Benedict XVI passes awayThe recitation of Vespers and the Te Deum on December 31 was marked by the death of the Pope Emeritus. In his homily on this last day of 2022, Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Francis highlighted the figure of the Pope Emeritus and focused his words on the virtue of goodness, which is key in today's world.
Benedict XVI, an example of goodness
Freedom was the first concept on which Pope Francis wished to reflect. He referred to it when he recalled that Christ "was not born in a woman but of a woman. This is essentially different, it means that God wanted to take flesh from a woman, he did not use her but asked her consent and with her he began the slow journey of the gestation of a humanity free from sin and full of grace and truth".
"Mary's virginal motherhood is the way that reveals God's extreme respect for our freedom. This way of his of coming to save us is the way by which he also invites us to follow him, to continue together with him to weave a new, free and reconciled humanity". The Pope dwelt on this word "reconciled humanity" to explain that "it is a way of relating to one another from which many human virtues, such as goodness, derive".
It was at this moment that his words recalled "our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who left us this morning. With restrained emotion, the Pope said that "we remember his person, so noble, so gentle. And we feel so much gratitude in our hearts: gratitude to God for having given him to the Church and to the world; gratitude to him for all the good he has done, and especially for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his retired life. God alone knows the value and power of his intercession, of his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church".
The harms of consumer individualism
The Pope wanted to offer this idea of goodness and dialogue as the path to follow in society, pointing out that "goodness is an important factor in the culture of dialogue, and dialogue is indispensable if we want to live in peace, like brothers, who do not always get along well - it is normal - but who nevertheless talk to each other, listen to each other and try to understand and meet each other".
Francis encouraged us to humanize our societies by exercising this goodness on a daily basis and wanted to point out how "the damage of consumer individualism is there for all to see", since our neighbor, others, "appear as obstacles to our peace of mind, to our comfort. Others "bother" us, bother us, take away our time and resources to do what we like".
Against this backdrop, goodness, Pope Francis stressed, "is an antidote to cruelty, which unfortunately can creep like poison into the heart and intoxicate relationships; to the distracted anxiety and frenzy that make us focus on ourselves and close ourselves off from others".
Francis wanted to recall the three words of coexistence, 'permission', or 'pardon', and 'thank you'. They are the "words of goodness", the Pope affirmed.
Francis again referred to these three attitudes to reflect on whether we put them into practice in our lives, in a world that never seems to be kind.
Finally, the Pope turned his gaze to Our Lady who shows how God wanted to be conceived in Mary's womb, like any child, "Let us not pass quickly, let us pause to contemplate and meditate, for here is an essential part of the mystery of salvation," the Pope encouraged, "and let us try to learn God's 'method', his infinite respect, his 'goodness' so to speak, because in the divine maternity of the Virgin is the way to a more human world."
The Pope joined in the recitation of the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the year lived and also for the legacy of the Pope Emeritus and then visited the manger installed outside St. Peter's Square.
