Mary, Mother of God
Every moment of Mary’s life is meant to point us to God’s love, and the plan he has for each one of us. Mary’s life is the example that we look at to see more clearly what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Her life tells us, not just about what our lives on earth are to be about, but also, her life tells us about where we are heading and where we are meant to be.
At her birth, God kept Mary free from the stain of original sin. In doing so, He was preparing her to be a worthy vessel to carry His Son. He was giving her the gifts that she would need to carry out her unique role in the whole history of our salvation. So at birth, God gave her all she would need to accomplish the unique task he had called her to.
At the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel told her about what God was calling her to do, Mary said yes. By her own admission, she was not sure how this had come to be in her life; what she did know in her heart was that the Lord was with her. By accepting the Lord’s call in her life, Mary showed tremendous humility. She placed aside any plan she may have had for herself and her life; and chose instead to live her life for the One who made her and loved her. With great trust in the Lord, Mary placed God first. As a young person, and a young mother, she lived her life for God. She was selfless in giving herself completely to the Lord. She trusted in his presence and his strength to guide her when the path didn’t always seem clear.
At the Cross, as she suffered the torturous pain of seeing her Son beaten, tortured and killed, she kept her focus firmly on him. She let him comfort her in her pain when he entrusted her care to his closest disciple. She took her strength from Him. In her pain, in the worst pain anyone could imagine in the death of her child, she let the Lord comfort and strengthen her. She was confident in the Lord’s presence and his plan. Mary knew and accepted in her heart that God’s ways are not always our ways. She stayed confident in his love.
In her entrance into heaven, in the Assumption, we see her rewarded for a life of faith, hope, and love. We see her reunited with her Son and her Savior. In Mary’s entrance into Heaven, we see our own destination. Mary’s entrance into Heaven, the Assumption that we celebrate today, reminds us that our lives here are made to give glory to God. We are to live our lives for Him, until the day that we go home to Him.
Mary gives us the example of what it means to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength; what it means to be humble before Him; what it means to be His witness, especially through the example of her own life which was dedicated to Him…because she knows it belongs to Him…and is meant to return to Him.
In her life on earth Mary trusted completely in God’s call. Her whole life, and her special place in Heaven, points us always to the source of her strength and faith - her So-Jesus Christ.. As a parish family of faith, with the patronage of our Mother Mary, may we always seek her intercession, so we, too, may come more and more to have selfless, obedient hearts that show us the way, and to point us to Jesus. Heart of Mary, teach us to love Jesus, your Son.
St. John the Evangelist
John was the only one of the Twelve apostles who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when the Savior made him the guardian of His Mother.
After the Assumption of Mary, John went to Ephesus, according to Church tradition. He later became banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek Island of Patmos; this is where he allegedly wrote the Book of Revelation. It is said John was banished in the late 1st century, during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering no injuries. It is also said that all those who witnessed the miracle in the Colosseum were converted to Christianity. Emperor Domitian was known for his persecution of Christians.
John is known as the author of the Gospel of John and four other books in the New Testament - the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. The authorship of the Gospel is credited to the "disciple whom Jesus loved," and John 21:24 claims the Gospel of John is based on the "Beloved Disciple's" testimony. However, the true authorship has been debated on since 200. In his Eclesiastical History, Eusebius states the First Epistle of John and the Gospel of John are agreed upon as John's. Eusebius continues to state the second and third epistles of John are not John the Apostle's.
In the Gospel of John, the phrase "the disciple whom Jesus loved," or "the Beloved Disciple" is used five times, but is not used in any other New Testament accounts of Jesus.
St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, a virtue he had learned from his Divine Master, and which he constantly inculcated by word and example. The "beloved disciple" died in Ephesus after AD 98, where a stately church was erected over his tomb. It was afterwards converted into a Mohammedan mosque.
St. John is the patron saint of love, loyalty, friendships, and authors. He is often depicted in art as the author of the Gospel with an eagle, symbolizing "the height he rose to in his gospel." In other icons, he is shown looking up into heaven and dictating his Gospel to his disciple.
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist's feast day is celebrated on December 27.
St. Margaret of Scotland
Margaret was born in 1046 and was a member of an ancient English royal family. She was a direct descendant of King Alfred and the granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside of England. Along with her family, Margaret had been exiled to the eastern continent when King Canute and his Danish army overran England. Beautiful, devout and intelligent she was raised and educated in Hungary. She and her family returned to England toward the end of the reign of her great-uncle, Edward the Confessor, as her younger brother Edgar the Aetheling attempted to reclaim the English throne. The attempt proved fruitless as Duke William of Normandy, otherwise known as “William the Conqueror,” invaded England and established himself as King.
As some of the last remaining Saxon Royals in England, Margaret’s family feared for their lives. They fled Northumbria, intending to return to Hungary when their ship was blown off course and landed in Fife. The Scottish King, Malcolm III, offered his protection to the royal family. Malcolm was particularly protective towards Margaret. She initially refused the king’s proposals, preferring a life of piety as a virgin. Malcolm was a persistent king, and the couple was finally married in Dunfermline in 1069. Their union was exceptionally happy and fruitful for both themselves and the Scottish nation as Margaret and Malcolm became the parents of eight children, helping to securing the future of the monarchy.
Queen Margaret was renowned for her moderating influence on her husband and for her devout piety and religious observances. She was a prime mover in the reform of the Church in Scotland bringing the Celtic Church closer to Rome. As a patroness of the Benedictine Order, Margaret invited English Benedictine monks to establish monasteries in her kingdom. Though she was Queen, Margaret was active in works of charity, frequently visiting and caring for the sick. On a larger scale, Margaret had hostels constructed for the poor and orphaned.
In 1093, as she lay on her deathbed after a long illness, she was told that her husband and eldest son had been treacherously killed at the Battle of Ainwick in Northumbria. She died soon after at the age of just forty-seven. She was buried alongside Malcolm in Dunfermine Abbey, and the reported miracles that took place in and around her tomb supported the canonization of St. Margaret of Scotland in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV. The feast of St. Margaret was formerly observed by the Roman Catholic Church on June 10th, but is now celebrated each year on the anniversary of her death, November 16th.