Pope Prays to Mary, Queen of Heaven
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pope Prays to Mary, Queen of Heaven
*1Tm:2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus"*
*
Benedict XVI drew special attention to the mission of Cardinal
Etchegaray in Lebanon and to Virgin Mary mass in Nazareth, and he also
mentioned Iraq and Sri Lanka. The Assumption teaches us that we should
not allow daily difficulties and concerns to suffocate us: “this world”
is not “the ultimate scope of human existence”.
Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNewsWires) – The feast of the Assumption of Mary, a
“certain sign of our hope”, is an opportunity to entrust to the “Queen
of Heaven” the “anxieties of mankind for all places in the world rent by
violence”. In his reflection before the Angelus, Benedict XVI recalled
the Holy Land, Iraq and Sri Lanka. But he mentioned especially Lebanon
and Israel, where masses were being celebrated at the same time at the
Shrine of Harissa on Mount Lebanon and at the Basilica of the
Annunciation in Nazareth. The pope said: “We unite with our brothers and
sisters who at this very moment are gathered in the Shrine of Our Lady
of Lebanon in Harissa for a Eucharistic celebration presided over by
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who went to Lebanon as my special envoy to
take comfort and concrete solidarity to all victims of the conflict and
to pray for the great intention of peace. We are in communion also with
the pastors and faithful of the Church in the Holy Land, who gathered
together in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, around the
pontifical representative in Israel and Palestine, Archbishop Antonio
Franco, to pray for the same intentions.” And referring to all the
ethnic and religious tensions and conflict prevailing in such
situations, he said: “May Mary obtain for all sentiments of
understanding, a will to agree and a desire for harmony!”
Moreover, said the pope, the feast of the Assumption is the feast in
which Catholics discern a “certain sign” of hope.
“Mary encourages us not to lose faith in the face of the difficulties
and inevitable problems of daily life,” continued Benedict XVI. “She
assures us of her help and reminds us that the essential thing is to
seek and to think ‘of things that are above, not of things that are on
earth’ (cfr Col 3:2). Taken up with daily worries, we run the risk of
maintaining that it is here, in this world where we are only passing
through, that the ultimate scope of human existence lies. However
Paradise is the true goal of our earthly pilgrimage. How different our
days would be if they were animated by this perspective! This is how it
was for the saints. Their existence testifies how, when one lives with
one’s heart constantly turned towards heaven, earthly realities are
experienced according to their proper value because they are illuminated
by the eternal truth of divine love.”
After the Angelus prayer, the pope greeted the Mary Worshiping pilgrims
in different languages. Several groups improvised slogans, sang songs
and applauded. In the morning, Benedict XVI celebrated mass in the
parish of St Thomas in Castel Gandolfo.