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Media Image: The Marriage feast at Cana (attributed to Hieronymus Bosch (1550)
Pope Francis to the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
Consistory Hall – Saturday, 7 May 2022
“Do whatever he tells you”
Dear brothers and sisters, (are there any sisters)?
Pure machismo, Mexican style.
The theme of the assembly, in full consonance with the Marian origin of his vocation, is the verse from the Gospel of St John: “Do whatever he tells you” (2:5). It is a significant choice, it presupposes that you consider the project you are preparing to implement from a point of view of service. The fact is that we religious can never forget that there is no following without service and without the cross (Cfr. Jn 12:26).
Thus, the first request that the Virgin makes to you today, as members of the General Chapter, is to listen to you. The current situation could be compared to that presented in the Gospel of the wedding at Cana: “They no longer have wine”. Many realities that we can see today in the world, in the Church, in the Order, speak to us of this deficiency, they speak to us of the lack of hope, of the lack of motivation, of the lack of solutions. Faced with this, Our Lady is asking you to listen! And you may ask, what should we listen to? The voices that tell us about all the negative things? the voices that sell us easy solutions?, or lame programs full of erudition?, or perhaps the voices that offer us compromise solutions? These are all the temptations of a general chapter, Be careful, eh!
I believe that today Mary is telling you something else. she is asking you to let Jesus challenge your heart in a new way, in an original way, in an unexpected way. Perhaps even the servants of Cana gathered in the chapter and thought about what they could do. There were probably voices presenting the problems! others bringing feasible, albeit risky, solutions! and others advising an honest dismissal of the guests, acknowledging their inability to cope, that they were running out of wine! And ending a wedding party with ‘cooked meat’ was certainly not the most appropriate thing, was it? It is possible that you have already walked the path, throughout the process that has brought you here with questions, projects, convictions and questions.
Jesus does not answer these questions. He proposes something that surely no servant would have thought of, – filling the jars for purification and moreover filling them with water. Even before examining the meaning of this gesture, what seems interesting to me and I propose for your consideration is the fact that Jesus does not tell them what they expect, but something they would never have imagined hearing. We do not go to the chapterto to be in the limelight, we go to listen with simplicity, with gratitude, with abandonment. First, listen to God, no matter how much He may speak to us through our brothers (or sisters) or circumstances.
On the other hand, the purification jars, which were certainly used at the beginning of the banquet, invite us to return to the first love, to the source, to recover the innocent and hopeful attitude of our first years of consecrated life. They also ask us to maintain the clear gaze of those who see the need and not the fruit they hope to obtain through the effort made. The jars that are seen to be empty must be filled with the same expectation with which they were filled before the banquet began. If you look closely, this is work that needs to be done, but which we do not undertake because we believe it no longer makes sense. And this is another great temptation. Does this make sense? Does it make sense that you have come from so many places to gather? Or is it just a formality? This is the temptation.
The Lord asks of us this. “Start again, start every day, in every project, do not grow weary, do not be discouraged“. It is something that Jesus repeats in his Gospel, when he asks Peter to cast his nets again and he replies: “Master, we have taken nothing“
(Lk 5:4-11 – When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ Simon replied, ‘Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled both boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely awestruck at the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land they left everything and followed him).
The reality to which we referred earlier may seem like a long night. Our work cannot seem like a meaningless tiredness, if it is not perceived as a generous response to the call of Jesus, uniting the Church in the work of evangelizing, because the vocation of the Church is to evangelize, the joy of the Church is to evangelize, and seeing something interesting, that despite everything, contradictions, problems, the net does not break
(Jn 21:3-6 – Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. When it was already light, there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Haven’t you caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No,’ he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they threw the net out and could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish.).
Let us open our hearts to welcome the surprise that Jesus brings us. I don’t know what it will be and neither do you. In the course of the chapter, you are halfway, in the course of the chapter, things will emerge, which some thought, and others will be a reality, the Lord brings to you.
John affirms in his Gospel that this truth is not known by the master of the table, who is amazed that at that point in the banquet the new wine is being brought out, only “the servants” can know it. So listen to Mary. Do not be afraid to let yourselves be surprised by this voice that invites you to fill the jars anew, to consume yourselves in concrete service, simple service, in service that is useless in the table master’s plans, but fundamental in recognizing a work that is not ours, but God’s. And in all this, to know how to “be” in the midst of it all, to be with Mary, beside Christ at the foot of the cross, in the suffering flesh of the poor and of the prisoner whom he made his own. And even today there are prisoners, as always, they change geography, they change modalities, they change color, but slavery is a reality that is conforming more and more. More and more and with more variety. Perhaps, without being mistaken, we can say that there are more slaves now than in the times in which you were founded, it is certain. And this must be a challenge, of course, to your response. The new slavery, those that are concealed, those that are not known, those hidden, because they are many. Even in mega cities like Rome, London, Paris, everywhere, there are slavery going on. Seek them and ask the Lord: what do I do?
And thank you for what you do, seek out the slaves of today, and do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
