On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, just a few days before Christmas, Pope Francis invited the faithful to recognize God’s presence and God’s love for each one, especially “in the gift of every life, of every child carried in its mother’s womb.”
The Holy Father based his reflection on the encounter between the Virgin Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist – a meeting “of two women rejoicing at the extraordinary gift of motherhood.
Bless mothers, praise God for life
In St Peter’s Square, too, the Pope said, there are expectant mothers and mothers with their children. “Please, let us not remain indifferent to their presence,” he said. “Let us marvel at their beauty, and, as Elizabeth and Mary did, bless mothers and give praise to God for the miracle of life.”
Amidst the joyful celebrations of Christmas, the Pope said, “Let us remember to express the feelings of joy every time we meet a mother who is carrying a child in her arms or in her womb… so that every motherhood may be blessed, and the Name of God thanked and exalted in every mother of the world.”
Do I support the sacred value of life?
Ahead of the traditional blessing of the “Bambinelli” – the baby Jesus figures that will be placed in Nativity scenes throughout Italy and around the world – Pope Francis asked the faithful to reflect, “Do I thank the Lord because He made Himself a man like us, to share in all of our existence, apart from sin? Do I praise Him and bless Him for every child who is born? Do I support and defend the sacred value of the life of the little ones ever since their conception in the maternal womb?”
And he concluded with the prayer that “Mary, blessed among women, might make us capable of experiencing wonder and gratitude before the mystery of nascent life.”
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