What does today's Feast really mean to us?

August 22, 2017

Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 420

JGS 6:11-24A

PS 85:9, 11-12, 13-14

MT 19:23-30

It is tempting to constantly pray for the difficulties of life to be passed from us.  Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane asked to have that horrible cup taken away from him.  The thing about prayer is that it is less like an ATM that just gives us what we want if we use the right words, and more an opportunity for change.  Yes, God can and does answer prayers.  It’s not always in the way we want or expect but he isn’t just passively watching as the world turns.  Our goal in prayer should not always be to petition but to also be active in allowing God to work in us and through us.

Gideon in the Old Testament reading and the Apostles in the new were both being faced with difficult roads.  They were being asked to do things that seemed hard.   It would be much more pleasant at times to just sit at home playing video games and drinking soda than it would to eat healthily, get out and evangelize, and be active at the Church.  That’s not what we are called to do as Christians though.  We are called to march with armies that are way too small and count on God to win instead of ourselves.   Asked to give up everything we have, or at least the attachment to physical things, and instead reach into the spiritual realm for our true wealth. A wise man came up to me after Mass yesterday and said: “There are other forms of wealth way beyond just money.”  

Today is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Some people are intimidated by how much we Catholics love and honor Mary.  The thing about our Mother is that she always reminds not of who she is, but who Jesus is.  In the Magnificat, she reminds us what true wealth is, it is to be lifted up by God.  “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.”  This poor woman of Nazareth went on to be brought into Heaven with her Son, to be crowned with a crown of stars and robed in the light of the sun.  “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”  Mary is the ultimate example of what it means to be hungry and to desire good things.

The Queenship of Mary should remind us of the promise and hope that we have in Jesus Christ.  That we too, if we choose to live our lives right, give ourselves over to God and allow Him to work through us, can hope to receive.  A crown of righteousness for all who have longed for His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)  As always, Mary points to Jesus and says “Do whatever He tells you.”  Even on her feast day, the readings do not point to her, but to Christ himself and the promise that God has given us that He will be with us always.  So which would you rather have?  Riches and wealth?  Peace and comfort?  Or the presence of God at all times, even during hardship and difficulties?  One looks like Heaven, the other like Hell.  What amount of good can all the riches in the world do for us if we spend eternity alone wailing and gnashing teeth?

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.