During noon Mass at Holy Name Cathedral on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Cardinal Cupich joined Pope Francis and bishops around the world in consecrating humanity, in particular Ukraine and Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Priests and auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese joined the cardinal along with many bishops who were attending a conference at Loyola University Chicago. Among them was Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and Honduran Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga. Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk of the St. Nicholas Eparchy of Chicago also participated in the Mass. Kneeling before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the sanctuary, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, led the consecration prayer. Many parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago prayed the Act of Consecration at daily Masses. “The Holy Father has asked us to come together not only to pray but consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” Cardinal Cupich said in his homily. “It is an opportunity for us to try and respond to how God’s grace is calling us to do something different and new because, as the Holy Father mentions in the Act of Consecration that we’ll hear shortly, the threat to humanity at this time is that we are becoming a shipwreck in a tempest of war. We have depended on our own means and ways and now know that we need the help of God.” As we consecrate ourselves to Mary, we should recall that Mary too was consecrated to God, he said. “So this is an opportunity to reflect on how the grace of God can be at work, and is at work in our lives now, prompting us to be in tune with the impulses that are part of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that God, in some way, is giving us the opportunity to have our heart beat with the same impulses that governed her life,” Cardinal Cupich said. When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary at the Annunciation, she accepted that radical change could happen in her life, the cardinal said. We, too, can accept radical change in our lives, putting down old grievances and prejudices, and use this occasion to focus on how God’s grace can transform us, he said. Mary changed the course of human history when she accepted that change, the cardinal said. If we accept radical change in our lives, we too can change our communities and history. “What we do today is not a one-off. Each year when we come together on this feast, it should be an occasion once again to see how we can conceive the world differently, give birth to a new world,” Cardinal Cupich said. “It’s an opportunity on this day to identify the graces that are being given to us as we consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She was the one who had the confidence that radical change would happen, that the course of history could be changed.” About an hour before the Mass in Chicago, Pope Francis led the consecration in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. “Mother of God and our mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine,” the pope said March 25, pronouncing the Act of Consecration after leading a Lenten penance service. Praying before a statue of Mary that was loaned by the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima at San Vittoriano on the outskirts of Rome, the pope pleaded with Mary to “accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end, and peace spread throughout the world.” Sitting in front of the statue, which was placed before the steps of the main altar on a red platform and adorned with white roses, the pope proclaimed the act of consecration. During the prayer, the pope paused at several moments to gaze at the statue of Mary before continuing to recite the prayer. “To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world,” he prayed. After the consecration, the pope, accompanied by a young boy and girl, placed a bouquet of white roses at the feet of the statue. He then remained for a few moments, with eyes closed and head bowed in silent prayer, before stepping away. - - - Contributing to this story was Catholic News Service
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