Hope for Renewal and a Little Apologetics Lesson

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Today, at the Mass we attended, our new priest celebrated. I was at Mass yesterday as well, for the Queenship of Mary, when he celebrated. Yesterday was the first time I was present at one of his Masses and so far he's two for two with me. Not that he intentionally did anything for me, but he impressed me, that's for certain.

Fr. Adam is our new associate priest, following Fr. Tony who become pastor of his own parish in July. I get kind of nervous when there is a "changing of the priests." You get so used to them, learn to love them (if you're lucky), and then, whoosh, they're gone. But, I think I'm going to be o.k. with this change.

Today Fr. Adam referenced the Catechism in his homily today. That almost never happens any more. It was lovely. It gives me hope for the renewal of our Faith. Fr. Adam is young, just a few years out of seminary. I have had a glimpse of other new priests and they seem to be cut from the same cloth, no pun intended. They are beautiful, reverent men, those I've seen, who are not afraid to remind us of the rules, and they have every right to do so. If they are going to sacrifice themselves for their vocation, give up their lives to serve God, then they should expect their flock to follow devoutly, wholeheartedly, zealously. We all need to be told what our sins are; if no one tells us, especially in this day and age when most Catholics don't learn the Catechism, how will we know? Score one for Fr. Adam.

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Now, I also wanted to tell you something that Fr. Adam shared at Mass on Saturday -- about the Queenship of Mary. In his homily he spoke about the origin of Mary's Queenship. The origin actually begins with the belief that Jesus is Our King. In the time of Our Lord, the Queen of any kingdom was not the wife of the king but the mother of the king (the Queen Mother). See, the king had many wives, and thus the woman who sat at the throne was his mother. Her position in the kingdom was as intercessor between the king and his people. They brought their problems to her, and she pleaded their case to the king. And thus, it makes perfect sense that we plead our case to Our Blessed Mother, so that she, as Queen of Heaven, will petition her son on our behalf. Isn't that perfectly lovely?

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