VATICAN - Pope Benedict in Austria - “Show us Jesus!” It was with this plea to the Mother of the Lord that we set off on our journey here. This same plea will accompany us as we return to our daily lives. And we know that Mary hears our prayer”

Vienna (Agenzia Fides) - Saturday 8 September the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI travelled to the Marian Shrine of Mariazell, in the Austrian Alps, where he presided an outdoor Concelebration of the Eucharist to mark the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the Shrine on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“ With our great pilgrimage to Mariazell, we are celebrating the patronal feast of this Shrine, the feast of Our Lady’s Birthday. For 850 years pilgrims have been travelling here from different peoples and nations; they come to pray for the intentions of their hearts and their homelands, bringing their deepest hopes and concerns. In this way Mariazell has become a place of peace and
reconciled unity, not only for Austria, but far beyond her borders… Today we join in a pilgrimage started many centuries ago.”
Reflecting on the Gospel passage which “ presents the history of Israel from Abraham onwards as a pilgrimage, which, with its ups and downs, its paths and detours, leads us finally to Christ” the Pope underlined that “ Making a pilgrimage means setting out in a particular direction, travelling towards a destination… Among the pilgrims of Jesus’ genealogy there were many who forgot the goal and wanted to make themselves the goal. Again and again, though, the Lord called forth people whose longing for the goal drove them forward, people who directed their whole lives towards it. The awakening of the Christian faith, the dawning of the Church of Jesus Christ was made possible, because there were people in Israel whose hearts were searching - people who did not rest content with custom, but who looked further ahead, in search of something greater:…”.
Today too, a pilgrimage should be promoted by “an open and restless heart”, since “ it is not enough to be more or less like everyone else and to think like everyone else. Our lives have a deeper purpose We need God, the God who has shown us his face and opened his heart to us: Jesus Christ.” Jesus alone, who is God, is the bridge that truly brings God and man together. “ So if we Christians call him the one universal Mediator of salvation, valid for everyone and, ultimately, needed by everyone -Benedict XVI underlined - this does not mean that we despise other religions, nor are we arrogantly absolutising our own ideas; on the contrary, it means that we are gripped by him who has touched our hearts and lavished gifts upon us, so that we, in turn, can offer gifts to others”.
The Pope then dwelt on the attitude of resignation “ that considers man incapable of truth - as if this were more than he could cope with”: precisely this resignation, the Pope is convinced, is lies at the heart of the crisis of the West, the crisis of Europe.. “ If truth does not exist for man, then neither can he ultimately distinguish between good and evil. And then the great and wonderful discoveries of science become double-edged: they can open up significant possibilities for good, for the benefit of mankind, but also, as we see only too clearly, they can pose a terrible threat, involving the destruction of man and the world”. Looking to Jesus as He is portrayed at Mariazell - a child in his Mother's arms and, on the main altar, the Crucified One - Benedict XVI explained that these two images tell us that “ truth prevails not through external force, but it is humble and it yields itself to man only via the inner force of its veracity. Truth proves itself in love. It is never our property, never our product, just as love can never be produced, but only received and handed on as a gift.”.
The theme of the day and the Pope's whole pilgrimage was “To gaze upon Christ”, and the Pope this is the question Christians must ask Mary since she bore Christ: “ Mary responds, showing him to us in the first instance as a child. God has made himself small for us.… He asks for our love. He invites us to become small ourselves, to come down from our high thrones and to learn to be childlike before God… The child Jesus naturally reminds us also of all the children in the world, in whom he wishes to come to us. Children who live in poverty; who are exploited as soldiers; who have never been able to experience the love of parents; sick and suffering children, but also those who are joyful and healthy. Europe has become child-poor: we want everything for ourselves, and place little trust in the future. Yet the earth will be deprived of a future only when the forces of the human heart and of reason illuminated by the heart are extinguished - when the face of God no longer shines upon the earth. Where God is, there is the future.”
Looking at the Crucified Jesus above the high altar the Pope said: “ God saved the world not by the sword, but by the Cross… Jesus transformed the Passion, his suffering and his death, into prayer, and in this way he transformed it into an act of love for God and for humanity. That, finally, is why the outstretched arms of the Crucified One are also a gesture of embracing, by which he draws us to himself, wishing to hold us in his loving hands”.
If we look at Christ “ Christianity is more than and different from a moral code, from a series of requirements and laws. It is the gift of a friendship that lasts through life and death:… Yet precisely because Christianity is more than a moral system, because it is the gift of friendship, for this reason it also contains within itself great moral strength, which is so urgently needed today on account of the challenges of our time. If with Jesus Christ and his Church we constantly re-read the Ten Commandments of Sinai, entering into their full depth, then a great, valid and lasting teaching unfolds before us. The Ten Commandments are first and foremost a “yes” to God, to a God who loves us and leads us, who carries us and yet allows us our freedom: indeed, it is he who makes our freedom real (the first three commandments). It is a “yes” to the family (fourth commandment), a “yes” to life (fifth commandment), a “yes” to responsible love (sixth commandment), a “yes” to solidarity, to social responsibility and to justice (seventh commandment), a “yes” to truth (eighth commandment) and a “yes” to respect for other people and for what is theirs (ninth and tenth commandments).”. The Pope ended his homily with these words: “Show us Jesus!” It was with this plea to the Mother of the Lord that we set off on our journey here. This same plea will accompany us as we return to our daily lives. And we know that Mary hears our prayer: yes, whenever we look towards Mary, she shows us Jesus. Thus we can find the right path, we can follow it step by step, filled with joyful confidence that the path leads into the light - into the joy of eternal Love. Amen”.
At the end of the Mass the Pope gave a copy of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles both written by St Luke to a few lay representatives of Parish Councils elected in 2007 encouraging them in their apostolate. Before greeting the pilgrims in different language groups the Pope said he prayed for those affected by floods in Austria and two elderly pilgrims who had died that morning at Mariazell.
Before leaving Pope Benedict XVI urged the faithful, above all of central Europe, to continue to honour Our Lady as she is venerated at Mariazell, Magna Mater Austriae - Magna Hungarorum Domina and Mater Gentium Slavorum. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 10/9/2007; righe 81, parole 1.243)