My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

By Tom Ponchak
I had the opportunity to write a few bulletin reflections for our parish. I decided to reprint them here. I've included the date and readings for the Sundays for which the originally appeared.

AUGUST 15, 2010 (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10b – 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 – Luke 1:39-56)

We need look no further than Mary for an example of how to love and follow Jesus. She responded with humility and openness to the Lord when the angel appeared to her. She did not know all of the details but she trusted God to provide. Her song, the Magnificat, is a testimony to simple faith and devotion to God. At the wedding in Cana she pointed to the waiters as she points to each of us today saying, “Do whatever He tells you.” She suffered the pain of standing at the foot of the cross uniting her sufferings with those of her Son. Mary witnessed her risen Son and waited in prayer with the Apostles for the gift of the Holy Spirit. All the while we are told that she pondered these things in heart.

Today we celebrate Mary receiving the fruit of her faith. Once again she is showing us the way and showing us what awaits each of us if we remain faithful. Like Jesus, she experienced victory over death and the grave. She placed her faith in God wand was not disappointed. The journey was long with its fair share of joys and sorrows but it was worth every step of the way.

The Church recognizes Mary as the New Eve. Like Eve she was born without original sin. Like Eve she was presented with a choice: submission through humble obedience or self-determination in prideful resistance. Rather than listening to the lies of the serpent she crushed its head, and we are all the better for it. Now she intercedes for us in our time of trial and temptation that we may follow her example and not the choice of the original Eve.

May we draw close to her and allow us to hear her encouraging us to “Do whatever He tells you.” Let us call upon Mary’s help to resist temptation and embrace humility. Mary show us your Son’s Sacred Heart and pray for us to one day experience the joys of heaven.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being and Doing

By Tom Ponchak
Image
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." (Luke 10:42, from the Gospel for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time) I was listening to a podcast with Fr. John Riccardo and he said something to the effect of “we often think that the calling to be a disciple is to work for Jesus, but the calling of a disciple is to be with Jesus.” The Gospel account of Martha and Mary this week is so important for us to hear and learn from.  Over the last six years, I have worked in two suburban parishes doing adult formation. Both parishes are located in very affluent areas and have a large number of upper middle class, white collar professionals. We have CEOs, attorneys, physicians, salespeople, pharmaceutical professionals, corporate executives, and even professional athletes. I’ve joked at times that our home could probably fit in the garages of some of the parishioners I kn
Read more

Cultural Insanity and The Christian

By Tom Ponchak
Image
On multiple occasions over the past year I’ve had a reoccurring dream. I find myself in an insane asylum where the inmates have taken over and have the appearance of zombies. I was going from room to room looking for other trapped people, some asleep and others unaware of what was happening, and leading them to escape. At the same time, I encounter a few of the insane zombies and I am able to cure them so they become “normal” and leave with us. I believe this is a prophetic dream speaking to the nature of our culture and our mission as Christians. In the early telling of the story of Narcissus in Greek mythology the young man become enamored with his own image and committed suicide after despairing that no one could love him as much as he loved himself. It’s from this story that modern psychology takes the name Narcissistic Personality Disorder to describe an individual with an inflated sense of their own purpose and a lack of empathy for others. The Mayo Clinic lists the followin
Read more

Loaves and Fishes

By Tom Ponchak
Image
  “Give them some food yourselves.” Jesus’ words to his disciples were surprising, challenging, and seemingly impossible. They responded as most of us would have, taking a quick inventory of their resources and realizing their limitations. In making such an outrageous suggestion Jesus was trying to get his students to live by faith not by sight. As St. Paul would often refer to in his letters, Jesus was trying to get the disciple to be transformed by a renewal of their minds (Rom. 12:2), to no longer behave like unspiritual men, but as spiritually minded disciples (1 Cor. 2:14-16). It is important to keep in mind when the feeding of the multitude took place. Sunday’s reading was taken from Luke 9:10-17. Leading up to this event, the disciples had witness Jesus calming the storm (Luke 8:22-25), a woman healed just by touching is garment (Luke 8:43-48) and Jesus raising a girl from the dead (Luke 8:49-56). Furthermore, the disciples had just returned to Jesus after he had sent them out
Read more