Vatican City, 1 January 2016 (VIS) –
Today, solemnity of Holy Mary Mother of God and the octave of
Christmas, the Holy Father presided at Mass in the Vatican Basilica,
concelebrated by cardinals, bishops and priests and attended by the
Pueri Cantores, who have concluded their fortieth International
Congress. Today is also the 49 th World Day of Peace, whose theme
this year is “Overcome difference and win peace”.
The following is the full text of the
homily pronounced by Pope Francis:
“We have heard the words of the
Apostle Paul: 'When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman'. What does it mean to say that Jesus was born in
'the fullness of time'? If we consider that particular moment of
history, we might quickly be deluded. Rome had subjugated a great
part of the known world by her military might. The Emperor Augustus
had come to power after five civil wars. Israel itself had been
conquered by the Roman Empire and the Chosen People had lost their
freedom. For Jesus’ contemporaries, it was certainly not the best
of times. To define the fullness of time, then, we should not look to
the geopolitical sphere.
“Another interpretation is needed,
one which views that fullness from God’s standpoint. It is when God
decided that the time had come to fulfil His promise, that the
fullness of time came for humanity. History does not determine the
birth of Christ; rather, His coming into the world enables history to
attain its fullness. For this reason, the birth of the Son of God
inaugurates a new era, a new computation of time, the era which
witnesses the fulfilment of the ancient promise. As the author of the
Letter to the Hebrews writes: 'God spoke to our ancestors in many and
various ways by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to
us by a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He
also created the world. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the
exact imprint of God’s very being, and He sustains all things by
His powerful word'. The fullness of time, then, is the presence of
God Himself in our history. Now we can see His glory, which shines
forth in the poverty of a stable; we can be encouraged and sustained
by His Word, made 'little' in a baby. Thanks to Him, our time can
find its fullness. The use of our personal time can also find its
fullness in the encounter with Jesus Christ, God made man.
“Nonetheless, this mystery constantly
clashes with the dramatic experience of human history. Each day, as
we seek to be sustained by the signs of God’s presence, we
encounter new signs to the contrary, negative signs which tend to
make us think instead that He is absent. The fullness of time seems
to fade before the countless forms of injustice and violence which
daily wound our human family. Sometimes we ask ourselves how it is
possible that human injustice persists unabated, and that the
arrogance of the powerful continues to demean the weak, relegating
them to the most squalid outskirts of our world. We ask how long
human evil will continue to sow violence and hatred in our world,
reaping innocent victims. How can the fullness of time have come when
we are witnessing hordes of men, women and children fleeing war,
hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives simply to encounter
respect for their fundamental rights? A torrent of misery, swollen by
sin, seems to contradict the fullness of time brought by Christ.
Remember, dear pueri cantores, this was the third question you asked
me yesterday: how do we explain this… even children are aware of
this.
“And yet this swollen torrent is
powerless before the ocean of mercy which floods our world. All of us
are called to immerse ourselves in this ocean, to let ourselves be
reborn, to overcome the indifference which blocks solidarity, and to
leave behind the false neutrality which prevents sharing. The grace
of Christ, which brings our hope of salvation to fulfilment, leads us
to cooperate with Him in building an ever more just and fraternal
world, a world in which every person and every creature can dwell in
peace, in the harmony of God’s original creation.
“At the beginning of a new year, the
Church invites us to contemplate Mary’s divine maternity as an icon
of peace. The ancient promise finds fulfilment in her person. She
believed in the words of the angel, conceived her Son and thus became
the Mother of the Lord. Through her, through her 'yes', the fullness
of time came about. The Gospel we have just heard tells us that the
Virgin Mary 'treasured all these words and pondered them in her
heart'. She appears to us as a vessel filled to the brim with the
memory of Jesus, as the Seat of Wisdom to whom we can have recourse
to understand His teaching aright. Today Mary makes it possible for
us to grasp the meaning of events which affect us personally, events
which also affect our families, our countries and the entire world.
Where philosophical reason and political negotiation cannot arrive,
there the power of faith, which brings the grace of Christ’s
Gospel, can arrive, opening ever new pathways to reason and to
negotiation.
“Blessed are you, Mary, for you gave
the Son of God to our world. But even more blessed are you for having
believed in Him. Full of faith, you conceived Jesus first in your
heart and then in your womb, and thus became the Mother of all
believers. Send us, O Mother, your blessing on this day consecrated
to your honour. Show us the face of Jesus your Son, Who bestows upon
the entire world mercy and peace. Amen”.
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