CHRIST, THE BRIDGE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, GOD AND MAN

VATICAN CITY, MAY 27, 2001 (VIS) - After his pastoral visit to the Roman parish of St. Angela Merici, Pope John Paul returned to the Vatican where, at noon, he appeared at his study window to recite the Regina Coeli with the faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

In meditations made before praying, the Pope noted that "today, in Italy and other countries, the Ascension of Our Lord is celebrated," though "the traditional day would have been last Thursday, but for pastoral reasons this feast was moved to Sunday."

"Jesus' Ascension," said the Pope, "was an event which left an indelible mark on the memory of the first apostles." He added that, as the apostles were looking heavenward after Jesus had ascended, two angels appeared and told them: "This Jesus ... will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. ... 'On earth as it is in heaven': these words which we repeat every day in the Our Father express well the new conditions of the disciples, who were transformed by the experience of the Paschal mystery of Christ. They are citizens of both earth and heaven."

The Holy Father stated that "Christ, in fact, became the bridge between heaven and earth: He is the mediator between God and man, between the Kingdom of heaven and the history of the world. United to Him in His same Spirit, believers form a new community, the Church, whose nature is at one and the same time both visible and spiritual, a pilgrim Church in the world and participant in heavenly glory."

"Of all creatures," he concluded, "Mary Most Holy was more than any other associated with this mystery. As the new Eve, of whom was born the new Adam, she indicates the path of our earthly commitment."

ANG;ASCENSION;...;...;VIS;20010528;Word: 300;