CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS Archives

SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD JANUARY 1

MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Solemnities are the highest rank of liturgical celebration. By celebrating a solemnity dedicated to Mary’s motherhood, the Church highlights the significance of her part in the life of Jesus.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 7:14

It is fitting to honor Mary, as Mother of God, following the birth of Jesus. We not only honor Mary, but we are also honoring our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully human.

Every year on January 1 the Holy Father marks the World Day of Peace, inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace.

On 1 January 2025 the theme of World Day of Peace is “Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace As Pope Francis proclaimed: At the dawn of this New Year given to us by our heavenly Father, a year of Jubilee, I offer heartfelt good wishes of peace to every man and woman, especially those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their past mistakes, oppressed by the judgment of others and incapable of perceiving even a glimmer of hope for their own lives.

The “jubilee” recalls an ancient Jewish practice, when, every forty-ninth year, the sound of a ram’s horn proclaimed a year of forgiveness and freedom for the entire people Lev 25:10.

The blowing of the horn reminded the entire people, rich and poor alike, that no one comes into this world doomed to oppression: all of us are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same Father, born to live in freedom, in accordance with the Lord’s will.

Christmas honors Jesus as the “Prince of Peace,” the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God honors Mary as the “Queen of Peace” Some may wonder why we refer to Mary as Queen..

From the moment Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and bear a great son, the Lord Giver of life, who will inherit the throne of his father David. Mary becomes future Queen. Luke 1:26

First century Jews would have known, under the reign of David the kingdom was ruled by both a King and a Queen. Unlike modern-day kingdoms, however, the queen of Israel was not the king’s wife but his mother. (the king often had many wives but only one mother) In the Hebrew tradition, Mary is Queen Mother.

From antiquity, Mary has been called “Theotokos“, or “God-Bearer” (Mother of God). The term was used as part of the popular piety of the early first millennium church.

This is seen dramatically in Mary’s visitation to her cousin, Elizabeth.. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. LUKE 1:41-42

BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN LUKE 1:42-43

Mary is the Mother of God because she carried Jesus in her womb and contributed the genetic material for His human nature. If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God.

In the 4th and 5th centuries there was much debate about Jesus’ divine nature. At the center of this debate was the particular title of Mary Mother of God. Referring to Mary this way was popular in Christian devotion, but the patriarch of Constantinople from 428-431, Nestorius, objected on theological grounds.

Nestorius suggested that Mary was only the mother of Jesus’ human nature, but not his divine nature. Nestorius’ ideas were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.

The Council’s insistence on the use of the title Mary Mother of God reflected an effort to preserve the teaching of the Church that Jesus was both Divine and human, that the two natures were united in His One Person. Women give birth to PERSONS.

This wonderful title, Mary, the Mother of God, “Theotokos“, reveals a profound truth not only about Mary, but about each one of us. We too are invited to become “God-bearers

THEOTOKOS–GOD-BEARER

FEAST OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS, MARY MOTHER OF GOD

FEAST OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION DECEMBER 8

Immaculate Mary, Your praises we sing,

You reign now in heaven, With Jesus our king

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria.

BACKGROUND

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in its oldest form, goes back to the seventh century, when churches in the East began celebrating the Feast of Saint Anne, the mother of Mary.

The feast arrived in the West probably no earlier than the 11th century with a developing theological controversy between the West and East. In the East they believe every human being is born with original sin including Mary mother of God.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was officially defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Dogma means that a definitive article of faith has been solemnly promulgated and is necessary for the belief of all Catholic faithful.

Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854 promulgated,

“We declare, the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

Four years after the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated Mary appeared to a young woman in Lourdes, France 1858, Bernadette Soubirous, and announced that she is the Immaculate Conception”

I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

LOURDES 1858

COMMENTARY

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God had sanctified Mary at the moment of her conception in His foreknowledge that the Blessed Virgin would consent to bear Christ.

In other words, she too had been redeemed—her redemption had simply been accomplished at the moment of her conception in anticipation of her Redeemer rather than as with all other Christians, in Baptism.

Mary’s soul was created in a state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice. neither stained by Original Sin, nor by consequences of that sin…clouded intellect and weakened will.

It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is called the Virgin Birth.

Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived “by the power of the Holy Spirit,” in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. Mary did have a human father. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin.

At the Annunciation, The angel Gabriel greets Mary, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” This greeting “full of grace was not a result of the angel’s visit but rather, an acknowledgement that Mary, preserved from original sin, is already sanctified.

REFLECTION

The Immaculate Conception is the concrete expression of God’s love for Mary, who gave herself fully, completely, and without hesitation to His service.

Mary is exactly the human being that God meant each of us to be from the very beginning of creation. It was man’s fall that brought about sin and death.

God isn’t finished with us yet, thanks be to God. He remains patient and merciful as He calls each one of us to be the person He had in mind when He created us in our mother’s womb.

MARY IMMACULATE

PATRONESS OF UNITED STATES

John Carroll, the first bishop in the United States, had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1792, he placed the diocese of Baltimore which encompassed the thirteen colonies of the young republic under her protection. U.S. bishops unanimously named Mary, under her title of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the nation in 1846, during the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore.

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING NOVEMBER 24, 2024

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERAT

CHRIST CONQUERS, CHRIST REIGNS, CHRIST RULES.

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

INTRODUCTION

We have been on a journey the past twelve months as we traveled through the Christian Church Year. The Liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent, and ends today with the Feast of Christ the King.

During the Liturgical year, we re-live the life of Christ. We follow in His footsteps as he walked the dusty trails of Galilee, gathered disciples, opened blind eyes, made the lame to walk, taught the multitudes, was crucified, rose again and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to assert the sovereignty of Christ and His Church over all forms of government, to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owe to Christ, who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross makes us adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven

The title “Christ the King” has its roots both in the Old Testament and New Testament. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, the Messiah is represented as a King.

From the very beginning of the New Testament at the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel says to Mary, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,^* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:32-33

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy Kingdom come . . .” immediately followed by “Thy will be done.” And so, the definition of the Kingdom is “a community of people who do God’s will on earth as perfectly as it is done in heaven.”

REFLECTION

IS CHRIST THE KING, KING OF MY LIFE?

The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. It exists in every work place where one is kind and patient with their fellow workers.

The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or make peace instead of war

Jesus Christ is king! We belong to his Kingdom when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living.

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” Matthew 20:28 We too are called to service We too are called to be a people of service who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized….

PRAYER

To Jesus Christ our Sovereign King

who is the world’s salvation,

All praise and homage do we bring

and thanks and adoration

Your reign extend O King benign,

to every land and nation;

For in your kingdom Lord divine

Alone do we find salvation

To you and to your Church, great King

We pledge our heart’s oblation;

Until before your throne we sing

In endless jubilation

Christ Jesus, Victor!

Christ Jesus, Ruler!

Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer

COME FOLLOW ME, YOUR SOVEREIGN KING

saint francis of assisi

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

FRANCIS OF ASSISI

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI FEAST DAY OCTOBER 4

INTRODUCTION

Thursday October 4 is the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. Most of us know in general about Francis love for God’s creation, the animals, BROTHER sun, SISTER moon, and all that God has made. Many parishes will be blessing pets today. Pets are gifts from God to lift our spirits on our journey. Thank God for our pets!

BACKGROUND

In 1182, Francis was born to a wealthy cloth merchant of Assisi, Pietro Bernardone, and his French wife, the Lady Pica. Francis was a young man of charm and wit with a consuming desire to be a knight after the fashion of his heroes, the legendary knights’ errant of the court of King Arthur and the court of Charlemagne.

In his twentieth year, Francis rides off to battle against the neighboring city of Perugia. Assisi is routed and Francis is taken prisoner. While in prison, Francis becomes ill. Francis is ransomed by his Father and released from prison.

After imprisonment and ill health, the world had lost some of its splendor for Francis. It is in this desperate desolation that Francis begins to hear new voices within his old voices of vain glory and legendary tales of courtly love. God’s voice became louder and clearer.

One day Francis hears God’s voice, “Francis! if you wish to know my will… all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable and bitter… but all that you used to avoid will turn itself to great sweetness and exceeding joy.”

Another time while praying in the chapel of San Damiano, Francis hears, “Francis repair my house which is falling into ruin.” Francis begins selling his Father’s goods to raise money for repairs then resorts to begging for stones of the townspeople. Enraged at his son’s begging, Pietro drags his son before the Bishop.

Francis strips himself of his clothes before the Bishop and lays them at his father’s feet and utters the most dramatic words of his life,

“Listen to me everybody! Until now I have called Pietro Bernardone my father. But now that I am determined to serve God, I return not only his money but all the clothes I have from him. From now on, I can walk naked before the Lord, no longer saying “my father,” Pietro Bernardone, but, ‘our Father who art in heaven!‘

Thus begins the journey of Francis from his father’s house to the house of his heavenly Father. For Francis the Heavenly Father is fully revealed in Jesus Christ and thus the journey home is in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. .

Francis began to understand better God’s call to “rebuild his Church” was more specific vocation to rebuild the spiritual life of the Church by bearing witness in imitation of Christ to the saving power of the Gospel

FRANCIS EMBRACES LEPER

One day Francis was riding across the plains of Assisi, he perceived a leper coming straight towards him. In Francis’ day a leper had to ring a bell and shout, “Unclean.” Society had embedded in Francis an incomparable loathing for all persons afflicted with this illness.

As Francis saw the leper approach his first reaction was horror then he remembered the resolve he made to attain perfection and to be a soldier of Christ meant victory over one self. Francis dismounted his horse, kissed the leper, and gave him alms.

In this decisive moment of illumination Francis suddenly perceived in this leper the embodiment of God’s beauty, a human being to be loved and cared for tenderly.

By embracing the leper, the Saint learned to embrace all people just as Jesus did. For Francis the meaning of Creation is found in the person of Jesus Christ. It is in and through Jesus Christ that we discover the meaning of our own humanity and that of every other creature.

ST FRANCIS ASSISI PEACE PRAYER

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

FEAST OF THE EXHALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS SEPTEMBER 14

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

WE ADORE YOU O CHRIST, AND WE BLESS YOU

BECAUSE BY YOUR HOLY CROSS YOU HAVE REDEEMED THE WORLD!

BACKGROUND

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated every year on September 14. This feast recalls two historical events: the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena, mother of emperor Constantine, and the dedication of churches built by Constantine (335) on the site of the Holy Sepulcher and Mount Calvary.

After the death and resurrection of Christ, both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem made efforts to obscure the Holy Sepulcher, Christ’s tomb, in a garden near the site of His crucifixion. According to tradition, Saint Helena, Mother of Emperor, Constantine, nearing the end of her life, decided under divine inspiration to travel to Jerusalem in 326 to excavate the Holy Sepulcher in an attempt to locate the True Cross.

In celebration of the discovery of the Holy Cross, Constantine ordered the construction of churches at the site of the Holy Sepulcher and on Mount Calvary. Those churches were dedicated on September 13 and 14, 335, and shortly thereafter the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross began to be celebrated on September 14.

REFLECTION

The cross reminds us of many things: atonement, forgiveness, love, mercy, redemption, salvation, and hope. This instrument of torture, designed to disgrace and dismiss the worst of criminals, became the life-giving tree that reversed Adam’s Original Sin when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. God loves us even to death on the cross. LOVE is what the crucifixion is all about,

Christians display the cross in their homes. They wear it on their person. They make the sign of the cross before prayer and on entering Church with the waters of Baptism. With the sign of the cross we remind ourselves and witness to others that we have set ourselves apart from worldly rule and pledge our very selves to God’s reign in heaven.

At Mass, the same sacrifice offered on Calvary is offered in an “unbloody manner.” We offer ourselves with the priest to the Father in sacrificial atonement for our sins. When we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we do not simply unite ourselves to Christ; we nail ourselves to the Cross, dying with Christ so that we might truly rise with Him. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).

God did not spare His own Son from suffering. God takes upon Himself all the hate, bitterness, resentment, violence, and sins of this world. God has promised in the end, there will be redemption, vindication, immunity from suffering, and eternal life.

Suffering in this world is inevitable. God did not promise us a “rose garden” without thorns. But He did promise to nurture, feed, and prune that rose garden as He brings it to the fullness of glory in heaven.

At Jesus’ death, the Temple veil before the “holy of holies” was split in two from top to bottom revealing the inner heart of God. There is no longer a veil between us and God’s heart. The cross of Jesus fully reveals what God looks like!

The cross of Jesus doesn’t just reveal God’s unconditional love for us; but also reveals that vulnerability is the path to intimacy with God.

God is not about condemnation and crushing every evil by force. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn^* the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17 God is like a gentle mother coaxing her child to take that next step in learning to walk.

ESUS CHRIST SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

O HAPPY FAULT THAT EARNED FOR US SO GREAT, SO GLORIOUS A REDEEMER!

SAINT AMBROSE

EASTER VIGIL PROCLAMATION

SAINT (MOTHER) TERESA OF CALCUTTA

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

FEAST DAY SEPTEMBER 5

INTRODUCTION

Mother Teresa is one of my favorite saints. Years ago, she inspired our whole family, teenage girls included, to spend time in the poorest of poor nations, Haiti, to work with the poor and dying. One of the places was a hospice run by the Missionaries of Charity the order Mother Teresa founded.

Our family has never been the same since. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25

BACKGROUND

Born in Skopje (North Macedonia) in 1910, MOTHER TERESA joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin in 1928 and was sent to India, where she began her novitiate. She taught at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta from 1931 to 1948, until leaving the Loreto order to begin the Missionaries of Charity.

In 1946, Mother Teresa had a mystical encounter with Christ on a train to Darjeeling September 26, 1946 in which He asked her to take her love for Him a large step further.

He asked her to leave the convent of Loreto and begin an order which would serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

During the time of her mystical experiences leading to the founding of the new order, she experienced deep spiritual union and the sensible awareness of God’s Presence in her life.

Here is a small sample of Jesus’ words to Mother Teresa during this time: “My little one – come – carry Me into the holes of the poor. – Come be My light – I cannot go alone – they don’t know Me – in your love for Me – they will see Me, know Me, want Me…. For them I long –”

During her lifelong service to the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of the sick, the dying, and thousands of others nobody else was prepared to look after, has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world.

REFLECTION

GOOD NEWS QUOTES OF MOTHER TERESA

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Each person is Jesus in disguise. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This one has leprosy. I must wash him and tend to him….

It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us…Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway…. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. At the hour of death when we come face-to-face with God, we are going to be judged on love; not how much we have done, but how much love we put into the doing….

Mother Teresa’s 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Lord, make me a channel of Thy peace that, where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that, where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that, where there is error, I may bring truth; that, where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that, where there is despair, I may bring hope; that, where there are shadows, I may bring light; that, where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to love than to be loved; for it is by forgetting self that one finds; it is forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

CONCLUSION

We are each called and equipped by God to not only survive our personal Calcutta, but to contribute to those around us whose individual Calcutta intersects our own. There is no need, then, to travel to far-off lands to contribute… Wherever we are, with whatever talents and relationships God has entrusted us, we are each called not to do what Mother Teresa did, but– to love as she loved in the Calcutta of our own life.

Made in the very image and likeness of God, We, on earth, are God’s love, God’s compassion, God’s will, God’s caregivers, His smile, His tears. We must show the presence of God in this world until He comes again at the end of time

MARY QUEEN OF HEAVEN FEAST DAY AUGUST 22

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS, MARY MOTHER OF GOD

MARY CROWNED QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

INTRODUCTION

Centuries before the birth of Christ, Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah-King: “A child is born to us [he said], a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace”… This Messiah would be in the royal line of David, and his reign would have no end Isaiah. 9:6-7.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of David who came to fulfill the Davidic Kingdom. The whole point of the genealogy in the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel is to show Jesus is royalty; he is the heir to David’s throne. Matthew 1:1

When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, he explicitly links the birth of the child to the fulfillment of God’s promise to King David:

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:26-33

First century Jews would have known, under the reign of David’s royal family, the kingdom was ruled by both a King and a Queen. Unlike in modern-day kingdoms, however, the queen of Israel was not the king’s wife but his mother. She was known as the “Queen Mother.”

The pre-eminence of the king’s mother may seem odd from our modern Western perspective, In the Near East, however, most ancient Near-Eastern kings practiced polygamy. King Solomon had seven hundred wives 1 Kings.11:3

Imagine the chaos in the royal court if all seven hundred were awarded the Queen-ship! But since each king had only one mother, one can see the practical wisdom in bestowing the Queen-ship upon her. In the historical books of the Old Testament, the Queen mother holds a position of great honor.

According to the Old Testament, the Queen mother was also a powerful intercessor with her son, the king. In Hebrew tradition, Mary is Queen Mother. Mary’s royal office is made even more explicit in Luke’s account of the Visitation. Elizabeth greets Mary with the title “the mother of my Lord” Luke 1:43. Elizabeth is recognizing the great dignity of Mary’s role as the royal mother of the king, Jesus

In the royal court language of the ancient Near East, the title “Mother of my Lord” was used to address the Queen mother of the reigning king (who himself was addressed as “my Lord” 2 Sam. 24:21.

In the last book of the Bible, Book of Revelation, we have the confirmation of what prophets and evangelists have been writing for centuries. a woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of stars is standing above the moon and the stars “in heaven.” Revelation 12:1

Just as Jesus is a heavenly King who reigns over a heavenly kingdom, so Mary, Jesus’ mother, can rightly be described as Queen of the kingdom of heaven.

REFLECTION

What God has accomplished in Mother Mary, He also wants to accomplish in us. From Heaven, Mary encourages each of us to say Yes to God’s plan for our lives just as she did so long ago.

Understanding Mary as Queen mother sheds light on her important intercessory role with Jesus, her Son. Just like the queen mother of the Davidic kingdom, Mary serves as advocate for the people in the Kingdom of God today.

Mary helps us to share in the Lord’s victory over sin. Rising above those sins, we begin to acquire self-mastery, true purity of heart, and a newfound ability to give ourselves to others in love and in service. All of this is who Mary is and why she reigns in Heaven. There is no better intercessor than the Queen Mother! Mary awaits us! Bring us safely home, Mary! Amen!

Regina Caeli – Queen of Heaven

Queen of heaven, rejoice. Alleluia. Pray to God for us, Alleluia.

O God, it was by the Resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that you brought joy to the world.

Grant through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his Mother, we may attain the joy of eternal life.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

PENTECOST SUNDAY MAY 19 2024

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRITY ADVOCATE AND SANCTIFIER

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid… I will not leave you an orphan… The Spirit will teach you…inspire you…remind you of my word…and call to mind your sins that you may be reconciled and live… He will teach you through my church and proclaim the good news…

I have so much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it all at once…trust me…trust the Holy Spirit who will guide you to all truth… you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” John 16:7-16

INTRODUCTION

Pentecost means fiftieth. The Jewish festival of Pentecost, 50 days after Passover, was first spoken of in Exodus 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Exodus 34:22 as “the day of the first fruits. This Jewish feast celebrates the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai.

The Christian feast of Pentecost is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, We mark it as the birthday of the Church when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in tongues of fire.

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, equal to the Father and equal to the Son. The term Spirit comes from the Hebrew word, ruach, meaning breath or air. His presence on the world stage is made known in Scripture in its earliest book, Genesis.

In the First Creation Story in Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God was moving over the face of deep waters, bringing order out of chaos. In the Second Creation Story, Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the land and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.”

The Blessed Trinity is not complete without the Holy Spirit whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. “Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever.” …One God…three Divine Persons.

“By contemplating Himself from all eternity, The Father begets the mirror image of Himself, God the Son… The Father and Son see each other in infinite Divine beauty and embrace in infinite love. The Spirit is that love that proceeds between Father and Son.” Catechism of the Council of Trent 1545

PENTECOST SUNDAY 33 AD

MARY AND THE APOSTLES IN THE UPPER ROOM

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised his disciples that he would pray to his Father that the Holy Spirit be given to them. Jesus promised “The Spirit will teach you all things and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you.” John 14:26

“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” Acts 2:1-3

While the Holy Apostles were generally ignorant of the Holy Spirit at this time, the Immaculate Mary knew the Spirit intimately. Mary was possessed by the Holy Spirit and filled with grace at the first moment of her existence. Moreover, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary in a powerful way at the virginal conception of Christ our Lord.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation and she conceived the body of Christ, Our Lord. Now the Holy Spirit at Pentecost mystically conceives the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.

Through the Holy Spirit, our faith is awakened. We are inspired to know Jesus and the One who sent Him. The Holy Spirit stirs up in us repentance for sin and conversion. Until the end of time, the Spirit guides, protects, and inspires the Church of Christ and its members.

Come Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life.

REFLECTION

How do I interact with the Holy Spirit? What prayers do I say?

Do I call on Him, before reading scripture…before making difficult decisions… for protection against temptation?

How can my relationship to the Spirit assist me to overcome tendencies in pride, anger, lust, greed, envy, excess, and laziness…do I ever thank the Holy Spirit for his assistance.?

If you feel God has abandoned you or stepped away, take heart. Consider the disciples after Jesus left the earth. We are not left alone but kept safe guided by His Spirit.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:25-26

ST. AUGUSTINE PRAYER TO HOLY SPIRIT

Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.

Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.

Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.

Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy. Amen.

SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD JANUARY 1

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS, MARY MOTHER OF GOD

MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Solemnities are the highest rank of liturgical celebration. By celebrating a solemnity dedicated to Mary’s motherhood, the Church highlights the significance of her part in the life of Jesus.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, God with us.

Isaiah 7:14

It is fitting to honor Mary, as Mother of God, following the birth of Jesus. We are not only honoring Mary, who was chosen among all women throughout history to bear God incarnate, but we are also honoring our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully human.

Just as Christmas honors Jesus as the “Prince of Peace,” the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God honors Mary as the “Queen of Peace” Every year on January 1 the Holy Father marks the World Day of Peace, inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace.

Some may wonder why we refer to Mary as Queen. From the moment Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and bear a great son, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,,, Luke 1:26, Mary becomes future Queen..

In the Hebrew tradition, Mary is Queen Mother. Unlike modern-day kingdoms, the Queen of Israel was not the king’s wife but his mother. The king often had many wives but only one Mother.

From antiquity, Mary has been called “Theotokos, “God-Bearer.” The term was used as part of the popular piety of the early first millennium church. It lies at the heart of the Latin Rite’s deep Marian piety and devotion.

This is seen dramatically in Mary’s visitation to her cousin, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. LUKE 1:41-42

BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN
LUKE 1:42-43

Although Mary is the Mother of God, she is not the source of her Son’s divinity. Women give birth to persons. Mary carried and gave birth to the person, Jesus Christ, and the person she gave birth to is God. Jesus is one Divine Person, consubstantial with the Father and the Spirit.

Mary is the Mother of God because she carried Jesus in her womb and contributed the genetic material for His human nature. Jesus is God; Mary is the Mother of God.

In the 4th and 5th centuries there was much debate about Jesus’ human nature and divine nature. The debate was about Christ’ divine nature. At the center of this debate was the particular title of Mary Mother of God.

Referring to Mary this way was popular in Christian devotion, but the patriarch of Constantinople from 428-431, Nestorius, objected on theological grounds.

Nestorius suggested that Mary was only the mother of Jesus’ human nature, but not his divine nature. Nestorius’ ideas were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.

This wonderful title, Mary, the Mother of God, “Theotokos”, reveals a profound truth not only about Mary, but about each one of us. We too are invited to become “God-bearers,

THEOTOKOS–GOD-BEARER

WHAT A GREAT INTERCESSOR WE HAVE IN MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD!
WHO CAN REFUSE A MOTHER’S REQUEST???

JESUS CERTAINLY COULDN’T AT CANA!

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS, MARY MOTHER OF GOD

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE DECEMBER 12

PATRONESS OF THE AMERICAS

O Mary, dawn of the new world,

Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life.

Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies

not allowed to be born.

Grant that all who believe in your Son

may proclaim the Gospel of life

to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

BACKGROUND

In 1910, St. Pius X named Our Lady of Guadalupe Patroness of Latin America, and in 1945, at the urging of bishops from the U.S. and Canada, Pius XII bestowed on her the title Empress of the Americas.

In 1999, St. John Paul II formalized the invocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe as Patroness of the Americas and Star of the New Evangelization and declared that her feast day of Dec. 12 be celebrated in churches throughout the Americas.

The story begins in the early morning hours of December 9, 1531, when a 57-year-old Indian Peasant, convert to Christianity, named Juan Diego was walking along the path of Tepayec Hill on the outskirts of Mexico City on his way to Mass. .

As he walked along Tepeyac Hill, he began to hear beautiful strains of music, and he saw a beautiful lady, who called his name: “Juanito, He approached, and she said, “Know for certain, least of my sons, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, the true God, through whom everything lives.

This “beautiful lady” asked Juan Diego to go to the Bishop and have a church built on this site in her honor. The Bishop demanded a sign before he would approve construction of a church.

Mary then appeared a second time to Juan Diego December 12 and ordered him to collect roses and take them to the Bishop. In a second audience with the Bishop, Juan Diego opened his cloak, letting dozens of roses fall to the floor and revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the inside of the cloak. The image is now venerated in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

JUAN DIEGO OPENS HIS CLOAK BEFORE THE BISHOP

COMMENTARY

At the time of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego (1531), the Aztec nation was heavily into human sacrifice where blood of infants were offered up to appease the pagan gods. We are horrified to hear stories of the Aztecs, who cut out the hearts of their victims to appease their pagan gods. When Mary appeared, she brought a message of compassion,

“I am the merciful Mother, the Mother of all of you who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who seek me, of those who have confidence in me. Here, I will hear their weeping, their sorrow, and will remedy and alleviate their suffering, necessities, and misfortunes.”

Mary wore a black maternity band around her waist. The girdle or bow around her waist demonstrates plenitude and fecundity to the native Indians. The high position of the bow and the slight swelling of the abdomen show that the Lady is “with child.”

Our Lady, by appearing as an expectant mother, showed the Aztecs that human life is sacred. Our Lady of Guadalupe’s message of conversion brought new dignity to the Aztec people. No longer did they worship the pagan gods of sacrifice. Within just a few years, 11 million Native Americans were converted, and the practice of human sacrifice stopped, along with Culture of Death practices.

No more did the people need to cower in abject terror before the bloodthirsty gods who demanded the death of their children. They found refuge beneath the gracious protection of a gentle Mother. In 2002 Pope John Paul II canonized St. Juan Diego. (feast day December 9).

CALL TO ACTION

Why aren’t we just as horrified today at the slaughter of millions of innocent unborn children through the practice of abortion to appease the gods of convenience? The sin of abortion has claimed more than 1.6 billion innocent lives worldwide since 1973.

Politicians and legislatures as servants of the “common good” are duty bound to defend the fundamental right to life, the fruit of God’s love.” Pope Benedict XVI, Emeritus

We must shift our debate from pro-abortion vs anti- abortion to how do we address both the needs of the unborn and already born. We must make abortion unthinkable as we address the needs of the mother to be. The baby and mother both have life needs.

We must shout it from the rooftop “that all life is Sacred!” Trusting in God, we must fearlessly go forward in our quest to support a culture of Life. We need Mary’s intercession today!

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE BE OUR INTERCESSOR!