The Archbishop of Kinshasa was at the shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon to preside on Sunday 12th November 2023 the fourth heaven’s pilgrimages during the month dedicated to praying for the deceased at the shrine. Surrounded by a crowd of pilgrims from all walks of life, he addressed all with a message of hope. The Archbishop urged them, when faced with adversity, to draw courage from Jesus Christ.
At first sight, the world is in a bad shape
The news we watch on TV or hear on the radio and on social networks are all about disasters, wars and the misfortune of peoples. At first sight, the world is in a bad shape. However, there are men and women trying to live a better life, and to find meaning to their lives.
Praying is communion
When I pray I am in communion with my living brothers and sisters. But I am also in communion with the brothers and sisters who have passed away and are with God. Communion entails developing a loving and trusting relationship with the whole of humankind, the living and the dead, with Jesus Christ.
Bravely hoping
We need courage and it comes from Christ Jesus so as not to loose hope. The risk is too great to fall into despair, and to believe that there is nothing to look forward for, and thus that life is meaningless. Yet our faith tells us that, beyond all this, there is life, a life leading to values and to the ultimate beatitude. Life that ensures that even beyond death, there is life.
Praying through adversity
In a context of wickedness and injustice, it is our duty to pray. Why? I pray because I see, I observe, I
differentiate and I ascertain that God is good. God loves his sons and daughters. God wills me to be good, like He is. Therefore, I enter into this prayerful kind of relationship of looking around me and assessing what I can do today to help my brothers and sisters live happily.
Praying also involves the vertical connection with those who have already gone ahead of us. They have reached the utmost joy. What can we do together today in order to join them tomorrow in eternal rejoicing?
A message of gratitude and support for the Fraternity of Our Lady of Montligeon
These days, I discover the existence of this Fraternity which carries this particular charism of praying for our deceased brothers and sisters and the most neglected souls. I was not aware of this spiritual community. In finding out more about it, what comes to mind are words of gratitude and support for its members. I urge them to carry on and uphold the torch of this charism ever further, so that others may discover it too and experience it together.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambogo’s homily
Archbishop of Kinshasa
“Let us therefore reach out in total confidence and haste to Mary who is here and who watches as an attentive mother, a caring mother.
She will get us the wine that is lacking in our lives so that our joy be complete.”
Talk
“Christian hope is not discarnate”
A pilgrimage day with Cardinal Fridolin Ambogo, Archbishop of Kinshasa
