Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight
Thus John the Baptist quoting the Prophet Isaiah called upon the people of God to repent and return to the Lord. On our Advent paths in today’s liturgy we meet two forerunners of the Lord who in a special way prepared the way for the Saviour: the Prophet Isaiah and Saint John the Baptist. They both tell us that the way of the Lord leads through personal repentance.
On December 8th every year the Universal Church observes the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin”. This solemnity refers to Mary’s sinlessness, not to Jesus’ as some mistakenly think. Since this year December 8th falls on Sunday this Solemnity of Immaculate Conception is transferred to Monday, December 9th. In our church there will be Mass celebrated at 7 pm.
This Thursday, December 12th, we hold the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. There is a beautiful story about Juan Diego to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared in 1531 in Mexico. He was a simple farmer and labourer. While he was making his way to Mass in the early morning of December 9th Our Lady became visible to him as a native princess and her words sounded more beautiful than the sweetest music ever made. She wanted him to bring a message to the local bishop, so that a church dedicated to her might be built. A miraculous sign was given to the bishop: on Juan Diego’s tilma (outer garment) appeared an exquisite image of Our Lady. This picture is still venerated in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The image to this date cannot be explained by science. It contains many miraculous details. In 1945, Pope Pius XII decreed Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the Patroness of the Americas.
Immaculate Mary – pray for us!
God bless,
Fr. Peter