Homily: Silver Rose Prayer Service

Readings: 2 Cor 9:24-27; Ps 63; Luke 1:26-38

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About 1,600 years ago, way back in the year 431 the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, Theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God Bearer” or “one who gives birth to God” or as we say today, “the Mother of God.” By giving her that title, the council didn’t mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

It’s the misunderstanding of the Church’s long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. From the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill her prophecy in the Magnificat and can call Mary the “Blessed Mother.”

As many of you know, motherhood is no easy vocation. Both my mother and my wife had to put up with a lot and sacrifice even more during those years when their time was focused so intently on raising their children. But can you imagine how it must have been for Mary…to be the Mother of God…and be fully aware of it? After all, Gabriel hid nothing from her:

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 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.”

Mary, then, knew from the first that this child of hers was the “Son of the Most High,” or as Gabriel added later, “the Son of God.”

What a remarkable family life! Mary and Joseph raising Jesus who is fully human, all the while aware of His divine origin, His divine nature. Luke, and to a lesser extent, Matthew, give us a glimpse of life in the Holy Family. It’s as if the Holy Spirit is telling us, “You don’t need to know the details of daily life in this holiest of families, but I will share a few incidents with you, so you will know who Jesus, Mary, and Joseph really are.” Just consider all that Mary encountered:

The long arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the unexpected need to give birth in a cave, a stable fit only for animals.

The Presentation in the Temple, a prophecy of pain she would suffer, sorrow she would experience.

A life-saving flight to Egypt, refugees in a foreign land where they await the death of a brutal king.

The quiet years in Nazareth, when she no doubt wondered how this Son of hers, this Son of the Most High, would fulfill all that had been prophesied. She knew that He would eventually leave her to carry out the Father’s will in the world.

And another event Luke shares with us: the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when the 12-year-old Jesus is lost in the crowd of pilgrims. The panic she and Joseph experienced, the frantic search, the joy of finding him, and their bewilderment when after three days He wondered at their parental concern.

In each instance Mary wouldn’t fully understand – just as later she wouldn’t fully understand her Son at Cana, or when He asked the crowd, “Who is my mother?” or when she cradled her Son’s lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the Cross.

But always, Mary ponders these things in her heart. She knows God’s ways are not ours. Could she fully understand the crucifixion of her Son, God’s Son? And so, she ponders. She steps away, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her.

In doing so teaches us how to pray, how to accept God’s will, how to abandon oneself to God’s love. She ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel declared her, “full of grace,” when her heart overflowed. “…full of grace”, and that’s exactly what Gabriel meant. Mary is literally full of God’s grace, so full there’s no room for any sin within her.

And how could it be otherwise? For God incarnate must enter the world via a spotless vessel, born of woman but a woman without sin. For her pondering heart is immaculate, perfectly pure, because it focuses solely on Jesus. Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response.

But now, today, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation. This, brothers and sisters, is the immaculate heart, the heart of Theotokos, the Mother of God whom we honor here today. For Our Lady of Guadeloupe presented the world with a gift of Castilian roses and an image of herself, a virgin awaiting the birth of our Savior.

Without Mary’s “let it be done”, her fiat, without her declaration of faith, without the word of Mary, the Word of God could not be Emmanuel, God with us. What did the angel tell her? “You shall conceive and bear a son…the Son of the Most High.” And Mary agrees: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” With this, Jesus is not simply in her thoughts and hopes, in her prayers and yearnings. He is in her flesh. His flesh is her flesh. Hers is His. She waits only to see His face and offer Him to the world. This is Our Lady of Guadeloupe. She knows she is blessed, for she told us…

“…He has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”

Words we too should pray every day, because God has done great things for us well. He’s given us His Son, who in complete humility takes on our flesh, redeems us through His passion and death, and in His Resurrection defeats death.

But isn’t it interesting that Christ’s redemption of the world requires the consent of Mary. We are created in and for love. Had God imposed His will on Mary, without her free consent, love would be absent, and we couldn’t share His divine life, which is freedom.

Through her love for Jesus, Mary is the first disciple, and the one who lived discipleship to the fullest. Jesus told us clearly what it means to be a disciple: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother…the ones who listen to the word of God and act on it.” And that is Mary: She hears God’s word within her, and she acts.

She visits her older kinswoman, Elizabeth, who was with child and needed Mary’s help. Mary’s first act as Jesus’ mother is to carry him, not for herself, but for someone in need. And how wonderful, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, John the Baptist leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. Yes, Our Lord was first greeted in the world by an unborn infant who sends a message of life to the world.

Mary, the perfect disciple, follows Jesus. She is blessed, not only because she bore God’s Son, but also because she is the prime example of those who listen to the word of God and keep it. She follows Jesus all the way to the Cross, and beyond. She remains faithful even after her Son’s death, listening to the Lord, joining the apostles in prayer, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And just as Jesus came to Mary in poverty and human weakness, He comes to us today, not in glory, but in helplessness. Just as He came to Mary powerless, Jesus comes to us in the hungry and thirsty, in the stranger, the lonely, the sick and dying, the confused and troubled, addicted and imprisoned. Again, in the Magnificat, she sings that

[God] “has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty…for he has remembered his promise of mercy.”

Today God chooses to proclaim His truth to the world through you and me. That’s right, we must become truth tellers. We must courageously counter the lies and distortions of the culture of death, all the weeds planted and cultivated by Satan. For we are a Church of life. Did not Jesus say, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Just as Mary said, “Yes,” to life, so must we.

So many cry out to God in their confusion: they hunger for love, for truth, for justice, for life…It’s more than a human cry; it’s God’s Word calling.

I can’t tell you exactly what God is calling you to do, for God works differently through each of us. I can assure you He’s not telling you to do nothing. We are Jesus’ disciples, in imitation of Mary, but only if we listen to his word and act on it. Our faith, then, must be a living, active faith. How did Jesus put it? “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Yes, indeed, accept and repent of our sinfulness and accept the gift of faith.

This kind of discipleship is not without cost; it’s never easy. “A sword shall pierce your heart,” Mary was told – just as it must pierce the heart of every true disciple. But like Mary we can take comfort in God’s presence within us.

As Jesus told us, if we love Him and keep His word, His Father will love us, and they will come and make their home with us. Christ all around us. Christ leading us. Christ within us. We need only listen to Mary. In her words, “Do whatever He tells you”, and then do it.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

 

Homily: The Queenship of Mary - August 22

Readings: Is 9:1-6; • Ps 112 • Lk 1:26-38

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Today’s feast, this Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, is really fairly recent…at least in terms of the long life of the Church. It was established by Pope Pius XII back in August of 1954, and coincidentally my folks happened to be in Rome that very day.

I was just a lad of 10, but I remember how excited my mom was when she told me all about it after they returned home. She also said they should have taken me on their trip, and apologized for leaving me and my brother behind. Uh-huh, right, Mom.

But in truth they parked us with relatives, and I won the lottery because I got to stay with Uncle Billy and Aunt Lilly, two former Vaudeville entertainers. Billy played the piano and Lilly sang, and they were just about the coolest people I’d ever known. But I digress…

Mom also gave me a miraculous medal blessed by Pope Pius that day, a medal I still wear. And the readings the Church gives us today are the perfect readings for Mary, the Galilean teenaged girl who would become the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

We get a first taste in the reading from Isaiah, when he reveals that God will “make glorious…Galilee of the nations.”  Really? Who would ever think of backward, rural Galilee in those terms? Nobody but a God who loves to surprise us by turning the less than ordinary to the extraordinary, the spectacular. And what exactly will happen?

“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Yes, this messianic prophecy gives the Jews of Isaiah’s day a first taste of the Savior who will set them free…set them free not from the slavery of Egyptians, or Assyrians, or Babylonians, or Persians, or Greeks, or Romans… No, this Savior will free them and all of humanity from the slavery of sin. He will open the very gates of heaven for us all.

But how does will this happen? How does the Savor come to us? Once again, God turns what the world sees as the ordinary into the extraordinary, and Luke tells us the story.

It’s the story of a young woman named Mary, a virgin in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee. And on this remarkable day she is visited by one of God’s mighty messengers, the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel doesn’t waste words and he delivers his message to Mary.

Fear not…God is with you…has filled you with His grace…and you will bear a Son named Jesus, the Son of the Most High, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

When young Mary hears this, she responds, more than a bit perplexed: “I’m a virgin. How can I bear a child?” A reasonable question, don’t you think? But Gabriel has an answer:

”The Holy Spirit will come upon you…and the child will be holy, the Son of God.”

And with that, this “handmade of the Lord”, this servant, says “let it be done” and in an instant she becomes the Mother of God.

It only took the Church about 400 years to confirm this. Back in the year 431, at the Council of Ephesus, the Church gave Mary the title “Theotokos” – the God Bearer, the Mother of God. Of course, the faithful had long believed and expressed this, but it still had to be affirmed at Ephesus since the Arians were going around at the time saying stupid things.

And then, just a mere 15 centuries later, in 1954, Pope Pius XII, speaking for the Church declared that Mary, the Mother of God, also deserved the title of Queen. This, too, was nothing new, and most often, on these occasions, the Church simply expresses what the Church already knows, what its people have long believed. After all, they’d been singing Marian hymns for ages, indeed since the Middle Ages…”Hail Holy Queen” and praying the fifth decade of the Glorius Mysteries.

Pope Pius actually gave three reasons:

1.    Mary’s close association with Jesus’ redemptive work;

2.    Her preeminent perfection of holiness;

3.    Her intercessory power on our behalf.

Good theological reasons with which all of us would agree. But for me, and for so many others, she’s simply the only Queen we’ve ever known.

And, believe me, she’s no “sit on the throne” and just look important kind of Queen. No, indeed, she loves to get right into the midst of the lives of her subjects, doing whatever is needed to help them out. For her, interceding is a full-time job.

And as I’m sure her Son will verify, she’s pulled me out of a lot of very difficult situations. And all I had to do was ask. Now that’s a Queen!

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of God…Pray for us. Intercede for us.

Homily — Memorial: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (May 24)

Readings: Gen 3:9-15; Ps 87; John 19:25-34

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Today we celebrate a rather new feast, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Although instituted in 2018 by Pope Francis, it has its roots in apostolic tradition and in the witness of the Chrch Fathers.

For example, St. Augustine wrote that "The Virgin Mary...is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer...She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ...since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head."

And, then, in the year 431 the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, Theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God Bearer” or “one who gives birth to God” or as we say today, “the Mother of God.” By giving her that title, the council didn’t mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

It’s the misunderstanding of the Church’s long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. From the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill her prophecy in the Magnificat and can call Mary the “Blessed Mother.”

Today’s reading from Genesis sets the stage at the very beginning when God promises redemption to our first parents, whose prideful disobedience brought humanity to its fallen state.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” [Gn 3:15].

It is these words to Satan that the Church has long called the proto-Evangelium or “first Gospel” because they point to the Redeemer who will enter into the world through a new Eve, through Mary. It was a promise fulfilled when Gabriel told Mary:

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 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” [Lk 1:31-33].

Mary, then, knew from the first that this child of hers was the “Son of the Most High.” But in the years that follow, she is given only glimpses of what it will all lead to: the visits of shepherds and Magi, the prophecy at the Presentation, the long trek to Egypt, the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem – in each event Mary finds herself in the dark, but in every instance, she ponders these things in her heart.

She need not fully understand it all, and how could she understand? And so, she ponders. She steps away from the crowd, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her. She ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel proclaimed her to be, “full of grace” [Lk 1:28], to that day when her heart overflowed.

And in that pondering, Mary teaches the Church how to pray, how to accept God’s will, how to abandon oneself to God’s love. The pondering heart of Mary focuses solely on Jesus. “Do whatever He tells you” [Jn 2:5], she commands at Cana, for Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response.

At the foot of the Cross, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart begins to understand the crucifixion of her Son. It is then that Jesus gives her to the Church and to the world. It’s a double commissioning, and the order is important.

“Woman, behold, your son” [Jn 19:26], Jesus tells His Mother, commissioning her, giving the Apostle, giving the Church, to her.

Only then does He say to the Church, to that faithful Apostle, “Behold, your mother” [Jn 19:27].

With these words, the Mother of God becomes Mother of the Church. Now her prayerful heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation. And as Mother of the Church, she intercedes too for unity among Christians.

I’m convinced that it will be through Mary, through her prayerful intercession that the unity Jesus Christ prayed for in the upper room will finally arrive. Fifty years ago, we never heard of Protestants praying the Rosary, but no longer. Today thousands join in this prayer of intercession. And just a month ago, as Diane and I drove through South Carolina, we passed a church with the surprising name: Virgin Mary Baptist Church.

Yes, indeed, Mary, Mother of the Church, is active interceding for the salvation of all. It is she whom we honor today, Theotokos, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us. 

And please pray for me today on the 24th annversary of my ordination. As the old saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun..."

Homily: Solemnity, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings:  Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Psalm 45; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56

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A warm welcome this morning to the members of our own Marian Servants of the Word Incarnate, who have gathered here today on this most special day, their Day of Commitment. And how fitting that we should celebrate their commitment as Marian Servants today, on the Solemnity of the Assumption. For Mary, the lowly servant of God who proclaimed the greatness of the Lord, was raised to new heights and glorified.

Yes, indeed, the Almighty has done great things for her. And now, in the eternal presence of Father, Son and Spirit, she continues to do God’s work – she lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things, and challenges us all to join her in God’s work in the world.

Some years ago, Diane and I spent a week in Venice. We visited the Frari Basilica, just so we could see Titian’s amazing painting of the Assumption. It's a three-tiered painting: the Apostles below, gazing up in awe; Mary in the center, looking equally astonished, being lifted up and surrounded by angels; and above it all, the Father, with a crown for the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Believe me, just to see that painting was worth the airfare, for it reminds us of the greatness of today’s solemnity. (I've always considered it the greatest of all paintings.)

Titian's "Assumption of the Virgin" (Click to enlarge)

The Assumption, though, wasn’t officially declared a dogma of faith until Pope Pius XII did so on November 1, 1950. Even so, this dogma of Mary’s assumption into heaven wasn’t something new; it simply confirmed long-held beliefs regarding the uniqueness of Mary.

In the Eastern Church we find homilies on the Assumption, or the “Dormition” as it’s called in the East, dating back to the fifth century. And in the Byzantine Catholic rite there’s a beautiful prayer that echoes this anticipation of resurrection:

“In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.”

The Church, then, has long been celebrated Mary’s singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection by which she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory when her earthly life had ended. For us the Assumption offers a glimpse of what we can expect of our own resurrection on the last day; for it is the destiny of all those in Christ. As St. Paul tells us in our 2^nd reading, we shall be raised up from the dead with a glorified body like that of Christ Himself to experience complete and perfect union with God.

In a sense, though, Mary’s body is extraordinarily special; for Mary, conceived without sin, carried in her body the Incarnate Body of God Himself. As the Council of Ephesus confirmed, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, she is also the Mother of God. Yes, these two are joined not only as mother and Child, but also in a mystical, mysterious way, so that when her life on earth was ended, God glorified her, both body and soul.

We see the implications of this in our first reading, from the Book of Revelation, a passage chosen not for its literal meaning, for still for more than a mere convenience of words. We recognize Mary as the woman clothed with the sun, with a crown of twelve stars, and with the moon under her feet -- as one who is above all creation.

Although this passage certainly applies to the Church, still Mary is Mother many times over -- Mother of God, Mother of us all, and Mother of the Church -- the symbol of what we all should be.

Today, then, we celebrate Mary as Theotokos, the God-bearer, the Mother of God, and Our heavenly Mother. But she’s more than that. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, she’s also our sister. As the perfect disciple, she’s our model, our model of how to live the Christian life, our model of faith and hope.

Theotokos

She is among "the first-fruits" that Paul refers to, the first fruits of "all those who belong to Jesus" and who share in His triumph. We see her in this role most clearly in today's Gospel passage from Luke.

The young Mary, now Mother of the Incarnate God, is told by Gabriel of her aging relative’s pregnancy. In a humble act of love, Mary makes the difficult journey from Galilee to Judea to visit Elizabeth.

Mary, servant and first disciple, is greeted by her kinswoman, Elizabeth: “Blessed are you among women...” Not to be outdone, Elizabeth’s son, John, “leaped in her womb” at Mary’s greeting.

"Blessed are you among women..."

Mary responds in humility and acknowledges the grace that fills the whole scene: her Son is the reason for the leaping with joy.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior” [Lk 1:46-47].

All three, Mary, Elizabeth, and John, are filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with joyful anticipation of the fulfillment of God's promise of a Savior.

How fitting for us today, that the world’s Savior was greeted first by a child in the womb, an unborn infant who responded to the Holy Spirit’s revelation of the King of Kings. Mary, then, filled with the Spirit and full of grace, the first and best of Jesus’ disciples, receives wholeheartedly the beauty and bounty of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we, too, experience God’s indwelling presence, his kingdom; for through the Spirit God reigns within each of us. 

Think of the scene – this encounter of two gifted women almost overwhelmed by the love of God, a scene that offers us a glimpse of how our God visits us in the ordinariness of our lives.

In this simple scene we see how God, the Presence that holds us up, remains with us in all our human activities. As Paul reminded the philosophers of Athens: 

“In Him we live and move and have our being” [Acts 17:28]. 

It’s through these daily, ordinary encounters with God, that you and I experience God’s tender mercies.

As our model of faith and hope, Mary shows us all how to live as God’s humble servant. She accepted her mission with uncompromising faith and obedience. She acted with unwavering trust because she believed God would fulfill the Word he had spoken. Her great hymn of praise echoes the song of Hannah and proclaims the favor of the Lord: God exalts the lowly and he fills the hungry.

What a gift God has given us in Mary!

And so, today, as we experience God’s indwelling presence in the Eucharist, let’s ask Mary, our Mother, to intercede for us, so that, through the Holy Spirit, we might receive the Body and Blood of her Son worthily, all for the Glory of God.

Homily: Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God (1 Jan 2020)

I have embedded a video of this homily below. The text of the homily follows the video.

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Readings: Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

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Theotokos Icon

1,600 years ago, at the Council of Ephesus, the Church gave Mary a title: Theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God-bearer.” In bestowing this title on Mary, the Church confirmed that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, she is truly the Mother of God.

This is the feast we celebrate today: the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Her title has its Scriptural roots in the story we all know – the story Luke tells in those early chapters of his Gospel.  We’re all familiar with it.

The Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel in Nazareth, and how the young Mary agreed to bear the Son of God, the Savior of the World. Yes, Luke describes Mary’s role vividly and leaves us with words we can never forget: 

“Let it be done to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38].

Mary's Magnificat

And then Mary, filled with the Spirit and carrying the Son of God in her womb, leaves immediately to make the long trek to Judea to visit Elizabeth. By visiting Elizabeth Mary really visits all of us. She carries Jesus to young and old, to the unborn John and to his aging parents. She carries the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. And she proclaims this wonderful news in her song of praise and thanksgiving, the Magnificat.

“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation…He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” [Lk 1:50,52-53].

Yes, Mary, the first Christian evangelist, spreads the Good News, telling the world of God’s mercy and justice. And thanks to Luke and the Holy Spirit we receive this Word of God. 

Because it’s the living Word of God, you and I are truly present there in the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth listening to Mary as she praises God and thanks Him not just for herself, but for all of us. We are there, just as we are present months later in the rolling hills outside of Bethlehem. When the angelic host appear to the shepherds, we are there among them to hear the Good News proclaimed from heaven itself. Indeed, this is exactly what the angel reveals. Listen to his words, the words you’ve heard so many times:

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy which will come to all people” [Lk 2:10].

This isn’t a message just for a few shepherds. No, it’s the Good News of Jesus Christ, a message for all people.

As Mary proclaimed, all of this happened according to God’s promise “to Abraham and to his descendants forever” [Lk 1:55]. We, brothers and sisters, are these descendants of Abraham, our father in faith; for God promised him that he would be the father of a multitude of nations. It’s a universal promise, a catholic promise. And because we are there with Mary, the shepherds and Abraham, this revelation places a demand on us. 

Just as the shepherds went on to glorify and praise God for all they had heard and seen, we too are called to do the same. And it’s really not something we should put off. For throughout these first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we detect a sense of urgency. When Gabriel reveals that Elizabeth will also bear a son, Luke tells us that Mary set off in haste. Our Blessed Mother didn’t delay in carrying out this dual mission of hers. For not only was she the God-bearer, the carrier of the Good News deep within her, but she also carried God’s love to someone in need. 

Both acts were of such importance that neither could be delayed. Yes, Mary set off in haste; but she wasn’t the only one. How did Luke describe the shepherds’ response in the passage we just heard?

“The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger” [Lk 2:16].

Moved by what they had seen and what they had heard from the angels, they could do no less. How blessed they must have thought themselves, for they would be among the first to set eyes on the Messiah so long awaited by God’s people. Is it any wonder that they left...

"glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” [Lk 2:20].

Shepherds Receive the Good News

We too have received the Good News, brothers and sisters. We are all called to carry it to others, not in word alone, but in deed as well. Yes, Mary is the God-bearer who brought Our Lord into the world and presented Him as the Father’s gift to all of humanity. The shepherds of Bethlehem received that gift with joy and willingly and openly carried it to others. 

What a remarkable gift it is! It’s a gift of love, arising from God’s hope that we will turn from our sinfulness and accept Him into our hearts.

It’s a gift of divine forgiveness, of His outrageous mercy, a gift that will trump the power of sin and overcome all hatred, violence, revenge, addiction…all the evils of the world.

It’s a gift of Jesus Christ Himself, a gift we receive in a most special way.

When we receive the Eucharist today, when we receive the Real Presence, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, you and I also become God-bearers, carriers of this gift. But what will we do with it? Will it change us, as it changed Mary, as it changed the shepherds?

Just as Mary carried Jesus to the world, we are called to carry Him to all the others in our lives. As the shepherds proclaimed the Good News of salvation, we are called to proclaim this message of hope to a world too often sunk in despair.

As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, let’s learn from both Mary and the shepherds, and follow their example. Worshipping here together on this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, let’s join her in a prayer for peace: peace in the world; peace in our country; peace in our cities and communities.

Pray for peace in our homes; but most importantly, pray for peace in our hearts.

Pray that the darkness of sin will be overcome in this world and that the light of love — the way of Mary’s Son — will take hold in our hearts and the hearts of all.

And so, let us today bless our world and each other with the words of blessing God gave to Moses and Aaron:

“The Lord bless you and keep you! 

The Lord let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you! 

The Lord look upon you with kindness and give you peace!” [Nm 6:24-26]

Homily: Memorial of the Immacuate Heart of Mary

Readings: 2 Tim 4:1-8; Ps 71; Luke 2:41-51

A long time ago, way back in the year 431, the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title: Theotokos, a Greek word meaning "God Bearer" or "one who gives birth to God" or as we say today, "the Mother of God". By giving her that title, the council didn't mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

Icon: Theotokos

It's the misunderstanding of the Church's long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. But from the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill Mary's prophecy in the Magnificat and can call her the "Blessed Mother" [Lk 1:48].

As many of you know, motherhood is no easy vocation. Both my mother and my wife had to put up with a lot and sacrifice even more during those years when their time was focused so intently on raising their children.

But can you imagine how it must have been for Mary...to be the Mother of God...and be fully aware of it? After all, Gabriel didn't hide anything from her:

"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 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" [Lk 1:31-33].

And so Mary knew from the first that this child of hers was the "Son of the Most High."

"He will be...the Son of the Most High"

It must have been a remarkable family life; she and Joseph raising Jesus who is fully human, all the while aware of His divine origin.

Luke, and to a lesser extent, Matthew give us a glimpse or two of life in the Holy Family. It's as if the Holy Spirit is telling us, "You don't need to know the details of daily life in this holiest of families, but I will share a few incidents with you, so you will know who Jesus, Mary and Joseph really are."
Just consider all that Mary encountered:

The long arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the unexpected need to give birth in a cave, a stable fit only for animals.

The Presentation in the Temple, the prophecy of the pain she would suffer, the sorrow she would experience.

The life-saving flight to Egypt, refugees in a foreign land where they would await the death of a brutal king.

The quiet years in Nazareth, when she must have wondered how this Son of hers, this Son of the Most High, would fulfill all that had been prophesied.

And that one event Luke shares with us in today's passage: the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when the 12-year-old Jesus is lost in the crowd of pilgrims. The panic she and Joseph experience, the frantic search, the joy of finding him, and their bewilderment when after three days He wonders at their parental concern.

"I must be in my Father's house."

In each instance Mary found herself in the dark -- just as later she wouldn't fully understand her Son at Cana, or when He asks the crowd, "Who is my mother?" [Mt 12:48] or when she cradles her Son's lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the Cross on Calvary.

But in every instance, Mary ponders these things in her heart. She need not fully understand these things; and, anyway, how could she understand? How could any mother fully understand the crucifixion of her Son?

And so she ponders. She steps away from the crowd, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her. In doing so teaches us how to pray, how to accept God's will, how to abandon oneself to God's love.

Mary ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel declared her, "full of grace," when her heart overflowed. Yes, that pondering heart of Mary is immaculate, perfectly pure in its intent, because it focuses solely on Jesus.

Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response. But now, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation.

This is the immaculate heart, the heart of Theotokos, the Mother of God that we honor today.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

Homily: Solemnity of the Assumption (Vigil)

Readings:  1 Ch 15:3-4; 15-16;16:1-2; Psalm 132; 1 Cor 15:54-57; Lk 1:27-28
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In 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a belief the faithful had held for centuries. And almost 100 years later, in 1950, his successor Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of her Assumption; and by doing so once again confirmed that which the faithful had long believed.

These two events span the limits of Mary's life on earth. The Immaculate Conception celebrates God's bringing her into being without sin. And the Assumption celebrates Mary's singular participation in her Son's Resurrection by which she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her life.

The two events, although separated by a lifetime, are actually very closely related. In truth we can't have one without the other. And so once her Immaculate Conception was proclaimed to be part of the deposit of faith, it was inevitable that her Assumption would follow suit.

Mary's Assumption is the destiny of all in Christ and gives us a glimpse into what we too can expect when our own resurrection occurs on the last day. As St. Paul reminds us in tonight's second reading:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting? [1 Cor 15:54-55]

...all through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Assumption of Mary

And so, through the power of Christ's resurrected glory, we will experience complete and perfect union with God in a glorified state, just as Mary experiences it now as a result of her Assumption.

Why did God do this for Mary? Why did He assume her, body and soul, into His heavenly presence? We can't say for sure, because the Assumption's a mystery; we'll never fully understand it. But we can understand it partially, and say with some assurance that Mary's Assumption occurred because, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, she's also the Mother of God.

This, too, was taught by the Church from its earliest years. Mary had been called Theotokos - the God-bearer -- since at least the third century, and was officially proclaimed the Mother of God by the Council of Ephesus in the year 431. That Council proclaimed that her body, her immaculate body, a body conceived without sin, held the Incarnate Body of God Himself. This was also a proclamation about Jesus, confirming both His divine and human nature.

Mary, Ark of the Covenant

This understanding of Mary as "God-bearer" is foreshadowed in today's Old Testament reading. The Ark of the Covenant was the mark of God's intimate presence among His people. In the same way, the Church calls Mary the "Ark of the New Covenant" for it was she who carried the Messiah, she who was God's sacred vessel.

Just as King David leapt and danced in front of the Ark as it was carried into Jerusalem, so too does the unborn John the Baptist leap and dance in his mother's womb when he first encounters Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant. Because Christ has this absolutely unique relationship with the body of Mary, His Mother, at the end of her life she is glorified, both body and soul.

Mary is Mother many times over: Mother of God, Mother of us all, and Mother of the Church, the symbol of what we all should be. Today, therefore, we celebrate Mary, Theotokos, Mother of God, and Our heavenly Mother. But she's more than that, more than our Mother. She's also our sister, a fellow disciple of Jesus Christ.

But as the perfect disciple, she shows us how to live the Christian life, a model of faith and hope. Mary is among "the first-fruits" that Paul speaks of, the first-fruits of "all those who belong to Jesus" [1 Cor 15:23] and who share in his triumph.

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus isn't downplaying His Mother's role - just the opposite. For Mary is doubly-blessed, not only as the Mother of Jesus, but also as the perfect disciple who hears the word of God and observes it. Jesus is simply telling that woman who confronts Him in the street that she, too, can be one of His family. It's better, He tells her, to belong to His spiritual family than to His earthly family.

The Visitation: Mary and Elizabeth

Mary is blessed on both counts. She is His true mother, the God-bearer, the Ark of the New Covenant. But she's also the one who hears and keeps the word of the Lord...and does so in perfect humility.

Yes, Mary is the first and the best disciple of Jesus, something that Elizabeth proclaimed when Mary visited her: "Blessed are you among women..." [Lk 1:42] and John "leaped in her womb" [Lk 1:44]. In all humility Mary responded, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior" [Lk 1:46]. All three, Mary, Elizabeth and John, are filled with the Holy Spirit; filled too with joyful anticipation of God fulfilling His promise of a Savior.

How fitting a reminder to us today that Jesus Christ was greeted first by a baby in the womb, an unborn infant who pointed to the Incarnation as the Holy Spirit revealed the presence of the King to be born.

This is the power of the Holy Spirit; He is God's gift, enabling us to experience the indwelling presence of God and the power of his kingdom. Through the Holy Spirit God reigns within us.

From all this we learn that God visits us in the ordinariness of our lives, and remains with us in all we do. He is the presence that holds us up. As St. Paul reminded the philosophers of Athens, and as the liturgy instructs us: "in Him we live and move and have our being" [Acts 17:28].

It's through these encounters with God, these encounters that occur in the midst of our day-to-day lives, that we are saved by God's tender mercies. As our model of faith and hope, Mary shows us all this and more.

She accepted her mission with uncompromising faith and obedience.

She acted with unwavering trust because she believed God would fulfill the word he had spoken.

Mary fulfills the dreams and hopes of all as she proclaims: God exalts the lowly and he fills the hungry.

Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is ever ready to renew our faith in God's promises and make us strong in love for God and our neighbor.

Today, as we experience God's indwelling presence in the Eucharist, let's remember that Mary was the very first to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. As Gabriel said to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" [Lk 1:35]. And like Mary, it is through the power of the Spirit that we receive within us the Eucharistic Presence of her Son, for the Glory of the Father.

And today, especially today, let us ask our Mother Mary to intercede for us with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ask her to pray for our world, a world that has forgotten God, and world that has replaced peace with violence, replaced love with hate, replaced hope with despair. Ask her to intercede, to plead for a global healing that will bring all to Jesus Christ.

Praised be Jesus Christ...now and forever.

Homily: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - January 1

Readings: Num 6:22-27; Ps 67; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

Theotokos

1,600 years ago at the Council of Ephesus (431) the Church gave Mary a title: Theotokos, which means God-bearer. In bestowing this title on Mary, the Church confirmed that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, she is truly the Mother of God. This is the feast we celebrate today: the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Her title has its Scriptural roots in the story we all know – the story Luke tells in those early chapters of his Gospel.  We’re all familiar with it. The Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel in Nazareth, and how the young Mary agreed to bear the Son of God, the Savior of the World. Yes, Luke describes Mary’s role vividly and leaves us with words we can never forget: “Let it be done to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38].

And then Mary, filled with the Spirit and carrying the Son of God in her womb, leaves immediately to make the long trek to Judea to visit Elizabeth. By visiting Elizabeth Mary really visits all of us. She carries Jesus to young and old, to the unborn John and to his aging parents. She carries the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. And she proclaims this wonderful news in her song of praise and thanksgiving, the Magnificat:

“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation…He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” [Lk 1:50, 52-53].

Yes, Mary, the first Christian evangelist, spreads the Good News, telling the world of God’s mercy and justice. And thanks to Luke and the Holy Spirit we receive this Word of God.

The Shepherds of Bethlehem

Because it’s the living Word of God, you and I are truly present there in the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth listening to Mary as she praises God and thanks Him not just for herself, but for all of us. We are there, just as we are present months later in the rolling hills outside of Bethlehem. When the angelic host appear to the shepherds, we are there among them to hear the Good News proclaimed from heaven itself.

Indeed, this is exactly what the angel reveals. Listen to his words, the words you’ve heard so many times:

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy which will come to all people” [Lk 2:10].

This isn’t a message just for a few shepherds. No, it’s the Good News of Jesus Christ, a message for all people. As Mary proclaimed, all of this happened according to God’s promise “to Abraham and to his descendants forever” [Lk 1:55].

We, brothers and sisters, are these descendants of Abraham, our father in faith; for God promised him that he would be the father of a multitude of nations. It’s a universal promise, a catholic promise. And because we are there with Mary, the shepherds and Abraham, this revelation places a demand on us. Just as the shepherds went on to glorify and praise God for all they had heard and seen, we too are called to do the same.

It’s really not something we should put off; for throughout these first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we detect a sense of urgency. When Gabriel reveals that Elizabeth will also bear a son, Luke tells us that Mary set off in haste [Lk 1:39].

Mary and Elizabeth

Our Blessed Mother didn’t delay in carrying out this dual mission of hers. For not only was she the God-bearer, the carrier of the Good News deep within her, but she also carried God’s love to someone in need. Both acts were of such importance that neither could be delayed.

Yes, Mary set off in haste; but she wasn’t the only one. How did Luke describe the shepherds’ response in the passage we just heard?

“The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger” [Lk 2:16].

Moved by what they had seen and what they had heard from the angels, they could do no less. How blessed they must have thought themselves, for they would be the first to set eyes on the Messiah so long awaited by God’s people. Is it any wonder that they left “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” [Lk 2:20]?

We too have received the Good News, brothers and sisters. We are all called to carry it to others, not in word alone, but in deed as well. Yes, Mary is the God-bearer who brought Our Lord into the world and presented Him as the Father’s gift to all of humanity. The shepherds of Bethlehem received that gift with joy and willingly and openly carried it to others.

What a remarkable gift it is! It’s a gift of love, arising from God’s hope that we will turn from our sinfulness and accept Him into our hearts. It’s a gift of divine forgiveness, of His outrageous mercy, a gift that will trump the power of sin and overcome all hatred, violence, revenge, addiction…It’s a gift of Jesus Christ Himself, a gift we receive in a most special way.

When we receive the Eucharist today, when we receive the Real Presence, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, you and I also become God-bearers, carriers of this gift. But what will we do with it? Will it change us, as it changed Mary, as it changed the shepherds?

Just as Mary carried Jesus to the world, we are called to carry Him to all the others in our lives. As the shepherds proclaimed the Good News of salvation, we are called to proclaim this message of hope to a world too often sunk in despair.

As we look forward to the beginning of a new year, let’s learn from both Mary and the shepherds, and follow their example. Worshiping here together on the vigil of this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, let’s join her in a prayer for peace: peace in the world; peace in our country; peace in our cities and communities. Pray for peace in our homes; but most importantly, pray for peace in our hearts. Pray that the darkness of sin will be overcome in this world and that the light of love — the way of Mary’s Son — will take hold in our hearts and the hearts of all.