UST VICE Rector Fr. Isaias Tiongco, O.P. urged Catholics to empower and respect women and emulate the Blessed Mother’s faithfulness and maternal love during the Mass for the eve of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church.
“In our times, there is so much violence, death, murder and rape of women, abortion, discouragement, premarital and extramarital affairs, failure and sin around us,” Tiongco said in his homily on Dec. 31.
“We need women to tell us about the essential value of life and love as Mary did,” he added.
Tiongco called on the faithful to “draw inspiration from the selfless love of Blessed Mary, who never hesitated to do God’s will,” to have a meaningful new year.
“Mary is the model of all women, especially mothers. She was always there to give love, care, and strength to her children in times of despair, sorrow, and disappointment,” he said.
Tiongco also said women should not be looked at and judged based on their physical beauty and attractiveness.
“Our modern world oftentimes distorts the value of women and looks at them mostly in terms of physical beauty, attractiveness and natural endowments. A real woman’s value is not in her appearance but in her holiness, inner beauty and relationship with God,” he said.
On Jan. 1, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God as a holy day of obligation in honor of the divine motherhood of the Blessed Mother.
“Mother of God” is the highest title given to the Blessed Mother. It is a translation of the Latin title Dei genetricis, which means “She Who Generated God”.
It was adopted during the Council of Ephesus as a way to assert that Jesus is God, and that his mother can therefore be called Mother of God.
