• Short introduction by Luisa Alfarano and Michele Tridente
IFCA Youth Coordination Responsibles (Video IT)

• Meditation by H. E. Msgr. Eduardo Garcia
bishop of San Justo, Eccl. Assistant of CA  Argentina and IFCA

The angel says to Mary that she has already found favour with God, not that she will obtain it in the future.  And the same formulation of the angel’s words helps us understand that divine grace is continuous, not something passing or fleeting; for this reason, it will never fail.  Even in the future, the grace of God will always be there to sustain us, especially in moments of trial and darkness.  (World Youth Day 2018, n. 3)

Mary kept things in her heart, not as one who puts seven keys and keeps hidden. Mary keeps things in her heart like the one she treasures, the one she values, the one who is able to discover in each thing a sense and that gives reason to her walk.

Mary has that wise memory that doesn’t fall into unjust forgetfulness or superficial memories, she has memory of the heart.

The joy of annunciation was always alive in her, by the promise of God, the love given in the visitation, the trust of good Joseph, all that was said of the child. And in each of these moments he experienced the passage of God for his life, the tenderness of a God who blessed it. This experience was what encouraged her hope and did not break her faith before the moment of pain. The memory of the heart allowed him to experience, again and again, that the same God who had called her would not abandon the work of his hands, although thick clouds appeared on the horizon.

She invites us to increase our memory of the heart, to look with new eyes at the passage of God for our life. We believe that our God is faithful and does not change; what he promised will be fulfilled, what he gave us will not take away, of what he said will not be disclaimed, his project won’t change.

We need the memory of his fidelity to tear us off from our selfishness, expediency, tepidity and insecurities, to make grateful memory of the past that allows us to look at the future with hope and passion for good, justice and peace. For that commitment is necessary the good memory of a God who has been generous with our lives, knowing to rescue all the good we have lived, because from the memory of the heart will sprout our fidelity.

•  Let us pray the Holy Rosary, for the Pope Francis’ intentions