Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles urges the faithful to hold on to the hope of union with God.
LIPA City, August 18, 2013—With two major feast days happening within days of each other, a prelate calls the faithful’s attention to the graces of a ‘Marian week’ ahead.
The Feast of the Queenship of Mary on August 22 is celebrated on the octave day of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was celebrated last Thursday, August 15, both of which, according to Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, point to astonishing spiritual realities about the destiny of humankind.
Not just for meditation
The great wonder of God’s love for us is that we can be like [Mary], we should be like her,” Arguelles told some 250 Marian devotees at Our Lady of Carmel church yesterday.
Celebrating the Holy Eucharist for participants in “The Journey to Jesus Through Mary” talk series, Arguelles explained God’s mysteries like the Blessed Virgin’s Assumption and Coronation as Queen of heaven and earth, are not abstract concepts simply to be meditated on and admired, but are forerunners of what believers are meant to eventually experience themselves.
“The story of our Blessed Mother is the complete realization of the dream of God to make us one with Him…We look at this as something that is meant for us, the promise that God makes to all of us, to everyone Mary considers her sons and daughters,” he added.
Completely God’s
“The one completely united to Jesus” is how Arguelles described Mary, noting that Christians are called to follow her surrender to God.
“No iota of her life is not lived for the Son of God made Man, who happened to be her own son. How can we ever go away from so wonderful a woman?” he asked in rhetoric, adding, this is precisely the reason behind the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
According to a recent Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines decision, consecration to Mary will continue to figure prominently in the Philippine Church’s preparations for 2021, the 500th anniversary of the coming of the Christian faith to the country. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
