Does the Pope have a vacation?Pope Francis has resumed the audiences after his break in July. In this new cycle of catechesis "we are entering the second phase of salvation history". During his next audiences, the Pontiff will deepen "the work of Redemption, that is, in Jesus Christ".
To introduce the theme, the Holy Father focused on "the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation of the Word". Taking the verses that speak of the Incarnation in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew, the Pope explained that the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation of the Word. Church "has picked up this revealed datum and soon placed it at the heart of his Symbol of faith".
Mary, the bride par excellence
Since the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, the Pope stressed, Catholics have affirmed with faith "that the Son of God 'by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary and became man'".
Pope Francis said that since it is a datum collected in an ecumenical council, "all Christians profess together this same Symbol of faith". On the other hand, the Catholic Church has based itself on it to compose one of its best-known daily prayers, the Angelus.
The article of faith contained in the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople "allows us to speak of Mary as the Bride par excellence, who is the figure of the Church," the Pontiff explained. Thanks to this, the Vatican Council II was able to draw a parallel between the figure of Mary and that of the Church, mother of the children of God through Baptism.
Pope Francis concluded the catechesis "with a practical reflection for our life, suggested by Scripture's insistence on the verbs 'to conceive' and 'to give birth'". Like Mary, who "first conceived, then gave birth to Jesus," the Church must first welcome the Word of God "and then give birth to it through life and preaching."
At the end of the audience, the Holy Father greeted several French and Spanish-speaking pilgrims, as well as Irish and Portuguese Catholics, among others. Finally, he again called for a cease-fire in the Middle East, Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan.
