Speechs 2005
Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth
Friday, 30 December 2005
Dear Friends,
I greet with deep affection all of you who work in this Centre named after St Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus and an example of great availability to the divine Teacher. I thank you for your warm family welcome, as well as for the courteous words your representative addressed to me on behalf of you all.
I greet Sr Chiara and the other Sisters, the doctors, the volunteers and each one of the families who find invaluable help here.
The service you carry out is inspired by the example of St Martha who took care of Jesus, who as a man had human needs: he was thirsty and hungry, he was weary after his journey, he needed a moment of rest, to be away from the crowds for awhile and from the city of Jerusalem. Like Martha, you too strive to serve Jesus in the people you meet.
My Visit acquires special significance because it is taking place in the Christmas season: in these days our gaze comes to rest on the Infant Jesus. In coming here, I find Jesus himself in the children for whom you lovingly care. They are the subject of your attention, just as the newborn Messiah in the Crib is the focus of Mary and Joseph's care.
In each one of them, as in the Bethlehem Grotto, Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts, asking us to make room in our lives for him. God is like that: he does not impose himself, he never uses force to enter, but asks, as a child does, to be welcomed. In a certain sense, God too presents himself in need of attention: he waits for us to open our hearts to him, to take care of him. And every time we turn lovingly to "one of these least brothers of mine", as the Lord said, it is he whom we are serving (cf. Mt Mt 25,40).
Today, we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Finding myself among you and noting your dedication to children and their parents, I would like to stress the fundamental vocation of the family to be the first and principal place where life is welcomed. The modern concept of family, partly in reaction to the past, gives great importance to conjugal love, emphasizing its subjective aspects of freedom of choice and feelings.
On the other hand, people are finding it harder to perceive and understand the value of the call to collaborate with God in procreating human life. Besides, contemporary societies, despite being equipped with so many means, do not always succeed in facilitating the mission of parents, either on the level of spiritual and moral motivations or on that of practical living conditions.
There is a great need, both from the cultural and the political and legislative viewpoints, to support the family, and initiatives such as your dispensary are more useful than ever in this regard. These realities are small but important, and, thanks be to God, the Church is rich in them and does not cease to put them at the service of all.
Dear brothers and sisters, before leaving you, I invite you to pray with me for all the families of Rome and the world, and especially for those in difficult conditions, particularly because they are obliged to live far from their country of origin.
Let us pray for the parents who do not succeed in guaranteeing their children what they need for their health, education and a dignified and serene life. Let us invoke the motherly protection of Mary for everyone: Ave Maria....
I now impart my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing to you and to your dear ones, as I wish you all a peaceful, prosperous New Year.
Friday 30 December 2005
Dear Young Pueri Cantores,
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to greet you on the occasion of your Congress in Rome. I thank your President for his warm words and appreciate the spirit in which your Federation carries out and intends to continue its mission in the Church at the service of the liturgy, offering in addition a message of peace and brotherhood to the whole world.
During the Christmas season, it is especially appropriate to praise the Lord in song and to express our joy to him, thereby following the example of the Virgin Mary, who was the first to give thanks to the Lord for the mystery of the Incarnation with her Magnificat, which the Church re-echoes from generation to generation.
Yes, we are rejoicing; a Saviour is born to us, he has come to set us free and to call us to enter into glory with him.
The Second Vatican Council did not fail to recall how deeply the Church appreciates the role of those who through their singing contribute to the beauty of the liturgy. For "Christ is present when the Church prays and sings", and we are united to the Church in Heaven (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium SC 7-8).
You therefore have an important mission to help God's people pray with dignity, for sacred music is a "ministerial function" in the service of the Lord (ibid., n. 112).
Always remember that when "the Church prays, sings or acts, the faith of those taking part is nourished and their minds are raised to God, so that they may offer him their spiritual homage and receive his grace more abundantly" (ibid., n. 33). I therefore thank you, young people, and I know that as well as the joy of singing, your commitment is also a demanding sacrifice. I thank the adults who have accompanied you and supervise you.
As I assure you of my prayers, I impart an affectionate Apostolic Blessing to you and all the members of the Federation of Pueri Cantores.
Saturday, 31 December 2005
Dear Friends,
I am particularly pleased to meet today with all of you who form the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State. It is a pleasant opportunity to become better acquainted with you and to express to you my sentiments of esteem and gratitude.
I greet first of all Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, as well as Mons. Giulio Viviani, your chaplain. I greet and thank Commander Camillo Cibin, Inspector General, who has expressed your common sentiments. I then extend my greeting to each one of you.
This visit is taking place on the last day of 2005, a truly special year for the Church. The illness, death and funeral celebrations of beloved Pope John Paul II, the period of the Vacant See, the Conclave and my election as Bishop of Rome are events that made an extraordinary impression on those who live here in the Vatican, as well as on the faithful throughout the world.
For you, as I well know, it has been an extremely busy period. You have carried out your work with dedication and a spirit of sacrifice, in accordance with the best traditions of the Gendarmerie Corps.
Thank you, dear friends, for all that you do with self-denial and faithfulness every day, together with the Pontifical Swiss Guard Corps, to serve the Pope and his collaborators, helping to guarantee to Vatican City serenity and order, welcoming the pilgrims who come to visit the tombs of the Apostles or to meet the Successor of Peter, and seeking to solve any problems that may arise on every occasion, especially during liturgical celebrations, at audiences in the Vatican and during the Apostolic Visits of the Pope in Rome and elsewhere in the world.
Yours is a delicate and ever more necessary activity, which requires dedication, prudence and great availability. Thank you for your service!
Dear Gendarmes, in presenting the Birth of the Redeemer, the liturgy of this Christmas season points out to us the shepherds who, while they kept vigilant watch over their flocks, welcomed the proclamation of the Angels and hastened to adore him in the Bethlehem Grotto.
We are all invited to seek and contemplate, like them, the Saviour who became man for us and for our salvation. On the alert and ever ready for action: these are the spiritual attitudes that also fittingly apply to your work, which involves you by day and by night.
May you also always be vigilant in the purely spiritual context. Jesus addresses this exhortation to all his disciples so that, without letting themselves be attracted by the various enticements of the world, they may walk without flagging on the path of the Gospel and never lose the precious gift of the faith.
For this reason it is indispensable to pray always, preserving interior union with the Lord. He alone gives meaning and value to our existence. May he, therefore, support you at every moment and repay you for the sacrifices your service entails.
In a few hours a New Year will begin, which I hope will be serene and rich in blessings for each one of you and for your families. I assure you of my prayers for this and warmly impart the Apostolic Blessing to you, entrusting to the Lord all the Gendarmes in active service and those who have retired, your relatives and your loved ones.
Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and of St Michael the Archangel, your Patron, may the Baby Jesus, whom we contemplate in the Crib, grant you a New Year illumined by his joy and his love.
Thank you! May your work go well. Happy New Year!
Speechs 2005