Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 9

Theme: Mary, Star of Evangelization

Scripture Passage                                                                               John 2: 1 - 5

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Marian Reading

At the birth of Jesus, the Magi came from the East to Bethlehem and “saw the child with Mary his Mother” (Matthew 2:11). At the beginning of his public life, at the marriage of Cana, when the Son of God works the first of his signs, awakening faith in the disciples (John 2:11), it is Mary who intervenes and directs the servants towards her Son in these words: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). In this regard I once wrote that “the Mother of Christ presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son's will, pointing out those things which must be done so that the salvific power of the Messiah may be manifested”. For this reason Mary is the sure path to our meeting with Christ. Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, when it is genuine, is always an impetus to a life guided by the spirit and values of the Gospel.

How can we fail to emphasize the role which belongs to the Virgin Mary in relation to the pilgrim Church in America journeying towards its encounter with the Lord? Indeed, the Most Blessed Virgin “is linked in a special way to the birth of the Church in the history ... of the peoples of America; through Mary they came to encounter the Lord”.

Throughout the continent, from the time of the first evangelization, the presence of the Mother of God has been strongly felt, thanks to the efforts of the missionaries.

The appearance of Mary to the native Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531 had a decisive effect on evangelization.  Its influence greatly overflows the boundaries of Mexico, spreading to the whole Continent.

With the passage of time, pastors and faithful alike have grown increasingly conscious of the role of the Virgin Mary in the evangelization of America.  Holy Mary of Guadalupe is invoked as “Patroness of all America and Star of the first and new evangelization”.

It is my heartfelt hope that she, whose intercession was responsible for strengthening the faith of the first disciples, will by her maternal intercession guide the Church in America, obtaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as she once did for the early Church so that the new evangelization may yield a splendid flowering of Christian life.

(Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America, 1999; #11)

  

Prayers

  §  an Our Father

  §  a Hail Mary

  §  a Glory Be

  §  the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 8

Theme: Mary, Our Hope

Scripture Passage                                           John 16: 25 - 26, 28, 33  

I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.

I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Marian Reading

[Holy Mary], when Jesus began his public ministry, you had to step aside, so that a new family could grow, the family which it was his mission to establish and which would be made up of those who heard his word and kept it (Luke 11:27f). 

Notwithstanding the great joy that marked the beginning of Jesus's ministry, in the synagogue of Nazareth you must already have experienced the truth of the saying about the “sign of contradiction” (Luke 4:28ff).   In this way you saw the growing power of hostility and rejection which built up around Jesus until the hour of the Cross, when you had to look upon the Savior of the world, the heir of David, the Son of God dying like a failure, exposed to mockery, between criminals. 

Then you received the word of Jesus: “Woman, behold, your Son!” (John 19:26).  From the Cross you received a new mission. From the Cross you became a mother in a new way: the mother of all those who believe in your Son Jesus and wish to follow him. 

The sword of sorrow pierced your heart. Did hope die? Did the world remain definitively without light, and life without purpose? At that moment, deep down, you probably listened again to the word spoken by the angel in answer to your fear at the time of the Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” (Luke 1:30). 

How many times had the Lord, your Son, said the same thing to his disciples: do not be afraid! In your heart, you heard this word again during the night of Golgotha. Before the hour of his betrayal he had said to his disciples: “Take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 16:33). “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). “Do not be afraid, Mary!” 

In that hour at Nazareth the angel had also said to you: “Of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).   Could it have ended before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus's own word, you became the mother of believers. 

In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning. The joy of the Resurrection touched your heart and united you in a new way to the disciples, destined to become the family of Jesus through faith.

In this way you were in the midst of the community of believers, who in the days following the Ascension prayed with one voice for the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14) and then received that gift on the day of Pentecost.

The “Kingdom” of Jesus was not as might have been imagined. It began in that hour, and of this “Kingdom” there will be no end. Thus you remain in the midst of the disciples as their Mother, as the Mother of hope.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us to believe, to hope, to love with you. Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way!

(Pope Benedict XVII, Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi, 2007, #50)

Prayers

§                  - an Our Father

§            -  a Hail Mary

§                  -  a Glory Be

§    -  the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Image source:  St. John Bosco's "Dream of the Two Pillars"  Window in Chapel of Sacred Heart Center, Salesian Sister Novitiate, Newton, NJ

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 7

Theme: Mary, Teacher of True Love

Scripture Passage                                                         John 15: 12 - 13

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Marian Reading

The lives of the saints are not limited to their earthly biographies but also include their being and working in God after death. In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them. In no one do we see this more clearly than in Mary.

The words addressed by the crucified Lord to his disciple—to John and through him to all disciples of Jesus: “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:27)—are fulfilled anew in every generation. Mary has truly become the Mother of all believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavors. They constantly experience the gift of her goodness and the unfailing love which she pours out from the depths of her heart. The testimonials of gratitude, offered to her from every continent and culture, are recognition of that pure love which is not self- seeking but simply benevolent. At the same time, the devotion of the faithful shows an infallible intuition of how such love is possible: it becomes so as a result of the most intimate union with God, through which the soul is totally pervaded by him—a condition which enables those who have drunk from the fountain of God's love to become in their turn a fountain from which “flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Mary, Virgin and Mother, shows us what love is and whence it draws its origin and its constantly renewed power. To her we entrust the Church and her mission in the service of love:

Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light,
Jesus, your Son – the Son of God.
You abandoned yourself completely
to God's call
and thus became a wellspring
of the goodness which flows forth from him.
  Show us Jesus. Lead us to him.
 Teach us to know and love him,
so that we too can become
capable of true love
and be fountains of living water
in the midst of a thirsting world. 

(Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, #42)

Prayers

§        - an Our Father

§        - a Hail Mary

§        - a Glory Be

§        - the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

(Image source: http://thegospelcoalition.org)

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 6

Theme: Mary, Model Catechist

Scripture Passage                                                      Luke 1: 46 - 50

Mary said:^* “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;  my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;  behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.  The Mighty One has done great things for me,  and holy is his name.  His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.”

Marian Reading

Who are catechists? They are people who keep the memory of God alive; they keep it alive in themselves and they are able to revive it in others. This is something beautiful: to remember God, like the Virgin Mary, who sees God’s wondrous works in her life but doesn’t think about honor, prestige or wealth; she doesn’t become self-absorbed. Instead, after receiving the message of the angel and conceiving the Son of God, what does she do? She sets out, she goes to assist her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. And the first thing she does upon meeting Elizabeth is to recall God’s work, God’s fidelity, in her own life, in the history of her people, in our history: “My soul magnifies the Lord … For he has looked on the lowliness of his servant … His mercy is from generation to generation” (Lk 1:46, 48, 50). Mary remembers God.

This canticle of Mary also contains the remembrance of her personal history, God’s history with her, her own experience of faith. And this is true too for each one of us and for every Christian: faith contains our own memory of God’s history with us, the memory of our encountering God who always takes the first step, who creates, saves and transforms us. Faith is remembrance of his word which warms our heart, and of his saving work which gives life, purifies us, cares for and nourishes us. A catechist is a Christian who puts this remembrance at the service of proclamation, not to seem important, not to talk about himself or herself, but to talk about God, about his love and his fidelity. To talk about and to pass down all that God has revealed, his teaching in its totality, neither trimming it down nor adding on to it.

The catechist, then, is a Christian who is mindful of God, who is guided by the memory of God in his or her entire life and who is able to awaken that memory in the hearts of others.

(Pope Francis, Homily on Day for Catechists in the Year of Faith, Sunday, 29 September 2013)

Prayers

- an Our Father

- a Hail Mary

- a Glory Be

- the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Image source: catholicfire.blogspot.com

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 5

Theme: Mary, Filled with the Holy Spirit

Scripture Passage                                                                      Acts 1: 13 – 14

When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Marian Reading

With the Holy Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people. She joined the disciples in praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and thus made possible the missionary outburst which took place at Pentecost. She is the Mother of the Church which evangelizes, and without her we could never truly understand the spirit of the new evangelization. (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, #284)

Prayers

§          -  an Our Father

§          -  a Hail Mary

§          -   a Glory Be

§          -   the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Image source:  István Dorffmaister, Pentecost (1782), http://commons.wikimedia.org

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 4

Theme:   Mary, Disciple of the Lord

Scripture Passage                                          Mark 1: 35 - 39

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.  Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”  He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”  So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Marian Reading

God calls us, by name and surname, each one of us, to proclaim the Gospel and to promote the culture of encounter with joy. The Virgin Mary is our exemplar. In her life, she was “a model of that motherly love with which all who join in the Church’s apostolic mission for the regeneration of humanity should be animated” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 65). Let us ask her to teach us to encounter one another in Jesus every day. And when we pretend not to notice because we have many things to do and the tabernacle is abandoned, may she take us by the hand. Let us ask this of her! Watch over me, Mother, when I am disoriented, and lead me by the hand. May you spur us on to meet our many brothers and sisters who are on the outskirts, who are hungry for God but have no one to proclaim him. May you not force us out of our homes, but encourage us to go out so that we may be disciples of the Lord. May you grant all of us this grace. (Pope Francis, Homily, Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, July 27, 2013)

Prayers

§     - an Our Father

§     - a Hail Mary

§     - a Glory Be

§     - the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Image source:  holysabbath.blogspot.com

Immaculate Conception Novena

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 3

Theme:  Mary, the Mother of Christ

Scripture Passage       Matthew 28: 18 – 20

Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Marian Reading

Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Chirst? You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ.  Of whom were you born?  “Of Mother Church,” I hear the reply of your hearts.  You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ.  Now you in your turn must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can.  You became sons when you were born there yourselves, and now by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power to become the mothers of Christ.  (St. Augustine, Sermon 25)

Prayers

§        -  an Our Father

§        - a Hail Mary

§        - a Glory Be

§        -  the invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”

Image source:  www.qumran2.net

Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Mary, Mother of the New Evangelization

Day 2

Theme:  MARY, SERVANT OF THE FATHER

Scripture Passage       Luke 1: 26 – 38

Marian Reading

God surprises us.  This was the experience of the Virgin Mary. At the message of the angel, she does not hide her surprise. It is the astonishment of realizing that God, to become man, had chosen her, a simple maid of Nazareth. Not someone who lived in a palace amid power and riches, or one who had done extraordinary things, but simply someone who was open to God and put her trust in him, even without understanding everything: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). That was her answer. God constantly surprises us, He bursts our categories, He wreaks havoc with our plans. And He tells us: Trust me, do not be afraid, let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and follow me!

Today let us all ask ourselves whether we are afraid of what God might ask, or of what He does ask. Do I let myself be surprised by God, as Mary was, or do I remain caught up in my own safety zone: in forms of material, intellectual or ideological security, taking refuge in my own projects and plans? Do I truly let God into my life? How do I answer him? (Pope Francis, Homily for Marian Day during the Year of Faith, October 13, 2013)

(Image:  Sandro Botticelli, The Mourning of Christ)

Novena to Immaculate Conception

Mary, Mother of the New  Evangelization

Day 1

Theme: MARY, THE VIRGIN AT PRAYER

Scripture Passage: Luke 1: 46 - 55
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/magnificat.htm

Marian Reading:
Mary is the Virgin in prayer. She appears as such in the visit to [Elizabeth], when she pours out her soul in expressions glorifying God, and expressions of humility, faith and hope. This prayer is the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), Mary's prayer par excellence, in which there mingles the joy of the ancient and the new Israel…. In her exultation Mary prophetically declared in the name of the Church: 'My soul proclaims the glory of the Lord....'

At Cana, Mary appears once more as the Virgin in prayer: when she tactfully told her Son of a temporal need she also obtained an effect of grace, namely, that Jesus, in working the first of His "signs," confirmed His disciples' faith in Him.

Likewise, the last description of Mary's life presents her as praying. The apostles "joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers" (Acts 1:14). We have here the prayerful presence of Mary in the early Church and in the Church throughout all ages, for, having been assumed into heaven, she has not abandoned her mission of intercession and salvation. The title Virgin in prayer also fits the Church, which day by day presents to the Father the needs of her children, "praises the Lord unceasingly and intercedes for the salvation of the world."

(Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, #18)

Prayers:
An Our Father
A Hail Mary
A Glory Be
The invocation: Mary, Immaculate Help of Christians, pray for us

Immaculate Conception Novena

The Novena preparing for the Immaculate Conception begins today.

She is the Queen of the New Evangelization.

The Church invites us "trusting in the help of Mary, the Church in America desires to lead the men and women of the continent to encounter Christ. This encounter will be the starting-point of authentic conversion and of renewed communion and solidarity. Such an encounter will contribute greatly to strengthening the faith of many Catholics, helping them to mature in strong, lively and active faith. (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America)

Each day a reading with a theme will be posted

Please make the Novena, both with prayer and with other ways that are suitable for you to prepare for the celebration (This year the feast will be on Monday, December 9)

(Image by Bartolome Murillo)

Christ the King - C

Commentary

Luke 23: 35 – 43

Jesus – God Saves

The verb “to save” appears four times in this passage.  Ironically, it is used all four times by those who oppose Jesus: the rulers, the soldiers, and the first of the two criminals crucified with him. 

The rulers acknowledge that Jesus “saved others.”  Probably unintentionally, they testified that Jesus had been true to his identity – the name Jesus means “God saves” [1].   However, they do not pronounce that name “Jesus.”

The soldiers and the criminal express the common expectation people have on a king – a king ought to save himself. 

Interestingly, only the one criminal addresses Jesus by his name [2].  He recognizes who Jesus truly is.

Jesus the King saves.  But he saves others.  

He has done so throughout his ministry.  He identifies his mission as “[coming] to seek and to save what was lost” [3].  And he continues to do that even to the end. 

--------------------------------------

[1] In Matthew 1:21, “the angel of the Lord” announces the name” Jesus” and its meaning in instructing Joseph, “You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

[2] Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, Sacra Pagina series.  Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 1991; p. 378. 

[3] Luke 19: 10

Christ the King - C (November 24, 2013)

Readings

Image source: http://sunandshield.blogspot.com

33rd Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 21: 5-19

It Depends on How We Take It

Will suffering happen?  Yes

Will there be tragedies?  Yes

How about persecution? Yes

Jesus lists them all: wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, awesome sights and mighty signs.  For his followers, He then adds arrest, persecution, prisons, hatred, and even death.

We can be live in fear.

Or we can see all of these in the way of Jesus.  “It will lead to your giving testimony.”   It is in moments of trials, sufferings, and persecution that Jesus’ followers can be witnesses to who Jesus is and what he has done. 

Wasn’t the cross the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation for the human race?  Wasn’t it the culmination of God’s love?

And Jesus affirms us that we are never alone.  “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking….”  And “Not a hair on your head will be destroyed.”

33rd Sunday - C (November 17, 2013)

Readings

Image source:  http://www.agnusday.org

32nd Sunday

Commentary

Luke 20: 27 - 38

The Everlasting and the Fleeting

The Sadducees, in making up an absurd scenario, illustrate their denial “that there is a resurrection.”  They cannot see beyond the here and now of this fleeting world. 

Consequently, they, the temple priests [1], find Jesus a threat to their earthly authority and power.  They build their lives and power on their short-sighted value system of things that do not last.   They make things that one day will die their gods.

Jesus invites us to live truly as children of the living God whose value system is everlasting.  

While we live in this world, God blesses us with fleeting things to sustain us.  May we never allow those created and fleeting things replace the ever-living Creator.

-----------

[1]  Footnote on Luke 20:27 and Matthew 3:7, The New American Bible, Revised Edition, 2011.

32nd Sunday - C (November 10, 2013)

Readings

Image source: http://wonderwhat.net

31st Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 19: 1 – 10

The Joy of God’s Forgiveness

There are two conflicting reactions to Jesus and his treatment of Zacchaeus.

The people who are with Jesus “begin to grumble” because he is going to the house of a sinner.

Prior to this incident, this kind of reaction was typical of the Pharisees and scribes when they criticized Jesus for welcoming, and for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. [1]

This time, they “all” grumble.  And in this case, the pronoun “they” refers to the disciples and all those who have been traveling with Jesus as he continues his journey to Jerusalem.

Why do they all grumble?  Is it because unlike other tax collectors who Jesus reaches out to before, Zacchaeus is a big time “bad guy”?  He is “the chief tax collector.”  His crime is well known.   Or is it because Zacchaeus seems to get off the hook too easily?  Probably both!

Zacchaeus, on the contrary, “receives Jesus with joy.”

Like his fellow tax collector in the parable of last week’s Gospel passage (Luke 18: 9-14), Zacchaeus acknowledges that he is a sinner.  He climbs the tree “for he is short in stature.”  But can this explanation also indicate his moral stature in the eyes of the people around Jesus?  Morally, he surely is “short in stature.”  He probably knows that he does not belong in that crowd. 

And like the other tax collector, Zacchaeus accepts God’s mercy.  As a result, he can “receive [Jesus] with joy.”

To admit that one is a sinner, and to accept God’s forgiveness are the conditions of joy.

--------------------

[1] Luke 5:30 and 15:2, Footnote, The New American Bible, Revised Edition, 2011.

31st Sunday - C (November 3, 2013)

Readings

Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org

30th Sunday - C

Commentary

Luke 18: 9 – 14

The Grace of Imperfection

The Pharisees does everything right.  And he knows that.

His problem is that he thinks he gets it all right.  Even the prayer is the words that “he speaks to himself.”  While he thank God with words, he takes all the credits for himself.

Consequently, he has no need for God.

The tax collector, on the contrary, is a sinner.  He knows and admits that.  He realizes that he cannot help himself.

In his emptiness, the tax collector leaves plenty of room for God and God’s mercy.

On our spiritual journey, imperfections and sins can be very frustrating.  Yet, the realization or awareness of them is a moment of grace.  In fact, it is the voice of God speaking in our conscience that leads us to the awareness sins, and consequently, our need for God.  However, that can only happen if we allow God to speak to us, and we allow ourselves to listen to God’s voice.  (In this sense, the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation begins even before the moment of confession).

Only when we are aware and accept that we are sinners that we can allow God’s mercy and grace to enter our hearts.