In his Thursday homily at Casa Santa Marta, the pope spoke about the Virgin Mary during the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. He said that through her suffering, Mary is the mother of all creation and nobody is left as an orphan.
POPE FRANCIS
'With a pierced heart, she accepts giving birth to all of us in that moment of sorrow. And from that moment she becomes our Mother, from that moment she is our Mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us.â?
Pope Francis recalled Christ's death on the cross and how Mary never left His side. Likewise, Our Lady also defends, accompanies and teaches her children in the world today.
EXCERPTS FROM HOMILY IN ENGLISH
'Mary heard these things. She suffered terrible humiliation. And she also heard the dignitaries, even some priests, whom she respected, because they were priests, [saying] 'You who are so good, come down! Come down!' With her Son, naked, there [on the Cross]. And Mary had such great suffering, but she didnâ??t go away. She didnâ??t deny her Son! He was her flesh.â?
'They were moms. But they were not ashamed: their flesh was there inside. And these women suffered not only the shame of being there â?? 'Look at her! What did her son do?' -- but they also suffer the ugly humiliation of the searches they had to undergo before entering. But they were mothers, and they went to find their own flesh. So it was with Mary: she was there, with her Son, with that very great suffering.â?
'We Christians have a Mother, Jesusâ?? [Mother]; we have a Father, Jesusâ?? [Father]. We are not orphans! And she gives birth to us in that moment with such great sorrow: She is truly a martyr. With a pierced heart, she accepts giving birth to all of us in that moment of sorrow. And from that moment she becomes our Mother, from that moment she is our Mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us.â?
'In a world we could call an orphan, in this world that suffers the crisis perhaps our help lies in saying â??Look to your Mother!â?? We have a mother who defends us, teaches us, accompanies us; who is not ashamed of our sins. She is not ashamed, because she is our Mother. May the Holy Spirit, this friend, this companion along the way, this Paraclete or Advocate whom the Lord has sent, make us understand this very great mystery of the maternity of Mary.â?
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