Maria: Ina ng Awa
October 9, 2016
by Jose Miguel Pacheco
by Jose Miguel Pacheco
Poster by Dominic Dimapawi.
Photo from http://bentbow.blogspot.com/2013/11/marian-monday-our-lady-of-la-naval-de_11.html
Photo from http://bentbow.blogspot.com/2013/11/marian-monday-our-lady-of-la-naval-de_11.html
took on this role, not looking at it as a burden, but as a task she must carry out because of love and out of love Christ – who is Love and Mercy himself in the Flesh – was born into the world to salvage humanity from the clutches of sin.
Mary’s motherhood to Jesus was not easy; in fact it was difficult to endure for any typical person. When Mary and Joseph went to the temple to present the Child Jesus, as according to the custom of the time, a man, Simeon prophesied about the pain and suffering Christ must endure as he is the promised Messiah. How painful it was to Mary to hear such prophesy be told about the Baby Jesus she holds in her arms, how she must endure to see the suffering and death of her only Son for the redemption of mankind? As much as the nature of Christ as true God and true Man are true in the fullest of sense, so does the same prove for the Motherhood of Mary to our Lord Jesus. Can we even imagine Mary’s pain at the foot of the Cross, to see the Son whom she loved the most, whom she raised and nursed, be offered as the ultimate sacrifice for the people who to this day continue to turn their backs to him through sin? How ungrateful are we to such offering of Jesus! How insensitive are we to the pain of the Mother who loved him most!
But despite this, Mary loved us for Jesus loved us most. Before dying on the Cross, Jesus told Mary: “Behold your Son”, and to John, our representative at the foot of the Cross: “BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER.” At this very moment, Jesus did not ask us to only gaze at her but commands us: “TAKE HER AS YOUR MOTHER” and at the very same, entrusted all of us to her maternal care.
Mary is our Mother. Christ himself gave her to us to become our mother too. How unworthy are we that the Mother of our Lord should become our Mother too! But this Mother who he entrusted us to did not assume motherhood just because our Lord asked her to but because SHE LOVED US TOO – SHE LOVES US TOO. Mary shared in Christ’s mission to become the promised Messiah. She witnessed what her Son had to endure for us. Because of this, she loved us too.
Mary echoes to us the love of Jesus. In today’s Gospel for the Solemnity of Our Lady of La Naval, we saw how Mary and Joseph looked for Jesus as he was lost for about three days while they were on their way home after the Passover festival. Again, how painful it was for Mary to lose her twelve year old son and how eager was she to do everything to find Him. When she finally found Jesus in the temple, engaging in discourse with the old teachers, he told her: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Jesus knew what he was doing – it was his preparation for his Messianic mission. Mary, although worried and filled with anxiety with what has happened over the past days, knew too that this was part of the prophecy of Simeon, that she must take part in the mission of her son, which will be fully fulfilled at the Cross.
Mary learned MERCY from no other than Jesus. In that encounter at the temple when she found Jesus, she knew that what he was doing was not for himself but an initial step in the salvation of mankind. As in the Gospel for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus thought not of himself but those people he healed, even a Samaritan, who were hated by the Jews during that time, Mary became an intercessor which unites Christians from the Universal Church. Mary looks to us with the eyes of the Mercy of Jesus.
As we are afflicted by the invitation of sin and the evils of the world today, Mary turns her eyes to the valley of tears in which we live. She gave the Rosary to St. Dominic for us to cling to in times when we feel hopeless and in despair. The Rosary is the instrument of the Mother of Mercy to bring souls back to Jesus. Mary’s Rosary is not a devotion focused on herself but rather a devotion which leads us to Jesus! When we pray the Holy Rosary, Mary leads us to have confidence to call on her Son, Jesus. Our merciful Mother tells us that the mercy of Jesus is far greater than our sins! If we will but turn away from our selfishness and worldliness, we will be able to find the love Jesus reserves for us.
Mary is honored by all of heaven and all of earth as Queen. But we must realize that aside from her Queenship, as the highest honor of our race, the chosen one above all creation, Mary is more of a Mother than a Queen. Although we see the Virgin of La Naval dressed with the finest of robes, bejeweled with the richest jewelry, dazzling with the brightest of diamonds, and entrusted with a crowns and scepters like the most powerful of monarchs, it is what she holds in her hands that tells us that what we gaze at is an image of not only a queen but a MOTHER. It is not about the baston y centro on her left hand, but the Niño Jesus on her right, to whom she leads us to. Whenever a lowly subject would go before the presence of the Queen, no subject is dismissed but rather, such poor unworthy soul is shown JESUS, the King of All Kings, the great Lover of our Souls who has raised us from our unworthy state and raises us to call God Abba Father, to whom Mary has offered her life to in love and obedience.
Today, on the day of Our Lady, come and join in the festivities, pray the rosary, attend the grand procession, witness the majestic re-enthronement of the Blessed Mother, sing the Invocacion and join in bidding her the final Despedida a la Virgen for this year, but do realize that these are but all externals. Mary leads us to Santo Domingo not merely for all these but to ENCOUNTER CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST. May through our Lady, our Queen, our Mother of Mercy, our hearts be brought closer to Jesus. May we join her in echoing the song of praise to God and may it resound through all creation through us. May we remember that Mary always leads us to Jesus. She is our intercessor, our guide, our short-cut to the Heart of Jesus. She was given to us as our Mother, may we see finally see her raising Christ to us, our Beacon Light, when we near the end of our earthly journey. Amen.
Mary’s motherhood to Jesus was not easy; in fact it was difficult to endure for any typical person. When Mary and Joseph went to the temple to present the Child Jesus, as according to the custom of the time, a man, Simeon prophesied about the pain and suffering Christ must endure as he is the promised Messiah. How painful it was to Mary to hear such prophesy be told about the Baby Jesus she holds in her arms, how she must endure to see the suffering and death of her only Son for the redemption of mankind? As much as the nature of Christ as true God and true Man are true in the fullest of sense, so does the same prove for the Motherhood of Mary to our Lord Jesus. Can we even imagine Mary’s pain at the foot of the Cross, to see the Son whom she loved the most, whom she raised and nursed, be offered as the ultimate sacrifice for the people who to this day continue to turn their backs to him through sin? How ungrateful are we to such offering of Jesus! How insensitive are we to the pain of the Mother who loved him most!
But despite this, Mary loved us for Jesus loved us most. Before dying on the Cross, Jesus told Mary: “Behold your Son”, and to John, our representative at the foot of the Cross: “BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER.” At this very moment, Jesus did not ask us to only gaze at her but commands us: “TAKE HER AS YOUR MOTHER” and at the very same, entrusted all of us to her maternal care.
Mary is our Mother. Christ himself gave her to us to become our mother too. How unworthy are we that the Mother of our Lord should become our Mother too! But this Mother who he entrusted us to did not assume motherhood just because our Lord asked her to but because SHE LOVED US TOO – SHE LOVES US TOO. Mary shared in Christ’s mission to become the promised Messiah. She witnessed what her Son had to endure for us. Because of this, she loved us too.
Mary echoes to us the love of Jesus. In today’s Gospel for the Solemnity of Our Lady of La Naval, we saw how Mary and Joseph looked for Jesus as he was lost for about three days while they were on their way home after the Passover festival. Again, how painful it was for Mary to lose her twelve year old son and how eager was she to do everything to find Him. When she finally found Jesus in the temple, engaging in discourse with the old teachers, he told her: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Jesus knew what he was doing – it was his preparation for his Messianic mission. Mary, although worried and filled with anxiety with what has happened over the past days, knew too that this was part of the prophecy of Simeon, that she must take part in the mission of her son, which will be fully fulfilled at the Cross.
Mary learned MERCY from no other than Jesus. In that encounter at the temple when she found Jesus, she knew that what he was doing was not for himself but an initial step in the salvation of mankind. As in the Gospel for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus thought not of himself but those people he healed, even a Samaritan, who were hated by the Jews during that time, Mary became an intercessor which unites Christians from the Universal Church. Mary looks to us with the eyes of the Mercy of Jesus.
As we are afflicted by the invitation of sin and the evils of the world today, Mary turns her eyes to the valley of tears in which we live. She gave the Rosary to St. Dominic for us to cling to in times when we feel hopeless and in despair. The Rosary is the instrument of the Mother of Mercy to bring souls back to Jesus. Mary’s Rosary is not a devotion focused on herself but rather a devotion which leads us to Jesus! When we pray the Holy Rosary, Mary leads us to have confidence to call on her Son, Jesus. Our merciful Mother tells us that the mercy of Jesus is far greater than our sins! If we will but turn away from our selfishness and worldliness, we will be able to find the love Jesus reserves for us.
Mary is honored by all of heaven and all of earth as Queen. But we must realize that aside from her Queenship, as the highest honor of our race, the chosen one above all creation, Mary is more of a Mother than a Queen. Although we see the Virgin of La Naval dressed with the finest of robes, bejeweled with the richest jewelry, dazzling with the brightest of diamonds, and entrusted with a crowns and scepters like the most powerful of monarchs, it is what she holds in her hands that tells us that what we gaze at is an image of not only a queen but a MOTHER. It is not about the baston y centro on her left hand, but the Niño Jesus on her right, to whom she leads us to. Whenever a lowly subject would go before the presence of the Queen, no subject is dismissed but rather, such poor unworthy soul is shown JESUS, the King of All Kings, the great Lover of our Souls who has raised us from our unworthy state and raises us to call God Abba Father, to whom Mary has offered her life to in love and obedience.
Today, on the day of Our Lady, come and join in the festivities, pray the rosary, attend the grand procession, witness the majestic re-enthronement of the Blessed Mother, sing the Invocacion and join in bidding her the final Despedida a la Virgen for this year, but do realize that these are but all externals. Mary leads us to Santo Domingo not merely for all these but to ENCOUNTER CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST. May through our Lady, our Queen, our Mother of Mercy, our hearts be brought closer to Jesus. May we join her in echoing the song of praise to God and may it resound through all creation through us. May we remember that Mary always leads us to Jesus. She is our intercessor, our guide, our short-cut to the Heart of Jesus. She was given to us as our Mother, may we see finally see her raising Christ to us, our Beacon Light, when we near the end of our earthly journey. Amen.