“Mary is a
mother and a mother worries above all about the health of her children … What
does this mean that the Madonna safeguards our health? I am thinking mainly of
three aspects: … she helps us to grow, she helps us to face life, and she helps
us to be free.
Mary Helps Us
to Grow
…A mother takes
care that her children grow always more, that they grow strong and capable of
taking on responsibility, of committing themselves in their lives, and of
holding high ideals. … This is exactly what the Madonna does in us. She helps
us to grow humanely and in faith, to be strong and not to yield to the
temptation of being superficial persons and Christians, but to live
responsibly, always reaching higher.
Mary Helps Us
to Face Life
... A mother
helps her children to look realistically at life's problems and to not get lost
in them but to tackle them with courage; not to be weak and to know how to
overcome them with the healthy balance that a mother “feels” between the limits
of safety and the areas of risk.... Mary lived many difficult times in her
life, from the birth of Jesus ... until Calvary. And like a good mother she is
close to us so that we never lose courage in the face of life's adversities, in
the face of our own weakness, in the face of our sins. She gives us strength,
pointing us to the path of her Son….
Mary Helps Us
to Be Free
One last aspect
… a good mother also helps to make important decisions with freedom. ... But
what does freedom mean? Certainly not doing whatever you want ... Freedom is
given to us so that we might know how to make good choices in life! Like a good
mother, Mary teaches us to be, like her, capable of making ... important
decisions…. And she helps us to make definitive choices with that full freedom
with which she answered 'yes' to God’s plan for her life.”
…Long live the
Madonna. She is our Mother. Let us entrust ourselves to her so that she might
safeguard us like a good mother. I pray for you but I ask that you pray for me
because I need it. Three 'Hail Marys' for me….”
His Holiness
Pope Francis
Homily,
Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome
4 May 2013
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information, please visit:
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Let’s
pray three “Hail Marys” for Pope Francis, as he asked us to do. Let’s also pray three “Hail Marys” for each
other so that we may grow in faith and strength, be courageous in the face of
the adversities of life, and experience the true freedom of doing God’s will.
Our
Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us to Jesus your Son!
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