33rd Sunday Year B 2021

 

33^rd. Sunday (Year B)                                                                                        (Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32)

 

 

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Scripture readings today we are encouraged to consider something the world prefers to ignore and wants to forget, something the world fears to such an extent that it will not even entertain the possibility of it: namely, the coming Judgement.

However, we Catholic disciples of Jesus, being well aware that He once said (Mt. 24:35):

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away;

are today both reminded and reassured by Jesus’ words in our Gospel reading, of the eternal truth of Christian teaching concerning the judgement to come, in which the righteous will be recompensed and the wicked punished.

The prophet Daniel, continuing our first reading, spoke (12:10) words which we find verified by our own experience and that of Mother Church in our world today:

Many shall be refined, purified, and tested, but the wicked shall prove wicked; the wicked shall have no understanding, but those with insight shall.

It is, indeed, a fact today that we see all around us “the wicked proving themselves wicked”: we find that wisdom and understanding, far from being valued and sought-after, are mocked and disregarded, while the most abominable practices are openly flaunted and accepted; indeed, they are even being covered over with a cloak of pseudo-respectability, to such an extent that some simple Christians and even some Catholics, are troubled, as Jesus foretold:

False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect.   (Mark 13:22)

In our Gospel reading Jesus again mentions “the elect” as you heard:

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

Who are these “elect”?   Daniel told us in those words: "many shall be refined, purified, and tested”, because the elect are those faithful disciples who throughout their life on earth are being formed into a likeness of their Lord through the sacraments of Mother Church and by the gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit, whereby they are enabled to walk perseveringly and faithfully along the way of Jesus. 

Indeed, a notable part of the purging and purifying of the faithful elect is accomplished by the sufferings they have to endure in order to remain true to Jesus despite the allurements and trials of life; and today mockery is one of the great trials Christians have to endure for Jesus, in particular, mockery of Jesus’ teaching about a future judgement. 

Now Jesus speaks of the coming of that judgement day when He says:

After that tribulation (the appearance of false messiahs performing their signs and wonders), the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Constantly hearing and learning of primeval powers at work in our own sun and the Milky Way around us, in the immense galaxies light years upon light years distant from us, we can imagine something of the calamitous nature of such pre-judgement events; but much more immediately instructive has been the calamitous advent of Covid19 all over the world, the end of which is not -- despite massive programmes of vaccinations and scientific studies -- yet in view, nor is its potential and ultimate magnitude able to be envisaged.  Indeed, over and beyond even such a threat, is the possible religious significance and warning behind Covid’s occurrence: for our Scriptures repeatedly interpret such past events in Israel’s history – that is our history as People of God – as the result of worldly sin, in the lives of those called to be holy.

For the psalmists of old, the heavens spoke of the glory of God: in those days, there were few facts available other than those our human senses could immediately discern; however, being filled with the gifts of humility and wisdom, the psalmists were able to understand and interpret aright what enduring facts were known to them.  Today, however, for many moderns, what appear to be facts are so multitudinous and often so tenuous that the human mind is overwhelmed as it seeks to co-relate them into a real and comprehensible whole.  Moreover, where faith has been lost and pride acknowledged as an acceptable guide, many falsely interpret what they have correctly but only partially observed, with the result that their reading of the heavens proclaims not the Glory and the Goodness of God, but rather the purposeless, chaotic being of powers ever-beyond present human awareness and ultimate comprehension.

Our probes into the secrets of nature extend ever farther and deeper and yet, scientists find it increasingly difficult to gain an understanding of them that can embrace and unify such an immense diversity of facts new and old.  Newton came up with such an understanding -- which we call a hypothesis -- which seemed to embrace and unify the then known facts, and caused scientific circles great rejoicing.   Later, Einstein came up with another explanation, another new hypothesis, which again rejoiced the minds of scientists, and again led many to think “Now we can explain all things.”   The flow of new facts, however, continued and continues, and not all fit into even our very-latest hypotheses and so, today we are increasingly aware that we experience and are aware of so very, very, little of the totality of what is real. 

Think of it in this way: when it is light, we see; and we then think that light shows us everything.  Normally, however, we only experience ordinary light, while science tells us that such ordinary light contains many, many, different wavelengths, each revealing different objects, such as infra-red light, ultra-violet rays, X rays, all opening different views of what we had thought we knew well enough.

And so, scientific understanding is always playing catch-up with the latest discoveries, and the fact is,  that only religious truth can give us an appreciation and a right understanding of ultimate reality: science can only hope to explain something of what is naturally experienced; it cannot apprehend, let alone explain, what is supernatural; and so, it cannot speak to us of the ultimate significance and purpose, the final destiny, for which God in His goodness has created our own selves and the universe we inhabit at His behest. 

Now, Judgement Day will be one of the most supremely majestic of supernatural events;  it will be the supreme manifestation of the power and holiness of the Lord and Master of creation, and, as the letter to the Hebrews told us in the second reading, only Jesus, the Incarnation of God’s creating Word, is – by the power of His Spirit -- able to lead us through that Judgement to salvation:

(Jesus) offered one sacrifice for sins and took His seat forever at the right hand of God; now He waits until His enemies are made His footstool.  For by one offering He has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. 

Jesus is the only Saviour: God-made-man, His word is Truth and His power to save is almighty and eternal.  The mockers who think they know, will be made a stool for His feet; and, for their mockery and boasted worldly wisdom, there will be on Judgement Day, a judgement awesome in its inevitability and power, and glorious in its unforeseeable beauty:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by not pass away.  But of that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 

Now, People of God, we are not really concerned with science here, we want to learn how we can survive that coming judgement and find eternal blessedness, for, as our readings today warn us, when the Judgement Day comes:

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, others to everlasting reproach and everlasting disgrace.

Now, is the time of trial: even at this very moment, the process of choosing and preparing the elect is going on all over the world, going on in you and me.

But the wicked shall prove wicked; (they) shall have no understanding.

It has always been so, the wicked rejoice in their wickedness and they convince themselves that nothing will happen to them; they surround themselves with others who think as they do, distracting their minds with projects, and silencing their consciences with pleasures.  Nevertheless, for those who seek to live before God and are willing to be guided by the Scriptures,

Many shall be refined, purified, and tested (as I have said by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the light of Jesus’ teaching in Mother Church) and those with insight shall (have understanding).

There lies our vocation, People of God: whilst we have the time, we are called to seek understanding and urged to live wisely, for (Daniel 12:3):

Those with insight shall shine brightly like the splendour of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.

Therefore, dear People of God, do not let yourselves be troubled by scoffers who ignore the teaching of truth; who walk, indeed run, merrily, along ways that lead to destruction.  Let Mother Church guide you, let the Spirit of Jesus lead you, to righteousness and insight; for then you will come to know -- even here on earth -- something of the plenitude of peace and fullness of joy promised by Our Lord, before ultimately sharing in His transcendent glory when those other words of Jesus find their fulfilment:

They will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather (His) elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. 

 

32nd Sunday Year B 2021

 

32^nd. Sunday (Year B)

(1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44)

 

The Temple in Jerusalem and the synagogues spread throughout the country were two very distinct aspects of the worship of God in Israel.  The ‘latest version’, so to speak, of the Temple was -- in Our Lord’s time -- the magnificent, world-famous, Herodian Temple in Jerusalem, built by Herod -- a non-Jewish Procurator of Judea -- to curry favour with his Jewish subjects.  As a building, it was Herod’s pride and joy, meriting him the appellation ‘the Great’: it was indeed both the glory of Israel and the envy of nations world-wide.  But it won no favour for Herod with his Jewish, Law-observing subjects, despite the fact that they used its splendour as the national centre for official Jewish, centuries-old, sacrificial worship carried out in accordance with the Law given by God to Moses.  The synagogue, on the other hand, was a more recent institution: a humble, local centre in Jewish towns and villages everywhere, a religious centre for devout, non-sacrificial, worship of Israel’s God, serving the exigencies of the Law -- especially the Ten Commandments -- given by  God, through Moses, as a covenant with Israel, a covenant to be known, understood and loved, by the people thanks to the Scribes knowledge and understanding of the Torah itself, the inspirations of God-sent prophets, and the witness of Israel’s history of blessings, unfaithfulness, suffering, penance and renewal.  The synagogue was, moreover, a house of mutual comfort and strength in local communities throughout the country and wherever Jews had been sent or congregated together.

Priests served in the prestigious Temple in Jerusalem where, every year, hundreds of thousands would come from abroad to worship at the great festivals: worship centred on the glorification of the God of Israel and the offering of satisfaction -- according to the Law -- for Israel’s national sin and for the sins of individuals. Scribes were scholars, more to be associated with the quiet synagogue assemblies where worship was directed expressly to the spiritual advancement of the Jewish people in their understanding of, and obedience to, God’s will and purpose for His Chosen People, as expressed in the Torah or Law.

Robes were both acceptable and required for priests; they were something of an affectation for Scribes:

Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honour in the synagogues, and places of honour at banquets.  

The Priests were dressed as God’s servants and ministers for public ceremony and religious splendour.  The Scribes, however, outside the capital Jerusalem, were local teachers, helping the ordinary people in their understanding of the Law and the virtue needed to obey it.   Affectations in Scribes – like wearing those long robes mentioned in our Gospel reading -- easily developed into ostentation, and, since personal expenditure was needed to sustain it, it does not surprise us to learn that the Scribes were keen on money.; however, the criminality deserving of Jesus’ promised ‘severe condemnation’, only came when such love of money led them so far astray as to take advantage of the most vulnerable in society:

They devour the houses of widows.

From then on, their religion became nothing more than an empty shell:

Reciting lengthy prayers as a (mere) pretext.

The Temple Priests, the Scribes and their close associates the Pharisees, were all worshippers of the one true God of Israel in their diverse ways, and so too -- but in a non-religious way -- were numerous wealthy Israelites (remember the rich young man who came to Jesus?) who, believing their riches were a special gift/reward from God put, as today’s Gospel reading tells us, generous donations into the Temple treasury.  It was  these latter worshippers whom Jesus, in order to teach His disciples what He considered to be most important, compared with the unknown widow, who also ‘donation-worshipped’ God but in a truly sublime way: without any ostentation, and without any reservations either, putting her whole living in the collection box of the Temple:

Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.   Many rich people put in large sums.  A poor widow also came and put in two mites, which make a quadrans.  Calling His disciples to Himself He said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.  For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."

She required no respectful greeting, she sought no special honours.  Unnoticed and unappreciated, probably quite unknown, she treasured what the wealthy donors only appreciated, and what the Scribes were at times tempted to abuse, God’s goodness and majesty; and the money those treasured to their own ruin, she -- totally forgetful of herself -- converted into divine currency: unfeigned charity, to her own great reward.

Jesus pointed her out as a model for admiration and imitation to His disciples, and through His Church He still puts her example before us, His present-day disciples, and that deserves our most careful notice and deep consideration as Christians and Catholics.

Modern critics of religious attitudes and others proud to think of themselves as radicals, faced with those two semi-parabolic stories from the Gospel would most likely conclude, first of all, that religious persons, as such, should not be given official marks of respect, places of honour, because their prayer – public and private – is probably hypocritical and certainly deluded; while from the second story they will not dream of celebrating the woman’s self-forgetfulness and total dedication to God but rather condemn her for thus jettisoning her life-resources.

Let me, therefore, recall to your mind the first reading in which the Lord performed a great miracle for Elijah and a starving woman of Zarephath:

“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you propose.   But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.”

Here is another story concerning Elijah, the great prophet who appeared to Our Lord together with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration:

The king sent to (Elijah) a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So, he went up to Elijah sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down!'"  So, Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men." And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

(And exactly the same happened a second time.)

Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: "Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.  Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight."  And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So, he arose and went down with him to the king. (2 Kings 1:9ss.)

The king was showing total disregard and disrespect for the God of Israel and disdain for His prophet, who was to be dragged like some malefactor into the king’s presence.  The Lord, however, wanted Elijah to be shown respect and you have heard the result.  The Scribe liked, and in his way demanded, respect; Elijah expected and accepted it.  Why was one so very right and the other totally wrong?

The Scribe was wrong in his attitude because he sought and delighted in respectful greetings for his own person!   Elijah wanted respect as the Lord’s prophet not for his own person: “I am the prophet of the Lord, the God of Israel, Who has chosen me.  Have respect for the Lord’s prophet.   But as for myself, I am no better than my fathers.”

Elijah had the personal courage and reverential love for God to demand respect as a prophet of the Lord God of Israel in the face of royal autocracy; and when an unknown, God-guided widow, had the humility and devotion to freely accord him great respect, he was able to save her and the whole of Israel in time of drought and famine:

She said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar, and a little oil in my jug.  Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die."  Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose.  But first make me a little cake and bring it to me.  Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"  She left and did as Elijah had said.   She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well.   The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

How long might that famine have continued in Israel had that destitute widow not shown such respect for God’s servant?

The two women in today’s readings were prodigal with themselves in their respect and reverence for God; for the widow of Zarephath, God, through Elijah, most wonderfully rewarded such respect and reverence; as for the ‘poor widow’ in the Temple, we have heard how Jesus appreciated her gift, and we have undoubting faith that God, the Father of Jesus, with like appreciation, rewarded and glorified her beyond measure.

Now let me quote words of Jesus uttered before our Gospel story:

Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and that of the Gospel will save it.    (Mark 8: 3-35)

There Jesus expresses in general terms, for all His future disciples, what He had admiringly allowed one particularly chosen and uniquely endowed woman to exemplify.  Our trouble today is that some disciples are in danger of seeking to rob the Faith of any mystery, or any demands, above ordinary understanding; to apologize for whatever cannot be immediately and easily explained.  God’s words, however, are words of divine wisdom and sublime truth, expressing heavenly, eternal, love, and we should not try to turn them into milk, saccharine, and water, with pseudo, popularity-seeking, ‘explanations’.  We must never forget Jesus’ further words:

Whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.

We have been given but one prayer of Jesus and in it He emphasizes, from the very beginning, what is the essential aspect of prayer for Him as a model for our prayer, and it begins:

            Our Father Who art in heaven, HALLOWED BE THY NAME!

This is a most important lesson for us when many have lost respect for anything said to be holy.  Today, for example, some young people have no respect for the elderly, but idolise pop stars who are regularly doped and/or drunk.  Others will wholeheartedly cheer footballers who are paid many millions, but they jeer -- as fat cats -- business leaders who earn much less though providing work for many needy people.  Likewise, in family life today, parents are too frequently judged merely on the basis of their personal character, while children are over-indulged as children.  As a result, many young people judge their parents and show them little or no respect, while childhood is reckoned to excuse selfish, wild, and destructive behaviour.  That is quite wrong.  A mother or father is due respect from their children because of their parenthood even though, as persons, they may not be as good as they should be.  Obedience due to parents comes to an end with adulthood; respect for parents should never come to an end because they were instruments of God in the birth of their children, and as such, are holy.  Likewise, Mother Church, the holy Scriptures, priests and religious, the sacred vessels and the church building, all deserve respect in varying degrees, because they belong to God, they do God’s work or serve God’s purposes.

God’s love is ever warm to succour, His power is ever ready to save.  Today, we must remember, however, that there can be no justice among nations, no equity in society, no peace in our homes or in our hearts, when respect for God is ignored; when His institutions – e.g. marriage and the family – for human development and fulfilment, harmony in personal relations, and for order and  balance in the natural world, are all sacrificed on the altar of self-exaltation and worldly advantage, where personal, acceptable, pleasure, and spiritual ignorance, are the accepted criteria for popular living.

Nevertheless, despite all temporal trials, disappointments and setbacks, our Catholic aspirations and expectations, our Christian prayers, will not wilt with time, nor will they prove futile and false for, as our reading from the letter to the Hebrews assures us:

It is appointed that Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second tome, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

                    (Adapted 2021)

 

All Saints 2021

 

ALL SAINTS

(Revelation 7:2-4,9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a)

 

 

Our readings today give a wonderful panoramic view of the heavenly celebration for the triumphant Lamb of God and the ultimate establishment of the Kingdom of God.

The first reading told of a great multitude from every nation, race, people and tongue present at that heavenly gathering; and despite such disparity all those blessed guests were to be found as one singing exultantly:

Before the throne and the Lamb, wearing white (festal) robes and holding palm branches in their hands, (as) they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, Who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb.

Our Blessed Lord Himself, very early in His public ministry, aware of what lay before Him, showed how He himself envisioned the glory of His heavenly destiny while facing up to the reality of what would be His earthly experience.

            Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.

Speaking to a crowd gathered round Him hoping to find salvation after the difficulties of life, He addressed and encouraged the poor in spirit, the meek, and the clean of heart, those courageous and strong under persecution, and yet others burning with zeal for righteousness, with those very words sustaining His own heart in peace and love before His heavenly Father:

            Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.

Jesus died for all mankind; He was indeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the one supreme and sublime Model for each and every individual formed in the image and likeness of God.  And all of those called by the Father who have learned to love and obey His Son-made-flesh, reflect the myriad aspects of the plenitude of Jesus’ divinely human being, all so different and yet all so complementary, because Jesus’ love of the Father finds expression through, and reigns supreme in, all of them.  And that same love of Jesus continues to draw all men here on earth to Himself through His Spirit at work in and through Mother Church, His mystical Body.

People of God, you know that all of us, through faith and baptism, are already, as John said in the second reading, called children of God:

See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we may be called the children of God!  Yet so we are!

Such great proof of His love the Father has given us: surely, we not only can, we should, we must, have total confidence in Him!  That is what John wants to fill our hearts and minds with as we ponder ever anew those words of his:

What love the Father has bestowed on us!!

Of course, while we are still in this world we will experience the troubles of the world; indeed, as John said, we are likely to experience more troubles in some respects, since:

The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

And, while that did not trouble John, who could surely say along with St. Paul:

For to me, life is Christ and death is gain (Philippians 1:21);

nevertheless, for many Christians and Catholics today, the fact that our modern society does not acknowledge Jesus, that our faith and practices are mocked, our teaching contested and rejected, that does trouble them.  It troubles them because they want to live a not so-explicitly-Christ-life as did John and Paul, but a little more worldly life, made happy with family and friends, opportunities, abilities and hopes.  Their faith, at present not strong enough for them to see death as anything other than a most painful loss, nevertheless affords them that measure of hope and love needed for a possible future of faithful discipleship.

That desire to live a happy, worldly, life can, however, so easily, almost irresistibly, lead us astray: to protect what we have, to get what we want, we plan and we plot as if all depended on ourselves; we aspire and we seek to be acknowledged and appreciated by others, and so we strive to live the sort of life they put before themselves, setting aside, then forgetting, and ultimately omitting the ideal of a life of Christian sincerity based on the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.  Our fear of death and loss thus so often and so easily leads us to want a Gospel which promises everything and demands little or nothing, which is satisfied with soft and easy options which do not rock our worldly boat nor disturb our worldly conscience which helps us think and say some nice words about Jesus and the Church, but never seriously challenges us with calls to commit ourselves or risk our peace for His sake.

These and other similar, very human, sentiments have, surely, at some time or other, tempted all of us, and so St. John wishes to strengthen us against any such compromises or betrayals by words of encouragement (I John 3:2-3):

Beloved, we are God’s children now, what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  We know that, when it is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.            Everyone who has this hope based on Him, makes himself pure as He is pure.

We have received, John says, a wonderful proof of God’s love for us by allowing us to be called His children; and the reason we can be called God’s children is because we have faith in God’s Son who died and rose again for us, and hope in His Spirit, given to ever abide with, enlighten, sustain and strengthen Mother Church, and also to work in all her devout children forming them ever more in the likeness of Jesus with love for the Father. John wants us to realize that when Jesus comes again to establish the definitive Kingdom of God He will come in glory -- heavenly, divine, glory -- and then, amazingly, we shall be found like Him, able to share with Him and in Him.  Dear People of God, let this hope rule in your hearts and minds, as John urges:

Everyone who has this hope based on Jesus (and His Spirit) makes himself pure as He (Jesus) is pure.

That hope of ultimately sharing with all the saints in the glory of Jesus, and as members of the Son, being eternally blessed as children of the heavenly Father; that hope, based on the stupendous power of the Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead and has made Mary Queen of heaven above all angels and archangels, that sure and consuming hope, John says, will protect and purify us from our human weakness and personal sinfulness, and from the evil of the world which will not accept us because it would not acknowledge Jesus.

People of God, today’s celebration is a further call from Mother Church to renew our Christian and Catholic hope; today’s celebration is a reminder that the saints in heaven are awaiting us and praying for us, praying that our time on earth will be like a pilgrimage leading to the heavenly shrine, indeed a pilgrimage leading to our eternal home.  People of God, today’s celebration is a reminder to each and every one of us that we should not hope for, nor expect, a happy life according to the world’s appreciation, but rather that our life on earth may afford us a training that will enable us ultimately to participate with our whole mind, heart, and soul, in a heavenly life of beauty, truth, and love, of which we are simply neither capable nor worthy at present.

Dear People of God, we should most earnestly beseech the Most Holy Spirit to penetrate our life with that love and obedience Jesus ever showed toward His Father, and empower us,  even here on earth, to:

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again, rejoice!  Your kindness should be known to all.  The Lord is near.  Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  Then the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  (Phil. 4:4-7)

One of the great secrets of Mary is her relationship with the Holy Spirit of Jesus.  Jesus was raised from the dead in His mortal body in the glory of the Spirit.   When He ascended to heavenly glory Mary longed and prayed for His Spirit to fill her anew and guide her so that she might be with her Son, where He had gone … such loving desire, such humble awareness of her absolute need, opened her up – so to speak – totally to the Spirit, allowing Him to guide her, form her, glorify her in every detail of her being without the slightest resistance or obstruction whatsoever … thus did He lead her to become Queen of Heaven.   My dear people of God,  we too, as children of Mary, have to deeply long for, earnestly pray for, totally open ourselves up to, the Spirit of Jesus that He might freely and fully work in us for our eternal and heavenly life.   More we cannot do; less will not suffice, for the Spirit alone can form us in Jesus, for the glory of the Father.