Catholics should aim to be a "pilgrim people of hope," said Bishop Bishop Joseph Trần Văn Toản of Long Xuyen in Vietnam in an April 30 pastoral letter to his diocese.
The letter was issued in honor of both the Jubilee Year of Hope and the Diocese of Long Xuyen's 65th anniversary, reported Licas.
Catholics, he said, should offer "blossoms of hope" to Mary, and seek to deepen their devotion to the Eucharist.
May, noted Toản, is traditionally a month of Marian devotion.
“In his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, St. John Paul II called Mary the ‘Woman of the Eucharist,’” he said, adding, “Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary gave the Word made flesh His human nature. Thus, the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist are the very Body and Blood born of Mary."
Mary's entire life, said Toản, was "a pilgrimage with Jesus in hope."
This month, the Diocese of Long Xuyen will honor the Eucharist in five ways, said the bishop:
saying "yes" to God,
works of charity,
contemplating Christ in the Eucharist,
offering oneself in the Mass, and
"forming Eucharistic-centered families living the Beatitudes."
These communities will "link Marian devotion and Eucharistic adoration," he said, encouraging people to "pray at least one mystery of the Rosary with ten Hail Marys before Mass."
Toản also suggested that people offer "19 symbolic 'flowers' to Mary," in a way that represents the "natural beauty of the Mekong Delta, Vietnamese traditions, Christian heritage, and missionary and charitable efforts."
“These are the flowers most beloved by Mary, especially when offered by the young,” he said.
These "flowers" will take the forms of literal floral offerings, pilgrimages to deanery churches, and other acts of charity.
Among the proposed activities are floral offerings guided by the diocese, pilgrimages to deanery churches with children’s participation, and encouraging charitable acts as part of Marian devotion.
