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 Homepage | The person | The family | The friends | Sitemap | Search | Contact  News  Year 2004 Français | English | Español |  Print14 August 2004, pilgrimage by John-Paul II to Lourdes, meditation on the Luminous Mysteries by Jean Vanier 14 August 2004, pilgrimage by John-Paul II to Lourdes, meditation on the Luminous Mysteries by Jean Vanier Introduction by the Holy Father My dear Brothers and Sisters!  1. Kneeling here, before the grotto of Massabielle, I feel deeply that I have reached the goal of my pilgrimage. This cave, where Mary appeared, is the heart of Lourdes. It reminds us of the cave of Mount Horeb where Elijah met the Lord, who spoke to him in ''a still small voice'' (1 Kg 19:12). Here the Blessed Virgin asked Bernadette to recite the Rosary, as she herself told the beads. This grotto has thus become a unique school of prayer where Mary teaches everyone to gaze with burning love upon the face of Christ. Lourdes is the place, then, where the Christians of France, and those from so many other nations of Europe and the world, fall to their knees and pray. 2. As pilgrims to Lourdes, we too wish this evening to retrace in prayer, together with Mary our Mother, the ''mysteries'' in which Jesus reveals that he is the ''light of the world''. We recall his promise: ''He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'' (Jn 8:12). We wish to learn from the lowly handmaid of the Lord an attitude of docility and openness to the word of God and a generous commitment to welcoming Christ’s teaching into our lives. In particular, as we meditate on the sharing of the Lord’s Mother in her Son’s redemptive mission, I would ask you to to pray for vocations to the priesthood and to virginity for the Kingdom of God, so that all those who are called will respond with generosity and perseverance. 3. As we turn to Mary Most Holy, let us pray together with Bernadette: ''Good Mother, have mercy on me; I give myself entirely to you, that you may give me to your dear Son, whom I wish to love with my whole heart. Good Mother, grant me a heart all aflame for Jesus''. Meditation by Jean Vanier First mystery: the baptism of Jesus You, Jesus, you are so gentle, so humble, so vulnerable. You stand before you cousin John and you ask to be baptised, the baptism of purification. A dove descends upon you, it’s the Holy Spirit which resides within you and a voice is heard: “You are my son, whom I love and with whom I am well-pleased.” Jesus had told Nicodemus that to enter the Kingdom of God you have to be born from above; you have to be born from water and from the spirit. Through baptism we become children of God and we can call God “Abba, Father!” We ask Mary the Immaculate to make it possible for each of us to live this mystery to the full, the mystery of being children of God who call God “Father”. Second mystery: the Wedding in Cana Jesus, after having chosen five new disciples, you bring them to a feast. You take them to a wedding, the wedding in Cana. And there, at the discreet request of Mary, touched by the humiliation of the poor people, Jesus makes a great miracle: he changes about seven hundred litres of water into good wine. Jesus takes them to the wedding to reveal to us that we are made for marriage. We are made to love. We are made to discover that the deepest thing within us is to love and to be loved. But for us to be able to experience such a marriage, the alliance with God and with Jesus, we need the water of mankind to be transformed into divine love, the wine of love. Mary, you were so close to Jesus, invoke him for our injured world, show Jesus how lacking we are in divine wine. Mary we have trust in you. Third mystery: the announcement of the Kingdom Jesus, you came into the world to give us new order, to put a stop to the disorder born from thirst for power. You came to announce the Good Word to the poor, set free the prisoners and the oppressed, and give sight to the blind, so that we too may see more clearly. You announced a new vision, a charter “blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of God is theirs”. And Saint Paul said that in the body of the Church, the weakest parties, the less presentable parts are necessary to the Church and must be honoured. Mary, mother of the poor, friend of the poor, a compassionate woman, help each of us to welcome our weaknesses so that we may grow in this true love. Help us to welcome the poor, to honour the poor and put the presence of Jesus at the heart of our world. We give thanks, Jesus, for our Holy Father, who in his physical weakness, reveal the glory of God; who in his poverty, reveals the strength of Jesus’ love. We give thanks? Jesus, for our Holy Father at the heart of the Church. Fourth mystery: the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, you climbed the mountain with three of your apostles: Peter, John and James who were to become the first priests of the new law. You were transfigured and they saw your glory. Your clothes shone like the sun. Jesus, you promised this glory to each of us to see you in glory. In your prayer, in the gospel of John, you pray: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world”. Jesus, we want to prepare our hearts in order to be able see you in the glory of your resuscitated body, Mary in body resuscitated in glory and believe that each of us, at some moment, will experience this glory. And we ask Mary, in the mystery of her Assumption to prepare our hearts so that we may contemplate the glory of Jesus given by the Father. Fifth mystery: the institution of the Eucharist Jesus, on the eve of your death, you gave us your body and your blood as a true presence in our world: the fruit of your passion. You come to give us communion, friendship “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” You want each of us to become a friend, your friend, your beloved friend. And if you call upon us to become your friend, your beloved friend, Jesus, it’s because you want us to act as you acted, and to live as you have lived. And you have taught us, to be in communion, to wash each others feet. You ask us to wash each others feet, to be at each others service, to be at the service of the smallest and the poorest of your people. Mary, mother of compassion, mother of Jesus, you received Jesus’ body within your own body, and we ask you to open our hearts so that we may receive Jesus and truly become your beloved friends.. Prayer by the Holy Father to conclude the Rosary Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity. Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history. Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified. Hail Mary, woman of faith, first of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love,in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross. Holy Mary, Mother of believers,our Lady of Lourdes,pray for us. Amen.  |
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