May is Mary’s month, so we will celebrate here on Open Wide the Doors by meditating on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. Here’s what Blessed John Paul II said about The Glorious Mysteries in his letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae:
The contemplation of Christ's face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!”(29) The Rosary has always expressed this knowledge born of faith and invited the believer to pass beyond the darkness of the Passion in order to gaze upon Christ's glory in the Resurrection and Ascension. Contemplating the Risen One, Christians rediscover the reasons for their own faith (cf. 1Cor 15:14) and relive the joy not only of those to whom Christ appeared – the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus – but also the joy of Mary, who must have had an equally intense experience of the new life of her glorified Son. In the Ascension, Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father, while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege, the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth as Queen of the Angels and Saints, the anticipation and the supreme realization of the eschatological state of the Church.
At the centre of this unfolding sequence of the glory of the Son and the Mother, the Rosary sets before us the third glorious mystery, Pentecost, which reveals the face of the Church as a family gathered together with Mary, enlivened by the powerful outpouring of the Spirit and ready for the mission of evangelization. The contemplation of this scene, like that of the other glorious mysteries, ought to lead the faithful to an ever greater appreciation of their new life in Christ, lived in the heart of the Church, a life of which the scene of Pentecost itself is the great “icon”. The glorious mysteries thus lead the faithful to greater hope for the eschatological goal towards which they journey as members of the pilgrim People of God in history. This can only impel them to bear courageous witness to that “good news” which gives meaning to their entire existence.
The Glorious Mysteries, which are typically recited on Wednesdays and Saturdays, are also quite appropriate for the season our Church is currently celebrating—Easter.
Let us begin to contemplate the face of the Risen One as we begin our Rosary. Find some quiet time for prayer today, and start your rosary with an Apostles’ Creed, an Our Father for the Pope’s intentions, three Hail Mary’s for the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love, and a Glory Be. As you begin, meditate on Blessed John Paul II’s reflection above.
During the ad limina visit of bishops from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming, Bishops James D. Conley of Denver told Pope Benedict XVI that the number of seminarians keeps going up in dioceses across America. Bishop Conley told reporters that the Pope was delighted with the news, and that it put a big smile on his face.
During their visit, Pope Benedict addressed the intellectual and cultural challenges of the New Evangelization. He focused on Catholic schools in particular, calling on them to “reaffirm their distinctive identity” so that they may serve as a “resource for the new evangelization.”
This week the Church remembers the beatification of Blessed John Paul II. May 1 marked the special day when, one year ago, Pope Benedict XVI had the unique opportunity to beatify his beloved predecessor.
The ceremony was planned to coincide with the Second Sunday of Easter, or “Divine Mercy Sunday.” We’ve written here before about the origin of this Church celebration and how important the Divine Mercy devotion was to Blessed John Paul II. May 1 is especially fitting, though, because it is also the beginning of a month traditionally dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God.
Blessed John Paul had a very special place in his heart for Mary. His pontificate was dedicated to her in many ways—his motto being “Totus tuus,” or “I belong entirely to you” and an “M” beside the Cross on his coat of arms. He credited her for protecting him when an assassin almost took his life, and he constantly prayed for her love and guidance. He entrusted his heart to her, and he encouraged all members of the Church to do the same—especially young people:
O Virgin Mary, Jesus
on the Cross
wanted to entrust us to you,
not to lessen
but to reaffirm
his exclusive role as Saviour
of the world.
Today is the feast of Saints Philip and James—both apostles of Jesus and true servants of His Gospel after His death and resurrection. St. Philip, first a disciple of St. John the Baptist, preached and performed miracles in Jesus’ name in Phrygias (modern day Turkey) until the day he was martyred. St. James, a cousin of the Lord, ruled over the Church in Jerusalem, converting many people of the Jewish faith. He also suffered martyrdom, in the year 62.
Saints Philip and James, we ask your intercession, that we may be as open to Christ’s call as you were and that we may follow Him until the end of our earthly days.
As you can see on the website, there have been some new developments at the Blessed John Paul II Shrine.
The most exciting update is that Fr. Gregory Gresko has recently been appointed as the Shrine’s Chaplain. Fr. Gresko comes to the Shrine with over twenty years of experience as a minister to students and young adults as a priest, lay missionary, and musician. He also holds his Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University’s John Paul II Institute and is currently working on his doctoral thesis. As Chaplain, Fr. Gresko will be responsible for the spiritual care of the Shrine’s staff and pilgrims. With his positive energy and inspiring homilies, Fr. Gresko has done a fabulous job so far!
The staff at the Blessed John Paul II Shrine is currently preparing a landmark exhibition on the life and legacy of John Paul II, but in order to tie pilgrims and tourists over, we’ve opened an interim exhibit: Be Not Afraid. This new exhibit chronicles the life of Karol Wojtyła in his own words, and the collection consists of hundreds of items, including many personal effects, works of art and photographs.
Stop by between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm Tuesday through Friday and check out the new exhibit. All are invited to Mass as well, which is held Tuesday through Friday at 11:30 am in the Shrine’s chapel.
Pope Benedict XVI gave the Church two important messages this week.
This past Sunday was World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and during his Regina Coeli address the Holy Father spoke of the importance of vocations and how vital it is that young men and women be attentive to God’s call. He said:
We are afraid to listen to the voice of the Lord because we believe it can detract from our freedom. The truth is that each of us is the fruit of love; the love of our parents, of course, but also and more profoundly the love of God. ... When we become aware of this our lives change; they become a response to that love which is greater than any other, and thus our freedom is fully realised.
Pope Benedict also sent a message to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences for their Eighteenth Plenary Session, which met in Rome this past week. The Holy Father lauded the Academy for choosing to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed John XXIII’s Encyclical Pacem in Terris, which was very important to the Church’s social doctrine. He focused on forgiveness in particular, writing:
The notion of forgiveness needs to find its way into international discourse on conflict resolution, so as to transform the sterile language of mutual recrimination which leads nowhere. If the human creature is made in the image of God, a God of justice who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), then these qualities need to be reflected in the conduct of human affairs.
These two messages don’t seem to connect. But in both cases, Pope Benedict XVI shows that a better understanding of God’s love can help us to better live out God’s call—specifically in our own vocations and generally in our love for others.
At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption.
In the human growth of Jesus "in wisdom, age and grace," the virtue of industriousness played a notable role, since "work is a human good" which "transforms nature" and makes man "in a sense, more human."(34)
The importance of work in human life demands that its meaning be known and assimilated in order to "help all people to come closer to God, the Creator and Redeemer, to participate in his salvific plan for man and the world, and to deepen...friendship with Christ in their lives, by accepting, through faith, a living participation in his threefold mission as Priest, Prophet and King."(35)
What is crucially important here is the sanctification of daily life, a sanctification which each person must acquire according to his or her own state, and one which can be promoted according to a model accessible to all people: "St. Joseph is the model of those humble ones that Christianity raises up to great destinies;...he is the proof that in order to be a good and genuine follower of Christ, there is no need of great things-it is enough to have the common, simple and human virtues, but they need to be true and authentic."(36)
-Blessed John Paul II, Redemptoris custos
St. Joseph the Worker, Pray for Us!
