*«Know yourself», in faith:
– through Baptism, you have become a «child of God» in Jesus Christ, Son of the Father and of Mary. This is a most noble honour, but also a deep commitment that requires of you a coherent response.
– Indeed, the Holy Spirit you received in Baptism has transformed with his grace your human life into a new Life, and bestowed divine ability and merit on your human actions, provided you stay in communion with Him.
– And since you are God’s child and an heir to heaven, the Father wants you to share his merciful plan of salvation for all mankind, using for the benefit of all – in Christ and in the Church – the gifts of nature and grace that he has granted you.
* Know «who is Mary», in the Church:
– She is the immaculate Mother of God, who for us accepted in her heart and womb the Word of the Father who came to save us.
– She is the truly humble handmaid of the Father, completely dedicated to doing his saving will for us until the very last day of history.
– She is the Saviour’s inseparable helper, his generous and heroic companion throughout the whole of the history of our salvation, from the Annunciation to the Cross and «until the unending crowning of all the elect» (LG 62); she was with him in all his deeds, small and great, with unhesitating faith and burning love «so as to restore supernatural life to souls» (LG 61).
– She is the living sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, eternal Love, who so enlarged her heart that she has become the Mother of all mankind, able to accept all – through the testament of her dying Son – as her children and to love them all with the same love she had for Christ.
– She is the Mother of the Church, sacrament of salvation, its highest and most perfect realisation: its origin and heart, its fulfilled model of virginal love for the divine Spouse and maternal tenderness for the human family, its inseparable co-operator in giving the light of Truth and the grace of Life to all.
– She is your kindest Mother, journeying with you on your path to perfection and she wants you to be able to share her mercies and her concerns for all men and women to become one «new person» in Christ in their life on earth and in their vocation to eternity.
* The Mother of God asks you:
– If you wish to «commit yourself with her» so as become in her hands and in her heart an instrument of grace and peace for the reconciliation of all people and their eternal salvation.
*«How?»
– Not by seeking extraordinary things, but living in an ordinary way (that is, with sincere faith and ardent love) the ordinary things of daily life:
– in such a way, however, that you do not live only for yourself and your little world, but «for all», past, present and future, near and far, sharing with their joys and sufferings, trials and hopes «of the present on earth» and «for the tomorrow of heaven».
– Thus your life will become, in the hands of Mary, a precious treasure, in the measure to which you commit yourself to become – like Her – «more human» and «more Christian» (honest, hard-working, open towards all), almost a living Gospel.
– Thus your actions will widen out every day towards the endless horizons of mankind:
* you will feel – like Mary and with her – a «representative» of all before the Lord, to adore, thank, offer and pray «for all», those close to you or whom you meet, and those who farthest away in time and space;
* you will become accustomed to seeing them all with the eyes of Mary, to opening yourself up to them all – within the limits of the possible – with her caring attentiveness, to making yourself all things to all people with her Heart that loves and accepts everyone.
The Holy Spirit, who guided Mary and who dwells in her, will show you how you can «commit yourself with her for a new world».
