By Mick Soh
The final talk of Embrace the Grace 2014 was delivered by Religious Education Co-ordinator of Aquinas College, Paul Kelly.
Mr Kelly, a regular speaker at the annual Embrace the Grace conferences, spoke to participants about how they can become a witness to hope.
The talk started with the recitation of the Memorare, a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bernard of Clairvaux, which Mr Kelly explained was recommended as a daily prayer by Blessed Edmund Rice, the founder of Christian Brothers schools.
The Memorare was Mr Kelly’s introduction to his main theme: devotion to Our Lady and its help in developing a sense of hope.
During the talk, Mr Kelly spoke about a history of events in Marian devotion.
Some of the events he described included the conversion of nine million people in Mexico in 1531, the miraculous raising of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and the 1847 Marian miracle at New Norcia when a bush fire was diverted from its course. Mr Kelly’s main crux was that Marian devotion works.
He also talked about how Pope Pius V ordered all of Rome to pray the Rosary during the battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571.
“It’s something anybody can grasp if they know Marian history. They will see that at many different times and places through human history, Our Lady has intervened and saved people from spiritual and physical calamities,” he said.
Mr Kelly also emphasised that, “All of that saving comes through her Son, because Jesus is God and Mary doesn’t have any power of her own. Everything comes from her Son.”
“But the way Jesus wants us to be delivered from certain calamities through Church history has been through the intercession of our Lady.”
Mr Kelly then explained in detail a less well-known Marian devotion, to Our Lady of Success in Quito, Ecuador.
“It’s got direct relevance to us because the prophecies that were given to Mother Mariana De Jesus Torres in Quito in the 17th century are for our times; she specifically speaks about the conditions for people in the world from the end of the 20th century and beyond – and that’s us,” he said.
“And so much of what that apparition describes is accurate with what’s happening in our culture today, so it’s directly relevant.”
“Mother Mariana De Jesus Torres complied with Our Lady’s request that she be a victim soul for the people of these times. So this 400-year-old devotion is directly relevant to today, and it’s a perfect example for giving young people hope regardless of what might happen in future because this devotion prophesises a great restoration akin to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart mentioned at Fatima in 1917.”
Mr Kelly also used several scripture references taken from the Catechism prophesying Christ’s second coming, and highlighted Jesus’ challenging question in Luke 18:8, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on Earth?”
“I wanted to pick the darkest episode in Church history, and the darkest episode in Church history is obviously still to come because the Catechism and Scripture speak of some sort of a great apostasy towards the end where the faith of the faithful will be shaken to its foundations (Catechism, para 675),” he explained.
“I thought that would be a great example to show that in the midst of all the Scriptural readings, Jesus continually points us towards not losing hope. Even in that darkest hour, there will be hope.
“Jesus will be triumphant, and he will be victorious in the end, so if the young people can be presented with the worst-case scenario and still see hope in it, everything else is doable, is endurable with hope. None of us know what generation of Christians will have to endure the end times, but this meditation helps keeps us on our spiritual toes.”
Mr Kelly said he is confident that all the ETG participants will become witnesses to hope.
“To stand in front of a group of enthusiastic young people really fully charged with the Gospel, who are dying to share their faith with other people in a positive, colourful way with goodness and truth and beauty, is a great inspiration for me because I’ve worked for many years in youth evangelisation and it’s not always easy,” he said.
“It’s always very affirming to see the faith of young people in action and that is always very manifest at the Embrace the Grace conference in New Norcia.”