Pope Francis: ‘Fruitfulness is a blessing’
Pope Francis celebrated morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta
in the Vatican urging Christians to lead a fruitful life.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis on Tuesday told the faithful that
God is fruitful and wants us to be so too, living for others and giving life.
Speaking during the homily at morning Mass in the Casa
Santa Marta, the Pope invited those present to contemplate the empty cradle
that is awaiting the Child and to make sure that are hearts so not stay closed
like a museum specimen.
Sterility and fruitfulness were the two words at the heart
of Pope Francis’ homily as he reflected on the births of Samson and of John the
Baptist, both of them borne to sterile women, as recounted in the readings of
the day.
He commented on how in those days sterility was considered a
shame while the birth of a child was seen as a grace and a gift from God.
In the Bible, he said, there are many sterile women who
desire a child, and mothers who mourn the loss of their son because they are
left without descendants, like Sarah, Noemi, Hannah, Elizabeth, etc.…
Fruitfulness in the Bible is a blessing
The first commandment that God gave to our fathers, the Pope
said, was “Fill the earth, be fruitful!” and he said that “Where there is God
there is fruitfulness”.
The Pope said there are countries that come to mind “that
have chosen the path of sterility and suffer from that serious disease that it
a demographic winter (…) They do not have children”.
And pointing out that this is sometimes confused for
‘economic wellbeing’; he said that it is not a blessing to have countries that
are empty of children: “Fruitfulness, he said, is always a blessing of God.”
Material and spiritual fruitfulness, the Pope explained,
means giving life. He said a person may choose not to marry, like priests and
consecrated persons, but must live by giving life to others. Woe to us, he
continued, if we are not fruitful with good works.
Even the desert will flourish: it is God's promise
Fruitfulness, Francis continued, is a sign of God, and he
recalled how the prophets chose beautiful symbols like the desert. “What is
more sterile than a desert?” He said “and yet they say that even the
desert will flourish, the dryness will be filled with water. This is God’s
promise”.
The devil, the Pope continued, wants infertility: “He does
not want us to give life, be it physical or spiritual, to others”.
“He who lives for himself produces selfishness, pride,
vanity, greasing the soul without living for others. The devil is the one who
grows the weeds of egoism and stops us from being fruitful” he said.
Fruitfulness is a grace to ask God
The Pope said it is a grace to have children to close our
eyes when we die, and he recalled the example of a ninety-year-old missionary
in Patagonia who would say that his life had passed like a breath but that he
had had so many spiritual children besides right up until his last illness.
And he invited the faithful to look to Christmas:
“Here is an empty cradle, we can look at it. It can be seen
as a symbol of hope because the Child will come, or it can be seen as an object
from a museum, empty of life. Our heart is like the cradle: is it empty? Or is
it open to continuously receive and give life?” he said.
I suggest, Francis concluded to look at this empty cradle
and say: “Come, Lord, fill the cradle, fill my heart and help me to give life,
to be fruitful”.
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