Francesco Productions

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May 1 , 2008
Dear Friends of Francesco,
Greetings peace and Blessings to you and your families and friends as we enter the beautiful month of May dedicated to out Blessed Mother Mary. A good Marian point of reference for May 2008 and always is the luminous mystery of the proclamation of the Kingdom. Our meditation on this mystery with the help of the prayers of Blessed Mother Mary will help us greatly to “shape our mind and heart.”

Almost everyone in the United States of America and across the globe has heard and maybe even seen that Pope Benedict celebrated Holy Mass at Yankee Stadium. At the same time, awareness of what he said might need a little help. In the context of Ephesians 1:18, the “glorious inheritance we have received in Christ” B16 issued a challenge for us “to be a people of joy, heralds of unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God’s word, and trust in his promises (Pope Benedict XVI Homily Yankee Stadium April 20, 2008).” This will help us greatly in creating “new settings of hope where God’s Kingdom becomes present in all its saving power (ibid).”

More precisely, regarding these “new settings of hope”, B16 recalled how so many of us and our neighbors pray every day to the Father in the Lord’s own words “The Kingdome come.” Then he boldly told us what our praying of this prayer needs to do: This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs to create new “settings of hope” (cf. Spe Salvi, 32ff.) where God’s Kingdom becomes present in all is saving power.

More specifically, he insightfully told us what it means to pray this prayer fervently: Praying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its presence, and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ’s victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, “there is no human activity – even in secular affairs – which can be withdrawn from God’s dominion” (Lumen Gentium, 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives. And this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today (ibid).

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