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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus
Message
On Loving Jesus as Mary Did
"She Allowed God to Fill Her With Love"
H.H. Benedict XVI
September 9, 2007
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
It was a particularly beautiful experience this morning to be able
to celebrate the Lord's Day with all of you in such a dignified and
solemn manner in the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Stephen. The
celebration of the Eucharist, carried out with due dignity, helps us
to realize the immense grandeur of God's gift to us in the Holy
Mass. In this way, we also draw near to each another and experience
the joy of God. So I thank all those who, by their active
contribution to the preparation of the liturgy or by their
recollected participation in the sacred mysteries, created an
atmosphere in which we truly felt God's presence. Heartfelt thanks
and Vergelt's Gott to all!
In my homily I wished to say something about the meaning of Sunday
and about today's Gospel, and I think that this led us to discover
that the love of God, who surrendered himself into our hands for our
salvation, gives us the inner freedom to let go of our own lives, in
order to find true life. Mary's participation in this love gave her
the strength to say "yes" unconditionally. In her encounter with the
gentle, respectful love of God, who awaits the free cooperation of
his creature in order to bring about his saving plan, the Blessed
Virgin was able to overcome all hesitation and, in view of this
great and unprecedented plan, to entrust herself into his hands.
With complete availability, interior openness and freedom, she
allowed God to fill her with love, with his Holy Spirit. Mary, the
simple woman, could thus receive within herself the Son of God, and
give to the world the Saviour who had first given himself to her.
In today's celebration of the Eucharist, the Son of God has also
been given to us. Those who have received Holy Communion, in a
special way, carry the Risen Lord within themselves. Just as Mary
bore him in her womb -- a defenceless little child, totally
dependent on the love of his Mother -- so Jesus Christ, under the
species of bread, has entrusted himself to us, dear brothers and
sisters. Let us love this Jesus who gives himself so completely into
our hands! Let us love him as Mary loved him! And let us bring him
to others, just as Mary brought him to Elizabeth as the source of
joyful exultation! The Virgin gave the Word of God a human body, and
thus enabled him to come into the world as a man. Let us give our
own bodies to the Lord, and let them become ever more fully
instruments of God's love, temples of the Holy Spirit! Let us bring
Sunday, and its immense gift, into the world!
Let us ask Mary to teach us how to become, like her, inwardly free,
so that in openness to God we may find true freedom, true life,
genuine and lasting joy.
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
© Innovative Media, Inc.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
