214
Star of the new evangelization
287.âWe ask the Mother of the living Gospel
to intercede that this invitation to a new phase
of evangelization will be accepted by the en-
tire ecclesial community. Mary is the woman
of faith, who lives and advances in faith,
214
and
âher exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents
a constant point of reference for the Churchâ.
215
Mary let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit on a
journey of faith towards a destiny of service and
fruitfulness. Today we look to her and ask her
to help us proclaim the message of salvation to
all and to enable new disciples to become evan-
gelizers in turn.
216
Along this journey of evan-
gelization we will have our moments of aridity,
darkness and even fatigue. Mary herself expe-
rienced these things during the years of Jesusâ
childhood in Nazareth: âThis is the beginning of
the Gospel, the joyful good news. However, it is
not difficult to see in that beginning a particular
heaviness of heart, linked with a sort of night
of faith â to use the words of Saint John of the
Cross â a kind of âveilâ through which one has
to draw near to the Invisible One and to live in
intimacy with the mystery. And this is the way
that Mary, for many years, lived in intimacy with
214
âCf. S
econd
V
atican
E
cumenical
C
ouncil
, Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium
, 52-69.
215
âJ
ohn
P
aul
II, Encyclical Letter
Redemptoris Mater
(25
March 1987), 6: AAS 79 (1987), 366-367.
216
âCf.
Propositio
58.