Merry Christmas Blessed Mother

 

In all my years, I have never welcomed the coming of winter with any joy.  Just don’t like it. Love three out of the four seasons, but never learned to appreciate winter. For a few years now, I’ve looked for signs that may shed some scientific light and truths on the approaching winter – will it be mild or will it be severe. 

 Finally, I’ve found the proven indicator, my scientific evidence. It’s the fuzzy wooly large caterpillar that you may see wiggling across the road in the late autumn. Crawling from one field to the other field with a road in between. Now, for years I’ve been mentally recording these findings and here are the results.

 The more of these orange and brown hairy caterpillars you see, the colder the winter will be.  Last year, there were millions crossing many of the back roads, especially Blue Bell Rd, you couldn’t avoid them with your car, and, my evidence, we had an extremely cold, windy and snowy winter. 

 I don’t understand the significance of why they are crossing the road, but I’m aware of when they cross in large numbers, winters are severe. But, I am very happy to report that this year I saw only two of the little buggers the entire autumn. Prediction, very mild winter.  Now, I’m not a meteorologist, but to me that’s a sure sign – I believe God put these fuzzy creatures on this earth to give us a sign of what is coming, an indicator and for us to prepare.

 Well, we don’t quite have the fuzzy caterpillars in our readings today but, we do have some signs of what is to come.  We are more than midway through the season of Advent, and the Third Sunday of Advent is referred to as “The Sunday of Joy”, or some refer to it as Pink Sunday. John the Baptist is laying the ground work, clearing the path for the joy that is to come in Jesus.

 He says, “There is one among you whom you do not recognize”. John, was telling the Jews, with full conviction, that Jesus had been living among them for thirty years. But, yet, they didn’t know Him, they didn’t recognize him. 

 We are fortunate, because we believe Jesus is really present in our midst; present in our tabernacle, soon to be present on our altar, present in our souls by grace.  But, aren’t there times we feel he sometimes conceals himself from us? Aren’t their times we feel like we’ve lost Jesus, and living in some kind of darkness and confusion? And with that confusion we lack trust and our faith begins to dwindle, and God becomes foreign to us. Sometimes we look for inspiration, a person of great faith to lift our spirits and to help us see Jesus more clearly.

 And we have that person, our Blessed Mother, whose faith was and is beyond our understanding; she believed in the words of the Angel, and when she agreed to become the Mother of God, and with that trust in her God, she accepted a mystery which she did not fully understand. She recognized God in her heart in our Responsorial Psalm, The Canticle of Mary, the prayer of Mary that we know as the Magnicat.

 And when the world seems to be collapsing on us, when the confusion in our faith and trust in God becomes an obstacle in our spiritual life, when the road to spiritual happiness is overshadowed by doubt, when we can’t recognize Jesus amid all this confusion, call on Mary, our spiritual Mother.

 It is said that when we reflect on the Blessed Mother in prayer with trust, and belief, confident that our prayers will be answered, we find life, and that life is Jesus Christ. Yes, Mary has power and takes our prayers to Jesus by presenting them unblemished as a gift fit for a King. The intersession of Mary, our Mother is beyond powerful, it is real and it is potent.

 The Blessed Mother wants nothing more than to rekindle, give life to the spark that unites us with her Son. Yes, to re-connect and help us find Him, to recognize His voice when he speaks to us.

 Today and especially on Christmas, we should be anticipating God not with distress and trembling but with rejoicing, because he has filled the hungry with good things, like our Blessed Mother did on that joyous day the very first Christmas

 Allow the Blessed Mother to bring you to the altar today, to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

 You know, a single Communion should be enough to fill you with the fervor, the passion for Jesus like that of the Blessed Mother and the saints, yet for many of us it leaves us as cold as we were before. Because we did not come to Jesus prepared.

 Pray to Mary to bring you to her Son. Before and especially while approaching the altar, our concentration must be on the gift of Jesus that we about to receive.  St. Paul tells us “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings us to perfection.” That’s how we recognize Jesus with our eyes fixed on him.

 Pray to Mary, our Mother who is so much like we are, she has a heart just like our heart, is made for joy and laughter. A heart like ours for suffering and tears that like us has shed many times. She is our Mother who wants only the best for her children. A mother to console us.

 Over two thousand years ago, our Blessed Mother prepared for the birth her Son, the King, the Savior of the World, and we joyfully prepare every year to celebrate his birthday. Yes, Advent, the season of joy, with the infant Jesus cuddled in the manger.

 And what joy on Christmas morning when you feel and recognize the infant Jesus living in your heart. You prepared, you prayed, you got to know Jesus.

We pray to the Mother of God, our mother, to prepare for us the way that leads to her Son. Her wonderful and sweet heart knows the surest path for finding Christ."  With her help, she will make straight the way of the Lord.

 She will quicken our steps to Jesus, correct and eliminate the obstacles preventing us, because of our negligence and sinfulness to recognize Christ. With her help, we will know the happiness and joy of holding the child Jesus in our arms once more and telling him we will never lose him again."

 There are signs in your life, indicators that if you evaluate them closely, will let you know what road you are on this Advent.  Recognize them. Prepare! Pray to Mary!

 Make this Christmas a special one for Jesus, an exceptional birthday, give him a gift a gift that will bring tears of joy to his eyes. Give him you!   

Happy Birthday to the Queen

 

What an extraordinary day for our Church, for us and for all mankind. Today is the day the purest of all of God’s creatures was born. Today is our Blessed Mother’s birthday. Yes, God had plans for her when he formed her in the womb, and to those plans she said yes!  

 Our Blessed Mother, whose faith was and is beyond our understanding; she believed in the words of the Angel.  When she agreed to become the Mother of God, and with that trust in her God, she accepted a mystery which she did not fully understand.

 The true and first tabernacle for our Savior, his first home. And it was by her own blood, that she supplied the Son of God with life. And it was her blood which made it possible for him, the eternal Word, to become one of us, and to suffer and die for us on the Cross.

 Thank you, Blessed Mother, for your yes, for your guidance and for being our wonderful Mother. Keep us always close to you, for we know being close to you we are close to Jesus. With all our heart we say Happy Birthday to the Queen of the universe and Queen of Heaven.

"Yes" and the rest is history

 

Today, I would like to reflect on God’s most beautiful creature, and yet the humblest of all of his creatures. And she was above all creatures, full of grace. Blessed and sinless.  There can be no room for sin on a soul when you are “full of grace”.

 And she cries out in her humility, “And all generations will call me Blessed”, Yes, all will call her blessed, because blessed she is indeed.

A beautiful woman who said “Yes” for God and “yes” for all mankind. A woman so full of faith and trust in God’s Almighty Word that regardless as to where she was, the Lord was with her. She is a woman whose arms are open to hug every one of her children.

 And what faith? Saint Alphonsus Liguori says, that the most holy Virgin saw her Son in the crib of Bethlehem, and believed Him the Creator of the world.

 I read somewhere a beautiful illustration of her faith. She saw Him born and believed Him eternal, she saw Him poor and in need of food, and believed Him to be the Lord of the universe. She heard Him weep, and believed Him the joy of Paradise.

 And yes, she saw Him in death, despised and crucified, and, although faith wavered in others, Mary remained firm in the belief that He was truly God. Yes "Mary stood, supported by her faith."

 Her faith is the pillar of strength that when we imitate her, she becomes our strength as well. And that strength provides the stepping stones to receive all the other virtues of our Blessed Mother, for she is that model of perfection.

 So many times, God asks each of us to "cast out into the deep", enter the unknown, just like He did with Mary. These are challenges, and these challenges, when accepted, imitate Mary’s trust, Mary’s unshakable faith, moving us forward knowing that she and her Son are with us every step of our journey.

 And what a wonderful feeling when we are blessed knowing that Jesus is really present in our midst; present in our tabernacle, present on our altar, present in our souls by the grace of God. 

And yet there are times of trial. Times where our crosses become heavy and Jesus seems to conceal himself from us? Times we feel deserted, we lost Jesus, and living in some kind of darkness and confusion?

 And with that confusion we lack trust and our faith begins to dwindle, and God becomes so distant to us.

 And in those moments of helplessness we look for inspiration, to a person of great faith to lift our spirits and to help us see Jesus more clearly. Someone to help carry our burden.

 And that consolation, the grace to move forward, the strength to carry that Cross is found by those who pray and trust in our Blessed Mother.

 Our world today, this present age is collapsing before our eyes and for many their faith is weak, and their trust in God is dwindling.

 We are living in a time when the road to spiritual happiness is overshadowed by doubt, when we can’t recognize Jesus amid all this confusion, and chaos throughout the entire world.

 It is now more that ever we must call on Mary, our spiritual Mother, to safeguard us from the dangers that lie ahead, and from the satanic forces that are pounding us from every side. It is our Blessed Mother who will crush the head of that serpent, leading us all to her Son.

 The Blessed Mother wants nothing more than to strengthen or rekindle, give life to the spark that unites us with her Son. Yes, to re-connect and help us find Him, to recognize His voice when he speaks to us.

 Our Blessed Mother is so much like we are, she has a heart just like our heart, which is made for joy and laughter. A heart like ours for suffering and tears that like us have shed many times. She is our Mother who wants only the best for her children. A mother to console us.

 A mother to pray for us, sinners that we are and to be with us today and everyday and especially at our own death, holding our hand, leading us to her Son to be with him forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weddings gone wrong

Think back to all the weddings you have ever attended and I’m sure there are more than one that stands out because something unusual happened at the Church or the reception.

But, at a wedding, things can go wrong?  The handsome, cute and very young ring bearer, refuses to come down the aisle, at the reception, the bride accidentally throws the bouquet into the ceiling fan.

Then there’s the toast by the best man, who begins with, “I really don’t like speaking in front of people” and twenty minutes later is still talking .

My wife and I have four children and each of their weddings has a funny or unusual story, but the best was my son Michael’s. His wife to be lived in a beautiful home accessible only by a dirt road.

It poured the day and night before preventing the limo or any car for that matter, from entering the flooded long dirt road.

In her wedding gown, along with the other bridesmaids, they pulled up their long gowns, and barefooted to the limo parked up on the main road. They went to the closest WaWa gowns and all, to wash the mud off their feet.

Then there was a wedding where the grandmother of the bride came down with a virus and couldn’t attend the ceremony, but asked a special favor since she couldn’t be there.

She, said, could someone read from Scripture, 1 John 4:18 which beautifully says: “There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear.”

Unfortunately, instead of 1 John 4:18, they quoted John 4:18, without the 1 at the wedding: “For you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”

Yes, Things can go wrong at a wedding. And at Cana something went wrong at this wedding Jesus attended. They ran out of wine, and in that culture to run out of wine was considered a sign of disrespect.

It was a wedding party, in a small, poor village and the couple were probably poor themselves. Jesus, and our Blessed Mother may have been close to the couple, maybe even a relative.

And, Mary, our Blessed Mother being a close relative may very well had something to do with the organization of the wedding celebration.

Mary is the first to notice, and says to Jesus, “They’ve run out of wine.” There follows, two statements that can sum up this entire Gospel, that can sum up all of Scripture.  Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.” And, Mary responds with the wisest words ever spoken. “Do whatever he tells you,” she tells the servants.

His “Hour”! For Jesus, this hour was the entire reason why he had come into the world. Everything that Jesus said and did throughout all of Scripture revolved around this hour.

But, the Father, through the voice and heart of Mary, makes this the very hour. She trusts in her Son and knows he has the solution. His appointed time has come.

This “hour”, the appointed time to announce the kingdom of God has arrived, the time when the will of God would be fulfilled.  It was the time Satan would be defeated and the forces of darkness overthrown.

Jesus’ hour has come and for three years he will teach us and show us the way to eternal glory and the culmination of this hour will take place when he is lifted up, in all of his glory, on the cross.

We need to view this hour as not a point in time but as our hour as well. In all things we do, we must hear Mary our Mother’s words, “Do whatever he tells you”. We must trust that God has a solution.

For he will never tell us to go figure it out for yourself, but over and over we read in Scripture, “Trust in God”, he’s already got it figured out for us.

Our Blessed mother’s heart went out to the poor young couple and she interceded for them, not to the servants but to Jesus. She does the same for us.

The interesting thing is she was not dismayed by Jesus’ apparent refusal, nor did she insist on her request.  But so confident and secure in the knowledge of her son, she tells the servants to do whatever He tells you.

Through Mary, the servants followed Jesus’ command.  Not a moment of doubt, not a protest – they simply obey. 

Mary, our Blessed Mother needs to be in our life. She can help with our daily problems, our concerns, our doubts? And how humbling for us to imitate the blind, prompt obedience of the servants at the wedding feast.

There is a call to newness in our readings today. God summons us to something new, gives us a new name, provides us with new experiences, launches us into new ministries, and calls us to sing a new song of praise.

The water was made wine.  But, a miracle much more wonderful that the one performed at Cana is repeated every day on our altars; a little bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ and given to us as Food for our souls.

It is then we can believe in the words of St. Peter, “I have tasted the sweetness of the Lord”. And that feast can only take place at the altar of the Lord.

Jesus tells us “come to me all who are burdened”, and our Blessed mother tells us, “Do whatever He tells you”. “Come to me all who are hungry, are thirsty, who are weary”. Come to the table of plenty, and I will give you rest.

God wants nothing more than for our journey on this earth to lead us to him. For some it will, for others it may not. Heaven depends on our true love for God, and so he tells us, “If you love me, keep my commandments”. Like a wedding, In this life so many things can go wrong.

Who better to help us to understand and to carry out Christ’s commands?  Who better can teach me to love my neighbor than she who gave birth to Love Himself? Let these words in today’s Gospel talk to you, inspire you and take them to heart. “Do whatever he tells you.”

You are the grace we need

A True Mother indeed

The Church needs you now more than ever

Mary, the Mother of God, is also our wonderful Mother, a gift from God Himself.  Like all mothers, Mary is there to help us, draw us closer to herself, which ultimately brings us to her Son.  

As the true Mother that you are, your Church needs you now more than ever. We ask that you take our precious prayers, purify them and hand them to Jesus.

St. Louis Marie De Monfort puts it this way, “It is as if a poor peasant, wishing to win the friendship and favor of the king, were to go the queen and give her an apple - his only possession - for her to offer it to the king.

The queen, accepting the peasant's humble gift, puts it on a beautiful golden dish and presents it to the king on behalf of the peasant. The apple in itself would not be a gift worthy of a king, but presented by the queen in person on a dish of gold, it becomes fit for any king.” That’s what the saints and our Blessed Mother do for those who believe.

The surest and fastest way to Jesus is through Mary. Yes, it is through Mary we find true life, and that life is Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Let Mary be your guide to the narrow path.

Mary, Mother of God, and Mother of our Church, pray for us, pray for your Church. Bring new light upon the darkness that we see.