#PopeFrancis "I invite you to pray for this, while together with you I entrust to Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, the 2018.." FULL TEXT + Video
POPE FRANCIS - Full Text ANGELUS - Source: Vatican.va
St. Peter's Square
Monday, 1 January 2018
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
On the first page of the calendar of the new year that the Lord gives us, the Church poses, as a stupendous miniature, the liturgical solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God. On this first day of the new year, we fix our gaze on her, for resume, under its maternal protection, the path along the paths of time.
Today's Gospel (cf. Lk 2: 16-21) brings us back to the stable of Bethlehem. The shepherds arrive quickly and find Mary, Joseph and the Child; and they report the announcement given them by the angels, that is, that Newborn is the Savior. Everyone is astonished, while "Mary, for her part, kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (v. 19). The Virgin makes us understand how to accept the Christmas event: not superficially but in the heart. It shows us the true way of receiving God's gift: to keep it in the heart and meditate on it. It is an invitation addressed to each of us to pray contemplating and tasting this gift that is Jesus himself.
It is through Mary that the Son of God assumes corporeity. But Mary's motherhood is not reduced to this: thanks to her faith, she is also the first disciple of Jesus and this "expands" her motherhood. It will be Mary's faith that provokes the first miraculous "sign" at Cana, which helps to arouse the faith of the disciples. With the same faith, Mary is present at the foot of the cross and receives the apostle John as a son; and finally, after the Resurrection, he becomes a prayerful mother of the Church on which the Holy Spirit descends with power on the day of Pentecost.
As a mother, Mary performs a very special function: she places herself between her Son Jesus and men in the reality of their privations, in the reality of their indigences and sufferings. Mary intercedes, as at Cana, aware that as a mother she can, indeed, have to make present to the Son the needs of men, especially the weakest and most disadvantaged. And it is precisely these people who are dedicated to the theme of the World Day of Peace that we celebrate today: "Migrants and refugees: men and women seeking peace", this is the motto of this Day. I would like once again to voice these brothers and sisters who call for a horizon of peace for their future. For this peace, which is the right of all, many of them are willing to risk their lives on a journey that in most cases is long and dangerous; they are ready to face hardships and sufferings (cf. Message for the World Day of Peace 2018, 1).
Please do not turn off the hope in their hearts; we do not stifle their peace expectations! It is important that everyone, civil institutions, educational, welfare and ecclesial realities are committed to ensuring refugees, migrants and everyone a future of peace. May the Lord grant us to work in this new year with generosity, generosity, to create a more supportive and welcoming world. I invite you to pray for this, while together with you I entrust to Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, the 2018 just begun. The old Russian monks, mystics, said that in times of spiritual turbulence it was necessary to gather under the mantle of the Holy Mother of God. Thinking of today's turbulence, and especially of migrants and refugees, we pray as they taught us to pray: "Under your protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God: do not despise the supplications of us who are in the trial, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin".
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
on the threshold of 2018, I address to all my cordial wishes for every good for the new year, to all of you!
I would like to thank the President of the Italian Republic for the greetings he addressed to me last night in his Message for the end of the year, and I am looking forward to the Italian people for a year of serenity and peace, enlightened by God's constant blessing.
I express my appreciation for the many initiatives of prayer and action for peace, organized in every part of the world on the occasion of today's World Day of Peace. I am thinking, in particular, of the National March that took place last night in Sotto il Monte, promoted by CEI, Caritas Italiana, Pax Christi and Azione Cattolica. And I greet the participants in the "Peace in all lands" event, promoted in Rome and in many countries by the Community of Sant'Egidio. Dear friends, I encourage you to carry forward with joy your commitment to solidarity, especially in the suburbs of the cities, to foster peaceful coexistence.
I address my greeting to you, dear pilgrims present here, especially those of New York, the band from California and the "Pro Loco" group from Massalengo.
To all I renew the wish for a year of peace in the grace of the Lord and with the maternal protection of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Happy New Year, have a good lunch, and do not forget to pray for me. Goodbye!
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