Pope Francis: catechesis on Jesus Christ our hope

Below is the catechism of Pope Francis at the General Audience this Wednesday, January 22, on “Jesus Christ, our hope”:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we resume the catechesis of the jubilee cycle on Jesus Christ, our hope.

At the beginning of his Gospel, Luke shows the effects of the transforming power of the Word of God, which reaches not only the courts of the Temple, but also the poor house of a young woman, Mary, who, betrothed to Joseph, still lives with his family.

After Jerusalem, the messenger of the great divine announcements, Gabriel, who in his name celebrates the power of God, is sent to a village never mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: Nazareth. At that time it was a small village in Galilee, on the outskirts of Israel, a border area with the pagans and their pollution.

It was there that the angel brings a message of totally unprecedented form and content, so much so that Mary’s heart trembles and is disturbed. Instead of the classic greeting “peace be upon you,” Gabriel addresses the Virgin with the invitation “rejoice!”, “rejoice!”, an expensive appeal to sacred history, because the prophets use it when announcing the coming of the Messiah (cf. Zeph 3:14; Gal 2:21-23; Zech 9:9). It is the invitation to joy that God addresses to his people when the exile ends and the Lord makes his living and active presence felt.

Furthermore, God calls Mary by a name of love unknown in biblical history: kecharitoméne, which means “full of divine grace.” Mary is full of divine grace. This name says that the love of God has lived and continues to live for a long time in the heart of Mary. It says how “full of grace” she is and, above all, how God’s grace has chiseled her inside, turning her into his masterpiece: full of grace.

This affectionate nickname, which God gives only to Mary, is immediately accompanied by a reassurance: “Do not be afraid!”, “Do not be afraid!”, always the presence of the Lord gives us this grace of not fearing and this is what he says to Mary. : “Do not be afraid!” “Fear not!” God says to Abraham, to Isaac, to Moses, in history: “Do not be afraid!” (cf. Gen 15:1; 26:24; Deut 31:8). And he also says it to us: “Do not be afraid, go ahead. Do not be afraid.” “Father, I am afraid of this”; “And what do you do, when…?”; “Excuse me, Father, I’m telling you the truth: I’m going to the fortune teller…”; “Are you going to the fortune teller?” “Ah, yes: they read my palm…” Please don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. This is good. “I am your traveling companion”: and this is what God says to Mary. The “Almighty”, the God of the “impossible” (Lk 1:37) is with Mary, he is with her and next to her, he is her companion, her main ally, the eternal “I-with you” (cf. Gen 28 ,15; Ex 3,12;

Next, Gabriel announces his mission to the Virgin, echoing in his heart numerous biblical passages that refer to the royalty and messianity of the child who will be born to her and who will be presented as the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The Word from above calls Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, that long-awaited Davidic Messiah. She is the mother of the Messiah. He will not be king in the human, carnal way, but in the divine, spiritual way. His name will be “Jesus”, which means “God saves” (cf. Luke 1:31; Mt 1:21), reminding everyone and forever that it is not man who saves, but only God. Jesus is the One who fulfills these words of the prophet Isaiah: “Not a messenger nor an angel, but He Himself saved them; with love and compassion (Is 63,9).”

This motherhood shakes María to the core. And as an intelligent woman who is, that is, capable of reading inside events (cf. Luke 2:19.51), she seeks to understand, to discern what is happening. Mary does not look outside, but inside, because, as Saint Augustine teaches, “in interiore homine habitat veritas” (De vera religione 39,72). And there, in the depths of his open and sensitive heart, he hears the invitation to trust in God, who has prepared a special “Pentecost” for him. As at the beginning of Creation (cf. Gen 1:2), God wants to “swell” Mary with his Spirit, a force capable of opening what is closed without violating it, without affecting human freedom; He wants to wrap her in the “cloud” of his presence (cf. 1Cor 10:1-2) so that the Son lives in her and she in him.

And Mary lights up with confidence: she is “a lamp with many lights”, as Theophanes says in his Canon of the Annunciation. He surrenders, obeys, makes room: it is “a bridal chamber made by God” (ibid.). Mary welcomes the Word into her own flesh and thus undertakes the greatest mission ever entrusted to a woman, to a human creature. She puts herself at the service: she is full of everything, not as a slave, but as a collaborator of God the Father, full of dignity and authority to administer, as she will do in Cana, the gifts of the divine treasure, so that many can draw from it at the hands of full

Sisters, brothers, let us learn from Mary, Mother of the Savior and our Mother, to allow ourselves to open our ears to the divine Word and to welcome and appreciate it, so that it transforms our hearts into tabernacles of his presence, into hospitable homes where hope grows. Thank you.