Our Lady's has only ever had one two-fold purpose for her existence: 1) to bring Christ to the world and 2) to bring the world to Christ.
The Philippines is a good case-in-point of this. The Spaniards had tried four times to take the archipelago, and each time the native population had repulsed them. King Philip II authorized a fifth expedition, and at first, it seemed as if it would meet with the same fate. That is until an Augustinian friar left the safety of his ship and approached the hostile defenders in a row boat. What did he bear with him that enabled this? And why is this singular, non-violent act of courage directly responsible for the Philippines being the only predominantly Christian nation in all of east Asia?
The following, although admittedly lengthy, is a fascinating retelling of this story. If Our Lady could accomplish this 435 years ago in a largely pagan and Muslim nation, can she not lead our increasingly pagan and Muslim world to her Son today? Read this piece for yourself and see what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment
When commenting, be charitable, be kind, be loving. Say nothing you would not say to Jesus himself.