Vatican
City, 12 October 2013 (VIS) – At 5 p.m. this afternoon, in St.
Peter's Square, the Marian Day was celebrated as part of the Year of
Faith. The event began an hour before, with the procession around the
square of the original statue of the Virgin of Fatima, which had been
transported by air from Portugal and which Pope Francis had welcomed
at the entrance of the Basilica. More than one hundred thousand
people attended the event.
Following
the address by the president of the Pontifical Council for New
Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the statue of the Virgin
was enthroned and, after the Marian prayer, in the form of the Via
Matris, the Holy Father gave his catechesis in which he explained
that Mary is the path that leads us to Jesus. “Mary is a woman of
faith, a true believer”; he said. “But we can ask: What was
Mary’s faith like?”
“Mary’s
faith unties the knot of sin”, he continued. “What does that
mean? The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council used a phrase of
Saint Irenaeus, who states that 'the knot of Eve’s disobedience was
untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by her
unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith'”.
When
we do not listen to God and do not follow his will, “we do concrete
things that demonstrate our lack of trust in him – for that is what
sin is – and a kind of knot is created deep within us. These knots
take away our peace and serenity. … But we know one thing: nothing
is impossible for God’s mercy! Even the most tangled knots are
loosened by his grace. And Mary, whose 'yes' opened the door for God
to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience, is the Mother who
patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the
knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy. … All the knots of our
heart, every knot of our conscience, can be undone”.
Mary’s
faith “gave human flesh to Jesus. As the Council says: 'Through her
faith and obedience, she gave birth on earth to the very Son of the
Father, without knowing man but by the overshadowing of the Holy
Spirit'. ... Mary first conceived Jesus in faith and then in the
flesh, when she said 'yes' to the message God gave her through the
angel. What does this mean? It means that God did not want to become
man by bypassing our freedom; he wanted to pass through Mary’s free
assent, through her 'yes'.
“But
what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place
within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with a good
and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes
flesh within us; he comes to dwell in us, for he dwells in all who
love him and keep his Word. … Believing in Jesus means giving him
our flesh with the humility and courage of Mary, so that he can
continue to dwell in our midst. It means giving him our hands, to
caress the little ones and the poor; our feet, to go forth and meet
our brothers and sisters; our arms, to hold up the weak and to work
in the Lord’s vineyard, our minds, to think and act in the light of
the Gospel; and especially to offer our hearts to love and to make
choices in accordance with God’s will”.
The
third element is “Mary’s faith as a journey. The Council says
that Mary 'advanced in her pilgrimage of faith'. In this way she
precedes us on this pilgrimage, she accompanies and sustains us. …
Her entire life was to follow her Son: He – Jesus – is the way,
He is the path! To press forward in faith, to advance in the
spiritual pilgrimage which is faith, is nothing other than to follow
Jesus; to listen to Him and be guided by His words; to see how He
acts and to follow in His footsteps; to have His same sentiments. And
what are these sentiments of Jesus? Humility, mercy, closeness to
others, but also a firm rejection of hypocrisy, duplicity and
idolatry. The way of Jesus is the way of a love which is faithful to
the end, even unto sacrificing one’s life; it is the way of the
cross”.
For
Him, the journey of faith “passes through the cross. Mary
understood this from the beginning. … Mary was always with Jesus,
she followed Jesus in the midst of the crowds and she heard all the
gossip and the hatefulness of those who opposed the Lord. And she
carried this cross! Mary’s faith encountered misunderstanding and
contempt. When Jesus’ 'hour' came, the hour of his passion, Mary’s
faith was a little flame burning in the night, a little light
flickering in the darkness. Through the night of Holy Saturday, Mary
kept watch. Her flame, small but bright, remained burning until the
dawn of the resurrection. And when she received word that the tomb
was empty, her heart was filled with the joy of faith: Christian
faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith always
brings us to joy, and Mary is the Mother of joy! May she teach us to
take the path of joy, to experience this joy!”
The
Holy Father concluded, “This evening, Mother, we thank you for our
faith, the faith of a strong and humble woman; we renew our
entrustment to you, Mother of our faith”.
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