May Crowning

Acts 13:26-33; YOu are my son, this day I have begotten you; John 14:1-6

Today at the school we will celebrate the May Crowning, in which flowers are brought forth in procession  to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As the Church teaches in Lumen Gentium, Mary is a member of the Church that "occupies a place in the Church which is highest after Christ and also closest to us."

Mary by her yes to God "gives to the world the life that renews all things, and who was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."


As we crown her, we recognize in her that beauty and nobility of saying yes to God.

We ask for her motherly intercession that we too might have the nobility of soul to say yes to God daily in our life and allow christ to born anew through our lives here on earth.

Mary is like a port hole you might find in the Hull of a ship.  Usually it is a window that is opened to let in light and fresh air in the dark damp quarters of the lower deck.   Mary, by her yes, opens our world to Heaven's light and Heaven's freshness.

By her yes our world is penetrated concretely by Heaven's goodness in Christ who is born of her.

It is not enough to adorn her with flowers, we must imitate her lifestyle.

We all know what it is like to say "no" but it is the "yes" that transforms everything.

Prayer:
Remember, O most Gracious virgin Mary,
That never was it known that anyone
who fled to your protection,
implored your help or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto you,
O Virgins of Virgins, Our Mother.
To you we come.  Before you we heel, sinful and sorrowful.
O mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions,
but in your clemency, hear and answer them. Amen.


Now for today's reading.
In the gospel we hear these words, "Do not let your hearts be doubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me.  In my Father's house there are many dwelling places."

There is no room for troubled hearts for those who hold firm to Christ.

Yet, our hearts are often troubled.  Pain, anguish, sorrow, doubt often vie for a nesting place in our hearts and minds.  We must shake ourselves free, often from this self imposed prison and conformity to the world and raise our eyes upward to remember their is something new in the world since the resurrection.

Hope is born in Christ who is risen.

Here are the words of the Prayers offered for the dying we refer to as "last rites." However, our "last rites" are a misnomer, for they are not the last words.

"Go forth, Christian soul, from this world...May you live in peace this day, may your home be with GOd i Zion, may you see your redeemer face to face."

Deaths should give us a sense of urgency.  For as St. John of the Cross tells us, "at the evening of our life, we shall be judged on our love."

Heaven thus is perfect communion with God, that eternal existence of love.  Here definitive happiness awaits. Love is stronger than death.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God; have faith also in me.  Here in lies the remedy for heart trouble.

Look upward and outward and believe.