Papa Francesco - Message, Lent 2014: "So what is this poverty with which Jesus frees us and renders us rich? It is exactly his way of loving us, his getting close to us like the Good Samaritan who drew near to the man left half dead on the side of the road (cf Lk 10, 25). That which gives us true freedom, true salvation and true happiness is his love of compassion, tenderness and sharing. The poverty of Christ which enriches us is his taking flesh, his taking upon himself our weaknesses, our sins, communicating to us the infinite mercy of God. The poverty of Christ is the greatest of riches: Jesus is rich in his boundless trust in God the Father, in his giving himself to Him in every moment, seeking always and only the will and the glory of God the Father. Jesus is rich as a child is who feels loved and loves his parents and does not for an instant doubt their love and tenderness. The richness of Jesus is his being the Son, his unique relationship with the Father is the sovereign prerogative of this poor Messiah. When Jesus invites us to take upon ourselves his “easy yoke”, he invites us to be enriched by this his “rich poverty” and “poor richness”, to share with Him his filial and fraternal Spirit, to become sons and daughters in the Son, brothers and sisters in the Firstborn Brother (cf Rom 8:29)." Visit Totus2us for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Francesco - Homily, 6 January 2014: "One aspect of the light which guides us on the pathway of faith is also holy “cunning”. This is also a virtue, this holy “cunning”. It's a spiritual astuteness which enables us to recognize dangers and avoid them. The Magi knew to use this light of “cunning” when, on their way back, they decided not to pass by Herod's gloomy palace, but to go by another route. These wise men from the East teach us how not to fall into the snares of darkness and how to defend ourselves from the obscurity which seeks to envelop our lives. They, with this holy “cunning”, kept the faith. And we too must keep the faith. Keep it from this darkness. But, also, many times, a darkness disguised in light. Because the devil, says St Paul, at times dresses himself as an angel of light. And here holy “cunning” is necessary, so as to keep the faith, to keep it from the songs of the Sirens, who tell you: “Look, today we must do this, that...”. But faith is a grace, is a gift. It is up to us to keep it with this holy “cunning”, with prayer, with love, with charity. We need to welcome the light of God into our hearts and, at the same time, to cultivate this spiritual cunning which knows how to combine simplicity and astuteness, as Jesus asked his disciples: “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt 10:16). On the feast of the Epiphany, when we recall the manifestation of Jesus to humanity in the face of a Child, may we sense the Magi close by our side, as wise companions on the road. Their example helps us to lift our gaze to the star and to follow the great desires of our hearts. They teach us not to content ourselves with a mediocre life, with “coasting it, playing it safe”, but to let ourselves always be fascinated by what is good, true and beautiful… by God, who is all of this, in an always greater way! And they teach us not to let ourselves be deceived by appearances, by that which for the world is great, wise, powerful. We must not stop there. It is necessary to keep the faith. In these times this is so important: to keep the faith. We must go further, beyond the darkness, beyond the fascination of the Sirens, beyond worldliness, beyond so many forms of modernity that exist today, to go to Bethlehem, there where, in the simplicity of a house on the periphery, between a mummy and daddy full of love and faith, shines forth the Sun come from on high, the King of the universe. Following the example of the Magi, may we, with our little lights, seek the Light and keep the faith. So be it." Visit Totus2us for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Benedetto XVI - Homily, 6 January 2006: "But what is this light? Is it just an evocative metaphor or does this image correspond to a reality? The Apostle John writes in his First Letter: "God is light and in him there is no darkness" (I Jn 1, 5); and further on he adds: "God is love". These two affirmations, taken together, help us better understand: the light, shone forth at Christmas, which today is manifested to the peoples, is the love of God, revealed in the Person of the Verb incarnate. Attracted by this light, the Magi arrived from the East. In the mystery of the Epiphany, therefore, alongside a movement of radiation toward the outside, a movement of attraction is manifested toward the centre, which brings to fulfillment the movement already written about in the Old Covenant. The source of such dynamism is God, One in substance and Three in Persons, who draws to Himself everything and everyone. The Incarnate Person of the Verb is presented thus as the principle of universal reconciliation and recapitulation (cf Eph 1, 9-10). He is the final destination of history, the point of arrival of an "exodus", of a providential pathway of redemption, which culminates in his death and resurrection. This is why, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the liturgy foresees the so-called "Announcement of Easter": indeed, the liturgical year sums up the entire parable of the history of salvation, at whose centre is "the Triduum of the Lord, crucified, buried and risen"." Visit Totus2us for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Giovanni Paolo II - Homily, 6 January 2001: "Now it is time to look forward, and the story of the Magi can in a certain way indicate a spiritual route to us. They tell us above all that, when we encounter Christ, we must learn to stop and live profoundly the joy of intimacy with Him. “Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his Mother, and bowing down they worshipped him”: their lives were from then on handed for ever to this Child for whom they had endured the rigours of the journey and the deceitfulness of men. Christianity is born, and continually regenerates itself, starting from this contemplation of the glory of God which shines out from/in the face of Christ." For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Francesco - Homily, 25 December 2013: "The shepherds were the first to see this “tent”, to receive the announcement of the birth of Jesus. They were the first because they were among the last, the marginalized. And they were the first because they kept vigil in the night, keeping watch over their flocks. The law of the pilgrim is to keep vigil, and they kept vigil. With them, we stop before the Child, we pause in silence. With them, we thank the Lord for having given us Jesus, and with them let us raise from the depths of our hearts praise for his fidelity: We bless You, Lord God Most High, who lowered yourself for us. You are immense, and you made yourself little; you are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are omnipotent, and you made yourself weak. On this night we share the joy of the Gospel: God loves us, He loves us so much that He gave his Son as our brother, as light in our darkness. The Lord repeats to us: “Do not be afraid!” (Lk 2, 10). As the angels said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid!” And I also repeat to you all: Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, He loves us, He gives us Jesus to guide us on the pathway towards the promised land. He is the light that illuminates the darkness. He is mercy: our Father always forgives us. He is our peace. Amen." Visit Totus2us for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Benedetto XVI - Homily, 25 December 2012: "Thus the great moral question about how things are for us in regard to the homeless, refugees and migrants, takes on a still deeper meaning: do we truly have room for God, when He seeks to enter our home? Do we have time and space for Him? Is not perhaps God Himself actually rejected by us? It begins when we have no time for God. The faster we can move, the more efficient the time-saving tools become, the less time we have available. And God? The question regarding Him never seems urgent. Our time is already completely filled. But things go even deeper. Does God truly have a place in our thinking? The methodology of our thinking is structured in such a way that He, at the base, should not exist. Although He seems to knock at the door of our thinking, He must be removed with reasoning. So as to be taken seriously, thinking must be structured in such a way as to render the “God hypothesis” superfluous. There is no room for Him. Even in our feelings and will there is no room for Him. We want ourselves, we want the things that can be touched, happiness experienced, the success of our personal projects and of our intentions. We are completely “filled” with ourselves, so that there remains no space for God. And as such there is no space for others, for children, for the poor, for strangers. Starting from those simple words about the lack of room at the inn, we can realise how much we need St Paul’s exhortation: “Be transformed by renewing your way of thinking!” (Rom 12, 2). Paul speaks of renewal, of unlocking our intellect (nous); he speaks, in general, of the way in which we see the world and ourselves. The conversion we need must truly reach all the way to the depths of our relationship with reality. Let us pray to the Lord that we may become alert to his presence, that we may feel how softly yet insistently He knocks at the door of our being and of our will. Let us pray that in our innermost selves we make room for Him. And that in this way we can recognize Him also in those through whom He addresses us: in children, in the suffering and the abandoned, in the marginalized and in the poor of this world." Visit Totus2us for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Papa Giovanni Paolo II - Homily, 25 December 2000: "It is as if on every day of the Jubilee year the Church has never ceased to repeat: “Today is born for us the Saviour”. This proclamation, which possesses an inexhaustible charge of renewal, resonates on this holy night with special force: it is the Christmas of the Great Jubilee, a living memory of 2000 years of Christ, of his wondrous birth, which marked the new beginning of history. Today “the Verb was made flesh and came to dwell among us” (Jn 1, 14). “Today”. On this night, time opens up to eternity, because You, O Christ, are born among us, coming from on high. You came to light from the womb of a Woman blessed among all women, You, “the Son of the Most High”. Your holiness sanctified our time once and for always: the days, the centuries, the millennia. With your birth, you made of time a “today” of salvation." For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady. Mary is also everything to us - Totus2us.