![]() This helps her through the difficult days. St Bernadette accepts this invitation but is told ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the other.’ She will always remember the smile of the Lady who invited her to trust in her, to have faith in God, and become new in Christ. The call of the Our Lady, the beautiful lady, as St Bernadette described her at the Grotto, is an invitation to Bernadette to do her will like Our Blessed Lady did the will of God. All things will reach their fulfilment and give glory to God in joy and praise. ![]() In this new creation, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, the lamb will lie down with the wolf, the lion with the cub, peace will reign, suffering will be turned to joy, grief to consolation, death to eternal life. Mary is the Mother who says ‘Yes’ and brings this about like any mother she is the Queen of All Creation which is made new in Christ. he is named, “Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father Prince of Peace.”’ A light has shone in the darkness and now: all things will be made new in Christ. The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, ‘For there is a child born for us, a son given to us. In the generosity of her heart, Mary answers, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.’ Fiat, let this be done to me a surrender and an act of trust in the promise of God. God’s promises the Holy Spirit will bring about this mystery and she will conceive. In the moment of silence as the angel’s wings quiver, Mary responds, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ Gabriel has spoken the invitation to rejoice, the greeting of God’s promise to Our Lady, the greeting for which the Jewish people waited, a people who walked in darkness, longed. We can imagine the moment, the pause, the silence, the motion of the air after the Angel Gabriel has invited Mary to be the Mother of God’s Son. We have just heard the gospel of the Annunciation. She is our model and shows us the way to heaven. As Jesus is at our side, we also thank his Mother, Our Blessed Lady, Mary the Mother of God, who is the Queen of All Creation. ![]() Today is a moment when we pause and thank God for the gift of the beauty of God’s creation, for the gift of our lives, and for the gift of our faith in Jesus who saves us. And for us, the woods and every fragrant tree shade us, God’s holy people of Westminster, at God’s command. As the prophet Baruch wrote in a much-loved image of mine: ‘The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command’. It is a great joy to be here in the Cité St Pierre, under the canopy of God’s protection, under the shade of the trees. These words we sang in the opening hymn of the Mass. Sing it in the valleys, shout it from the mountain tops Jesus came to save us and his saving never stops. Given at the Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of All Creation at the Cité St Pierre, Lourdes on 24 th July 2023 ![]()
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