Tag Archives: Mary

Collective responsibility before God for world peace

What I find most striking about Pope Francis prayer for peace – 27th October 2023 – is his sense of our collective responsibility before God for peace in the world. Indeed, it is now something he is saying repeatedly. As he mentioned himself (or alluded to) this sense of collective responsibility for peace in the world (or the absence of peace) is the central message associated with many of the world’s Marian shrines.

Our collective responsibility for world peace is something that Pope Francis regularly highlights

A very strong message, indeed.

Full Text of the prayer – 27th October 2023 – below:

Mary, look at us!

We stand here before you.

You are our Mother, and you know our struggles and our hurts.

Queen of Peace, you suffer with us and for us, as you see so many of your children suffering from the conflicts and wars that are tearing our world apart.

This is a dark hour.

This is a dark hour, Mother.

In this dark hour, we look to you, and in the light of your countenance we entrust ourselves and our problems to your maternal Heart, which knows our anxieties and fears.

How great was your concern when there was no place for Jesus at the inn!

How great was your fear when you fled in haste to Egypt because Herod sought to kill him!

How great was your anguish before you found him in the Temple!

Yet, Mother, amid those trials, you showed your strength, you acted boldly: you trusted in God and responded to concern with tender care, to fear with love, to anguish with acceptance.

Mother, you did not step back, but at decisive moments you always took initiative: with haste you visited Elizabeth; at the wedding feast of Cana you prompted Jesus’ first miracle; in the Upper Room you kept the disciples united.

And when, on Calvary, a sword pierced your heart, Mother, by your humility and strength you kept alive the hope of Easter through the night of sorrow.

Now, Mother, once more take the initiative for us, in these times rent by conflicts and laid waste by the fire of arms.

Turn your eyes of mercy towards our human family, which has strayed from the path of peace, preferred Cain to Abel and lost the ability to see each other as brothers and sisters dwelling in a common home.

Intercede for our world, in such turmoil and great danger.

Teach us to cherish and care for life – each and every human life! – and to repudiate the folly of war, which sows death and eliminates the future.

Mary, how many times have you come, urging prayer and repentance.

Yet, caught up in our own needs and distracted by the things of this world, we have turned a deaf ear to your appeal.

In your love for us, you never abandon us, Mother.

Lead us by the hand. Lead us by the hand and bring us to conversion; help us once again to put God first.

Help us to preserve unity in the Church and to be artisans of communion in our world.

Make us realize once more the importance of the role we play; strengthen our sense of responsibility for the cause of peace as men and women called to pray, worship, intercede and make reparation for the whole human race.

By ourselves, Mother, we cannot succeed; without your Son, we can do nothing.

But you bring us back to Jesus, who is our Peace.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, we come before you and we seek refuge in your Immaculate Heart.

Mother of mercy, we appeal for mercy!

Queen of Peace, we appeal for peace!

Touch the hearts of those imprisoned by hatred; convert those who fuel and foment conflict.

Dry the tears of children – at this hour, so many are weeping! – be present to those who are elderly and alone; strengthen the wounded and the sick; protect those forced to leave their lands and their loved ones; console the crestfallen; awaken new hope.

To you we entrust and consecrate our lives and every fibre of our being, all that we possess and all that we are, forever.

To you we consecrate the Church, so that in her witness to the love of Jesus before the world, she may be a sign of harmony and an instrument of peace.

To you we consecrate our world, to you we consecrate especially those countries and regions at war.

Your faithful people call you the dawn of salvation; Mother, grant that glimmers of light may illumine the dark night of conflict.

Dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, inspire the leaders of nations to seek paths of peace.

Queen of all peoples, reconcile your children, seduced by evil, blinded by power and hate.

You, who are close to all, shorten our distances.

You, who have compassion on everyone, teach us to care for one another.

You, who reveal the Lord’s tender love, make us witnesses of his consolation and peace.

Mother, Queen of Peace, pour forth into our hearts God’s gift of harmony. Amen.

Pope Francis’ Prayer for Peace, 27th Oct 2023 (Full Text)

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Mary, look at us!

We stand here before you.

You are our Mother, and you know our struggles and our hurts.

Queen of Peace, you suffer with us and for us, as you see so many of your children suffering from the conflicts and wars that are tearing our world apart.

This is a dark hour.

This is a dark hour, Mother.

In this dark hour, we look to you, and in the light of your countenance we entrust ourselves and our problems to your maternal Heart, which knows our anxieties and fears.

How great was your concern when there was no place for Jesus at the inn!

How great was your fear when you fled in haste to Egypt because Herod sought to kill him!

How great was your anguish before you found him in the Temple!

Yet, Mother, amid those trials, you showed your strength, you acted boldly: you trusted in God and responded to concern with tender care, to fear with love, to anguish with acceptance.

And when, on Calvary, a sword pierced your heart, Mother, by your humility and strength you kept alive the hope of Easter through the night of sorrow.

Now, Mother, once more take the initiative for us, in these times rent by conflicts and laid waste by the fire of arms.

Intercede for our world, in such turmoil and great danger.

Teach us to cherish and care for life – each and every human life! – and to repudiate the folly of war, which sows death and eliminates the future.

Mary, how many times have you come, urging prayer and repentance.

Yet, caught up in our own needs and distracted by the things of this world, we have turned a deaf ear to your appeal.

In your love for us, you never abandon us, Mother.

Lead us by the hand.

Lead us by the hand and bring us to conversion; help us once again to put God first.

Help us to preserve unity in the Church and to be artisans of communion in our world.

By ourselves, Mother, we cannot succeed; without your Son, we can do nothing.

But you bring us back to Jesus, who is our Peace.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, we come before you and we seek refuge in your Immaculate Heart.

Mother of mercy, we appeal for mercy!

Queen of Peace, we appeal for peace!

Touch the hearts of those imprisoned by hatred; convert those who fuel and foment conflict.

To you we entrust and consecrate our lives and every fibre of our being, all that we possess and all that we are, forever.

To you we consecrate the Church, so that in her witness to the love of Jesus before the world, she may be a sign of harmony and an instrument of peace.

To you we consecrate our world, to you we consecrate especially those countries and regions at war.

Your faithful people call you the dawn of salvation; Mother, grant that glimmers of light may illumine the dark night of conflict.

Dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, inspire the leaders of nations to seek paths of peace.

Queen of all peoples, reconcile your children, seduced by evil, blinded by power and hate.

You, who are close to all, shorten our distances.

You, who have compassion on everyone, teach us to care for one another.

You, who reveal the Lord’s tender love, make us witnesses of his consolation and peace.

Mother, Queen of Peace, pour forth into our hearts God’s gift of harmony. Amen.

Our Lady of Sorrows – her sorrows are our salvation

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Our Lady of Sorrows is not a very welcoming title.

Indeed, I suspect that for many, a title like “Our Lady of Sorrows” is a complete turn-off.

It doesn’t sit easily with the modern person.

But the church’s celebration of Our Lady of Sorrows is not an attempt to drag us all down, to suck the life out of us, rather, it is an acknowledgement that without those sorrows there’d be no salvation for us, nothing other than the grave.

Her sorrows are our salvation!

Often, increasingly, I see and hear huge statements such as “happy heavenly birthday” – statements that are true, but rarely accompanied by an awareness of the cost to Jesus and Mary. If our loved ones who’ve passed on are to enjoy a happy heavenly birthday it is only possible because of the sorrows that Mary experienced.

So, it is right and fitting that we honour her sorrows because those sorrows are our heavenly birthdays!

People didn’t anticipate the decisive action of God – no change there then!

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What always strikes me about Mary is the hidden-ness, the anonymity of all that’s happening; the unseen but nonetheless huge activity of God. Get that; on the one hand God is hugely active in human affairs, on the other it’s unseen. That’s something of the power of God, the genius of God.

Unseen and unrecognized for 9 months within the womb of Mary apart from the few, the hidden-ness of his birth apart from the few, thereafter the years of hidden-ness from new born infant to toddler, from early to middle to late childhood, from adolescence to early adulthood, completely hidden apart from the few, right up to his public ministry when he just launched into public life out of what seemed to most to be out of nowhere.

But it wasn’t out of nowhere, was it? The people were just in a different living space!

Then when he launches himself publicly – apparently “out of nowhere” – he is met by the twin responses of unbelief and belief, unbelief that varied from indifference to incredulity to outright and open hostility; and belief that was so slow to grasp the full implications of Jesus life and teaching. We still struggle to grasp it because it’s just so big.

But none of this was out of nowhere because for several decades God had been hugely active under the radar. That hasn’t changed!

Furthermore, it wasn’t out of the blue for some; some were close enough to God to have been allowed to glimpse at least something of the magnitude of what was happening. Nonetheless, such was the magnitude of all that Jesus was claiming – about himself and the “next” world – that the people struggled to grasp it. It was just too big for their little minds. This too hasn’t changed!

This is familiar ground because Mary has been hugely active in recent centuries just as she was in the beginning, and we’re every bit as unsuspecting. She’s been so – so – active but you’d never know!

Lourdes in and for the 19th century.

Fatima in and for the 20th century.

Medugorje in and for the 21st century.

Remember, these are not just places of pilgrimage – each was given for it’s time.

When all that Medugorje is prophesying begins to unfold in world history it’ll seem to many to have been as equally hidden in its preparation and as unexpected and dramatic in its arrival. It will seem to have come out of nowhere and the responses of unbelief and belief will be largely the same.

But nothing of all this will be out of the blue because it’s right here, right now, under our noses.

The only thing that’s out of the blue, out of synch so to speak, is the human ego!

FATIMA, RELIGION IN SCHOOL AND OUR COMMON FUTURE

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For many years now I’ve been troubled by the quality of the religion programme taught in primary school, the Alive O programme, particularly when it comes to sacramental preparation. However, it’s possible that the greater problem is the prevailing culture and I’m misappropriating responsibility. As a direct result I have developed my own programme of preparation for First Communion and Confirmation as a supplement to the ongoing work of the school.

It consists of meeting the children once, sometimes twice weekly. While together – with at least one other adult present (the teacher) – we view DVDs about Fatima, Lourdes, St. Margaret Mary, St. Pio, St. Faustina and Blessed John Paul.

This is followed by a children’s Mass on Sunday mornings. I usually tell the parents: Holy Mass is for the children – the homily is for the parents!

As a young seeker of Truth I was struck by the details of Fatima and my recent work has simply brought Fatima to the forefront of my thoughts once again.

While watching the various DVDs about Fatima it becomes very obvious that this attempted intervention of God in human affairs caused great suffering; for the children and their parents and for the local ecclesiastical and civil authorities.

Having watched the DVDs I generally point to the trauma caused in Fatima and ask; what was it all for? What did Our Lady and ultimately God want to achieve?

The answer takes most people by surprise.

Firstly, Our Lady asked that people stop offending God. So much trouble just for that! One must conclude therefore that offending God is a very serious matter.

Secondly, as if to emphasize the point, Our Lady then went on to request reparation, the repair of the hurt caused to the heart of God by human offences.

How are we to do that?

This is very striking. We are to appreciate Holy Mass. We are to partake of the Eucharist, to believe, adore, trust and love her Son Jesus Christ truly present there. Fatima clearly indicates, without room for doubt, that neglect of Holy Mass and the proper worship of the Blessed Sacrament amounts to neglect of the person and the work of Jesus Christ, and causes great suffering in the Heart of God. I always remind the kids that when the Angel came to visit the children in Fatima, the Angel didn’t come with a can of coca cola and a bag of crisps! No, the Angel came with the Sacred Host and a Chalice. Why? Because that’s how God decided to remain with his people. In the message of Fatima the Eucharist is central because God intended Eucharist to be central until the end of time. The Eucharist is God-self and God’s work in Jesus Christ – it can’t be any more central than that!

Furthermore Our Lady taught the children to offer sacrifices (particularly the difficulties and sufferings of life) in reparation. This is a common theme in the lives of all the great Saints – they offered their sufferings in reparation while working tirelessly to relieve the suffering of others.

I explain reparation by asking the children to imagine if one of them clobbered me. Then I ask them to imagine another child apologising on behalf of my attacker and offering to make a cup of tea; one child is hurting me, the other is making reparation, trying to repair the damage.

But the full meaning of Fatima goes much further and connects the state of human affairs directly to humankind’s relationship with God.

During the apparition of July 13th Our Lady said that if people do not stop offending God another and more terrible war will break out – obviously meaning the Second World War.

We understand the Second World War to have been the result of Hitler coming to power in Germany. However, Our Lady suggests that the Second World War happened as a result of people offending God. In other words, when we choose against God we choose to put in place a chain of events that eventually, ultimately, causes great suffering to ourselves, to the body of humanity.

Thus during the 20 odd years between the world wars people are given ample opportunity to change or set the course of world events. This of course makes God very democratic – certainly not a dictator or a tyrant. We’re free to choose life or death, good or evil. We make the choices. At the very least Fatima implies that humankind’s well-being depends on an intimate Communion between the creature and the Creator.

Now, if offending God or otherwise determines our common human future then there arises a critically important question, a question I place before every parent presenting a child for sacraments in 2012 – what kind of a future are we creating for our children?

Indeed we might ask; what kind of a future are we creating for Irish children when religious ethos is considered to have no place in the schools of a modern republic?

More generally, what hope is there for a culture that attempts to exclude religion from public life?