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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “May we reach the feast of the Nativity with a ceasefire on all fronts of war”. This is the appeal that Pope Francis launched at the end of the Angelus on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
On the day in which the Anti-Assad Islamist militiamen took Damascus and in the aftermath of the many face-to-face meetings that took place in Paris between the political leaders of various countries, including US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Pontiff asks to continue “to pray for peace, in tormented Ukraine, in the Middle East – Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, now in Syria – in Myanmar, Sudan and wherever people suffer from war and violence.”
Before appearing in St. Peter's Square, the Pope celebrated Mass in the Vatican Basilica with the 21 Cardinals created yesterday afternoon during the public Consistory, the tenth of his Pontificate. In his homily, the Pontiff recalled the words that Blessed Pius IX wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabili Deus, promulgated on December 8, 1854, defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Mary is "full of grace", a concept that "in many ways, over the centuries, with words and images, Christians have tried to represent".
The Bishop of Rome then quoted St. Paul VI, who in 1963 said: the Mother of God shows us "what all of us have deep in our hearts: the authentic image of humanity... innocent and holy... Mary’s being is pure harmony, candour, simplicity; it is complete transparency, kindness, perfection; it is utter beauty".
A beauty that Pope Francis analyzes under three aspects of Mary's life, aspects "that remind us of her closeness to us: Mary as daughter, bride and mother". But also of a woman, because "there is no salvation without a woman. The Church herself is also woman".
In the mystery of Mary's life - the Bishop of Rome underlined - her Immaculate Conception, her being preserved from Original Sin flourishes "in her fruitfulness, since she recognizes that she must die to herself in order to give life, forget herself in order to care for the poor and vulnerable who turn to her".
On the contrary, in today's world, "if we look around us, we realize that the presumption that we can be “like God” (cf. Gen 3:1-6), which led to the first sin, continues to wound our human family. Neither love nor happiness can arise from this presumption of self-sufficiency. Those who see the rejection of any stable and lasting bond in life as progress do not grant freedom. Those who deprive fathers and mothers of respect, those who do not want children, those who reduce others to mere objects or treat them as nuisances, those who consider sharing with others a waste, and solidarity an impoverishment,” the Pontiff remarked, “cannot spread joy or build a future. What is the use of having a full bank account, a comfortable home, unreal virtual relationships, if our hearts remain cold, empty and closed? What is the use of achieving great financial growth in privileged countries if half the world is starving or ravaged by war, and the others look on with indifference? What is the use of travelling around the world if every encounter is reduced to a passing impression or a photograph that no one will remember in a few days or months?”.
The Pope then urged us to look “to Mary Immaculate” and “ask her to conquer us through her loving Heart. May she convert us and make us a community in which filial, spousal and maternal love may be a rule and criterion of life. Only then will families be united, will spouses truly share everything, will parents be physically present and close to their children and children will take care of their parents. That is the beauty we see in the Immaculate Virgin; that is the “beauty that saves the world”. Like Mary, we too want to respond by saying to the Lord: “Behold... Let it be to me according to your word”.
The Pontiff invited believers to approach the sacrament of Confession in this time: “As the opening of the Holy Door of the Jubilee approaches, let us open the doors of the heart and the mind to the Lord. And I will give you a piece of advice. Today it is a good day to decide to make a good Confession. If you cannot go today, this week, until next Sunday, open your heart and the Lord will forgive everything”.
After the blessing, the thoughts of the Bishop of Rome went to Nicaragua, to which he had addressed a letter a few days ago (see Fides, 2/12/2024): “I invite you to join in prayer for the Church and the people of Nicaragua, who celebrate the Most Pure, as Mother and Patroness, and raises to her a cry of faith and hope. May the heavenly Mother be a consolation for them in difficulties and uncertainties, and open everyone’s hearts, so that the way of respectful and constructive dialogue may be sought, in order to promote peace, fraternity and harmony in the country”.
The prayer intentions indicated by the Pontiff also extended to the prisoners “who are on death row in the United States. I believe there are thirteen or fifteen of them. Let us pray that their sentence be commuted, changed. Let us think of these brothers and sisters of ours and ask the Lord for the grace to save them from death”. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 8/12/2024)
