We are responsible for proclaiming the faith with its demands. "I come before you as a son visiting his Mother, and I do so in company with a multitude of brothers and sisters... I wish to present to …More
We are responsible for proclaiming the faith with its demands.
"I come before you as a son visiting his Mother, and I do so in company with a multitude of brothers and sisters... I wish to present to your Immaculate Heart the joys and hopes as well as the problems and sufferings of each one of these sons and daughters of yours." This is part of the prayer of entrustment that Benedict XVI elevated to Mary in the Chapel of Apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on May 12th. Benedict XVI knelt before the image of Our Lady and offered a Golden Rose to the Virgin Mary.
In the evening and before a crowd of faithful, the Pope blessed the candles for the procession and recited the rosary. Earlier, during the homily of Vespers with the priests, religious and laity at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Fatima, Benedict XVI stressed the current need for a radical testimony of the Gospel.
"It would be a contradiction," he said "to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalistic ethic and a shallow religiosity... Many of our brothers and sisters," he explained, "live as if there were nothing beyond this life, and without concern for their eternal salvation. Men and women are called to know and love God, and the Church has the mission to assist them in this calling. We know well that God is the master of His gifts and that conversion is a grace. But we are responsible for proclaiming the faith, the whole faith, with all its demands."
"I come before you as a son visiting his Mother, and I do so in company with a multitude of brothers and sisters... I wish to present to your Immaculate Heart the joys and hopes as well as the problems and sufferings of each one of these sons and daughters of yours." This is part of the prayer of entrustment that Benedict XVI elevated to Mary in the Chapel of Apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on May 12th. Benedict XVI knelt before the image of Our Lady and offered a Golden Rose to the Virgin Mary.
In the evening and before a crowd of faithful, the Pope blessed the candles for the procession and recited the rosary. Earlier, during the homily of Vespers with the priests, religious and laity at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Fatima, Benedict XVI stressed the current need for a radical testimony of the Gospel.
"It would be a contradiction," he said "to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalistic ethic and a shallow religiosity... Many of our brothers and sisters," he explained, "live as if there were nothing beyond this life, and without concern for their eternal salvation. Men and women are called to know and love God, and the Church has the mission to assist them in this calling. We know well that God is the master of His gifts and that conversion is a grace. But we are responsible for proclaiming the faith, the whole faith, with all its demands."