Pope in Loreto: "We must return to God, so that man may return to being man. "
Loreto (AsiaNews) - Entrusting
to Mary the Year of Faith and the Synod on the new evangelization, but also
" all the difficulties affecting
our world as it seeks serenity and peace, the problems of the many families who
look anxiously to the future, the aspirations of young people at the start of
their lives, the suffering of those awaiting signs or decisions of solidarity
and love. " Because " We must
return to God, so that man may return to being man." Benedict XVI explains
the purpose of the visit he is making in Loreto, a town that custodies what is
believed to be the "Holy House" of Nazareth, brought here by the angels.
The Pope's trip takes place exactly 50 years after the journey here of John
XXIII. Benedict XVI recalled this during the Mass celebrated in the courtyard
of the shrine of the Holy House, Loreto, entirely filled by the crowd, while
only five thousand faithful were able to get inside the Loggia. In the
churchyard, near the altar, the statue of Our Lady of Loreto, an austere black figure.
Before celebrating Mass, the Pope went to basilica (pictured) for the adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament and to pray to the Virgin. He wanted to greet one by
one the 40 Capuchin friars of the papal delegation and 20 of the Franciscan
Sisters of Mary Immaculate. He shared a joke with the eldest friar of the
prelature: the Archbishop of Loreto, Monsignor Giovanni Tonucci, presented him
as the "oldest", but the Pope shook his hand and said '"No, he
is still young. "
Benedict XVI recalled the words with which Pope John turned to Our Lady asking that
all those taking part in the Council, " to obtain for us the grace to enter the
Council Hall of Saint Peter's Basilica, as the Apostles and the first disciples
of Jesus entered the Upper Room: with one heart, one heartbeat of love for
Christ and for souls, with one purpose only, to live and to sacrifice ourselves
for the salvation of individuals and peoples. " " Fifty years on - he added -, having been called by divine Providence
to succeed that unforgettable Pope to the See of Peter, I too have come on
pilgrimage to entrust to the Mother of God two important ecclesial initiatives:
the Year of Faith, which will begin in a week, on 11 October, on the fiftieth
anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and the Ordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which I have convened this October
with the theme "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith".. "
" It is precisely here at Loreto
- he said - that we have the opportunity to attend the school of Mary who was called "blessed" because
she "believed" (Lk 1:45). This Shrine, built around her earthly home, preserves
the memory of the moment when the angel of Lord came to Mary with the great
announcement of the Incarnation, and she gave her reply. This humble home is a
physical, tangible witness to the greatest event in our history, the
Incarnation; the Word became flesh and Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, is the
privileged channel through which God came to dwell among us (cf. Jn 1:14) "
" Here at Loreto fifty years
ago, Blessed John XXIII issued an invitation to contemplate this mystery, to
"reflect on that union of heaven and earth, which is the purpose of the
Incarnation and Redemption", and he went on to affirm that the aim of the
Council itself was to spread ever wider the beneficent impact of the
Incarnation and Redemption on all spheres of life (cf. AAS 54 [1962], 724).
This invitation resounds today with particular urgency. In the present crisis
affecting not only the economy but also many sectors of society, the
Incarnation of the Son of God speaks to us of how important man is to God, and
God to man. Without God, man ultimately chooses selfishness over solidarity and
love, material things over values, having over being. We must return to God, so
that man may return to being man. With God, even in difficult times or moments
of crisis, there is always a horizon of hope: the Incarnation tells us that we
are never alone, that God has come to humanity and that he accompanies us..
" The idea of the Son of God
dwelling in the "living house", the temple which is Mary, leads us to another
thought: we must recognize that where God dwells, all are "at home"; wherever
Christ dwells, his brothers and sisters are no longer strangers. Mary, who is
the Mother of Christ, is also our mother, and she open to us the door to her
home, she helps us enter into the will of her Son. So it is faith which gives
us a home in this world, which brings us together in one family and which makes
all of us brothers and sisters. As we contemplate Mary, we must ask if we too
wish to be open to the Lord, if we wish to offer him our life as his dwelling
place; or if we are afraid that the presence of God may somehow place limits on
our freedom, if we wish to set aside a part of our life in such a way that it
belongs only to us. Yet it is precisely God who liberates our liberty, he frees
it from being closed in on itself, from the thirst for power, possessions, and
domination; he opens it up to the dimension which completely fulfils it: the
gift of self, of love, which in turn becomes service and sharing. "
" Faith lets us reside, or
dwell, but it also lets us walk on the path of life. The Holy House of Loreto
contains an important teaching in this respect as well. Its location on a
street is well known. At first this might seem strange: after all, a house and
a street appear mutually exclusive. In reality, it is precisely here that an
unusual message about this House has been preserved. It is not a private house,
nor does it belong to a single person or a single family, rather it is an abode
open to everyone placed, as it were, on our street. So here in Loreto we find a
house which lets us stay, or dwell, and which at the same time lets us
continue, or journey, and reminds us that we are pilgrims, that we must always
be on the way to another dwelling, towards our final home, the Eternal City,
the dwelling place of God and the people he has redeemed (cf. Rev 21:3). "
" There is one more important
point in the Gospel account of the Annunciation which I would like to underline,
one which never fails to strike us: God asks for mankind's "yes"; he has
created a free partner in dialogue, from whom he requests a reply in complete
liberty. In one of his most celebrated sermons, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
"recreates", as it were, the scene where God and humanity wait for Mary to say
"yes". Turning to her he begs: "The angel awaits your response, as he must now
return to the One who sent him... O Lady, give that reply which the earth, the
underworld and the very heavens await. Just as the King and Lord of all wished
to behold your beauty, in the same way he earnestly desires your word of
consent... Arise, run, open up! Arise with faith, run with your devotion, open up
with your consent!" (In laudibus Virginis Matris, Hom. IV,8: Opera omnia, Edit.
Cisterc. 4, 1966, p.53f). God asks for Mary's free consent that he may become
man. To be sure, the "yes" of the Virgin is the fruit of divine grace. But
grace does not eliminate freedom; on the contrary it creates and sustains it.
Faith removes nothing from the human creature, rather it permits his full and
final realization."
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