The Church of Mercy (13 page)

On the cross, when Jesus endured in his own flesh the dramatic encounter of the sin of the world and God’s mercy, he could feel at his feet the consoling presence of his mother and his friend. At that crucial moment, before fully accomplishing the work his Father had entrusted to him, Jesus said to Mary, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to his beloved friend, “Here is your mother” (John 19:26–27). These words of the dying Jesus are not chiefly the expression of his devotion and concern for his mother; rather, they are a revelatory formula that manifests the mystery of a special saving mission. Jesus left us his mother to be
our
mother. Only after doing so did Jesus know that “all was now finished” (John 19:28). At the foot of the cross, at the supreme hour of the new creation, Christ led us to Mary. He brought us to her because he did not want us to journey without a mother, and our people read in this maternal image all the mysteries of the Gospel.

The Lord did not want to leave the Church without this icon of womanhood. Mary, who brought him into the world with great faith, also accompanies “the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev. 12:17). The close connection between Mary, the Church, and each member of the faithful, based on the fact that each in his or her own way brings forth Christ, has been beautifully expressed by Blessed Isaac of Stella: “In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary . . . In a way, every Christian is also believed to be a bride of God’s word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful . . . Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell forever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul.”

Mary was able to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and an abundance of love. She is the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises. She is the friend who is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of all, she is a sign of hope for people suffering the birth pangs of justice. She is the missionary who draws near to us and accompanies us throughout life, opening our hearts to faith by her maternal love. As a true mother, she walks at our side, she shares our struggles, and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love. Through her many titles, often linked to her shrines, Mary shares the history of each people that has received the Gospel, and she becomes part of their historic identity. Many Christian parents ask that their children be baptized in a Marian shrine as a sign of their faith in her motherhood, which brings forth new children for God. There, in these many shrines, we can see how Mary brings together her children who with great effort come as pilgrims to see her and to be seen by her. Here they find strength from God to bear the weariness and the suffering in their lives. As she did with Juan Diego, Mary offers them maternal comfort and love, and whispers in their ear, “Let your heart not be troubled . . . Am I not here, who am your Mother?”

We ask the Mother of the living Gospel to intercede that this invitation to a new phase of evangelization will be accepted by the entire ecclesial community. Mary is the woman of faith, who lives and advances in faith, and “her exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant point of reference for the Church.” Mary let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit on a journey of faith toward a destiny of service and fruitfulness. Today we look to her and ask her to help us proclaim the message of salvation to all and to enable new disciples to become evangelizers in turn. Along this journey of evangelization we will have our moments of aridity, darkness, and even fatigue. Mary herself experienced these things during the years of Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth: “This is the beginning of the Gospel, the joyful good news. However, it is not difficult to see in that beginning a particular heaviness of heart, linked with a sort of night of faith—to use the words of St. John of the Cross—a kind of ‘veil’ through which one has to draw near to the Invisible One and to live in intimacy with the mystery. And this is the way that Mary, for many years, lived in intimacy with the mystery of her Son, and went forward in her pilgrimage of faith.”

There is a Marian “style” to the Church’s work of evangelization. Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong, who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves. Contemplating Mary, we realize that she who praised God for “bringing down the mighty from their thrones” and “sending the rich away empty” (Luke 1:52–53) is also the one who brings a homely warmth to our pursuit of justice. She is also the one who carefully keeps “all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Mary is able to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small. She constantly contemplates the mystery of God in our world, in human history, and in our daily lives. She is the woman of prayer and work in Nazareth, and she is also Our Lady of Help, who sets out from her town “with haste” (Luke 1:39) to be of service to others. This interplay of justice and tenderness, of contemplation and concern for others, is what makes the ecclesial community look to Mary as a model of evangelization. We implore her maternal intercession that the Church may become a home for many peoples, a mother for all peoples, and that the way may be opened to the birth of a new world. It is the risen Christ who tells us, with a power that fills us with confidence and unshakeable hope: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). With Mary we advance confidently toward the fulfillment of this promise.

17 December
  Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires into a family originally from Marche (Italy) who had immigrated to Argentina. Mario, his father, was an accountant in the railway company; Regina Sivori, his mother, was a homemaker. Jorge was the first of five children; his siblings are Óscar, Marta, Alberto, and María Elena.

After achieving his diploma in chemistry, chose to become a priest and started seminary in Villa Devoto.

11 March
  Started his novitiate at the Society of Jesus.

12 March
  Took his first vows.

After completing humanities studies in Santiago, Chile, returned to Argentina, earning his philosophy degree at San José College in San Miguel.

Taught literature and psychology, first in Santa Fé and then in Buenos Aires.

13 December
  Ordained a priest.

Finished his theological studies and graduated from San José College.

22 April
  Made his perpetual profession.

31 July
  After having been consultor, became provincial superior of Argentina’s Jesuits.

Appointed rector of San José College, where he worked until 1986, when he stepped down to study theology in Germany and research Romano Guardini for his doctoral dissertation. His studies in Germany were interrupted by a summons from his superiors in Argentina to take up higher positions. Ministered as a priest in a parish in Córdoba.

20 May
  After Bergoglio served for several years as spiritual director and confessor, John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. Worked closely with Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, from whom he received episcopal ordination (27 June). Chose as his motto
Miserando atque eligendo
(“Having mercy, He chose him”) and inserted the Christogram IHS, symbol of the Society of Jesus, into his coat of arms.

21 December
  Appointed vicar general of the archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

3 June
  Promoted to coadjutor archbishop of Buenos Aires. Upon Cardinal Quarracino’s death a year later, succeeded him in leading the archdiocese (28 February) and became the primate of Argentina.

21 February
  Created a cardinal by John Paul II.

Took part in the conclave electing Benedict XVI.

11 February
  Benedict XVI announced he would relinquish the Petrine ministry at the end of the month.

13 March
  Bergoglio elected the new supreme pontiff, choosing the name
Francis
—he is the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, and the first to take the name
Francis
.

7 April
  Took his seat as Bishop of Rome on the Cathedra Romana.

24 June
  Created a pontifical commission to investigate the Institute for Works of Religion (the Vatican Bank).

29 June
  First encyclical
Lumen fidei
published, thus completing the document Benedict XVI bequeathed to him.

8 July
  Made a historic visit to the island of Lampedusa.

22–29 July
  Took part in World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

22 September
  Pastoral visit to Cagliari.

28 September
  Established the Council of Cardinals, tasked with advising Francis on ruling the Universal Church and starting reorganization of the apostolic constitution
Pastor bonus
, regarding the role of the Roman Curia.

4 October
  Made pastoral visit to Assisi.

24 November
  Apostolic exhortation
Evangelii gaudium
published.

22 February
  Summoned a consistory for the creation of new cardinals.