Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I thank the Lord that I can
celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the
solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the
universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day
of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of
affection and gratitude.
I offer a warm greeting to my
brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious,
and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and
ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community
and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go
to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations
from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.
In the Gospel we heard that
"Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife"
(Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to
Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary
and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John
Paul II pointed out: "Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly
dedicated himself to Jesus Christ's upbringing, he likewise watches over and
protects Christ's Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the
exemplar and model" (Redemptoris Custos, 1).
How does Joseph exercise his role
as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence
and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of
his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the
Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse
of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem
for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the
drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in
the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the
workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.
How does Joseph respond to his
calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly
attentive to God, open to the signs of God's presence and receptive to God's
plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard
in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness
to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from
living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a "protector" because he is able
to hear God's voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the
more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at
things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly
wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call,
readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which
is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so
that we can protect creation!
The vocation of being a
"protector", however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it
also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means
protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis
tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of
God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means
protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially
children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It
means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect
one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children
themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere
friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In
the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are
responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts!
Whenever human beings fail to
live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for
our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are
hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are "Herods" who plot
death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.
Please, I would like to ask all
those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social
life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be "protectors" of creation,
protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of
the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany
the advance of this world! But to be "protectors", we also have to keep watch
over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives!
Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our
hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that
build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even
tenderness!
Here I would add one more thing:
caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the
Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet
in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but
rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion,
for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of
tenderness!
Today, together with the feast
of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new
Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power.
Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was
it? Jesus' three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands:
feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is
service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more
fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must
be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint
Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God's people and
embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the
weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on
love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in
prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to
protect!
In the second reading, Saint
Paul speaks of Abraham, who, "hoping against hope, believed" (Rom 4:18). Hoping
against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope
and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to
protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love,
is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the
heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us
Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set
against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a
hope built on the rock which is God.
To protect Jesus with Mary, to
protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest,
to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to
carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will
shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!
I implore the intercession of
the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that
the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me!
Amen.
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