«Prayer enlarges our heart and prepares it to receive God’s gifts. Prayer illumines our eyes to be able to see others the way God sees them, to love as God loves.»
Pope Francis stressed this in his video-message for his upcoming Apostolic Visit to Mexico, Feb. 12-18, which was broadcasted in Mexico yesterday in Spanish, as he thanked the Mexican faithful for their prayers.
«I carry you in my heart. Now I will be able to visit you and to step on that blessed land, so loved by God, and so loved by the Virgin Mary,» he said.
Acknowledging they might wonder what the Pope’s hopes are for his trip, he responded, the answer is «immediate» and «simple.»
«I want to go as a missionary of mercy and of peace; to meet with you to confess our faith in God together and to share a fundamental truth in our lives: that God loves us very much, that He loves us with an infinite love, beyond our merits.»
The first Pope from the Americas went on to express his happiness that Mexicans are preparing for his trip by praying for him, who, he noted, «needs» the prayers.
Francis then asked if they wanted him «to confide another» of his «greatest desires.»
«To be able to visit the Virgin Mary’s house,» he responded, explaining, «As one more son, I will approach our Mother and place at her feet all that I bear in my heart.»
The Pope expressed how lovely it is to visit Mary’s home and feel «the tenderness» of her presence.
«There,» he added, «I will look at her in her eyes and implore that she not fail to look at us with mercy, as she is our Heavenly Mother.»
Pope Francis concluded, entrusting his trip and all Mexicans to the Blessed Virgin Mary and imparting his Apostolic Blessing.
