CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) Respecting human freedom, God waits for Christians, especially priests, to say "yes" to his desire to bring Christ to the world, Pope Benedict XVI said. During his weekly general audience Aug. 12, the pope continued his new series of talks about the Year for Priests and connected the topic to the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Aug. 15.
Some 4,000 people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo and in the square outside the villa to participate in the audience.
Pope Benedict said there is a special connection between priests and Mary that comes from the mystery of the Incarnation.
"When God decided to become man in his Son, he needed the freely given ‘yes’ of one of his creatures. God never acts against our freedom. Something truly extraordinary occurred: God made himself dependent on the freedom, on the ‘yes’ of one of his creatures," he said.
The pope said, "The ‘yes’ of Mary was the door through which God could enter the world and become human. So Mary was truly, deeply involved in the mystery of the Incarnation and our salvation."
Pope Benedict also said that before dying Jesus saw his mother and his "beloved disciple" at the foot of the cross. The disciple obviously was someone special, but he also was a symbol of all those who follow Jesus and, particularly, of priests, he said.
When the Gospel says that the disciple, presumably St. John, took Mary into his home, it means that he took her into his life and she became part of his very existence, the pope said. In the same way, priests are called to make Mary a part of their lives, he added.
Mary’s special relationship with priests is based on the fact that they are similar to Jesus in giving their lives for the salvation of others and because, like Mary, "they are committed to the mission of proclaiming, witnessing to and giving Christ to the world," Pope Benedict said.
Entrusting his mother to his disciples, Jesus gave all of them — but especially priests — the person who was most precious to him, the pope said.