Prayer formulated by H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti on 9th April 2006

Palm Sunday

You have given us the joy, once again, to enjoy Your presence. This blood that you shed reminds us of Your passion and death, which we will shortly remember and celebrate. But now, O Lord, it is by Your will, brought to us by the Mother of the Eucharist, Your and our Mother, that we have celebrated Your triumph, Your entry into Jerusalem, Your entry into the New Jerusalem, Your entry into the Church and in the world. Today, behind You, there is a small flock, your faithful; in a sense they represent the apostles and the people who truly loved and accompanied You during your triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But we know Lord, for this was revealed to us tonight by the Mother of the Eucharist, that today, behind You, there were all the angelic hosts of Heaven, all those who already enjoy Your vision in Heaven. We have not seen it, but we know that this has happened because this is what we have been told and what you say, my Lord, is always realized literally and in the most perfect way. Today we gave You our tribute in the best way we could do it, we praised Your name, we expressed our thanks for the benefits You are giving us, but the most beautiful voices, the most angelic sounds are those that our ears did not hear, but our heart has experienced because is united to Your heart. Lord Jesus, what took place during Your entry into Jerusalem has happened again: the Mother of the Eucharist kept a low profile, silent, hidden, joyful and suffering at the same time; joyful because she saw so much enthusiasm around You, suffering because she knew that in a few days from there, Your last hours would begin, the most painful and the most suffered hours. You have asked our sister Marisa to experience what Our Lady experienced, You asked her once more to renounce the joy of the celebration of this triumph, but to be silent, in suffering and immolation. Like Mary, so is Marisa: together, united as mother and daughter, and You wanted unworthy me to represent You, to carry You shoulder-high, Your triumph, my Lord. While I sustained You and watched Your blood, You knew what came from my heart, what grew on my lips. Jesus, we keep it to ourselves, but You know what I said, what I thought and the prayers I addressed to You. But now, my Lord, I publicly ask You, I beseech You, I implore You, renew, with Your powerful and omnipotent Spirit, Your Church, this Church that came out of Your pierced side and cost You blood and tears, this Church that You have instituted in a perfect way but men, unfortunately, down the centuries and especially in our century, have plundered, stripped and soiled. My Lord Jesus, renews and make the Church reborn, send Your Spirit to strengthen it, turn away the rapacious wolves and the snakes, this is how they have been defined and may, my Lord, new shepherds come according to Your heart to sustain Your Church with a commanding and strong hand, with a docile and humble heart, with a chaste and pure heart and aware of one thing only: that true wealth is Your grace and not the goods of the Earth. My Lord, give glory to Your name and may You, who are victorious par excellence, grant the victory to those who follow and love You, to those who, in order to see again Your triumph, are willing to endure and suffer. God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One and Triune God, before You we bow and adore You, silently and we thank You, O God, for everything You have done for us. Please look at our exhaustion, our littleness, our weakness and hasten to realize what is contained in the Magnificat and that the Mother of the Eucharist reminded us so many times: "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the humble". We are waiting for this, not for our glory but for Your Glory and to see fulfilled all You have solemnly promised and which we now expect, with confidence, to see realized.