Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Assumption an occasion to ponder the full meaning of existence says Pope

» 08/15/2009 13:34
VATICAN

Benedict XVI highlights how the Virgin Mary teaches us that "God is always the priority”. Her life, like that of every Christian is a journey in the footsteps of Jesus, with a clearly defined goal, a future already mapped out: final victory over sin and death and full communion with God

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".
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See also from Asia News: "Feast of the Assumption and Independence Day and "double joy" for Catholics in India" and "Feast of the Assumption: prayers for peace and northern refugees."

posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:38 PM