Lent Day Nineteen - A Ha-boob , A Lady, And a camel

Gospel	Luke 1:26-38 ©

'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

We were lucky today.  Before dawn today a great wind came up and one of the things even seasoned desert travelers fear came up a sandstorm!  My first thought was of Benjamin, I rose and began to dress quickly so I could do something to help the camel that I was in charge of.  I was just getting ready to leave when Uriah, our leader, stopped me and asked where I thought I was going.  I told him that I was going to help Benjamin and find a safe place for him to weather the storm.  Uriah almost died laughing when he heard this.  He said. "You idiot, the camel is happier than you are right now.  If we had to we could load up and march on.  The camel is perfectly adapted to whatever this cursed desert can throw at him.  His hooves are large so he has no trouble walking in the soft sand and his eyes are protected by his eyelashes.  If you go out there, you will take the chance of breathing in the sand into your lungs and perhaps somewhere down the line get an infection.  No, sit and meditate and enjoy this brief respite.  It will be over soon and I will be all over you to get that stinking camel loaded so we can make up the time we are wasting because of this ha-boob, which is a word that means sandstorm."  He walked away still laughing over my ignorance.  It gave me pause though to think about how the camel received everything he could need from God to live in the space allotted to him.  He was perfectly adapted.  

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation when God sent the Angel Gabriel to a young girl named Mary and with her consent, the Savior was sent on His way to become a man and to save us from our sins.  

May Mary, the Mother of God forgive me, but she like the camel is perfectly adapted to her role in the story of salvation.  She, by a favor granted by God, was born without original sin. This was a necessary thing that God did because the mother of God could have no connection with evil, not even the stain of original sin.  So, while we were drawn out of the pit of sin by the work of Jesus, God, drawing on the benefits of the sacrificial death of Jesus beforehand, He caused Mary to be carried over the pit of sin that the rest of us all fell into.  So God saved Mary and was her needed savior. 

While the winds were howling I broke out my Bible and read the account of the Annunciation.  I was struck by one phrase and that was "Hail Mary, full of grace."  The angel did not bring a supply of grace to Mary, he recognized that her soul was filled with it.  When something is filled, you cannot fit in anymore.  The angel Gabriel simply was greeting the woman and saying what was in his view. 

How do we know that Mary was full of grace?  That is simple, she was humble and selfless and immediately took on the work that God had asked her to do. She could have refused without any consequences what-so-ever but she didn't because her whole heart was turned to God and refusing God anything would not be something she would want to do.  She was, like the camel, forgive me gentle mother, adapted to her role.  

Today, I believe her to be physically in heaven and always beside her Son.  I pity those who take little notice of her because they miss the opportunity to receive graces from Jesus through her.  Jesus loves His mother so much that He cannot refuse her anything.  For her part, her eyes are on the hands of her master, her Son, and the spiritual mother of us all. 

The haboob came to an end and Uriah was as good as his word. He was all over us to get the camp struck and us on the move.  I could imagine John Wayne playing his part if this were a movie because one of his favorite sayings in the morning was, "Let's get a move on.  We're burning daylight."  And so I put my back into breaking camp and loading the camels, breakfast will happen at lunchtime today.  Another day which would pass like so many others.  Funny, isn't it?  I now have a greater love for the Blessed Mother because of a camel named Benjamin. 

Gifts for He Who Was Gifted to Us

After their audience with the king, they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, 
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures 
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 
they departed for their country by another way.

They traveled a long way following a star.  The Magians were a priestly caste that came from Persia. They were known for studying the stars and trying to predict based on their movement what would be happening in their world. While they were not particularly good at predicting things, they were good at studying the sky. When they had seen the new star arise they interpreted it that it meant that there was to be a new king of the Jews.  If a new king was born, they would go to him and bring gifts.  It would have been interesting being with them during this journey, sitting around the campfire at night and listening to their conversation.  They were very well-educated men, as close to scientists as you could get in that era. After many days of travel, they arrived in Jerusalem, the capital of the Israelite people, under the "protection" of Rome, of course.  They were seeking a new-born king. Now, where does one go to find a new-born king?  Why one would go to the place where a king would call home, a palace.  And so, they arrived at Herod's palace and as diplomats from a land far away, they were granted an audience with the king.  

What can we say about King Herod?  Well, he was born a Jew and yet he was very supportive of the Romans who granted him the title of king.  He was not known for his poetry and songwriting ability, but rather, he was known to be a despot and provided his own job security by cow-towing to the Romans and slaughtering anyone whom he thought might be after his job, this included family.  It was a common saying among the Romans that it was safer to be Herod's pig than to be Herod's son. When he greeted his visitors and they asked him where the newborn king of the Jews was, I would imagine that Herod started boiling inside.  He asked his guests to let him know where the newborn king was so he could worship as well. Worship? 

The three (number of wise men assumed from tradition, the Gospels are silent on how many) men made their way to Bethlehem, whose name means "House of Bread" and found the child and the parents in a stable and laid in a manger, the trough used for feeding the animals.  They must have been mystified since they had just come from the magnificent palace of Herod who seemed to know so little about this newborn king.  Inside their hearts, they knew that they were looking at a special baby.  Remember, while our pictures and tableaus of the birth of Jesus have people bumping halos as they walked about, in fact, the child and family were quite ordinary.  We know this too because if there had been something special about Mary and Joseph, a room would have been found for them in one of the inns.  So, the wise men gazed upon the child and as He was a king they followed oriental custom and presented Him gifts. 

They presented Him with gold, for gold is the gift that a king would appreciate the most.  With gold, you could outfit an army, or furnish your palace. Gold is what a king had a lot of. The gold symbolizes the kingship of Christ. 

Next, they presented Him frankincense, a fragrant substance collected from the bark of trees.  This symbolized the priesthood of Jesus. The prayers of Jesus would rise like incense up to the Father. 

Finally, they presented Him with myrhh.  Myrhh is not a traditional gift given to babies.  It is kind of an oily liquid frankincense, very fragrant, very costly, and it was used in the preparation of a corpse for burial. Just the perfect thing to give a newborn baby!  Today, the closest thing we have to compare with myrhh is embalming fluid.  So this gift was very unusual, to say the least.  It symbolized the saving death that Jesus was to undergo for us.

After presenting the gifts, they probably spoke with the proud parents for a brief time and then made their way back to their camp where they discussed the day's events.  In the morning they would go to Herod and tell him exactly where to find the newborn King of the Jews so that he could worship too.  They turned in for the night and each of them was told in a dream to not visit Herod again, so they left using another route that would allow them to bypass Jerusalem.  This breach of protocol failed to please Herod, and after the Holy Family was warned in a dream to leave, and actually left for Egypt, Herod committed infanticide in that little town of Bethlehem to hopefully protect his reign. And so, it begins.

Give the gift of prayer to a deceased loved one who may be in Purgatory today.  They are depending on those still alive to help them.  Please do not abandon them. 

Living The Life

COL 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, 
if one has a grievance against another; 
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love, 
that is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, 
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 

as in all wisdom, you teach and admonish one another, 

singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs 

with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, 

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Family, like it or not, we all have one.  It was God's intention to populate the world with them.  I believe that the idea behind them was that each of us would have a small group of people that we could always rely on to be there for us and show us the love that we needed to feel fully and totally human.  For many years this concept seemed to be working very well.  The idea is sound as is the principles behind it.  Today, in our modern world, we seem to place less importance on the family and the results are easy to see in our homes.  For example, when I was growing up in the sixties and seventies, when dinner time came around we were expected to be there and we gathered around the dinner table and shared our meal together.  It was not consumed in front of the television.  Eating and watching television was, at that time, in my family, mutually exclusive activities. We sat around the table and as we ate we shared our day, we told stories, we laughed.  When we were done, mom or dad would excuse us from the table so we could go back to being kids again. This is just one example of how the family unit is to support its members.   There are others. We all did chores to keep the family happy, mine was taking out the garbage every day.  My sisters set the table and did small chores to help mom out.  I mowed the grass when my father asked me to do it, although he had a thing for grass mowing and he really did prefer to do it himself. 

I can imagine the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph all working together in the family home. Joseph teaching Jesus all he could about the woodworking business and Mary helping Jesus with his lessons. They are the prototype for what a family is to be.  Most families today would have to work some to rise to their level. 

I don't have a family of my own anymore.  My two sisters and one brother, for some reason, do not want me to be a part of their life and so I have stepped away from them so as to allow them to be happy without considering me. I still love them and I pray for them all of the time and my heart is saddened because I do not know what I have done to turn them against me.  Even though I share my wife's extended family and they are all good and friendly people, it is not the same as having a group of people that you know so intimately because you grew up with them. I miss that connection. 

So, if up today you have not realized how fortunate you are to have a person or group of people that you can call family, think of them today.  Sure, there can be no more annoying people on this earth, but come what may, you know you love them.  On this feast of the Holy Family, think about your extended family and if you can, reach out to them and let them know how warmly you love them.  If this is not possible, then you need to pray for their well-being and prosperity.  Because like it or not we all have a family that was given to us by God and one way or another, we have to love them for who they are.   God bless you on this feast day and I look forward to welcoming you to a new year tomorrow. 

Do you know someone in Purgatory?  Not sure?  Then pray for them anyway.  If they are in Purgatory the prayers will help them and if not they will go to some other poor soul who needs it.  No prayer is ever wasted when it is directed to help the poor souls.  Besides, as they are today, someday you might also be! 

According to tradition, St. Gertrude the Great was told by Our Lord that the following prayer, each time she piously recited it, would release 1,000 souls (or a vast number) from their suffering in purgatory:

“Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen.”

A Storm In Bethlehem

Gospel MT 2:13-18

When the magi had departed, behold,                                                          

the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,      
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,  Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.


At the time of the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem was a small and very insignificant town. The name means House of Bread and Jesus was born in a stable and his crib was the manger, the place where the animals would go to get their food. We think of the place as silent, innocent, a great place to be born and raised.  Then enters king Herod, an evil despot whose whole mission in life was to keep his job as king.  You can imagine the rage that built up in him when he realized that the magi were not coming back to tell him where to find the so-called new King of the Jews.  But, he had a solution.  He did not know who, but he did know where.  He dispatched his soldiers and told them to kill every boy-child two years of age and younger.  Herod felt that this would surely end the reign of this upstart who had designs upon his throne.  And so it happened as he commanded.  We are not sure how many boys were killed that day but we know that the child that would one day die for our sins upon a cross was able to escape to Egypt. 

These boys were the first martyrs for they were victims of a persecution against Christ. These children died in place of the Christ child and in doing so saved His life. Herod was satisfied with the blood spilled in that little town and was sure that his reign was safe.  Of course, his rule was never in any danger from the Gentle Child.  Jesus did not come to rule a physical kingdom but rather He came to rule our hearts.  Our hearts must ache when we think of the blood spilled over the ages in the name of Christ. He did not come that we might shed blood in His name, no,  He came that we all may be one as He and the Father are one and learn to live as one people with one God and Father above and heaven as our inheritance. He prayed for this unity at the Last Supper. 

What we learn from the slaughter of the innocents is that we should always be ready to defend and explain our faith and we should do this without thinking of the consequences.  In this world today there are many like Herod who do not want the truth of the Gospel spread and like Herod, they will reach into their bag of tricks and do what they can to stifle the growth of the kingdom.  But we walk into the future, whatever it may hold, secure in the knowledge that God has already won the ultimate victory.  

Humility

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;             
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon 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.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and 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.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."

Our wait for Christmas cheer to chase away the gloom of the long winter nights, cheerless cold and damp are coming to an end and the Church presents to us the words of the Virgin Mother of God.  In this prayer of Mary, we hear things that help us see how great she is and how humble she is.  She proclaims how great God is, she calls Him her savior.  How can God be the savior of Mary who was born without original sin?  Did she even need a savior?  The answer of course is, "Yes, Mary needed a savior."  I have addressed this in this blog before, but just to refresh our minds I will show how Mary could be both sinless and still require a savior.  

We must remember that God has always been and He will never have an end.  He is the one absolute in the universe He created from nothing simply by willing it.  He lives outside of the constraints of time and space and lives in the past, the present, and the future (as we see it) all at once.  The Mother of the Son being sent to Earth could have no taint of sin for in effect she would be carrying God inside of her for nine months, in effect, being a tabernacle or perhaps we could call her a human Holy of Holies as she was where God on earth was dwelling. No sin or evil can be in God's presence and that is why the Mother of God needed to be free of the taint of sin.  This was granted to her by God based on the merits of His Son dying on the cross for the sins of man.  God the Father could see this happening clearly and preserved Mary from sin.  Where we were drawn out of the pit of original sin, our bodies bruised by the fall, Mary, was carried over the pit and her soul received no injury from Adam's sin. 

Mary's life was both the same as any other young virgin in her neighborhood.  She would have been taught how to be a homemaker and would have been given the skills to turn a house into a home.  On the other hand, Mary would be quite different than her contemporaries.  From her conception, which came about in the normal way through the passion her mother and father had for each other, her soul would be pure white and this soul would take up residence in her and she would be turned towards God from the first day of her life to her last breath on earth.  She had in her the same free will that all of us were born with but she would be more inclined to say "Yes" to the things God asked her to do.  She could have refused the job of being the Mother of God but was not likely to. 

Well, this is all very well and good for Mary but what does it mean to ordinary people like you and me?  True, we were born under the shadow of original sin and we bear its mark in our soul to this day. This original sin of Adam, however, was removed by our baptism.  On the day of our baptism, we became sinless and we too could use our free will to live in the way God wanted us to live but all of us eventually had moments of weakness where we turned away from God.  This is the difference between us and Mary.  She was, from the day of her conception, able to use her free will to do the things that God asked of her without thinking of herself.  We on the other hand very often look to our own comfort and our own ambition because we exercise our free will to satisfy the "me" that resides inside of our soul.  Mary's first thoughts would be how to serve "thee." 

So in a matter of days, all of our planning for Christmas will bear the fruit of the effort we put into it. The real question will be, have we converted this holy day into a commercial feast or have he taken time to consider what Christmas really means?  

Have you lost someone you love to death recently?  A mother, father, sister or brother?  Perhaps a grandparent has passed away or maybe a close friend?   It is possible that they went right to heaven but maybe not.  We cannot judge the soul of another person, only God can. Purgatory is a place of preparation where the vast majority of us will begin our eternity as we purge those things that are incompatible with the Glory of God.  I am not saying this to be mean, just reminding you of what might be.  I would urge you to pray for the poor souls in purgatory, by name if you think someone you love is there. Your prayers will not be wasted because if the soul you are praying for is not there, the prayers will be applied to another.  Please, in these closing days of Advent, wrap a beautiful present for someone in Purgatory and pray for them.  They will be your forever friend if you do so.   Remember where they are today you someday also you may be. 

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted 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.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

The visitation of Mary as  Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the events that make Mexicans so proud to be Mexicans.  Juan Diego symbolizes every Mexican that has ever lived.  Our Lady came to Juan and the people of Mexico as a woman with the skin tones of the local people. She chose Juan not because he was rich and powerful, no, he was neither of those things.  He was meek and poor.  She sent him on a mission to build a church in her honor, oddly enough, at a place where Aztec pagan worship had been held years before.  He went to the bishop and told him what had occurred.  The bishop, being rich, powerful, and proud, was having none of it and sent Juan Diego away.  When he returned again the bishop said that he would need proof that the Mother of Jesus had lowered herself to speak to a common peasant.  Juan went away and when he say Our Lady again she provided him with roses - it was December and roses didn't grow in winter.   He wrapped the roses up in his cloak and hurried off to give this proof to the bishop.  The bishop received him, probably just out of curiosity, and was astonished at the sight of fresh roses being given to him in the month of December!  He then looked in the cloak and there was the image of Our Lady imprinted in it.  Long story short, the bishop believed and the church was built.  Our Lady has served as a beacon for generations of Mexicans to come home to the Church and to Jesus.

Here are some little tidbits of information that you might find interesting.  (*)

• Analysis of the pigments that make up the image revealed that no animal or vegetable products make up the colors.
• There are no detectable brush strokes.
• The image has not faded over the years but remains as vibrant as the day it was first revealed. 
• Modern inspection of the image reveals the image of Juan Diego in the Virgin's eyes - an example of microprinting in an age where it did not exist. 
• An attempt to destroy the image 
• In 1921 an act of terrorism, 19 sticks of dynamite which destroyed things all around the cloak, including breaking windows in the church, left the tilma of Juan Diego and its precious image of Mary unhurt at all. 

Once again we see the economics of heaven at work.  Mary appeared not to the proud and powerful but to the meek and powerless. Through the Virgin of Guadalupe, God marked out the Americas as lands that were special to Him using the Mother of Jesus.  In all appearances of Mary on this earth, she comes to those who can do her the least amount of good and out of these lowly ones God is glorified and His message is sent to millions of people. 

It is said that Mary consoles the Poor Souls in Purgatory and she is their champion.  Please remember to pray for the Poor Souls today and every day. 

Our Lady of the Rosary

Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

There is nothing more Catholic than the Rosary and there is no prayer that can bring the person who says it such peace and such power.  For some of us, the only time we will hold a Rosary will be when, for artistic reasons, the undertaker threads one into our cold and stiff fingers while we lay quietly in our casket.  For other Catholics, the Rosary is a living and vibrant thing, another proof of God's love for us, and a powerful source of meditation and a force that can, and has, changed the course of history.  But where did this powerful prayer come from?  What were its origins? 

Imagine, if you will, you are a peasant and your day is spent working in the fields. As you work, you hear the beautiful sounds of the brothers in the neighboring monastery singing the Psalms of David as they gathered several times a day to pray the Divine Office. As a peasant, you were not educated like the brothers, you did not have a Bible, they were very costly and only the wealthy could have a personal copy of the Scriptures.  Even if you were to come into possession of this wonderful book, it would do you no good as you were unable to read.  But, if there was one thing that was true, you were just as pious as the brothers in the monastery.  You loved the Lord and you prayed faithfully, but you wanted to do as the brothers did and pray a divine office. Given the limitations of money and education, you would not be able to sing the Psalms, there were too many for you to memorize and you did not own a Bible.  The brothers suggested that as you work that you pray one-hundred and fifty Our Father's, one for each of the Psalms.  You liked this idea but you often lost count as you worked.  When you prayed this office at home, you took one-hundred and fifty pebbles and used them to count the prayers.  This would not work so well when you were working in the fields.  Then you came up with the idea of carrying a knotted string that you could keep in your hands, moving one knot for each Our Father that you said.  This worked for a long time, but it was only the beginning.  Eventually, you said your prayers while thinking of the Bible stories you heard at church. Soon, the Rosary evolved into the prayer we know today using the Hail Mary, consisting of the words spoken to Mary at the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel, and our request that Mary prays to Jesus for us and to help us at the hour of our death. While we pray the familiar words of these basic prayers, namely, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, we meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary and the major events that led to our salvation. 

Contrary to what rabid, anti-Catholic Bible thumpers believe, the Rosary is not mindless repeating of words in order to get God's attention.  The Rosary is a prayer that brings those that pray it closer to Jesus, closer to His Mother, and of course, closer to God.  Those that pray (not just say) the Rosary open up for themselves a world where they gain insight into what Jesus did for mankind and what He did for them personally.  

Praying the Rosary is not an affront to God. The most important person in Heaven right now, besides Jesus, is Mary, His Mother.  She was assumed, that means, brought up to Heaven, because after her death, Jesus did not want her body to decay so she received what we will all certainly receive at the end of time, a glorified physical body that will dwell with God, Jesus, and all of the Saints forever.  As great as Mary, the Mother of God is, we do not offer her worship. We hold her in great reverence because we are imitating Jesus Himself who loved His mother so much that from the Cross, when his strength was all be spent, He placed Mary into the care of John the Apostle who from that moment cared for Mary as if she was his own mother. 

There is so much misunderstanding between Protestants and Catholics when it comes to Mary and the vast majority of it comes from true ignorance of the truth that has been fostered by anti-Catholic bigots over the years. When Jesus gave Mary to John from the cross, He was not only speaking to John but to us as well.  He gave us His Mother as our heavenly mother, one that we can turn to in our neediness and be assured that she will be an advocate for us and using her mother's love, pass our prayers, with her recommendations, to Jesus.  Recall, if you will, how Jesus began his ministry early at the Wedding Feast at Cana at the request of His Mother and said the wisest words ever recorded, "Do whatever He tells you."

Yes, it's time for the commercial...The Poor Souls in Purgatory need our prayers.  Oddly enough, one of the most powerful prayers for them is the Rosary.  Please, Please, Please pray for the Poor Souls today.  They really need our help.  Thank you!

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;  

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

the Almighty has done great things for me

and holy is his Name."

The greatest love story that was ever written was not Romeo and Juliet, but rather it was the love story between Jesus Christ and His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among the last thoughts of Jesus even while suffering the agony of crucifixion was of His mother.  His disciple John was near the cross along with Mary and Jesus knowing that a widow with no family to take care of her would be in dire straits, He put Mary into the care of John. We cannot even imagine the pain that Mary herself was in watching her Son die in such pain and her pain added immeasurably to the agony of Christ on the Cross. 

From the time of her conception, Mary was preserved from the original sin that stained every other person that lived before us and will stain those that come after us.  She received the gift of salvation and her soul out of the uncounted billions of souls was the only one that was absolutely pristine and free from sin her whole life. God in effect saw the death of Jesus on the Cross before it happened and applied the graces to her at her conception.  She needed a savior and God Himself saw to it that Mary would be a fit tabernacle for the Son of God to reside in.

Mary, one day, finished her missions on Earth and she passed away and she was buried.  Quite a normal story up until now because all people die, that is the one universal law of the cosmos, death comes to all creatures.  When her tomb was later opened, still in the time of the Apostles, it was found to be empty.  The early Church believed that this empty tomb was proof positive that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven to be with her Son.  

How do we know that this happened?  Is it in the Bible?  No, it is not in the Bible but logic tells us that not only was what we believe possible but it is also probable and the Church has declared it a dogma and they don't define dogmas without evidence.

First, the assumption was believed and taught from the earliest times in the Church, during a time when the Apostles still walked and worked among us. 

Next, we have the evidence of the lack of holy relics.  There are no relics taken from the body of Mary.  Relics were prized by the early Church and relics of the martyrs were considered holy objects.  It follows that if a "common" martyr's relic was thought of so highly, how much more veneration would a relic of Our Lady have generated?  Had they been available, they would have been enshrined and we could go to venerate them today.

"At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that "Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven."  (1)

Finally, the assumption of Mary is the promise of future glory for you and I.  What has happened to her, the taking of her body and soul to heaven, is what will happen to us.  Can you imagine on that glorious day when Mary entered heaven, the angels were singing as they hadn't sung since the day Christ was born.  The joy and happiness in heaven multiplied a thousand fold!  The Seraphim that guard the throne of God burned with the fierceness that total joy and total love generates.  The Holy City shined in golden splendor even more brightly and the shimmering of the sky and the streets proclaimed a joy completely unknown before this day as Mary and Jesus embraced in view of the citizens of heaven. From this moment on, heaven was, even more, happier than it had been before Mary arrived.  The joy of Jesus caused a thousand rainbows rich with the colors of brilliant jewels, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other colors too numerous to name in the sky above proclaiming the arrival of Mary and crowning her as Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, Queen of Martyrs, and the Joy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

So yes, today we Catholics revere Mary, the Mother of Jesus on this day that commemorates her assumption into heaven.  And this feast day is a promise for us to remember that one day we will arise and go to the Home of Our Father. Isn't it great to be a Roman Catholic and to be able to celebrate such a wonderful holy day?  Hail Mary, Full of Grace.  

The poor souls in Purgatory rejoice on this day as the time of their own personal entry into heaven comes nearer.  Imagine if you were a poor soul and you had nobody to pray for you, how would you feel if someone actually took the time to say some prayers for you?  Please remember our brothers and sisters in purgatory.  Remember that someday you may be among them and need someone to pray for you.

(1) Taken from: July-August 1996 issue of "Catholic Heritage"  To subscribe write Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750-9957 or call 1-800-348-2440. Published bi-monthly at a charge of $18.00 per year.

Pride and Power - A Bitter Cup

Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison

on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,

for John had said to him,

"It is not lawful for you to have her."

Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,

for they regarded him as a prophet.

But at a birthday celebration for Herod,

the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests

and delighted Herod so much

that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.

Prompted by her mother, she said,

"Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

The king was distressed"

The readings for Mass this Saturday feature John the Baptist. John's mother was in menopause when she conceived John in accordance with the promise of an angel. It is at this event the story of our redemption leaves the realm of a promise for the ages and enters present reality. Jonn's mother was named Elizabeth whose name in Hebrew means, "Oath of God." Elizabeth in her old age would bear the one who would cry out in the wilderness. When she was six months along into her pregnancy, Elizabeth received a visit from one Mary of Nazareth who was betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph in that town some sixty miles away. When Mary approached her kinswoman Elizabeth, John, in the womb of his mother could sense the presence of the Messiah and he was unable to contain himself and John danced in his mother's womb. How Mary and Elizabeth were related is somewhat cloudy because Mary was from the house of David and Elizabeth was from the house of Aron, these identities are taken from the father's side of the family but Elizabeth and Mary's mother could have been sisters and thus John and Jesus would be cousins. The word used in the Bible translates as kinswoman so we know for sure that the relationship was there. Mary stayed and helped out for three months and returned to her town of Nazareth three months pregnant. This coincidence would not be lost on Joseph, her fiance but that story is for another time. Today, we are speaking about John.

John and Jesus were cousins but they did not hang together and met only after each had begun their ministry. John was what we might call strange. His diet would not appeal to most of us as it consisted of locusts and wild honey. He wore clothing that was not too comfortable which was made from camel's hair and when he was not calling people to repent and baptizing at the Jordan River, he spent his time wandering around in the desert. I don't think John played particularly well with others and he was not what you would call a diplomat, far from it. He called a spade a spade and an adulterous king an adulterous king and that got him in a heap of trouble and semi-permanent resident status in Herod's dungeon.

The accommodations did not bother John too much. As a matter of fact, he kind of liked it that he could call the king and his wife sinners and adulterers twenty-four hours a day and six days a week (John rested on the Sabbath.) just about right under their sin tainted carnal bedroom.

The King's birthday was the debauch of the year. This year the queen's daughter provided the king with a special dance that really turned the wine soddened eyes of the king on. The king made a foolish promise of rewarding the dancer with up to half of his kingdom for the titillating dance that he had received as his present that year. The daughter consulted her mother and since being the king's wife she had the whole of the kingdom in her grasp already she told her daughter to demand the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter.

Even in his inebriated state the king was shocked. He was not too thrilled with the loud mouth Baptist shouting about his sinful life, but what the hell, he was the king and nobody was in a position to tell him anything. Also, he had a strange relationship with John. The king almost liked him and would visit him and talk with him and he was gaining, little bit by little bit, a respect for the coarse preacher.


The king was in a bind. He had thought that the young girl would have done the right thing and taken him for a ride for a bunch of silver and gold, things that he could easily replace by reaching into the pockets of his humble subjects. She wanted a man's death. If he refused, he would be the laughing stock of all the drunkards that hung around his court feeding his ego the compliments that it needed. On the other hand, he knew John was harmless. He knew that John had no power of his own and it would be an injustice to kill him. But pride won against justice and the bamboozled king sent a guard to give John a haircut, a very close cut indeed.

John's voice was stilled. In its place, would come a voice with the power to change the world and everyone in it. Herod had planted the wind and would reap the whirlwind, Jesus, the Son of God had entered the scene with a voice that could not be stilled and whose words shake the world even today.