HOMILY WEEK 02 06 – Year I
Powerful Guides to the Holy Land:
Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto
(Sir 48:1-11; Ps 80; Mt 17:10-13)
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A pilgrimage to the Holy Land would be unthinkable without the help of a competent guide.
The readings today provide us with two super guides to explore the Holy Land – the prophet Elijah and John the Baptist. Both of these guides, in their own unique way, invite us to put our faith in Jesus and follow him.
On one pilgrimage to the Holy Land, our group visited Mt. Carmel were Elijah carried out his ministry as one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. Elijah was a miracle worker who indirectly pointed to Jesus. He appeared with Moses on the mount of the Transfiguration, where they conversed with Jesus about his passing in Jerusalem. Elijah’s assumption into heaven in a fiery chariot forms the basis for our belief in the assumption of Mary into heaven. His mission was to renew parenthood and family life, and to restore a people, which largely eluded him.
John the Baptist was the last prophet of the Old Testament who heralded in the New Testament. His mission was similar to that of Elijah, only he paid the ultimate price for his fidelity as he was beheaded by King Herod. As such he could be considered the greatest prophet of all, as he more directly prepared the way for his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth.
As a humble prophet, John the Baptist could only talk about repentance, baptize with water, and call people to conversion. Jesus, on the other hand, would break the power of sin through forgiveness, transform peoples’ lives through healing, and offer those who accepted him a share in the new and eternal life he gained for us through his resurrection from the dead. His baptism with fire and the Holy Spirit was transformative, not just a ritual.
We are invited to put our faith in Jesus and follow him, surrendering our hearts to him. That means living lives faith in God’s unconditional love for us, hope in the fulfillment of all God’s promises assured by the resurrection of Jesus, and to love others as Jesus has loved us.
Our Lady of Loreto
Today, we celebrate the optional memorial of Our Lady of Loretto. The Holy House of Loretto (Santa Casa) in Italy has been venerated since the Middle Ages and has been a site of devotion and pilgrimage for centuries. In adding this memorial to the General Calendar in 2019, the Vatican noted that “Saints and Blesseds have responded to their vocation, the sick have invoked consolation in suffering, the people of God have begun to praise and plead with Mary using the Litany of Loretto, which is known throughout the world. Ina particular way, all those who travel via aircraft have found in her their heavenly patron.” Our Lady of Loretto is the patroness of air travelers and aviation.
The Eucharist we celebrate now is our heavenly food for pilgrims on our journey here on earth, waiting to join our Lady who has gone before us in heaven.
So: Let us listen to both Elijah and John the Baptist, put our faith in Jesus and follow him into the fullness of eternal life with Mary our Mother.
