Why is Mary Important?

Mary's part in the Incarnation

With the whole Church I acknowledge that Mary, being a mere creature fashioned by the hands of God is, compared to his infinite majesty, less than an atom, or rather is simply nothing, since he alone can say, "I am he who is". Consequently, this great Lord, who is ever independent and self-sufficient, never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin for the accomplishment of his will and the manifestation of his glory. To do all things he has only to will them.

However, I declare that, considering things as they are, because God has decided to begin and accomplish his greatest works through the Blessed Virgin ever since he created her, we can safely believe that he will not change his plan in the time to come, for he is God and therefore does not change in his thoughts or his way of acting.

God the Father gave his only Son to the world only through Mary. Whatever desires the patriarchs may have cherished, whatever entreaties the prophets and saints of the Old Law may have had for 4,000 years to obtain that treasure, it was Mary alone who merited it and found grace before God by the power of her prayers and the perfection of her virtues. "The world being unworthy," said Saint Augustine, "to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her."

The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary.

by St. Louis de Montfort

Would You be the Frog Princess?

What if the story of the Frog Prince was reversed? Instead of the Frog Prince becoming human, the kiss would make the princess turn into a frog. If you were the princess, would you be a frog for the love of the Frog Prince?

Would you leave the glory of your humanity and become a slimy frog?

Would you give up everything for the sake of Love?

Christmas is all about Love. It is the greatest love story ever told. It is a story far stranger than fiction, because it is REAL.

If you becoming a frog for the sake of love is just too much sacrifice, then God becoming man is far more unimaginable. If the distance between man and frog is so far, the distance between God and man is infinite! Yet the unimaginable became reality. The Unreachable stooped down so we can touch Him.

For the love of us, the Almighty God wrapped himself in swaddling clothes, signifying our weak humanity. The infinite became temporal. The untouchable was made flesh. He did it all for the sake of love.

God so loved us He became one of us. We never really think about how uncomfortable it was for God to be limited in our frail humanity. God the creator of everything became hungry, got tired, and wept, suffered and eventually murdered. God lived every human experience, though He DID NOT NEED TO for He is above all of his creation.

Christmas has been so commercialized and domesticated that the Christmas story has become bland and boring. We have failed to see the craziness of the story.

Yes, God is madly in love with you and me that he did the unthinkable. He became one of us.

Can One Starfish Make a Difference?

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

The Starfish Story

adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley (1907 - 1977)

A Dose of Vit B16: Parties Can Be Organized, But Joy Is a Gift

Says It Has Been Given in Abundance

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that joy is a gift, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and that in this gift, all others are summed up.

This was one of the Pope's reflections Monday when he met with the Roman Curia and other officials for the traditional exchange of Christmas greetings.

"A party is an integral part of joy," the Holy Father acknowledged. "And a party can be organized, but joy cannot.

"It can only be offered as a gift; and, in fact, it has been given us in abundance. That's why we feel grateful."

The Pontiff recalled how St. Paul lists joy among the fruits of the Holy Spirit and in the same way, St. John unites the Spirit and joy.

"Joy is the gift in which all other gifts are summed up," the Bishop of Rome affirmed, just a few days before Christmas. "It is the expression of happiness, of being in harmony with oneself, something that can only be derived from being in harmony with God and his creation."

And, he continued, "part of the nature of joy is spreading itself, having to be communicated."

The mission of the Church, the Pope explained, "is nothing more than the impulse to communicate the joy that has been given us. May it always be alive in us, and then, may it irradiate to the world in its tribulations: This is my wish for the end of this year."

Angels and Scums of the Earth

Another of the Advent figure are the shepherds. Now we look at the shepherds with certain "cuteness". Most of the images and statues of them are sentimentalized. But shepherds at the time of Jesus were the "low lives". They were the ones who cannot keep a regular job.

I like how one priest said that they were considered the "scum of the earth" during Jesus' time. Yet, they were the first to hear the GOSPEL, the Good News. The scum of the earth were the first choice of the Father to be blessed by the announcement of the birth of the King of Kings!

What an upside down and odd God we have!

Here we see that God operates differently from us. Most of us when having a birthday party for our children, we try to invite the most famous, influential or powerful people we know.

I remember attending my godsons' baptism, one of the high ranking government officials was there. I even think that the people there got more excited with him than my godson.

The proclamation of the angels to the shepherds shows us that God's way is so far above our ways! Thank God that it is. The shepherds should give us hope! Even if we are considered by the world as misfits, outcast and scums of the earth, we are God's chosen ones. No matter how much we debase and down cast ourselves, God still want to proclaim the Good News to us.

He still continues to send his angels to us and proclaiming that no matter what we have done that Jesus is here to save us!

Listen to that still small voice in your heart. It might be the angels inviting you to open your heart to the coming of our Savior, Jesus.

- daxx

Charlie Brown and Christmas Time

Charlie Brown and Christmas Time

By Maria Johnson • Dec 8th, 2008 • Category: Monday Musings

I know we’re all trying to make a concerted effort to stay on task and celebrate Advent before Christmas, instead of what the retail industry would have us do, which is to embrace Christmas before Halloween so the Valentine’s Day hearts can go on sale on December 26. Well, who said we had to listen?

I admire the folks who can really pull it off. I think I get about halfway there but I admit to getting sucked into celebrating Christmas a couple of weeks into Advent. The Advent wreath and hymns at Mass are a reminder that it isn’t Christmas just yet, but then I succumb to my favorite holiday shows and … well … I’m weak. I admit it.

It starts with one of my favorite cartoons, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I so loved it as a child although probably for very diffierent reasons than I love it now. When Linus reads from the Gospel of Luke and tells the nativity story I am overwhelmed. So beautiful!

The cartoon is usually aired right in the middle of the self-induced hysteria that generally substitutes for Advent. To my amazement, the show sends a powerful and timely message about the misplaced values and commercialization of what mainstream society calls the Christmas Season. As Catholics, though, we celebrate the Christmas season starting with Christmas and ending eight days later. Unfortunately, it seems like everybody else moves on to New Year’s when we start to celebrate the real Christmas season.

Still, I can reconcile the mixed messages. A Charlie Brown Christmas rejects commercialization and focuses on the real meaning of Christmas. Before the T-shirt kiosks at the malls were making money on their “Put Christ back in Christmas” shirts, the Peanuts Gang sang it loud and clear. I don’t mind the reminder, even if it comes a little early. In fact, I need to hear the message early to prioritize and remember that I am not preparing for Christmas turkey and gift exchanges and too much eggnog.

Advent is instead a time to prepare our hearts to “receive” Jesus, the Light of the world, the Word made Flesh. We can enjoy the anticipation without giving ourselves over to the hysteria. Instead of dreading that there are only 17 shopping days til x-mas, we should be be rejoicing that Christ-mas is only 17 days away!

Merry Chri — um, have a great Advent and don’t forget that it’s a good time to seek the healing power of the sacrament of reconciliation. We need to prepare our hearts as well as our homes. Excuse me now while I get back to the TV and cue The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

My Grateful Thanks to the Generous Benefactors!

I would like to thank these people for making our gift giving, Proj St. Nicholas, to the poor people of Binayuyo in the mountains of Antipolo successful!

Ate Nilda and family
Kan Kan
Melch
Tita Leng and Emma
Candy
Joel
Paula
Abby
Ygs
Des
Carmela
Mon
James
Anne
Gina
and Fr. Domingo