SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.

 

SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. 

When the fullness of time had come (according to Saint Paul's letter to the Galatians 4: 4-7), "God sent his son born of a woman to... redeem us" from slavery to sin so that we may gain sonship with him, in order that we can call God 'ABBA' Father. While on the cross completing the mission for which he was born, he said to the disciple he loved "Behold thy mother". He shared not just his father with us but also his mother, so that like him we will be Children of God and of Mary. 

MARY'S APPROACH

 There is a striking approach to troubling events that can be observed in Mary. Mary seemed, according to the Bible passages, to be untroubled by the various issues that should have ordinarily troubled her. Look at the peaceful response at Gabriel’s message (Lk. 1:38), the peaceful pondering at Simeon’s warnings (Lk. 2:51), the calmness at Cana(Jn. 2:4), the submission at the Cross (Jn. 19:27) and the patience at the upper room (Acts. 1:14). Mary shows an attitude towards things that may not be referred to as abnormal but uncommon amongst the Children of Adam. 

More than Beautiful

 

Have you seen a beauty today?

 One that could capture God's heart

That comfortably in her womb, He chose to lay. 

After the fall, which did God annoy

 All creation awaited her coming

 The second Eve and cause of our joy.

Our Blessed Mother and Her Perfect Faith

 

"But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her." Luke 1:34-38.

We are presented with the wondrous witness of the Virgin-Mother of God, her witness is one of perfect faith!

WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

 

Reflecting on the origins and spread of various Marian devotions such as the Franciscan crown and the Rosary as well as on her many apparitions, one recurrent theme was underlined, that is, Mary comes to the rescue whenever the chips are down, be it the chips of an individual or of the entire world. The underlying message is, also, the same, which is that true devotion to Mary is not just good for but is essential to our growth and witness as Christians.

MARY, THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

    

         It is no news that one of the titles of the Blessed Virgin reads as the Ark of the Covenant. First, we must make some exposition of what the ark is or was for the Jewish people. The Ark of the Covenant – the holiest object in ancient Israel is a wooden box made of acacia with a golden ornament and overshadowed by a carved cherubim; it ultimately signified God’s presence among his people. Within Solomon’s temple, the ark occupied the holy of holies. The ark contained within it the tablets of stone on which God had traced the Ten Commandments. It also contained a relic of the manna, the food God provided his people to sustain their journey in the wilderness; and again, the ark also contained Aaron’s rod, the symbol of his priestly office.

The Rosary: A Prayer of Presence

 

The most fundamental component of the Holy Rosary is the ‘Hail Mary.’ Analytically, it is the smallest unit to which the Rosary can be reduced before it completely loses recognition as the Rosary. The Rosary is essentially the ‘Hail Mary.’ However, the beautiful and powerful prayer of the Rosary sometimes unwittingly obscures the Hail Mary itself. Were the number of Rosaries some of us have said over the entire course of our lives reduced materially into straight-chained chaplets, with beads the size of peanuts, the length might encircle entire states. So, I believe that in a number of cases and without intending to, we say so many Rosaries that, without intending to, we lose sight of the Hail Mary with the attendant implication that our prayer life suffers a vitiation in quality and efficacy. This understanding is perhaps put in clearer perspective when we consider an observation  by one of the former Spanish side’s finest coaches, Vicente del Bosque, concerning Sergio Busquets, a Spanish player of no mean legendary repute himself. He said “When you watch the game, you don’t see Sergio Busquets,

HAIL MARY, PUREST AMONGST THE PURE.

 Hail Mary, purest amongst the pure, fairest amongst the fair

Why would the messenger of the Most high not proclaim the “Ave” to you, O Mary Most poor in Spirit?

When Jesus wanted to begin his ministry, he started by first proclaiming the words

 “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Is it not evident that in you is found the epitome of “Poverty of Spirit”?

Poverty denotes a certain lack of security, a certain dependence on a higher or more secure source for sustenance. Who could compete with you, O Mary most poor, on the virtue of total dependence and trust in Divine providence? The readiness of the fiat testifies to this fact. You readily submitted when the future possible outcome, humanly speaking, is nothing but disaster and shame.

THE NECESSITY OF A DECISIVE MOMENT: MARY, A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

Ladislaus Boros begins his shocking yet captivating The Mystery of Death, by citing the bitter remark from the poem; Man’s Estate: “you know what they say: it takes nine months to create a man and only a single day to destroy him. When man is utterly a man, when that manhood has been achieved, the only thing he is good for is to die.” The existentialists’ mantra advances that there is no pre-given essence for man, rather, man actively creates for himself an essence through commitments to a certain course of life. Although an over ambitious humanism is found within this thesis, it nonetheless posits to us the very core of Mary’s dilemma. It presents to us the very picture of man. It is that picture of us when we are devoid of friends, those instances when no relative is close, no acquaintance is ready to hand, to whom we may run to for urgent advice. But the paradox of such moments is that when those decisions are eventually made by us, we have the whole world streaming towards us, either to congratulate us or to offer to us, their own portion of the numerous criticisms we receive. The question which therefore borders us here is: what does it really take the human to decide. Can the presumptions that inform our decisions be duly passed through the crucible of sincerity?

SUPER OMNES SPECIOSA

 The title of Mary as Super omnes speciosa was used by the composer of the Latin Marian hymn "Ave Regina Caelorum" to describe the position of Mary in the company of the blessed. The Latin phrase can be translated to mean the fairest amongst the fair or the most beautiful amongst the beautiful. Thus, Mary is presented as the most glorious amongst the blessed in Heaven. This is a usual attribute given to Mary in her special role as the Theotokos (Mother of God) and in her singular privilege of been immaculately conceived whilst maintaining that immaculateness all her life. Thus, both by reason of her position as the Mother of God and her life of sinlessness, Mary has a special place among the Elect.

“HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE” Advent Reflection

“Hail Mary, Full of grace,” this is the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary which preceded the annunciation of both the conception of the Word in her womb and the birth of the God-man. This greeting is twofold: first, Gabriel greets Mary – a sign of reverence; second, he affirms her state of grace. Indeed, the latter caused the former: the state of grace caused the angel’s reverence.

Zechariah: A model for Christmas preparations.

 

A Priest is a mediator between God and the people. He speaks with God and delivers the message to the people. In Biblical days, Priests were revered as privileged souls who possessed insights into the divine mysteries and communicated them to people by leading them in religious worship.

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN; A DAILY STRUGGLE

 

Right from the dawn of creation, from the very moment man strayed away from God by his disobedience, he has been like a fish out of water. He had always sought to find rest, succor, peace and joy which he enjoyed prior to his fall. This struggle is to retrace his source and sustainer. Often times, in contrary to our desires and expectations, instead of solace and comfort that our hearts yearn for, we are met with the very opposite, and so we get disappointed and distressed, at times tempted to question the essence of our being and the value of our existence here on earth. We are confronted by our three principal enemies: the flesh, the world and the evil one.

WHY WILL JESUS CALL THE POOR BLESSED. (MARY, MODEL OF POVERTY)

   

  "Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20) or as Matthew puts it "Blessed are the poor in Spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven" (Mathew 5:3). These where the first words of Jesus in his sermon on the mount. He started his public ministry by emphasizing the place and role of poverty in the whole story of the Christian person. But poverty is something abhorred, rejected and never wanted. Can we say that Jesus is happy with the deprivation and wretched situations we see in some under-developed countries, the wretchedness that makes many to die of hunger or the crisis many experiences based on the fact that they cannot afford some basic necessities of life. Surely, this is not the will of God because we cannot see the glory of God in a man who is not fully alive. What, then, is Jesus referring to when he talks about this?

SUFFERING; THE ALLOTTED PORTION OF LOVERS

 

SUFFERING; THE ALLOTTED PORTION OF LOVERS

An elderly priest was once asked what would happen if a priest falls in love, he kept quiet for sometime and replied saying, "he will suffer, that is the portion of lovers". Can we say that this statement has some elements of truth in it. Even though love is a sweet thing, everyone wants to love and to be loved, we always seek to be cared for and in fact, we desire to care too for those we love because seeing our loved ones happy gives us its own special kind joy. Nevertheless, experience has taught us that to love is to suffer. The afflictions of our loved ones pains us, the worries that troubles them troubles us. In fact, even in our own pains and worries, sometimes we feel pained knowing the pains our loved ones will undergo when they discover our afflictions. 

The Long Awaited

 8th of September 

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary" ( Matt 1:1-16, 18-23).

 “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”.

“The Long Awaited.”

 After The fall of the first man Adam, of which the first woman Eve was instrumental (according to creation story) by Her sharing the forbidden fruit she plucked from the tree of knowledge of life and death (Gen:2:15)  as deceived by  the serpent (Gen 3: 1-4) with Adam, which  dammed humanity to  death, God planned in the Fullness of  time to restore all things in “Christ the new Adam" necessarily on  a forbidden tree “the cross". Forbidden because it brought damnation and shameful death to whoever it was conferred on as a result of a grievous atrocity. 

THIRD APPARITION OF FATIMA

        The message of Fatima is that of Prayer, Penance and Sacrifice. Our Lady, appearing to the Children, made known to them the need for the world to embark on prayers, penances and sacrifices because of the numerous sin which offend the divine Majesty.

          The apparition on the 13^th of July, 1917 was particularly peculiar because of the several events that took place. Firstly, before the day, Lucia was reluctant to go to the scene of the apparition because of the words of the Pastor, that the devil might be responsible for the apparitions. Nevertheless, her doubts were cleared prior to the day. Also, the apparition was particularly important because of the three secrets of the apparition, which the Children guarded zealously. The first two was revealed by Lucia in her Third Memoir and the later was communicated only to the Bishop, who sent it unread to Pope Pius XII.

WHY SAY THE ROSARY?

          

             The prayer we know as the Rosary today, originally was called the Psalter of Mary because of the 150 hail Marys that corresponds to the number of psalms in the Bible. However, it gained its title of the Rosary due to a vision by a Monk, who saw our Lady collecting roses from his mouth to weave a garland or crown for herself. Thus, the title 'Rosary' from Latin Rosarium, etymologically means the Crown or Garland of Roses. The Rosary, however, through the centuries, has gained popularity as one of the surest ways of attracting God’s Mercy through our Lady.

MARY. LOVE EXEMPLIFIED.

        

            Man, by nature, desires to share and to live together with others. Even God affirmed this in the book of Genesis, when He said that it is not good for a man to be alone. Aristotle adds that man is a political being, whose nature it is to live with others and also, that no one would choose the whole world on the condition of being alone. All this owes to the fact that inherent in us is the desire to love and to be loved, the desire to share intimately with others and to be shared with. In other words we desire to live in communion. It is, also, the case that the virtue which most effectively, makes this our tendency to communion most enjoyable and livable is Love. Love, the most used four-letters word. This word means different things to different people. To some, it is taking advantage of others for our own usefulness, however unconscious this maybe. To others it is to be treated the way we want. To some still, it is all about a pleasure-seeking venture but to those who truly understand, it entails sacrificing our comfort and pleasures, in other to do all for the good of the other. Little wonder He who totally gave himself  for us commanded us to love others as he loved us.

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP

        

Devotions to Mary, Mother of Perpetual help is one of the most popular devotions to Mary. The title of our Lady as the Mother of Perpetual help evokes the sentiments of hope in two ways: Firstly, Mary is invoked as a mother. Generally, the word ‘mother’ brings to mind the idea of continuous concern, undying love, tender care. Secondly, she is not just a mother with all these attributes but a mother whose concern is ever perpetual. Perpetual, in a sense, can be synonymous to eternal, thus, her tender