The Church and the Blessed Mother

Excerpt of the Homily of the Most Rev. Romulo Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao during the 60th Founding Anniversary and Parochial Fiesta of the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, F. Torres St., Davao City.

Last Sunday, as I was saying the Mass, the Cathedral was extra full. But what I noticed was that many who were in are young couples — mothers and fathers bringing their children.

Many of the wealthy neighbors in Asia would have loved that sight of having children although they won’t admit. Some even regretted implementing the population control.

In one of my meetings in Manila, I heard this that work of the church in Asia, the mission of the church in Asia is done in the context that the church is a minority except in the Philippines and in East Timor.

Why and how, we do not know.

Missionaries have labored hard in Japan but in terms of the number, it is really slow-paced.

But not only that, bringing children to Mass is worth a thousand sermons as a Bishop.

That is such a wonderful way of keeping our faith.

Not only that, the Filipino faith is closely related, nourished, developed and accompanied by our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There is a saying “El pueblo amante de Maria!”

In the Philippines, there are so many local titles of Mary simply saying that our Catholic faith is greatly nurtured by our closeness to the Blessed Mother and all the Latin Saints.

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

But, maybe some would question that this faith is just a creation of the Filipinos. Some would maybe ask, “Is the closeness to Mary really part of the dynamics of the Church?”

But I think, no. You read the Acts of the Apostles.

Towards the Acts of the Apostles, when Jesus already ascended to heaven, the apostles who went back to their home were named one by one.

Back in those days, the Jewish culture at that time has it that women need no longer be named.

However, Mary’s name was among those mentioned underlying early on her importance in the life of the Church.