SUMMARY:
- IT IS
FAITH WHICH GIVES US A HOME IN THIS WORLD
______________________________________
IT IS
FAITH WHICH GIVES US A HOME IN THIS WORLD
Vatican
City, 4 October 2012 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today made a pastoral visit
to Loreto, Italy, where he entrusted to the Blessed Virgin -
venerated in the famous Marian shrine there - two impending ecclesial
events: the Synod of Bishops on new evangelisation which is to run
from 7 to 28 October, and the Year of Faith which will begin on 11
October. The Holy Father's visit today was also intended to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed Pope John XXIII's
pilgrimage to Loreto during which, on the eve of the inauguration of
Vatican II, he entrusted the Council to the Virgin.
The
shrine of Loreto, which has been a pilgrim destination since the
fourteenth century, conserves the house where Mary lived in Nazareth,
the which, according to popular pious tradition, was transported by
the angels to Loreto in 1294, shortly after the definitive expulsion
of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. Recent examinations of documents
and archaeological remains (excavations under the Holy House), as
well as philological and iconographic studies, are giving increasing
weight to the hypothesis that the stones of the Holy House were
transported to Loreto by ship at the initiative of the aristocratic
Angelos family which then ruled the region of Epirus. Divine
assistance in this undertaking remained as a symbol in the presence
of angels. The House is the place where the Virgin was born, lived
with St. Joseph, received the Annunciation from Gabriel and conceived
the Son of God. It is therefore associated with the Mystery of the
Incarnation.
Mary's
house in Nazareth was composed of two parts: a grotto which is still
to be seen in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and a
house with three stone walls. Comparative studies between the Holy
House of Loreto and the grotto of Nazareth have revealed the
coexistence and contiguity of the two. Another recent study on the
way in which the stone has been worked - in the manner used by the
Nabateans which was widespread in Galilee at Jesus' time - also
confirms the popular tradition. When the three walls of the Holy
House arrived in Loreto they were set up, without foundations, in a
public street, but almost immediately they became the object of the
extraordinary measures of care and protection afforded to a precious
relic.
Benedict
XVI departed from the Vatican by helicopter at 9 a.m. and arrived in
Loreto an hour later, where he was welcomed by the local civil and
religious authorities. He then visited the shrine where he greeted
the community of Capuchin Friars before going on to adore the Blessed
Sacrament and pray before Our Lady of Loreto.
At 10.30
a.m. he celebrated Mass in the Piazza della Madonna di Loreto,
pronouncing a homily ample extracts of which are given below.
"On
4 October 1962, Blessed John XXIII came as a pilgrim to this Shrine
to entrust to the Virgin Mary the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
due to begin a week later. ... Fifty years on, 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 Evangelisation for the Transmission of the
Christian Faith”".
"As
I said in my Apostolic Letter announcing the Year of Faith, “I wish
to invite my brother bishops from all over the world to join the
Successor of Peter, during this time of spiritual grace that the Lord
offers us, in recalling the precious gift of faith”. It is
precisely here at Loreto that we have the opportunity to attend the
school of Mary who was called “blessed” because she “believed”.
... Mary offered her very body; she placed her entire being at the
disposal of God’s will, becoming the “place” of His presence, a
“place” of dwelling for the Son of God. ... The will of Mary
coincides with the will of the Son in the Father’s unique project
of love and, in her, heaven and earth are united, God the Creator is
united to His creature. God becomes man, and Mary becomes a “living
house” for the Lord, a temple where the Most High dwells.
"Here
at Loreto fifty years ago, Blessed John XXIII issued an invitation to
contemplate this mystery. ... He went on to affirm that the aim of
the Council itself was to spread ever wider the beneficial impact of
the Incarnation and Redemption on all spheres of life. 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 recognise that
where God dwells, all are “at home”; wherever Christ dwells, His
brothers and sisters are no longer strangers. ... 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; ... 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. ... It is
not a private house, ... 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.
"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. ... 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 realisation".
"On
this pilgrimage in the footsteps of Blessed John XXIII - which comes,
providentially, on the day in which the Church remembers St. Francis
of Assisi, a veritable “living Gospel” - I wish to entrust to the
Most Holy Mother of God all the difficulties affecting our world as
it seeks serenity and peace. ... I also wish to place in the hands of
the Mother of God this special time of grace for the Church, now
opening up before us. Mother of the “yes”, you who heard Jesus,
speak to us of Him; tell us of your journey, that we may follow Him
on the path of faith; help us to proclaim Him, that each person may
welcome Him and become the dwelling place of God".
Following
Mass, the Pope had lunch at the local John Paul II Centre. He is due
to leave Loreto at 5 p.m. and to arrive back in the Vatican at 6 p.m.
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