J.M.J. "God adorns Mary with all grace. He makes her worthy of carrying Him and receiving Him into the world. He comes to her as into His tabernacle. He rests for nine months in her as on His throne. He comes to us through her."
--Cardinal Pierre De Berulle (1575-1629)
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HOMILY
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Saint
Peter's Square
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"In a few moments I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door of
Mercy. We carry out this act--as I did in Bangui--so simple yet so
highly symbolic, in the light of the word of God which we have just
heard. That word highlights the primacy of grace. Again and
again these readings make us think of the words by which the angel
Gabriel told an astonished young girl of the mystery which was about to
enfold her: 'Hail, full of grace' (Lk 1:28).
"The Virgin Mary was called to rejoice above all because of what the
Lord accomplished in her. God's grace enfolded her and made her worthy
of becoming the Mother of Christ. When Gabriel entered her home, even
the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause
for joy, a cause for faith, a cause for abandonment to the message
revealed to her. The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history.
"The feast of the Immaculate Conception expresses the grandeur of
God's love. Not only does He forgive sin, but in Mary He even averts
the original sin present in every man and woman who comes into this
world. This is the love of God which precedes, anticipates and saves. The beginning of the history of sin in the Garden of Eden yields to a
plan of saving love. The words of Genesis reflect our own daily
experience: we are constantly tempted to disobedience, a disobedience
expressed in wanting to go about our lives without regard for God's
will. This is the enmity which keeps striking at people's lives,
setting them in opposition to God’s plan. Yet the history of sin can
only be understood in the light of God's love and forgiveness. Sin can
only be understood in this light. Were sin the only thing that
mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures. But the promised
triumph of Christ's love enfolds everything in the Father's mercy. The
word of God which we have just heard leaves no doubt about this. The
Immaculate Virgin stands before us as a privileged witness of this
promise and its fulfillment.
"This Extraordinary Year is itself a gift of grace. To pass through
the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father Who
welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. It
is He who seeks us! It is He who comes to encounter us! This will be a
year in which we grow ever more convinced of God's mercy. How
much wrong we do to God and His grace when we speak of sins being
punished by His judgment before we speak of their being forgiven by His
mercy (cf. Saint Augustine, De Praedestinatione Sanctorum, 12,
24)! But that is the truth. We have to put mercy before judgment, and
in any event God's judgment will always be in the light of His mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love, of tenderness. Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.
"Today, here in Rome and in all the dioceses of the world, as we pass
through the Holy Door, we also want to remember another door, which
fifty years ago the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council opened
to the world. This anniversary cannot be remembered only for the legacy
of the Council's documents, which testify to a great advance in faith. Before all else, the Council was an encounter. A genuine encounter between the Church and the men and women of our time. An encounter marked by the power of the Spirit, Who impelled the Church
to emerge from the shoals which for years had kept her self-enclosed so
as to set out once again, with enthusiasm, on her missionary journey. It was the resumption of a journey of encountering people where they
live: in their cities and homes, in their workplaces. Wherever there
are people, the Church is called to reach out to them and to bring the
joy of the Gospel, and the mercy and forgiveness of God. After these
decades, we again take up this missionary drive with the same power and
enthusiasm. The Jubilee challenges us to this openness, and demands
that we not neglect the spirit which emerged from Vatican II, the spirit of the Samaritan,
as Blessed Paul VI expressed it at the conclusion of the Council. May
our passing through the Holy Door today commit us to making our own the
mercy of the Good Samaritan."
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