humanity

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Sunday, 8 September 2013 : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.

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Sunday, 8 September 2013 : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Wisdom 9 : 13-19

Indeed, who can know the intentions of God? Who can discern the plan of the Lord? For human reasoning is timid, our notions misleading; a perishable body is a burden for the soul and our tent of clay weighs down the active mind.

We are barely able to know about the things of earth and it is a struggle to understand what is close to us; who then may hope to understand heavenly things?

Who has ever known Your will unless You first gave him Wisdom and sent down Your Holy Spirit to him? In this way You directed the human race on the right path; they learnt what pleases You and were saved by Wisdom.

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Wednesday, 28 August 2013 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Thessalonians 2 : 9-13

Remember our labour and toll; when we preached the Gospel, we worked day and night so as not to be a burden to you. You are witnesses with God that we were holy, just, and blameless toward all of you who now believe. We warned each of you as a father warns his children; we encouraged you and urged you to adopt a way of life worthy of God who calls you to share His own glory and kingdom.

This is why we never cease giving thanks to God for, on receiving our message, you accepted it, not as human teaching, but as the word of God. That is what it really is, and as such it is at work in you who believe.

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Friday, 9 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we once again hear from the readings on the greatness of the Lord our God, and His might that He had brought into the world, to bring His beloved people from slavery and suffering, into a blissful new life, blessed by God. He had also sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour, the Messiah who would free us from the slavery of sin and death, and deliver us into a new life, an eternal life with God.

He showed His might and power through things manifest in this world, through miracles and glorious things, and also through secret and unseen methods. He brought His people Israel out of the slavery in Egypt with the power of His hand, punishing the Egyptians and their Pharaoh for their stubbornness, and He guided His people through the long journey towards the very land that He had promised them and their forefathers.

He gave His people His laws and commandments, that they will follow those laws and abandon any wickedness and evil they had committed in their past lives, and therefore begin a new life filled with love and good works, in tune with the way of the Lord. This is so that they will leave behind whatever evil that made them unworthy of being with God, and therefore allow them to truly taste the fruits of salvation and the fruits of eternal life, which God had promised us, and brought to all of us, through Christ His Son.

Yes, our Lord sent His Son to us, so that He will reveal to us, the true meaning of His laws and His commandments, that is love, and that love is none other than the infinite love He has for all of us, without exception, even the greatest sinners. Yes, especially the greatest of sinners! To the great sinners He had come, to heal us and to bring us all back into His presence and His embrace.

He is willing to look away from our faults and our sins, and instead forgive us from our sins, He made us whole again. He wants us to be with Him and follow His ways. However, the path of the Lord is not easy, and it is full of challenges and difficulties, that all of us must face, if we are to be the disciples and the people of the Lord our God. The same had happened with the people of Israel, who were led through the desert towards the Promised Land. Our lives are full of trials and tribulations just as those that Israel had faced when they were in that desert.

If we follow through and persevered through the tribulations and trials, our reward will be great, because we will be regarded highly by the Lord our God who loves us, and our faith and love in Him will be made evident for all to see. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ, as told to us in the Gospel reading today, who will come again in His glory at the end of time, will reward us greatly for our faith, for our dedication and love for Him and His beloved people.

Today, brethren, we also celebrate the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, a great martyr of the faith and a religious nun of the Discalced Carmelites who lived in the era of uncertainty, during the two World Wars, and eventually met her martyrdom in glory during the persecution of the Jews by the Nazi Germany, and because of her Jewish roots, she was martyred in 1942 along with many of the faithful people of God.

St. Teresa Benedicta was a convert from the Jewish faith into the Catholic faith, and she became a well educated and devout person who through her exposure and experience with the Catholic faith, eventually influenced her to join the Discalced Carmelites as a nun. During that time, the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler had increased their influence in Germany and took over the government, and began to persecute the Jews and many other people the Nazis had deemed as subhuman and unworthy of their ‘Germany’.

St. Teresa Benedicta strongly opposed the Nazi regime and sent letters to the Church and even the Pope, asking them to publicly condemn Hitler and his inhumane regime. She opposed the tyranny of the Nazis and their persecutions, and even though she was initially protected because of her Catholic faith, her constant opposition and standing up for the cause of the righteous eventually led to her and many of her companions, especially the Jewish converts, to be imprisoned, and eventually gassed to death by the Nazi regime.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Teresa Benedicta had stood up for the cause of the right, for justice, and for love. She had born the cross that she carried daily with her, even to her imprisonment and finally her martyrdom. Her commitment to justice and right of the oppressed is truly an example to all of us the people of God. She receives her glorious reward in heaven, and now, she as a saint, is in heaven in the glory of God, and yet she continues to pray for us, for our sake, that we too may be found worthy and join her and all the saints in heaven for eternity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have received Christ and His teachings which are passed down to us through the Apostles and their successors. Through them we have learnt of the things and the commandments that God had given to us, that we can follow and practice, in order to ensure that all of us truly have faith in God, made alive and vibrant through frequent and constant acts of charity and good works done for the sake of our fellow brethren who are in need, for material goods, and even more importantly, for our love and God’s love, channelled to them through our deeds, our words, and our actions.

May all of us follow the example of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and stand up for our faith and all the things that we believe in, opposing all forms of evil and impropriety, be it by the weak or the powerful, be it by the people outside the Church or inside the Church, and indeed, let us bring those who had gone astray and commit much evil in this life, back to the path of goodness, back to the path towards salvation, that not only that we will receive our eternal and heavenly reward, but even the greatest of these sinners, who through our work and actions, have new hope of eternal life in Christ. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 8 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 13-23

After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them You are John the Baptist, for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Bar-Jona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.

And now I say to you : You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. From that day Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; that He would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that He would be killed and be raised on the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to reproach Him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to You!” But Jesus turned to him and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

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Tuesday, 6 August 2013 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast in the Church, that is the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, when our Lord is transformed into His true divine nature on top of the mountain, and seen by the disciples Peter, James, and John, together with Moses and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets of God.

Yes, Christ our Lord and Saviour is indeed our God and divine in His nature, and He, through His birth by our Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, is also human in nature, the Word of God made flesh and man by the power of the Holy Spirit that reside within the womb of Mary. He is in His nature, fully and completely divine as well as fully and completely human at the same time, separate yet one, one in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yes, our Lord is human, and He has human emotions as well, the love and compassion He has for all of us. He was overwhelmed with sorrow when Lazarus, His beloved friend died and when He witnessed the sorrow of his sisters, Martha and Mary. He showed compassion to the people gathered to listen to His sermons and speeches when they were hungry and without food. He showed compassion and love to the widows and people with afflictions and showed to all of them His great love.

Yet He is also fully divine, the Son of God, who revealed the fullness of His glory to the three of His disciples on the mountain, an occasion which we celebrate today as the Transfiguration. He revealed the truth about Himself and the truth about His power and glory to the three disciples, showing that He is not a mere human, neither is He merely another of the prophets, nor is He merely a liar. Yes, He is the divine Son of God, the Word of God made flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit, and through the Blessed Virgin Mary, was made man, fully human, as the Son of Man.

Then, what is the significance of Moses and Elijah appearing to Jesus on the mountain during His Transfiguration and speaking to Him about His death? The significance is that Jesus is the perfect embodiment of what Moses and Elijah each had embodied, as the greatest of the servants the Lord had sent into this world. Moses embodied the Law of God, the commandments and precepts He had given to His people to follow, while Elijah embodied the teaching authority of the prophets granted by the Lord. Jesus, as the Word of God made flesh is the greatest of all the prophets, delivering directly God’s will and message to mankind, and He also perfectly fulfilled all the prophecies the prophets had told about Him, the awaited Messiah, the awaited Saviour of all men.

In Jesus Christ lie our salvation, the perfection of the Law God had granted us, that is the commandments of love, through His explanation and His revelation on the truth about God and His laws, as well as the fulfillment of the prophecies and the teachings of the prophets in all its perfection. All of these, through His birth, His life, His works and ministries, and finally completed with His suffering and death on the cross, that cross on Calvary, and all are completed, just as He said “It is completed.” Yes, the completion of the grand plan on salvation God had prepared for all of us, that we can finally escape the slavery under sin, into freedom of eternal life in God.

However, to reach there, and to complete the plan, Christ had to bear our sins and our faults, as the sacrificial Lamb, the Lamb of God who bared Himself for us, in our place, and suffer instead of us. For we deserve to be punished severely for our sins, and not just any sins, but the persistence and the heaviness of our sins and evils that we have committed since the days of Adam and Eve our ancestors. Our Lord Jesus is without sin and pure, although He is indeed fully human like us, and yet He was made to bear our sins and our punishment in our place, that we will not suffer and experience death allotted to us for our rebelliousness, but instead have a new hope of eternal life and bliss.

He has to suffer, drink the cup of bitterness that God had given Him to drink, and die a prisoner’s death, a criminal’s death on the cross, judged by a Roman governor, condemned by His own people, scourged with lashes and crooks, and pierced by nails and elevated high between the heaven and the earth, all for our sake. Yet, He came down from that mountain where He showed His glory to His disciples, from the place where He manifested Himself as the great and glorious God, into His suffering and Passion, on the way to Jerusalem to die.

The disciples did not understand this, nor why did Christ do so, and what they wanted was that they remain in that wonderful place, in the fullness of the glory of God, that is because they have tasted heaven on earth on that mountain, and certainly they did not want to leave that feeling behind, that happiness and joy being in the glory and perfection of the Lord. That was why Peter suggested to Jesus to build three tents for Himself, for Moses, and for Elijah.

Christ could simply choose to stay there at the place for eternity, because indeed, He is God, and everything is within His power to do. He can remain forever in His great glory, and He did not have to face suffering, rejection, pain, and death. However, Christ knew what must be done, and despite the vast extent of suffering that He must go through in order to save us from our own destruction, His love for us is so great, that He is willing to go through all that, for our sake. He left His comfort zone, that He can exercise what He had come to this world for, that is to be our Saviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate today this great feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us take some time to reflect on ourselves, on our own actions and deeds. Have we overcome our fear of what is outside our comfort zone, and dared to take a step outside that comfort zone, so that we can make use of whatever gifts and talents God had given us, in order to bring love, comfort, and happiness to one another? Or have we chosen to be like the disciples, who prefer to remain in their comfort zone forever?

Brothers and sisters, to follow Christ means to take up our crosses and follow Him, through difficulties and oppositions that will surely face us in this uphill battle we have to reach our salvation in Christ. It does not mean that we should all suffer or die the same way that Christ had suffered or died for our sake, but certainly it means that it will not be easy either. We have to go the extra mile brothers and sisters, in our service and dedication to the people of God, especially those who are poor, in material and in spirit, and those who lack love in them, those who are unloved and forsaken.

Just as Christ chose to go down from the mountain and face His suffering to come proudly and courageously, we too should follow the example Christ had given us, going down that mountain, and gladly make ourselves available to others, sharing our love with them, bearing one another’s crosses on the way to God and His salvation. Let us be courageous to go an extra mile, stepping outside our comfort zone in our service to God and His people.

Do not fear, brothers and sisters in Christ! For the Lord Transfigured on the mountain and glorified in His might will always be with us, and He will bless us tremendously if we follow in His footsteps, carrying our crosses, in our journey, sharing the love and the Spirit He had given to all of us who have faith in Him with one another. May the Lord Jesus Transfigured bless all of us and our endeavours, and remain with us forever. Amen.

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Monday, 22 July 2013 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene (First Reading)

Song of Songs 3 : 1-4a

On my bed at night I looked for the One I love, I sought Him without finding Him; I called Him and He did not answer. I will rise and go about the city, through the streets and the squares; I will seek the love of my heart…

I sought Him without finding Him; the watchmen came upon me, those who patrol the city. “Have you seen the love of my heart?” As soon as I left them, I found the love of my heart.

 

Alternative Reading

 

2 Corinthians 5 : 14-17

Indeed the love of Christ holds us and we realise that if He died for all, all have died. He died for all so that those who live may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them.

And so from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard Him in another way. For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For Him the old things have passed away; a new world has come.

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Thursday, 27 June 2013 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we learn from the readings, of the need to put our complete trust in the Lord and in His power and authority, instead of placing our trust in the falsehood and facade of the power of man. Not that man does not have any power, but any power that they have with them ultimately came from the Lord, and therefore no man should boast of his or her own abilities and powers, but instead should give due praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, who is the source of all power and authority in the universe.

When man begins to lose trust in the Lord and begins to put their trust in feeble man, that is when problems will rise, and even though initially not that apparent, the problems will certainly and eventually rise to the surface. Such was what happened with the case of Abraham, then Abram, who was kind of desperate of having a son to be his successor and heir to all the wealth he had in his possession.

The Lord promised Abram great wealth and affluence because of his faith and love for Him, but above all, He promised Abram that his descendants will number like the sands on the shores of the sea, and as numerous as there are stars in the sky. Such is the greatness of the descendants of Abram, so numerous that they would indeed fill up the entire earth with their presence. But Abram was growing old, and more importantly so was that his wife, Sarah, then Sarai, was also growing old, and had gone past the child bearing age.

That was when alternative methods were sought and then taken up by Abram, with the suggestion from Sarai, that he took Hagar, Sarai’s slave, to be his wife, and therefore act as a proxy to produce an heir for Abram. For in those times, slaves have little value for themselves, and therefore, the mistress, Sarai, had every right to claim the child birthed by the slave and claimed him as her own. Nonetheless, as we saw in the first reading, we can certainly note that tensions soon arose between Sarai and Hagar, as Hagar felt proud in her achievements in being able to bear a child for Abram, which her mistress could not do herself.

Pride and arrogance quickly become the order of the day if we put our trust in the powers and abilities of man, and do not give proper glory to the Lord, to whom we should give all glory to. The same had happened to Hagar, whom in her pride had brought about division and frictions within Abram’s family, and caused the diversion from the true plan of salvation that God had brought through His promised son to Abram, that is Isaac.

Abram did not wait for the promise of the Lord to reach its perfection and completion, but following the advice of Sarah and succumbed to human weakness, that is to distrust the promise and words of the Lord, and the result is the birth of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. Later on, further conflicts between Ishmael and the newborn Isaac, the child of promise, would end up in Ishmael and her mother to be cast away from Abraham and his family. God indeed did not leave them to die, but provided for them and also made Ishmael a great nation, but it is not through him that God would make perfect His covenant with Abraham and mankind, but through Isaac and his descendants.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrate the feast day of St. Cyril of Alexandria, the bishop of the early Church, a Church Father and a Doctor of the Church, who fought ceaselessly against those who denied the divinity of Christ, the Nestorians, led by none other than the Patriarch of Constantinople himself, one of the most senior clergyman at the time. He chastised those who opposed the orthodox faith and those who had embraced the heresies of man.

Yes, just as the theme of today’s readings had indicated, those who rejected God in favour of man will not survive, and they will be condemned, because they did not place their trust in God. Therefore, following the example of St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his courageous defense of the faith in the Lord, let us follow him in defending our love and adoration for the Lord, and reject those who glorify themselves at the expense of the Lord.

May the Lord be with us at all times, and remind us that we belong to God, in the covenant He had made with all of us through Christ our Lord and Saviour. May He remind us that He alone is worthy of praise and glory, and that His love is everlasting and infinite. St. Cyril of Alexandria, pray for us sinners, and help to bring us closer to our Lord and God. Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ is our Lord and Messiah. His coming was told in the numerous prophecies by the prophets as written throughout the Old Testament of the Scripture. His coming was indeed not to destroy the Law as written in the Scripture, and not to abolish the teachings of the prophets and the Law and commandments that God has given to Moses, but to fulfill and complete all the prophecies made about Him.

In the first reading today, we also heard about how the ‘text’ of the Law brings death, while the Spirit brings life, and it also seemingly criticise those who minister to the Law. In this we can clearly see, that in his letter to the faithful in Corinth, he was referring to the chief priests and the Pharisees, whom Christ repeatedly called hypocrites, and whom repeatedly had caused troubles during the Lord’s earthly ministry.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, today we are called to live out the Law of God, the Law which God had given to Moses, and then perfected and completely fulfilled by Christ, His Son, that we do not become slaves to the Law, but become alive due to that Law, which is, according to Christ, is all about love, for God Himself is love.

The chief priests and the Pharisees had grown so accustomed and so attached to the Law, that they had entirely forgotten the Spirit of the Law, that is love, and they had entirely misunderstood the meaning of the Law, and its purpose, becoming instead mindless slaves to their own human traditions, which their ancestors established in rituals and traditions to worship the Lord, but over time, becoming corrupted with worldly desires and impurities.

Rituals and observations of the Law had become empty, and prayers had become stale, and lacking the freshness of the Spirit of the Lord. That was what Christ had criticised, when the Pharisees went praying in the public places, showcasing their piety for all to see. That they love human glory instead of seeking heavenly glory of God and praising God, and instead of using the Law as it is intended, they had abused it to their own purposes.

That is why Christ came into our world, not just to be our Saviour, but also to perfect the Law of God, and to explain them clearly to the people of God, that they would no longer misinterpret the Law and therefore sin in the eyes of the Lord. He revealed to those whom He had chosen and those who were willing to listen to His word.

The same too, brothers and sisters in Christ, applies to our Church today. We have our own Law in the Church, that is the Canon Law, to regulate matters pertaining to the Church and the faithful in God, and also the liturgical laws to regulate the way we worship the Law with its rituals and observations, much like that observed by the priests of Israel of old, and during Jesus’ time.

We have to obey these laws and norms, my brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly regarding the Mass and the liturgy, because in the Mass we worship the Lord Himself, and we have to do it worthily. Sadly, there are many today who simply do not care about the liturgy and the proper worship of the Mass as written in the Law of the Church, as are evident in the numerous liturgical abuses in the Masses all around the world.

What is important is, not that we should not obey these laws, nor should we disregard them, but to understand them, by proper preparation and explanations, just as Christ Himself once had done regarding the Laws of Moses, which were given by God. A proper understanding of our Church laws and the liturgical norms in the Mass is a must, brothers and sisters, for improper understanding will certainly lead us astray from God.

But on the other hand, neither should we be so fixated on the rules and the Law that we end up doing everything just for the sake of obeying the Law. Then in that case we are no better than the Pharisees and the chief priest of Jesus’ time. We should not follow the rules simply for the sake of obeying the rules and looking good in the eyes of others.

A simple example would indeed be, the obligation for all of us to attend the Sunday Mass. While it may seem to be trivial, but how many of us actually come to the Mass because we want to come to the Mass and worship the Lord, as all of us should be? I am certain that many of us came to the Mass because we feel that it is an obligation to do so, and being good Catholics, we ‘obeyed’. But, this is not good, because if we do it this way, our heart will not be fully in the Mass, not fully attuned to the worship of the Lord, because our mind and our heart are elsewhere, in our businesses, our other occupations, and not focused towards the Lord.

No, when we come for the Mass, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make sure that we truly come to be with God, to love our God, and to praise Him and give thanks to Him for all the good graces and blessings that He had given us. Seek to understand more about our faith and about the Mass from those who have the knowledge and are qualified to teach about the faith to others. Remember, obey the Law because we love the Law and understand it, not just for the sake of obedience, or worse, as a symbol of self-gratification and self-glorification. Amen.

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Saturday, 8 June 2013 : Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, just yesterday we celebrated the great feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, but at the same time, we cannot forget Mary, His mother, who is often also depicted with a flaming heart just like that of Jesus. But while Jesus’ heart in the Most Sacred Heart iconography shows a wreath of the crown of thorns, the heart of Mary was pierced with a sword, which depicted the prophecy of Simeon the prophet, who predicted that Mary’ heart would be ‘pierced’ by a sword, that is her Immaculate Heart.

Yes, just as Christ is loving and filled with love, in His Most Sacred Heart, so does His mother too, with her Immaculate heart, for she was born without sin, in immaculate condition, and her heart was filled with pure joy and love of the Lord. That is what we are celebrating today, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Yet, just as I had mentioned it, that same heart, which is immaculate, pure beyond reasoning and filled with love, would have to be ‘pierced’ with a sword. Not in the literal meaning of course, as this sword represents the heart of Mary that was rendered to pieces in great pain as she watched her Son, our Lord Jesus in His Passion on the way to Calvary, suffering the sins of all mankind unto His death on the cross.

Imagine for all of you mothers out there, that when your children encounter something dangerous, or their lives are in great danger, I am sure that those who are mothers will immediately be faced with the greatest fear of their life. You all will be seized with fear, but even more so, with the feeling of love for your children, that great love bonded by ties of blood that is stronger than anything else, which links between mothers and their children. No mother will want to see her children suffer or face pain. True and loving mothers would even give themselves in place of their children, so that they may live instead of her.

Then, therefore, imagine Mary herself, our Lady, the Mother of Jesus, who had been given the good news by the Archangel Gabriel, that she would bear the great Son of God Most High, whom was to be the Messiah and Saviour of all mankind, the promised salvation that was pronounced through the countless prophets of the ages past. She bore Jesus for nine months in her womb, and with Joseph, her husband, she braved the pain of childbirth at that night in Bethlehem, until she gave birth to Jesus, our Lord and God.

She nurtured Him with love and compassion, and as perfect as a care that a mother can give to her child. With Joseph as the head of the family, they protected the infant Jesus from external dangers such as Herod by escaping to Egypt, and eventually settling down to a happy life in Nazareth, as a simple carpenter family.

But even from the very beginning, the baby that she had is indeed not any ordinary being, but the Lord Himself incarnate into a human being, the vessel of salvation, for through Jesus, the Lamb of God, salvation would come forth to all mankind. Ever since His birth, kings and wise men had pledged their fealty and praise by bringing Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna told her of the greatness that her Child would become and Simeon also foretold her about the sorrows that she would face later.

Mary watched Jesus grew up from being an infant, into an adolescent, during which time he was left behind in Jerusalem, when Mary in great fear, searched for her Child with Joseph, until they found Him in the Temple in Jerusalem. When Mary told Jesus about why He had made things difficult for His family, that was not a chastisement at all, neither was it a scolding. It was in fact the love that Mary has for her Son.

So much that she loves Him that she fears if anything were to happen to Jesus, a feeling that surely all the mothers out there would understand. None of us wants our children to be hurt or lost somewhere. We would do our best to galvanise all available forces until our child can be found, as if a great treasure had been lost.

Mary experienced a lot of strange occurences and happenings throughout her grooming of Jesus, but she did not question the Lord nor did she waver in her faith, but instead, she kept her faith strong, and kept everything in her heart. Indeed, such a great heart that our Blessed Virgin Mary has, to store all that feelings, anxiety, and emotions that she had for her Son in her Immaculate Heart!

She accompanied Jesus through His adulthood, through His ministry after the baptism at the Jordan, and she became the catalyst that allowed Christ to perform His first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Through her help, and her great concern for the wedding couple, she managed to persuade Christ to give them aid by performing the transformation of the water into wine, saving the wedding of the couple.

She accompanied Jesus through His last days on earth, in His Passion, and followed Him through the scourging and the condemnation, and unto Calvary below the cross, on which hung the Saviour of the world, made to suffer all the weight of the sins of the entire world, of all mankind past, present, and future. It is at that point, that the prophecy of Simeon came true, that a sword would indeed pierce her Immaculate Heart.

That great loving heart, and the heart that had accompanied the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, ever since His birth, now had to witness the cruelty through which Christ died on the cross for the salvation of mankind. She understood it as a part of God’s plan for salvation, for without the death of Christ, the Lamb of God, there can be no salvation. But imagine the great amount of pain that must have been inflicted to our Lady, seeing her Son mocked and insulted, and condemned to a criminal’s death on the cross.

And yet, despite all of that, she remained faithful to the Lord, and was as firm as ever in her mission entrusted to her by God. She had been faithful since the very beginning, when she accepted God’s will in making her the vessel through which the Saviour of the world would be born, and all the way until the end, she remained faithful. Truly, how great is our Lady and her Most wonderful Immaculate Heart, pure and loving, filled with all the warmth of God’s love, and in this heart we can see the great journey and struggle that our Lady had to go through, along with her Son, Jesus Christ, all the way to the end at Calvary.

Yet, as we know, everything did not end at Calvary, as Jesus our Lord rose again in glory on the third day after His death, and through His glorious resurrection, the salvation of mankind was fulfilled completely, and indeed, our Lady had a great part in this. Just as what we saw in the coat-of-arms of our late Blessed Pope John Paul II, of a cross with a letter M at the bottom. That ‘M’ is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who supported Jesus in His life, since His infancy, all the way to that sorrowful day on Calvary.

Jesus entrusted His mother to His disciple, John on that day, and also entrusted John to His mother. Through that act, therefore, He also made all of us, all mankind, the children entrusted to Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, all the love and warmth of the heart of Mary will be poured out to us, and her love will help us and guide us in a straight path to her Son, Jesus. It is indeed true, the saying that, “To Jesus, through Mary”.

Mary is our mother too, and just as she had cared for her Son, Jesus, she will also love and care for us. Pray to our Lady often, and ask her for her intercession for all of us sinners who are still suffering in this world, that just as at the wedding in Cana, she will also help intercede for our sake before her Son, that Jesus would show us His wonderful mercy.

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, the most wonderful heart of Mary, pierced by a sword of sorrow at the cruel death of Your Son, be with us and guide us in our own paths towards Your Son, that we will stay faithful, and that we will not inflict ever more wounds to increase the suffering of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for every sin that we commit is another wound that we add to the wounds of Christ.

Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed are you amongst women and blessed is the Fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.