Had a beautiful Mass this evening in Mildred, PA, at St. Francis Church. The music was beautiful. The event is sublime!
It is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Mary is the Mother of God because there was never a moment when Jesus was not God from God, Light from Light, and True God from True God.
Of all Her titles, Mother of God is the most important to the Church for it clearly proclaims the Divinity of Jesus. There is much discussion regarding the divinity of Jesus. Some say He was just a human person endowed by God with special gifts. Some say He was made divine when God raised Him from the dead, but was just human until after He died. Some say he was never human at all, but just an appearance of humanity (like a body snatcher or something?). Some try to make a distinction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.
This most glorious title of our Blessed Lady clearly disputes the above heresies. She is truly the mother of Jesus. He is fully human. He is also fully divine, thus she is the Mother of God!
January 1st Is A Holy Day
ReplyDeleteBut it depends where you live
January 1st is, and has been, a holy day of obligation for centuries. For untold ages it was the Feast of the Circumcision (and still is in parishes using the traditional, or Extraordinary, Form). In churches under the New Order, or (plain ol’) Ordinary Form, the holy day is celebrated as the Feast of Mary, Mother of God.
Father Zuhlsdorf over at the What Does the Prayer Really Say blog reminds us:
1 January 2010 is a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States.
It is among the Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church.
“Universal” meaning the entire Catholic world, one would suppose. But, you’d suppose wrong. That’s right, the universal church does not include Southern California, because His Eminence Cardinal Roger the Dodger Mahoney has declared it is NOT a holy day of obligation this New Year.
I guess moving Ascension Thursday to the next Sunday wasn’t enough to weaken Catholic identity. No, in the land of fruits (including the ones Mahoney transferred from parish to parish) and nuts, it would be just too Catholic to go to Mass on Friday and then again on Sunday. Perish the thought!
Sheesh, it’s a national holiday, as well. It’s not like people are going to have to take time off of work. But that is of little concern to Mahoney, who continues do leave his Roman Protestant mark on the Left Coast in the few years he has remaining until mandatory retirement.
Then, today, I learned this (hat tip to California Catholic Daily News):
In December 1991, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a list of holy days of obligation in the United States. The list was accepted by the Vatican in the summer of 1992, and took effect on Jan. 1, 1993.
The decree, still in effect, lists the following holy days of obligation for Catholics in the United States: January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, the Solemnity of the Ascension; August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints; December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception; and December 25, the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The decree provided for three exceptions: “Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.”
But today is a Friday -- not a Saturday or a Monday – so why the exception in California? “It’s nothing really sinister,” a former priest of the Los Angeles archdiocese told California Catholic Daily. "It’s really pretty mundane – for the convenience of the lay people.”
No, I suggest it is a further attempt to dilute the Catholic identity of Catholics and turn them into Roman Protestants. And what about all the Catholics who listened to Mahoney and the other successors of Judas Iscariot and failed to fulfill their obligation today? Have they committed a sin? Is obedience to an unlawful order any excuse?
The above is not my article, but one from an excellent and feisty blog, The Lair of the Catholic Caveman.
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