Pope Francis Explains "The Gospel shows us Mary as the one who, in order to welcome Jesus, the Father's Wisdom..." FULL TEXT
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE COMPANY OF MARY (MONFORTANI)
Clementine Hall
Saturday, May 20, 2023
[Multimedia]
________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of your thirty-eighth General Chapter, on the anniversaries of the birth and canonization of your Founder. Celebrating more than three centuries of life and service, you have chosen the motto for your work: "Dare to risk for God and for humanity. Our creative fidelity». It's true, it's not a mummified fidelity, it's creative! These are words that well recall the values that animated St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort at the beginning of your history.
He lived in a time marked by demanding challenges for the Church and for society: known as the "age of rationalists and libertines" and at the same time the "cradle of Jansenism". In the face of these provocations, St. Louis-Marie asked first of all what their common root was, and he identified it in an excessive trust of men in the wisdom of the world to the detriment of the primacy of the Wisdom of God. launched into an intense preaching activity, with creativity and without fear, also encountering misunderstandings inside and outside the Church: it always happens like this. And he never gave up, continuing to preach and to promote the love of true Wisdom, through devotion to Mary, until her death, which occurred at the age of only forty-three, in the Vendée, during a mission. You bear witness to his courage from his fruits: present in thirty-three countries, with more than seven hundred religious, together with the Brothers of St. Gabriel, the Daughters of Wisdom and the Lay Associates. This is beautiful!
Even today, pastoral challenges are not lacking: for example, individualism which closes each one in his own little world, relativism and hedonism which make pleasure or personal gain the yardstick of every choice, consumerist selfishness which dries up the hearts of rich and creates unjust inequalities to the detriment of the poor.
In the face of all this, St. Louis Marie left you a program of life and action that is always timely: "to seek, contemplate, reveal Wisdom in the heart of the world and denounce its false wisdom" (Rule of Life, Introduction), and this on the example and with the help of Mary. I would like to underline three values that I consider important and current, yours: hospitality, internationality and tenderness.
The Gospel shows us Mary as the one who, in order to welcome Jesus, the Father's Wisdom, courageously accepted to completely change her life, her habits, her dreams and his choices. Thus she kept and gave to the brothers the love she received, in Nazareth, on Calvary and in the Upper Room where, in the light of Easter, she humbly shared the life of the first community. Welcome - which is the first thing I would like to talk about - was a fundamental dimension of Mary's existence and in her mission. Following her example, I also urge you to exercise it in your homes and towards the people God entrusts to you. Our world is in great need of acceptance and, in welcoming it, it needs creativity, which brings us close to everyone, even in new situations that require urgent responses. Welcome with an open heart to receive.
For you, this value is enriched, as your presence here testifies, with the colors of internationality, multiculturalism and intergenerational dialogue. In a recent document you wrote that the living face of St. Louis Mary today has in you "the well-marked features of Europe, with glittering accents of the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and Asia" (Letter of the Capitulars to the Confratelli, Rome, 20 May 2017): it is true, it is very musical, this, it is so; and which is rich in the smiles, tears, eyes and mouths of all the sisters and brothers scattered throughout the world (see ibid). And perhaps some canon lawyer will tell you: "But this is useless, this is not a canonical definition of what an institute is": it is a lively definition and I like this. It is a beautiful image of an evangelical community, a true gift for everyone! Treasure it, cultivate it and spread it with your testimony.
Finally, I would like to remind you that the virtues we have been talking about flourish, at every level, when people feel loved and respected. Montfort taught us this by pointing out to us the tender arms of Mary, that she welcomes us all as her children (cf. Treatise on true devotion to Mary, n. 48). Let yourself be embraced by her maternal embrace and embrace each other with the same tenderness; the tenderness. This will help you and the people you meet to bring out and share the best of yourself and, in the light of this sharing, to discern what the Lord is asking of you for your future. If you want to be courageous and creative, therefore, make Mary's tenderness your own and give it to everyone, always! But tenderness is not a sweet that can be bought, tenderness makes sweetness, but it is strong. Having a soft heart indicates strength in the heart to become soft. Don't forget that tenderness is one of the three traits of God. God is close, tender, and compassionate. Tenderness, compassion and closeness. Examine your conscience with this: “Was I close today or did I defend myself a little? Have I been compassionate or have I condemned half the world? Was I tender?”. Carry forward these three traits of God: closeness, compassion and tenderness.
This was testified by Father Olivier Maire, a Montfort Missionary, who died for having welcomed into the community a man he had made a mistake, a very problematic person, to whom however he wanted to give a roof and hope for the future. His generosity and his courage cost him his life, for a crazy and inexplicable gesture, and as I cling to his parents and relatives, present here, I invite all of you to treasure his example: he welcomed a brother by forgiving his past and embracing him without making calculations, wishing only to give him love, with tenderness. We need so much to learn to love like this, to grow in this love, to be close, compassionate and tender.
For this reason, last year I wanted to consecrate the Church and the whole world, especially the Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And I ask you, who are the Company of Mary, to renew this act of entrustment and this plea. Heavenly Mother help us all to seek with courage and creativity paths of forgiveness, dialogue, acceptance and peace for all humanity. I bless you from my heart and ask you, please, to pray for me.
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE COMPANY OF MARY (MONFORTANI)
Clementine Hall
Saturday, May 20, 2023
[Multimedia]
________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of your thirty-eighth General Chapter, on the anniversaries of the birth and canonization of your Founder. Celebrating more than three centuries of life and service, you have chosen the motto for your work: "Dare to risk for God and for humanity. Our creative fidelity». It's true, it's not a mummified fidelity, it's creative! These are words that well recall the values that animated St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort at the beginning of your history.
He lived in a time marked by demanding challenges for the Church and for society: known as the "age of rationalists and libertines" and at the same time the "cradle of Jansenism". In the face of these provocations, St. Louis-Marie asked first of all what their common root was, and he identified it in an excessive trust of men in the wisdom of the world to the detriment of the primacy of the Wisdom of God. launched into an intense preaching activity, with creativity and without fear, also encountering misunderstandings inside and outside the Church: it always happens like this. And he never gave up, continuing to preach and to promote the love of true Wisdom, through devotion to Mary, until her death, which occurred at the age of only forty-three, in the Vendée, during a mission. You bear witness to his courage from his fruits: present in thirty-three countries, with more than seven hundred religious, together with the Brothers of St. Gabriel, the Daughters of Wisdom and the Lay Associates. This is beautiful!
Even today, pastoral challenges are not lacking: for example, individualism which closes each one in his own little world, relativism and hedonism which make pleasure or personal gain the yardstick of every choice, consumerist selfishness which dries up the hearts of rich and creates unjust inequalities to the detriment of the poor.
In the face of all this, St. Louis Marie left you a program of life and action that is always timely: "to seek, contemplate, reveal Wisdom in the heart of the world and denounce its false wisdom" (Rule of Life, Introduction), and this on the example and with the help of Mary. I would like to underline three values that I consider important and current, yours: hospitality, internationality and tenderness.
The Gospel shows us Mary as the one who, in order to welcome Jesus, the Father's Wisdom, courageously accepted to completely change her life, her habits, her dreams and his choices. Thus she kept and gave to the brothers the love she received, in Nazareth, on Calvary and in the Upper Room where, in the light of Easter, she humbly shared the life of the first community. Welcome - which is the first thing I would like to talk about - was a fundamental dimension of Mary's existence and in her mission. Following her example, I also urge you to exercise it in your homes and towards the people God entrusts to you. Our world is in great need of acceptance and, in welcoming it, it needs creativity, which brings us close to everyone, even in new situations that require urgent responses. Welcome with an open heart to receive.
For you, this value is enriched, as your presence here testifies, with the colors of internationality, multiculturalism and intergenerational dialogue. In a recent document you wrote that the living face of St. Louis Mary today has in you "the well-marked features of Europe, with glittering accents of the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and Asia" (Letter of the Capitulars to the Confratelli, Rome, 20 May 2017): it is true, it is very musical, this, it is so; and which is rich in the smiles, tears, eyes and mouths of all the sisters and brothers scattered throughout the world (see ibid). And perhaps some canon lawyer will tell you: "But this is useless, this is not a canonical definition of what an institute is": it is a lively definition and I like this. It is a beautiful image of an evangelical community, a true gift for everyone! Treasure it, cultivate it and spread it with your testimony.
Finally, I would like to remind you that the virtues we have been talking about flourish, at every level, when people feel loved and respected. Montfort taught us this by pointing out to us the tender arms of Mary, that she welcomes us all as her children (cf. Treatise on true devotion to Mary, n. 48). Let yourself be embraced by her maternal embrace and embrace each other with the same tenderness; the tenderness. This will help you and the people you meet to bring out and share the best of yourself and, in the light of this sharing, to discern what the Lord is asking of you for your future. If you want to be courageous and creative, therefore, make Mary's tenderness your own and give it to everyone, always! But tenderness is not a sweet that can be bought, tenderness makes sweetness, but it is strong. Having a soft heart indicates strength in the heart to become soft. Don't forget that tenderness is one of the three traits of God. God is close, tender, and compassionate. Tenderness, compassion and closeness. Examine your conscience with this: “Was I close today or did I defend myself a little? Have I been compassionate or have I condemned half the world? Was I tender?”. Carry forward these three traits of God: closeness, compassion and tenderness.
This was testified by Father Olivier Maire, a Montfort Missionary, who died for having welcomed into the community a man he had made a mistake, a very problematic person, to whom however he wanted to give a roof and hope for the future. His generosity and his courage cost him his life, for a crazy and inexplicable gesture, and as I cling to his parents and relatives, present here, I invite all of you to treasure his example: he welcomed a brother by forgiving his past and embracing him without making calculations, wishing only to give him love, with tenderness. We need so much to learn to love like this, to grow in this love, to be close, compassionate and tender.
For this reason, last year I wanted to consecrate the Church and the whole world, especially the Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And I ask you, who are the Company of Mary, to renew this act of entrustment and this plea. Heavenly Mother help us all to seek with courage and creativity paths of forgiveness, dialogue, acceptance and peace for all humanity. I bless you from my heart and ask you, please, to pray for me.
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