"Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" - Song of Songs 6:10
10:4-5 THE LEGION APOSTOLATE (pg. 62 – pg. 64) Dear sisters and brothers, peace to you all. Before I start my allocutio I would like to ask for your prayers first. A couple of days ago I got a call from my sister who lives in Los Angeles that my nephew (who is a RN, working as a front liner to fight against COVID 19), has unfortunately been diagnosed with COVID 19, and his parents, my sister and brother-in-law are also confirmed cases. May their hearts find peace and hope in the support of your prayers and may all COVID 19 patients around the world heal quickly and may the virus disappear by Mother Mary’s intercession and God’s intervention. Thank you.
Today, let us read in the handbook chapter 10 section 4 and 5 titled “The priest and the Legion” and “The Legion in the parish”. St. Pius said in the handbook: “What is most necessary at the present time is to have in each parish a group of laymen at the same time virtuous, enlightened, determined, and really apostolic.” My eyes were caught by this paragraph. Without question, I knew he was talking about the Legion of Mary. We are that group of laymen.
Because of this, the Legion of Mary under the leadership of Mother Mary, every one of us will “have the ability to do very much and, therefore, ought to do very much towards the growth of an authentic ecclesial communion in their parishes in order to reawaken missionary zeal towards non-believers and believers themselves who have abandoned the faith or grown lax in the Christian life.” (CL 27)
After I learned that my nephew and his family were confirmed with the coronavirus, my wife and I immediately knew a kind of Chinese medicine that may help them regain their health. We passed the information to my sister in hope that she can purchase it locally. Unfortunately my sister told me that she could not find the medicine online or at any local Chinese medicine store in Los Angeles. We then contacted our friend who lives in San Diego since she was the one who told us about this medicine hoping that she may help us locate the medicine. As soon as we called our friend about the situation, without hesitation, she told us that she had a few boxes of the medicine with her and even offered to drop the medicine off at my sister’s place.
She kept her promise and the next day drove 4 hours total to deliver the medicine.
Why am I saying this? Because she exhibited the characteristics of a virtuous, enlightened, determined, and apostolic parishioner in San Diego.
The handbook also pointed out “The priest is like a supplementary heart pumping on its way the supernatural life-blood to souls. He is an essential part of the spiritual transmission system in Christ’s Body. If he fails, the system is blocked, and those who depend upon him do not receive the life that Christ intends them to receive. The priest should be to his people what Christ is to the Church, within due limits.”
Indeed, the priest plays the key role for the life of his parish, if in case, he fails his mission and duty, what should we do?
My dear sisters and brothers, we, the soldiers of the legion of Mary, offer our prayers, offer our help, show him and let him know that he is not alone and he can count on us to help and to pray for him. If for some reason, he doesn’t want to accept our help or even reject us, do not worry, we have our Mother Mary and her example. We learn from her and continue to ponder in our hearts, pray for him, pray for the parish, and show our integrity as a true legion of Mary. Amen.