Tuesday 27 May 2008

Love of Mary is not something sentimental but is a gift from Christ on the cross, said a Vatican spokesman.

Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, affirmed this on the latest episode of the weekly Vatican Television program "Octava Dies."

Love of Mary, Fr Lombardi explained, "is not sentimental devotion, or worse, sentimental mythology. It is a matter of finding in the Mother of Jesus the way to put the incarnation of God back at the center of our life and -- as Pope Benedict added -- at the center of our age and our cities.

"Drawing from the contemplation of Christ, we can ‘irrigate' society, beginning with everyday relationships. We can purify society of many negative forces, opening it to the newness of God."

Fr Lombardi noted how Benedict XVI marked May 24 as the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. May 24 is the feast of Mary Help of Christians, venerated at the shrine of Sheshan near Shanghai.

The spokesman reflected on how the prayers of the universal Church focused on the Asian country. "In Marian prayer, our horizons become universal," he said. "The dying Christ entrusted us all to the care of his Mother.
"Chinese Catholics aspire with perseverance to be able to express their faith in complete freedom.

"[T]he Chinese people have recently suffered the terrible tragedy of an earthquake. [...] We look to this country, which has the largest population in the world, with fraternity and solidarity, with a true desire for its human and spiritual welfare."

"It is right to hope for a serene relationship between the Holy See and China so that the Church [there] can truly be Chinese and truly Catholic at the same time," Fr Lombardi concluded. "Positive signs are not lacking. Let us ask that the Mother of China, of Asia, of the Church, to accompany and look with favor upon its journey."

[Zenit]