Land of Christ and Mary

Pope John Paul II said: "America, land of Christ and Mary!" His spirited words came from the Aztec Stadium, where many tens of thousands of persons were present. But his image and his voice were being heard attentively by even more people throughout the American Continent and the world.

The continental conscience appeared clearly, with today's technologies allowing intercommunication through satellite. On one side the Pontiff seen participating in the festive encounter in Mexico, while at the same time listening to the testimonies and celebrations of America's faith through huge television screens. In communion with the local participants of the event, the Pope heard the voice of many throughout the Americas: the Archbishop of São Paulo's Archdiocese in Brazil, a couple from USA, a young man from Argentina, a woman from Venezuela, and young man from Peru. The spokespersons from those countries had been selected to to speak for all the peoples of the Continent. The Pope could see the intense empathy of the people gathered together in the television studios of different countries, in the same way he saw and heard an enthusiastic crowd chanting support mottoes in Peru.

The celebration of faith, called "Encounter of the Generations", is a fortunate reference to the meeting that made evident the transmission of the faith of the Church and its continuity throughout history. "In this significant hour, you are called to have a renewed consciousness of being the receivers of a rich human and religious tradition. It is your task to hand on this patrimony of values to future generations to nourish their vitality and hope, helping them share their Christian faith, which has shaped their past and should characterize their future", pointed out the Pope as a basic impetus of the New Evangelization.

The evangelizing character and their intracontinental pontifical messages characterized this fourth visit to Mexico. The reiterated references to the history of the evangelization of the Continent of Hope placed the tasks of the New Evangelization in continuity with the first preaching of the Good News that started more than 500 years ago in Santo Domingo. The deployment of missionaries and lay people announcing the faith in the lands of the Continent was, in the deepest sense, the meeting of two worlds: the inhabitants of these lands with the witnesses of Christ. Surely there were other cultural and human factors, but the decesive encounter was that of the men and women native of these lands, ardently desiring life, truth and transcendence with the faith in the Son of God made Son of the Immaculate Virgin Mary to redeem and reconcile humanity. This is the great light of the time; this is the treasure of our peoples. The encounter of Europeans and native Americans brought regrettable sorrow and tragedies (shadows, as they have been called), with all its load of suffering. But, all them receive a new dimension through the immense gift that has been lightening the life of hundreds of millions in America, born to its identity under the light of evangelization.

America is no longer as it was prior to October 12, 1492. It received its historical baptism in the celebration of the faith in its lands, surrounding the cross that shows the way to salvation brought by the Lord. To turn one's view to Tepeyac is the way to discover the American Continent's specificity and filiation. There, with a mestizo face that expresses fraternity and communion, the Virgin of Guadalupe appears to a native american, Juan Diego. In the same spot where centuries ago the Church's voice in the Bishop Zumárraga recognized the wonder of divine love, today, the evangelizing voice of Peter speaks up telling all the people that throughout history will live and grow in these lands: "Behold, your Mother". That's why the Pope has emphasized the identity of these part of the world: "America, land of Christ and Mary!"

Awareness of ruptures and sins, oppressive social situations, and weak purposes do but make God's children more open to the strength of grace. With humankind's consciousness of it's own limitations, the confidence in the gifts of the Most High and the hope of walking the path of life with His strength grows intensely.

The Pope said for today and tomorrow: "The ideal that Christ proposes and teaches with his life is certainly very high, but it is the only one that can give full meaning to life". And reminding the dynamism of the He who gives us Reconciliation, he said with emphasis: "Don't submit to less". Thus, thousands of voices were heard in the celebration called "Encounter of the Generations" with the Holy Father in Mexico City as they shouted, full of enthusiasm and commitment, "America, always faithful!" The ardent and vital echo enlarged as it added the voice of multitude hearts of the people of the land. They adhered with a strong commitment of faith, hope and charity to the encounter with the Lord Jesus which the Pope proposed as the way to human fulfillment and the impulse to build a society with more justice, solidarity and reconciliation - the Civilization of Love according to God's Plan.