+JMJ
Dear Parishioners,
Bishop Thomas once again gifted all of his priests a book for Christmas. This year, it was entitled Redeemer in the Womb by John Seward. I just finished reading it. The book gleans the best from Scriptures, the Fathers, the Saints and Church documents on the meaning of the nine months of Jesus' existence in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary before His birth. Here is a beautiful quote from a French theologian of the last century, Jean Galot, highlighting how Mary is important as Mediatrix of All Graces, when it comes to graces as the Eucharist is confected, as the priest says the words of Consecration; but also how important the Blessed Virgin is in helping us welcome the Lord's Presence into us as we receive Him in the Host. Let's stay close to the Virgin Mary, if we truly want to live with the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of Life, as the Church teaches us:
Mary is the mediatrix of the grace of Holy Communion. She is, of course, mediatrix of all graces, but in Holy Communion this mediation assumes a special form. The Eucharist is the only Sacrament in which Mary can give back her Son in person, particularly the body once formed in her womb. In the Eucharist she renews her Yes to the Incarnation and deploys all her motherly love of humanity. Her motherly affection wants to nourish her children, to give them a spiritual food enabling them to be more like her Son, to identify more completely with him. As well as collaborating in the gift of the Eucharistic Christ, Mary helps us welcome it. In the Incarnation she was the perfect model of welcoming the Word made flesh; she received Christ with all the enthusiasm of her faith and all the abandonment of her love… Consequently, the Virgin is the right person to promote the dispositions of welcome in the communicant.
Also regarding Marian devotion, Raymond Cardinal Burke, builder of the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse Wisconsin, is calling for a worldwide novena, lasting nine months until the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th. I know I am a bit late notifying you of this… but it's not too late to make a difference with your prayers. You can find the novena here at Cardinal Burke's website: cardinalburke.com. I hope you will watch the Cardinal's video explaining the reasons for the novena, and then sign up, so that your prayers can be joined to millions of others to beg Our Lady of Guadalupe for help with the evils afflicting the Church and society of our day.
Have a blessed Holy Week!
In cordibus Iesu, Mariae et Iosephus,
Father Poggemeyer