Jesus’
Ever Best Gift to Humanity
Dear
Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
On
Christmas Day and on New Year Day, we are so happy not only to receive best
wishes but also beautiful gifts from family members and friends. No matter how much expensive the gifts may
be, they really matter us because of the thoughtfulness and the love of the
giver.
This
is how we appreciate the ever best gift that Jesus gave us as the convincing
proof of His great love for the whole humanity.
Jesus,
the Son of God, was sent by God the Father into the world to teach the human
race the truth about God’s merciful love on the one hand, and on the other,
about the dangerous state of sin in which all men and women have been caught
since the fall of the first man. In
order for them to be rescued from the evil consequences of sin, sinners are
urged to acknowledge their wrong and repent of their sin, and go back to God,
and beg Him for mercy and forgiveness.
The journey back home to God’s love is so necessary that the human race
can lose everything should they not closely listen to Jesus and do what He
taught them to.
Knowing
the truth that, if left alone, men and women are so weak and unable to live up
to His teaching, Jesus decided to give them His three powerful gifts: one, the
Church, two the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, and three the Blessed Virgin Mother.
The
Holy Church was founded by Jesus, strongly built on the rock of Saint Peter’s
faith, which has for centuries survived all forms of challenges by the forces
of evil. The Church alone has authority
to teach us matters on faith and morals.
Jesus assures the Church of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, saying,
“Whoever listens to you listens to me.”[1] In a world seriously polluted with falsehood
and lies, the Church is our truthful and trustful teacher and companion on the
Way of Truth and Life.
Jesus
also shows us how much He loves all of us even to death, as He once says, “No
one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”[2] He makes His promise to stay with us always
to the end of the age[3]
a reality by establishing the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood. We feel more secured and encouraged when we
know that Jesus always walks side by side with us.
At
the last moments of His life on earth, Jesus gives us the best of His best
gifts when He says to Saint John, referring to His Beloved Mother, standing at
the foot of the Cross, “Behold your Mother.”[4]
This
is official. This is history. By the holy will of Jesus Christ, Son of God
and God Himself, the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of Christ, the Mother of God,
is our Mother. As any loving and caring
mother would react to the cry of her baby in time of need, danger and fear, the
Blessed Virgin Mother immediately comes to the help of Christians in times of
persecutions. The world has been marked
with Her motherly presence:
in Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal,
Guadalupe in Mexico, in Manaoag in the Philippines, in La Vang in Viet Nam, and
many other places.
Therefore,
Christians of many generations have good reasons to tirelessly repeat with
filial love and grateful hearts the Church’s beautiful prayer: “Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen.”
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
