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We are very happy to pray this novena to Saint John Paul II together with you.
Dear friend,

We are very happy to pray this novena to Saint John Paul II together with you.

DAY 5: Mary, Heart of the Church's Mission 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
Hail Mary, Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.
WORDS OF SAINT JOHN PAUL II
Today, as never before, the Church has the opportunity of bringing the Gospel, by witness and word, to all people and nations. I see the dawning of a new missionary age, which will become a radiant day bearing an abundant harvest, if all Christians, and missionaries and young churches in particular, respond with generosity and holiness to the calls and challenges of our time.
 
Like the apostles after Christ's Ascension, the Church must gather in the Upper Room "together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14), in order to pray for the Spirit and to gain strength and courage to carry out the missionary mandate. We too, like the apostles, need to be transformed and guided by the Spirit.
 
On the eve of the third millennium the whole Church is invited to live more intensely the mystery of Christ by gratefully cooperating in the work of salvation. The Church does this together with Mary and following the example of Mary, the Church's Mother and model: Mary is the model of that maternal love which should inspire all who cooperate in the Church's apostolic mission for the rebirth of humanity. Therefore, "strengthened by the presence of Christ, the Church journeys through time towards the consummation of the ages and goes to meet the Lord who comes. But on this journey... she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary."
 
To "Mary's mediation, wholly oriented toward Christ and tending to the revelation of his salvific power," I entrust the Church and, in particular, those who commit themselves to carrying out the missionary mandate in today's world. (Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, December 7, 1990, n. 92)
MEDITATION
Our holy Pope saw in the Virgin Mary someone who is at both ends of the missionary experience. At her side, the disciple discovers the infinite richness of the Good News, he hears the call to mission and draws strength to go and carry out the message. It is also to her that he returns after his mission is completed, thinking about all those to whom he has spoken of Christ, so that Mary may complete his task and help them to enter the gates of the Church. The missionary entreats and implores her "so that the world may believe."
PRAYER TO MARY, CHRIST'S FIRST DISCIPLE
Hail Mary, woman of faith,
First of the disciples!
Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always
to account for the hope that is in us,
with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love.
Teach us to build up the world beginning from within:
in the depths of silence and prayer,
in the joy of fraternal love,
in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross. 
Amen.
(Saint John Paul II, last paragraph of the concluding prayer of the Rosary, Lourdes, August 14, 2004)
Saint John Paul II, pray for us!
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