"Mary appears here as the first missionary" and "reminds us that the mission does not begin by conveying a message made of word but with a trip to someone else, with Jesus in our heart". This was said this morning by the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as he commented Mary’s visit to Elisabeth in the sermon given in Lourdes during international Mass. According to the archbishop, "our first and foremost task is to bring Jesus with us, with gratitude and faith, in all our deeds". He mentioned two examples, from the Catholic and Orthodox worlds: like Santa Teresa of Avila suggested Williams we could instead simply keep always a picture with us or keep a cross in our pockets, so as to keep always ‘in touch’ with the Lord", or we might follow "the guide of the Orthodox spiritual tradition by silently repeating: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy of me as I have sinned’". According to the archbishop of Canterbury, "it is very attractive to think of the mission as of something to be made in the same way as we do other things, where everything depends on planning and checking how we are doing" and one can be tempted to "think of all the life of the Church in these terms". (continued)
