MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
TO CATHOLICS OF BOLIVIA ON THE OCCASION OF
THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW RADIO STATION AT TIWANACU

Beloved Bolivian Sons,

May the peace of the Lord be always with you!

I feel great satisfaction at this moment to be with you, via satellite, at the inauguration of this new radio station at Tiwanacu. It permits me to express my most sincere congratulations because it signifies a technical advance, destined increasingly to promote fraternal and peaceful interchange with other peoples, sharing with one another your own human and spiritual riches.

But above all it permits me to testify to you from close at hand my affection as Father and universal Pastor; a deep affection, which also corresponds in my heart with a joyful confidence, being certain that, in conformity with your centuries-old adherence to the Gospel message, you will continue to offer to the world, and particularly to the Church, the pure image of a community full of vitality, closely united by the ties of Christian faith, charity, and peace. May it be this communion, the fruit of the presence of the Spirit in your souls, that always gives your people an unmistakable stamp and daily impels the pursuit of further goals of progress and common prosperity.

I know that you are preparing or already carrying out a crusade of family prayer which is really promising. Prayer ennobles and dignifies the Christian, putting him in the harmony of submission and gratitude to God, who gave himself entirely to men, making them participate, by means of his Son, in his own divine life. Can there be a greater and deeper communication? Through personal prayer, through prayer in the home and even more through liturgical prayer, man is reborn every day, in proportion as he assimilates the divine gifts and puts them into practice in his conduct, until he really becomes a close friend, a son of God. To pray is to set up a family, to build a community, to attach oneself in a salvific way to the new and definitive Covenant, sealed by Christ in the sacrament of love: the Eucharist.

I urge you, therefore, beloved sons, to intensify family prayer and liturgical prayer around the Eucharist: let them be the sap that nourishes your whole individual and community life. Through them you will discover and enjoy the happiness of solidarity, which displays itself instinctively and genuinely wherever there are poor or sick people, persons who suffer injustice or who cannot find a friendly hand to help them to overcome their limitations. And always associate with your persevering and unanimous prayer Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, who, under the invocation of Virgin of Copacabana, is a sure advocate of your aspirations before the Lord.

I willingly bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.