Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga presides at a Eucharistic Concelebration in Saint Peter’s Basilica for Vatican employees, ahead of Christmas

We are all chosen by God, like Mary

“We too, like Mary, were chosen by God to embody his kindness, his tenderness, his mercy. He needs our hands to continue his work and our lips to announce his message”, highlighted Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, on Friday morning, 20 December, as he celebrated Holy Mass for Vatican employees at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica, in preparation for the Solemnity of Christmas.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City and President of the Fabric of Saint Peter, and Msgr. Orazio Pepe, Secretary of the Fabric of Saint Peter, concelebrated with the Cardinal.

Among those present were Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General, Mr. Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Deputy Secretary General, and some Directors of the Governorate’s Directorates, including managers and other employees.

The following is the Cardinal President’s homily for the occasion:

Your Eminence,

Your Excellencies,

Dear Brothers in the Priesthood,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are just a few days from Christmas. We are already celebrating the novena in preparation for the solemnity, and next Sunday will be the fourth in Advent. The time dedicated to delving into the mystery of the Incarnation and to prepare ourselves to welcome the coming of Jesus is coming to an end. We have started a new liturgical year, during which we will celebrate all the mysteries of salvation. The span of a year is necessary to allow us to internalize them and experience them. Firstly, we will shortly celebrate the birth of Jesus, the decisive moment for humanity, without which there would be no redemption.

We have heard the Gospel passage of Luke, which recounts the mystery of the Annunciation. When Archangel Gabriel was sent to the home of a young Mary in Nazareth, it was entirely an initiative of God, who enacted it at the time he established. When Mary replies let it be according to your Word, there is an encounter between the divine will of salvation and the cooperation of the creature who consents.

Divine mercy is manifested in this, because the Lord never expects anything in return because every Gift is by definition free. After all, humanity cannot offer a gift in return to God because God’s Gift is immense, unfathomable and beyond their possibilities. With Mary however, albeit within the limitations of a creature, the reply is perfect. She brings fertility, richness, the fruit of salvation. For some, the reply to God’s Gift is partial and imperfect, whereas the Virgin Mary’s willingness is complete.

She never doubts the Word that God addressed to her through Archangel Gabriel, but she hesitates, as several Fathers of the Church have noted, with regards to the manner of the birth of the Word in her. Even though she cannot understand everything the Archangel says to her, she is asked to have trust, to believe in the Omnipotence of God. Mary trusts in the Word of the Lord, without any doubt.  She puts up no obstacles.

We too are called by God in our lives. If we feel that we are being called, it is a good sign because it means that we are responsive to the voice of the Spirit.

Throughout her history, the Church has had many examples, especially in the lives of Saints, of people responding to the divine call, which they would have been unable to do by their human nature alone. This was possible because, like Mary, they said “yes”, to being completely available to the Holy Spirit, thus achieving greater things than they could have ever imagined.

Like the Virgin Mary, in almost any situation we face, at any age, God assigns us a mission. He needs us and our “yes”. We should not be afraid of receiving God’s grace: it is a task whose goal is our happiness and those of others.

We too, like Mary, were chosen by God to embody his kindness, his tenderness, his mercy. He needs our hands to continue his work and our lips to announce his message. This is why we have to listen to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. We are called to welcome the coming of Jesus into our lives, every day.

Ae we willing to accept it? Our future and those of the people around us depend on our “yes”. When we make ourselves available to the Lord, we become collaborators in his work of love towards humanity.

This is the meaning of Christmas, to make ourselves bearers of Christ to others, to those who do not know him, to those who knew him but forgot him and to those who rejected him. We are a working community at the service of the Successor of Peter. We thus feel the universal breath of the Church and we experience the joy of the Child born in Betlehem.

Like Mary, we are called to transmit salvation to our brothers and sisters, and like the shepherds, to spread the word that the Saviour has come into the world.

May the Virgin Mary accompany you on your daily journey, and may she fill you with her blessing. Happy Christmas to all of you and to your families.