Faith of Hope

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 27 Apr 2013)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ

During this Year of Faith, the Nicene Creed is our central prayer. Rightly so, as it tells us and others of our faith. Have you ever wondered why we bow profoundly at the Incarnatus, i.e. the phrase “...and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man”? On the solemnities of Christmas and the Annunciation, we even genuflect at this moment. Father Daniel Schomaker[1]wrote,

(I quote) “As God comes down to earth, we too go down to the earth and touch our knee to the ground. ...God, in the person of Jesus Christ, emptied himself of all that he was and, putting on flesh, became one like us,”

while maintaining fully his divinity.

Such profound gestures show how central the doctrine of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in our faith. The Incarnation is the beginning of our Christian faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (# 463) states, belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is what marks us apart as Christians. The person who gave our God a body, so that we can be redeemed, is none other than Mary. That is why she is called the Mother of God. As award-winning Catholic writer, Kathy Coffey, highlighted, the crucial moment that led to the Incarnation, the Annunciation, must have been the most unforgettable in Mary’s life. Today, I would like to share Kathy Coffey’s thoughts on the Annunciation, and its applications to us.

Coffey painted Mary’s background as such. Immersed in the Torah, Mary, who probably could not read, would have memorised sections of it. The story of God’s fidelity to His people ran in her veins. She would have lighted the Sabbath candle every week, and sung the psalms regularly, reminding of God’s goodness. On the other hand, there was the Roman oppression. She had friends who were sold as slaves with their children when Romans killed Israel’s two thousand men. Admist these two powerful forces, she received a most puzzling message from the Archangel Gabriel, that turned her life upside down. No agenda was given; she did not have any clue of what to expect after the startling visit.

Mary’s dilemma is like ours, moving between two worlds: the promises of our faith, and the sad realities of our culture. If we hope in our faith, we may be accused of ignoring reality. If we focus on people’s inhumanity, we may despair and ask where God is. Coffey boldly wondered about God’s seemingly bad sense of timing. Could the news of the pregnancy not waited till Mary was safely and respectably married to Joseph? Could the birth not have happened when they were settled at home with family and friends’ support? Could God not have struck Herod with a simple lightning bolt, and spared the besieged family the difficult trip? Coffey then wrote that we balk at hardship and inconvenience because we cannot see into the future.

How could Mary have so easily answered “yes”? Ladislas Orsy, S.J., a Jesuit professor, says that human hopes name future expectations and then cling fast to them, whereas divine hope means immersion in God’s plan. “God guarantees a good outcome but without telling us what it will be.” Mary’s participation (I quote) “...was perfect; she never said, ‘I had hoped.’” (unquote) Mary participated actively in her own drama, without knowing how it would unfold. She did not try to hide her fear or uncertainty, but she knew the cure for our human failure to see: blind trust. She could praise God in the Magnificat thereafter, because she knew God’s constancy and fidelity. Mary’s way was divine hope.

According to Coffey, Mary can help us here, because she understood the kind of tensions we face. Living with the dramatic contrasts, she made her peace with disparate worlds. Throughout her life, she would help her friends remember God’s goodness, especially through her son. She directed Jesus’ disciples towards hope when they despaired. We, who have been baptized into Mary’s same gift of faith, must also live on hope, trusting in God’s promise. Like Mary, we have been called to participate in the fullness of God’s life and bring Christ into our worlds.

As we prepare for the coming general elections, let us keep this hope alive for our nation by praying and fulfilling our duty to vote, guided by the Holy Spirit. By our faith, may we show others the reason for our hope. Mary, our Mother, show us the way and pray for us. Amen.

---

[1] An associate director of the diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy of Covington, Kentucky, the USA

Faith of the Children at Fatima

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 20 October 2012)

1.   The Year of Faith is a command to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world.

2.   We, the Church, have the mission to faithfully proclaim the mystery of our Lord until it is finally manifested in full light.

3.   The call to conversion is not new. The mystery of our salvation has been filled with God’s seeking out mankind who often strayed, calling him to return to the Creator in heart and mind.

4.   After the New Testament, God’s messenger has been Our Lady herself, for conversion has been the “golden thread” that links her many apparitions throughout the world.

Mary’s faith, hope and love for humanity has sustained humanity’s faith, hope and love in God’s salvation in spite of man’s sinfulness.

And yet, Mary’s call to humanity in different continents throughout the centuries to… 

5.   …follow a different path and a different world than the tragic, materialistic, de-Christianised, sinful society, which is so close to all of our lives today, remains unheeded by too many.

6.    It is a call that has gone unheeded again and again. Our Lady is seen as weeping, weeping for the world… 

7.   …and pierced to the Heart. In the image of Her Immaculate Heart pierced by a sword, we see the heart of the Blessed Virgin stabbed for all of those who have lived – and died – by the sword, and by sin. Jesus said, “Put your sword back, for all who have lived by the sword, die by the sword.” (Mt 26:52)

8.   In this month of the Rosary, let us recall her message at Fatima, one of the most famous apparitions approved by the Church.

9.   The year was 1917. Three shepherd children, Francisco (aged 9), his sister Jacinta (aged 7) and Lucia dos Santos (aged 10) were tending their flocks at a field, the Cova da Iria.

10. The Lady appeared in a very bright light above a green oak tree by its own in the field. A conversation ensued between her and Lucia. They were told to go to the same spot on the 13^th of each month, at the same hour. The Lady would only reveal her name in the last month, that is, October.

11. They were told to go to the same spot on the 13^th of each month, at the same hour. The Lady would only reveal her name in the last month, that is, October.

12. She asked them to pray the Rosary daily for peace, to make reparations for the conversion of sinners. She taught them to pray the Fatima prayer after each decade of the Rosary. They were also shown a vision of hell.

13.  The core of the Fatima message was the call to prayer, sacrifice and penance – prayer for peace, for sinners and for the Pope; the penance of fulfilling one’s daily duty well, obeying God’s commandments, avoiding the near occasions of sin and acting according to God’s will in all things.   

14.  It was at Fatima that Our Lady drew devotion to her Immaculate Heart, surrounded with thorns.

15.  On the last day of her apparition to the children, the 13^th of October, the Lady revealed her name as the Lady of the Rosary. She requested for a chapel to be built there and asked them to continue praying the Rosary every day. She asked people to amend their lives and repent, for God was already much offended.

16.  Then, the crowd that gathered with the children witnessed the miracle of the dancing sun, while the children saw a vision of the Holy Family. These symbols of air and fire prepare for Christ’s second coming at the Last Judgement.

17. What can we draw from the Fatima episode, apart from the messages of prayer, sacrifice and penance? Perhaps we could emulate the faith and obedience of the children in carrying out faithfully the requests of Our Lady. Just as Bernadette in the Lourdes apparition, Our Lady had used simple children to convey the mysteries of our salvation. Lourdes pointed to Baptism and the first coming of Christ, while Fatima opens perspectives of the end times. If not for their simple and steadfast faith, the world would not have received the warnings and messages that were meant to stem the downfall of humankind.

18.  In this Year of Faith, let us, like the trustful children, place our faith in our Blessed Mother’s guidance and carry out the call of Fatima to prayer, sacrifice and penance so that we, too, would be conveying to the world the mystery of our Lord. Then, we would have fulfilled the command of the Holy Father for this grace-filled Year. 

Mary, Model of Faith

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 18 June 2011)

Today my sharing will be on Mary, the model of faith.

All of us are very familiar with the word FAITH, that we use it often in our prayers, in our conversations with our friends, in sharing of our experiences of life and in many other situations. I am sure we all believe in the gift of faith.       

Faith is one of the most fundamental aspects of our Christian life. We believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect model of our faith.

So what is the gift of faith?

Faith involves entrusting oneself, abandoning oneself to God, the willingness to submit to His will and the obedience in faith. Mary as the perfect model reflects this very well. She abandoned herself to God with total trust and in obedience in faith when she responded “Yes” to God.

To better understand what this means in practice, we can look at the life of Mary, whose acceptance of God’s invitation to be the mother of His Son is a great witness for us. By examining the dialogue that took place at the Annunciation, we can gain deeper insight about what it means to have faith.

Mary’s ‘Yes’ to God

Mary’s journey with God was one of deep faith and great trust. She had a grace-filled openness to the mystery of God in her life.

We are familiar with Luke’s account of the Incarnation when the angel appeared to Mary and announced, “The Lord is with you.” ( Lk 1: 28) However, before Mary responded to God, the Scriptures remind us that Mary was confused and frightened, and was deeply disturbed by the angel’s greeting. As Mary was fully human she too experienced fear and doubts, similar to how anyone of us would also encounter in our lives. 

She struggled to say “Yes” to the Lord! And She “pondered” these words in her heart. Pondering is not simply a question of “thinking” or of trying to master the realities of faith or mysteries of life. It is not a question of trying to control these realities or mysteries or reduce them to something our minds can handle. Rather, it is a question of letting the realities of faith be with us, to enter into us and reveal themselves to us. It is allowing ourselves to be molded by them, to allow God’s will to become our will.  It is fostering both an attitude and atmosphere of trust and openness in our lives. 

It was through her dialogue with the angel, where she asks, ”How can this be? I have no knowledge of man” (Lk1:34) And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. And behold, your cousin Elisabeth, she too also conceived a son in her old age, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Lk1:38)With these words Mary was more assured and her fear transcended and she was able to submit herself to the will of God. 

Mary took a leap in faith. She had to let go of her plans and say “Yes” to a life of faith. In spite of her awareness of her own unworthiness and littleness, she had to say “Yes” to become the mother of God and also all that it would entail. She was asked to let go of her plans and let God take over her life. She was totally unaware what was to happen in the future, the struggles or difficulties; however she totally trusted God and that He will take care of all things as she surrendered in faith.

Mary's fiat (“let it be done, as you have said” (Lk 1:38)) demonstrates her complete obedience to God and to His will for her. In fact it was by means of her fiat, her obedient faith, that “the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished” in accordance with God's plan.

Similarly, sometimes in our lives too, when God comes to invite us to make changes in our lives, to explore the inner part of our lives which we have been very comfortable with, we too can feel perplexed or confused just as Mary did. It is in those circumstances that we too can engage in dialogue with God and with others around us. May we too, walk in faith by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us just as he did for Mary.

We may not know what the outcome will be, however we can take the leap of faith and TRUST that God will take care of us just as He did for our Blessed Mother.