Catechesis Notes for the Week —Summer Stories from St. Luke: The celebration of the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord is on Monday with Mary’s visit of her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary is called a saint, not because she has no sin, but because she was called to faith and to be the mother of our Lord by a gift of God’s grace. In the same way, we are all called and chosen by grace alone. Christ’s forgiving righteousness calls us saints. Mary was honored to be the mother of God’s Son. The incarnation of the Son of God in human flesh means that Jesus partakes of our flesh and blood in every way in order to redeem us from all sin and every weakness of our sinful flesh. The account of the Widow’s Two Mites contrasts the false faith of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes with the true faith of the widow who, without pretense or an attempt to justify herself before others, put into the Temple treasury all that she had. Jesus’ catechesis during Holy Week then shifts to a discussion of the Signs of the End and the Destruction of Jerusalem. The destruction of the Temple, the rise of false doctrine, wars, earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and persecution will all characterize the end times before the Second Coming of Christ. Finally, the Parable of the Fig Tree concludes Jesus’ catechesis on the end times. As the change in the leaves of the fig tree indicate that summer is near, so these signs of the end times indicate that Christ’s coming is near. The Church is to live each day in anticipation of His coming with fervent faith in His Words to the end: “Heaven and will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”CP220814