Sunday:       Our Lady of Good Counsel
Date:         April 26, 2005
Year:         A
The readings: [Acts 13:26-33; Jn. 14:1-6]
The message:  How can we know the way?
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  880

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we are commemorating the beautiful Marian Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Who is Our Lady of Good Counsel? What is the origin of this Marian Feast? In summary, this special title was given to the miraculous picture of the Madonna at Genazzano in Italy. In recognition for the financial help received from the people of Genazzano who helped to renovate the Church of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Pope Sixtus III (432-440 A.D.) gave them some land. On this land, the people built a Church and called it Our Lady of Good Counsel. Upon its completion, the Church was entrusted to the Augustinian Order.

In April, 1467, an Albanian icon of Our Lady of Shkodra (Good Counsel) mysteriously appeared in the Church. The painting of Mary and the Christ Child, a fresco on an eggshell thin layer of plaster, appeared to be floating about 2.5 cm from the wall. Since then, endless healings and miracles have been attributed to the powerful intervention of Our Lady of Good Counsel. In 1727, Pope Benedict XIII instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Following this, Pope Leo XIII added the title "Mother of Good Counsel" to the Litany of Loreto. Nowadays, Our Lady of Good Counsel is the patron of many women's groups, especially the Catholic Women's League in Canada and the Christian Mothers of America.

The endless healings and miracles that have been attributed to the powerful intervention of Our Lady of Good Counsel once more affirms that "Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. 'This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death.'" [LG § 57] (C.C.C. # 964)

As the words of Jesus were accompanied by many "mighty works and wonders and signs" [Acts 2:22; Lk 7:18-23] to manifest that the Kingdom was present in Him, (C.C.C. # 547) the endless healings and miracles attributed to Our Lady of Good Counsel affirm that the fruit of her work have been divinely commissioned for the glory of the Lord Jesus. For if Our Lady had not been personally commissioned by God Himself, the abundance of Divine graces would not have flourished through her.

While heavenly signs do not save anyone, they invite belief in Jesus. [Jn 5:36; 10:25, 38] They strengthen the faith of the believers in the One who does His Father's works. (C.C.C. # 548) Through Mary, the faithful are guided to Jesus, the one and only means of salvation.

During today's reading from the Gospel of John, [Jn. 14:27-31] we learned from Jesus that He was physically departing from this world. Resulting from His physical department, we gained His spiritual arrival. While Jesus was physically present with a few at the time of His dwelling on earth, through His departure, He has made Himself spiritually present with all those who invite Him within them. Jesus is present here with us. He will be present with each and everyone of you when you leave here today. This affirms the words of Jesus, "I am going away, and I am coming to you."

Jesus is made present to us in more than one way. First of all, He is physically present with us through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Secondly, He is spiritually present in us by His indwelling in each and everyone of us as Temples of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, He is manifested to us through the many Marian devotions. Through Mary, Our Lady of Good Counsel, we see the grace of God at work. Through Mary, we are drawn to her beloved Son Jesus.

Finally, Jesus is made present to us through the actions of our brothers and sisters in Christ. When a kind soul feeds a hungry person, Jesus is made present to the hungry person through the soul that fed the hungry person. The kind soul became the instrument of God by permitting God to act through him to answer the hungry person's prayer for food.

God manifest Himself through those who visit the lonely prisoners. He manifest Himself through those who assist the widows and care for the orphans. He manifest himself through those who visit the sick in the hospitals and the elders who live alone. God's instrument of grace can be anyone, an infant, a child, a teenager, a young person, even an elder. When the grace of God flows through a person, God manifests Himself through that person.

Today, let us focus our thoughts on this matter. Is the grace of God manifesting itself through us? Or is the grace of God manifesting itself through someone else to reach out to us? Faith without works is dead. If someone claims to have faith, but he does not allow the Holy Spirit to work through him, his faith his dead. Faith is alive when Jesus can manifest Himself through someone, through the good deeds that flow from the person by the grace of the Heavenly Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"While Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra some Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day they went on with Barnabas to Derbe."

"After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, 'It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.' And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe."

"Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. And they stayed there with the disciples for some time." [Acts 14:19-28]

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Gospel Reading...

"When the hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father, Jesus said to the disciples" 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe."

"'I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.'" [Jn. 14:27-31]

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