Bishop Cotta's Reflection for May
Traditionally in May our attention is drawn to our devotion to the Blessed Mother. We give thanks to God for the gift of mothers. We give thanks to the Mother that was given to us by Jesus at the foot of his cross on Good Friday. On that day we were directed by the Crucified Lord to "behold" our Mother and to "take her into our homes." What a precious treasure Jesus gave us as he emptied himself. His Beloved Mother may she always be welcomed in our homes.
There are several ways we can renew ourselves with Our Lady: praying the rosary, celebrating special masses, or organizing processions and May crowning. Let us be reminded that she is recognized under a special title, "Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament."
On another note, it is not a coincidence that God sent the Blessed Virgin to a village near Fatima on the 13th of May, 1917. On that special day the Three Shepherd Children were privileged to witness the Apparitions and to receive God's "message from heaven."
As we journey prayerfully through May let us daily embrace Our Mother Mary and her Immaculate Heart into our lives. May she, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament - Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary - lead us to Jesus in the Eucharist.
May we, the people of this Diocese, named after the Blessed Sacrament celebrate in a special way this feast by which Our Lady offers to each of us - the Blessed Sacrament.
"Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, I see you in Bethlehem, lovingly pressing to your heart your Child, your God, the future Eucharistic Christ. I see you offering Him to the Heavenly Father in the Temple for our salvation. That very same Christ is mine in the Holy Eucharist when I look upon Him as Victim on our altars, when I kneel before Him as my Friend in the Tabernacle: when I receive Him into my soul as my guest in Holy Communion. He is all mine, and all because you gave your consent to become his mother. Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us."
Bishop Cotta