Rome, 15th september 2022
“I leave you in the arms of Mary our Sorrowful Mother” (St. Magdalene of Canossa)
Mary, woman of Nazareth, where you obeyed the Word
Mary, woman of Bethlehem where you became the Mother of Jesus
Mary, a woman of Egypt, a refugee with those who are without land
and without hope
Mary, woman of the Temple where you knew pain
Mary, woman of Jerusalem where you offered yourself with your Son at the foot
of the cross
Mary, woman of the Upper Room where you received the breath of the Holy Spirit
Pray for us.
I wish to greet you, Sisters, family members, lay people and all our friends on this Solemnity of Our Lady of Sorrows so dear to us Canossians and to the whole charismatic family.
I chose to begin my greeting with this prayer, because today words risk being empty, far from the reality they would like to represent. However, this does not mean we need them anymore! We need truthful words, able to weld the authenticity of those
who pronounce them with the deep needs of those who listen to them.
Mary comes towards us, the woman she gave birth, who made the Word grow and protected it. Mary, who found herself under the cross suffering with and for her Son there she welcomed us all, becoming Mother of Charity for us.
Let us place our hand on Her afflicted heart and ask her:
“What happened in your heart during those long years of your sequela?
How could you love so much?
How could you have been so faithful to the end?”
Mary, a woman free and courageous, woman of the Word, Mother of all disciples, help us to enter the path of reconfiguration-transformation, help us to:
– listen to the Word, in the liturgy of the day
– keep the Word, in the silence of our heart
– compare the Word with our life
– defend the Word as a mother does with her child
– allow ourselves be looked at by the Word, to live the truth in us
– give birth to the Word and be generative in this world.
Mary, Mother of Love without measure, assiduous listener of the Word, guide us along this path.
United with the Councillors
