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Oklahoma Women’s Conference My dear Sisters (and Brothers) in Christ: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Women of faith gathered here today, I can greet you with a similar but certainly not equal greeting. Yes, the Lord is with you and hopefully with all of us. However, unlike Mary, we are not completely filled with God’s grace. Mary is the virgin Mother of God. She was conceived and remained free of sin all her life. She is unique. She is indeed a model, an inspiration and a helper not only for women but for all people of faith. From the moment she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth until this moment now, Mary has been bringing her Son, Jesus, to people and people to Jesus. You are gathered here today as women of faith. As I look over this large assembly, I see women from all over our extensive Archdiocese and beyond. Many of you have come from great distances and all of you have come with an expectation that your time and effort will be spiritually beneficial. You can be assured of that because today’s Catholic Women’s Conference follows from previous years successful and inspiring conferences you have conducted. Therefore, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to those who planned, arranged and effected this religious experience. I thank every one of you present here and I commend you for your enthusiastic participation. I know that today you will be led to a deeper devotion to our Blessed Mother. Moreover, true devotion to Mary always leads us to God Almighty. Many of us have had the privilege of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. All of us have been taught about the beautiful visitation of the Blessed Mother to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth and her husband Zachary lived in the hill country of Judah. The little town of Ein Karem has traditionally been known as the place where the Visitation occurred. There too occurred the birth of John the Baptist. Ein Karem, while only four miles from Jerusalem is about eighty miles from Nazareth where the Holy Family resided. Thus it would be a long and arduous journey for Mary to visit her cousin. Elizabeth greeted Mary in words and thoughts that had to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth said things which no human could have said on her own: 1. Mary is the mother of my Lord 2.Mary is considered uniquely blessed 3.Mary had such great faith believing what God promised, Elizabeth was inspired to understand things she could not naturally understand. The child in her womb (John the Baptist) leaped for joy at the presence of the newly conceived Jesus. This, too was a way of indicating to Elizabeth in whose presence she stood. Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s “inspired words – Mother of My Lord” was a psalm from the Old Testament which we know by the first word in its Latin translation Magnificat. My soul magnifies the Lord, Mary said, thereby acknowledging the mysterious but gracious hand of God working in and through her. The psalm sung by our Blessed Mother is a strong expression of conviction that the Child to be born of her would be the fulfillment of God’s promise that He would send His Son to save us. Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of what God had assured us. It was the fulfillment of the plan of God to intervene and save human beings from the tragic consequences of sin which are summed up in death. Praised would be the Virgin Mother of Jesus for all ages. Praised even more would be the God Who constantly shows His intense desire to save us. Jesus, the Son of Mary and the Eternal Son of God, is God’s fullest answer, His fullest saving intervention. This is the remarkable story of salvation which God has revealed to us. This is the Good News of Jesus! Today we are gathered together in faith so that we might better appreciate the Good News of Jesus. Like Mary, the Mother of God, we too should be proclaiming a Magnificat, a hymn of praise and Good News. Although we come together in faith, we are still sinners. Our faith is often challenged for we are surrounded by bad news. The economy is failing, someone in our family has lost a job, a loved one suffers from cancer, our children or grandchildren have left the Church. Everyone of us hears bad news. Everyone of us experiences difficulties. Everyone of us sins. We live in a valley of tears. Regardless of the circumstances of our daily lives, there is hope and not just a vague iota of wishful thinking or unfounded dreaming. Our hope is based on a dynamic reality. It is founded on God Himself. For it is the Almighty God, Creator of the universe, Who is all good, all powerful, all loving, all merciful and it is He Who instills this hope in us. He promised – I will send My Son and He will save you. Jesus came and redeemed us. As He died on the cross, he looked upon His dear mother Mary and through His apostles, He gave us His own mother to be our mother. As the child in the womb is inseparable from its mother, so should Christians be united with and influenced by our Mother Mary. In her, God has accomplished all that He calls us to become. Mary is the mother and model for all of us. She lived by faith in accepting God’s plan and fulfilling His Will. Through her intercession we too can overcome our sinful condition and the bad news around us for she can help us to truly tune in to the Good News of her Son, Jesus. Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will come to know and love more fully her Son, Jesus. Through the virgin birth of her Son, Jesus, Mary brought the greatest Good News to our world. Now from her heavenly home she leads us to the fullness of life, eternal life with her Son, Jesus. Throughout this day and indeed all the days of our lives, let us join in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s prayer – Magnificat – my soul rejoices in the Lord. Amen. Most
Reverend Eusebius J. Beltran |