Blessed Stanislaus Papczynski Father and Guide of the Marian Vocation

110 greatest revelation of God and His love. He will strive to bring his listeners around to establishing personal bonds with God and to accepting Christ as their Lord. The Marian of tomorrow will show that the love of God is the reason for our existence; he will awaken the hope that the grace of God is greater than our weaknesses and our sin; he will proclaim the new life in Christ. He will point to heaven as to our true Homeland. He will present Mary as the fi rst, new creation in Jesus Christ, as the one who pleased God and fulfi lled her earthly vocation, by accepting and responding to His grace. Celebrating and administering the sacraments is the source of grace for all, enabling us to live by the Good News and Jesus Christ, to accept and fulfi ll the Word, proclaimed in the sacraments. Baptism is the very new creation in Christ, it is the pouring out of love and grace; it is the incorporation into the Church, into the community of the saints, where Christ, the Immaculate Virgin Mary, and the saints have a seat. The Sacrament of Penance restores the broken link to God. It is like adhering to the loving Father, washing ourselves in the blood of our Savior, and opening ourselves to heaven. It is fi nally an acceptance and an invitation to love. Thanks to this, we re-assume the white garment that was lost through sin. In this sacrament, God sets us free from sin by the same power, with which He preserved Mary from sin—the power of the passion and the death of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is the foretaste of heaven, where we are all invited. It is the banquet where God nurtures us with His Word and the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ—nourishment for eternal life. Through the Eucharist, we enter eternal life, already having our share in it. It is the time when we accept love so that we can love. Finally, in the Eucharist, we unite ourselves with the saints and intercede before heaven for the deceased. The Anointing of the Sick is the strengthening of those who, in some way, participate in the suffering of Christ, and who also draw closer to the mystery of death. There is also a time and a place for the sick and for their families and friends to refl ectively embrace the meaning of life, and to behold their most important vocation: union with God and—ultimately—heaven. The building up of the community of the faithful by the Marians of tomorrow has to always have Jesus Christ and the Word of God as its starting point. However, the Marian must bring his specifi city to every community (a parish or an affi liated community, a shrine community, a society of the laity gathered through the mediation of the mass media, etc.): thanksgiving for the gift of life and of vocation, an orientation towards eternity, the acceptance in love of every person regardless of age, education, race, etc., a respect for human dignity at each stage of life, a continuous reinforcement of the primacy of God’s grace and love. The Marian also must know that he is the advocate and the servant of grace, not its

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