During the general audience on January 22, 2025, Pope Francis urged those who, out of fear, go to a fortune teller to have their palm read, to instead carry on “without fear” with Jesus.
He also presented the Virgin Mary as a model of trust, recalling the moment when she accepted “the greatest mission” ever entrusted to a human being.
The Pontiff resumed his cycle of meditations for Jubilee 2025, dedicated to “Jesus Christ, our hope.”
This time, he commented on the words of the Annunciation, spoken by the angel Gabriel to invite Mary to become the mother of God.
The angel's first word, “Rejoice,” is an “invitation to joy” and had already been spoken by the Old Testament prophets to announce the coming of the Messiah, Pope Francis pointed out.
He then noted that "God speaks to Mary with a loving name unknown in biblical history."
Kecharitoméne, which means “filled with divine grace.” Mary is full of divine grace.
This name, the Pope said "is immediately accompanied by reassurance: 'Do not be afraid!'"
“Do not be afraid!”: the presence of the Lord always gives us this grace of not fearing, and so He says to Mary: “Do not be afraid!”
God says “Do not be afraid” to Abraham, Isaac, and Moses in history: “Do not be afraid!” (cf. Gen 15:1; 26:24; Dt 31:8; Joshua 8:1).
And He says to us too: “Do not be afraid, keep going; do not be afraid!”
Leaving aside his notes, he urged those who respond to fear with superstition to instead trust in the presence of Christ.
Christians should avoid superstition
In a general audience last September, the Pontiff declared that it is the devil who hides behind superstition.
He is astute: he makes us believe that he does not exist, and in this way he dominates everything. He is cunning. And yet our technological and secularized world is teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets, and unfortunately with real satanic sects. Driven out the door, the devil has re-entered, one might say, through the window. Driven out of faith, he re-enters with superstition. And if you are superstitious, you are unconsciously conversing with the devil. One does not converse with the devil.
Similarly, during an Angelus address in July 2023, the Pope lamented that many Christians have their palms read.
There are some who imagine a prophet as some type of magician who foretells the future. But this is a superstitious idea, and a Christian does not believe in superstitions, such as magic, tarot cards, horoscopes, and other similar things. Incidentally, many, many Christians go to have their palms read. Please!
The greatest mission ever
Continuing his teaching today, the Pope emphasized how deeply the Virgin was moved by the announcement of this “unique maternity” and would seek to understand it in her heart.
This motherhood shakes Mary to the core. And as the intelligent woman she is, thus capable of reading into events (cf. Lk 2:19,51), she tries to understand, to discern what is happening to her. Mary does not look outside, but within.
And there, in the depths of her open and sensitive heart, she hears the invitation to trust in God, who has prepared for her a special “Pentecost.” Just as at the beginning of creation (cf. Gen 1:2), God wants to nurture Mary with His Spirit, a power capable of opening what is closed without violating it, without encroaching on human freedom; He wants to envelop her in the “clouds” of His presence (cf. 1 Cor 10:1-2) because the Son lives in her, and her in Him.
And Mary is illuminated with trust: she is “a lamp with many lights.” Mary welcomes the Word in her own flesh and thus launches the greatest mission ever entrusted to a woman, to a human creature. She places herself in service: she is full of everything, not like a slave but as a collaborator of God the Father, full of dignity and authority in order to administer, as she will do at Cana, the gifts of divine treasure, so that many will be able to draw from it with both hands.
