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I've decided to separate the coverage of the Mass from the announcement of the Papal trip to Latin America...
First papal Mass at St. Peter's
to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's homily, which was delivered in Spanish, except for two paragraphs in Portuguese:
Dear brothers and sisters:
"The earth has given its fruit" (Ps 66,7). In this image of the Psalm that we just heard, in which all peoples and nations are invited to rise in jubilee to the Lord who saves us, the Fathers of the Church recognized the Virgin Mary and Christ her son: "The earth is Mary, who comes from our land, our lineage, from this soil, from the mud of Adam... The earth has born fruit: first, it produced a flower... Later, this flower became fruit so we could eat it, so we could eat its flesh. Do you want to know what that fruit is? It is the Virgin who comes from the virgin; the Lord, from the slave; God, from man; the Son, from the Mother; the fruit of the land" (St Hieronymus, Brevarium in Psalm,4-6).
Today, we, too, exulting the fruit of this land, say: "May the peoples praise you, God" (Ps 66,4-6). We proclaim the gift of the redemption achieved by Christ, and in Christ, we recognize all of God's power and divine majesty.
Inspired by these sentiments, I greet with fraternal affection the cardinals and bishops who are with us, the diplomatic representatives present, the priests and religious, as well as the lay faithful congregated in this Basilica of St. Peter's to celebrate with joy the Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother and Star of America's Evangelization.
I also think of those who are spiritually joined to us and pray to God with us in the various Latin American and Caribbean nations, many of which are celebrating the bicentennial of their independence, and who, far beyond the historical, social and political aspects of events, renew to the Most High their gratitude for the great gift of faith they received, a faith that announces the redemptive mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so that all peoples and nations on earth may have life in him.
The Successor of Peter cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing the joy of the Church for the copious gifts that God in his infinite goodness has poured during these years on those beloved nations who invoke the Most Blessed Mary so appealingly.
The venerated image of the Morenita [brown-skinned girl] of Tepeyac, with her sweet and serene face, imprinted on the tilma of the indio San Juan Diego, has presented herself as "the ever Virgin Mary, Motbher of the true God for whom one lives" (De la lectura del Oficio, Nicán Mopohua, 12ª ed., México, D.F., 1971, 3-19).
She evokes the 'woman clothed with the sun', with the moon beneath her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head, and who is pregnant" (Ap 12,1-2) and signals the presence of the Savior to the indigenous and mixed-heritage population.
She always leads us to her divine Son, who reveals himself as the foundation of the dignity of all human beings, as a love much stronger than the powers of sin and death, but is also a source of joy, filial trust, comfort and hope.
In Portuguese, he said:
The Magnificat, which we proclaim in today's Gospel, is a canticle of the Mother of God and of the Church, a canticle of the Daughter of Zion and the new People of God, a canticle of thanksgiving for the plenitude of graces distributed in the economy of salvation, a canticle of the poor, whose hope is satisfied by the promises made to our people" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2619).
In a gesture of acknowledgment of her Lord and her humility as his servant, the Virgin Mary lifts to God her praise for everything that he is doing for the new Israel. God is he who deserves all honor and glory, the Almighty who does wonders for his faithful servant and who continues to show his love for all men, especially those who face difficult trials.
He resumes in Spanish:
"Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey" (Zc 9,9) = we heard this in the First Reading. With the incarnation of the Word, the divine mystery was revealed in the story of Jesus Christ, who is contemporaneous to every human being in any time and place through the Church, of which Mary is the Mother and the model.
Therefore, today we can continue praising God for the wonders he has worked on the peoples of Latin America and the entire world,. manifesting his presence in the Son, and the effusion of his Spirit as a novelty in personal and community life. God hid these things to "the wise and the educated'. making them known to the little ones, the humble, the simple in heart (cfr Mt 11,25).
Through her Yes to God's call, the Virgin Mary has manifested divine love to men. In this sense, she, with simplicity and a mother's heart, continues to show us the only Light and the only Truth : her Son Jesus Christ, who is the "definitive answer to the question about the sense of living and the fundamental questions which today assail so many men and women on the American continent" (Exhort. Ap. postsinodal Ecclesia in America, 10).
Likewise, she "continues obtaining for us through her constant intercession the gifts of eternal salvation. With maternal love, she cares for the brothers of her Son who are still in pilgrimage amid dangers and distress until they are led to the happiness of their true home" (Lumen gentium, 62).
At present, as various places in Latin America commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of their independence, the work of integration int his beloved continent advances, at the same time as an emerging new protagonism has emerged in the global concert. [???]
In these circumstances, it is important that her different peoples safeguard their rich treasure of faith and historico-cultural dynamism, and always be defender of human life from conception to its natural end and promoters of peace. They must equally protect the family in its genuine nature and mission, intensifying at the same time a vast and wide-ranging educational task which will prepare persons correctly and make them conscious of their capacities so that they can face their destiny worthily and responsibly.
They are also called on to increasingly promote targeted initiatives and effective programs that favor reconciliation and brotherhood, increase solidarity and care of the environment, while invigorating efforts to overcome poverty, illiteracy, and corruption, and to eradicate all injustice, violence, criminality, citizen insecurity, drug trafficking and extortion.
When the Church was preparing to commemorate the fifth centenary of the planting of the Cross of Christ on the good earth of the American continent, Blessed John Paul II formulated there, for the first time, the program for a new evangelization - new "in its ardor, in this methods, and in its expression" (cf. Speech to the CELAM Assembly, March 9, 1983, III: AAS 75,1983,778).
In my responsibility to confirm the faith, I too desire to animate the apostolic zeal which currently impels and motivates the 'continental mission' promulgated in Aparecida, so that "the Christian faith may be rooted more deeply in the heart of the persons and peoples of Latin America as a fundamental event and a vitalizing encounter with Christ" (V General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, Concluding Document, 13).
In this way, authentic disciples and missionaries of the Lord will multiply and the calling of Latin America and the Caribbean to hope will be renewed.
May the light of God shine evermore on the face of each child of that beloved land and may his redeeming grace orient their decisions so they may continue progressing without weakening in the construction of a society grounded in the development of goodness, the triumph of love, and the dissemination of justice.
With these sincere wishes, and sustained by the help of Divine Providence, I plan to undertake an apostolic visit before Holy Easter to Mexico and Cuba to proclaim the Word of Christ and to strengthen the conviction that is an invaluable time to evangelize with firm faith, sincere hope and ardent charity.
I commend all these intentions to the loving mediation of the Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, our Mother in heaven, as well as the present destinies of the Latin American and Caribbean nations and the journey they are undertaking towards a better tomorrow.
Likewise, I invoke upon them the intercession of so many saints and blesseds that the Spirit has inspired throughout the length and breadth of that continent, offering heroic models of Christian virtues in the diversity of their conditions of life and social surroundings, so that their examples may ever more promote a new evangelization under the eyes of Christ, Savior of man and the strength of his life. Amen.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/12/2011 18:23] |