Love that unifies

Sisters and Brothers, in our Gospel today, Jesus presents the qualifications of a genuine follower of Christ. It is a list of unpopular expressions of love in unpopular circumstances to unlikely and unlovable recipients. St. Paul in our first reading, exhorts the people of Colossae to put on an identity of love which is unitive of the Body of Christ, the Church. It is the love of Christ, and our corporate love for one another that unites the Church.

Today we honour the Holy Name of Mary. It was Pope Innocent XI who extended the celebration of the feast day to the universal Church, to be celebrated on September 12th, four days after the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Mother.  After Vatican II, the feast day was removed from the universal calendar, although the Votive Mass remained.  However, St. Pope John Paul II reinstitute the feast day, technically as an “optional memorial. ( Roman Missal, issued in 2003)

To be less unworthy to partake in the celebration, let us beg the Lord for his pardon and mercy.