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Pope urges learning from Mary to follow the Spirit
01-06-2009
VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging Catholics to learn from the Blessed Virgin how to follow the Holy Spirit with docility and recognize his voice in daily life.
The Pope said this Saturday evening in the Vatican Gardens at a traditional Marian celebration to conclude the month of May. After a procession and recitation of the Rosary, pilgrims gathered at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes to hear the Holy Father's address.
He affirmed that this year's traditional vigil "has acquired a very special value since it falls on the eve of Pentecost."
"The great Feast of Pentecost invites us to meditate upon the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary, a very close, privileged, indissoluble relationship," the Pontiff affirmed.
He added, "The Virgin of Nazareth was chosen beforehand to become the Mother of the Redeemer by the working of the Holy Spirit: in her humility, she found grace in God's eyes."
The Holy Father noted that the "whole event of Jesus' birth and his early childhood is guided in an almost palpable manner by the Holy Spirit, even if he is not always mentioned."
Two hearts
He continued: "Mary's heart, in perfect consonance with the divine Son, is the temple of the Spirit of truth, where every word and every event are kept in faith, hope and charity."
"We can thus be certain," Benedict XVI explained, "that the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, in his whole hidden life in Nazareth, always found a 'hearth' that was always burning with prayer and constant attention to the Holy Spirit in Mary's Immaculate Heart."
He affirmed that the "wedding feast at Cana is a witness to this singular harmony between Mother and Son in seeking God's will."
Then, at Calvary, Mary witnessed Jesus' "last words and his last breath, in which he begins to send out the Spirit" and "the silent crying out of his Blood, poured out completely for us," the Pope affirmed.
He added that Mary "knew where the blood came from: it was formed in her by the work of the Holy Spirit, and she knew that this same creative 'power' would raise Jesus up, as he promised."
The Pontiff affirmed that in "Mary's school we too learn to recognize the Holy Spirit's presence in our life, to listen to his inspirations and to follow them with docility."
He expressed the hope that Catholics will "walk with Mary according to the Spirit."
http://www.zenit.org/article-26044?l=english
