On January 1, 2022, Pope Francis presided the Mass of Our Lady, Mother of God, and described Our Lady’s attitude as Mother.
Newsroom (01/01/2022 7:27 PM, Gaudium Press) The Pope celebrated his first Mass of the year in St. Peter’s Basilica. On this solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, his homily was based on the Gospel passage: Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).
The Holy Father describes the reaction of the shepherds, who, surprised and happy at the news of the Angel, approach the Child Jesus.
Our Lady, on the other hand, was “pensive, she guards this whole reality in her heart,” he said.
Francis explained that the shepherds’ reaction recalls the beginning of the Faith, where things are easy and straightforward. Mary, however, shows signs of “a mature, adult faith.” Thus, Mary Most Holy teaches us to mature and grow in Faith from life’s demanding situations.
A second aspect stressed by Francis in Our Lady is that “she keeps and she ponders.” our Lady “collects the beautiful things in her heart and prayers and seeks to interpret the meaning of events with God’s own eyes.”
“She welcomes the plan of salvation whereby God must lie in a manger. She sees the divine Child frail and shivering, and she accepts the wondrous divine interplay between grandeur and littleness,” the Pontiff noted.
Francis explained that this is how mothers are: “That is what mothers do: they know how to overcome obstacles and disagreements, and to instill peace. In this way, they transform problems into opportunities for rebirth and growth.”. He recalled that this is also the attitude of the Church as Mother. (FM)
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
