CLOSE ENOUGH TO WHISPER…

We are so blessed to have a queen for a mother who is constantly on our side. I am a mother, too and imperfect but I guess being a mother to my 2 sons have surpassed any other emotion I have felt in my lifetime. This makes me feel so confident that the Blessed Virgin Mary who was assumed into heaven and crowned queen is the perfect mother for us. Fr. Tony in one of his homilies asked the congregation who the Ark of the Covenant is. As Catholics, we refer to Mother Mary as such because she became the bearer of Jesus, the one who brought Him to this world. She was given the singular grace of forming Jesus with her very own flesh inside her body. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes ways the sin of the world, the Covenant of God's love to His people. Today's reading tells us that victory has already been won when Mary cooperated with God in our salvation, said yes to God's plan and surrendered to God's will. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a teaching of the Catholic Church that we should all believe in. It is only right and fitting that the Mother of God be given the special privilege of not undergoing corruption of her human body which became the very flesh that formed our Savior Jesus Christ and be assumed into heaven body and soul. Amen. Hallelujah!

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. 12: 1 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars...Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One."

We are all on the building business, building a life that will endure, we are each a foreman to our building, we are own masters of our own faith. Others take a material to build a shack or a cathedral, or worse to build a tragedy , as William Shakespeare says, “to be or not to be” We are each given a bag of tools, a stepping stone or a stumbling block. The buildings we build could be tested in the loss of a loved one, broken relationship and the like. How we react to them depends on whether we have built a house on sand or rock, the test is the daily grind.  There is no end to the daily grind. We just have to live one day at a time. The success of our challenges depends on whether we have taken the words of our Lord seriously. To take the extra mile we must realize that nothing is built on hatred. Nothing lasts until it is built on love. Forgiveness is important. A person who is unforgiving suffers from various ailments. Pope John Paul II forgave the person who tried to kill him. Is the Lord right? Have we built our life on Him who is the rock? Or think that we know better. Our house is in ruin only when we invite the Lord to come can we make it a fitting dwelling. The only way to an everlasting love from which wells forth all other good things is to listen to God's voice and do as we are told. Whenever we ask the intercession of the Blessed Mother Mary we can already imagine the Queen of Heaven in God's Kingdom mediating for us at the throne of the Most High God. I have this perfect trust in a mother like the Blessed Virgin Mary. I remember my 2 sons, Allan and Jude when they were still very young, the moment I come home from work they all get too excited and always looking forward to my kiss and embrace. That's why I also ran to the Blessed Mother with the same excitement that children have for their mothers. Mary is our queen who deserves everything that God has blessed her with. She is indeed an inspiration and model for us to follow. Where she is right now we also hope to be some day as we strive to become bearers of Jesus and formers of the image of God in our own way. Though, we can not physically give birth to Jesus we can spiritually give birth to Him in our hearts. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16

R: The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

10 [11] Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. 11 [12] So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him...They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king.

We are victorious and reigning with Jesus. We are seated in heavenly places with Him. For God has the power, we should know no defeat only victory. Our God reigns forever more and He is victorious. To whom will we go but to the sure winner and the One who will emerge triumphant. It is all worth it and a win-win situation to give our all and surrender everything to God. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 15:20-27

...“he subjected everything under his feet.”...

During the time when I haven't given birth to Allan yet and Jude was the only son I had back then. He used to wait at our doorstep at exactly the time he expected me to come home. I used to hide behind our gate but my son Jude would become very excited to the point of like a panic state, this may sound a bit exaggerated, but what he did was grind his teeth while his body started to stiffen while extending both arms in a gesture that he wanted me to carry him. But things changed for Jude the moment I gave birth to Allan, he was happier and more secure being left at home knowing that he has a brother with him. I guess, the joy that Jude felt when his baby brother Allan came can be compared to the joy that St. Elizabeth and the baby St. John still in her womb, felt. Mary is sharing the joy of having Jesus to all of us. We like Mary, who is Mother of God, full of grace, blessed among women, and bore Jesus in her womb can also be blessed if we listen and observe the word of God. Mary's privilege and honor as the Mother of God is no doubt a singular grace given to her alone. She has been greatly blessed by God for being chosen to carry Jesus in her womb and nurse her. It has been written and foretold from generations past. There is no question about this as it is written in today’s gospel, "For he has looked upon his lowly servant; from this day all generation will call me blessed."  Though, Jesus in Luke 11:28 tells us that we are called to follow what Mary did when He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Predestination is one thing but to hear the word of God and observe it is another thing. We have all been given this option of being blessed as Mary is. All we have to do is to listen and obey.  God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus and I am sure that God did the right thing in choosing her for she responded to God in a perfect way that none of us her children would be in want or in trouble if we only come to her then we can be sure to also be with Jesus and be the happiest and most secure. Jesus has given her to us at the foot of the cross on that day He saved the world. We should not neglect this important truth that all of us are called to bless ourselves with. Having a loving and caring mother is one of the things every human being should be thankful to God for but more than this is the fact that we have a heavenly mother standing before God and pleading for all her children at all times. She is now in heaven with God and that gives her a place that is close enough to God to whisper in His ears whatever she asks for the sake of her children. If there's one thing we should not be forgetful of and always think about then this is it.

When Mary visited Elizabeth, she recognized right away not just the presence of her cousin Mary but the Mother of God. “When in the womb of their mothers, John the Voice and Jesus the Word met, the women raised their own voices in praise. Elizabeth praised Mary and her child; Mary turned the joy of them both into a hymn of praise to God.” This should move us to do the same thing and be able to recognize God's presence in our lives. It gives joy that only God can give us. Blessed is Mary for believing that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. We can also come to a point when we can also sing our own "Magnificat" and raise our hands to God in prayer and thanksgiving for every gift He has given to us, even those gifts of sorrow. God is in charge and He will make all things work for the good.

The Graces of the Visitation 

The events of today’s mystery bring before the faithful in a peculiar manner the fact that our God is a hidden God, and that his power works in the soul in a secret and impenetrable manner. Four people are concerned in the occurrence we are celebrating: Jesus and Mary; St. John, and his mother St. Elizabeth. Now, it is most remarkable that of all the sacred personages the only one who seems to perform no particular action is the Son of God himself. Elizabeth, enlightened from on high, acknowledges the Blessed Virgin’s dignity and humbles herself deeply before her: “Whence is this to me?” (Lk. 1:43) John even within Elizabeth’s womb, feels his Divine Master’s presence, and shows his joy in a wonderful way: he “leaped for joy.” Mary, marveling at the great effects of divine omnipotence in herself, exalts the holy name of God and declares his munificence in her behalf, with her whole heart. But all this time Jesus Himself, hidden beneath his Mother’s breast, gives no sensible sign of his presence. He, who is the cause of the whole mystery, takes no active part in it.

            Strange as this may seem, it is not really surprising. Our Lord here hides his power intentionally, to show us how he is the invisible force that moves all things without moving himself, and directs all things without showing his hand. Hence, we shall find that though he may seem to be passive on this occasion his influence is fully apparent in the actions of the rest, whose movements are really all inspired by him alone. One of the greatest mysteries of Christianity is the holy union that the Son of God forms with us, and his secret way of visiting us… When God deigns to look upon us, we can but learn from Elizabeth how to reverence his supreme greatness by fully recognizing our own nothingness, and to acknowledge his benefits by confessing our unworthiness. Bishop Jacques Benigne Bossuet (1704) French Bishop and Theologian

The gospel also speaks of the child bearing of St. Elizabeth that was called barren and somehow it can be compared to becoming fruitful for the Lord. It challenges us to give birth to a blessing from out of nothing and trust the Lord's power to do it. Today's gospel in particular contains the Magnificat which has become a famous prayer and song for most Catholics. The Magnificat (Latin: [My soul] magnifies) — also known as the Song of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung (or spoken) liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the 8 most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn. The text of the canticle is taken directly from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:46-55) where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. In the narrative, after Mary greets Elizabeth, who is pregnant with the future John the Baptist, the child moves within Elizabeth's womb. When Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings the Magnificat in response. The canticle echoes several Old Testament biblical passages, but the most pronounced allusions are to the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel (1Samuel 2:1-10) Not many of us know that these words of Mary are taken from the very prayer of Hannah in the Old Testament. Even Mary, the Mother of God studied scriptures and used it to form part of her prayer. She was also knowledgeable of these holy men and women who lived way back in the Old Testament. If not she would not have used in the Magnificat the same words that Hannah prayed. Haven't we thought of it yet? We are better off in a way that we do not have just the Old Testament as guide for our daily living but the richness and fullness of the New Testament where everything is fulfilled. We are reminded not to forget to acknowledge the goodness of God in our lives. Sometimes we have a tendency to overlook or neglect this important thing of acknowledgement. This reminds me of a terrible mistake I did in the past. I had my thesis manuscript printed and bounded but forgot to include the acknowledgement page. When my adviser knew about it he kidded me by saying, "Thanks to I, me and myself." It's really important that we acknowledge people for what they did to us or most importantly God for that matter whom we owe everything. On top of that, the readings for today point to it as something we need to do and not overlook as demonstrated by these 2 popular and well loved personalities of faith. Mary's way of acknowledging the greatness of God is evident in the gospel today. Hannah and Mary both echo in their songs their deep gratitude for God. We, too in our own right can claim ownership to the Magnificat if we will only follow the example of a perfect response to God's blessing and call of these 2 women. We must proclaim the goodness of the Lord for all the good things He has done and for everything that comes our way. Just like them we should develop an attitude of complete trust in the Lord and reflect in our lives the gratitude we have in our hearts no matter what situation we are in. We can surely learn from their example and start developing in ourselves this sense of gratitude and acknowledgement to whom it is really due. Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 1:39-56

39 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 46 And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; 47 my spirit rejoices in God my savior. 48 For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. 49 The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. 51 He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. 52 He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. 53 The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, 55 according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 56 Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.