Pope: Homily for inaugural Mass of Petrine Ministry [full text]
(Vatican Radio) Homily of the Holy Father at the Inauguration of his Papal Ministry
19 March 2013:
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.