SPECIAL EDITION SERIES 5 ARTICLE #24 - August 22nd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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SPECIAL EDITION SERIES 5 ARTICLE #24 - August 22nd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor's Note: This article is a summary of a practice homily that Fr. Ben Daghir preached as a seminarian in a homiletics course at St. Marys Seminary & University. This homily was part of his training to be ordained a transitional deacon during the 2020 academic year. The homily is focused on the Queenship of Mary (August 22nd) and specifically Psalm 40 "Here I am, Lord: I come to do your will."

Article:
We heard these words during the responsorial psalm. One can think of Mary responding to the angel Gabriel – ready to do God’s will. 

But what exactly do these words mean, especially for us? Sometimes it’s difficult to interpret or even hear God’s will. 

Imagine for a moment that you were pope during World War II. The world around you is falling into chaos. You hear news that Hitler is not only rising to power, but that his regime is also exterminating Jews. You also hear that many Catholic bishops, priests and religious sisters are being hunted down and killed under Hitler’s thumb. 

You’ve met with Benito Mussolini but to no avail. You can’t trust Joseph Stalin, he’s lied to your face.

Imagine the war continuing from the late 1930s into the 1940s. It just seems to only worsen, more deaths, more destruction…you hear that Japan has just attacked the United States of America at Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. 

Many of your bishops, priests and religious sisters continue to be killed. Many seminarians throughout Europe have been forced to study underground. As pope, you rarely receive good news during this war yet you are called to be the bearer of good news to the world. 

Some estimates state that 85 million people died as a result of World War II. With that information in mind, what is God’s will? What does “Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will” look like in that type of situation?

To whom would you turn? Where would you go for protection and intercession?

It’s only through this perspective that we can come to understand the importance of today’s feast on the Queenship of Mary. Pope Pius XII was our pope throughout the entire duration of World War II and he released the encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (meaning on the Queenship of Mary) in the year 1954. 

Listen to what he said in that encyclical: 

“Following upon the frightful calamities which before Our very eyes have reduced flourishing cities, towns, and villages to ruins, we see to our sorrow that many great moral evils are being spread abroad in what may be described as a violent flood.” 

Pope Pius XII continues, 

“The threat of this fearful crisis fills us with a great anguish, and so with confidence we have recourse to Mary Our Queen, making known to her those sentiments of filial reverence which are not ours alone, but which belong to all those who glory in the name of Christian.”

Our pope turned to Mary, our Queen during the most horrific and devastating century. 

So, what does this mean for us on this August 22nd day? Many decades have passed since World War II but do we still need Mary’s Queenship, her protection?

We find ourselves in a slightly different global battle, don’t we? 

What does “Here I am Lord – I come to do your will” mean for you and me right now? 

We may feel like we are on the sidelines of battles, catastrophes, struggles, wars, etc.

What can we do that’s heroic, that enters into the frontlines regardless of where we are?

I think today’s feast reminds us of what we can do even when we feel like the evils in the world are beyond our control and well beyond our backyards. We can learn from Pope Pius XII and turn to Mary our Queen. 

This is heroic, it’s not a weak approach. 

“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.” 

Mary our Queen, who knows the great cosmic battle, knows the effects of sin (the atrocities, the murders, the stench of death). She saw sin’s ugly face for three hours while her Son hung upon the cross. She has seen evil and she has watched it be conquered. She has watched the blood of her Son drown sin and death. 

Like Pope Pius XII, look to Mary our Queen in order to know God’s will, even in the midst of difficulty, pain, suffering, devastation, and death. The Queenship of Mary reminds us that God is victorious and that His will prevails. 
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.