Today is the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, a special Marian celebration in the liturgical calendar. It was established by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954. It was originally celebrated on May 31st but was moved to Ausgust 22nd by Pope Paul VI because of its logical follow-up pattern after the Assumption of Mary on August 15th.
The title, "Queen of Heaven," (Latin Regina Caeli) is one of the many Queen titles of the Blessed Virgin. For centuries, Catholics while praying the Litany of Loreto was already invoking Mary as the Queen of Heaven long before the dogma was created by the Roman Catholic Church. The first basis for the Queenship of Mary was developed at the Council of Ephesus when it defined Mary as the Mother of God. She is Queen by "divine relationship," by being the Mother of the King of Kings.
Mary is Queen of Heaven by the singular grace of God the Father Who has willed her to play an exceptional role in the work for the salvation of humanity. For this reason, many devotees refer to her as Co Redemptrist. Pope Benedict XVI writes, " Because of her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will, God exalted her over all creatures and Christ crowned her as "Queen of Heaven."
She is Queen by "Grace." Mary is "full of grace" of the highest order!
Mary's power as Queen is "intercessory." She intercedes for us. When we say that her power in the distribution of graces extends to everyone, we do not mean that she is the "source" of those graces but that by her prayer she can obtain from her Divine Son all the graces necessary for souls. Pope Pius IX writes, " She intercedes powerfully for us with a mother's heart, obtains what she seeks and cannot be refused by her Divine Son." Jesus cannot refuse what His Mother asks because she will never ask for anything contrary to the will of God or our best interests. The feast of Mary as Queen is an affirmation of the dogma of her "Mediation. "
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As Catholics, we say our prayers of Consecration to Mary. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines "consecration" as an act by which a person is dedicated to a sacred service or an act which separates an object or a location from a common mode to one of sacred use. The Catholic Church makes it clear that the use of the term "consecration" with regard to Mary is an "entrustment" to Mary to show their devotion and dedication to Mary as the Mother of God, though holy, is not herself a divine being. In Catholic teaching, consecration to Mary does not diminish or substitute the love of God but enhances it, for all consecration is ultimately made to God.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
August 11, 2011 - ST. CLARE OF ASSISI
Today is the Feast of St. Clare of Assisi, one of my favorite saints and guardian angels. Her life reveals one of the highest and purest forms of love for God. Many people have asked questions like these :
" What kind of love can make a young, beautiful, out-going girl leave a life of ease, attention and freedom for the cloister of drab, rigid, contemplative nuns? What kind of love can make a young girl give up her noble birth and heritage in a castle for the small, lonely, materially impoverished monastery? What kind of love can make a young girl abandon the luxury of possessions and goods for daily subsistence on alms and give-aways? What kind of love can make a girl of noble birth embrace a life of absolute poverty and consider it a privilege to live without privileges?
It is a love touched by God to be in complete harmony with Him - an "imitation" of Christ - in form and substance!
" What kind of love can make a young, beautiful, out-going girl leave a life of ease, attention and freedom for the cloister of drab, rigid, contemplative nuns? What kind of love can make a young girl give up her noble birth and heritage in a castle for the small, lonely, materially impoverished monastery? What kind of love can make a young girl abandon the luxury of possessions and goods for daily subsistence on alms and give-aways? What kind of love can make a girl of noble birth embrace a life of absolute poverty and consider it a privilege to live without privileges?
It is a love touched by God to be in complete harmony with Him - an "imitation" of Christ - in form and substance!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
August 9, 2011 - ST> TERESA BENEDICTA of the CROSS
Today is the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a daughter of Israel who became a Carmelite nun. She was born on October 12, 1891, the youngest of eleven children. Since her mother did not have a living faith, she easily gave up praying. Her major study was on German and History. In 1913, she went to Goettingen University where she had as mentor, Edmund Hussein who expounded a new reality that the world does not merely exist in the subjective perception. This view leld many of his students to embrace the Christian faith. She also met Max Scheller who directed her to Roman Catholicism.
After World War I, she followed Hussein in Germany where she passed her doctoral degree with a dissertation on "The Problem of Empathy." On the death of Hussein's assistant, she vted his widow who was a woman of faith. She wrote, " It was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts to those who bear it. Christ began to shine on me. In Christ is the mystery of the Cross." She converted to the Catholic faith and sincerely believed that she belonged to Christ not only spiritually but also by blood since she had Jewish roots. She read the The New Testatment and The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. She read the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and finished it in one night. She wanted to enter the Carmelite Monastery right after conversion but was prevailed upon to teach and to accept extensive speaking engagements. In addition , she translated letters and diaries of Cardinal John Newman, wrote, "Potency", a study of the central concepts developed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Within the Carmelite walls, she wrote, "The Father of Mysteries, St. John of the Cross," "The life of a Jewish Family," "The Science of the Cross" and her own philosophical and theological beliefs in "Finite and Eternal Being."
At that time she said, "I thought leading a religuous life meant giving up all earthly things and having one's mind only on divine things. I learned that the deeper someone is drawn to God, the more he has to get "beyond himself" i e; go into the world and carry divine life into it." She successfully combined scholarship and faith in her work and in her teaching, seeking always to be a "tool of the Lord."
She joined the Carmelite Order in Cologne, Germany and had her investiture on April 19, 1934 as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She had her Perpetual Vows on April 21, 1938.
She was arrested with her sister, Rosa, who also converted in the Carmelite chapel in August 1942 and were gassed among the 087 who came to Auschwitz on August 8, 1942.
After World War I, she followed Hussein in Germany where she passed her doctoral degree with a dissertation on "The Problem of Empathy." On the death of Hussein's assistant, she vted his widow who was a woman of faith. She wrote, " It was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts to those who bear it. Christ began to shine on me. In Christ is the mystery of the Cross." She converted to the Catholic faith and sincerely believed that she belonged to Christ not only spiritually but also by blood since she had Jewish roots. She read the The New Testatment and The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. She read the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and finished it in one night. She wanted to enter the Carmelite Monastery right after conversion but was prevailed upon to teach and to accept extensive speaking engagements. In addition , she translated letters and diaries of Cardinal John Newman, wrote, "Potency", a study of the central concepts developed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Within the Carmelite walls, she wrote, "The Father of Mysteries, St. John of the Cross," "The life of a Jewish Family," "The Science of the Cross" and her own philosophical and theological beliefs in "Finite and Eternal Being."
At that time she said, "I thought leading a religuous life meant giving up all earthly things and having one's mind only on divine things. I learned that the deeper someone is drawn to God, the more he has to get "beyond himself" i e; go into the world and carry divine life into it." She successfully combined scholarship and faith in her work and in her teaching, seeking always to be a "tool of the Lord."
She joined the Carmelite Order in Cologne, Germany and had her investiture on April 19, 1934 as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She had her Perpetual Vows on April 21, 1938.
She was arrested with her sister, Rosa, who also converted in the Carmelite chapel in August 1942 and were gassed among the 087 who came to Auschwitz on August 8, 1942.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
August 6, ,2011 - TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. This magnificent event happened on Mount Tabor in Israel. I have written about my experience on Mount Tabor on October 16, 19 my Journal and so have decided to share it with you.
"Today, we shall go to Mount Tabor," announced Benji Shavit, our Tour Director. I was excited! It would be my first time to set foot on the mountain where a momentous event in Jesus' life is immortalized in the Bible. From a distance I saw Mount Tabor, majestic and serene, loom distinctly alone in the Holy Land where mountain ranges abound. I felt the bus start its ascent. It went through a maze of winding roads until it reached an area where around seven or eight tour buses were parked.
"From this point, we shall take cars to reach the top," Benji said. "Don't worry, you will use a Mercedes Benz, four persons to a car," he added with an unmistakable glint in his eyes and a queer smirk on his face.
"Wow, a Mercedes?" Glo Reyes, Vangie Chavez and I chorused. Just then a car followed by another and still another stopped before our group. Yes! They were Mercedes Benzes alright, presumably Circa 1950 or 1960, all in awful need of body shop upgrading. It was worse inside! The floor was covered with scraps of linoleum and flaky shreds of wall covering swayed relentlessly. For many years of use, the cushion on the seat became barely two inches thick so that the iron coils "disturbed" our behind so badly. Can you imagine the sacrifice we experienced as the car went through the narrow road interspersed with many elliptical curves leading to the summit? The speed with which the car ran was nothing short of fast that kept us gasping for breath with an intoned, "Hesus, Maria, Hosep," at each curve. We held on to whatever solit part of the car was available or to each other's knees or arms for support every time we made a swing! Oh my!
However, two things won our admiration - the efficiency of the engine of the car and the remarkable skill of the driver. Whatever the vehicle lacked in aesthetics was amazingly redeemed by the output of its machinery manned by the desterity of seasoned driver's hands. The penultimate test of expert maneuvers was when an incoming car on the way down sidles a few inches away from an ascending one. By virtue of the "Keep Right" rule of the road, our car had to be nearer the cliff was mot at all protected by an enbankment of any kind. Can you imagine four bewildered faces open-mouthed with anticipation what the next moment would bring? It was a jaw-dropping, stomach-churning experience, indeed! So it was with a deep, deep sigh of relief that we exclaimed, "Thank God!" when we finally reached the summit of Mount Tabor and the Basilica of transfiguration.
You will recall that the Bible states that Jesus, Peter, James and John were up in the mountain after several days. Yes, after several days because they had to walk. Mount Tabor is so high and thickly forested and without a defined road then. It would have taken a few days to reach the top. Peter experienced something there he wanted to last forever. He wanted to hold on to the moment of profound mystery. He wanted to gaze upon the radiance of Jesus transformed before him- the Radiance of God! And Peter said, "Lord, it is good to be here." It must have been a mountaintop experience for Peter!
By the way, our own transforming moments in prayer at home, in the office at work or while watching the splendor of a sunset or the breaking of dawn or while walking by the seashore or through the woods on a crisp autumn morn are all "mountaintoop experiences" whether or not we have scaled a mountain. So are the moments we spend alone in our so-called "desert" be it on an easy chair in our room or backyard, beach or just anywhere where we simply keep still and through the sound of silence let God be God!
Jesus went to Mount Tabor and was transfigured. Here, God said."This is my own dear Son with whom I am pleased. Listen to Him." This place is so sacred because it is a memorial of Jesus' divinity just as the Garden of Gethsemane is the site profound for Jesus' humanity.
I looked up at the mosaic apse of the basilica depicting the scene of the Transfiguration. There were Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John. I stood motionless, speechless enveloped with the awesome presence of God. It seemed I heard His voice speaking to me directly,"Listen to Him." I was consumed in prayer of praise and thanksgiving - basking in God's glory!
Like Peter, I said,"Lord, it is good to be here.Thank you for bringing me here." All at once I thought of my family, all my loved ones. I wanted them to enjoy the moment with me. I wanted them to set foot on Mount Tabor, on the mountaintop and feel God's embrace in its panorama. I gazed at the waters of the Sea of Galilee. I remembered St. Peter's fish - tilapia and the abundant life forms in the lake because of the generaous, giving quality of its nature.The Sea of Galilee funnels some of its water to its environs and thus has remained vibrant and fresh since Jesus' time. Unlike its generous counterpart, howeveer, the Dead Sea is just that- dead- dead to the world, the lowest spot on earth where nothing lives or grows. It keeps every drop of water it receives from the river Jordan which is also the source of water of the Sea of Galilee. How these bodies of water dramatize the rewards of hospitable open hands and the miserly closed fists of the various peoples of this earth!
The song of St. Francis reverberated in my ears, "Make me a channel of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring Your love. Where there is discord, harmony, where there is sadness, joy It is in giving that we receive...." In retrospect, I asked myself, "Am I giving enough? Is stewardship a priority in my life?" I remembered the Biblle passage about some men grow richer by giving much away while those who are so cautious in extending help to those in need find themselves deprived by some means or other. It must be that open hands are ready receptacles for God's abundant blessings. Where will He put His bounty on a closed fist? I resolved to look into the matter of my own stewardship more thoroughly.
I took several long breaths of the most fresh air ever. I looked at the azure sky and the cumulus clouds meandeering by and felt the soft caress of the cool breeze. As I glanced in every direction catching glimpses of the greenery and hilly slopes against the quiet waters of the Sea of Galilee, I felt God's Presence like never before. I "floated" in the all-embracing love of God! Again, I bowed my head in prayer,"Thank you, Lord, thank you." I opened my eyes and savored the scenery of verdant valleys below. What a stark contrast with the "valleys" of the city - the careening cars in busy streets, the homeless dotting the sidewalks, the hurried steps of time-constrained office workers, merchants, housewives doing their earrands and many more which make up the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.
Slowly, I straightened myself, pulled my shoulders back and held high my chin. I stood tall with the assurance and confidence of my own humble transformation, so to speak. I walked away ready to face everything buoyed by the memory of Jesus' transformed - Glowing with the Radiance of God!
"Today, we shall go to Mount Tabor," announced Benji Shavit, our Tour Director. I was excited! It would be my first time to set foot on the mountain where a momentous event in Jesus' life is immortalized in the Bible. From a distance I saw Mount Tabor, majestic and serene, loom distinctly alone in the Holy Land where mountain ranges abound. I felt the bus start its ascent. It went through a maze of winding roads until it reached an area where around seven or eight tour buses were parked.
"From this point, we shall take cars to reach the top," Benji said. "Don't worry, you will use a Mercedes Benz, four persons to a car," he added with an unmistakable glint in his eyes and a queer smirk on his face.
"Wow, a Mercedes?" Glo Reyes, Vangie Chavez and I chorused. Just then a car followed by another and still another stopped before our group. Yes! They were Mercedes Benzes alright, presumably Circa 1950 or 1960, all in awful need of body shop upgrading. It was worse inside! The floor was covered with scraps of linoleum and flaky shreds of wall covering swayed relentlessly. For many years of use, the cushion on the seat became barely two inches thick so that the iron coils "disturbed" our behind so badly. Can you imagine the sacrifice we experienced as the car went through the narrow road interspersed with many elliptical curves leading to the summit? The speed with which the car ran was nothing short of fast that kept us gasping for breath with an intoned, "Hesus, Maria, Hosep," at each curve. We held on to whatever solit part of the car was available or to each other's knees or arms for support every time we made a swing! Oh my!
However, two things won our admiration - the efficiency of the engine of the car and the remarkable skill of the driver. Whatever the vehicle lacked in aesthetics was amazingly redeemed by the output of its machinery manned by the desterity of seasoned driver's hands. The penultimate test of expert maneuvers was when an incoming car on the way down sidles a few inches away from an ascending one. By virtue of the "Keep Right" rule of the road, our car had to be nearer the cliff was mot at all protected by an enbankment of any kind. Can you imagine four bewildered faces open-mouthed with anticipation what the next moment would bring? It was a jaw-dropping, stomach-churning experience, indeed! So it was with a deep, deep sigh of relief that we exclaimed, "Thank God!" when we finally reached the summit of Mount Tabor and the Basilica of transfiguration.
You will recall that the Bible states that Jesus, Peter, James and John were up in the mountain after several days. Yes, after several days because they had to walk. Mount Tabor is so high and thickly forested and without a defined road then. It would have taken a few days to reach the top. Peter experienced something there he wanted to last forever. He wanted to hold on to the moment of profound mystery. He wanted to gaze upon the radiance of Jesus transformed before him- the Radiance of God! And Peter said, "Lord, it is good to be here." It must have been a mountaintop experience for Peter!
By the way, our own transforming moments in prayer at home, in the office at work or while watching the splendor of a sunset or the breaking of dawn or while walking by the seashore or through the woods on a crisp autumn morn are all "mountaintoop experiences" whether or not we have scaled a mountain. So are the moments we spend alone in our so-called "desert" be it on an easy chair in our room or backyard, beach or just anywhere where we simply keep still and through the sound of silence let God be God!
Jesus went to Mount Tabor and was transfigured. Here, God said."This is my own dear Son with whom I am pleased. Listen to Him." This place is so sacred because it is a memorial of Jesus' divinity just as the Garden of Gethsemane is the site profound for Jesus' humanity.
I looked up at the mosaic apse of the basilica depicting the scene of the Transfiguration. There were Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John. I stood motionless, speechless enveloped with the awesome presence of God. It seemed I heard His voice speaking to me directly,"Listen to Him." I was consumed in prayer of praise and thanksgiving - basking in God's glory!
Like Peter, I said,"Lord, it is good to be here.Thank you for bringing me here." All at once I thought of my family, all my loved ones. I wanted them to enjoy the moment with me. I wanted them to set foot on Mount Tabor, on the mountaintop and feel God's embrace in its panorama. I gazed at the waters of the Sea of Galilee. I remembered St. Peter's fish - tilapia and the abundant life forms in the lake because of the generaous, giving quality of its nature.The Sea of Galilee funnels some of its water to its environs and thus has remained vibrant and fresh since Jesus' time. Unlike its generous counterpart, howeveer, the Dead Sea is just that- dead- dead to the world, the lowest spot on earth where nothing lives or grows. It keeps every drop of water it receives from the river Jordan which is also the source of water of the Sea of Galilee. How these bodies of water dramatize the rewards of hospitable open hands and the miserly closed fists of the various peoples of this earth!
The song of St. Francis reverberated in my ears, "Make me a channel of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring Your love. Where there is discord, harmony, where there is sadness, joy It is in giving that we receive...." In retrospect, I asked myself, "Am I giving enough? Is stewardship a priority in my life?" I remembered the Biblle passage about some men grow richer by giving much away while those who are so cautious in extending help to those in need find themselves deprived by some means or other. It must be that open hands are ready receptacles for God's abundant blessings. Where will He put His bounty on a closed fist? I resolved to look into the matter of my own stewardship more thoroughly.
I took several long breaths of the most fresh air ever. I looked at the azure sky and the cumulus clouds meandeering by and felt the soft caress of the cool breeze. As I glanced in every direction catching glimpses of the greenery and hilly slopes against the quiet waters of the Sea of Galilee, I felt God's Presence like never before. I "floated" in the all-embracing love of God! Again, I bowed my head in prayer,"Thank you, Lord, thank you." I opened my eyes and savored the scenery of verdant valleys below. What a stark contrast with the "valleys" of the city - the careening cars in busy streets, the homeless dotting the sidewalks, the hurried steps of time-constrained office workers, merchants, housewives doing their earrands and many more which make up the hustle and bustle of everyday city life.
Slowly, I straightened myself, pulled my shoulders back and held high my chin. I stood tall with the assurance and confidence of my own humble transformation, so to speak. I walked away ready to face everything buoyed by the memory of Jesus' transformed - Glowing with the Radiance of God!
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