Mary month of May 2020

First, we lift our thanksgiving to God for protecting us through the past days and months of 2020. April has gone. Today is the second day of May and the first Saturday of this month.

May the Lord continue to grace us with his love and protection!

There is so much the month of May reminds us about.

May 1 is Labor Day which celebrates and honors all workers throughout the world! Mabuhay sa lahat ng manggagawa dito sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo!

This year, we especially honor and salute all who are responding to the pandemic, selflessly serving and assisting how they can, where they can, at the frontline, sideline, background! Thank you sincerely and mabuhay po kayong lahat! Please continue to keep safe and well too.

Let us also remember always the fallen heroes during this pandemic who selflessly worked, served, and even gave up their own lives that others may live. May they rest in God’s eternal love and peace. May their families also be comforted through the days and years. Thank you very much for your great sacrifice that others may live!

May 1 is also dedicated to St. Joseph, the worker best known as Jesus Christ’s carpenter father. The skeptics in Jesus’ own native place could not imagine how a carpenter’s son could “get such wisdom and (do) mighty deeds?”(Matthew 13:54).

Even then, the world thought very lowly of carpenters and other laborers. Thankfully, the present pandemic has revealed the great, indispensable value of those who have been considered among the least of those who labor; the medical workers, the caregivers, the maintenance staff, the food producers (farmers, fisherfolks), those who transport, deliver food and essentials to supermarkets and homes. There are the housewives and mothers, and more.

May the new normal bestow more appreciation, honor, dignity, and better reward/compensation for these precious indispensable workers!

May is also the month of Mama Mary.

With the pandemic, it may be difficult to see how May can be a merry Mary month like previous years. The quarantine may prevent the children from observing Flores de Mayo and their daily offering of flowers, songs, and prayers to Mama Mary.

In the past, the month of May was considered the time for fiestas, vacations, and reunions. Because of the pandemic and quarantine, there will be no fiestas, travel, and group reunions this month. With COVID-19 still not controlled, can one still be merry during this month of May?

Also, how can devotees continue to celebrate and honor Mama Mary this month given the continuing pandemic?

May 13 commemorates the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to Fatima, Jacinta, and Francisco in Portugal. It may be timely to recount certain highlights of that first apparition starting with Our Lady’s greetings: “Do not be afraid; I will not harm you.”

Our Lady asked the children: “do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?”

When, through Lucia, they answered “Yes, we do,” Our Lady replied: “Well then, you will have much to suffer. But the grace of God will be your comfort.” Then, Our Lady added, 'Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”

This year, the whole world is at war with the coronavirus. Shall we pray the rosary daily to end the war with this virus? Shall we also consecrate ourselves, our country and all others for peace for the whole world?