Monday after Pentecost: Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church

O Mary, Mother of the Church, Pray for us

Readings: Acts 1:12-14; Jn. 19:25-34

On November 21, 1964, at the conclusion of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, the Blessed Virgin Mary was declared the "Mother of the Church, that is, of all the Christian people, both the faithful and the clergy, who call her the most loving Mother".

Therefore, the Holy See, on the occasion of the Holy Year of Reconciliation in 1975, proposed a votive mass in honour of the Blessed Mary, Mother of the Church, and subsequently included it in the Roman Missal. The Holy See also gave the faculty to add the invocation of this title in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1980.

Carefully considering how the promotion of this devotion can favour the growth of the maternal sense of the Church, as well as of genuine Marian piety, in 2018, Pope Francis directed that the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, be celebrated on Monday after Pentecost, which is today.

Indeed, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church, the Mother of Christians. In the gospel reading of today from Jn. 19:25-34, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He handed His mother over to John and the Apostles - the men he gathered and instructed to carry on his mission to the entire world - to be their Mother.   

Then, the first reading of today from Acts 1:12-14 showed us Mary playing the role of a Mother to the early Church that gathered in the upper room and waiting prayerfully for the descent of the Holy Spirit promised by her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  

It is, however, strange and unfortunate that the people who are ever ready to address the wives of their ‘men of God’ or their female pastors/prophetesses as “Mummy” of their Christian communities are the same people who become enraged when the Mother of Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, is referred to as the Mother of those who follow His ways on Earth. It is even more unfortunate that those who believe that the respect they owe their pastors should be extended to their wives are offended when Catholics honour the woman who gave birth to Jesus, the woman who was greatly favoured by God, the woman whose praise the angel Gabriel sang.

Whatever one's feelings about the Blessed Virgin Mary are, the fact that she is Jesus' mother remains unchanged. And if she is Jesus' mother, she is also our mother and deserves the highest level of respect from us, because any disrespect to the mother of Jesus is disrespect to Jesus.

As we continue our May devotion, let us continue to call on the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, to intercede for us, for our families and for the Church. Amen

Fr. Isaac C. Chima

 

 

 

 

SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD: Reflection

THEME: BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.

Readings: Is 7:10-14;8-10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38

 

Dear friends in Christ, today the Church celebrates the annunciation of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary by angel Gabriel. The proper date for this solemnity is March 25^th, which is nine months before Christmas (25th December). However, since 25^th March this year fell within the Holy Week, the solemnity was moved to today, Monday of the Second Week of Easter.

 

The feast of annunciation celebrates the abundant love of God for humanity. God loved the world so much that He took the initiative to send His Only Son to the world to redeem this world by dying a shameful death on the cross.

 

The first reading showed us the prophecy of the birth of the Immanuel, the One through whom the house of Israel (and the entire world) will be redeemed. In the gospel reading, the angel of the Lord was sent to Virgin Mary to announce to her that God has chosen her to be the mother of His Only Son. Our attention is drawn to the positive response of Mary to God’s message and choice of her despite the fact that the message was discomforting and shrouded in mystery. So, it was Mary’s total, unconditional and complete availability to God’s message/mission that set in motion the events of our salvation; her fiat opened the door for the realization of the prophecy of the birth of the Immanuel. She said to the angel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”

 

The second reading captured the same kind of response that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to God. It said: “behold, I have come to do your will, O God.”

 

Dear friends, God has many initiatives for our lives. However, he wants us to trust Him and to give a total positive response to Him and to His many plans for us, even if we do not fully understand them or how they will be realized in our lives, as it happened to Mary. The Church encourages us to always respond to God saying: “behold, I have come to do your will, O God”, for His plans for us are for good and not for evil.

 

May your new week be blessed and fruitful. Amen.

 

Fr Isaac Chima