Pope Francis: follow Mary on the path to visitation

(Vatican Radio) On the 22nd of September Pope Francis in his homily at the National Shrine of the ‘Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre’ invited the faithful  present at this popular pilgrimage site for all Cubans and not just Catholics, not to dwell in their homes.

Listen to Veronica Scarisbrick's report: 

On the contrary he stressed how God demands of us that we go out and embrace a culture of encounter. “We are visited so that we can visit others; we are encountered so as to encounter others, we are loved so we can return that love”.

These lands, he continued, as he spoke in the Basilica of this Marian Shrine have been visited by Mary’s maternal presence. Quoting the bishops of Cuba, he said: “In a special and unique way she has molded the Cuban soul, inspiring in the hearts of its people the highest ideals of love of God, within the family and the nation.

Touching on the shrine’s history he mentioned how Pope Benedict XV to declare Our Lady of Charity the Patroness of Cuba. How the Cubans of the time had written that: “neither disgrace nor poverty were ever able to crush the faith and the love which our Catholic people profess for the Virgin of Charity, for whom, in all their trials, when death was imminent or desperation was at the door, there arose, like a light scattering the darkness of every peril, like a comforting dew…, the vision of that Blessed Virgin, utterly Cuban and loved as such..”

Whenever we look to Mary Mother of Charity, Pope Francis said we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. We too are asked to live that revolution of tenderness through the joy which always becomes closeness and compassion, and leads us to get involved in, and to serve, the life of others,  share their joys, their hopes and their frustrations, visit the sick, the prisoner and to those who mourn. And on a more joyful note, the Pope added how, by leaving our homes we are also able to laugh with those who laugh, and rejoice with our neighbors who rejoice. 

Like Mary, he stressed,  we want to be a Church which serves, which goes forth from its chapels, its sacristies, in order to accompany life, to sustain hope, to be a sign of unity, we want to be a Church which goes forth to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of reconciliation.  Like Mary, we want to be a Church which can accompany all those “pregnant” situations of our people, committed to life, to culture, to society.

This Pope Francis concluded, is our most valuable treasure, our greatest wealth and our most precious legacy. We must learn like Mary to leave our homes and set out on the path of 'visitation'.