John 2:5
5 His mother said to the servants "Do whatever he tells you to do"
One of the great devotions of the Holy Father popepapa John Paul II was the Blessed Virgin Mary. He started his Pontificate consecrating himself to Jesus through the Blessed Mother of God.
In response to the words of Christ Behold your mother, the Holy Father went in spirit to Calvary and declared to Our Lady: "I am all yours - Totus tuus". This was the motto of his pontificate.
Following the consecration taught by Saint Louis de Montfort, our Holy Father demonstrated that great love that a Son of God must have for his Heavenly Mother.
In the order of nature God has given every creature and every human being a mother, in the order of Grace God has made Mary the Mother of Son Jesus and the Mother of all the children of God. Mary is the new Eve, who receives our consecration in order to help us, to protect us, to purify us in her sanctity but most of all to repeat the words that She said to the servants at the wedding in Cana: "Do whatever he tells you".
Our Lady does not presume to have any authority even though She is the Queen of Heaven, the Ark of the Covenant as revealed in Revelation. (Apocalypse 11:19 - 12:1-2)
The Holy Father takes the exhortation of Mary and speaks to the youth of today, and to the young of heart who desire to make Mary their mother. Listen to her he says, do whatever she tells you. She is like a highway straight into the heart of Christ. Just as Jesus is the way to the Father, Mary is the way to Jesus.
+ + + + + +
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS popepapa JOHN PAUL II
FOR THE 42nd WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
17 APRIL 2005 - FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
To you, young people, I repeat the word of Jesus: "Duc in altum!". In proposing His exhortation once more to you, I think at the same time of the words which Mary, his Mother, addressed to the servants at Cana in Galilee: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2,5). Dear young people, Christ is asking you to "put out into the deep" and the Virgin Mary is encouraging you not to hesitate in following Him.
6. May an ardent prayer sustained by the motherly intercession of Mary, rise from every corner of the earth, to the heavenly Father to obtain "labourers for his harvest" (Mt 9,38). May He give zealous and holy priests to every part of his flock. Sustained by this awareness we turn to Christ, the High Priest, and we pray to Him with renewed trust:
Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,
You call all the baptized to " put out into the deep",
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire
to be witnesses in the world of today
to the power of your love.
Fill them with your Spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they may be able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their own vocation.
Our Saviour,
sent by the Father to reveal His merciful love,
give to your Church the gift
of young people who are ready to put out into the deep,
to be the sign among their brothers
of Your presence which renews and saves.
Holy Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer,
sure guide on the way towards God and towards neighbour,
You who pondered his word in the depth of your heart,
sustain with your motherly intercession
our families and our ecclesial communities,
so that they may help adolescents and young people
to answer generously the call of the Lord.
Amen.
Castel Gandolfo, 11th August 2004
IOANNES PAULUS II |
