Subject: VISnews 110601
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 103
ENGLISH
WEDNESDAY, 1 JUNE 2011
SUMMARY:
- Virgin, Help Us Be Generous in God's Plan
- Moses: Mediator of Salvation for Israel
- Pray for Fruitfulness of Apostolic Trip to Croatia
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
- Notice
___________________________________________________________
VIRGIN, HELP US BE GENEROUS IN GOD'S PLAN
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - The traditional procession and Rosary
marking the end of the Marian month took place in the Vatican Gardens
yesterday at 8:00 in the evening. The procession wound from the Church of
St. Stephen of the Abyssinians to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Pope arrived at the Grotto of Lourdes at 9:00pm and briefly addressed
the present faithful before imparting the apostolic blessing.
"Having begun this month of Mary with the memorable beatification of John
Paul II has been and continues to be for all of us", the Pope said, "a
reason for great joy and thankfulness. What a great gift of grace for the
whole Church was the life of this great Pope! His witness continues to
illuminate our lives and urges us to be true disciples of the lord, to
courageously follow him in faith, and to love him with the same enthusiasm
with which he gave his life to Christ,"
Then, referring to yesterday's feastday, Benedict XVI noted that "the
Visitation of Mary leads us to reflect on this courage of faith. The one who
Elizabeth welcomes into her home is the Virgin who 'has believed' the
Angel's annunciation, who responded with faith, courageously accepting God's
plan for her life and thus embracing within herself the eternal Word of the
Most High".
"Mary truly believed that 'nothing is impossible to God' and, strong in
this confidence she let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit in daily
obedience to his plan. How can we not desire that same trusting abandon in
our lives? How can we not yearn for that beatitude that is born of a
profound and intimate familiarity with Jesus? That is why, addressing the
one who is 'full of grace', we can today ask that she intercede with Divine
Providence for us too, so that we might each day proclaim our 'yes' to God's
plan with the same humble and sincere faith that the Virgin said her yes".
May she, who welcomed the Word of God within her and wholeheartedly
abandoned herself to him, guide us to an ever more generous and
unconditional response to his plan, even when we are called to embrace the
Cross".
The Holy Father concluded by "entrusting the Church and the world to
Mary's maternal intercession", asking for "the gift of always knowing how to
embrace in our lives the lordship of the One who by his Resurrection
conquered death".
AC/ VIS
20110601 (400)
MOSES: MEDIATOR OF SALVATION FOR ISRAEL
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated today's general
Wednesday audience catechesis to the figure of Moses who "carried out his
function as mediator between God and Israel, making himself the bearer of
the divine words and commands for his people, bringing them to the freedom
of the Promised Land ... and, above all, praying".
The Pope emphasized that Moses especially acts as intercessor when the
people ask Aaron to build the golden calf while they are waiting for the
prophet who has ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Tables of the Law.
"Tired of following a path with a God who is invisible now that Moses the
mediator has also gone, the people demand a tangible, palpable presence of
the Lord and find an accessible god, within the reach of human beings, in
Aaron's molten metal calf. This is a constant temptation on the path of
faith: avoiding the divine mystery by building a comprehensible god that
corresponds to our own preconceptions and plans".
In the face of the Israelites' infidelity, God asks Moses to let him
destroy that rebel people but Moses understands that those words are
directed at him so that the prophet "might intervene and ask him not to do
it. ... If God were to let his people perish, it could be interpreted as a
sign of divine incapacity to fulfill the plan of salvation and God could not
allow that: He is the good Lord who salves, the guarantor of life, the God
of mercy and forgiveness, of liberation from sin that kills. ... Moses had
a concrete experience of the God of salvation. He was sent as the mediator
of divine liberation and now, with his prayer, he becomes the interpreter of
a dual concern, worried for the fate of his people but also worried for the
honor due the Lord by the truth of his name. ... The love for his brothers
and sisters and the love of God are united in his prayer of intercession and
are inseparable. Moses, the intercessor, is the man between two loves that,
in prayer, are superimpose in one single desire for good".
"The intercessor does not make excuses for the sin of his people and does
not list the presumed merits of either himself or his people. He appeals to
God's generosity: a free God, completely love, who never ceases to seek
those who have drawn away from him. ... Moses asks God to show himself even
stronger than sin and death and, with his prayer, brings about this divine
revelation".
"In Moses who is at the top of the mountain - face to face with God, the
intercessor of his people - the Fathers of the Church have seen a
prefiguration of Christ who, atop the Cross, is truly before God, not just
as friend but as Son. ... His intercession", the pontiff concluded, "is not
just solidarity but identification with us. ... He gives us a forgiveness
that transforms and renews. I believe we must meditate on this reality:
Christ before God praying for us, identifying with us. From the heights of
the Cross he didn't bring us new stone tablets of the law but himself as
Covenant".
AG/ VIS
20110601 (530)
PRAY FOR FRUITFULNESS OF APOSTOLIC TRIP TO CROATIA
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - During today's general audience celebrated
in St. Peter's Square, the Pope greeted the various groups of faithful in
their respective languages.
Addressing a group of Polish pilgrims, the Holy Father particularly
greeted the youth who will meet next Saturday in Lednica. "Give thanks to
God for the life and the beatification of John Paul II: father, guide,
priest, and friend of the youth. He built the house on the rock who is
Christ! He followed the voice of the Gospel. He persevered in prayer and in
adoration of the Eucharist. He had a heart that was open to all. He suffered
with Christ. He was an extraordinary pilgrim in faith. May you be inspired
by the theme for the gathering: 'John Paul II: What Matters is Holiness'!".
Benedict XVI also greeted the Croatian pilgrims: "Next Saturday and
Sunday", he said, "I will visit Zagreb in Croatia to celebrate with you the
National Day of Catholic Croatian Families. I look forward to this meeting
with joy and invite you to pray that my visit to that beloved land will
produce much spiritual fruit and that Christian families might be the salt
of the earth and the light of the world".
AG/ VIS
20110601 (200)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received Quentin
Bryce, the governor-general of Australia, with her husband and entourage.
AP/ VIS
20110601 (20)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father erected the new
diocese of Naviari (area 35,138, population 267,356, Catholics 197,000,
priests 27, religious 42), Brazil, with territory taken from the Diocese of
Douardos, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Campo Grande.
He appointed Fr. Ettore Dotti, C.S.F. currently pastor of Bom Pastor parish
in the diocese of Serrinha, as first bishop of the new diocese. The
bishop-elect was born in Palosco, Bergamo, Italy in 1961 and was ordained a
priest in 1994.
ECE:NER/ VIS
20110601 (80)
NOTICE
VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2011 (VIS) - There will be no VIS service tomorrow,
Ascension Thursday, which is a holiday in the Vatican. The VIS will resume
on Friday, 3 June.
.../ VIS
20110601 (20)
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