It is no secret that John was led into embracing his Faith through Our Lady of Lourdes and reminds me that "there is a mother better than you, mom." "Yes, John, I totally agree!!!"
Today is so exciting to me... my heart is just humming with excitement and LOVE discovering to my surprise that a new feast has been added the day after Pentecost... Mary, the Mother of The Church!
"When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved,
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home." John 19
I came across a most amazing article this morning sharing the new feast!!
https://blog.ascensionpress.com/a-new-feast-mary-mother-of-the-church/
Please take the time to read this filled with so much that made me soar to the heights of JOY!
"Once we are plunged into the waters of baptism, we die to our old lives, and rising again from the waters, we are reborn. We are a new creation in Jesus Christ. But since Jesus is both God and man, he also was born according to the flesh. He had a birthday just as you and I do. So his birth from the Virgin Mary becomes our birthday, too. We recognize that Jesus is the Head of the Church; he is inseparable from the members that make up his body (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 795). That is why, along with St. Leo, we can rightfully state that at the moment our Blessed Mother gave birth to her son, Jesus, she also gave birth to each and every one of us. Realizing this makes the words of our Lord to St. John at the foot of the Cross so much more meaningful and illuminating.
Quoting St. Augustine, the Catechism picks up on these observations from the Church Fathers, synthesizing it in this way:
“The Virgin Mary… is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer… She is ‘clearly the mother of the members of Christ’… since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head.” (CCC 963) excerpt from the article by Nicholas La Banca
“The hope is that the extension of this celebration to the whole Church will remind all Christ’s disciples that, if we want to grow and to be filled with the love of God, it is necessary to plant our life firmly on three great realities: the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Mother of God. These are three mysteries that God gave to the world in order to structure, fructify, and sanctify our interior life and lead us to Jesus. These three mysteries are to be contemplated in silence.” —Cardinal Robert Sarah
Jesus how you are rejoicing with us this day! "Don't worry about loving Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus does." St Maximilian Kolbe
I am filled with so much happiness to have her with me each day of this journey called Faith/Family/Farm which our entire family shares together! I have no doubt that each one of my children is sharing with me in this happy new occasion in The Church! And how perfect that it come the day after the beginning of The Church with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost! Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
Together into their bright light-filled future putting their faith first and all will be according to his prefect plan for them!
"Above all, let us listen to Mary Most Holy,
in whom the mystery of the Eucharist appears,
more than in anyone else,
as a mystery of light.
Gazing upon Mary, we come to know
the transforming power present in theEucharist.
In her we see the world renewed in love.
Contemplating her,assumed body and soul into heaven,
we see opening up before us those 'new heavens' and that 'new earth'
which will appear at the second coming of Christ. Here below,
the Eucharist represents their pledge, and in a certain way,
their anticipation: 'Veni, Domine Iesu!'’” (Rev 22:20).
St John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 62
The heifers on grass... as of last night all the cows and calves were on grass!! So wonderful to see them and know how happy and content they are!
Walking the fence is just part of getting the kinks out.
"My Jesus Mercy! My sins are more numerous than the drops of blood that Thou did shed for me. I do not deserve to belong to the that defends the rights of Thy Church and that fights for her. I desire never to sin again so that my life might be an offering pleasing to Thy eyes. Wash away my iniquities and cleanse me of my sins. By Thy Holy Cross, by my Holy Mother of Guadalupe, pardon me.
Sin...ce I do not know how to make penance for my sins, I desire to receive death as a chastisement merited by them. I do not wish to fight, live or die except for Thee and for Thy Church. Blessed Mother of Guadalupe, be at my side in the agony of this poor sinner. Grant that my last shout on earth and my first canticle in Heaven should be Viva Cristo Rey! Amen."
Closing prayer of the Rosary used by the Cristeros
St. Christopher Magallanes and all the Cristeros, Pray for Us.
Sin...ce I do not know how to make penance for my sins, I desire to receive death as a chastisement merited by them. I do not wish to fight, live or die except for Thee and for Thy Church. Blessed Mother of Guadalupe, be at my side in the agony of this poor sinner. Grant that my last shout on earth and my first canticle in Heaven should be Viva Cristo Rey! Amen."
Closing prayer of the Rosary used by the Cristeros
St. Christopher Magallanes and all the Cristeros, Pray for Us.
Also this feast day today... I read to John and Pat about how they were martyred in Mexico for their Catholic Faith 100 years ago and less!!! Pat's cousin, Fr Vincent Louwagie, who married us 40 years ago is celebrating 50 years a priest this summer and much of that was spent in Mexico!!! So powerful and special to share these 40 years with him on his journey towards sainthood. We are all called to be saints!
Friends, on this new feast day of Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church), which immediately follows Pentecost, we ask the intercession of the Mother of God, who in the upper room did what a mother does for her children: prayed with and for them. Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!
YES!!
God’s Mother Is Our Mother
When I reflect on these observations made by more forefathers in the Faith, it pains me that many of my separated brothers and sisters in Christ cannot bring themselves to come to Mary as their refuge. None of the veneration we give to Mary can ever trump the adoration and worship we give to God, but it’s clear that our Lady had a very special role in salvation history. To ignore her, or to see her as an obstacle to Christ, is an immense tragedy that greatly wounds us. Many non-Catholic Christians cannot accept calling her the Mother of God. This would probably make it pretty difficult to then see Mary as their own mother. But we know that the notion of receiving Mary as our Mother is both biblical (see John 19:25) and apostolic in nature. Even one of the greatest proponents of sola Scriptura (believing in the Bible alone for authority) recognized Mary as mother of all Christians who are reborn in Christ:“Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees… If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.”That comes from Martin Luther himself. If Mary is his mother, then she is our mother too. If we have “become Christ”, as St. Augustine says, through baptism, then we have also gained his mother. Think about how wonderful this is for a moment! What better mother could we ask for? A mother that does God’s will, no matter how difficult it is. A mother who always points to God in whatever situation we find ourselves in: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). A mother who will always pray for us as long as we ask her. This is why we have to hope that our Protestant brethren can look past the anti-Catholic bigotry that colors many of their views on our Lady, and look to Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church in understanding how to understand her role in God’s plan for humanity.
Nicolas LaBanca
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