It's 50 days since our Easter celebration and we end this Season with the Feast of Pentecost. We remember how the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary as they prayed in the upper room. The apostles were transformed. They went from cowards to bold witnesses. The readings at Mass today are filled with symbols of the One who transformed them.
First we have wind. Think for a moment of its qualities. It is unseen and can be a gentle cooling agent or it can be a powerful force that destroys. In light of the Gospel from John 20:19-23, the wind or breath of Jesus Himself, destroys sin and brings forgiveness. Breath gives life. It is close to us and essential, just like the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent at Pentecost and at each of our baptisms.
Secondly we have fire. Again, think for a moment of its qualities. It is mysterious. It brings light and warmth and, in the ancient world, protected humans from dangerous beasts. Like wind, it can also destroy. Metals that are placed in it are purified. Just so, we are purified by the Holy Spirit.
I'd like to add another symbol that we don't find in the readings at Mass today--water, the symbol of baptism, that moment when each of us became a temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. In the second reading in today's Office of Readings in the Breviary, St. Irenaeus speaks of the unifying nature of water. He writes: "Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. ... Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have become one in body; through the Spirit we have become one in soul."
We find this theme of unity amidst diversity in the second reading at Mass from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. He writes of many gifts and parts but one body that is made one by the Holy Spirit which joins each member to Christ. When sin enters into the picture, diversity becomes a source of division and war. But when the Spirit comes, diversity leads to a rich, harmonious unity. Like the body. The Holy Spirit has been called "the Soul of the Church, the Body of Christ," and as the human soul gives life to the physical body, so the Holy Spirit gives life to each member of the Body of Christ and to the entire Body.
It has also been said that the Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. This is the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity which we will be celebrating next Sunday. God is one and God is three. Humans are made in the image and likeness of this Trinitarian Communion of Love. We are not individuals doing our own thing, like cancer cells in a body, but we are joined to one another through the Spirit, the bond of love in the Trinity. The human family was created for a harmonious unity that reflects Trinitarian love. Sin breaks that unity and so Jesus breathes on His Body, the Church, the breath of mercy, the Holy Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of all the faithful so that we may truly be one and reveal the one, true God who is Love itself to the world!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Pope Francis and St. Therese
Fr. Bernard McGuckian, S.J., the Apostleship of Prayer director for Ireland, has been visiting me for the past few weeks. In the course of various conversations he said that for the first time in his 76 years he can say that he understands the particular spirituality of the pope. The reason is that Pope Francis was formed in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius as was Fr. McGuckian and every other Jesuit, including myself. Now, as I read various homilies and talks of Pope Francis, I look for threads of the Spiritual Exercises.
Recently, another friend of mine, Maureen O'Riordan who has a marvelous website about St. Therese of Lisieux, blogged about the connection between Pope Francis and this saint who is the second patron of the Apostleship of Prayer. When he was a cardinal visiting Rome, Pope Francis was in the habit of going to a Franciscan church where he would stop at a statue of St. Therese and pray. You can read the rest of the story here.
As time goes by and we approach the month of the Sacred Heart I'll be eager to learn more about Pope Francis' devotion to the Heart of Jesus and his involvement with the Apostleship of Prayer which is an apostolate of the Jesuits in Argentina and throughout the world.
Recently, another friend of mine, Maureen O'Riordan who has a marvelous website about St. Therese of Lisieux, blogged about the connection between Pope Francis and this saint who is the second patron of the Apostleship of Prayer. When he was a cardinal visiting Rome, Pope Francis was in the habit of going to a Franciscan church where he would stop at a statue of St. Therese and pray. You can read the rest of the story here.
As time goes by and we approach the month of the Sacred Heart I'll be eager to learn more about Pope Francis' devotion to the Heart of Jesus and his involvement with the Apostleship of Prayer which is an apostolate of the Jesuits in Argentina and throughout the world.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Everyday Witness
This morning as I was praying my breviary I came across the second reading for the Office of Readings and I saw a connection with something Pope Francis said in his Sunday homily yesterday. Today St. Augustine tells us in one of his sermons that we should "make sure that your life does not contradict your words." He goes on to talk about making sure that our words and actions are consistent, that our faith is evident by the way we live: "If you desire to praise him, then live what you express. Live good lives, and you yourselves will be his praise."
In his homily yesterday, Pope Francis said that the "inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church's credibility." Evangelization, in other words, depends upon the consistency between word and action.
We often think of evangelization as going door to door and engaging people in conversation about the faith. I like to say that Jesus called fishermen to be fishers of men, fishers of people, and the bait that they used was the witness of lives that attracted people to Jesus. Every moment of life is precious. Our lives may seem mundane and unimportant, but they aren't. Every moment is an opportunity to grow in holiness and to witness to that holiness by the way we live. Pope Francis spoke about this, calling it the "middle class of holiness" and offering the example of his namesake who called his followers to preach the Gospel and, if necessary, to use words. Here's the exact quote:
In his homily yesterday, Pope Francis said that the "inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church's credibility." Evangelization, in other words, depends upon the consistency between word and action.
We often think of evangelization as going door to door and engaging people in conversation about the faith. I like to say that Jesus called fishermen to be fishers of men, fishers of people, and the bait that they used was the witness of lives that attracted people to Jesus. Every moment of life is precious. Our lives may seem mundane and unimportant, but they aren't. Every moment is an opportunity to grow in holiness and to witness to that holiness by the way we live. Pope Francis spoke about this, calling it the "middle class of holiness" and offering the example of his namesake who called his followers to preach the Gospel and, if necessary, to use words. Here's the exact quote:
"We should all ask ourselves: How do I bear witness to Christ
through my faith? Do I have the courage of Peter and the other Apostles, to
think, to choose and to live as a Christian, obedient to God? To be sure, the
testimony of faith comes in very many forms, just as in a great fresco, there
is a variety of colours and shades; yet they are all important, even those
which do not stand out. In God’s great plan, every detail is important, even
yours, even my humble little witness, even the hidden witness of those who live
their faith with simplicity in everyday family relationships, work relationships,
friendships. There are the saints of every day, the “hidden” saints, a sort of
“middle class of holiness”, as a French author said, that “middle class of
holiness” to which we can all belong. ... Let us all
remember this: one cannot proclaim the Gospel of Jesus without the tangible
witness of one’s life. Those who listen to us and observe us must be able to
see in our actions what they hear from our lips, and so give glory to God! I am
thinking now of some advice that Saint Francis of Assisi gave his brothers:
preach the Gospel and, if necessary, use words. Preaching with your life, with
your witness."
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Religious Freedom and St. Stanislaus
Today is the Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr and Patron of Poland. He was born in 1030 and became the Bishop of Krakow in 1072. The king at the time was Boleslaus who was morally corrupt, unjust, and cruel. St. Stanislaus confronted him and, when he would not listen, excommunicated him. King Boleslaus ordered his soldiers to kill the Bishop but they balked and finally the King killed Stanislaus himself on this day in 1079. Nine centuries later, Pope John Paul II returned to his homeland and Krakow where he had been the Archbishop at the time of his election to the papacy. Poland was still under Communist control and the Pope's visit there inspired the people to be courageous as they lived faithful to the Gospel and struggled for religious freedom.
It just so happens that the first reading at Mass today (Acts of the Apostles 5:27-33) includes this declaration of St. Peter and the other Apostles who were being persecuted: "We must obey God rather than men." These are timely words on a timely feast as our own nation struggles with questions of religious liberty.
When he visited Poland in 1979, Blessed John Paul II said the following:
"History tells how the relationship between Bishop Stanislaus and King Boleslaus II, serene at first, later deteriorated because of the injustices and cruelty visited by the King upon his subjects. The Bishop of Krakow, an authentic "good shepherd" (cf. John 10:10-14), defended his flock. The King replied with violence. Bishop Stanislaus was killed while celebrating Mass. On the venerated skull of the Martyr, now preciously preserved in an artistic reliquary, one can still see the signs of the heavy mortal blows.
"From that time on, Saint Stanislaus became the Patron of Poland. He became especially the benefactor and protector of poor people; he became, above all, an example to Bishops as to how to communicate and defend the sacred deposit of faith with undaunted strength and unbending spirit. For centuries he has been considered an illustrious witness to genuine freedom and to the fruitful synthesis which is brought about in a believer between loyalty to an earthly fatherland and fidelity to the Church which lives in the expectation of a definitive and future city (cf. Heb 13:14).
"After nine centuries the personality and the message of Saint Stanislaus preserve an extraordinary relevance. This regards both his life as a pastor of a portion of God's People and the witness of blood given by his martyrdom.
"But Saint Stanislaus is certainly and especially "the man" of his times: his pastoral ministry is fulfilled under the pontificate of Saint Gregory VII, in a period, that is, in which the Church claims her own freedom and her own original spiritual mission in the face of the powerful men of the world."
He also said the following in a homily at a Mass in honor of St. Stanislaus:
It just so happens that the first reading at Mass today (Acts of the Apostles 5:27-33) includes this declaration of St. Peter and the other Apostles who were being persecuted: "We must obey God rather than men." These are timely words on a timely feast as our own nation struggles with questions of religious liberty.
When he visited Poland in 1979, Blessed John Paul II said the following:
"History tells how the relationship between Bishop Stanislaus and King Boleslaus II, serene at first, later deteriorated because of the injustices and cruelty visited by the King upon his subjects. The Bishop of Krakow, an authentic "good shepherd" (cf. John 10:10-14), defended his flock. The King replied with violence. Bishop Stanislaus was killed while celebrating Mass. On the venerated skull of the Martyr, now preciously preserved in an artistic reliquary, one can still see the signs of the heavy mortal blows.
"From that time on, Saint Stanislaus became the Patron of Poland. He became especially the benefactor and protector of poor people; he became, above all, an example to Bishops as to how to communicate and defend the sacred deposit of faith with undaunted strength and unbending spirit. For centuries he has been considered an illustrious witness to genuine freedom and to the fruitful synthesis which is brought about in a believer between loyalty to an earthly fatherland and fidelity to the Church which lives in the expectation of a definitive and future city (cf. Heb 13:14).
"After nine centuries the personality and the message of Saint Stanislaus preserve an extraordinary relevance. This regards both his life as a pastor of a portion of God's People and the witness of blood given by his martyrdom.
"But Saint Stanislaus is certainly and especially "the man" of his times: his pastoral ministry is fulfilled under the pontificate of Saint Gregory VII, in a period, that is, in which the Church claims her own freedom and her own original spiritual mission in the face of the powerful men of the world."
He also said the following in a homily at a Mass in honor of St. Stanislaus:
"All of life ... assumes the aspect of a great and fundamental test: a
test of faith and of character. Saint Stanislaus has become, in the
spiritual history of the Polish people, the patron of this great and
fundamental test of faith and of character. In this sense we honour him also as
the patron of the Christian moral order. In the final analysis the moral order
is built up by means of human beings. This order consists of a large number of
tests, each one a test of faith and of character. From every victorious test
the moral order is built up. From every failed test moral disorder grows.
"We know very well from our
entire history that we must not permit, absolutely and at whatever cost, this
disorder. For this we have already paid a bitter price many times.
"This is therefore our
meditation on the seven years of St Stanislaus, on his pastoral ministry in the
See of Krakow, on the new examination of his relics, that is to say his skull,
which still shows the marks of his mortal wounds—all of this leads us today to
a great and ardent prayer for the victory of the moral order in this
difficult epoch of our history."
May each of us join our prayers to this prayer of Blessed John Paul II and the Polish people who struggled for religious liberty and won the victory over a government that sought to deny it.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Divine Mercy and the Apostleship of Prayer
I spoke at the Mercy Sunday Prayer Service which the West Allis, WI parish, Mary Queen of Heaven, held this afternoon. I basically recycled the talk that I gave last year at Marytown, but in giving it this year I was struck by the close connection between Divine Mercy devotion and the spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer. Both are Eucharistic.
When we participate in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ by offering him to the Father. As members of the Body of Christ, we are united to this offering and so we offer ourselves with Jesus to the Father. Then, as we leave Mass and go out into the world, we live the offering we have made. This is what St. Paul means in Romans 12:1 when he writes: "I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship." In the Eucharistic spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer we renew that offering every morning as we begin the day, try to consciously live that offering throughout the day, and then, in the evening, examine the day which we have just offered to God.
The prayers of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy are also a way that we live a Eucharistic life by making an offering of ourselves with Jesus. At the beginning of each decade of the Chaplet we pray: "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world." With these words our hearts are united with the Mass which is being celebrated somewhere in the world at any given moment. We are renewing the offering of ourselves with Jesus that we make at every Mass. And with the prayer that follows, we remember, as we do at Mass, the suffering and death of Jesus by which the world is saved: "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
This is far from an individualistic devotion or spirituality. Eucharistic spirituality, by joining us in a deeper way to Christ, focuses our attention outside ourselves to a world desperately in need of mercy. We pray for ourselves because we are sinners in need of mercy, but we pray as well for the entire world for which Jesus suffered, died, and rose. Divine Mercy devotions are not in competition with the Eucharist or with Sacred Heart devotions. They are another and very beautiful way in which we can make an offering of ourselves with Jesus for this intention: that every person may come to know the love of God revealed in Jesus, accept his mercy, and be saved.
When we participate in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ by offering him to the Father. As members of the Body of Christ, we are united to this offering and so we offer ourselves with Jesus to the Father. Then, as we leave Mass and go out into the world, we live the offering we have made. This is what St. Paul means in Romans 12:1 when he writes: "I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship." In the Eucharistic spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer we renew that offering every morning as we begin the day, try to consciously live that offering throughout the day, and then, in the evening, examine the day which we have just offered to God.
The prayers of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy are also a way that we live a Eucharistic life by making an offering of ourselves with Jesus. At the beginning of each decade of the Chaplet we pray: "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world." With these words our hearts are united with the Mass which is being celebrated somewhere in the world at any given moment. We are renewing the offering of ourselves with Jesus that we make at every Mass. And with the prayer that follows, we remember, as we do at Mass, the suffering and death of Jesus by which the world is saved: "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
This is far from an individualistic devotion or spirituality. Eucharistic spirituality, by joining us in a deeper way to Christ, focuses our attention outside ourselves to a world desperately in need of mercy. We pray for ourselves because we are sinners in need of mercy, but we pray as well for the entire world for which Jesus suffered, died, and rose. Divine Mercy devotions are not in competition with the Eucharist or with Sacred Heart devotions. They are another and very beautiful way in which we can make an offering of ourselves with Jesus for this intention: that every person may come to know the love of God revealed in Jesus, accept his mercy, and be saved.
Monday, April 1, 2013
God's "I Do"
Like most citizens, I've been called upon for jury duty but I've never been selected to serve, so I've never been at a trial. But I've seen enough TV and watched enough movies to know the answer to the question, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" It's "I do."
We hear that same response weddings where the couple has chosen to answer the question, "Do you take (Name) for your lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
And we hear this response six times at the Easter Vigil when we solemnly renew our baptismal promises. When asked if we reject sin and Satan we respond with a resounding "I do!" When asked to affirm the statements of our creed we respond as well with "I do."
This "I do" reject sin and "I do" believe in the Christian faith is really a response to God's prior "I do."
We could ask God, "Do you love me?" The response would be, "I do." The Most Holy Trinity shared love by creating the world, human beings, and me. Each of us is, in the words of Blessed John Paul II, "unique, precious, and unrepeatable." It is as though each of us gives God a pleasure and joy that no other person can give God.
We could also ask God, "Do you love me enough to die for me?" And the response would again be, "I do." When humanity sinned, rejecting God's love and plan, God did not abandon us but the Second Person of the Trinity became human, shared our life, our suffering, and our death. And he rose from the dead to blaze a trail to heaven, the fulfillment of God's plan for humanity. In the words of a contemporary Christian song, "You would rather die than to ever live without me."
And we could ask God, "Do you love me so much that you want to marry me?" That may seem like an odd question, but the truth is we are made for union with God. In Pope John Paul's words, we are made for a "spousal union" with God and human marriages are sacred because they are a sign of that union which God desires with each human person. So, to this question also, God responds, "I do."
The Exultet from the Easter Vigil speaks of this marriage: "O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to human." God became one with us so that we might become one with him. Easter is the feast which anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb of God when, as St. Paul declares in his chapter on Christ's resurrection and ours, "God will be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). Jesus rose from the dead so that we too could rise from the dead to be one with him forever. He gives us a taste of his risen life in the Eucharist where he unites his flesh with ours.
Another way of putting the six questions from the renewal of our baptismal promises is: Do you reject everything that gets in the way of your union with God? Do you want union with God more than anything else? May we also answer "I do" to God's "I do."
We hear that same response weddings where the couple has chosen to answer the question, "Do you take (Name) for your lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
And we hear this response six times at the Easter Vigil when we solemnly renew our baptismal promises. When asked if we reject sin and Satan we respond with a resounding "I do!" When asked to affirm the statements of our creed we respond as well with "I do."
This "I do" reject sin and "I do" believe in the Christian faith is really a response to God's prior "I do."
We could ask God, "Do you love me?" The response would be, "I do." The Most Holy Trinity shared love by creating the world, human beings, and me. Each of us is, in the words of Blessed John Paul II, "unique, precious, and unrepeatable." It is as though each of us gives God a pleasure and joy that no other person can give God.
We could also ask God, "Do you love me enough to die for me?" And the response would again be, "I do." When humanity sinned, rejecting God's love and plan, God did not abandon us but the Second Person of the Trinity became human, shared our life, our suffering, and our death. And he rose from the dead to blaze a trail to heaven, the fulfillment of God's plan for humanity. In the words of a contemporary Christian song, "You would rather die than to ever live without me."
And we could ask God, "Do you love me so much that you want to marry me?" That may seem like an odd question, but the truth is we are made for union with God. In Pope John Paul's words, we are made for a "spousal union" with God and human marriages are sacred because they are a sign of that union which God desires with each human person. So, to this question also, God responds, "I do."
The Exultet from the Easter Vigil speaks of this marriage: "O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to human." God became one with us so that we might become one with him. Easter is the feast which anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb of God when, as St. Paul declares in his chapter on Christ's resurrection and ours, "God will be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). Jesus rose from the dead so that we too could rise from the dead to be one with him forever. He gives us a taste of his risen life in the Eucharist where he unites his flesh with ours.
Another way of putting the six questions from the renewal of our baptismal promises is: Do you reject everything that gets in the way of your union with God? Do you want union with God more than anything else? May we also answer "I do" to God's "I do."
Friday, March 29, 2013
"Profess Christ Crucified"
I am the sacristan in my community of 50 or so Jesuits at Marquette University. That means I am busy these days preparing the chapel for the various celebrations. Today I also presided at our community's Good Friday Service. Since the proclamation of the Passion is long and really speaks for itself, I kept my homily brief and ended it by quoting Pope Francis.
At the beginning of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius has us imagine the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity looking out over the world and at suffering humanity lost in sin. How will this beloved creature made in God's own image and likeness, made for union with God, be saved? St. Ignatius has us imagine the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and his birth in Bethlehem. The Son chose to humble and empty himself, becoming a man, sharing our life and our death. Throughout the Exercises of the Second Week, we are called to be close to Jesus, to follow him, and to labor with him for the salvation of humanity.
Baptism joins us to Christ and makes us one with him in this work. The evangelical counsels of consecrated persons configure them more closely to Christ poor, chaste, and obedient; to Christ humble, self-emptying, and sacrificing. The motivation for this is love--the love of the Blessed Trinity which did not abandon humanity in its sin, the love revealed on a cross. We are called on this day in a special way to share the love of God for suffering humanity.
In our Good Friday Service we venerate the cross. But before doing so, we look out on the world from that cross. We see the world with Christ's eyes. We love lost and suffering humanity with Christ's Heart. We pray for all people, bringing them with us to the cross where Christ died for us all. A Church council in the year 853, which is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #606, stated: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer." He suffered and died and save all, no one excluded.
Then, after the veneration of the cross, we receive Holy Communion. We are joined with Christ so that we carry in our bodies his death and resurrection. United to Christ, we carry the cross, the sign of God's love for all, the sign of the lengths to which God goes to save us. Not all people know this, nor have all accepted it. We carry the cross to them when we love them and lay down our lives for them so that they may accept the salvation Christ won for them and be saved.
In the closing words of his homily at the Mass he celebrated with the cardinals who had just elected him, Pope Francis said:
At the beginning of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius has us imagine the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity looking out over the world and at suffering humanity lost in sin. How will this beloved creature made in God's own image and likeness, made for union with God, be saved? St. Ignatius has us imagine the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and his birth in Bethlehem. The Son chose to humble and empty himself, becoming a man, sharing our life and our death. Throughout the Exercises of the Second Week, we are called to be close to Jesus, to follow him, and to labor with him for the salvation of humanity.
Baptism joins us to Christ and makes us one with him in this work. The evangelical counsels of consecrated persons configure them more closely to Christ poor, chaste, and obedient; to Christ humble, self-emptying, and sacrificing. The motivation for this is love--the love of the Blessed Trinity which did not abandon humanity in its sin, the love revealed on a cross. We are called on this day in a special way to share the love of God for suffering humanity.
In our Good Friday Service we venerate the cross. But before doing so, we look out on the world from that cross. We see the world with Christ's eyes. We love lost and suffering humanity with Christ's Heart. We pray for all people, bringing them with us to the cross where Christ died for us all. A Church council in the year 853, which is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #606, stated: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer." He suffered and died and save all, no one excluded.
Then, after the veneration of the cross, we receive Holy Communion. We are joined with Christ so that we carry in our bodies his death and resurrection. United to Christ, we carry the cross, the sign of God's love for all, the sign of the lengths to which God goes to save us. Not all people know this, nor have all accepted it. We carry the cross to them when we love them and lay down our lives for them so that they may accept the salvation Christ won for them and be saved.
In the closing words of his homily at the Mass he celebrated with the cardinals who had just elected him, Pope Francis said:
"When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.
"My wish is that all of us, after these days of grace, will have the courage, yes, the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord’s Cross; to build the Church on the Lord’s blood which was poured out on the Cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified. And in this way, the Church will go forward.
"My prayer for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, will grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ crucified. Amen."
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