A reflection written for Mercy Academy on Mercy traditions. In this reflection, I am going to explore one of our Mercy rituals: praying the Hail Mary together on Friday mornings by joining hands and making a circle in the classroom. On Tuesday, we celebrated the first mass of the year, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. We heard the first part of the Hail Mary proclaimed in the Gospel on the lips of Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” So, why do Catholics pray these words now? We see in Mary what God did: a simple Jewish girl who said ‘yes’ to the terrifying, transformative path God laid before her. Because of this she was chosen to become the Mother of God. As she proclaimed, “He has looked with favor on his lowly servant / From this day all generations will call me blessed: / the Almighty has done great things for me / and holy is his Name.” (NAB, Luke 1:46-...
These posts are the collected homilies of Deacon Ned Berghausen, permanent deacon of the Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, assigned to St. Agnes Catholic Church. The title "Foot Washer" refers to the Last Supper (John 13:1-20) in which Jesus washed the feet of the apostles and challenged them, "“Do you realize what I have done for you? If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow."