VATICAN CITY (CNS): Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Benedict XVI said the council reminded the Church to be like Mary – obedient, prayerful and courageous in times of trouble.
Marking the anniversary on the December 8 feast of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Pope Benedict also said the traces of original sin are seen in the common assumption that being holy is boring and that sinning occasionally is what makes one human.
In his homily, the Pope – who served as a theological expert at the council – said he remembers the moment when Pope Paul VI declared Mary “Mother of the Church”.
In its teaching about the role of the Church and its members in the world, the council pointed believers “to ‘the great believer’ who, full of faith, placed herself in God’s hands, abandoning herself to his will”, the Pope said.
The council pointed them to “the humble mother who was part of her son’s mission when that was required and, at the same time, to the courageous woman who, when the disciples ran away, stood under the cross”, he said.
