Ad Jesum per Mariam

Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord Is With You!

Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord Is With You! Today the Church celebrates The Most Holy Name of Mary (September 12th). Have you ever imagined what the world would be like if we did not have names? Silly, perhaps, but an interesting image. Names brings order. Names gives us an identity. And names also carry for us a history. In another country, people are given two names when they are born. There is a name a person uses during Baptism, and a name for casual use signifying the condition when the baby was born. Hear more within the Homily. Scripture tells us about Mary. We know that wherever Mary is, Jesus is there as well. We also know that wherever Jesus is, Mary is there as well. Whenever We Honor Mary . . . Montfort, in his writings, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (TD #225), says We never think of Mary, without Mary thinking of God! Montfort goes on to tell us when we honor Mary, Mary joins us in honoring God. Every time we mention the name of Mary, Mary echoes back by mentioning the name of God. We hear this in the Gospel (the account of the Mystery of the Visitation) today. Mary travels in haste to see her cousin Elizabeth. The word Haste is important. When the angel appears to Mary, she is excited to share the news with her cousin Elizabeth. Why? Because Mary has discovered something within herself. The angel tells her, Hail, Full of Grace. The Lord is With You! Our Lady would like to share this news with her cousin. Hear more in this Homily given on the Most Holy Name of Mary. Listen to this Meditation. Listen to: Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord Is With You! ----------------------------- Image: Our Lady: Saint Patrick’s Parish, Victor, NY ----------------------------- Gospel Reading: Luke: 1: 39-47 First Reading: Galatians: 4: 4-7

Broadcast on:: 20 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

The Lord be with you, a reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reach my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." And Mary said, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior, the gospel of the Lord." Said at the very beginning today we celebrate the Holy Name of Mary. Names, have you ever imagined how the world would be if we had no names? Ever imagined how it would be if we had no names? For sure there would be total chaos. So basically the very first thing that a name does to us it creates order. It brings order to know this is who and this is who. And beyond that the name gives us also an identity. And beyond that the name as well carries with us the history. Back home normally we are given two names when we are born. There's a name that one uses during baptism and there is a name that is Kachuro and this name signifies the situation, the condition in which this person was born or where this person was coming from. And there are all sorts of names. For example there are those who are named Mapiri, that's Chichewa, literally translated as small hills, small mountains. And then one would wonder why should one be given such a name? Small mountains. And to all these names there are stories behind the names. For example Avicazan who is named Mapiri, small mountains. And the story behind it is they stay far from the hospital and the time came for the mother to give birth. They didn't have any means of transport apart from tracking, walking. So as they were walking the time came. And this happened in the hills. So this was born in the hills. And when he was born he said so what name should we give to this person? Where are we? We are in the hills. For people to understand that this happened as the mother was going to the hospital his name is small hills. So since that time the person is called small hills. And every time people see him, call him that name, they recall what happened. So names go beyond the mere weights that we use. Names signify more than the mere weights. For example myself, the other name that I was given is Chifundo, which literally means messy. And there is a story behind it. Father Felix, he was also given another name which is called Maputo. And Maputo, he translated as problems. I don't know what happened for him to get that name. I don't know. But there is a story behind it why he was given that name. My point is name goes beyond the mere weights, the mere weights that we get. And we know very well scripture tells us in acts of the apostles that under earth there is no any other name in which we are saved. But the name of Jesus. It is the name of Jesus through which we are saved. And next to the name of Jesus is the name of Mary. Because we know very well that wherever Mary is, Jesus is there as well. And wherever Jesus is, Mary is there as well. Saint Louis of Montfort, in his famous book, "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary," number 225, he says, "We never think of Mary without Mary thinking of God. When we usher our praises, when we honor Mary, Mary joins us in honoring God." And Saint Louis of Montfort continues, he says, "Every time we mention the name Mary, every time we mention the name Mary, Mary echoes back by mentioning the name God." So she never keeps the praises to her self. Rather, she brings them to God. And this is what we are seeing in the gospel today. We hear that Mary sets out and she travels in haste to her cousin Elizabeth. The word traveling in haste is very important here, because Mary has discovered something within herself. After the angel Gabriel came to her and tells her, "Hell, Mary, rejoice Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you." She would like to share this news to her cousin Elizabeth. And as she reaches to Elizabeth, Elizabeth recognizes something, and Elizabeth starts praising Mary. Blessed are you, among women. Blessed you are, because you believed what the Lord said. All the praises and the response of Mary, just as Montfort says, that every time we praise Mary, Mary joins us in praising God. Mary echoes God. The response of Mary is very clear. My soul glorifies God. As Elizabeth presses Mary, Mary presses God. And Saint Louis of Montfort continues to say, "Mary continues doing so in our lives. Every time we come to her, every time we honor her, every time we ask something, she does not keep that for herself." She brings all that to God. And just as Atkena, God listens to her. May God help us that our true devotion to Mary should be real and indeed true so that we behold Jesus fully, so that we inherit the eternal life. Amen.