The faithful were urged to imitate Mary’s obedience to God during the enthronement rites and mass for Nuestra Señora del Santissimo Rosario today, Thursday at the Santissimo Rosario Parish.
In his homily, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Most Rev. Teodoro Bacani, Jr. D.D. said that we should listen and obey Mary for she is our queen and mother.
“The word mother is placed even before queen. She is indeed our queen but she is also our mother. The mother of the Son of God is also our mother. We ought to listen to her, to obey. What is she a queen for, what is she a mother for, if we do not obey?” said Bacani.
He added, “The greater reason for her blessedness was because she heard the word o God and said yes to it, not only with her lips but above all with her heart, with her actions.”
Bacani said that her obedience to her son can be seen during the wedding at Cana where she said to the servants to “Do whatever what my son tells you. Do whatever he tells you.”
Bacani added that Mary’s trademark response to God can be seen in the Annunciation story where she said, “I am the slavegirl of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”
“Mary stayed with the disciples in the upper room during Pentecost waiting for the Holy Spirit. And why did she stay? It was in obedience to the words of Jesus. She stayed until the Holy Spirit descended upon the land,” Bacani added.
Bacani also said that “The greatest of the crowns she have is when her children become her joy.”
“Love one another as I have loved you. That is what Mary desires also of her children. That they may be one. That is what Jesus desires of his brothers and sisters. That they may be one in God,” said Bacani.
At the end of his homily, Bacani urged the faithful to “Give our hearts while we live and until we die and our lives will be a gift to Jesus on earth as in heaven.”
Before the mass ended, Fr. Louie Coronel O.P., parish priest of Santissimo Rosario Parish led the traditional Dominican blessing of Roses which was later distributed to those who attended the enthronement mass.
According to Dominican tradition, blessed roses when kept may give divine protection to homes and cure for the sick, as it also represents the rosary.
The enthronement rites started with a procession at the UST Plaza Mayor joined by Thomasians from different colleges and faculties.
The said event marks the start of the nine day novena masses for Our Lady which will start tomorrow in preparation for the parish’s feast day on October 7.
This year’s fiesta the parish’s 76th year anniversary which also ends the three year celebration of the parish’s Diamond Jubilee Year.
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