Pope
Francis: Everything is a grace, a gift given freely by God
(Vatican Radio) Before the recitation of the
Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Monday, Pope Francis devoted his address to the
Virgin Mary on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. He said that this feast can be summed up in
these words: everything is a grace, everything is a gift given freely by God,
because of His love for us.
The
Holy Father explained that the Angel Gabriel calls Mary "full of
grace" because in her there is no room for sin. God, he said, had always
chosen her to be the mother of Jesus, and had preserved her from original sin.
The Pope went on to say that Mary responds to this grace and
abandons herself saying to the angel : "Let it be done to me according to
your word".
Pope Francis underlined that “we too are asked to listen to God
speaking to us and to welcome his will.
He also noted that the attitude of Mary of Nazareth shows us that
being comes before doing, and that we must leave it to God to truly be what He
wants us to be.
Mary, said Pope Francis is receptive, but not passive. On a
physical level, she receives the power of the Holy Spirit but then gives flesh
and blood to the Son of God that is formed in her, so that, on a spiritual
level, she welcomes the grace and corresponds to it with faith.
Speaking to the crowds present in St Peter’s Square, the Holy
Father stressed that as we have received for free, so we are called to give
freely in imitation of Mary, who, immediately after welcoming the announcement
from the Angel Gabriel, goes to share this gift with her cousin Elizabeth.
Because, said the Pope, if everything is given to us, everything must be given
back, this means, by letting the Holy Spirit make us a gift for others; that
makes us become instruments of acceptance, reconciliation and forgiveness.
The Pope also stressed, in off the cuff remarks, that no one can
buy salvation. Salvation is a gift given freely by God who comes to us and
lives in us.
Following the recitation of the Marian Prayer, Pope Francis
reminded the faithful that he would be going to Spanish Steps in the centre of
Rome on Monday afternoon to renew the traditional act of homage and prayer at
the foot of the monument to the Immaculate.
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