October 4th Pastor's Message
Dear Friends,
During the month of October, the Church invites us to consider the role of Mary in God’s plan of salvation and to enter into that mystery through the recitation of the rosary.
Please join our annual Living Rosary this Friday October 8th beginning with mass at 6 p.m. The Legion of Mary organizes the event wonderfully.
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The Church provides abundant teaching about the role of Mary in the Christian life. Here are three practical benefits of Marian devotion:
Mary reminds us that personal experience of Jesus is the heart of our faith. Mary’s life was totally focused on her personal relationship with her son Jesus and growing in closeness to him. She had no public role whatsoever. She is a reminder that the Church’s institutional structure, teachings, laws, practices and clerical leadership are means to an end, necessary but secondary.
Mary brings tenderness and warmth into the faith. Mary embodies the warm, loving, gentle aspects of Christian faith. While John the Baptist pointed to Jesus saying “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” Mary directs our gaze at Jesus, the compassionate One, who welcomes strangers, eats with sinners and reaches out to the needy.
Mary is a model of Christian living. Mary demonstrates for us openness to the Word of God, trust in his promises, surrender to his will, prayer of the heart and closeness to Christ. These constitute the interior disposition necessary for fruitful participation in Christian worship.
Mary, mother of God, pray for us!
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