To close the Marian month, Pope Leo XIV prayed a Rosary for peace in the Vatican Gardens, urging everyone to make the daily commitment to achieve peace, which is “possible when we choose to listen to the cry of those deprived of it”. Source: Vatican News.
Joining people praying at more than 200 Marian shrines worldwide, Pope Leo prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary at the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens on Saturday, specifically remembering those living in areas affected by war and violence.
He urged everyone – those present in the Vatican Gardens and all those connected around the world – to “dispose their hearts” to be open to hearing the word of God, so that through prayer “we may come to understand the meaning of the events of history” and see God’s providence guiding and sustaining us.
The Virgin Mary, Pope Leo said, is the model example of a believer who turns their heart to listen to “what God says”. For us, he said, she is an example of obedience as she welcomed Jesus into her womb.
Looking at the Mysteries of the Rosary with Mary helps us to see in Jesus the “one final Word spoke by the Father, a Word of peace for all who return to him with contrite hearts.” That is, God never abandons us, even when we ignore or forget him or when we lose our way. He looks for us and brings us back to him,” the Pope said..
Even in the midst of the current global situation – violence, war, and conflict – Pope Leo explained that “peace becomes possible when we choose to listen to the cry of those deprived of it: innocent children, anguished mothers and fathers, abused prisoners, refugees and people of every age who suffer.”
All these groups “have but one word upon their lips: peace!”
Everyone can and must do their part to achieve peace, the Pope urged. It must start with “small but important things, abstaining from every form of verbal or physical violence in daily life and also on social media”.
Closing, Pope Leo stresses that God is looking for peacemakers. He asked Mary, our Blessed Mother, to “help us to answer him each day with our own “Here I am,’ not only in words but in deeds.”
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Pope Leo at Rosary: Even in times of conflict, peace is possible (By Kielce Gussie, Vatican News)
