(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Monday afternoon, to mark the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day for Consecrated Life – exactly one year ahead of the close of the Year for Consecrated Life, which opened on the First Sunday of Advent.
The blessing of the candles preceded the Mass – the candles that are sign and symbol of that Light, which is Christ, Himself – and then the liturgy began with a candle-light procession into the basilica, as the choir intoned the antiphon: Christ, light unto the Nations, and glory God’s people, Israel.
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The focus of the Holy Father’s homily was the virtue of obedience, keystone of the religious life. “In persevering along the path of obedience,” said Pope Francis, “personal and communal wisdom matures, and thus it also becomes possible to adapt rules to the times – for true aggiornamento is the fruit of wisdom forged in docility and obedience.”
Pope Francis concluded his homily with an exhortation, directed especially to all those in consecrated life: “Let us bring others to Jesus, but let us also allow ourselves to be led by him. This is what we should be: guides who themselves are guided.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily on Monday afternoon at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, being celebrated to mark the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day for Consecrated Life, in the context of the Year dedicated to the same. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks.
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Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
2 February 2015
Before our eyes we can picture Mother Mary as she walks, carrying the Baby Jesus in her arms. She brings him to the Temple; she presents him to the people; she brings him to meet his people.
The arms of Mother Mary are like the “ladder” on which the Son of God comes down to us, the ladder of God’s condescension . This is what we heard in the first reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews: Christ became “like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest” ( Heb 2:17). This is the twofold path taken by Jesus: he descended , he became like us, in order then to ascend with us to the Father, making us like himself.
In our heart we can contemplate this double movement by imagining the Gospel scene of Mary who enters the Temple holding the Child in her arms. The Mother walks, yet it is the Child who goes before her . She carries him, yet he is leading her along the path of the God who comes to us so that we might go to him.
Jesus walked the same path as we do, and showed us a new way, the “new and living way” (cf. Heb 10:20) which is himself. For us too, as consecrated men and women, he opened a path .
Fully five times the Gospel speaks to us of Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the “law of the Lord” (cf. Lk 2:22-24,27,39). Jesus came not to do his own will, but the will of the Father. This way, he tells us, was his “food” (cf. Jn 4:34). In the same way, all those who follow Jesus must set out on the path of obedience, imitating as it were the Lord’s “condescension” by humbling themselves and making their own the will of the Father, even to self-emptying and abasement (cf. Phil 2:7-8). For a religious person, to progress is to lower oneself in service. A path like that of Jesus, who “did not count equality with God something to be grasped.”: to lower oneself, making oneself a servant, in order to serve.
This path, then, takes the form of the rule , marked by the charism of the founder . For all of us, the essential rule remains the Gospel, this abasement of Christ, yet the Holy Spirit, in his infinite creativity, also gives it expression in the various rules of the consecrated life, though all of these are born of that sequela Christi , from this path of self-abasement in service.
Through this “law” consecrated persons are able to attain wisdom , which is not an abstract attitude, but a work and a gift of the Holy Spirit, the sign and proof of which is joy. Yes, the mirth of the religious is a consequence of this journey of abasement with Jesus: and when we are sad, it would do us well to ask how we are living this kenotic dimension.
In the account of Jesus’ Presentation, wisdom is represented by two elderly persons , Simeon and Anna: persons docile to the Holy Spirit (He is named 4 times), led by him, inspired by him. The Lord granted them wisdom as the fruit of a long journey along the path of obedience to his law, an obedience which likewise humbles and abases – even as it also guards and guarantees hope – and now they are creative, for they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They even enact a kind of liturgy around the Child as he comes to the Temple. Simeon praises the Lord and Anna “proclaims” salvation (cf. Lk 2:28-32,38). As with Mary, the elderly man holds the Child, but in fact it is the Child who guides the elderly man. The liturgy of First Vespers of today’s feast puts this clearly and concisely: “senex puerum portabat, puer autem senem regebat” . Mary, the young mother, and Simeon, the kindly old man, hold the Child in their arms, yet it is the Child himself who guides both of them.
It is curious: here it is not young people who are creative: the young, like Mary and Joseph, follow the law of the Lord, the path of obedience. And the Lord turns obedience into wisdom by the working of his Holy Spirit. At times God can grant the gift of wisdom to a young person, but always as the fruit of obedience and docility to the Spirit. This obedience and docility is not something theoretical; it too is subject to the economy of the incarnation of the Word: docility and obedience to a founder, docility and obedience to a specific rule, docility and obedience to one’s superior, docility and obedience to the Church. It is always docility and obedience in the concrete.
In persevering along along the path of obedience, personal and communal wisdom matures, and thus it also becomes possible to adapt rules to the times . For true “aggiornamento” is the fruit of wisdom forged in docility and obedience.
The strengthening and renewal of consecrated life are the result of great love for the rule , and also the ability to look to and heed the elders of one’s congregation. In this way, the “deposit”, the charism of each religious family, is preserved by obedience and by wisdom , working together. And, along this journey, we are preserved from living our consecration lightly and in a disincarnate manner, as though it were a Gnosis , which would reduce itself to a “caricature” of the religious life, in which is realized a sequela – a following – that is without sacrifice, a prayer that is without encounter, a fraternal life that is without communion, an obedience without trust, a charity without transcendence.
Today we too, like Mary and Simeon, want to take Jesus into our arms, to bring him to his people. Surely we will be able to do so if we enter into the mystery in which Jesus himself is our guide. Let us bring others to Jesus, but let us also allow ourselves to be led by him. This is what we should be: guides who themselves are guided.
May the Lord, through the intercession of Mary our Mother, Saint Joseph and Saints Simeon and Anna, grant to all of us what we sought in today’s opening prayer: to “be presented [to him] fully renewed in spirit”. Amen.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Presenting the Vatican Council for Culture Plenary Assembly to press Monday, the President Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi spoke of the need to avoid rhetoric and clichés when exploring the theme of women, in society and the Church.
The Plenary will run from February 4-7 and explore the topic Women’s cultures: equality and difference.
Card. Ravasi told reporters the expression “women’s cultures” doesn’t imply division from men’s cultures, but awareness of women’s “perspective” on the world.
The Council has identified key areas it wants to explore during the Plenary’s four sessions: generativity, rights, poor and invisible women, women’s spirituality, equality and reciprocity, power and service, insights and vision, biology and women in the Church.
While these sessions are closed to the Council’s 31 members and 35 consulters, the Cardinal invited participation in a public session to be held in Rome’s Teatro Argentina on Wednesday February 4 th or on social media using the hastag #Lifeof Women from 15:30 pm Rome time.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Lithuania’s clergy have been “heroic” in defending the Church in times of persecution – that’s what Pope Francis told Bishops from the Baltic nation who are in Rome for their ad Limina visit. If Lithuania was for many years “oppressed by regimes founded on ideologies contrary to human dignity and freedom,” the former Soviet state is now faced with “other dangers such as secularism and relativism,” the Pope said in a written statement.
The last Soviet troops left Lithuania on 31 August 1993 and the country became a full member of the European Union in 2004. Lithuania adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2015.
In his remarks to Lithuanian bishops meeting in the Vatican Monday, Pope Francis noted some of them had lived through the “sad times” of persecution and observed the Church’s pastors have historically accompanied the faithful spiritually, through material difficulties, and in the construction of society.
The Pope invited the prelates to “tirelessly announce the Gospel and Christian values” and to “ constructive dialogue with all, even those who do not belong to the Church or are far from the religious experience.”
The Holy Father called them to pray for “generous priests capable of sacrifice and dedication,” and for lay people capable of taking responsibility within the Church community and of giving valuable Christian witness in society, particularly in the civil, cultural, and socio-political spheres.
With its full membership in the European Union, Lithuania, the Pope warned, is exposed to an “influx of ideologies that would introduce elements of destabilization for families , fruit of a poorly understood sense of personal freedom.” He encouraged them to provide pastoral guidance and support to help strengthen families.
The Pope further urged the bishops to pay special attention to vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, saying that they need “adequate training” throughout their ministry. The poor, unemployed, the sick and young people, the Pope concluded, are also in need of the Lithuanian Church’s pastoral solicitude.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The expected arrival of Pope Francis in Bosnia-Herzegovina is expected to be welcomed by the country’s heavily Catholic Croat community at a time when the nation is preparing for a sad anniversary.
Listen to the report by regional correspondent Stefan Bos :
Pope Francis will visit Sarajevo while Bosnia-Herzegovina seeks unity to heal the wounds of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, which claimed over 100,000 lives.
Some two decades after the U.S. sponsored Dayton peace accords ended that conflict, the country is still deeply divided, complicating attempts to solve corruption, high unemployment and political
polarization.
Tensions remain especially between mainly Orthodox Serbs with their Serb Republic – or Republika Srpska – and the Federation, the other autonomous region dominated by Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats.
Many still mourn over the thousands of people who were killed or taken to concentration camps during Serb efforts in the 1990s to drive out non-Serbs.
MASSACRE REMEMBERED
The pontiff is in Bosnia-Herzegovina at a time when the Balkan country prepares for the 20th anniversary of an atrocity on a scale not seen in Europe since the Holocaust.
On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces entered the town of Srebrenica, killing about 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
Last Friday, the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague upheld sentences of five men convicted over the Srebrenica massacre. Vujadin Popović and Ljubiša Beara were sentenced to life prisonment, while Drago Nikolić must serve 35 years’, Radivoje Miletić 18 years’ and Vinko Pandurević 13 years’ behind bars.
But for survivors the pain remains. “I was very much hurt by the fact that the word “genocide” was not mentioned at all in the reading of the convictions,” said Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica group.
“The sentence of Miletic was even lowered, while he is responsible for killing children, killing and raping women and killing old people,” she added.
BROTHERHOOD, PEACE
Yet amid the suffering, Pope Francis has called for prayers. He wants this first papal trip to Sarajevo in 18 years to contribute to brotherhood and peace.
Bosnia’s small Catholic population is expected to answer his call to pray for the visit.
Despite difficulties, Croat Catholics often gather including in Medjugorje, a famous pilgrimage site at an altitude of 200 meters above sea level.
Catholic aid workers have said there are some 440,000 Catholics in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure.
That’s why prayers will reverberate throughout the mountains ahead of Pope Francis intention to personally encourage the country’s Catholics not to give up hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…