Mary

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Friday, 12 September 2025 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, the Mother of God, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us today are reminded of the need for all of us to follow the good examples of Mary in how she herself has lived her life faithfully and obeyed the Lord in all things. Mary is not only just honoured because she is the Mother of God and the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour, but also because her faithful example can indeed lead us all with certainty towards her Son, and if we walk with her, through her guidance and intercession, we can certainly find the best way towards Heaven.

In our first reading today, from the reading for this Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Galatia and Ephesus in which he reminded them all of how each and every one of them were the children of God, Who is their loving Father, the One Who has always cared for them, showing them all His providence and love, His compassion and forgiveness. And therefore, having been shown such generous love and compassion, that is why all of them and hence, all of us whom the Lord had called and chosen, we ought to show that same attitude and love in our own daily living, in how we interact with one another, in showing genuine love and care to everyone around us.

Then, all of us are reminded that this is what Mary herself had shown in her life, and why again she is indeed our role model and example to follow, because Mary’s love and compassion is a reflection of God’s love for us, and she is indeed showing us all what it truly means to be loving and compassionate as a Christian, as a follower and disciple of the Lord. And her great love for her Son, her selfless giving of herself, all that she has done in committing herself wholeheartedly, all these had shown us the perfect Christian discipleship and path, and which we should be inspired to follow and walk through as well. Today as we honour her Most Holy Name, let us all seek Mary as the role model and example, inspiration and as someone whose Name we can utter whenever we encounter difficulties and hardships in life.

From our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel passage according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when Mary visited Elizabeth, her cousin who was then heavily pregnant just as Mary herself by then had also conceived, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Saviour and Son of God within her. And we heard how the very moment that Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby within her, St. John the Baptist, jumped and rejoiced in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth recognised her, as the Mother of the Saviour, the Mother of God Himself, coming to her with the Good News of the world’s salvation. And then we heard how they praised God for everything that He had done for their sake, all the providence and love that He had shown them and the whole world.

We can see how profound this moment and greeting is in the story of our salvation, and it is also a kind reminder for us that why we honour Mary and put her in a very important place in our Christian faith because of the unique role that she has been entrusted with, and her full obedience, faith and trust in the Lord, which made her to be the holy vessel through whom the Saviour of the world would enter into our presence and midst. And this was why the Lord prepared her well in advance, setting her aside to be made hallowed, worthy and suitable to bear within her, the Divine Lord Himself, because the One Whom she bore into this world was not just merely a Man, but is also God Himself, incarnate in the flesh, both Divine and Man, in the person of Jesus Christ.

That was why Mary was conceived without original sin, by the singular grace of God, set aside as the perfect and worthy vessel to bear the Son of God Himself. And throughout her life, Mary was full of grace, as she remained fully committed and aligned with God, not suffering any taint or corruption of sin. And this is also why, just as her Son’s Name is truly sacred and holy, therefore, Mary’s Name is truly holy and sacred as well. And we honour her name just as we honour someone’s mother and if we respect that someone, then we will respect that person’s mother too. We cannot truly respect and love someone if we do not love that person’s mother or other persons significant to that person. In the same way therefore, we cannot truly love the Lord Jesus unless we also love and respect His mother as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, and more importantly, the fact is that the Lord Himself has entrusted His own Mother to us all, as our own Mother, for from His Cross, at the moment of His supreme sacrifice, when He laid down His life on that Cross for our salvation and redemption, He looked upon His Mother Mary and His beloved disciple, St. John the Apostle, and He spoke to them, telling St. John that he would be a son to Mary, His Mother, and also to His Mother, that she would take St. John as her own son. Through this symbolic action of entrustment, with St. John the Apostle representing all of us the disciples and followers of our Lord, and all of mankind, the Lord Himself has given to us His own Mother to be our own Mother, and us as children to Mary, who would henceforth treat us as her own.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all entrust ourselves to Mary, our loving Mother, who has loved us so much and has always been concerned about us that she has always interceded for us, her own beloved children, pleading for our sake before her Son’s Throne in Heaven. Let us all therefore seek Mary’s help and guidance, asking for her to help us and guide us in our journey towards salvation in her Son, and trust in her ever great and wonderful love for us. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Friday, 12 September 2025 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

Luke 6 : 39-42

At that time, Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye, while you have a log in your eye, and are not conscious of it?”

“How can you say to your neighbour, ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you cannot remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbour’s eye.”

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Luke 1 : 39-47

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women; and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you, who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour!”

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Friday, 12 September 2025 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to YHVH, “O YHVH, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I praise YHVH Who counsels me; even at night, my inmost self instructs me. I keep YHVH always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence, the fullness of joy, at Your right hand, happiness forever.

Alternative Psalm (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour!

He has looked upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!

From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

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Friday, 12 September 2025 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

1 Timothy 1 : 1-2, 12-14

From Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, by a command of God, our Saviour, and of Christ Jesus, our Hope, to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father, and Christ Jesus, Our Lord, give you grace, mercy and peace.

I give thanks to Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Who is my strength, Who has considered me trustworthy, and appointed me to His service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a fanatical enemy. However, He took mercy on me, because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of Our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son. He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God.

And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! That is, Father! You yourself are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Ephesians 1 : 3-6

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing. God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us, in love, to be His adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness, which He granted us His beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

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Monday, 8 September 2025 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an occasion in which we celebrate the birth of Mary, the Mother of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and since we believe that Jesus is truly the Son of God and the Divine Word of God Incarnate, therefore, we mark on this day the birth of the Mother of God herself. To those who did not understand fully the importance and significance of Mary’s role in the story of our salvation, they all may indeed wonder why we spend so much time honouring her and celebrating her birthday today, but once they understand everything that happened through Mary, by her faith and obedience, then they shall appreciate why we celebrate this occasion.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Micah, we heard of the words of the Lord made through the prophet Micah sent to the people of God in the southern kingdom of Judah, in which the Lord gave His encouragement to His people, who had been waiting for a long time for the coming of the salvation and deliverance which the Lord had promised to His people. God showed that He is always true to His promises and He would never abandon those who are truly dear and beloved to Him, and He therefore told them how the Saviour would come, although it would still be in the future, and this Saviour would come in the smallest town of the tribe of Judah, in Bethlehem, which happened to be also the city where David, the famous King of Israel came from.

Through this arrangement we can see how God had prepared and planned all things, getting ready everything for our good and benefit, bringing upon us all the manifestation of His love perfectly, made evident and tangible to us through His Son, Who became incarnate in the flesh, becoming truly approachable to us, becoming for us the manifestation of God’s ever generous and enduring love, which He has lavished on us, and made truly real, and sent unto us, not through glorious appearance, but by the simple manifestation through a humble Woman in Nazareth, that of Mary, the one whom God Himself had prepared well in advance to be the one to bear the Saviour of all, the Son of God Himself. And by this great honour, of being the Mother who bore the Son of God within her, as His Mother, we honour Mary and her birthday today.

In the other first reading today, which is the second reading for the case of a Solemnity, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, God’s grace and love had indeed been manifested in this world, from the perspective opposite to that of the prophet Micah. While the prophet Micah spoke of things that had not yet happened, a few centuries prior to the Lord’s coming, St. Paul spoke from the perspective of those who have seen, witnessed, heard and known of everything which the Lord had planned and how He had accomplished them perfectly through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all Who had been born into this world. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the whole long list of the genealogy of Our Lord and Saviour Himself, listing down His descent through Joseph, His foster father, through the House of David and eventually to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs of the people of God, the Israelites, and then further back all the way to Adam, the first man that God had created. Through this long genealogy, St. Matthew wanted to highlight that the Lord Jesus, Son of God and the Saviour of all was indeed born of the human race, born as the fulfilment of everything that God had promised to His beloved people, to Adam, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to David and all the Covenant He had made.

And all these became possible because of Mary’s role in accepting her part in the story of salvation. She has accepted what the Lord Himself has revealed to her through the Archangel Gabriel, the Good News of the long awaited salvation which had become manifested in Mary’s acceptance of her role and by the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Saviour has become manifested in the flesh in the hallowed womb of Mary. God has blessed Mary above all other children of mankind, because Mary herself would become the bearer of the Saviour, the Son of God Himself, and hence, as the bearer of the New Covenant of God, as the New Ark of the Covenant, Mary must be hallowed and set aside much as the original Ark of the Covenant had been made from the finest materials and blessed by God.

The Church believes and teaches that Mary has been conceived without the taint of original sin, in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, as this is made by the singular grace of God granted to her, nothing being impossible for God, to keep sin away from corrupting her, unlike all the other children of mankind which had been corrupted by sin due to the disobedience of our forefathers. It is unfitting for the one to bear the Lord Himself within her to be tainted and corrupted by sin, and that was why the Lord preserved Mary and set her aside in this manner. And this is why we rejoice today at her birthday celebration, marking the moment that after she had been conceived without sin in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, the bearer of the world’s salvation was finally shown to the world at last.

Our honour and respect, veneration and praise for Mary is not just based on her role as the Mother of God and the special nature of her conception, but also her total obedience to God and complete love for the Lord, which is why she is truly ‘Full of Grace’, being full of God’s grace and love. And we look up to Mary as our loving Mother and also as the perfect role model for each and every one of us to follow in becoming good and faithful disciples of our Lord. Mary’s perfect obedience and faith, her great and constant love for the Lord, and also the most wonderful love that she has shown to her Son, and which she also now shows to us all, her adopted children, are examples for us to follow so that we may also live our lives in the same way that she had lived hers with great faith.

May our Blessed and loving Mother Mary continue to show us all her love and inspire in us all a strong faith and devotion to her Son, our Lord and Saviour. May she continue to pray and intercede for us all her children, all sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. As we thank the Lord for her birthday today, let us all continue to strive to be more like her in all things, in faith, hope and love, now and always. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Monday, 8 September 2025 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 1-16, 18-23

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.

Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.

Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 1 : 18-23

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.

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Monday, 8 September 2025 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 12 : 6ab, 6cd

But I put my trust in Your unfailing love, my heart will rejoice on seeing Your salvation.

I will sing to YHVH, for He has been good to me!

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Monday, 8 September 2025 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Micah 5 : 1-4a

But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah; from you shall I raise the One Who is to rule over Israel. For He comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

YHVH, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she, who is to give birth, has given birth. Then the rest of His deported brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand, and shepherd His flock with the strength of YHVH, in the glorious Name of YHVH, His God.

They will live safely, while He wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.

Alternative reading (Second Reading if this Feast is celebrated as a Solemnity)

Romans 8 : 28-30

We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called, according to His plan. Those whom He knew beforehand, He has also predestined, to be like His Son, similar to Him, so, that, He may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And so, those whom God predestined, He called, and those whom He called, He makes righteous, and to those whom He makes righteous, He will give His glory.

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Friday, 22 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a week after the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when we celebrated the moment when Mary, the Mother of God was assumed or taken up body and soul into Heaven. And this is why we honour Mary as the greatest one among all the saints, the one who is ever closest to her Son’s Throne in Heaven. Why is that so, brothers and sisters? That is because Mary as the Mother of God Himself, the Mother of the Son of God, the King and Ruler of Heaven, is nothing less or other than the Queen Mother of Heaven, and she is indeed Queen, having been given that honour and distinction by the virtue of her Son being the King of Kings, the Master of all Creation.

There were those and even until this very day, those who still question, criticise and attack how we believe in Mary and her role in the whole story of salvation of mankind, and what is the place that she has in our Christian conscience and world. Some criticised our faith and belief because they said that we are making Mary into like a goddess and on par with God, and that we worship Mary in the manner that we worship God. But this is where lack of awareness and understanding of the role of Mary and how Christians truly differentiate between worship and veneration is something that is really important to understand or else we may misunderstand everything about Mary. Unfortunately the reality is that even many among us all as Christians have not truly understood who Mary truly is, and why we give her such great honour.

Let us all first look upon the Scripture readings today to better understand Mary’s Queenship, and we begin with the Book of the prophet Isaiah, our first reading passage today, where we heard the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the coming of the long awaited Messiah that God had promised His people, the people of Israel and Judah, telling a people that had been waiting long in the darkness that their Light would come, and the salvation that God had told them to expect would eventually come among them, and this salvation would come through the One that God sent to be among His people, to fulfil what He had told them that He would be known as Emmanuel or Immanuel, God Who is with His people. Little did everyone then know that it would be God Himself that would come to dwell with them in the flesh.

Then, from our Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Archangel Gabriel made an appearance before Mary herself at Nazareth, the moment that we celebrate as the Annunciation of the Lord, because it was at that moment the Lord revealed His long awaited Good News of salvation to all of His people, through Mary, the one whom He had prepared especially for this very important role in bearing the bearer of the Messiah, the Saviour of the whole world. And the Archangel Gabriel also revealed that Mary would become the mother of the Son of God Most High Himself, revealing the plan of God that He would become incarnate in the flesh, through the power and working of the Holy Spirit and by the will of the Father, that the Son would become flesh and incarnate, made tangible and real in this world through the cooperation of Mary, who would henceforth be known as the Mother of God.

And it is important that this Divine Motherhood of Mary is acknowledged and understood by us, as it is central to our faith and Christian identity, with our Christian beliefs stating that we believe in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour being truly Man and truly Divine, with Him being fully Man and fully Divine, having two distinct and unique natures, fully united in the one Person of Jesus, the Son of Mary. And if we believe that Jesus is truly God just as He is truly Man, then we cannot separate His Divinity from His Humanity, and Mary is not just the Mother of Jesus, the Son of Man, but also the Mother of the Son of God. And as the Mother of God, the Almighty King and Ruler of the Universe, the King of Heaven, Mary is indeed a Queen, as the Queen Mother of Heaven.

But it is important to take note that Mary did not become a Queen by her own power or right, as she is a Queen by the right of her Son, the King of Kings. In the past, as it is throughout history and even to the present day, the mother of the King has always been respected as the Queen Mother of the kingdom, even if she herself has never been a Queen Consort or Queen Regnant beforehand. And one of the examples of this would be the Queen Mother of Israel, Queen Bathsheba, the mother of King Solomon, whom the renowned King Solomon of Israel placed by her side, with her throne beside his own, and he sought her ideas and thoughts on many matters of state. She is greatly respected by both her son and by the kingdom as a whole.

That is why we truly honour Mary as Queen, because of her relationship to her Son, as well as the righteousness and virtues that she herself has shown as the exemplary servant of God. She is truly full of grace and blessed, and if we truly love and honour God, then we will also show the same love and honour to Mary, His mother as well. If we do not honour her and appreciate the role that she has in the history of our salvation, then how can we truly say that we have been faithful in God? And how can we say that we love God? Jesus and His mother Mary are so wonderfully united and connected in love that we cannot love one without loving the other, and we cannot disdain her, or else we will also disdain and dishonour the Lord Himself too.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all honour Mary as our Queen, just as she is the Queen of Heaven, the Queen of All the Saints, the Queen of Angels, and all the other queenly titles that the Church has attributed to her. Let us all ask Mary our Queen for her constant intercessions for us, because we know and we believe that she is truly the closest to her Son’s Throne in Heaven, ever praying and interceding on our behalf, all of us who are her beloved children, entrusted by God Himself as our own Mother. Mary, Holy Queen, most wonderful and loving Mother of God, pray for us all sinners, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 22 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.