Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNews) - The Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady is "a privileged opportunity to meditate on the ultimate meaning of human existence. Helped by today's liturgy it invites us to live in this world always oriented towards eternal good, to share in the glory of Mary, our Mother”. In fact Mary, in Benedict XVI reflections today, is the "guide", she, who in the struggle between good and evil that marks our lives, shows us that "God is always the priority".
Benedict XVI had two appointments this morning; the first at 8 am for the celebration of Mass in the parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo and the second at midday in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in the same town, for the recitation of the Angelus.
During Mass, commenting on the Gospel of the Magnificat and Mary’s "haste" to go to Elizabeth, the Pope stressed that our lives should be marked by this "sacred haste" in the knowledge that "God is always the priority," and no other priority should create such haste in our lives. Moreover he pointed to the passage from the gospel where Saint Luke “tells us that Mary, after the annunciation, 'got up and went quickly towards the mountainous region' to visit Elizabeth (Luke 1, 39). The evangelist - he continued - wants to stress that for Mary to follow her vocation, in docility to the Spirit of God, who has brought about in her the Incarnation of the Word, she must embark upon a new road and travel outside her home, allowing herself to be led by God alone". 'It is a journey - he continued - in which Mary, conserving and meditating upon the events of her existence in her heart, sees in them, in an ever deepening way, the mysterious plan of God the Father for the salvation of the world. "
"Following Jesus from Bethlehem to exile in Egypt, in the hidden life and public life, even to the foot of the Cross, Mary – he continued – lives her steady ascent to God in the spirit of the Magnificat, adhering in full, even through moments of 'darkness and suffering’, to the project of the love of God and nourishing in her heart her total abandonment to the hands of the Lord, so as to be a paradigm for the faith of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, 64-65). All of life is an ascent, all of life is meditation, obedience, trust and hope even in darkness and all of life is this sacred haste that knows that God is always the priority and nothing else should create haste in our lives" .
"The Assumption – he concluded - reminds us that Mary's life, like that of every Christian is a journey to follow Jesus, a path that has a clearly defined goal, a future already mapped out: the final victory over sin and death and full communion with God. "
At the Angelus, the Pope emphasized the relationship between Mary and priests, recalling once again the Year for the Priest and St. John Mary Vianney. "The Holy Curé of Ars - he said - was especially attracted by the beauty of Mary, the beauty that coincides with her being the Immaculate, the only creature conceived without a shadow of sin. 'The Holy Virgin – he said - is that beautiful creature that has never disgusted God'. As a good and faithful pastor, he led first of all by example, even in his filial love for the Mother of Jesus, who attracted him towards the heavens. “If I were never to go to heaven – he would exclaim – how I would be deeply pained! I would never see the Holy Virgin, this beautiful creature!”. Moreover on many occasions he consecrated his parish to the devotion of Our Lady, especially recommending mothers to do the same every morning with their children. Dear brothers and sisters - concluded the Pope - we make our own the sentiments of the Curé d'Ars. And with the same faith, we turn to Mary's Assumption into heaven, and especially entrust to her the priests of the world”.
