(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said on Friday that there is much sterility within the Church and the people of God, a sterility that comes from power and egoism. The Church, he stressed, is a mother and not an entrepreneur. His remarks came during his homily at morning Mass celebrated at the Santa Marta residence.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges that includes clips of the Pope’s voice:
The Pope’s reflections on the themes of sterility and motherhood were taken from the biblical account of two miraculous births, those of Samson and John the Baptist, both born to women who were formerly sterile. He said this symbol of sterility as recounted in the Bible is seen as the sign of a human person incapable of moving forward. Therefore the Church, he said, wants to make us reflect on the issue of human sterility.
Sterility and new Creation
“From sterility, the Lord is able to restart a new lineage, a new life. And that is the message of today. When humanity is exhausted and can no longer go forward, grace comes, the Son comes and Salvation comes. And that exhausted Creation gives way to a new creation.”
Today’s message, the Pope continued, is this second Creation that comes when the earth is exhausted. We are awaiting the newness of God and that’s what Christmas is about. He pointed out that the mothers of Samson and John the Baptist were able to give birth thanks to the action of the Spirit of the Lord and asked what is the message of these biblical accounts? The reply, he said, is that we must open ourselves to the Spirit of God because we cannot do it by ourselves.
Openess to the newness of God
“This too makes me think of our mother Church and of so much sterility within our Mother Church: when because of the weight of the hope in the Commandments, that pelagianism that all of us carry within our bones, she becomes sterile. She believes she is capable of giving birth… no, she can’t! The Church is a mother and only becomes a mother when she opens to the newness of God, to the strength of the Spirit. When she says to herself: “I do everything, but I’ve finished, I can’t go forward!”, the Spirit comes.”
A mother and not an entrepreneur
Pope Francis then went on to reflect on the sterility within the Church and her openness to becoming a mother through her faith.
“And today is also a day to pray for our Mother Church, because of so much sterility within the people of God. A sterility arising from egoism, from power … when the Church believes she can do everything, that she can take charge of the consciences of the people, walk along the road of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, along the road of hypocrisy, yes, the Church is sterile. Let’s pray. That this Christmas our Church may be open to the gift of God, that she may allow herself to be surprised by the Holy Spirit and be a Church that gives birth, a mother Church. Many times I think that in some places the Church is more like an entrepreneur than a mother.”
The Pope concluded his homily by imploring the Lord for the grace of fertility and motherhood within our Church so that above all the Church is a mother, just like Mary.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) “Sports are at home in the Church” – that’s what Pope Francis told managers and athletes of Italy’s National Olympic Committee Friday. In a meeting in the Vatican, the Pope congratulated them on Rome’s candidacy as a possible venue for the 2024 Olympics, but quipped; “I won’t be here!” He observed that Italy’s…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Friday with religious and civil authorities from the Italian cities of Verona and Catanzaro to thank them for the Christmas tree and nativity scene that they donated for St Peter’s Square. The life sized crib figures, given by Verona’s Arena Foundation, and the giant fir tree from Calabria, he…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said on Friday that there is much sterility within the Church and the people of God, a sterility that comes from power and egoism. The Church, he stressed, is a mother and not an entrepreneur. His remarks came during his homily at morning Mass celebrated at the Santa Marta residence. The…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pilgrims visiting St Peter’s square during these final weeks of Advent can begin to enjoy a little reminder of Christmas at home, with the lighting up of the Vatican’s Christmas tree and the unveiling of the Nativity Scene on the evening of Friday 19th of December.
For many years the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree was hardly followed in Italy, but in 1982 Pope John Paul II had a tree put up in the square, bringing the Polish tradition firmly into the Vatican. Since then, many different countries and regions of Europe have taken turns in donating a tree to the Pope.
This year’s tree, which is 70 years old, was donated by the southern Italian region of Calabria, which Pope Francis visited in June of this year.
In his encyclical “Lumen Fidei” Pope Francis used the image of the branches of a tree to illustrate the spreading of faith out from God into the world.
The tree stands 25.5 metres tall, weighs 8 tons and has what’s known as a twin trunk, that is to say that two separate trunks have fused together to form a single tree trunk. This feature is also used symbolically, to show that man is never alone on his journey through this life, but is always joined by the Lord.
The Nativity scene is titled “The Nativity scene in Opera,” The figurines in the scene are donated by the “Verona for the Arena” foundation, and are inspired by the famous opera productions staged in the Verona Opera Arena, especially Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera “The Elixir of Love.”
One hope is that the scene will help to showcase and promote Italian Opera in the world, but there’s also a more profound hope underneath.
The title play’s on the two meanings of the Italian word “opera,” which can mean either the theatre production or the verb “to work.”
So the “Nativity scene in Opera” also highlights the work that God brought about the Nativity of Jesus Christ.
(from Vatican Radio)…