HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Solemnity of Saint Joseph
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Solemnity of Saint Joseph
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I thank the Lord
that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry
on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron
of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the
name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of
affection and gratitude.
The crowd gathering before the Mass. |
I offer a warm
greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and
women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the
other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the
Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My
cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the
official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the
Diplomatic Corps.
In the Gospel we
heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as
his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God
entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector
of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church,
as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly
dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and
protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the
exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1).
How does Joseph
exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an
unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to
understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the
twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment
with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and
bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful
hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during
the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day
life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to
Jesus.
How does Joseph
respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By
being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and
receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of
David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by
men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds
the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector”
because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this
reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his
safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his
surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn
how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core
of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives,
so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!
[…]
Please, I would
like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic,
political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be
“protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature,
protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of
destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be
“protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that
hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means
keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of
good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not
be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!
Here I would add
one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain
tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous
man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the
virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for
concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not
be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
Today, together
with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the
ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves
a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what
sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed
by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that
authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must
enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on
the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service
which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all
of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity,
especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew
lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the
naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who
serve with love are able to protect!
In the second
reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, “hoping against hope, believed” (Rom
4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to
see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To
protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with
tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of
light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For
believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we
bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in
Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God.
The Holy Father greets the crowd before the Mass. |
To protect Jesus
with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially
the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is
called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of
hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!
I implore the
intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint
Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you
to pray for me! Amen.
American seminarians cheering the Pope. |
(cited from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130319_omelia-inizio-pontificato_en.html
on March 20, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment