A TRANSLATION OF POPE FRANCIS' HOMILY AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE
PETRINE MINISTRY MASS, HELD IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE, MARCH 19, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the
inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the
spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a
significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable
predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and
gratitude.
I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the
priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I
thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as
well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious
communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of
State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many
countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.
In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already
point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The
protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then
extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint
Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s
upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the
Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1).
How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly,
humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even
when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to
Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem,
he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he
is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the
census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama
of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the
Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the
workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.
How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary,
Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the
signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his
own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading.
God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to
his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones
sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear
God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more
sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things
realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise
decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call,
readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation,
which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can
protect others, so that we can protect creation!
The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something
involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply
human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty
of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of
Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and
respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people,
showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the
elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means
caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one
another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children
themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere
friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness.
In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of
us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!
Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility,
whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way
is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in
every period of history there are “Herods”
who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.
Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of
responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of
goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan
inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.
Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance
of this world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over
ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our
lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our
emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil
intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid
of goodness or even tenderness!
Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands
goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph
appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see
great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of
strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine
openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of
tenderness!
Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating
the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of
Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ
conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three
questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs,
feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and
that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that
service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be
inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph
and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace
with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the
weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on
love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in
prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to
protect!
In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, “hoping
against hope, believed” (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too,
amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women
who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and
every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a
horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds;
it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like
Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon
of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on
the rock which is God.
To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to
protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a
service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of
us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us
protect with love all that God has given us!
I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints
Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my
ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.
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