(16 Aug 09 - RV) This Sunday’s Angelus reflection was once again dedicated to Mary
as Pope Benedict greeted crowds of pilgrims and tourists from the balconey of the
Castel Gandolfo Summer Residence.
One day after the Feast of The Assumption
the Pope called to mind the words of the Gospel of the Day from St John chapter 6,
to illustrate how much one simple word changed the course of God’s relationship with
humanity and how much it can still change our lives today. That word being of course,
Mary’s ‘yes’.
Pope Benedict said : “God take his "flesh", his real and earthly
humanity from Mary…..to enter into our mortal condition. In turn, at the end of Her
earthly existence, the body of the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven by God and
allowed enter the heavenly condition. It is a kind of exchange”.
"What happened
in Mary - continued Pope Benedict - is also valid for every man and woman. God asks
each one of us to welcome Him, to make available to Him our hearts, our bodies, our
entire existence, so that He can dwell in the world. He calls us to unite ourselves
to Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, to form the Church together…. And if we
say yes, like Mary, by the very measure of our 'yes', that mysterious exchange also
happens to and in us: we are assumed in the divinity of He who assumed our humanity".
After the Marian prayer, in greetings in French, Pope Benedict had a special
thought for a group of young pilgrims from Africa. The Pope concluded with a call
to all "to keep open the door of our hearts and to give daily witness to the tenderness
of the Lord for those who are, physically or spiritually in need”.