Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, all the great devotees of Our Lady,
I warmly welcome you to the feet of our Lady of Consolation. After three years of multidimensional exile, we are returning to the feet of our Lady in this national Shrine. Prayerful welcome. Let all blessings be for all of you.
For the last two years, our Mother waited for us, searched for us, as she searched for Jesus who was missing in the temple. Today, as a nation, we return to our Lady, the patron of peace and reconciliation. We are returning to the Holy family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. May her outstretched hands heal you, let her soothing words heal all our physical, spiritual, economic, and social wounds.
Our Mother is a healer. She is the Lady of Lourdes where millions are cured. She is the Velankanni Lady of Health where thousands are cured every year. Since she is the mother of the eternal healer, Jesus, let her powerful hands hold each one of you and lead you to the healing hands of Jesus. Let the blood of her son Jesus wash away all your sorrows and make you whole.
Our condition is like the suffering Jews, movingly portrayed in Psalm 122. In that Psalm, the conditions are vivid: The Jews were in peril, persecuted for their faith, displaced, starved, and always looking for the day when they could reach their holy city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not only a city, but it is a powerful symbol of peace.
The psalm says there were talks of going to Jerusalem.
They were glad when they, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”