“CONSTANTLY TURNED TO ETERNAL GOODS ”
Dear friends of Gethsemane, may the Lord give you his peace!
From this garden in which we find ourselves living by the privilege of God, we still perceive the responsibility and gift to invite you to pray for peace without tiring! Here the Lord Jesus fought to redeem us and reconcile us with God. "He is indeed our peace, the one who made the two a single people by breaking down the wall of separation that was between us and God" (cf.Eph 2:14-16).
It seems appropriate to me this month of August to share with you all a very deep thought that can help us grow in faith in the Lord through the help of Mary Most Holy. In fact, on August 15 we celebrate the mystery of Mary who is Assumed into heaven in body and soul; this prodigious event happened right here in Gethsemane: the Holy Virgin by divine will is enveloped in heavenly light and brought to celestial glory. The Risen Son of God comes to take her with him. It is always the popular belief that gives her the title of "Queen of heaven and earth". It simply means that she does not disappear but is always present in the history of salvation, just think about the apparitions that have been there throughout the centuries until today.
Mary is for all of us a sign of consolation and hope. She is the new Eve, she who has fulfilled the will of the Father, like the Son, and for this reason God, the Most High rewards her. She participated, fulfilled her mission in the history of salvation, as Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Bride of the Holy Spirit. And here is the thought that we wish to share with you: we can pray to our Mother, the Assumed into heaven, the Queen of heaven and earth, with a firm certainty and a great trust, knowing that a glance to the Son is enough for her, and the Redeemer does not hesitate to hear her! The Eternal God, the Father, for that 'Yes' that has revived humanity, does not stop saying his 'Yes'.
In the Preface to this Solemnity we will hear sing: "Today the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, your Son and our Lord, has been taken into the glory of heaven. In her, the first fruit and image of the Church, you have revealed the fulfilment of the mystery of salvation and made your people shine, pilgrims on earth, a sign of consolation and sure hope. You did not want her to know the corruption of the tomb she who begot the Lord of life...". Let us also say with faith that Amen, so it may be... that the will of God may be fulfilled in us.
"Almighty and eternal God, who raised to the glory of heaven in body and soul the Immaculate Virgin Mary, mother of Christ your Son, let us live in this world constantly turned to eternal goods, to share its own glory. For Christ our Lord" (Collect prayer for the Solemnity of the Assumption).
