Mary, with her ‘yes’ to welcoming her Son into the world, is the one who brought us close to Jesus forever, Pope Francis underscored during the Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica this Holy Thursday morning.
Encouraging his brother priests to join him in turning to Mary, «Mother of priests,» he noted, they can call upon her as “Our Lady of Closeness.”
“As a true mother, she walks at our side, she shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love, in such a way that no one feels left out,» the Pope said. «Our Mother is not only close when she sets out “with haste” to serve, which is one means of closeness, but also by her way of expressing herself.»
At the right moment in Cana, the Pontiff noted, the tone with which she says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”, will make those words the maternal model of all ecclesial language.
«But to say those words as she does, we must not only ask her for the grace to do so, but also to be present wherever the important things are “concocted”: the important things of each heart, each family, each culture.»
Only through this kind of closeness can we discern that wine that is missing, and what is the best wine that the Lord wants to provide.
Pope Francis concluded, saying: «Let us ask Mary, ‘Our Lady of Closeness’ to bring us closer to one another, and, when we need to tell our people to ‘do everything Jesus tells them,’ to speak with one tone of voice, so that in the diversity of our opinions, her maternal closeness may become present. For she is the one who, by her ‘yes’, has brought us close to Jesus forever.»
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On Zenit’s Web page:
Full text: to be made available shortly
