Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The “significant liturgical solemnities” which crown the 12th Sunday of ordinary time, 25 June, were recalled by Pope Benedict XVI in his midday reflection before the Angelus prayer with the people gathered in St Peter’s Square. The Pope said the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus “is a happy combination of popular devotion and theological profundity”. Devotion to the Sacred Heart “has its roots in the Incarnation - the Pope said -, it is precisely through the Heart of Jesus that God shows most sublimely his love for humanity. This is why authentic devotion to the Sacred Heart retains all its validity and attracts souls thirsting for God’s mercy in which they find an inexhaustible source from which to draw the water of Life which refreshes the deserts of the soul and causes hope to flourish again”. Benedict XVI also recalled that it was the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. He called on those present to “always pray for priests, so they may be valid witnesses of the love of Christ”.
On 24 June the Church celebrates the Birth of Saint John the Baptist “the only Saint whose birth we commemorate because it marks the beginning of the fulfilment of the divine promises”. John Baptist in fact immediately preceded the Messiah to prepare the people of Israel for His coming. “His feastday reminds us that our life is all and always “relative “ to Christ and is realised in welcoming Him, Word, Light and Spouse, of whom we are voice, lamps and friends” the Pope said. Lastly on 29 June the Church venerates the Apostles Peter and Paul: “Let the "I" of Christ take the place of our “I" was the exemplary longing of the Apostles Peter and Paul… this was lived before them and before all the Saints by Most Holy Mary who pondered in her heart the words of her Son Jesus. Yesterday we contemplated her Immaculate Heart, the Heart of the Mother who continues to watch over all of us with tender care. Through her intercession may we be always faithful to the Christian vocation.”
After the Marian prayer, the Holy Father said he was “deeply sadened by a serious accident on a building site on the autostrada Catania-Siracusa”: he expressed his sympathy with the family of the worker killed and the relatives of those injured calling for “greater attention that security conditions at work may avoid such tragedies in the future”. After greeting visitors present in different langauges the Pope mentioned affectionately “students sitting end of year exams” assuring them of his prayers. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 26/6/2006 - righe 31, parole 462)
