By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
(Editor’s note: This week’s column is the homily Bishop Kopacz delivered at the Mass of Chrism on Tuesday of Holy Week.)
At the outset of this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy we have observed the ancient tradition of the opening of the Holy Door and have entered upon a pilgrimage with the Church throughout the world into the heart of God’s mercy that we, in turn, may become merciful like the Father.  This is the abundant life promised by the Lord, announced by the prophets, Isaiah this evening, realized in His death and resurrection, celebrated passionately during these holy days, and intended to be lived every-day.
From Rome anticipating the Jubilee of Mercy Pope Francis offered these words. “With these sentiments of gratitude for everything the church has received, and with a sense of responsibility for the task that lies ahead, we shall cross the threshold of the Holy Door fully confident that the strength of the Risen Lord, who constantly supports us on our pilgrim way, will sustain us.”
At the center of the Jubilee Prayer of Mercy are the words spoken to the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s Gospel. “If you only knew the gift of God!” What a powerful and life changing encounter that was between her and the Lord, and our gathering today at the Mass of Chrism proclaims that Jesus Christ encounters us in many ways through God’s life giving mercy.
At one of the 17 listening sessions that were held throughout the diocese, at which more than a thousand people participated, one person fervently spoke out that we need to do a better job living and teaching the wonder and awe of our Catholic faith, the gift of God handed down for nearly 2,000 years. Perhaps another way of saying that if we only knew the gift of God handed on to us.
The Mass of Chrism is an inspiring Eucharist that brings us together as faithful disciples of the Lord from across the diocese to celebrate the gift of God in manifold ways  In particular, we who are priests, gather to renew our life in Jesus Christ, the High Priest in a way that celebrates our communion with one another that flows from the Blessed Trinity, and our unity through faith and baptism with all of God’s people who have a share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ through faith and baptism as proclaimed earlier from the Book of Revelations.
We are so grateful for your prayers, good will, and collaboration with us throughout the year, and through the years. For many of us who were able to be here in the cathedral for Bishop Houck’s funeral liturgies, and for all of us who were here in spirit, we had a prelude to the Mass of Chrism in the celebration of his life as a priest and bishop, and the priesthood of the faithful throughout the Diocese of Jackson. He was with us 37 years as a bishop, auxiliary, ordinary and emeritus. What a gift!
At the listening sessions around the diocese, the gift of the priesthood through the cultivation of vocations, was a dominant theme. This consensus from the people of God revealed their love for the priesthood, and a desire to participate in the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day, as the cornerstone and the source and summit of our faith, our prayer, our service and our unity.
Many people throughout our diocese know the gift of God given to the church in the life-giving death and resurrection of the Lord, and many expressed their gratitude to be able to participate in the Mass on a daily or a regular basis.
Moreover, out of a deep hunger and thirst for knowledge of God through the Mass, people often expressed their desire that they want the Word of God proclaimed with zeal, and followed by homilies that inspire and guide their daily lives. The Eucharist, the gift of God, a fountain of life flowing from Word and sacrament.  As priests, this is our privilege and responsibility.
Uniquely, at this Mass of Chrism, the presence of the holy oils is a transcendent sign of the gift of God. Today they are blessed through the invocation of the Holy Spirit. As we know, the oils of catechumens, chrism, and the sick will be used in Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Ordination to Priesthood, and for the Consecration of new altars and churches. In each and every celebration of the sacraments we pass through the holy door of God’s mercy to encounter the crucified and risen Lord, to be forgiven and to be strengthened to live as his Body in this world.
During my recent pastoral visit to Saltillo Bishop Raul, Don Raul, and I celebrated the consecration of the newly constructed church, Divina Misericordia, built upon the largesse of the people from the Dioceses of Jackson and Biloxi. As I was incensing and anointing the walls of the Church, Don Raul, was consecrating the altar lavishly with chrism. The scent and sight of the altar’s bathing in the oil of Chrism is permanently impressed in my memory. I thought that the altar might flow right out of the sanctuary.
The Mass went nearly three hours, and Don Raul spoke for nearly 50 minutes. I am confident that we can come in under those parameters today. Regardless, we know that, our sacramental life in the church, the gift of God, is the door to the sacred, and the call to faithfully serve the Lord as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Pope Francis wrote in his Bull of Indiction: “Mercy is the very foundation of the church’s life. All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be lacking in mercy. The church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love. The church “has an endless desire to show mercy” With a different set of symbols, words and gestures, the sacrament of reconciliation remains the most personal path to mercy for all of us.
“I will never tire of insisting that confessors be authentic signs of the Father’s mercy. We do not become good confessors automatically. We become good confessors when, above all, we allow ourselves to be penitents in search of his mercy. Let us never forget that to be confessors means to participate in the very mission of Jesus to be a concrete sign of the constancy of divine love that pardons and saves.
We, as priests, have received the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and we are responsible for this. None of us wields power over this sacrament; rather, we are faithful servants of God’s mercy through it.” It’s not a matter of water and oil, bread and wine, but words of contrition, words of compassion and mercy, gestures of repentance and blessing, coming from the face of God’s mercy, Jesus Christ.
On this day then and every-day, may we as priests know the mercy of God in our lives and in our encounter with the Lord, the Gift of God we have received in our priesthood.
At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper as preserved in John’s Gospel, the institution of the priesthood, we have the Mandatum of the Lord to be a people of the towel and the water, as he has done, so we must do. The gift of God’s mercy which we receive and celebrate in each Eucharist is to be given as a gift in manifold ways in our daily lives.
Worship and service can never be separated. We heard that his evening at the outset of the Lord’s public ministry in Luke’s Gospel when the Lord announced a Year of Favor, a time to set captives free, to give sight to the blind, and release to those in dungeons of unspeakable injustice.
The Lord is discovered at the altar, and likewise in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, in the quest for greater justice and peace, and in bearing the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters. Pope Francis is teaching us that “mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life, and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope.” The oils of gladness are intended to flow into the lives of all people.
I believe that together this evening at this Mass of Chrism, we know the gift of God, we do recognize and know our saving Lord, and with full and active participation, we are celebrating our identity as His Body, the church. We are co-workers in the mission called to announce the gospel to all the nations, and to work in the Church for the salvation of all.
With this sacramental vision of life, we are truly Catholic, because we recognize that our faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is a Holy Door to the sacred, the way to restore a fallen world, so that every year is a Year of Favor from the Lord.
With this sacramental vision before us, I invite my fellow priests to stand for the renewal of their vocation as ordained ministers in the Church.

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The Passion of Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, and son of God, culminates in the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning. Easter faith is always deeply personal as well as a celebration of Church and family with the renewal of our vows of Baptism, a combination of the renunciation of sin and the profession of faith in the living God whom we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We have been preparing to celebrate the Passover of the Lord by works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving throughout Lent, and now we reach the edge of the desert and gaze longingly into the promised land of eternal love. We stand on the cusp of Holy Week with the Commemoration of the Lord’s passion on Palm Sunday Weekend. The liturgy and Gospel readings end in the death of the Lord while inviting faith in his resurrection.
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Good Friday immersion into his death, and the Easter Vigil are a pilgrimage of faith for the entire Church throughout the world that we might know the length and breath, height and depth of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ.
Holy Week and Easter faith are even more personal this year for the Diocese of Jackson because of the death of Bishop William R. Houck, the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Jackson. Our beloved Bishop Emeritus died on Wednesday morning, March 9, and was buried on Thursday, March 17 adjacent to the cathedral in the bishop’s plot.
Throughout this past week we lovingly celebrated his passing with the Liturgy of Acceptance of his body in the Cathedral on Tuesday, the Vigil Rites on Wednesday evening, and the Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday afternoon. Many people availed themselves of the opportunity to pay their final respects as he lay near the sanctuary where he celebrated the sacred mysteries since his arrival in the Diocese of Jackson in 1979. Bishop Houck would have been 90 years old in June, 65 years a priest, and 37 years a bishop.
There were three chapters to his episcopal ministry in our midst. He served as auxiliary bishop to Bishop Joseph Brunini for several years (1979-1983) before serving as the ninth Ordinary of the Diocese from 1983 to 2002, and lastly as Bishop Emeritus from 2002 until his recent death. The Lord blessed him with many active years of ordained ministry, more than half as a bishop, and has blessed many through his life as one ordained and consecrated, and set apart to faithfully serve.
In death a disciple of the Lord is entrusted to God from the heart of the church whether he or she be a newly baptized or one who lives nearly 90 years. Equal dignity is accorded all, and the Word of God, the prayers throughout the Liturgy, and the Eucharist, the Bread of Angels and the Bread of Life, all proclaim our hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the promise of eternal life. Our prayer always and everywhere also seeks consolation, strength, and peace for the family and friends who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Immediately at the outset of the Mass of Christian Burial we proclaim our Easter faith. “In the waters of Baptism, William died with Christ and rose with Him. May he now share eternal glory.” This is our hope, and this is the heart of our faith that we commemorate during Holy Week ahead.
At this time let us pray faithfully for Bishop William Houck trusting in the mercy of God in his life, and let us pray for his family who are grieving his passing. Moreover, let us not waste the opportunity of his passing at the beginning of Holy Week to renew our own faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. The renewal of our Baptismal promises await us during the Easter Masses and I conclude this column with dialogue between priest and people for the renewal of our Covenant in God begun at our Baptism.
•    Do you renounce sin so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?
•    Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you?
•    Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin?
•    Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
•    Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
•    Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The diocese is in the homestretch of the listening sessions, 17 in all, a process that is providing the opportunity for many to gather, reflect, discuss and share their gratitude, aspirations and specific concerns and goals going forward.  For me it has been a blessing to participate in a supportive, yet subdued manner, that allows everyone the opportunity to speak, and to listen to one another.  Listening is occurring across the sessions as each participants listens to their own heart and mind, followed by discussion at table. The final step in the process is the sharing with the larger group, anywhere from 50 to 150, depending on the location. The input has been candid, respectful and hopeful for the life of the diocese, the Body of Christ, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God.
When we pause to reflect upon the daily rhythm and patterns of our lives there are boundless opportunities to have a listening session. Conversations with family members, the promptings of our own hearts, conversations with God in prayer, listening to the sounds of nature with Spring’s arrival, most evident in the early morning sounds of the birds.
If only we have eyes to see, and ears to hear, as Jesus encouraged his disciples. We have all heard the old adage that God created us with two ears and one mouth in order that we might do twice as much listening as speaking. This is not easy to accomplish when we are in a compulsive talking mode.
We can apply this to prayer, our conversations with God, by recalling the works of Jesus to his disciples during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel.  “When praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father …”(Matthew 6,7-9). The Lord’s prayer is so substantial, yet so succinct, and the words are those of Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. Speaking and quiet listening in order to discern and to act with greater confidence, are the hallmarks of our conversations with God. Remember, God gave us two ears for the sake of hearing his words and putting them into practice.
This is also true for the Church, the Body of Christ, during the season of Lent. It is intended to be a listening session each time the Word of God is proclaimed at Mass on the Lord’s day, and the gospels throughout this season of new life are replete with the words, wisdom and compassion of Jesus Christ. In the hostile encounter between Jesus and the devil on the first Sunday of Lent we hear: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, And, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve, And, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Our prayer and fasting during these forty days beckon us to sharpen our awareness about the useless idols of this life when compared to the inestimable worth of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
On the second Sunday in Lent we proclaimed the mystical moment on Mount Tabor where Jesus was transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James and John with Moses and Elijah caught up in the vision. The law and the prophets, the pillars of the Israel’s journey of salvation, are now fulfilled in Jesus. And what is most important about all of this? The words emblazoned in the memories of Peter, James, and John are given to the Church for all time. “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him” (Luke 9,35). What a listening session that was for the three apostles who were privileged to glimpse the mystery of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. In his second letter later on in the New Testament, Peter speaks of the grace to be attentive, to listen to what God is doing in our lives. We ourselves heard his voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Moreover, we possess the prophetic message which is altogether reliable. “You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts” (2Peter 1, 18-19).
Hearing God’s Word, being attentive to it, and putting it into practice is the dawn of new life every day.  During this Jubilee Year of Mercy we recall that the mercies of the Lord are never exhausted, they are renewed each day. Last Sunday’s gospel assures us that the Lord’s love for us is eternal, at work in the soil of our lives, insisting that we repent and believe in the Gospel so that his merciful love will renew the face of the earth. As individuals, families, parish communities, and diocese, may the Lord open our ears to hear his words, and our mouths to proclaim his praises, and our wills to put them into practice.

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The pilgrimage is an essential dimension throughout the Jubilee of Mercy. Our Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle, surrounded by a cluster of churches throughout the Diocese of Jackson, are a constant invitation to the faithful to make a pilgrimage into the heart of God’s mercy.
What is so special about a pilgrimage? Not surprisingly, pilgrimage has existed in all times, in most religions, and in cultures everywhere.  The people of Israel journeyed to the temple in Jerusalem. Muslims make pilgrimages to Mecca. Hindus travel to the Ganges River, among other holy places. Buddhists travel from place to place to receive the mercy of Gautama Buddha.
Pilgrimage is an important symbol for Christians. As a member of the people of God, the Christian is on the road.  Pilgrimage is the symbol of the journey of the people of God throughout the ages, and the Christian way of life can be compared to a pilgrim journey. Thus, one can speak of Christians as being on pilgrimage.
The Catholic Church has always honored the journey of the pilgrim. A famous symbol of pilgrimage is the labyrinth of Chartres in France whose Cathedral was built around 1230.
The Middle Ages was a time of pilgrimage, but since it was not possible for many people to set out for Jerusalem, people instead went to cathedrals such as Chartres, where they could make the spiritual journey by following the path of the pilgrim’s labyrinth.
There can be many reasons for making a pilgrimage: to strengthen one’s faith, to pray, to do penance, to ask for the forgiveness of sin, to beg for a favor, to ask for physical or mental healing or to think about the big questions of life. Even if there are such personal reasons the pilgrim always joins the preceding generations of pilgrims and in this way, they step into a tradition with a large cloud of witnesses from generations past.
Pilgrimage means changing one’s mindset, the result of the experiences on the road. The pilgrim is like a stranger who is traveling in a foreign land. Along the way, purification can take place; something can happen and change occurs in the depths of the heart. In route, the pilgrim is confronted with himself or herself. Pilgrimage becomes the road to repentance, to a revision of one’s life. Saint Augustine encouraged his fellow Christians to develop a theology of pilgrimage of the heart.  “True pilgrimage is not undertaken with feet but with the heart, not with bodily footsteps but with the footsteps of the heart.” According to Augustine, the baggage for this journey is humility and love.”
Although most of us will not be walking a great distance on the pilgrimage to our designated churches throughout the diocese, the blessings remain the same as those of the classic spiritual journeys. A bond of solidarity, togetherness and unity grows. We share the same desire to arrive at the destination. We are called to bear each other’s burdens, to listen to each other’s personal story. Together we listen to the story of God through prayer and thanksgiving.
Once we arrive at our destination, we realize that life is not what it was before. We have changed. Through purification and repentance, we are drawn closer to each other. The arrival is not the end of the journey, but a new beginning.
All pilgrimages have common experiences and challenges related to the departure, to the journey itself and to the longing for the destination.  We are on a pilgrimage to the fullness of God’s Kingdom, a great trek to the heavenly Jerusalem, toward the One who calls us to communion, to unity in diversity.
As we begin our listening sessions throughout the diocese in order to develop a mutually shared vision and pastoral priorities, we do so in the heart of the Jubilee of Mercy at the beginning of Lent. As pilgrims we are journeying together in order to strengthen the Church of Jackson, the Body of Christ.
We are so blessed to be undertaking this journey under the gaze of God’s mercy. If at all possible, let us incorporate a pilgrimage into our spiritual discipline for Lent or at some point in the Jubilee of Mercy.

Like the swelling Mississippi River which is fed by many tributaries and sizeable rivers, during the month of January each year the quest for liberty and justice for all in our society is fed by key anniversaries and ever pressing reality.
This past weekend marked the 48th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and today and this weekend the 43 anniversary of Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision that permits abortion on demand throughout the nation. Both commemorations challenge our nation to take stock of our ideals, embedded in our founding documents and in our DNA, the insatiable hunger and thirst for greater liberty and justice for all. (Pledge of Allegiance)
MLK Jr. gave his life for this vision of reality that finds its source and summit in God’s Word. “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of justice and peace, and the joy of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14,7) His passionate eloquence still resounds from the mighty mountains of New York and the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado, and the curvaceous slopes of California, from Stone Mountain, Georgia, from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee, and from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. (I Have a Dream Speech, Washington 1963)
Five years later, less than one month before his assassination he returned to D.C. to re-invigorate the dream. “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”(Washington National Cathedral, March 31, 1968). Racial equality has made huge strides in our nation, but this struggle is a marathon with the finish line a long way off.
As you settle into reading or browsing through this edition of the Mississippi Catholic you are doing so on the 43rd anniversary of Roe v Wade, January 22, 1973. Over these many years the light of life has been snuffed out for countless millions of unborn who have no voice of their own. Among many individuals and organizations in our society, and in a prophetic voice as unflinching as MLK Jr., the Catholic Church has spoken out faithfully, passionately, and eloquently on behalf of the unborn.
Moreover, in an unforeseen way, Religion and Science have been strong allies in the advancement of dignity for the unborn. The latter has revealed the truth of the complexity and beauty of unborn life from the first moment of conception, and the former unrelentingly beats the drum on behalf of the dignity of unborn life, created in the image and likeness of God. “For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Ps 139,13)
At times it may appear that teaching, preaching, pleading and sacrificing on behalf of the unborn is a hopeless cause, but there has been remarkable progress. Applying the following words of MLK Jr. can reinvigorate all pilgrims for a holistic vision of life. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”(Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.)
We pray for the healing of all who have been wounded by choosing abortion, and for society as a whole whose conscience has been deadened, all to willing to accept abortion as a backup to failed contraception, and in large part, unshaken by the image of buckets of fetuses in Planned Parenthood Clinics. Once again we turn to the unflinching prophetic wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. regarding the web of life of which we are all a part. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963.
The quest for greater liberty and justice for all continues on many fronts. This year our Catholic Day at the Capitol will focus on the plight of many children and youth in our State’s Foster Care System, and the plight of those afflicted by mental illness. Compassionate and professional care that provide a framework for hope and greater success for our fellow citizens is not a matter of charity, but of justice.
The dedication of our staff and volunteers at Catholic Charities who provide critical services is a living witness of our desire for greater liberty and justice for all.  Once again we let MLK Jr.’s words lift up our hearts and minds. “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”
(Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964) If we can develop these opportunities throughout the land we would agree that violence against every stage of human development will diminish.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination the legacy of racism once again confronts our society. A civil society that prides itself on liberty and justice, dignity for each person, and opportunity for all, must work together not only to provide law and order, but also the conditions that contribute to a law abiding society. The following words of MLK Jr. call all of us back to our senses, and provide a dignified path.  “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
In his visit to our nation in September Pope Francis encouraged us to take heart and hope in the goodness of our society, while at the same time he cast the light of truth onto areas that challenge us to overturn the injustices in our land. It’s always good to have prophets visit from foreign shores. With the image of the mighty Mississippi river before us, we commit our lives to the words of Amos, the prophet of Social Justice in the Old Testament. “Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream. (Amos 5,24).

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
As Advent approaches its half-way mark, Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, the woman of innumerable titles of honor and respect, is at center stage as we prepare the way for the Lord who is our way, truth, and life. Earlier this week we celebrated the great feast of the Immaculate Conception, Mary’s first moment of life in this world. Saturday, Dec. 12, is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and marks the second anniversary of my announcement as the 11th bishop of Jackson.
One of the symbols on my shield is the rose, representing the bouquet of roses that defined the appearance of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego. It is also the symbol of life at all stages of development.
“Mary, the Most Powerful Woman in the World” are the words, with a compelling portrait of the Blessed Mother on the cover of the current issue of, you might not guess, National Geographic. The feature article is a timely piece during Advent of the Virgin Mother who has the devotion of countless millions throughout the world. There are more than a few remarkable facts sprinkled throughout the cover story of this singular woman. “Praying for the Virgin Mother’s intercession and being devoted to her is a global phenomenon.”
The notion of Mary as intercessor with Jesus begins with the miracle of the wine at the wedding at Cana, when, according to the Gospel of John, she tells him, “They have no wine,” thus prompting his first miracle. It was in AD 431, at the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus, that she was officially named Theotokos, Bearer of God. Since then no other woman has been as exalted as Mary. As a universal symbol of maternal love, as well as suffering and sacrifice, Mary is often the touchstone of our longing for meaning, a more accessible link to the supernatural than formal church teachings.
Her mantle offers both security and protection. Pope Francis, when once asked what Mary meant to him, answered, “She is my mama.”
In a world that is currently hemorrhaging because of the clash among adherents of Islamic, Jewish and Christian civilizations, we can find a bridge across these chasms in the person of Mary. Muslims as well as Christians consider her to be holy above all women, and her name “Maryam” appears more often in the Koran than “Mary” does in the Bible.
“Mary is calling us spiritually, and because of that, both Muslims and Christians love her and respect her,” says a Coptic priest in Egypt who welcomes Muslim and Christian women to his church who pray to Mary for special favors. Imagine if all of the bombs, bullets and power struggles could give way to the tender love of a mother who directs all people to the heart of God as revealed in her Son, the Savior of the world.
As a Jewish maiden, Mary also offers a path to the sacred. Some of the latest Mary scholarship focuses on her as a Jewish mother. One scholar notes that “Mary brings us to Jesus, who is the light of the world, just as Jewish mothers light the Shabbat candles. We see the relationship of Mary with us isn’t just any relationship, it’s sacred.”
The church has officially recognized only 67 of more than 2,000 professed apparitions of Mary throughout the world. At a few of those sites without official recognition the pilgrims continue to come. For example, more than one million of the devout make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje each year, and many with whom I have spoken over the years are strengthened by the journey. There are many venerated sites going back centuries.
The Black Madonna of Czestochowa, also known as Our Lady of Czestochowa, is a revered icon of the Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland. Several Pontiffs have recognized the venerated icon, beginning with Pope Clement XI who issued a Canonical Coronation to the image on 8 September 1717 via the Vatican Chapter. The tradition takes it back to the 14th century.
Apparitions better known to all of us in the West are at Lourdes and Mexico City, Fatima in Portugal and Knock in Ireland. More than 5 million per year travel to Lourdes seeking healing and peace. The tilma, or cloak, of the poor Indian man, now Saint Juan Diego still inspires millions who make pilgrimage to Mexico City each year to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
His encounter with the Virgin Mother has led to an outpouring of love and devotion toward her that has not waned four and one half centuries later. Our Lady of Guadalupe is now the Patroness of the Americas as declared by Pope Saint John Paul II. The sites of apparition go on and on, from Vietnam to Rwanda, from Haiti to Chile.
As we prepare for the coming of the Savior, the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, the figure of Mary looms large because her yes to God’s indescribable call still amazes us. She remains our Lord’s first and foremost disciple who was present throughout his life, in death, and at the birth of the Church at Pentecost.
She was busy then, and she remains busy through the ages. In the light of faith we can say that she is a prophetess, like the prophets of old, who speaks on behalf of the eternal God. Like the prophets, at times she speaks words of consolation; at other times, words of warning. In every instance her presence and words are those of a loving mother who never abandons, her children, standing at the foot of their crosses, and holding them in her arms at the end. These are powerful images that obviously continue to endure and inspire nearly 2000 years later.
Advent is a time to renew our love for the the Lord Jesus, born into our hearts through faith. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church show us the way to her Son, the light of the world, this season and always.