Month: August 2021

The feast of the Queenship of Mary was established sixty seven years ago by Pope Pius XII on the 22nd of August, giving closure to the octave of Mary which began last Sunday with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today’s feast fits nicely with the readings that speak of Spirit and life. Mary carried the Living Word and the life-giving Spirit of God in her Son, Jesus.
Mary understood intimately that Jesus was Spirit in the flesh and the definition of the living Word of God the Father. 

Let us pray together the following, written by Pope Francis in 2013, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, for her intercession, to be filled with the Spirit and be more effective instruments of Jesus here in this world.

Mary, Virgin and Mother,

you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,

welcomed the word of life

in the depths of your humble faith:

as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,

help us to say our own “yes”

to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,

to proclaim the good news of Jesus.

Filled with Christ’s presence,

you brought joy to John the Baptist,

making him exult in the womb of his mother.

Brimming over with joy,

you sang of the great things done by God.

Standing at the foot of the cross

with unyielding faith,

you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection,

and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit

so that the evangelizing Church might be born.

Obtain for us now a new ardor born of the resurrection,

that we may bring to all the Gospel of life

which triumphs over death.

Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,

that the gift of unfading beauty

may reach every man and woman. 

Virgin of listening and contemplation,

Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,

pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are,

that she may never be closed in on herself

or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.

Star of the new evangelization,

help us to bear radiant witness to communion,

service, ardent and generous faith,

justice and love of the poor,

that the joy of the Gospel

may reach to the ends of the earth,

illuminating even the fringes of our world.

Mother of the living Gospel,

wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones,

pray for us.

Amen. Alleluia!
Pope Francis, Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013)

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As a child, my parents taught me to tithe 10% of every dime I made. I started delivering newspapers when I was nine years old and babysitting when I was eleven or twelve, so each week I would bring my contribution to church.

My dad was on the stewardship committee at our parish for many years and he loved to tell the story of me as a child leaning over to my mom asking if I could borrow $1.20 to put in the collection basket because I had earned $12 that week and had forgotten my wallet.

I share this not to toot my own horn, but rather to express that there is something truly beautiful about tithing and it has helped me to keep God first by cutting Him the first check right off the top.

My husband and I have been through some tough times for sure. Unemployment, underemployment, a signed work contract that wasn’t honored, renters who didn’t pay, people who trashed portions of our home, etc. But not once have we been without food to eat or a roof over our heads and very seldom have we even been in debt.

If any of you are familiar with Dave Ramsey, he suggests doing a monthly $0 budget, where you keep track of all income versus all expenses and they should balance out to $0. I have been doing this for quite some time, and somehow, I always end up in the red. (BOO!) But what never ceases to amaze me and what I don’t fully understand, is that even though I come out in the negative on paper, I always have money in the bank left over! It is almost like God multiplies my own little loaves and fishes each and every month! God is good!

I truly believe this is a phenomenon of God’s generosity. He takes my measly 10% and makes sure I never go without.

God shows similar generosity in today’s First Reading. Ruth, a poor foreigner who left her family and her native land to take care of her mother-in-law, was blessed in abundance. Boaz recognized her virtue and took her as his wife and she was never in need again. Most likely, it didn’t occurred to her that she was being generous, she was just acting out of love, but God rewarded her nonetheless. Not only did she enjoy financial stability, she became the great-grandmother of King David!

Today’s Psalm declares: “See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.” The Lord wants to bless us so much more than we can imagine. We may have to weather poverty or storms or difficulties, but we can always find God’s hand in our lives, no matter what we are going through.

So whether it be by tithing, taking care of a loved one or serving in a ministry God has called us to, let us strive to be generous with God. Then sit back and see just how generous He is with you!

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In the Gospel reading today, the Pharisees asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. He responded: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This pretty much sums up all the commandments, does it not? We must love our Lord with all of our being. And we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It seems easy. But, like many things in life, it’s easier said than done. First, let’s understand what love really means, as lots of people use the word to indicate a strong desire for something (like pizza or chocolate) or to indicate that they especially like something. While we can really like chocolate, adore koalas, or be fond of an excellent movie, that isn’t the meaning of love that Christ was referring to. The love Christ meant goes much deeper than a strong desire or proclivity for something.  He wants us to love Him above all else. And that love requires action. If we truly love God above all else, that means we pray throughout the day, we talk about our faith proudly, we go to confession regularly, we cherish the reception of His body in the Eucharist, and we glorify Him in all we do. In short, we develop a relationship with God, and we work on strengthening that relationship every single day. That is the love He commands from us. Loving others as we love ourselves means that we want what’s best for the other person. It means that we never wish any harm to come to them. We don’t speak ill of them. We treat them kindly and with compassion. And when Christ said to love our neighbor, He didn’t mean just our friends. Friends are easy to love. He meant everyone around us. That means we have to love the cashier at the grocery store, the bothersome person at work, the politician we dislike, or the person who has wronged us.  That is the hard part of God’s commandment. But we must also remember that loving others does not mean condoning bad behavior. It means treating them kindly, praying for them, serving as a good example, and teaching them about God. Indeed, we must be the light of Christ to them. When we faithfully follow these two commandments, we will not only find ourselves growing closer to God, but we will also make our world a better place. And this will lead to an eternity with God that begins with “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Contact the author