HAVE FAITH, WILL SAVE
In today’s Gospel, Feast of the Queenship of Mary, Jesus reveals the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They teach something but do another. Religion has become so heavy with small details while forgetting and abandoning the meaning for those rituals. It has geared too much on ex opera operato, which assumes effectivity as long as the actions are done and prayers are said.
Rituals are important. They are external actions which signify what is happening internally and spiritually. But they must be done always with faith. Otherwise, they will just be utterances similar to magic words like abracadabra, open sesame, or eureka. God’s commandments have spirit. They have intentions based on God’s purpose. Ministers do not only perform rites and let God do the rest. Ministers celebrate those rituals, believing God is present through their words and actions.
For example, what are candles for? Why do we have oil, water, flowers, hosts, images, etc. in some of our rituals? What about gestures like the sign of the cross, kneeling, standing, bowing, etc.? They have secular meanings, but they have special meaning in our faith. Our liturgies are beautiful, meant to lead us into the significance of the rites. But if we do them just for the sake of doing them, then we lose their meaning and benefits.
We celebrate today the Queenship of Mary. It was not a concession given by Jesus to Mary. We recognize the sincerity and effort of Mary to be a good and perfect disciple of Jesus. She did not bank on her motherhood to be automatically merited with eternal life. She lived her motherhood and discipleship. For that she was recognized and declared by the Church as the Queen of Heaven. Furthermore, since her Son is the King, Mary is the perfect Queen. Fr. Benny Tuazon
---------- REFLECTION QUESTIONS ----------
What is your favorite Church ritual? Why?
Thank You, Lord, for giving us Your Mother to be our Mother, too. Amen.
Today, I pray for: __________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment