Mary, The Cause of Our Joy! - Advent 2023

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Taken from this issue of the the Mary, Cause of Our Joy Newsletter:

Letter from Father Hewko


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Advent 2023

Dear Faithful Friends of the Cross,

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.” (St. Matthew 13: 34). Here Our Lord speaks so simply that if we aren’t careful we can pass over the deeper meaning and easily miss the treasures hidden in His sacred words. Such is the beauty of God’s infinite wisdom that He often hides mountains of wealth beneath such simple parables.

Who, then, is this woman kneading the dough and sprinkling it with leaven? And why three measures? As always, we turn to the Fathers of the Church, who peel off the layers of the literal meaning for us to enjoy the sweetness of the mystical meaning inside. They tell us the woman, in this case, is Mother Church who labors to form Christ in us by sprinkling the leaven of His sacred doctrine in souls by the preaching of her prelates and priests. Three measures or loaves are formed because three represents the Holy Trinity, Who is pleased to use the sacraments of Holy Mother Church to pour sanctifying grace into souls. What is sanctifying grace? It is the very indwelling of the Three Divine Persons in our souls, where God is welcomed and loved as the sweetest Guest! “And your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). The moistened dough is the result of flour mixed with water, symbolizing the waters of Baptism.
 
St. Augustine takes the imagery further by adding that the dough must still be cooked in the oven so that it rises, bakes and becomes bread. This cooking is done in the oven of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Who sends the Fire of the Holy Ghost into souls at Confirmation. This Divine Fire of the Holy Ghost bakes the dough into bread, that is, it rises by the increase of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost and by the Holy Eucharist. This unity of Our Lord in the Consecrated Host and the individual soul increases the love of God and sanctifies the whole Mystical Body of Christ. By partaking of the Holy Eucharist we become so profoundly united with Christ that we truly are as one Bread with Him. “And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one Bread” (I Cor. 10:17).

In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass before the Preface is chanted, the priest will invite all the faithful saying, Sursum Corda, and the faithful respond, Habemus ad Dominum! Mother Church says this to draw our hearts to look to Heaven and always focus our joys there. It is there, in the eternal Wedding Feast, that all the saints will taste and see how sweet the Lord truly is, by enjoying the fruit of the vine of which He promised His faithful friends would drink, and forever share in the unspeakable happiness by the vision of the Most Holy Trinity.

Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of seeing the woman in this parable as, also, the Blessed Virgin Mary Herself. She desires all to come to the kitchen of the Catholic Church and be washed in the waters of Baptism where the Holy Trinity is given to souls. Like the woman kneading leaven in the dough, so Our Lady wants us to eagerly hear the good traditional doctrine of the Church, meditate on it and love Her Divine Son in the Holy Eucharist. And, passing through the oven of crosses in this life, be baked into a perfect bread with Her Son, to share forever the happiness of Heaven. “Yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).

Therefore, whether the woman of this parable is seen as Mother Church or the Mother of God, the goal is always the same, which is to reach the Kingdom of Heaven! This explains why Our Lord begins the parable by saying “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”

May our minds always be attentive to the sweet, hidden Guest of our souls! Although, while not seeing the Most Holy Trinity here below, may we come to see the Splendor of His Glory, when His presence in us by sanctifying grace, is transformed and blossoms into the Beatific Vision forever. “Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them. And they shall be His people; and God Himself with them shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, for the former things are passed away” (Apocalypse 21:3).

While the Devils are always prowling around the world seeking the ruin of souls, turning up the heat of apostasy and persecution on the Church, let us throw ourselves into the loving hands of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, that She form Christ in us, and us in Christ!

In Christ the King,

Fr. David Hewko

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A pdf of the entire newsletter can be found here.

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