Since I was a kid, I love this song, one of the Beatles’ best songs: “Let It Be.”
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

I believe “Let it be” may well express who Mary is especially as we think of her YES to the angel Gabriel’s annunciation: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” This yes made the savior of the world conceived and brought about the unfailing hope to us which we eagerly wait for in the season of Advent.

From the beginning of my faith, I have been accustomed with the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. First of all, this feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary holds the same patroness of the Korean Catholic Church like the United States. Secondly, the first bishop of archdiocese of Deagu, South Korea where I come from took a vow before the Immaculate Conception when he first came to Korea. The bishop was a French and there was nothing when the diocese was established in 1911. Since he loved the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he promised her to dedicate the best place in the diocese in the name of the Immaculate Conception if she helped him build a diocesan structure and a seminary. This was fulfilled in a couple of years. Now we have a beautiful grotto next to the bishop’s house like the Lourdes’ in France. Every day the place is adored by the faithful and the Immaculate Conception is the first patroness of the archdiocese of Deagu.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is also the Mother of all priests. She took a position to take care of her son priests like Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul 2 was the one who prayed everyday to the mother. His favorite prayer he cited every day is this: “I belong to you entirely. And all that I possess is yours. I take you into everything that is mine. Give me your heart. Mary.” And when he was elected pope, he made his coat of arm, putting a Capital M in it which stands for Mary.
The United States is blessed as well by the Blessed Virgin Mary because Mary is the patroness of America under two titles: the Immaculate Conception we celebrate today and Our Lady of Guadalupe that we will celebrate in December 12.

First of all, it is honor to preside the Eucharistic celebration for this special occasion called Independence Day. At the same time, I feel little burdened to be in the position to preach the gospel in light of American national holiday because there would be a certain gap between my knowledge of American history and […]

Today I buried the man named Casmer Swiencki who died on May 31 at the age of 93. For his funeral I wrote this homily because his life has revealed the truth that we need to hear and answer someday for ourselves. So I want to share the story with you.   Many say that […]