Pope at Mass on Immaculate Conception:

True richness lies in a heart open to others

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis celebrates Mass with the 21 new Cardinals and challenges the faithful to look beyond material wealth and privilege to embrace a life of love, solidarity, and meaningful connection. 

By Linda Bordoni

Papal Immaculate Conception Mass:

 https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-12/pope-mass-solemnity-immaculate-conception-new-cardinals.html 

“What is the use of having a full bank account, a comfortable home, unreal virtual relationships, if our hearts remain cold, empty, and closed?” Pope Francis asked during his homily at Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

“What is the use of achieving great financial growth in privileged countries if half the world is starving or ravaged by war, and the others look on with indifference?” he questioned further, during the liturgy celebrated together with the 21 new cardinals who received the red hat at a consistory on Saturday evening.

“What is the use of achieving great financial growth in privileged countries if half the world is starving or ravaged by war?”

Mary a model of selfless love

Pointing to the Virgin Mary as a model for transforming the world, the Pope said “Mary’s heart, free from sin and open to the Spirit, is a heart that gives itself completely.”

Mary’s beauty, he continued, is not distant or unattainable—it is a gift to all, one that calls for a similar response from us.

“The Immaculate Virgin is beautiful in her fruitfulness since she recognizes that she must die to herself in order to give life, forget herself in order to care for the poor and vulnerable who turn to her,” Pope Francis explained.

Her example calls on us all to imitate her humanity and, “by God’s grace, help to change our world for the better,” he said.

Speaking off-the-cuff, the Pope also reiterated his conviction that the female model Mary offers us is fundamental because "there is no salvation without women. The Church is female."

“Mary’s example calls on us to help change our world for the better.”

Building a future of solidarity

The Pope warned that self-sufficiency—the illusion that we can thrive in isolation—continues to wound humanity.

“Neither love nor happiness can arise from the presumption of self-sufficiency,” he said. A life focused solely on personal gain, detached from the struggles of others, leads only to emptiness.

He called on believers to embrace the virtues of Mary—filial, spousal, and maternal love—as pathways to renewal. What is needed, he affirmed, is not more possessions, but hearts that are open and hands that are ready to give.

A call to action

Pope Francis appealed to believers to live in a way that truly transforms the world. “Let us look to Mary Immaculate and ask her to conquer us through her loving Heart.  May she convert us and make us a community in which filial, spousal and maternal love may be a rule and criterion of life,” he urged.

By following her example, he said, families can grow in unity, communities can rediscover solidarity, and the human family can begin to heal from its divisions.

The new Cardinals

Concluding, the Pope noted that he celebrated this Eucharist with the new cardinals whom, he said, he has asked to help in his service as Pastor of the Universal Church:

“They have come from many parts of the world, bringing great wisdom, to contribute to the growth and spread of the Kingdom of God.” 

“Let us now entrust them in a special way to the intercession of the Mother of our Saviour.”