The Incarnation
4th Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, the foundation of the entire structure of the Christian Faith, is the divinity of it’s Founder.[i] Our religion is not made by man, but was given to us by God who walked the earth. Everything we believe and teach, the sacraments, rituals the moral way of life we lead – all of this is for the very reason that it was given to us by a Divine Voice.
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If we look at the solar system, we see that all things are dependent and centered on the sun; the sun’s gravity keeps the planets in orbit, the sun’s light and heat keep our planet alive.
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Just as the solar system would fail if the sun were not there, so the doctrines and teachings of our faith would be worthless unless they are centered on Christ’s divinity.
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In the Nicene Creed, we say that Christ is born of the Father before all ages. He is true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father. Our Founder, Jesus Christ, is Divine.
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But in the creed, we then speak of the other foundational mystery of the Faith: ‘For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became Man.’
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Here is the important mystery that we are preparing to celebrate this week, the Incarnation. Some say that God became ‘a man,’ or a ‘human being.’ But this is not such a good way of speaking; rather we say, that the Son of God ‘took humanity to himself;’ ‘he took on our flesh,’ or God ‘assumed human nature.’ We speak this way because God has united all of humanity to himself in the Person of Christ.
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Some say that the Son of God became a ‘human person,’ but this is incorrect. Jesus is a Divine Person, he is the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, who always was and always will be.
Jesus has two natures: human and Divine, but he has one Person – he is not a split-personality. When St. Peter spoke to Christ, he was speaking to the one Person, Jesus. So we can really say, that St. Peter was speaking to God in the Flesh.
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The Holy Scriptures tell us: ‘Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God.’ On the contrary, those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are of the anti-christ.[ii]
So belief in the Incarnation is the distinctive sign of the Christian Faith.[iii]
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On the stairs going up to the choir loft you will see there a large statue of St. Anthony of Padua. Almost every statue of St. Anthony shows him holding the Child Jesus, why?
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Well, once while traveling, Anthony stayed at a man’s house; during the night, the man heard voices coming from Anthony’s room, he got up, and saw a stream of brilliant light coming from under the door. In those days, there were only candles, no electricity, so what was the cause? He took a peek into the room. There he saw Anthony speaking in a familiar way with the Christ Child – the source of the brilliant light. And so this is the reason St. Anthony is often depicted holding the Infant Jesus.
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But notice in these statues, that the Infant is standing not firstly in the arms of St. Anthony, but on the Bible – almost as if he is stepping out of the page. Jesus is the Word, made flesh, and a favorite subject of St Anthony’s preaching was the Incarnation: God has become Man.
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So the Nativity of the Lord for which we are preparing – this is the great event of the Incarnation when God united his divine nature to human nature. The union in Christ of the divine nature with human nature is called the Hypostatic Union. This is the moment when God entered his own creation. St. John describes it at the beginning of his Gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ So here he refers to Christ as the the eternal Word which proceeds from the Father. And then he says, ‘The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory.’
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Why did God do this, taken on our human flesh? The catechism tells us:
460 [The Son of God] became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature. What’s that again? [The Son of God] became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature. This was God’s plan all along. He wants us to literally share in his own divine life.
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But can a finite being like ourselves be united to the Infinite God? Actually, yes.
Our nature is finite – we are created beings with limits;[iv] human nature could not be united with another finite nature, such as that of an angel; an angel exists in a definite way that excludes other ways of existing, including the human way. So a man could not become an angel without negating himself.
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But to be united to God, to divine nature, is simpler, because God is ‘being itself.’ His nature is not finite. The Holy Scriptures tell us that the Son of God became Man so that we might become sons of God: ‘To as many as received him, he gave the power of becoming sons of God, to those who believe in his name. John 1:12
The early fathers of the church never tired of saying: ‘God became man, that man might become God.’
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Father Goodier in his book on Jesus Christ – he tries to understand how is was that the apostles followed Jesus so quickly. It is because their Maker had come for them. Take the case of St. Philip meeting Christ.[v] Philip looks at Jesus; as their eyes met, they were the eyes of – his Creator. A friend meeting a friend. In only a glance, he shows that he knew Philip, and Jesus said follow me. The same with Matthew the tax collector:[vi] At the customs table, Matthew looks up at Jesus, his Creator, and at a glance they knew each other: ‘follow me!,’ he said. And he left everything.
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Our Creator has joined himself to us in the Incarnation; our Maker seeks us, to bring us to himself. All he needs from us is Faith.
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When someone shows love for us, we instinctively respond with affection. In the Incarnation, our Creator has shown us this great love, So what is our response?
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St. Alphonsus asks, ‘Do you not desire God?[vii] If you do not desire God, then desire something better, go ahead, seek something better, find someone who is better qualified than God to make you happy. There is no one.
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Let us conclude today by going to the Blessed Virgin.
Mary, your Son who came down from heaven has shown his great love for us. As we prepare for his Nativity, help us to really love him in return; help us to have the grace of really loving God.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Alphonsus]
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[i] See Parochial Course of Instructions, Vol 1, p. 76
[ii] 1 John 4:3
[iii] Catechism, #463
[iv] This is explained in ‘Theology of the Mystical Body, by Mersch, p. 218.
[v] The Public LIfe of Jesus Christ, Goodier, vol 1, p. 41.
[vi] The Public LIfe of Jesus Christ, Goodier, vol 1, p. 184.
[vii] Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ, p. 29
Joseph in God’s plan
Friends in Christ, we often ponder the events of Jesus’ birth, of Mary’s encounter with the Angel, her ‘Fiat,’ her ‘yes’ to God’s plan; we think of these events often.
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But at the same time, there was someone else who had an important role to play in God’s plan, and that was St. Joseph.
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When Joseph heard that his betrothed was with child, what was his reaction? Was he angry, as if he thought she had sinned? No.[i] The angel told him, ‘don’t be afraid Joseph.’ So he was not angry, rather, he was afraid.
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What was he afraid of? He was afraid that he was not worthy to be part of this great Mystery. God had before brought about remarkable conceptions, such as with Sarah who was old, and Hannah who was sterile; and Joseph had recently learned that God was doing something new, in that Elizabeth had conceived, who was very old.
So Joseph saw this event with Mary as something also of God, and felt that he should break off the engagement and get out of God’s way. But the angel assured him that he should proceed. And so he did.
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St. Joseph is a model for us, in our approach to Christ in our life. He was a man of a deep interior life. He was a man of few words; not one word of Joseph is recorded in the Holy Gospels.
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St. John Paul II[ii] tells us that Joseph would be in daily contact with the Mystery of God-made-Man under his own roof, at his kitchen table, with the God-made-Man. As we see today, St. Joseph surrendered all his plans; he calmly took a new path, along with all the challenges of welcoming the Son of God into his home. His actions can only be understood in light of his profound interior life, his life of prayer. Nothing can explain Joseph’s quiet ability to make difficult decisions with the courage of a simple soul, except his interior life of devotion.
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But the Word was made flesh, not only 2000 years ago, but still today at every Mass. Christ comes down from heaven to us daily, to be a part of our own life. Would that our own interior life of prayer be as ready to welcome Jesus, as was that of St. Joseph.
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[i] If Joseph were a ‘just man’ as it says, he would want justice to be done, and not disobey the Law, which would require stoning of an unfaithful woman. A ‘just man’ would not skirt the Law.
[ii] 1989 apostolic exhortation on St. Joseph, Redemptoris Custos.
Tax Collectors and Prostitutes
Friends in Christ, in the 4th century, there lived a young woman named Paesia whose parents had died, leaving her their large home. For a while she made her home available for the local priests as a place for them to pray and live, but in the course of time her resources were exhausted.
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Some wicked men came to see her and turned her from the Godly way, and she began to live an evil life to the point of becoming a prostitute. The fathers, learning of this, were deeply saddened and so they consulted a holy priest they knew named John the Dwarf. To him they said ‘We have learned that this sister is living an evil life. While she could, she gave us charity, so now it is our turn to help her.’
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So abba John went to see her and said to the doorkeeper, ‘Tell your mistress I am here.’ At first she told him to go away, but he said that he has something that will be very helpful to her. The old woman went up and told her, and Paesia said, ‘yes, bring him to me.’
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Entering and sitting beside her, abba John looked into her eyes and said, ‘What have you got against Jesus?’ When she heard this she became completely rigid, then abba John began to weep profusely. ‘Why are you crying father, she asked. ‘Because I see Satan playing in your face, how should I not weep?’
Hearing this she said, ‘Father, is it possible to repent?’ He replied, ‘yes.’ ‘Then take me wherever you wish.’
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Without hesitation, she went with him, and when they reached the desert and night was near, he made a little pillow in the sand and marked it with a cross, saying, ‘Sleep here.’ Then he did the same for himself further on.
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That night, he saw a shining path reaching from heaven to Paesia, and angels bearing away her soul. He saw that she was dead, and then he heard this: ‘One single hour of true repentance has brought her more than the penances of many others.’
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Friends, today Jesus tells us a parable that warns us about those who start with good intentions, but end badly. He also tells us that even those who started badly, if they change their mind and follow the Lord, they can become saints.
‘Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you.’
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As long as we live, it is never too late to follow Christ, to give him our whole heart. This is the season to begin again, to follow Him.
Balaam’s Donkey
Friends in Christ, we have seen before how Jesus’ coming fulfilled the so-many-hundreds of prophecies of the Old Testament.
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Today we encounter something quite unique. In the first reading from the Book of Numbers, we meet a man named Balaam, who knew nothing of the True God of Israel nor of any Messiah. Yet God uses even this pagan man as a prophet to predict Jesus’ coming.
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During the journey of Israel through the desert, they came to the land of Moab. The King of Moab was afraid of them; he had heard that their God had done miracles, they had passed through the Red Sea, and others – and so he wanted to put a curse on them. For this reason, he called his expert soothsayer and asked him to put a curse against Israel. This seer, or magi, or some kind of astrologer, was named Balaam. Now Balaam had felt that God did not want him to curse Israel, but nevertheless, the King had offered him good money if he did, and so he planned to do it.
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As Balaam was riding on his donkey, his donkey suddenly stopped. ‘What is wrong with you? he said, and he began to beat him, ‘go! go!’ but he would not. Now the donkey would not move because an angel stood in front, blocking the way. The donkey was able to see the angel, but Balaam could not. ‘If I had a sword I would kill you, said Balaam.’ Then suddenly, the donkey talked ! ‘What have I ever done to you Balaam? I have been your good donkey all these years, why do you beat me?’ This is the only case I know of – of a talking donkey!
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Now at that moment, God allowed Balaam to see the angel, and then he repented of his foolish ways. When he arrived to meet the King, despite having been ordered by the king to curse Israel, this pagan man Balaam, made a remarkable prophecy: He predicted that a great leader would come out of Israel, and that a Star will signal his coming.
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This prediction of the Star of Bethlehem was made therefore, not by a religious person, but by a pagan man, Balaam. It was remarkable prophecies such as this and a thousand others, that led the early Christians to conclude that the Messiah had arrived.
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It is also interesting to note, that according to an ancient tradition, the 3 Kings, or astrologers who came to visit the newborn Savior – they knew about the Star; it is said that they knew about it, because they were descendants of Balaam.
Confession for Advent
3rd Sunday of Advent
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, One early morning, when Bishop Fulton Sheen was opening the Church door, a young woman fell into the Church. ‘Who are you?, asked the Bishop?
‘Where am I?, she asked.
‘Well one thing is, you are drunk, he said. ‘Yes, I suppose I am.
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Then he told her, ‘Men drink because they love the stuff,’ ‘but women drink because they don’t like something else.’ What are you trying to escape from, by drinking?
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‘I’m involved in relationships with 3 different men,” she said, but they found out the truth, so I got drunk.’
‘Who are you? he asked. She pointed across the street to her picture, and her name in neon lights at the theatre. ‘Father, I’m the leading lady in that musical comedy.’
Sheen took the actress in, out of the cold, and made her some hot tea. He told her to come back later and talk to him that afternoon. I’ll come back, only on one condition, she said, that you do not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Very well then,” he said. ‘I shall not to ask you to go to Confession.’ ‘I want you to promise me that you will not ask me to go to Confession. ‘Ok, I promise you that I will not ask you to go to Confession,’ he said.
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So she came back that afternoon, and the bishop told her that there are two paintings in the Church that are very famous, would she like to see them? She did, and so as they walked down the aisle of the Church, he showed her the Confessional – he did not ask her to go to Confession – he pushed her into it!
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Well, it was really what she wanted, confession, and the bishop knew it. It was a turning point in her life, to begin new, and once again to follow Jesus. In fact, this actress left her career and became a religious Sister.
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Friends in Christ, Confession is the sacrament that heals us of our sins. Mother Church requires us to go at least one a year, and that is to keep us on the straight and narrow, to get a clean start and begin again. We have had hundreds and hundreds of confessions here at St. John’s so far this Advent, it is really inspiring. And I know that these young people here today – you will all be going to Confession this Saturday.
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Confession is repentance of our sins, it is to get a clean start in the Christian life.
The theme of the Gospel this Sunday and last, has been the call to repent, and prepare for Christmas. ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,’ says John the Baptist, ‘make straight the way of the Lord. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ At the heart of Christ’s teachings is repentance. The adulterous woman repented and was forgiven by Jesus. How many do we read in the Holy Gospels, came up to Our Lord and falling on their knees say, ‘Forgive me and help me,’ and he does. Turning from our sins often, should always be part of our life.
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At the end of every day, we should kneel down and make an examination of conscience. We think of how we lived, we thank God for his blessings, and we tell him we are sorry for our sins and faults. So daily, we ask the Lord’s forgiveness. But we also go to Confession.
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Someone asked Pope Francis, ‘Why can I not only confess my sins to God?’ ‘You can tell God ‘Forgive me’, he said, ‘But our sins are also against the brothers, against the Church, and for this it is necessary to ask forgiveness to the Church in the person of the priest.’ It is what Jesus asks us to do.
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God can heal cancer by a miracle, but he usually chooses to do it through a doctor;
God forgives sins, but he usually chooses to do it through a priest.
For sure we must confess our mortal sins, in order to receive Communion, and although it is required to go only once a year, it is a good practice to go to monthly to Confession. We receive grace every time, and it keeps us on track.
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A little boy, about 7 years old, told me, ‘Father, I will be going to confession every week,’ I told him ‘Very good,’ I do that also! And you know, that boy goes every week.
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When doctors do surgery on cancer, the question often asked is: ‘Did you get it all?’ Well, the priest is the doctor of the soul, and we want him to ‘get it all’ – we can’t withhold mortal sins, or else the cancer will continue.
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The priest who was the most famous confessor was our patron saint, St. John Vianney. He had amazing abilities as a priest. One time,[i] an old man who was a liberal-thinker, and who in his pride, thought that he was ‘above’ religion, happened to be on a tour of Ars, France. When St. John Vianney saw the man, he immediately took him by the arm and led him to Confession. ‘Now then, how long since your last confession?,’ he asked. With a smirk, he said it had been 30 years. Then John Vianney told him at exactly which church and on which day and in which town the man had made that confession. He was stunned! How could the priest have known all that? ‘And now you will make your confession,’ said Vianney. Out poured all his sins, and he promised to change his life, then and there. Instead of walking to hell, he got on the path to heaven.
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Another time,[ii] three ladies went to visit Ars, a mother, a grandmother, and a daughter. They had hoped to see the famous John Vianney, but he was busy hearing confessions. What the mother and grandmother did not know, was that the daughter had a mortal sin which was torturing her conscience, and she really needed to confess. As they were about to leave, John Vianney suddenly went out of his confessional leaving everyone standing in line; he went straight to the back of the Church and up to those 3 ladies, and asked the daughter to follow him to confession, which she did. The weight was lifted from her soul.
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Now friends, the priests here at our parish are not able to read souls like that, but we really will help people to make a good confession, and begin again. The Pope has said: ‘Don’t be afraid of confession, ‘when you are in line, you may feel [nervous], even shame – but then, when you finish confessing, you feel great – beautiful, clean, and happy.’
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Advent is a time of preparation, and we can prepare very well if we do it with Mary.
Mary, with you in our life, everything is sweeter, everything is easier. Help us and pray for us, that this Advent we will really experience the mercy of Jesus, which is the whole reason that he came.
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– a guide for going to Confession can be found at the top menu of this blog –
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Mother Cabrini]
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[i] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 113
[ii] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Gheon, p. 110
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Beloved in Christ, today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe[i]
To know about the origin of this Feast, we must go back to the winter of 1531. Juan Diego, a poor Aztec Indian living near Mexico City, encountered a strange event on his way to morning Mass. He heard music coming from Tepeyac Hill, and then a sweet woman’s voice calling his name. He climbed the hill and saw a lady, who looked like and dressed like his own people. She identified herself as the Virgin Mary, and told him to ask the bishop to build a church on the hill.
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So Juan headed to see the bishop, but it would not be easy. Even though the bishop saw that Juan was a humble, well-meaning Catholic, he was skeptical about the message. So Juan went and reported the bishop’s doubt to the Blessed Virgin; she asked him nevertheless, to persevere with the same message.
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Seeing his persistence and faith, the bishop asked for a sign, so that he could know for sure. She gave him a sign. Miraculously, in the middle of winter, roses bloomed on Tepeyac hill – yet there was a greater miracle to come. Juan gathered the flowers in the tilma he was wearing, and Mary, it is said, arranged the roses herself, with her own hands.
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He returned to the bishop and when he opened the tilma, allowing the flowers to fall to the floor, it was revealed that a beautiful image of Our Lady had imprinted itself on the tilma.
The bishop fell to his knees and believed. A church was built on the spot of the apparition, and 8 million people converted to the Catholic Faith.
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The tilma of Juan Diego has been the subject of much modern research. Woven of cactus fiber, it should have disintegrated in 20 years, yet after 500 years, it remains intact. Chemical analysis has not been able to reveal how the imprint was made. No paint or dyes were used. Additionally, the stars on the tilma match exactly the constellations of the Mexican sky in December of 1531.
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This dear Lady appeared at Tepeyac to show her love to the native people; but since 1999, Our Lady of Guadalupe has been declared the Patroness of all the Americas as well, so she is Our Virgin of Guadalupe!
Mary said to Juan Diego: “Understand my child, that nothing should frighten or sadden you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection?”
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She says the same to us.
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[i] Adapted from Catholicculture.org
The Kingdom of God suffers Violence
Friends in Christ, today Our Lord says: ‘the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.’ What does he mean?
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There are two senses, in which Jesus is speaking. In the first place, he speaks about what is happening at that time. The Pharisees were not open to the gospel, in fact, they resisted and put up roadblocks for others. Christ said of them, ‘you have taken away the key of knowledge, you yourselves do not enter and you prevent others from entering.’
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John the Baptist was calling the people to repent of their sins, and even though the Jewish leaders tried to dissuade them from listening, they went in droves to repent and change their life. ‘And all the people heard him, and justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John’ – but the Pharisees rejected all of this and did not repent. The devil was trying to prevent people, but the they wanted salvation, they really wanted it. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, but the violent are taking it by force.’
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But Our Lord did not speak only of the events of that time, his words would always be applicable, even today. There are many lukewarm Catholics and other Christians in the world; in our homes, our workplaces, our schools. Many live as the pagans, just the same way, same ideas. The majority. But then there are those who are really living the kingdom of heaven, living out the Christ-life; there are not many.
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A man I spoke to recently said, that at his office, whenever a moral question arises, or a hot-button social issue, or a religious question, everyone knows who they are going to ask: him. He’s the ‘resident Catholic.’ If someone has a serious personal concern, and needs to talk to someone of Faith, they say, ‘you should talk to Joe, he’s close to God.’ There are other Catholics where Joe works, but they are lukewarm, and everyone knows it. They go along with the crowd, and so they are not witnesses to the gospel at all.
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‘Strive to enter the narrow gate, says the Lord; many will seek to enter but will not be able.’ The Faithful Christians are small in number, but they actually believe, and they will stop at nothing to follow Jesus Christ, and bring others along too.
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Recently a young woman in our RCIA class was quite sick, but she dragged herself to class anyway. I told her ‘go home and rest, just read the class notes.’ But I knew why she had forced herself to come: She wants in – she wants baptism – very much, she wants in, to the kingdom of God.
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We should want it that bad as well, if we are real Christians.
On the love of Christ becoming a Child
Friends in the Lord, we are here in the 2nd week of Advent, preparing for Christmas. So let us ponder the event that we are preparing to celebrate: God entering the world as a child. St. Augustine says, God came to earth mainly for one reason: so that we might know how much God loves us.
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Jesus could have saved us without dying on the cross. One drop of his Divine blood would have been sufficient for our redemption. As St. Alphonsus says,[i] he could have saved us without suffering, or humiliation, or the mockery he received. The Son of God could have merely offered a little prayer to the Father and we would be saved.
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The Lord could have saved us without becoming a shivering child in a manger, and hungry and crying. The Son of God did not need to grow up as a youth, carrying tools for Joseph as if a servant-boy, stumbling on his first little steps, stuttering in his baby words, and carrying firewood for Mary – God did not need to do this, to share our human life. But he did.
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What if Jesus Christ had asked us: What proof of my love do you want to see from me? And if a person would have been so bold, as to tell Christ, that to be convinced of your love, we would like to see the Son of God become a child like us, embrace our sufferings and fears, and be born very poor; to prove your love for us, we would like you to be despised and hated and put to death amidst curses and slander, and forsaken by all – who would dare to say this to Jesus Christ – that this is what we want, in order to know that you love us?
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But that which we would not have even dared to think of saying, he has not only thought of, but has done it, for love of us!
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St. Francis of Assisi so often thought about what Christ has done for us – coming to earth and dying, that in his frequent weeping over this, he became nearly blind. Being found one day weeping before a crucifix, he exclaimed: I weep over the sufferings of Christ, but even more, over those who forget him and do not love him.
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The Son of God might have appeared in the world at the age of a perfect man, but because little children attract to themselves greater love, Jesus therefore chose to appear upon earth as the poorest infant that was ever born. Why? So that we would love him.
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[i] See Sermons of Alphonsus Liguori, p. 52; also, The Incarnation, birth, and infancy of Jesus Christ, p. 294.
The new Eve
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Beloved in Christ, today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is today that we remember, the Blessed Virgin herself was conceived, from day one, without Original sin.
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Recently we spoke of the importance of ‘types,’ of symbols of the Old Testament pointing ahead to the Redemption. One important ‘type’ is that of the first woman, Eve. The story of the fall, told in Genesis – the first Sin – it was initiated by the woman, Eve. Original sin was complete, when Adam, the head of the human race, confirmed the sin.
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But these signs anticipate the Good News that would come. A new Woman, Mary, will set salvation into motion, and this will be crowned by her Son, the true Head of the human race.
So we notice the parallels between Eve and Mary. Eve listened to the wicked angel, Satan;
Mary listened to the good angel, Gabriel.
Eve was disobedient to God, Mary was obedient to God’s will.
Eve gave the poison fruit of sin to the world, Mary gave us the saving Fruit of her womb.
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The parallels are purposeful. But another should occur to us as well: Eve was originally made without sin, she and Adam had grace. Well, what about Mary? Mary too was made without sin, but she remained sinless and faithful, and so became the true Mother of all the Living.
Mary was conceived without Original Sin, and that means that from the beginning, she was Full of Grace.
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St. Irenaus, 1800 years ago would say that although the human race found death through Eve, it is saved through Mary; and Blessed Raymond Jordano says, ‘every good, every help, every grace, that men have received and will receive from God until the end of time, will come to them by the intercession of Mary.’[i]
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We here, all know the wonders worked by our great Patron, St. John Vianney, the conversion of his whole parish. But we must also know of an important weapon St. John had to help him accomplish this: it was the Blessed Virgin.
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We may know that he had loved Mary from his childhood; we may also know that she appeared to him and he conversed with her; but we may not know, that he blessed a statue of Mary for each home in his village – they say it was a remarkable sight to see the statues of Mary that adorned the front of every single house in town.
St. John also gave each family a color picture of Mary for the inside of their home, blessed and signed by himself.
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In 1814 he erected a large statue of Mary Immaculate at his Church, and put around her neck a heart of white ribbon, with all the names of his parishioners written on it; and he consecrated his parish to – ‘Mary Conceived without Sin.’[ii]
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As she did then, so now – this Immaculate Mother can make our hearts burn with the love of Jesus – if we let her.
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[i] Glories of Mary, 112
[ii] The Secret of the Cure D’Ars, Henri Gheon, p. 228. Also, http://www.olrl.org
