Dear Brothers and Sisters!
In the heart of Christian cities, Mary constitutes a sweet and
reassuring presence. With her discreet style she gives everyone
peace and hope in happy and sad moments of life. In the
churches, in the chapels, on the walls of palaces: a painting, a
mosaic, a statue recalls the presence of the Mother who
constantly watches over her children. Also here, in Piazza di
Spagna, Mary is placed on high, almost to watch over Rome.
What does Mary say to the city? Of what does she remind everyone
with her presence? She reminds that "where sin increased, grace
abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20) -- as the Apostle Paul
writes. She is the Immaculate Mother who repeats also to the men
of our time: Do not be afraid, Jesus has conquered evil; he has
conquered it at the root, freeing us from its dominion.
How much we have need of this beautiful news! Every day, in
fact, through newspapers, the television and the radio, evil is
recounted, repeated, amplified, accustoming us to the most
horrible things, making us become insensitive and, in some way,
intoxicating us, because the negative is not fully disposed of
and accumulates day after day. The heart hardens and thoughts
become dark. Because of this, the city has need of Mary, who
with her presence speaks to us of God, reminds us of the victory
of grace over sin, and induces us to hope even in humanly more
difficult situations.
In the city live -- or survive -- invisible persons, who every
now and then leap onto the front page or on television screens,
and are exploited to the end, so that the news and the image
attract attention. It is a perverse mechanism, to which
unfortunately one finds it hard to resist. The city first hides
and then exhibits to the public, without pity, or with false
pity. There is instead in every man the desire to be received as
a person and considered a sacred reality, because every human
history is a sacred history, and requires the greatest respect.
The city, dear brothers and sisters, is all of us! Each one
contributes to its life and its moral climate, for good or evil.
In the heart of every one of us passes the boundary between good
and evil, and not one of us should feel the right to judge
others, but rather each one must feel the duty to improve
himself!
The mass media tends to make us feel always as "spectators," as
if evil refers only to others, and certain things could never
happen to us. Instead we are all "actors" and, in evil as in
good, our behavior has an influence on others.
We often lament the pollution of the air, which in certain
places of the city is unbreathable. It is true: We need
everyone's commitment to make the city cleaner.
And yet, there is another pollution, less perceptible to the
senses, but just as dangerous. It is the pollution of the
spirit; it is that which renders our faces less smiling, more
gloomy, which leads us not to greet one another, to not look at
one another in the face. The city is made up of faces, but
unfortunately the collective dynamics can make the perception of
their depth disappear. We see everything on the surface. Persons
become bodies, and these bodies lose the soul, become things,
objects without a face, to be exchanged and consumed.
Mary Immaculate helps us to rediscover and defend the depth of
persons, because in her there is perfect transparency of the
soul in the body. She is purity personified, in the sense that
the spirit, soul and body are in her, fully consistent between
themselves and with the will of God. The Madonna teaches us to
open ourselves to God's action, to look at others as he looks at
them -- from the heart. And to look at them with mercy, with
love, with infinite tenderness, especially those who are most
alone, most looked down upon, most exploited. "Where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more."
I wish to pay tribute publicly to all those who in silence, not
with words, but with deeds, make an effort to practice this
evangelical law of love, which sends the world forward. They are
so many, also here in Rome, and rarely do they make news. Men
and women of every age, who have understood that it is no use to
condemn, to lament, to recriminate, but it is better to respond
to evil with good. This changes things, it changes persons and,
in consequence, improves society.
Dear Roman friends, and all of you who live in this city! While
we are busy in daily activities, let us listen to Mary's voice.
Let us hear her silent but pressing appeal. She says to each one
of us: Where sin increased, grace can overflow, beginning
precisely from your heart and your life! And the city will be
more beautiful, more Christian, more human.
Thank you, Holy Mother, for this your message of hope. Thank you
for your silent but eloquent presence in the heart of our city.
Immaculate Virgin, "Salus Populi Romani," pray for us!
[Translation by ZENIT]
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