Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.
I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and
bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay
faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial
Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the
other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the
Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from
many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.
In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of
the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words
already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos,
the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is
then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as
Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus
Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical
Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris
Custos, 1).
How does Joseph exercise his role as protector?
Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter
fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his
betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple
of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of
Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for
the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the
drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in
the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the
workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.
How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit.
How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit.
Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s
voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more
sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things
realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise
decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily
and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is
Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so
that we can protect creation!
The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just
something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is
simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty
of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of
Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting
the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving
concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in
need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in
our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as
parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time,
protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we
protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has
been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be
protectors of God’s gifts!
Whenever human beings fail to live up to this
responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and
sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically,
in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and
mar the countenance of men and women.
Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions
of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women
of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan
inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us
not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this
world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let
us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors,
then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they
are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear
down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!
Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting,
demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph
appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see
great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of
strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine
openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are
celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the
Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus
Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three
questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs,
feed my sheep.
Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and
that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that
service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by
the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like
him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with
tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest,
the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love:
the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison
(cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who
serve with love are able to protect!
In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who,
“hoping against hope, believed” (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today
too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and
women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and
every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a
horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds;
it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like
Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon
of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock
which is God.
To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of
creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves:
this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to
which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let
us protect with love all that God has given us!
I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint
Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may
accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.
