Pastor’s Corner – Aug 14

Pastor’s Corner – Aug 14

August 14, 2016

Our Catholic and Christian faith focuses on Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, who is both God and man. In the Incarnation, God and man are united in the person of Jesus Christ. The role of Mary, the Mother of the Savior, is essential and necessary in the life of Christ.  The humanity of the Lord comes from his human mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The New Testament teaches that Jesus is fully divine and fully human.  In the Letter to the Hebrews Jesus is fully human like us in all things except sin.  In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is to be the Mother of the Savior. The angel proclaims Mary, full of grace as the Lord is with her. Mary responds in obedience to the will of the Lord in her Magnificat and accepts her place in the providence of God for the salvation of the human race.

In many places and events in the life of Jesus and in the early days of the Church, the Blessed Mother is present to the Lord and to the Apostles. Honored and esteemed, Mary shares in the joys of the Lord Jesus as well as in his sorrows and struggles.  The reality of the humanity of Jesus affects all of us, and the Blessed Mother is not exempted. As Jesus taught about the Cross in the life of his disciples, Mary shared in the sufferings and the Passion of the Lord, especially on Good Friday. The Way of the Cross depicts Mary present to the humiliation and the mistreatment of her Son, Jesus, in most graphic details. The 13th Station of the Cross presents Mary holding the lifeless body of the crucified Christ after he is taken down from the Cross.  That scene has inspired the Pieta by Michaelangelo, one of the most well know masterpieces of art.  The Pieta is in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as you enter the church on the right side.

Mary, the Mother of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has had her rightful place in the history of the Church and her place in the teachings and in the dogmas of the Catholic Church as well as in its devotions, rituals and prayers. As a model and as an inspiration, Mary is second only to her Son.  Since the early days of the Church, Mary has had many, many titles, many proclamations and many honors.  We believe that Mary is full of grace and free of all sin.  Mary is fully obedient to the will of God in all her life.  Mary is rightly called the Immaculate Conception, free from sin from the instant she was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne.

Tomorrow (August 15) is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven.  The Church has long believed that Mary had not experienced death like all other human beings.  That belief did not become a defined dogma of the Church until Pope Pius XII defined infallibly the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother. “The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” (Munificentissimus Deus, 1950) The dogma of the Assumption of Mary into heaven is a singular participation of Mary in the Resurrection of Jesus and an anticipation of the resurrection of all those who believe and who belong to the Lord Jesus our Savior.

Today at Mass the second reading comes from Hebrews 12:1-4.  In this passage there is a half verse that is well worth our prayer, our meditation and our obedience.  “Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

May you and I make it a habit of our prayer life to practice these uplifting and powerful words, keeping our minds, our hearts and the eyes of our souls on the person of Jesus Christ, He is our leader, he is our teacher, he is our Shepherd and he is the source of our strength and of our personal peace.

My prayers, best wishes, gratitude and love to you and to your loved ones, for who you are, for all you do for the Lord and for the good of St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish.

As we gather at Mass, may we seek to give to the Lord the glory due his holy and sacred name as we worship, pray, adore and serve the living God.  SHALOM!

Homework for the week of Aug 14 – Aug 20

Luke 1:39-56

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