“War is always a defeat,” says the Pope at the end of the Wednesday audience. Remember Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar. He reveals that he called, as he does every day, the parish of Gaza. «There are 600 people there, they were happy, yesterday they ate lentils with chicken, something they weren’t used to doing these days, they only had a few vegetables. They were happy, but we pray for Gaza, for peace and for many parts of the world. War is always a defeat, remember. And who profits from wars? The weapons manufacturers. Let us pray for peace”, he repeats. First he had dedicated the catechesis, after two Wednesdays aimed at children, to the cycle on hope that he will continue throughout the Jubilee Year. This Wednesday the meditation concerns “The announcement to Mary. Listening and availability.” Francis invites us to follow the example of Mary, «Mother of the Savior and our Mother, to let our ears be opened by the divine Word, to welcome it and guard it, so that it transforms our hearts into tabernacles of his presence, into hospitable homes where the hope”.
She remembers that when the Angel appears to her, in a remote village never mentioned before in the Bible, Nazareth, he greets her, instead of with the «classic “peace be upon you” greeting» with an invitation: «”Rejoice!”, “Rejoice! ”, an appeal dear to sacred history, because the prophets use it when they announce the coming of the Messiah”.
It is the invitation to joy «that God addresses to his people when the exile ends and the Lord makes his living and active presence felt. Furthermore, God calls Mary with a name of love unknown to biblical history: kecharitoméne, which means “filled with divine grace”». This name, underlines the Pontiff, «says that the love of God has long lived and continues to dwell in Mary’s heart. It says how “gracious” she is and above all how the grace of God has achieved an interior chiseling in her, making her his masterpiece. Full of grace. This loving nickname, which God gives only to Mary, is immediately accompanied by a reassurance: “Do not be afraid!”, “Do not be afraid”, the presence of the Lord always gives us this grace not to fear”. Francis talks about when people turn to him saying that they are afraid and that, precisely for this reason, they turn to “witches to have their palms read”, but the Pope invites them not to do this, rather to believe the words of the Lord, «Do not be afraid! I am your traveling companion.”
After the greeting, archangel Gabriel indicates to Mary her mission: «The Word that comes from Above calls Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, the long-awaited Davidic Messiah. He will be king not in the human and carnal way but in the divine, spiritual way. His name will be “Jesus”, which means “God saves”, reminding everyone and forever that it is not man who saves, but only God. Jesus is the One who fulfills these words of the prophet Isaiah: “Not an envoy nor an angel, but he himself saved them; with love and compassion.” This motherhood shakes Maria to her foundations. And as an intelligent woman, capable of reading into events, she tries to understand and discern what is happening to her. Mary does not look outside but inside and there, in the depths of her open and sensitive heart, she feels the invitation to trust in God.” Mary, explains the Pope, «is lit up with confidence: she is “a lamp of many lights”. Mary welcomes the Word into her own flesh and thus launches herself into the greatest mission that was entrusted to a woman, to a human creature. She puts herself at service, she is full of everything.”
