親愛的兄弟姐妹們：
能夠在聖若瑟瞻禮舉行彌撒聖祭，開始伯多祿的職務，為此我感謝上主，聖若瑟是童貞瑪利亞的淨配，是普世教會的主保：這樣的巧合具有非常深刻的意義，若瑟也是我可敬的前任教宗的名字，他以祈禱熱情而感激的陪伴在我們身邊。
我熱情的問候樞機和主教弟兄們，問候司鐸們，執事們，修會會士，以及所有的平信徒。我也感激其他教會和教會團體的代表，還有猶太人團體以及其他宗教團體的代表。我也特別問候在場的國家和政府元首，眾多國家的官方代表以及外交使節團。
我們在福音當中聽到：“若瑟就照上主的天使所囑咐的辦了 ”（瑪一24）。在這句話當中已經包括了天主所託付給若瑟的使命，要做保護者，做護衛者，是做誰的護衛者？做瑪利亞和耶穌的護衛者；可是這種護衛的職責之後在教會內延續，就如同真福若望保祿二世所說的“ 就像聖若瑟對瑪利亞關愛照顧，心甘情願的對耶穌基督的教養奉獻自己[1]，他同樣地看顧並保護基督的奧體，就是教會，對教會來說，童貞瑪利亞是她的榜樣和典範 ”（《救主的監護人》勸諭）。
若瑟是如何實行這種監護的職責呢？低調、謙卑，靜默，但常常臨在，完全忠實，即使不理解的時候也是這樣。從與瑪利亞的婚姻開始，直到耶穌十二歲的時候在耶路撒冷聖殿所發生的事情，若瑟都一直關心、愛護、陪伴他們。他和自己的淨配瑪利亞在一起，無論是生命當中平靜的時刻，還是困難的時刻，包括人口普查去白冷的旅途中，包括令人震撼而又喜樂的生產的時刻，包括逃亡埃及的悲慘時刻，也包括在聖殿中焦急的尋找自己孩子的時刻，之後還有在納匝肋家中的日常生活，在木匠作坊當中教給耶穌怎樣工作。
若瑟是怎麼樣活出自己護衛瑪利亞，護衛耶穌，護衛教會的聖召呢？他常常關注天主，向天主的記號保持開放的心態，準備實行天主的計劃，而不是他自己的計劃；這也就是天主向達味所要求的，就如同我們在讀經一當中所聽到的：天主不願意一座由人手所建築的殿宇，而是願意人忠信於他的聖言，忠信於他的計劃；天主自己要建造殿宇，但是是由聖神所印記的活石所建成的殿宇。若瑟是“護衛者”，因為他知道聆聽天主，接受天主聖意的指引，也正因為如此，他對於那些託付給他的人就更敏銳，他知道現實的去解讀所發生的事情，關注身邊所發生的事情。知道做出明智的決定。親愛的朋友們，我們在他身上看到如何回應天主的召喚，敏捷而順服；可是，我們也看到基督徒聖召的核心是什麼：就是基督，我們要在生命中保存基督，這樣才能保存其他人，才能保護受造物。
可是，護衛的聖召並不僅僅局限於我們基督徒，首先看可以說是針對所有人的，很簡單，是屬於人性方面的。就是要保護受造物，保護受造物的美善，就如同在《創世紀》當中所告訴我們的，就如同亞西西的聖方濟各向我們昭示的：要尊重天主的一切受造物，要尊重我們所生活的環境。要護衛其他的人，要關心所有的人，關心每一個人，特別要愛護兒童，老人和弱小者，有時候他們處於我們的心靈之外。在家庭當中要互相關懷：夫妻之間要彼此保護，之後，父母應該照顧子女，要肯花時間，子女也要照顧自己的父母。要真誠的活出友誼，要彼此信任，彼此尊重，互相保護。往深處看，一切都託付在人的保護之下。你們要護衛天主的恩寵。
如果人在這方面不負責任，如果我們不關心受造物和我們的弟兄，那麼就會有更多的破壞，心靈便會荒蕪。很不幸，在歷史的每個時代，都有“黑落德”進行死亡的計劃，摧毀人的面容。
我願意請求所有在經濟，政治和社會領域內負有職責的人，請求所有具有善意的人：我們要做受造物的“護衛者”，要做刻在每件事物本性中的天主計劃的護衛者，要保護其他人，要保護環境；我們不要讓摧毀和死亡的記號陪伴我們這個世界的道路。可是，為了能夠護衛，我們也應該照顧我們自己。我們要記得，仇恨、嫉妒和驕傲會玷污生命。護衛的意思就是，要注意我們的感覺，我們的心靈，因為從那裡會產生出善意或者惡意，會產生出建樹或者毀滅的想法。我們不應該害怕善良，也不應該害怕溫和。
那麼，在這裡我再補充一點：關心、護衛要求善良，要求溫和的生活。在福音當中，若瑟以一個勇敢而堅強的形像出現，他努力工作。可是，在他的靈魂深處卻具有極大的溫和，這並不是弱者的品質，完全相反：包括堅強的精神，以及關注並同情別人的能力，會真正的向另一位開放，也會去愛。我們不應該害怕善良與溫和。
與聖若瑟的節日同時，今天也慶祝羅馬的新主教開始其職務，他是伯多祿的繼承人，也賦予一項權力。確實，耶穌基督給了伯多祿權力，可是，是什麼樣的權力呢？耶穌在三次對於伯多祿有關愛的詢問之後，接下來是三項邀請：牧放我的羊群，牧放我的羔羊。我們千萬不要忘記，真正的權力是服務，也包括教宗，他在實行權力的時候，應該越來越深入這種服務，其光輝的頂點就是十字架；應該關注謙卑而具體的服務，這樣的服務充滿信德，就是聖若瑟的服務，如同他一樣，張開雙臂護衛全體天主子民，溫和的接納全人類，特別是那些最貧窮、最弱小的人；這就是瑪竇在最後審判的時候對於愛的敘述：飢餓，口渴，赤身裸體，疾病，監禁（參瑪二五31-46）。只有愛的服務才能夠護衛。
在第二篇讀經當中，聖保祿談到了亞巴郎，他“ 在絕望中仍懷著希望而相信了 ”（羅四18）。在絕望中懷著希望。同樣，在今天面對如此灰暗的天空，我們應該看到希望之光，要給自己希望。要護衛受造物，每個人要有溫和的、愛的目光，要在陰雲密布的天空打開一縷陽光，要帶來希望的溫暖。為我們基督徒，為信友來說，如同亞巴郎一樣，如同聖若瑟一樣，我們所懷有的希望在天主那裡，已經在基督內賜予我們了，是建立在磐石之上的，就是天主自己。
與瑪利亞一起護衛耶穌，護衛整個受造界，護衛所有的人，特別要護衛最貧窮的人，護衛我們自己。這就是羅馬主教蒙召所進行的服務，可是這樣的服務我們大家都蒙召來實行，這樣希望之星才會升起：我們要愛護天主所給予我們的一切。
我呼求童貞瑪利亞、聖若瑟，聖伯多祿、聖保祿宗徒，聖方濟的轉求，祈求天主聖神伴隨我的職務。對你們所有的人，我也要說：請為我祈禱。阿門
（厄瑪奴爾神學中心譯）
影片；1小時29分時教宗方濟各證道
原文如下：來源
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of St Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.
I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other churches and ecclesial communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.
In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1).
How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.
How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!
The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!
Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.
Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!
Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!
In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, “hoping against hope, believed” (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God.
To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!
I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.