Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
First, I encourage all our parishioners to participate in the Stations of the Cross held each Tuesday of Lent at the Church of St. Paul at 5:30pm and each Friday at the Church of St. Michael at 7:30pm.
Second, I want to thank all who sacrificed in any way to help make our St. Patrick’s Ham Dinner a wonderful success! I especially thank our Ham Dinner Committee and all our volunteers! May God bless you and all who contributed in any way!
Third, if you have not had a chance to attend one of the St. Michael Men’s Club Fish Fries, I encourage you to do so. The Fish Fries have been wonderful!
This coming Tuesday is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. At that moment in time, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took to Himself our human nature. The meaning of this Solemnity is part of the very heart of our Catholic Faith. I encourage you, if you are able, to attend Holy Mass this day!
Here is what our Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us about this Dogma of our Faith:
484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive Him in whom the "whole fullness of Deity" would dwell "bodily". The Divine response to her question, "How can this be, since I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you."
485 The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.
486 The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of His human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples. Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."
487 What the Catholic Faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its Faith in Christ.
488 "God sent forth His Son", but to prepare a body for Him, He wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the Mother of His Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.
489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve;
despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living. By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age. Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women. Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established."
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The (Arch)angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "Full of Grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her Faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's Grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "Full of Grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her Conception. That is what the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her Conception, by a singular Grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, pre-served immune from all stain of original sin.
492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her Conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other cre-ated person "in Christ with every Spiritual Blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love".
493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the Grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of Faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." Thus, giving her con-sent to God's Word, Mary becomes the Mother of Jesus. Espousing the Divine Will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to re-strain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with Him and dependent on Him, by God's Grace: As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race." Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert…: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her Faith." Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, Life through Mary."
Through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, St. Joseph, St. Michael and St. Paul, may the fire of the Holy Spirit grant us true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and renew within us a profound love for God and His Divine Will!
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Kasel
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