Pope at Act of Consecration: If we want the world to change.. first our hearts must change

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Source: Vatican News

On the evening of the Feast of the Annunciation yesterday, Pope Francis led the annual Lenten penitential service in St Peter's Basilica. Towards the end of the liturgy he prayed the Act of Consecration of humanity, especially of Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - together with bishops in churches around the world.

In his homily at the penitential service, Pope Francis reflected on humanity's need for God's forgiveness and on the meaning of the Consecration.

He said the renewal of the Act of Consecration is meant to consecrate the Church and all the whole of humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to Mary's Immaculate Heart.

Pope Francis said: "This is no magic formula but a spiritual act. It is an act of complete trust on the part of children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their Mother, reposing all their fears and pain in her heart and abandoning themselves to her."

He added that we place all that we have and are into "pure and undefiled heart, where God is mirrored."

Pope Francis lamented the "vicious war" in Ukraine, which has killed many and caused immense suffering. "In these days, news reports and scenes of death continue to enter our homes, even as bombs are destroying the homes of many of our defenceless Ukrainian brothers and sisters."

"The war reminds us of our helplessness and our inadequacy, as well as of our need for the "closeness of God and the certainty of His forgiveness," he said. "God alone, can eliminate evil, disarm resentment, and restore peace to our hearts."

Pope Francis said God chose the Virgin Mary to change history by beginning a new story of "salvation and peace."

"If we want the world to change, then first our hearts must change."

The Pope went on to reflect on Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, in which God invites her to become the mother of the Son of God. The angel gave Mary the only true reason for joy, said the Pope, with his words that "the Lord is with you."

Pope Francis said Catholics experience something similar in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, since God draws near to us when we present ourselves with humble, repentant hearts.

Confession is the "sacrament of joy," he said. "The Lord enters our home, as he did that of Mary in Nazareth, and brings us unexpected amazement and joy."

The Pope also urged priests to always express God's forgiveness in Confession, and never project an air of rigidity or harshness. "If a priest doesn't possess this attitude with the proper sentiments in his heart, then it would be better he not act as a confessor," he said.

Pope Francis pointed out that the angel Gabriel tells Mary: "Do not be afraid." God already knows our weaknesses and failures, but that He invites us to lay them at His feet in the person of the priest when we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our weaknesses can then become "opportunities for resurrection."

Mary, in turn, now invites us to return to the source of our life, to the Lord, "who is the ultimate remedy against fear and emptiness in life."

Pope Francis concluded that Mary's response to God's invitation was "a lively desire to obey God... May she now take our own journey into her hands. May she guide our steps through the steep and arduous paths of fraternity and dialogue, along the way of peace."

The official English translation of the Act of Consecration follows:

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed peoples' dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour's keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity. By God's gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort. Say to us once more: "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?" You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: "They have no wine" (Jn 2:3). Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal help!

Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God's peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts. May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: "Behold your son" (Jn 19:26). In this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: "Behold, your Mother" (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The "Fiat" that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through your intercession, may God's mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the "Fiat", on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our "living fountain of hope", water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.

Watch the full Penitential Liturgy on the Vatican Youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QIjwKxRYnY