Category Archives: The Pope

Why Consecrate to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

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In celebration of 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, several bishops across the country have decided to consecrate their dioceses to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  This act might leave some people scratching their heads, wondering “What good will that do?” or shrugging their shoulders saying “That’s nice. What’s the NFL schedule that day?”

But if our eyes and hearts are opened to God’s wisdom, we will see that this consecration is the most powerful aid that a diocese could receive.  Marian consecration makes all the difference in the world!

“My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”  This is what Our Lady said to Lucia dos Santos, one of the three seers of Fatima.  The Blessed Virgin told Lucia that Our Lord wished Lucia to spend her life promoting devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that humanity could avoid turmoil and suffering on earth and, more importantly, be guided to everlasting salvation in the arms of Christ.

But why would Our Lord request consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?  What does it all mean?

To consecrate yourself to someone is to give yourself, or, as St. Pope John Paul II would say, to “entrust” yourself entirely to someone.  Strictly speaking, we can only consecrate ourselves to God because we are His.  However, when the Church speaks of consecration to Mary, it means that we are giving ourselves to God through Mary.  St. Louis de Montfort, who was arguably the most famous promoter of Marian consecration (and the person from whom St. Pope John Paul II took his motto, Totus Tuus, “Totally Yours”), coined the phrase, “To Jesus through Mary!”

Mary’s relationship with her Son and with us is unique.  She is the woman who said “Yes” at the Annunciation, giving herself without reservation to the Father so that she could give her humanity to the Son, and she is the mother who stood at the foot of the cross, heartbroken, but freely offering her only beloved Son to God for all the world.  In return for this great sacrifice, God extended her divine maternity to include all of His adopted sons and daughters.  She is now Queen of the Universe, our Heavenly Mother and Advocate.

Mary’s life and Jesus’s life are uniquely intertwined for all eternity.  Her will is His will and, as mother of all God’s adopted sons and daughters, she has been entrusted with the formation of souls.  The Son entered the world through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and the world is drawn to the Son through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does it seem strange that God would choose to draw us to Himself through a creature?  While I would not pretend to be able to explain the great mysteries of God’s wisdom, I would point out that this seems to be the way that God works throughout history.  He comes to us through prophets, saints, objects like the burning bush, and the material elements of the sacraments.  We give ourselves to Him through the manmade words of prayers and hymns, acts of corporal and spiritual mercy, and reception of the sacraments.  God has always used the material realm to commune with His children who are of the material realm.  When we consider this, it does not seem so strange that He would commune with us through the Son’s Beloved Mother.

God created Our Lady with her special motherhood in mind.  This is why she was and is the Immaculate Conception—the one born without sin, who was, is and always shall be in communion with the Holy Trinity.  She shows us the glory of God’s plans for humanity and she is His greatest instrument for making those plans happen.

If our earthly parents, priests and teachers can form us in the faith, how much more can our Heavenly Mother whose heart and mind are perfected and whose life has always been so intimately intertwined with her Son’s do for our salvation?

This year, many are choosing to consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  To the extent that we entrust ourselves to her motherly care and conform to her immaculate example, we will receive great graces.  We enter this consecration knowing that it is not magic.  There will still be times when we will falter and fail.  But we will persevere in faith, remembering that Our Lady of Fatima promised, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Maura Hearden Fehlner teaches Mariology for Saint Joseph’s College Online. She and her husband Deacon John Fehlner are the founders of Light of Truth Ministries, a Catholic radio station broadcasting at 98.3 FM in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Proper Alignment in a Crazy World

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In case you missed it, there was a presidential election earlier this month.  The outcome surprised almost everybody—certainly the “experts,” including theologians—and the aftermath has been decidedly traumatic.  What will happen over the next two to four years? Which policies will be reversed and which new ones will be established?  Like many Americans, I stayed up late watching the election returns.  The national media scrutinized every bit of available data.  I found myself learning more about counties in other states christ-kingthan I had known before.  Due to an unavoidably early work schedule, I went to sleep with the election undecided.  I woke to a new president-elect, a result very few anticipated.  Juggling that news with my regular routine, I ran across a reminder for this blog post’s deadline.  A glance at the liturgical calendar told me all I needed to know:  today is the Feast of Christ the King.

This knowledge made all the difference as the nation continues to struggle with the election’s aftermath.  Before, during, and after any human, earthly endeavor, Jesus Christ is Lord.  Stating this does not, despite the Marxist criticisms, relegate one to the realm of naïve spirituality and blithe indifference to the world’s problems.  No, God calls us simultaneously to the Church and thus into the world, too.  Vatican II states clearly: “God’s plan for the world is that men should work together to renew and constantly perfect the temporal order” (Apostolicam Actuositatem #7).  Politics is not some necessarily dirty, utilitarian struggle for hegemony.  Rather, political activity along with the whole gamut of economic, social, and aesthetic pursuits can and should foster and advance the good.  We need each other to come anywhere near accomplishing that goal.

Here we must always remember today’s feast.  Christ’s sovereign kingship transcends the created realm.  Our best accomplishments and worst failures occur therein.  St. John the Evangelist reminds us:  “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (1:5).  Therefore, regardless of who wins a presidential election or how shocked we are at such results, no human creation—political, social, or otherwise—enjoys ultimate status.  We cannot conflate Christ’s reign with our temporary politics.  We cannot become, as Rod Dreher puts it, a people who make politics their religion.  Christ is king, not us.

This reality holds true forever, of course, but we enjoy this reminder at the very end of the liturgical year.  Next Sunday begins Advent, and so once again we prepare for the arrival and birth of that very King we celebrate today. This feast appeared rather late, historically speaking.  Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.  As blogged earlier here, I think Pius XI’s pontificate offers remarkable resources, both spiritual and political, for our twenty-first century reality.  This plenitude concerns us especially today:

Pius XI himself recognized the shift [towards secular totalitarianism] in 1925 with his encyclical Quas Primas. Released on December 11, 1925, the encyclical established the Feast of Christ the King, now celebrated on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. In so doing Pius XI returned to his papal motto and asserted Christ’s spiritual and temporal authority (see #s 15 & 17). Christian faith is necessarily embodied, and thus the Church stands in the world, but free from control by the secular state (see #31). The laity especially stand to benefit from meditation upon Christ’s kingship. If Christ died for all, then, Pius concludes, “it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire” (#33). Christ must reign in our minds, wills, hearts, and bodies. Each faculty contributes to both spiritual sanctification and social justice, and serves, Pius XI prays, as evangelical examples to all non-Catholics. The peace that passes understanding, if authentic, moves beyond the individual to include others, not just Catholics but all peoples. After all, each person possesses intrinsic dignity given by God alone.

Christ’s kingship lays claim to our entire selves—and this includes our relationships with all others:  marital, parental, emotional, social, economic, political, etc.  Today’s readings spell this out in great detail:  David’s ascendency, Psalm 122’s celebration of royal Jerusalem, and then St. Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians that Christ

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

The Gospel passage from St. Luke (23:35-43) depicts this in the most graphic terms. From the cross Jesus promises the repentant criminal they both will enjoy paradise that very day.  Interestingly, the Extraordinary Form readings—the ones Pius XI worked with himself when he declared the Christ the King feast—take a different path with St. Matthew 24: 13-25.  After prophesying apocalyptic signs of His return, Christ reassures the disciples: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Following this presidential election, this passage might speak to some believing voters more immediately!  Exemplifying the well-known Catholic “both/and,” these readings together draw out fully the immanence and transcendence of Christ’s kingship.  In proclaiming the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis speaks to this balance:

We will entrust the life of the Church, all humanity, and the entire cosmos to the Lordship of Christ, asking him to pour out his mercy upon us like the morning dew, so that everyone may work together to build a brighter future. How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God! May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst! (Misericordiae Vultus #5)

The Feast of Christ the King concludes the Year of Mercy, one in which we have sought to realize our spiritual convictions where we find ourselves.  This itself requires mercy, for we will make mistakes. Our sovereign Lord’s presence in the Church and the Eucharist repairs these errors.

God calls us to, and we should always seek, this proper alignment.  Then the wins and losses of our lives—personally and politically—regain proper perspective. After the inauguration the nation will see new endeavors and probably others continued from the previous administration. Just as with Obama, the Trump presidency will offer several opportunities to work with all people of good will to build and defend the common good.  Sometimes that pursuit will involve cooperating with government, sometimes perhaps not.  Regardless, we would do well to remember today’s solemn feast and readings and thereby recognize that only Christ reigns supreme. All other political claims are, ultimately, temporary.  To paraphrase St. Thomas More, we are the president’s loyal citizens—but God’s subjects first.

Guest blogger Jeffrey Marlett blogs at Spiritual Diabetes.