IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a week in which natural disasters,
war and racial conflicts dominated the headlines, Pope Francis prayed that Mary
would bring peace to a divided world.
After reciting the Angelus prayer on the feast of the
Assumption, the pope asked Mary to obtain “for everyone consolation and a
future of serenity and harmony.”
“To Mary, Queen of Peace — who we contemplate today in
the glory of paradise — I entrust once again the anxieties and sorrows of the people who suffer in many parts of
the world due to natural disasters,
social tensions or conflicts,” the pope told thousands of pilgrims
gathered in St. Peter’s Square Aug. 15.
Pope Francis did not name any specific location, but as he
spoke, the search for survivors continued in Sierra Leone after a devastating
mudslide engulfed the outskirts of the capital, Freetown, killing more than 300
people. Flooding and landslides also struck southern Nepal, killing at least 70
people.
In Charlottesville, Virginia, clashes between white
nationalists and protesters resulted in the death of three people, including a
32-year-old paralegal, Heather D. Heyer, who was killed Aug. 12 when a car
plowed into a group protesting the white nationalist rally.
In his main Angelus talk, the pope reflected on the day’s
Gospel reading, which recalled Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth.
The joy felt by Elizabeth and the child in her womb reflects
the interior joy Christians feel in Christ’s presence, the pope said. “When
Mary arrives, joy overflows and bursts from their hearts because the invisible
yet real presence of Jesus fills everything with meaning: life, family, the
salvation of the people. Everything!”
In response, Mary proclaims the Magnificat, her hymn of
praise to God for his great works. Pope Francis said it is the hymn of “humble
people, unknown to the world, like Mary, like her husband Joseph as well as the
town where they live, Nazareth.”
God accomplishes “great things with humble people,”
the pope said, inviting people in St. Peter’s Square to reflect on the state of
their own humility.
“Humility is like an empty space that leaves room for
God. A humble person is powerful because he is humble, not because he is
strong. This is the greatness of humility,” he said.
The joy
Mary brings because she brings Jesus to the world gives all Christians
“a new ability
to pass through the most painful and difficult moments with faith” as well
as the “ability to be merciful, to forgive, understand and support each
other.”
“Mary is a model of virtue and faith,” Pope
Francis said. “We ask her to protect and sustain us that we may have a faith that is strong,
joyful and merciful. May she help us to become saints, to meet her one day in paradise.”
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