CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT MASS:  Is 9:1-6;  Ti 2:11-14;  Lk 2:1-14

The Gospel for the Midnight Mass tells us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how the news of his birth was first announced to shepherds by the angels. 

Since David was a shepherd, it seems fitting that the shepherds were given the privilege of visiting David’s successor in the stable.  If these shepherds were the ones in charge of the Temple sheep and lambs which were meant for daily sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem, no wonder they were chosen to be the first to see the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!  Shepherding was a lonely, dirty job, and shepherds found it difficult to follow all the obligatory religious customs.  Hence, they were scorned as non-observant Jews.  So Baby Jesus selected these marginalized people to share His love at the beginning of his earthly ministry.  The shepherds expressed their joy and gratitude by “making known what had been told them" (v 17). 

Is Christmas a message of joy for us. ? And do we pass that joy to others as the shepherds did?

What can you do this Christmas to avoid disillusionment?

How can we improve our level of joy this Christmas? The answer is found in the story of the magi in Matthew 2. Magi, wise men from the East, saw a star that indicated the birth of a new king in Israel. Wanting to honour Him with gifts, they set out on a journey following the star to find this new born King. From the attitudes of these wise men and the events that surrounded their journey, we see how we can raise our level of joy at Christmas.

There are three lessons we learn from this story.

I. What do you seek?

Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to what it is you seek.

Ask the question: What is it I want to get out of Christmas? What is it that would make your Christmas wonderful and satisfying? Snow? All the family together and happy? Finding the right present to give? Getting the present you have been hoping for? The problem with all these is that they can leave us disappointed.

Have you ever had that kind of experience - when you were disappointed by Christmas because it did not deliver what you thought it would? The problem is not Christmas. It is in our expectations. We are looking for the wrong thing.

The magi show us how to increase our level of joy at Christmas by looking for the right thing. What was it they were looking for? They came to Jerusalem and said, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." They were looking for Jesus. Christmas for them was an opportunity to worship Jesus.

That is what we need to be looking for and expecting this Christmas - an experience of worship, a fresh glimpse of He who was born King of the Jews. If our goal this Christmas is to worship Jesus, then we will not be dissatisfied with our experience.

II. Where do you look?

Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to where you look.

We learn from the magi that there are wrong and right places to look for Christmas. They started by looking in the wrong place. They looked where their own human reasoning said they should look. The star indicated the birth of a new king in Israel. The magi went where kings should be born - to the palace of Herod the Great. But what a mistake that was! When Herod heard of the birth of a new king, he jealousy sought to destroy him.

We, too, are tempted to look for joy at Christmas in the wrong places. We think by getting or giving the right gift we will be satisfied. We imagine that being with family will be joyful. All these can easily disappoint us. You may not be able to afford the right gift for a loved one. Family members may be missing from your holiday celebration. If you are looking to these things for joy, you may be left with a feeling of disillusionment.

The magi looked in the right place when they looked to God. The trip to Jerusalem was not a total loss. While there they discovered where they should have looked in the first place: the Bible. The scribes in Jerusalem said that, according to the prophet Micah, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. With this new information, they looked again at the star and followed it to Bethlehem until it stood over the house where the child Jesus lived.

III. What do you give?

Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to what you give.

The magi came to Jesus' house bearing gifts. The gifts they gave were entirely appropriate. They gave gold, gift for a king. They gave frankincense, a gift for a priest. This was incense the priests used in Temple. They gave myrrh, gift for the dead. This was a fragrant ointment used to anoint a body before burial. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus had come to die for the sins of the world.

We ought to give appropriate gifts this Christmas as well. We ought to give the gift of our love and kindness to our friends and family. We ought to give the gift of our help to those who are hurting. We ought to give the gift of forgiveness to those who have hurt us. Giving these kinds of gifts will result in a joyous and meaningful Christmas.

Christmas really happens that moment when we open up our hearts and receive God’s Christmas Gift that was given to us two-thousand years ago. It is when we turn our heart into a manger and we allow Jesus to be born anew into our life. During this night let’s resolve to help Jesus be born in our hearts and family this moment by opening our hearts wide like Mary did by saying her BIG AMEN.

CHRISTMAS DAY MASS (Jn.1:1-18)

After a long day’s Christmas shopping a man remarked , "I’m glad that Christmas comes only once a year. It leaves my pocketbook pretty thin." If all that Christmas means is a seasonal shopping spree, it leaves only a bitter taste in the mouth. To be sure, there is a sweet sentimentality about the candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day itself is joyfully observed in our homes. But then what? Suddenly the long awaited holiday is all over and the inevitable feeling of letdown sets in. Another Christmas has come and gone. Does this mean that like the ornaments on the Christmas tree the Christmas story too is to be stored away until next year?

Those who have grasped the true meaning of Christmas know that it is not a mere date in a calendar. It is a glorious truth which retains its vitality throughout the year.

What is the perennial truth which the Christmas story brings to a focus? The author of the fourth gospel captures it and is led to tell the story in a strange way. He says nothing about the angels or the shepherds, about the manger or the star of Bethlehem. But he grasps the permanent meaning of the event that happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, what the birth of the Christ-child has meant through the rolling centuries, what it means to us today. The almighty God who by his word made heaven and earth expressed himself, made himself known to men, by taking on the flesh and blood of a human baby. The eternal word became a human being. This is the abiding mystery and wonder of Christmas.

The baby born to a young Jewish girl almost 2,000 years ago is none other than "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God." When he grew up and taught people on a mountainside or a lake shore, it was God himself speaking the same creative word by which the heavens were made. When he was nailed to a Roman cross planted on a Judean hill, it was God in action to reconcile an estranged world to himself. And when he rose from the dead, it was God bringing eternal life to mortal men. Man’s life is now linked with God’s life. Saint Irenaeus, one of the great early Fathers of the church, states the meaning of Christmas in words of simple beauty and depth: "Jesus Christ, in his infinite love, has become what we are in order that he may make us entirely what He is."

The Christian message must never lose sight of its ultimate goal, the establishment of a personal relationship between human beings and the God who confronts them man to man in Christ. For this reason the "Jesus our Immanuel" of whom we sing at Christmas must be the Jesus who brings God into our life every day.

As a mother tucked her child in bed and left her alone in the bedroom, she said quietly, "It looks as if we shall have a thunderstorm tonight. But do not be afraid. God will take care of you." Soon the storm did break with fierce flashings and thunderings. The frightened child cried out for her mother. When the mother came and comforted her, she said gently, "You know, dear, I told you God is right here and he takes care of you." The child replied, "Yes, mother, I know that, but when it thunders like that a little girl wants somebody near who has skin on."

A word was not enough. Even a mother’s reassuring word was inadequate. The child needed a friendly human presence, a gentle human voice, the touch of a warm human hand. That is how the Baby of Bethlehem brings God to us. God has been a word, an awe-inspiring word or an encouraging and comforting word. But the word has represented a fuzzy idea, something or somebody far, far away. Now the word becomes flesh. God puts on human nature, with its skin and all, and becomes a living and saving presence. He is now more than a word. He is Immanuel, God with us.

The word that became flesh for us becomes flesh in us as he uses us to establish contact with other people. Christ himself walks in our steps, looks through our eyes, thinks in our thoughts, speaks through our words, loves through our hearts. Through us the Kingdom of God effects on the lives of men and God becomes real to them.

Jesus came that we might become children of God. So often we miss the real meaning of Christ’s coming. We say that Christ came to die for the sins of the world. Well, he did die. And by his death we do find salvation. But according to John, that wasn’t the only thing why he came. He came so that we might become a new creation. As John writes, “. . . to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Imagine that--you and I, are children of God. That is, Christmas is ultimately about transformation.

That’s why Christ came: to bring light into a dark world. To make it possible for every person on earth to know that they are children of God.

Once there was a Rabbi who asked his disciples the following question:  "How do you know when the darkness has been overcome, when the dawn has arrived?"  One of the disciples answered, "When you can look into the distance and tell the difference between a cow and a deer, then you know dawn has arrived.”  “Close," the Rabbi responded, "but not quite."  Another disciple ventured a response, "When you can look into the distance and distinguish a peach blossom from an apple blossom, then you know that the darkness has been overcome."  "Not bad," the Rabbi said, “not bad! But the correct answer is slightly different.  When you can look on the face of any man or any woman and know immediately that this is God’s child and your brother or sister, then you know that the darkness has been overcome, that the Daystar has appeared."

If we let Christ into the inn of our hearts, he will make our hearts more like his, and we, like him, will fill this world with a light that no darkness can extinguish.

Jesus is glad that we are here today to celebrate his birthday, and he is hoping that we will give him the only present he really wants: our renewed commitment to spread the Good News of salvation to everyone around us - a commitment that we fulfill in our everyday activities, through our way of life, words, and works. He is eager for us to give him that gift, because he loves us without limits, and he knows that if we give happiness to others, we will receive much more happiness ourselves. Let this celebration of the birth of Christ give us also a new birth in Christ and make us children of God.

Christmas Vigil: Is 62:1-5, Acts 13:16-17, 22-25, Mt 1:1-25 

Phyllis Martin, a schoolteacher in Columbus, Ohio, tells of the day when the storm clouds and strong gusts of wind came up suddenly over the Alpine Elementary School. The school public address system blared tornado warnings. It was too dangerous to send the children home. Instead, they were taken to the basement where the children lined against the walls and huddled together in fear. She said the teachers were worried, too.

To help ease the tension, the principal suggested a sing-along. But the voices were weak and unenthusiastic. One child after another began to cry. The children could not be consoled and were close to panic. Then one of the teachers, whose faith seemed equal to any emergency, whispered to the child closest to her, “Kathy, I know you are scared. I am too, but aren’t we forgetting something? There is a power greater than any storm. God will protect us. Just say to yourself, ‘God is with us,’ then pass the words on to the child next to you and tell her to pass it on.” Suddenly that dark and cold basement became a sacred place as each child in turn whispered around the room those powerful words, “God is with us,” “God is with us,” God is with us.” A sense of peace and courage and confidence settled over the group.

Phyllis Martin said, “I could hear the wind outside still blowing with such strength that it literally shook the building, but it did not seem to matter now. Inside the fears subsided and tears faded away when the all-clear signal came some time later, students and staff returned to the classrooms without the usual jostling and talking. Through the years I have remembered those calming words. In times of stress and trouble, I have been able again and again to find release from fear or tension by repeating those calming words: ‘God is with us!’ ‘God is with us!’” When we are frightened, we can claim that great Christmas promise. That’s number one.

 “GOD IS WITH US!” When we accept Christ into our lives, nothing, not even death, can separate us from God and His love. “God is with us!” Its what Christmas is about. God is with us, the great people of faith have always claimed that promise. Just think of it:

-- Moses caught between the Pharaoh and the deep Red Sea in a seemingly hopeless situation believed that God was with him and he went forward and trusted God to open a way and He did!

-- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace into a seemingly hopeless situation and they trusted God to be with them and He was!

-- Little David stood before Goliath. What chance could a small boy with a slingshot have against this giant of a warrior? But David believed that God was with him and it made all the difference!

The impact of that Christmas promise is incredible. When WE believe that, when WE accept that, when WE claim that promise it will absolutely change our life.

When we are frightened and when we are lonely, we can claim the Christmas promise of God’s presence with us.

We can claim the great Christmas promise when we are in sorrow. It seems like it would be easy to feel the presence of God when we are on top of the world and everything is going our way. But actually the reverse is true. God is never nearer to us than when we are hurting. There are two reasons for that. First, we are more open to God when we are in need; and second, God is like a loving parent who wants especially to be with His children when they are in pain. Being with us he wants to share his strength with us.

An 85-year-old woman with a large family had a crippling stroke. As a result, she was unable to speak, unable to walk, and unable to care for her basic needs. Reluctantly, her children placed her in the care of a nursing home. She was there for 5 years, mostly content. They had no indication that she even knew them when they came for visits. One Christmas season the family was gathered for their family Christmas celebration. They decided to reenact a tradition of their childhood and gather around the piano to sing carols.

After they had sung a couple of Christmas carols, one of the daughters suddenly said, “Let’s go get Mom.” Two family members drove to the nursing home and brought Mom back to the house. Swiftly they wheeled her to the piano and they began singing carols again. When they came to Silent Night, they could not believe what happened. Their mother, who had not spoken a word in 5 years, started singing Silent Night along with them. It was amazing.

The daughter telling the story described it like this: “mom was singing, too. Her voice was soft, but she was on key and she knew the words. Everybody was stunned, but they kept on singing. They smiled at her and she nodded. They sang other carols and she sang them all. It was a moment of incredible warmth and joy, blessing and almost magical beauty. Even when she couldn’t recognize the faces of her own children, even when she seemed incapable of laughter or tears the songs of Christmas faith were still alive deep within her spirit, well below the frost line of illness and loss the Christmas carols survived.”

Deep within her soul, the songs of Christmas faith were alive and well and somehow miraculously she was able, as the Christmas carol puts it, to “Repeat the sounding joy.”

The cause of Christian joy isn’t presents. The cause of Christian joy isn’t a trouble-free life. The cause of Christian joy is Jesus Christ, God-With-Us.

If God is in Jesus, if we believe that God was present in the sufferings and death of Christ, then we must believe that God is present with us in our suffering as well. Remember how Jesus answered the disciples? Who sinned, he was asked. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him" (John 9:3). Somehow there is a purpose in what we are going through. Somehow God's mercy will be revealed. It may be beyond our grasp and understanding. He is wiser.

The liturgical season of Christmas is relatively brief, but it is an excellent time to make a Christmas resolution: live each day as if God is with you, because he is.

Tomorrow there will be gifts, meals, and joy, but there may also be dashed expectations, family tensions, or worries that didn’t take Christmas break. The key is to remember that Our Lord, Emmanuel, is with us. He is all we need.

We’re going to receive the Eucharist in a few minutes – God With Us. The Word became Flesh and made his dwelling among us. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive him. If we’re ready to receive him, after a good confession, he’s truly present in our souls. Let’s allow Jesus, the God with us be actively present in us at this Christmas and the coming New year.

Advent III-C: Zep 3:14-18a; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18

Patricia Greenlee tells a story about her son who is a West Virginia state trooper. Once he stopped a woman for going 15 miles an hour over the speed limit. After he handed her a ticket, she asked him, “Don’t you give out warnings?” “Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “They’re all up and down the road. They say, ‘Speed Limit 55.’” People have a tendency to disregard the warning signs. Sometimes that has dire consequences. Today’s Gospel presents John the Baptist warning the Jews with prophetic courage of their need for repentance and conversion.

John preaches fervently, urging his listeners to make preparations for the coming of the Messiah. John advises people, not to be dreamers or planners only, but doers moved by sincerity and commitment.  Even though John’s preaching is characterized by scathing criticism, his call for reform is still described by Luke as "the Good News," because the arrival of the Messiah will initiate a new reign of forgiveness, healing and salvation.  The repentance which John preaches calls for a change in behavior and not just regret for the past. According to Scott Hahn “Repentance” translates a Greek word, metanoia (literally, “change of mind”). It means a radical life-change involving a two-fold “turning” - away from sin (see Ezekiel 3:19; 18:30) and toward God for His mercy (see Sirach 17:20-21; Hosea 6:1). It requires “good fruits as evidence of our repentance” (see Luke 3:8). That’s why John tells the crowds, soldiers and tax collector, and us as well, that we must prove our Faith through works of charity, honesty and social justice.  John demands that we share our goods with one another, emphasizing the principle of social justice that God will never absolve the man who is content to have too much while others have too little.  John also insists that a man should not leave his job to work out his own salvation.  Instead, he should do his job as it should be done.  He calls people to fidelity in the very circumstances of their lives.  Let the tax-collector be a good tax-collector and let the soldier be a good soldier.  In other words, it is a man's duty to serve God where God has set him.  “Bloom where you are planted,” St. Francis De Sales used to say.  We are expected to become transformational agents where we are.  And if the work environment is such that we are unable to deal honestly and fairly with other people, we should probably find a new job.

As we continue with this Mass, let's take an x-ray of our hearts, to see the state of our moral life. And when our Lord comes to heal and strengthen us in Holy Communion, let's renew our commitment to make his friendship, with all its moral consequences, the highest priority of our lives.

ADVENT II [C]: Bar 5:1-9; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Lk 3:1-6 

Once upon a time there was a king, who ruled a prosperous country. One day he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he came back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very sore because it was the first time that he had gone for such a long trip, and the road he had used was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the country with leather. Definitely this would need skins of thousands of animals, and would cost a huge amount of money. Then one of his wise advisors dared to question the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?” The king was surprised, but later agreed to his suggestion to make a ‘shoe’ for himself. – We often say, “I wish things would change or people would change.” Instead wise people say: “Change your thinking and change your world.”

The Advent season challenges us to prepare the way for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming by changing ourselves. “Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

“Every hill made low,” refers to the humbling of the proud, the repentance that the strong and arrogant must undergo in order to receive God’s salvation.

The “winding roads” and “rough places” refer to the twists and turns of the human heart, contorted by sin (Jer 17:9).  The human heart needs to be “simplified” or “straightened” by honest and truthful confession of sin.

Preparing “the way” means to create a favorable environment or to make it easy for someone to come to one and operate in one’s life.  If a king were planning to travel, work crews would be dispatched to repair the roads.  Ideally, the roads for the king's journey would be straight, level, and smooth.  A smooth road means nothing to God, but a repentant heart means a great deal.  Hence, the truly important goal for us is to prepare our hearts to receive the Lord. 

John's message calls us to confront and confess our sins. We have to turn away from them in sincere repentance and receive God's forgiveness.  There are basically two reasons why people who have recognized their sins fail to receive forgiveness for them.  The first is that they fail to repent -- but the second is that they fail to forgive.  Jesus is very explicit about this in Matthew 6:14 and 15. He says, "For if you forgive men their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."  Is there someone I need to forgive today?  We must not let what others have done destroy our lives.  We can't be forgiven unless we forgive.  We must release our bitterness if we are to be able to allow God to do His healing work in our lives. May this advent season help us to shed all the bitterness and revenge so that we may be worthy to receive God’s forgiveness.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION-2015

In 1492, 526 years ago, Columbus discovered America. He sailed in a ship called Santa Maria de Conception (St. Mary, the Immaculate Conception). He named the first Island he landed San Salvador, in honor of our Savior. Columbus named the second island Conceptio in honor of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. The fearless French explorer Fr. Marquette who explored the 2300 miles long Mississippi River, flowing through ten states, called it River of Mary Immaculate. In fact, all the early American Catholics were so proud of the great truth we celebrate today that the American bishops in 1846 (8 years before the promulgation of the dogma) chose Mary Conceived without sin as the patroness of the United States. Hence, this feast is the feast of the country’s heavenly patroness in the U.S.  

This feast celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother Saint Anne; and nine months later, on September 8, we celebrate the Nativity, the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

She had to be immaculate for two reasons. First of all, her son Jesus, being God and man at the same time, could not have inherited original sin from her. That would nullify the infinite merits of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. If Jesus himself was in the shade of Original Sin, he could not effectively wipe away the sins of others. So Mary had to be free from Original Sin, so that her Son would be free from Original Sin. Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus’ redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus’ work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.

Secondly, Sin is a condition of being not in friendship with God. If Jesus was God, how could God and sin co-exist. God and sin cannot co-exist. Sin is a situation of being away from God. And if one argues that Mary was not immaculate, then our whole doctrine of salvation through Jesus would be under attack, pushing Jesus in to original sin and making his redemptive work less effective.

Hence, fruits of Jesus’ redemptive work on the Cross was applied to Mary at her conception not because of her virtue or merits, but by the merits of Jesus. The angel’s salutation “full of Grace” is the scriptural proof of Immaculate conception too. Full of grace means having no stain of sin. If she had some stain of sin, angel Gabriel who knows heavenly secrets and knowledge would not address her so. This doctrine of immaculate conception leads us to conclude that Mary was ever virgin too.

All of the four evangelists make some mention of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. The Gospel of Mark 6:3 and the Gospel of Matthew 13:55–56 state that James, Joses (or Joseph), Jude and Simon were the brothers of Jesus, the son of Mary. The same verses also mention unnamed sisters of Jesus. Mark 3:31–32 tells about Jesus' mother and brothers looking for Jesus.

John writes that after Jesus performed his first miracles in Cana, “he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days” (2:12).

Many commentators hold that the author of the epistle of Jude, who identifies himself as the "brother of James," was one of these brothers (Jude 1). It is also generally believed that the leader of the church at Jerusalem was James the brother of Jesus, (see Acts 12:17; 15:13). This seems to be confirmed by Paul's reference to his visit to Jerusalem, in which he states that he saw only Peter, and "James, the Lord's brother" (Galatians 1:18-19).

The word brother in the Old Testament, like in Genesis 13 and 14, can be used to describe some other kind of relation, like a cousin or a nephew, with reference Abram and Lot.  Abraham called his nephew Lot as his brother.

They were the cousins of Jesus on the mother's side, according to some scholars, or on Joseph's side, according to others.

If Mary had other children, they would have been present under the cross and Jesus would have definitely given Mary’s protection to them, rather than giving her to John. It would have been an offense to them if Jesus gave their mother to somebody other than his brothers.

In Luke chapter 1, when Mary respond to the angel's declaration that she's going to have a baby, her response only makes sense if she has taken some kind of vow of virginity, because she says "how shall this be since I know not man." 

James and Joseph and Simon and Judas aren't the children of Mary and Joseph, because the Gospels themselves tell us they aren't, and the early church fathers make clear who these men were.  In Matthew 27 verse 55 we read:

There were also many women there [i.e. at the cross], looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Magdalene [number one], and Mary the mother of James and Joseph [number two], and [number three,] the mother of the sons of Zebedee.  

 Now that second woman is the one that's important for us, because James and Joseph have already been identified in the Gospel of Matthew as born of another woman.  We met them in chapter 13 when Matthew called them the brothers of Jesus. So the same people are called brothers of Jesus and at the same time born of a different mother than Virgin Mary.

So in John 19:25 we read these words:

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

In other words, we have even more evidence of who the other Mary is.  She's identified as, not the wife of Joseph, but the wife of another man name Clopas, and this would of course make Joseph and James, the two sons of Mary, the so-called brothers of Jesus, the children of Mary and her husband Clopas.

It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely that the Virgin Mary had a blood sister named Mary as well.  But it would've been very common for her to have a cousin or a relative named Mary, and that's who this other Mary is being identified here as in the Gospel of John.  Many protestants blindly argue that Mary had other children of her own. But that is not what we find in the scripture.

Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession. (Alphonsus Liguori). That is why the Church gives so much importance to her.

When we respect and adore Jesus, we cannot but fail to honor Mary. Because it is through Mary, that Jesus came into this world and learned his human virtues.

Every mother wants her children to inherit or acquire all her good qualities. Hence, our immaculate and holy mother wants us to be holy and pure children. 

Let us listen to her instructions and follow her example so that one day in the heavenly Jerusalem we may love the Lord as she does. At the first miracle at Cana, Mary said to waiters, “Do whatever he tells you”. This is what she continues to tell everyday to us. Do what he tells you.