrete. It means
seeing in every person the face of the Lord to serve and serving him
concretely. … Here is lived a an open hospitality, regardless of
one's nationality or religion, according to Jesus' teaching: 'Without
cost you have received; without cost you are to give.' We must
recover the entire sense of gift, of gratuity and solidarity. A
savage capitalism has taught the logic of profit at any cost, give in
order to get, exploitation without looking at persons …. and we see
the results in the crisis we are living through! This house is a
place that teaches charity, a 'school' of charity, that teaches us to
go out to every person, not for profit, but out of love.”
“Finally,
there is one more feature of this house: it is qualified as a gift
'of Mary'. … Mary is an example and an inspiration for those who
live in this house, and for all of us, to live charity towards our
neighbour, not out of a type of social duty, but starting from God's
love, from God's charity. … Mary is the one who leads us to Jesus
and who teaches us how to go out from Jesus … For us Christians,
love for one's neighbour is born from the love of God and is the
clearest expression of it. Here you seek to love your neighbour, but
also to let yourselves be loved by them. These two attitudes go hand
in hand. There cannot be one without the other.”
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