Anchored in Faith, Your Soul...Our Mission
This is an interesting message conveyed by my favorite statue of Mary called The Good Mother. Not many people know of this beautiful image. Maybe because it does not speak about any of Mary’s mysterious apparitions, it is not used for a specific day of celebration, and there is no country that claims it as its patron. This image represents a beautiful woman royally dressed as a queen. But at the same time, it does not have many sparkles, a crown, or other adornments, because it also speaks about The Woman in Nazareth and The Mother!
Today, we pause in the green of Ordinary Time, not to celebrate my 40th Birthday, as some of you asked me earlier; but to venerate Mary as Our Good Mother and our first Christian model, the One who teaches us how to follow Her Son. Look around you! Note the white, the blue, the fancy vestments, and the flowers everywhere. Listen carefully to all the prayers and sing with joy to Her. Pay honor and respect to The Virgin, greater than any other woman, not only in Nazareth, but in the entire universe. She is “The queen who stands at the right hand of God, arrayed in gold.”
But what really makes this image special for me among the many others, is the Child in Her arms, with His finger in His mouth, calm and confident, in an attitude of total abandonment in His mother’s lap, while she keeps her eyes on Him at every moment. That is just amazing! It’s important to be clear that the privilege of Mary does not come from herself, but from that child who came to save each one of us. Jesus, begotten with perfect humanity and divinity in Mary’s womb, is the only One we adore as Catholics every time we gather around the altar. We worship God -Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- because we exalt His perfection. We thank Him for creating each one of us as intrinsically good human beings, and for becoming the baby who gives us eternal redemption. And Mary is essential in this plan. That is the reason of why She is elevated to Heaven in body and soul, pure without sin, with “a chorus of angels exulting [Her].”
My friends, that is the solemnity we are celebrating today: The Assumption of Mary to Heaven! This beautiful mystery expresses the greatness of God’s love for us since the beginning of our creation, and his abundance of charity expressed in the forgiveness of all our sins. Listen to St. Paul who reminds us of the transgression of Adam and Eve, and their rejection of God which makes us experience fear, and helplessness. Created in the image and likeness of God, they suffered a wound of incalculable consequences, and caused the downfall of the entire human race for all generations. But the story does not end there! The Father had a better plan for us. Out of love, He wanted to send his Son to save us, and for that, He required a holy womb, a reflection of His divine perfection, and that mission was possible only because of Mary.
And yes, it is true that God could have chosen another young girl in Nazareth for that mission, but Mary is not like any other girl. She is special and unique, The Queen of Heaven virgin and immaculate, more beautiful than any flower in our garden, or any star in the sky. Mary is The New Eve, The Woman prepared by God in the womb of St. Ann to be at the center of the war between the devil and the lineage of the Children of God. Then, She becomes The Good Mother and the Ark of the New Covenant. She said YES to giving birth to the Messiah, who appeared in the last battle as the dawn that announced the definitive victory of light over darkness. And thanks to Mary, God wins the war! We win the war because Mary gives birth to a covenant of love, - an explosion of mercy who brings Her to Heaven later, giving us also the hope to be with Her and her Son in eternal happiness someday.
But, before we get there, we Catholics have a lot to do here in our world. Remember that we are different from everyone else. Why? Because we know that Our Mother, - the First Christian - is there to guide us to Her Son. “All to Jesus through Mary…” This is an invitation to cultivate an attitude of total abandonment on our Mother’s lap, and keep our eyes on Her Baby, our Savior. It’s ok to be preoccupied about Delta, but be more focused on encountering “The One who is the Alpha and the Omega.” Strengthen your prayer life -as Fr. Michael invited you to do last weekend. Pray the rosary and meditate deeply on every mystery of the life of Christ. Leave all your preoccupations and problems by Mary’s feet, and she will intercede for you in front of Her son, “the fruit of her womb.”
…All to Mary for Jesus.” This is an invitation to imitate the virtues of The Good Mother who will help you to be in configuration with Her Son. Bring light in the middle of all darkness in our society today. Protect yourself from all viruses, but do not stop laughing! Vent your emotions with prudence, but do not lose your peace! Respect the social distance, but do not get away from your neighbor. There are a lot of people waiting for hope and mercy, and Jesus is the only one who can offer that through all of you.
That is exactly what Mary does when she knows that Elizabeth needs help. Instead of being paralyzed by fears or the danger, “She travels to the hill country in haste [to meet her cousin in need].” And in that encounter of service, everyone experiences “The Greatness of The Lord” in their journey. My friends, let’s be prepared to celebrate Mary today, the Queen and the Good Mother, not because of Her, but because of Jesus, The Bread of Life who came to save each one of us.
“All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus”
Deacon Andy Gonzalez
FATHER’S DAY REFLECTION
Dcn. Andy Gonzalez
We all know that we need to live a holy life on earth to get to Heaven. One of the commandments that helps us to reach that goal is “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12, NIV) Today we have the opportunity to reflect on how we fulfill this commandment with our fathers. Let’s be honest, when we are children, we see our fathers as our heroes. When we grow up, the image of the hero is distorted, turning our fathers into an old-fashioned figure who is trying to impose many laws that we do not understand. Then we start rejecting them, walking away from their guidance. It isn’t until we are in front of the death of our fathers, that we can recognize how special they were. That is the sad experience that many of you had during the COVID-19 epidemic, losing your fathers without the opportunity of saying goodbye to them.
If there were a job announcement looking for fathers, it might be described something like this:
This week we remember and recognize our fathers. There are no perfect fathers, because only “the Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) But despite not being perfect, they accepted this hard “job” and assumed all the sacrifice. The Lord asks each one of us to show respect for our fathers, not only when we are children, but also as adults. As children, we must obey our fathers because they are like the captains of the ships of our life, guiding us until we become not only good men and women, but also holy Christians who lead our society to the Kingdom of God. As adults, we must respect and take care of our fathers, especially when they cannot take care of themselves anymore. It is in those moments of weakness when they can teach us how to face suffering and those difficult moments that we find on our journey.
But above all, we must love our fathers because they were called to love us first. They were called to be the image of the love of God who is always waiting for us, to bring the best robe, the ring, and the sandals to put on us after a long and difficult journey. They were called to cook the fattened calf, and prepare to celebrate with a big feast every time we decide to return home, just as the father did in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11/NIV). We give honor to our fathers today because they gave part of themselves to us, so we can have the opportunity to breathe, cry, walk, speak, smile, think, work, create, and return that love to others. It is because of our fathers that we are able to accept the sacrifices of such a hard job one day too. It is because of them that we can become heroes to our children, giving them the same opportunity of living a holy life on earth to one day reach our eternal happiness in Heaven.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!