3. THE IMAGES OF CHRIST

Mary glorifies the Most Holy Trinity.  Being associated with Christ, she is figure, prophecy and mother of the Church.  Mary Immaculate is reborn humanity returning to the arms of God.  Mary assumed into heaven is the mediatrix between heaven and earth.  The Virgin Mary is the mother of consolation and of mercy. She is our mother if we live like her children.  Her life, which we meditate upon in the rosary, is the model of the Christian life.

The saints are prodigies of divine grace, men and women of faith and of obedience to the saving will of God.  By believing in God and obeying him, we can all become saints, just like them.  Devotion to the saints means being faithful to the faith they have passed on to us.  We cannot forget the tribulations our forefathers and mothers went through to beget us to God.  We trust in them because they are God's friends and ours.

The poor are the living and eloquent image of Christ, who was born poor and died naked on the cross.  The poor are his privileged friends, the pupil of his eyes.  We cannot be Christ's friends unless we are friends of his friends.  If we deeply love the poor, the least, the unfortunate, much will be forgiven us.  If we love poverty, we love Christ who espoused it.