My birthday was cool (May 14, feast of St. Matthias). I got a new watch which was good because I was carrying around the timepiece of my old one in my pocket because the strap broke! I also got Our Holy Father's new book which, to my elation, came in the mail today: Jesus of Nazareth. It came out on the 15th and is now #14 on Amazon.com's bestseller list. I hope to read it this summer and post any thoughts here. My younger brother Drew also got me a Job's Tears rosary. The beads become shiny as you "polish" them with your fingers from much use. Let's hope it's shinier at the end of the summer than it is now.
B16 is back from his trip to Brazil. I like this little snippet from the address he gave at the Shrine of Our Lady of Conceição Aparecida, after praying the rosary with priests, religious, seminarians and deacons of Brazil and the delegates of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean (bold emphasis mine: apparently he likes my blog ;)
My Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals, in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Beloved Religious and all of you who have lovingly followed Christ in response to sound of his voice,
Dear Seminarians, preparing for the priestly ministry,
Dear Members of Ecclesial Movements and all you lay people who bring the power of the Gospel into the world of work and culture, in the heart of your families and your parishes!
1. Just as the Apostles, together with Mary, "went up to the upper room" and there, "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:13-14), so too we are gathered here today at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which at this time is our "upper room" where Mary, Mother of the Lord, is in our midst. Today it is she who leads our meditation; it is she who teaches us to pray. It is she who shows us the way to open our minds and hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit, who comes to fill the whole world.
We have just prayed the rosary. Through these sequences of meditations, the divine Comforter seeks to initiate us in the knowledge of Christ that issues forth from the clear source of the Gospel text. For her part, the Church of the third millennium proposes to offer Christians the capacity for "knowledge -- according to the words of Saint Paul -- of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:2-3). Mary Most Holy, the pure and immaculate Virgin, is for us a school of faith destined to guide us and give us strength on the path that leads us to the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The Pope has come to Aparecida with great joy so as to say to you first of all: "Remain in the school of Mary." Take inspiration from her teachings, seek to welcome and to preserve in your hearts the enlightenment that she, by divine mandate, sends you from on high.
No comments:
Post a Comment