Read this with three points in mind.
1) Pope Benedict has a project for his pontificate to reinvigorate our Catholic identity so that we both can be better Catholics on the road to salvation and also contribute effectively to the public square.
2) Years ago at a conference of the Catholic Press Association, I heard a keynote speech by Card. George. He explained that the real work of a Catholic journalist is not so much to report on what priests, bishops and Pope’s do, as to report on the workings of grace amongst God’s people. Card. George explained that to recognize the workings of grace, you must be in the state of grace.
3) Our Lady of Fatima asked that Russia be consecrated by the Pope and all the bishops to her Immaculate Heart. I suggest that this is a
I read this in CNA.
Bishops consecrate Mexico to the Holy Spirit
Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 22, 2009 / 09:44 am (CNA).- In the Mass opening its 87th Plenary Assembly, the Bishops’ Conference of Mexico consecrated the nation to the Holy Spirit and prayed that the Spirit would help the country to “rebuild and strengthen the social fabric.”
Leading the more than 120 bishops gathered for the meeting, conference president Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes said, “The presence of evil in the history of humanity has always been repetitive and cyclical, enveloped in tragedy and drama, in struggle and ambition, over and over again the law of the survival of the fittest is imposed and the dignity of the human person is easily trampled underfoot.”
The archbishop called the meeting of the bishops “historic” and an effort to survive the violence which has overtaken the country. “The Bishops are convinced that [watch this] the Catholic Church in Mexico must intensify her positive presence in society in order rebuild and strengthen the social fabric (…). We are aware that such a task is only possible through the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he said. [And there is something else very important that must be done.]
The Archdiocese of Mexico City reported that Archbishop Aguiar has set Pentecost Sunday, May 31, as the day on which each diocese in the country will consecrate its own particular Church to the Holy Spirit, as was done in 1925 amidst the difficulties and persecution of the Cristeros War.
This is an excellent initiative.
I would add that the next step should be a comprehensive renewal of the Church’s sacred liturgy, especially along the lines the Holy Father has indicated both in his own liturgical theological writings and in his actions as Successor of Peter.
