(Vatican Radio) The third and final Advent sermon for 2015 was preached on Friday by the Preacher of the Pontifical Household, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., at the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace.
Below, please find the full text of Father Raniero Cantalamessa’s Advent Sermon:
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, ofmcap
Third Advent Sermon
Mary in the Mystery of Christ and of the Church
1. Mariology in Lumen gentium
The topic of this last Advent meditation is Chapter 8 of Lumen gentium called “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God in the Mystery of Christ and the Church.” Let us listen to what the Council says on this issue:
The predestination of the Blessed Virgin as Mother of God was associated with the incarnation of the divine word: in the designs of divine Providence she was the gracious mother of the divine Redeemer here on earth, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, gave birth to, and nourished Christ, she presented Him to the Father in the temple, shared his sufferings as He died on the Cross. Thus, in a very special way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work of the Savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.
Alongside the title of Mother of God and of believers, the other fundamental category that the Council uses to illustrate Mary’s role is that of a model or a type:
By reason of the gift and role of her divine motherhood, by which she is united with her Son, the Redeemer, and with her unique graces and functions, the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united to the church. As St. Ambrose taught, the Mother of God is a type of the church in the order of faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ.
The greatest novelty in the Council’s treatment of Mary consists, as we know, precisely in the place in which she was inserted, which was within the Constitution on the Church. In so doing the Council—not without tensions and difficulties—carried out a profound renewal of Mariology with respect to that of recent centuries. The discussion on Mary is no longer separate, as if she held an intermediary position between Christ and the Church; she is placed back into the context of the Church, as she was during the time of the Fathers. Mary is seen, as Saint Augustine said, as the most excellent member of the Church but nonetheless a member of it, not outside of it or above it:
Mary is holy, Mary is blessed, but the Church is something better than the virgin Mary. Why? Because Mary is part of the Church, a holy member, a quite exceptional member, the supremely wonderful member, but still a member of the whole body. That being so, it follows that the body is something greater than the member.
Two realities are reciprocally illumined here. If in fact the discussion on the Church sheds light on who Mary is, the discussion on Mary also sheds light on what the Church is, “the body of Christ,” and as such, it is “almost an extension of the incarnation of the Word.” John Paul II highlighted this reciprocity in his encyclical, Redemptoris Mater: “The Second Vatican Council, by presenting Mary in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Church.”
Another novelty from the Council on Mariology is its emphasis on Mary’s faith. This was also a theme that was taken up and developed more fully by John Paul II who made it the central theme of his Marian encyclical. This represents a return to the Mariology of the Fathers who emphasized the Blessed Virgin’s faith, more than her privileges, as her personal contribution to the mystery of salvation. Here too we can note the influence of Saint Augustine:
The blessed Mary herself conceived by believing the one whom she bore by believing. . . . When the angel [spoke], she was so full of faith [fide plena] that she conceived Christ in her mind before doing so in her womb, and said, Behold the maidservant of the Lord; may it happen to me according to your word [italics original].”
2. An Ecumenical Perspective on Mary as the Mother of Believers
What I would like to do is to highlight the ecumenical importance of the Council’s Mariology, that is, how it can contribute—and is already contributing—to bringing Catholics and Protestants closer together on the sensitive and controversial issue of devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
First I want to clarify the principle at the basis of the reflections that follow. If Mary is fundamentally positioned as a part of the Church, it follows that the biblical categories and affirmations from which to begin to shed light on her, then, are those relative to human beings who constitute the Church and applied to her “a fortiori,” rather than those relative to the divine Persons and applied to her “by reduction.”
For example, to understand the sensitive issue of the mediation of Mary in the work of salvation in the right way, it is more helpful to start with her mediation as a creature, or from below, as is the case with the mediation of Abraham, the apostles, and the sacraments of the Church itself, rather than from the divine-human mediation of Christ. The greatest gap, in fact, is not that which exists between Mary and the rest of the Church, but that which exists between Mary and the Church on one side, and Christ and the Trinity on the other side, that is, between the creatures and the Creator.
Let us now draw the conclusion from this. If Abraham, because of what he had done, merited in the Bible the name of “father of us all” (Rom 4:16; see Lk 16:24), which means the father of all believers, we can better understand why the Church does not hesitate to call Mary “the mother of us all,” the mother of all believers.
In this comparison between Abraham and Mary we can gain an even better insight concerning not only that simple title but also its content and significance. Is “mother of all believers” a simple title of honor, or is it something more? Here we can glimpse the possibility of an ecumenical discussion on Mary. John Calvin interprets the text in which God said to Abraham, “By you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Gen 12:3) to mean that “Abram would be [not only] an example but a cause of blessing [italics original].” A well-known modern Protestant exegete similarly writes,
The question has been raised [about Gen 12:3: “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves”] whether the meaning is only that Abraham is to become a formula for blessing, that his blessing is to become far and wide proverbial. . . . The accepted interpretation must therefore remain. It is like a “command [by God] to history” [see B. Jacob]. Abraham is assigned the role of a mediator of blessing in God’s saving plan, for “all the families of the earth.”
This helps us understand what tradition, beginning with Saint Irenaeus, says about Mary: she is not only an example of blessing but also a cause of salvation—although in a manner that depends uniquely on grace and on God’s will. Eve “having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and the entire human race, so also did Mary, . . . by yielding obedience, become the cause of salvation, both to herself and for the whole human race [italics added].” Mary’s words that “all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48) are also to be considered “a command by God to history.”
It is an encouraging fact to discover that the very initiators of the Reform recognized the title and the prerogative of “Mother” for Mary in the sense of being our mother and the mother of salvation. In a sermon for Christmas Mass, Martin Luther said, “This is the comfort and exceeding goodness of God that [for every person] . . . Mary is his rightful mother, Christ his brother, and God his father. . . . This will be the case if you believe,
then you will repose in the lap of the virgin Mary and be her dear child.” Ulrich Zwingli, in a sermon in 1524, calls Mary “the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation” and says that in regard to her he “never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything . . . which could be considered dishonorable, impious, unworthy, or evil.”
How then did we ever get to the current situation of so much uneasiness by Protestant brothers and sisters about Mary, to the point that in some circles it is almost a duty to belittle Mary, to attack Catholics continuously on this point, and in every instance to skip over everything that Scripture itself says about her?
This is not the place to do a historical review. I merely want to point out what seems to me the path that leads away from this unfortunate situation about Mary. That path includes an honest recognition of the fact that often, especially in the recent centuries, we Catholics have contributed to making Mary unacceptable to Protestants by honoring her in ways that are often exaggerated and ill-advised and above all by not keeping devotion to her clearly within a biblical framework that demonstrates her subordinate role with respect to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus himself. Mariology in recent centuries has become a non-stop factory of new titles, new devotions, often in polemic against Protestants, sometimes using Mary—our common Mother!—as a weapon against them.
The Second Vatican Council reacted to this tendency appropriately by recommending that the faithful “carefully refrain from whatever might by word or deed lead the separated sisters and brothers or any others whatsoever into error about the true doctrine of the church” and by reminding the faithful that “true devotion consists neither in sterile or transitory feeling, nor in an empty credulity.”
On the Protestants’ side, there is, I believe, room to acknowledge the negative influence that not only anti-Catholic polemic but also rationalism has had in their attitude toward Mary. Mary is not an idea but a concrete person, a woman, and as such she does not easily lend herself to be theorized about or reduced to an abstract principle. She is the very icon of God’s simplicity. For this reason, in an atmosphere dominated by extreme rationalism, she had to be eliminated from the theological scene.
A Lutheran woman who died a few years ago, Mother Basilea Schlink, founded a community of sisters in the Lutheran Church called the “Sisters of Mary,” which has now spread to various countries throughout the world. After recalling different texts by Luther on the Blessed Mother, she wrote in one of her short books (whose Italian translation I edited),
Reading these words of Martin Luther, who revered the mother Mary to the end of his life, observed the festivals of the Virgin Mary, and daily sang the Magnificat, we can sense how far the majority of us have drifted away from the proper attitude towards her. . . . Because rationalism accepted only that which could be explained rationally, church festivals in honor of Mary and everything else reminiscent of her were done away with in the Protestant Church. All biblical relationship to the mother Mary was lost, and we are still suffering from this heritage. When Martin Luther bids us to praise the mother Mary, declaring that she can never be praised enough as the noblest lady and, after Christ, the fairest gem in Christendom, I must confess that for many years I was one of those who had not done so, although Scripture says that henceforth all generations would call Mary blessed (Luke 1:48). I had not taken my place among these generations.
All these premises allow us to develop a heartfelt hope that one day in the not too distant future, Catholics and Protestants might no longer be divided but united about Mary in a shared veneration, perhaps differing in its forms but agreeing in recognizing her as the Mother of God and the Mother of believers. I have had the joy of personally observing some signs of this shift going on. On more than one occasion, I have been able to speak about Mary to a Protestant audience, noting not only acceptance among those present but also, at least in one case, the deep emotion that occurs in the rediscovery of something precious and in a healing of memories.
3. Mary, Mother and Daughter of God’s Mercy
Let us leave aside the ecumenical discussion, and let us try to see if the Year of Mercy helps us discover something new about the Mother of God. Mary is invoked in the ancient prayer Salve Regina as “Mater misericordiae,” the Mother of mercy. In that same prayer, this invocation is addressed to her: “illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte”: “Turn . . . thine eyes of mercy toward us.” At the opening Mass for the Jubilee Year in St. Peter’s Square on December 8, an ancient icon of the Mother of God was displayed at the side of the altar. This icon, which is venerated by Ukrainian Greek Catholics in a church in Jaroslaw, Poland, is known as the “Doors of Mercy.”
Mary is the mother and door of mercy in two senses. She was the door through which the mercy of God, in Jesus, entered into the world, and she is now the door through which we enter into the mercy of God and present ourselves to the “throne of mercy,” which is the Trinity. This is all very true, but it is only one aspect of the relationship between Mary and the mercy of God. She is in fact not only a channel and a mediator of God’s mercy but also its object and its first recipient. She is not only the one who obtains mercy for us but also the one who first obtained mercy and more so than anyone else.
Mercy is synonymous with grace. Only in the Trinity do we find love that is nature and not grace; it is love but not mercy. The Father loving the Son is not a grace or a concession; it is in a certain sense a necessity. The Father needs to love in order to exist as Father. The Son loving the Father is not a concession or a grace; it is an intrinsic necessity even if it occurs with the utmost freedom. The Son needs to be loved and to love in order to be the Son. It is when God creates the world and free creatures in it that his love becomes a free and unmerited gift, that is, grace and mercy. This is the case even before sin entered. Sin only made God’s mercy, which was a gift, become forgiveness.
The qualification “full of grace” is thus synonymous with “full of mercy.” Mary herself, moreover, proclaims this in the Magnificat: “he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden”; “He has helped . . . in remembrance of his mercy”; “his mercy is . . . from generation to generation” (Lk 1:48, 54, 50). Mary knows that she is a beneficiary of mercy, a specially favored witness of it. In her case, the mercy of God did not bring about forgiveness for sin but preservation from sin.
St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus said that what God did with Mary is what a good doctor would do during an epidemic. He goes from house to house curing those who have contracted the disease. But if there is someone who is especially close to his heart, like his wife or his mother, he will try, if he can, to prevent them from even catching the infection. This is precisely what God has done in preserving Mary from original sin through the merits of his Son’s passion.
St. Augustine, speaking of Jesus’ humanity, says, “By what preceding merits . . . has this man merited to be . . . assumed by the Word co-eternal with the Father into the unity of one person? What good of his, of any kind whatever, preceded this union? What did he do beforehand, what did he believe, what did he ask, in order to arrive at this ineffable excellence?” Augustine adds elsewhere, “Ask yourself whether this involved any merit, any motivation, any right on your part; and see whether you find anything but grace.”
These words shed a unique light on Mary as well. All the more so should we ask, what did Mary do to deserve the privilege of giving the Word his humanity? What had she believed, asked for, hoped, or endured to come into the world holy and immaculate? Look here as well for any merit, for any fairness, look for anything you want and see if, from the outset, you find anything but grace, that is, mercy!
Saint Paul as well will not cease throughout his life to consider himself the fruit of and a trophy of God’s mercy. He describes himself as “one who has received mercy from the Lord” (see 1 Cor 7:25). He did not confine himself to formulating the doctrine of mercy but became himself a living witness to it: “I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but I received mercy” (1 Tim 1:13).
Mary and the apostle teach us that the best way to preach mercy is to give testimony to the mercy God has had on us. They teach us to consider ourselves also as the fruit of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus and alive only because of it. One day Jesus healed an unfortunate person possessed by an unclean spirit. He wanted to follow Jesus and join his group of disciples. Jesus did not allow him to and told him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mk 5:19).
Mary, who glorified and thanked God in the Magnificat for his mercy toward her, invites us to do the same in the Year of Mercy. She invites us to make her canticle resound in the Church every day like a chorus that repeats a song after the soloist. Therefore, let me invite you to stand and to proclaim together, in place of the final Marian antiphon, the canticle of God’s mercy, which is the Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord. . . .”
Holy Father, Venerable Fathers, brothers and sisters, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year of Mercy
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present the manual “Making human rights work for people living in extreme poverty: a handbook for implementing the UN Guiding Principles on extreme poverty and human rights”. The panel was composed of Bishop Bernardo Johannes Bahlmann, O.F.M., of Obidos, north-east Brazil; Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis; Fr. Michael A. Perry, O.F.M., minister general of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor; Francesca Restifo, Franciscans International (FI) International Advocacy Director; and Jean Tonglet, ATD Fourth World delegate for Italy and Relations with the Holy See. Bishop Bahlmann began by speaking about deforestation in the Amazon and the catastrophic consequences for the populations who live there and for the planet as a whole; Fr. Perry then commented on how Franciscans live in close contact with the communities affected by poverty in various parts of the world, and seek to establish a strong bond between the protection of the rights of the poor and the protection of the environment. Francesca Restifo then explained the content and aims of the Manual. “The elimination of extreme poverty is not only a moral duty, but also a legal obligation, by virtue of the provisions of international law on human rights. Extreme poverty is not merely an economic question: it is a multidimensional phenomenon that includes both the lack of income and the basic capacities for being able to live in a dignified fashion, and it is something that seriously compromises the possibility for people to exercise or obtain their rights in the foreseeable future. The guiding principles are the first instrument that the United Nations dedicated to people in poverty. We understood the potential of this document and immediately felt the need to translate it into a language accessible to all. As is enshrined in them: ‘Extreme poverty is not inevitable. It is, at least in part, created, enabled and perpetuated by acts and omissions of States and other economic actors’. But ‘the tools for ending it are within reach’”. These tools are “a basis in human rights, providing a framework for the long-term eradication of extreme poverty, starting from the acknowledgement that those who live in poverty are holders of rights and agents of their own change; empowerment, or rather making people autonomous and active in their community in reclaiming their rights; and participation and consultation with these people in the policies that affect them directly”. “The aim of the manual that we present today was and remains that of helping local workers to understand better the consequences in terms of human rights for people who live in conditions of extreme poverty, and to propose to them a series of concrete actions to reclaim their rights, thus becoming agents of change. Our objective was to translate their individual challenges into collective actions. To do this, it was first necessary to listen to the needs of those who work with people directly involved in situations of poverty. … This took two years of constant consultation and collaboration at a capillary level with local communities and a continual exchange of ideas and information. We consulted with activists working in urban slums and in rural areas with limited access to basic services, with indigenous local populations who were losing their land and their means of subsistence due to the actions of large multinationals, and with those who work directly in the field to protect women, children, migrants and refugees”. With regard to the content of the manual, Restifo explained that following the introductory chapter, the second part establishes various fundamental principles such as the importance of winning the trust of those who live in extreme poverty, the evaluation of the risks that they may run in claiming their rights, and their active participation in all phases of the process. The third part offers suggestions for concrete actions which can be undertaken to help the authorities respect their obligations in terms of human rights – valid proposals both for developing countries and those that are already industrialised. This is also the part that focuses on groups of rights, recognising their indivisibility, mutual relationship and interdependence. It is a practical guide to acting according to the situation and the specific questions relating to those involved. Finally, the fourth part is dedicated to the importance of monitoring the actions undertaken”. Finally, Restifo emphasised that there is not a clear division between poverty and extreme poverty, but the latter is characterised by multiple and interrelated violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. “Extreme poverty affects various areas of human existence and often creates a vicious circle of impotence, stigmatisation, discrimination, exclusion and material deprivation … elements that feed on each other. Some people can be poor but at the same time are part of a social fabric in which they are in any case integrated. Others do not have the same possibility”….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received Birthday Wishes and a celebratory cake on Thursday as he greeted members of the Italian “Azione Cattolica” movement thanking them for their commitment to welcome migrants.
It was a special morning in the Vatican as a large group of children and young people who belong to the non-political lay organization sang “Happy Birthday” to the Pope as he received them for the annual Christmas audience on the day that marks his 79th birthday.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
In a festive atmosphere, the Pope commended them for their desire to live the Gospel to the full, and for their mission to involve family members, parishes and communities in an actively Christian life.
He said that by participating actively in the Mass and in Catechism, they become like missionaries and are able to bring Jesus to others.
The Pope complimented them on the motto of their formative programme for the current year which is “Journeying towards You” and said that to “journey towards the Lord means to take the good road – not the evil one; it means to put oneself on the road of forgiveness, of peace, of solidarity”.
“In this regard – he said – your initiative in favour of Migrants in the Agrigento diocese is a very good one.”
And he invoked the Lord’s blessing for the project which – he said – aims to give and exemplary welcome to “so many brothers and sisters or ours who arrive full of hope, but are also wounded and in desperate need of so much, including peace and bread”.
With your enthusiasm and your prayers – the Pope said – you can make a special contribution; and he encouraged them to also share their belongings with other young people who have none.
Pope Francis concluded with a special greeting to some of the leaders of “Azione Cattolica” who were present at the audience and thanked them for the commitment they show imparting a Christian education.
And he invoked the Lord’s blessing for the project which – he said – aims to give and exemplary welcome to “so many brothers and sisters or ours who arrive full of hope, but are also wounded and in desperate need of so much, including peace and bread”.
With your enthusiasm and your prayers – the Pope said – you can make a special contribution; and he encouraged them to also share their belongings with other young people who have none.
Pope Francis concluded with a special greeting to some of the leaders of “Azione Cattolica” who were present at the audience and thanked them for the commitment they show imparting a Christian education.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday said today’s globalization of indifference is rooted in a distorted or unbalanced humanism in which “man has taken the place of God and therefore has become in turn a victim of various forms of idolatry.” At the same time, he pointed to a positive development, saying we are witnessing from those with more mature consciences a growing “non-violent reaction” to the wars and terrorism that have marked this year. The Pope’s remarks came in an address to the Ambassadors from India, Latvia, Guinea and Bahrain to the Holy See who were presenting their Letters of Credence.
In his discourse, Pope Francis urged the Ambassadors to work together to promote a culture of solidarity in our world that can help counteract the globalization of indifference which, he said, is unfortunately “one of the negative trends of our times”. Whilst recognizing that this attitude of indifference can take many different forms and there are many causes that help to feed it, Pope Francis said its roots can be found in today’s “distorted humanism in which man has taken the place of God.” As a result of this, he added, “mankind has become in turn a victim of various forms of idolatry.”
He went on to say that “indifference towards God, towards our neighbour and towards the environment is inter-linked” and each helps to feed the other. Saying this indifference can only be counteracted with a response that tackles all three elements, the Pope called for “a renewed humanism that reinstates human beings in their correct relationship with the Creator, with others and with creation.”
In order to achieve this aim, said Pope Francis, we need to promote a culture of solidarity and sharing and this requires the active involvement of political, social, cultural and educational leaders, as well as the mass media that nowadays exert a strong influence on personal and social attitudes.
Noting that 2015 unfortunately has been marked by a growing number of violent conflicts and terrorist attacks, Pope Francis said there was some good news as this situation was triggering “a growing non-violent reaction” that is spiritual and moral among those with more mature consciences. He said the Catholic Church through its Jubilee of Mercy wishes to encourage this process by spreading throughout the world the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will on Friday open a Holy Door at a newly refurbished homeless centre run by the Church near Rome’s main train station. Lydia O’Kane went along to see the newly completed project which offers a bed, a meal and ray of hope to hundreds of people every night.
Listen:
As you arrive at the Holy Door of the Caritas centre for the homeless at Rome’s Termini Station you can’t fail to notice the mosaic logo of the Year of Mercy depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd by Marko Ivan Rupnik.
The door will be opened by Pope Francis on December 18th and he will also have the chance to see for himself the newly refurbished night hostel and canteen which are named after Caritas Rome founder Don Luigi Di Liegro and Pope Saint John Paul II.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new centre which he described as a place of dignity and welcome, the present Director of Caritas Rome, Monsignor Enrico Feroci quoted the words of Don Luigi who said, “a city in which one man suffers less is a better city”.
Those words are inscribed on the walls of the new pristine canteen which caters for up to 600 homeless people every evening and offers a much needed respite from the streets outside where people can come, for warmth, contact with others, and a good meal.
As I make my way to the hostel itself, I am impressed by how welcoming they have made the 200 bed dormitories, each one with its own signature colour.
It’s taken years of work and co-operation to have both the canteen and hostel ready for Pope Francis’ Jubilee visit as Fulvio Ferrari, the Chief Engineer responsible for the project explains.
“We work during two years… in the last 6 months we work strongly and for the Jubilee”.
So why does he think Pope Francis chose to open a Holy Door here?
He says it’s because it is putting service at the heart of the Church’s mission.
This is a centre that offers hope and help to all who pass through its doors, but here at Termini there is also general agreement that in this Jubilee of Mercy more and more people are increasingly in need of services like these.
(from Vatican Radio)…