“Honor Your Mother”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
December 31 – January 1, 2020
I should preach a little tonight, but preaching just a little on the Feast of Our Blessed Mother is tough. I have to keep a watch on the time, because how can someone not speak for a long time praising your mother. How can anybody not do that. She is the source of your life. My earthly mother who should have killed me long before I reached this stage with pastry….sucking down another one is a distant memory, and it makes me tear up. She is the source of my vocation. Bishop Sheen said that the lack of devotion to the Blessed Mother was seen in a lack of vocations. The lack of devotion to the Blessed Mother also results in impurity, bad marriages, and fewer priests. The whole thing is falling apart.
There is also a lack of respect for the Eucharist. People say, “we are focused on the Eucharist, Father.” Really? Then how come in many churches, you need a road map and a native guide with GPS to find it? “Oh, we have a special place for it.” Where? A broom closet? “It’s over here in the old chapel of veneration.” The bathroom is bigger than the chapel…are you kidding me? It’s contrary to scripture. Devotion to the Blessed Mother is scriptural too. Read about St. Louis de Montfort. Who was the one who got the first intercession? Who is the mother of the Lord?
She was at the foot of the cross. She held the body of her son who was bleeding like a sieve…the Romans knew their business. She was covered with the blood of Christ; the first one, so how can you not love the Blessed Mother. She always pointed to her son, saying “do whatever He tells you.” Those are the last words spoken by our spiritual mother in this world. In the words of Saint Bernard, “never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Is there a better intercession than Our Lady?
Perhaps, before you go to bed tonight, think about all the wonderful gifts she has given you in answer to your prayers, both spoken and unspoken, and those you never requested, but were given just because she loves you.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you become more devoted to the Blessed Mother?