Our Lady's Intercession
by VP
Posted on Sunday January 19, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Wedding at Cana, Jacques Tissot
"And the Mother of Jesus was there."-JOHN ii. 2.
1. The incident of the marriage feast.
2. How like a Mother was Mary there.
3. The same loving Mother is she to us.
4. Her intercession for us cannot be refused by her divine Son.
"A plain, simple, but very consoling lesson is taught us in this Gospel, for it reveals to us the thoughtful, tender kindness of one who is not only the Mother of Jesus, but our own blessed Mother too. Recall the incident. Our Blessed Lord has just called the Apostles. The day after our Lord had been baptized, John the Baptist, as the Gospel tells us (John 1. 36), saw Him walking, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." And two of his disciples, who heard this, followed Jesus. St. Andrew was one of them, and he brought Peter to the Lord. And the following day he brought Philip, and he brought Nathaniel. And the third day there was a marriage at Cana of Galilee, "and the Mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage.”
Our Lady was a simple guest there, but, whilst others were enjoying themselves, she, with that tender mother's heart of hers, was thinking of the comfort and happiness of others. She noticed that the wine was running short, and unbidden, uncalled for, just simply to prevent the confusion and shame of the bride and bridegroom, she quietly tells Jesus that they have no wine. In spite of His remonstrance that His hour had not yet come, in spite of a seeming refusal, her simple request obtains the favour of His first public miracle. Unnoticed by the others, she quietly tells the waiters, "Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye." "Jesus saith to them, "Fill the waterpots with water". And they filled them to the brim. And Jesus saith to them, "Draw out now and carry to the chief steward of the feast". And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew, who had drawn the water; the chief steward called the bridegroom, and saith to him, "Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him."
This was His Mother Mary's doing! It is this same loving Mother that we pray to so often! If, without a prayer, and just for kindness' sake, she obtained the working of this first great miracle, what will she not do for us? There was no need for her to have done it. She was not bound to do it. She was not asked to do it.
How, then, can she refuse us or "despise our petitions in our necessities," when she did this, unbidden, just to prevent shame and confusion to others? Our necessities are so great. It is a matter of life and death to us eternal life, eternal death - that we should not give way to temptation, remain in sin, die in sin; can our Blessed Lady refuse to deliver us from such dangers? Even without our turning to her she is anxious for us; how much more, then, if we pray to her! If we cry to her for help, to avoid sin, to repent, to give our hearts to God, to endeavour to persevere day after day, can our Mother turn a deaf ear to our supplications? Oh! Mary, Mother of the Saviour, remember thy kindness at Cana, and be to us the same loving Mother now. Your request was granted, although His hour had not yet come. Ever since He has been listening to you, and never yet refused you, for He wills that all grace should come to us through you, O blessed Mother.
What daily, hourly prayers should we offer to our Lady; what confidence and trust we should place in her love and her power! Obtain for us, blessed Mother of God, the grace always to turn to thee-like little children to their mother-in all anxieties, fears, and dangers.
"And the Mother of Jesus was there." Let us impress those words on our soul, and endeavour to make them true in our own regard at all times, day after day.
In life, oh! may Mary Mother be there. At Baptism, when we became children of God, our souls had Mary there then. And she remained with us during our childhood, till, perhaps at last, some sad day, we drove our Mother away by mortal sin. But when we had repented, and received Holy Communion, again the Mother of Jesus was with us. How patiently she remains with us, guarding us, helping us, as we battle with temptation, beginning again after failures, rising after little falls, doing our daily duties with a good intention. This is the way to holy perseverance, which we must endeavour to obtain with Mary our Mother's constant help.
And at death-the time of all for a mother to care for her child - oh! may the Mother of Jesus be there.
Then all the prayers of our lifetime will intercede for us; the good habits formed in life will come to our aid; in our hearts, when voice may fail, we shall call upon her to stay with us. How safe shall we be in the arms of our Mother, how blessed the end!
And when we stand before the Judge, please God, may "the Mother of Jesus be there." For the last time she will plead for us, and may it be her happy privilege then," after this our exile is ended, to show us the blessed fruit of her womb, Jesus." Oh! that glorious, never-ending day of eternity in heaven, and Mary the Mother of Jesus will be there." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
The Perils of the Way
by VP
Posted on Sunday January 19, 2025 at 12:00AM in Meditations
"1. Out into the darkness of the night went Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Can these homeless wanderers really be the three whose value in the eyes of Heaven made all the rest of the world insignificant as a grain of sand compared with a continent? Yes, this is God's way of treating those whom He loves best. Herod, in his luxurious palace, is feasting and reveling in luxury and ease: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are outcasts from their home, shivering in the cold and stormy night. How foolish, then, to desire ease and comfort, or to regret the hardships and disagreeables that befall me!
2. Whither were they going? To Egypt, along an unknown road to a distant and idolatrous country; not knowing the way, not knowing how long they should find subsistence from day to day. What was the trial of Abraham compared with this? He went forth with an escort of servants and camels, and with tents and a store of good things for the way; the Divine Son of God and His parents, empty-handed and alone. Compassionate the Holy Family in their sufferings by the way.
3. What were those sufferings? Often they knew not where to lay their heads, and had to sleep under the starry sky. Often they had to beg their bread. Sometimes they were in danger from the rough banditti who infested the road. Sometimes the wild beasts howled around them. This is a model of the life of the Christian: sometimes deprived of all spiritual sustenance and of all human consolation; sometimes fiercely attacked by men, sometimes by evil passions and the rage of Satan; yet always safe under the watchful care of God."
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
Jan 19: Return of Oriental Separatists (Church Unity Octave Prayer)
by VP
Posted on Sunday January 19, 2025 at 12:00AM in Poetry
"Once more thy guiding star place in the sky,
And lead - lead back the Magi of the East
To thy One See on earth through which from High
Thou speakest to the world's greatest and least:
Communion with the Apostolic See
Will banish schism in true unity.
"Ut omnes unum sint," O lord, we pray
That all be drawn within thy one, true fold,
Back to thy Church - from which the wand'rers stray
And the true Faith she keeps like saints of Old.
O bring them back, Good Shepherd of the sheep;
And rouse the heathen nations from their sleep. Amen"
Source: Catholic Hymns for the People, James Martin Raker 1919 -
Prayer intention: Return of Oriental Separatists to the one fold of St. Peter, the one Shepherd
- Ant. That they all may be one, as
Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that
the world may believe that Thou has sent me.
℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,
℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.
Reflection:
"On this second day of the Unity octave our prayers are for a special group cut off from the Church, but united to her in may ways. These dissidents of the East who can trace their spiritual lineage to Ignatius of Antioch, John Chrystostom, the two Gregorys, John Damascene and so many other illustrious saints, have the seven sacraments and the Mass; they have bishops and priests with valid orders. They treasure a deep devotion to the Mother of God, but they lack the fullness of love because they reject the oneness of government and authority in the Holy Father.
Among the so-called Orthodox there are many manifestations of love for Mary. The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Byzantine in style, is the most popular representation of Mary in the Near East and before the Bolsheviks and Communists defamed her image it was most widely venerated in "Holy Russia." Despite the suffering and persecution of the present hour an ardent love for Mary lives on in the hearts of the Russian people and of others enslaved by the same oppressor, with smuggled pictures and hidden icons that testify to a love that cannot be uprooted by force. The flames now concealed will burst forth again and the Bogoroditza (She-who-gave-birth-to-God) will once more reign as Queen and Mother.
Even in the Kremlin there is a church building dedicated to Mary under the title of the Assumption. Assuredly it is not used for divine services today, but in the future it will again re-echo the prayers and hymns in honor of the Mother of God and the prophecy of a holy priest and Apostles of Mary, Maximilian Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv., will be fulfilled: "One day you will see the statue of the Immaculate atop the Kremlin."
When the Catholics of Zhorimir, Russia, asked Pope Leo XIII for a copy of the most popular picture of Our Lady of Rome, the Pontiff sent a copy of the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He likewise made it the official seal of the Pontifical Mission for Russia. The same inscription is used as the cover of a publication, Balcan, devoted to the study of Christian Unity, it adorns the walls of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Rome, an inspiration for the Europeans and Asiatics who gather there to discuss plans for reunion.
In 1931 Pope Piux XI issued an encyclical, Lux Veritatis, on the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus. His reference to Our Lady at the end of the document is most appropriate at the present time:
Under the auspices of the Heavenly Queen, We desire all to beg for a very special favor of the greatest importance, that she who is loved and venerated with such ardent piety by the people of the East, may not permit that they should be unhappily wandering and still kept apart from the unity of the Church, and thus from her Son, whose vicar We are. (...) Would, moreover, that very soon the happiest of days might dawn when the Virgin Mother of God, looking through her image so exquisitely worked in mosaic under Our Predecessor, Sixtus III, in the Liberian Basilica, and restored by Us to its original beauty, would see the separated children returning to venerate her with Us with one mind and one faith." Lux Veritatis, Dec. 25 1931
Source: Father Titius Crannis, S.A. The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 130, Herman Joseph Heuser Catholic University of America Press, 1954
