GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Paul VI Audience Hall-Wednesday, 25 January 2017
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| PHOTO: l'osservatore romano / photovat.com |
Christian hope - 8. Judith: the
courage of a woman restores hope to a people
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good
morning!
Among the figures of women
presented to us by the Old Testament, one great heroine stands out among the
people: Judith. The biblical Book which bears her name recounts the massive
military campaign of King Nebuchadnezzar who, ruling over Nineveh, expands the
boundaries of the empire by defeating and enslaving all the surrounding
peoples. The reader understands he is faced with a great, invincible enemy who
is spreading death and destruction, and who reaches the Promised Land, placing
the lives of Israel’s children in jeopardy.
Indeed, Nebuchadnezzar’s army,
under the leadership of General Holofernes, lays siege to a Judean city,
Bethulia, cutting off the water supply and thus wearing down the people’s
resistance.
The situation is dramatic, to the
point that the city’s inhabitants turn to the elders, demanding that they
surrender to the enemy. Their words are desperate: “For now we have no one to
help us; God has sold us into their hands, to strew us on the ground before
them with thirst and utter destruction”. They have reached the point of saying
this: “God has sold us”; the people’s desperation was great. “Now call them in
and surrender the whole city to the army of Holofernes and to all his forces,
to be plundered” (Judith 7:25-26). The end now seems inevitable, the ability to
trust in God is exhausted. The ability to trust in God is exhausted. And how
often do we reach the limit of a situation, where we do not even feel able to
have faith in the Lord. It is a terrible temptation! And, paradoxically, it seems
that, to escape death, there’s nothing left but to surrender oneself into the
hands of those who kill. They know that these soldiers have come to loot the
city, to take the women as slaves and then kill everyone else. This really is
“the limit”.
And faced with so much despair,
the leader of the people attempts to offer a foothold for hope: resist for five
more days, waiting for God’s salvific intervention. However, it is a weak hope
which makes him decide: “But if these days pass by, and no help comes for us, I
will do what you say” (7:31). Poor man: he has no way out. God is given five
days — and here is the sin — God is given five days to intervene; five days of
waiting, but already with the prospect of the end. They give God five days to
save them, but they know they do not have faith, and are expecting the worst.
In fact, there is no one among the people still capable of hope. They were
desperate.
It is in this situation that
Judith appears on the scene. A widow, a woman of great beauty and wisdom, she speaks
to the people with the language of faith. Courageously, she reproaches the
people to their face, (saying): “You are putting the Lord Almighty to the
test.... No, my brethren, do not provoke the Lord our God to anger. For if he
does not choose to help us within these five days, he has power to protect us
within any time he pleases, or even to destroy us in the presence of our
enemies.… Therefore, while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to
help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him” (8:13, 14-15, 17). It
is the language of hope. Let us knock on the doors to God’s heart. He is the
Father; he can save us. This woman, a widow, even risks making a fool of
herself in front of others. But, she is courageous. She goes forward! This is
my opinion: women are more courageous than men. [Applause]
And with the strength of a
prophet, Judith rebukes the men of her people to restore their faith in God;
with the gaze of a prophet, she sees beyond the narrow horizon proposed by the
leaders, and which fear limits even further. God will surely act, she says,
while the proposal of waiting five days is a way to tempt him and escape his
will. The Lord is the God of Salvation — and she believed this — whatever form
it may take. It is salvation to liberate from enemies and to bring life, but,
in his impenetrable plans, it can also be salvation to allow death. A woman of
faith, she knows this. Thus we know the end, how the story ends: God saves.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us
never set conditions for God, and let us instead allow hope to conquer our
fears. Entrusting ourselves to God means entering into his plans without
demanding anything, and also accepting that his salvation and his help come to
us in ways that differ from our expectations. We ask the Lord for life, for
health, for love, for happiness; and it is right to do so, but with the
understanding that God is able to bring life even from death, that we can
experience peace even in sickness, and that there can be calm even in
loneliness, and happiness even in tears. It is not for us to instruct God about
what he must do, about what we need. He knows better than we do, and we must
have faith, because his ways and his thoughts are different from ours.
The path which Judith shows us is
one of faith, of waiting peacefully, of prayer, and of obedience. It is the
path of hope. Without simple resignation, doing everything within our power,
but always remaining in the furrow of the Lord’s will, because — as we know —
she prayed so much, spoke a great deal to the people and then, courageously,
she went, looked for a way to get close to the leader of the army, and managed
to cut off his head, to slit his throat. She is courageous in faith and in
deeds. And she always seeks out the Lord! Judith, in fact, had her own plan,
carried it out successfully, and led the people to victory, but always with the
attitude of faith of those who accept everything from the hand of God, certain
of his goodness.
Thus, a woman full of faith and
courage restores strength to her people who are in mortal danger, and guides
them along the paths of hope, also pointing them out to us. And, if we reflect
a little, how often have we heard the wise, courageous words of humble people,
of humble women who are thought of as — without disregarding them — perhaps
ignorant.... However, they are words of God’s wisdom! The words of
grandmothers... how often do grandmothers know the right thing to say, the word
of hope, because they have life experience. They have suffered greatly; they
have entrusted themselves to God, and the Lord gives this gift of encouraging
us to hope. And, going along those paths, there will be Paschal joy and light
in entrusting oneself to the Lord with Jesus’ words: “Father, if thou art
willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”
(Lk 22:42). And this is the prayer of wisdom, of faith, and of hope.
Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups
from the United States of America. During this Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity I offer a special greeting
to the group from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute and to the choir of
Westminster Abbey, whom I thank for their praise of God in song. Upon all of
you, and your families, I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our
Lord Jesus Christ. God bless
you!
I turn a special thought to young people,
to the sick, and to newlyweds. Today we celebrate the
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Dear young people, may the
figure of Paul be for all of you a model of missionary discipleship. Dear sick
people, offer your suffering for the cause of Christian unity in the Church
of Christ. And you, dear newlyweds, be inspired by the example of
the Apostle of the Gentiles, recognizing the primacy of God and his love in
your family life.
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