Pope says God’s relation with man is in silence, shadow

December 20, 2013 - In the history of salvation, it’s not in clamour or the theatrical that God chose to manifest Himself to man, but rather in the shadow and silence. This was the central theme of the homily of Pope Francis at Mass Friday morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Taking his cue from the day’s Gospel on the Annunciation, the Pope said the power of the Most High “overshadowed” Mary. The Pope explained that the shadow has almost the same quality as the cloud, with which God protected the Jews in the desert. The Lord always took care of the mystery, hiding it from publicity. The Holy Father explained that a mystery that publicizes itself is not Christian; it is not the mystery of God - it is a fake mystery. When Our Lady received her son, the mystery of her virginal motherhood was hidden. “Each one of us,” the Pope said, “knows how mysteriously the Lord works in our hearts and in our souls.” And this cloud, this power by which the Holy Spirit shrouds our mystery, he explained, is silence which covers the mystery of our relationship with God; of our holiness as also of our sins. We cannot explain this mystery, but when we lack this silence in life, the mystery is lost. And Mary with her silence, hid the mystery that she did not understand, but which she helped grow and blossom into hope.