Benedict XVI - Mary (Spiritual Thoughts Series)

Spiritual Thoughts Series

Introduction to Volume One by Fr. Ermes Maria Ronchi, OSM
Preface to Volume Two by Cardinal Angelo Comastri
Introduction to Volume Two by Edmond Caruana, OCarm

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Washington, D.C.

L iving tent of the Word. With this image epitomizing biblical memory and expressive beauty, Pope Benedict XVI evokes the core of holy Marys historic journey in his typical language (Homily, May 26, 2005). She is the humble tent of the Word, moved only by the wind of the Spirit, in whom Gods coming toward us has its end and resting place.

This collection of Marian thoughts edited by Lucio Coco outlines a pleasant narrative teaching that follows Marys pilgrimage: urged on throughout her entire life by that first joyous prophecy, kaire, rejoice; daily faithful to the resounding echo of the yes of the Annunciation.

The choice made draws out the newest and most effective characteristics of Benedicts unique language: sobriety, clarity, and beauty. The discussion on Mary is brief, but an essential point is not lacking. He is precise about Marys strategic position in theology: the meaning of her life is that it proclaims the greatness of the Lord (Lk 1:46), not carrying out her own plans but being part of a higher design. He reawakens attention to beauty, a powerful instrument for sensing and communicating, which is the strength in the heart that creates all communion and re-enchants life.

And you will find continual references to Mary, the joyful believer, who by the first word of the Angel was already linked to joy, which is an essential name for Christianity and one of the names for the Kingdom (Rm 14:17), as well as one of the names for man; it is far from the false and sad forms of asceticism that divide body and spirit, mind and heart.

For all the faithful, then, calling on Mary as the joyful believer means feeling ones life consoled.

Living tent of the Word: Mary, the place of the encounter between the human and the divine, the bond at the crossroads of time and eternity. These words contain the Pontiffs tireless emphasis on the vital connection between God and man: more divinity means more humanity; man is great only if God is great. Holy Mary, woman of courage and surprise, shows this human expansion in her existence, an expanded heart that is given to those who live the fullness of Christianity. And this is not all, because in this exchange of gifts a new and incisive expression affirms that now, with the Assumption of Mary, Heaven has a heart.

Biblical memory of Mary begins in a house where an Angel speaks, and ends in a house, the upper room in Jerusalem, where fire and wind speak: in she who is home to the Word and at home with Gods Word (Homily, August 15, 2005), each person rediscovers him- or herself as the tent where homeless Mercy seeks a home. The Virgin whose heart was open (Angelus, September 10, 2006) shows that God is not deserved, but welcomed.

Mary, the Church in her nascent state, becomes the teacher of Christianity: with a very effective expression Pope Benedict affirms that Mary, through the long, ordinary years of the hidden life, as she brought up Jesus... looked on Jesus, she learned him moment by moment. Let Mary guide you as you learn Jesus (Address, May 26, 2006).

Going to Mary is therefore going to Christianity school, learning the alphabet of faith and hope from her.

Mary is one of the words most filled with hope. And with charity. Charity that enters into actions in its entirety, that goes to the heart of things with a regal stride, that does not protect but exposes, unarmed and yet extremely powerful.

The prayers to Mary that conclude this collection also recount a dynamic presence and not a static and abstract image: just as she devoted herself to the event of Christ, so she now devotes herself to the Christian event. She looks after us in Gods eternity as a sister who has gone ahead, who precedes us but at the same time awaits us, who slows her pace to the rate of ours to avoid leaving us behind. In the footsteps of Mary, imagining and living our faith as an open and integral system, and not a closed one, becomes a source of strength.

In Mary, the small and the infinite meet: in the events of daily life, in looking on things with awestruck eyes, in love under total silence, in the poetry of familiar gestures, in hope beneath all fears, in the instant that shines for eternity and the eternity that penetrates the instant, she wants... to teach us a way of life in which God is acknowledged as the center of all there is (Angelus, September 10, 2006), she wants to teach us not to live without mystery. Because those who find God will find the fullness of life.

The promise of the Angel is very tangible: you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. Mary is the authoritative witness that God enters into life and transforms it. In her, in her bodythe place where the heart is said to bethe lines of the visible and invisible in the history of Salvation meet one another.

In her body she is the crossroads, one of the places of the encounter between the material reality of life and God. In her body and in her faith, Mary tirelessly points to the center of the faith: Jesus Christ, the shining witness that God comes and transforms body and life, that divinity comes and makes humanity blossom.

Fr. Ermes Maria Ronchi, OSM

We do not praise God sufficiently by keeping silent about his saints, especially Mary, the Holy One who became his dwelling place on earth. The simple and multiform light of God appears to us exactly in its variety and richness only in the countenance of the saints, who are the true mirrors of his light. And it is precisely by looking at Marys face that we can see more clearly than in any other way the beauty, goodness and mercy of God. In her face we can truly perceive the divine light.

Homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption
August 15, 2006

At a crucial time in history, Mary offered herself, her body and soul, to God as a dwelling place. In her and from her the Son of God took flesh. Through her the Word was made flesh (cf. Jn 1:14). Thus, it is Mary who tells us what Advent is: going forth to meet the Lord who comes to meet us; waiting for him, listening to him, looking at him. Mary tells us why church buildings exist: they exist so that room may be made within us for the Word of God; so that within us and through us the Word may also be made flesh today.

Homily at Our Lady Star of Evangelization Parish, Rome
December 10, 2006

In todays consumer society, this period [of Advent] has unfortunately suffered a sort of commercial pollution that risks changing its authentic spirit, marked by recollection, moderation and joy, which is not external but intimate. It is thus providential that almost as a portal to Christmas there should be the feast of the one who is the Mother of Jesus and who, better than anyone else, can lead us to know, love and adore the Son of God made man. Let us therefore allow her to accompany us; may her sentiments prompt us to prepare ourselves with heartfelt sincerity and openness of spirit to recognize in the Child of Bethlehem the Son of God who came into the world for our redemption. Let us walk together with her in prayer and accept the repeated invitation that the Advent liturgy addresses to us to remain in expectationwatchful and joyful expectationfor the Lord will not delay: he comes to set his people free from sin.