France, what if it were the time of your awakening?

Indeed, the feast of the Assumption is a source of great hope. As the Virgin Mary, the first one to do so after Jesus, experiences the joy of the resurrection, we are strengthened in the certainty that God keeps his promises and that he will never abandon us.

I would like our country (France) to look at Mary as a mother, as a river looks at its source, to find inspiration and momentum. Mary expresses the heart of her vocation from the first words she utters: "I am the servant.” Isn’t this also the vocation of France, as suggested by Saint John Paul II during his first trip to our country in 1980:

France, eldest daughter of the Church, are you faithful to the promises of your baptism? Allow me to ask you: France, Daughter of the Church and educator of peoples, are you faithful, for the good of man, to the covenant with eternal wisdom?

I would like to extend this quote today by asking: France, what if it were the time of your awakening?

When I hear Mary singing, His mercy is from age to age, I have the impression that she summarizes in a few words all that the message of the Bible means for her. This is the central sentence of her canticle. Yes, like Mary, we can thank God who does wonders for us. His mercy has never failed.

His Eminence Philippe Barbarin, Cardinal Archbishop of Lyon (France)

Le Figaro