Coraggio Meeting Focuses On Mary

Coraggio met Dec. 12 at Holy Trinity Parish in Evansville. After beginning the evening with a Holy Hour led by Deacon Charlie Koressell, the group gathered for a presentation on the Blessed Virgin Mary by Jeremy Goebel, who noted that the week involved two Marian celebrations: the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

After leading the group in praying the Memorare, Goebel, who serves as the campus minister for Memorial and Mater Dei High Schools in Evansville, told the story of how he traces his devotion to Mary to past generations of his family. His grandmother served as a model of Marian piety for him. “Throughout her whole life she worked really hard,” he said. He spoke about his grandmother’s life, which involved raising her 17 children; delivering babies at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville; and working on the family farm. Goebel noted that his grandmother never did anything the modern world would consider amazing, but she remained devout and faithful with Mary serving as a pillar for her spiritual life.

When Goebel was in the seminary several years ago, he attended the Indiana Catholic Men’s Conference and obtained a picture of Mary under her title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Although he ultimately left the seminary and moved several times during the years that followed, the picture stayed with him. “It has proven to be Jeremy-proof,” he joked, adding that during times of silence and prayer, gazing into Mary’s eyes would give him a sense of solace and joy. Goebel’s father told him a couple of years ago on Christmas Eve that his grandmother also had a strong devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and would regularly walk several miles to St. Philip church and pray a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

In A.D. 431, the Church held a council in Ephesus to combat the Nestorian heresy that claimed Jesus was different from the Son of God, and that Mary should be called Christotokos (Christ bearer) instead of Theotokos (God bearer or Mother of God). Eventually, the Church affirmed the title of Theotokos. Goebel noted that although the issue sounds like the Church was dealing with a Marian issue, the issue at hand actually centered on a Christological aspect. “It always points back to Jesus,” Goebel explained.

Goebel said that for those unfamiliar with Marian devotion, it might appear to distract the faithful from Jesus. This leads to people asking why Christians should turn to Mary as a spiritual guide. “Jesus did it,” Goebel told the group. He added that Jesus could have come to earth in a lightning bolt or like a Cabbage Patch Kid, but Jesus chose to come to the world through Mary, so the world should go to Jesus through Mary also. “She’s the masterpiece of creation,” he stated. “Mary is the pinnacle of womanhood.”

Likewise, Goebel compared the relationship between Jesus and Mary to the sun and the moon. The light of the moon takes away nothing from the sun; it reflects the sun’s light. “The moon is only beautiful because of the sun,” Goebel explained.

Ultimately, any Marian episode also intimately involves Jesus. At the Wedding at Cana, Mary tells the servants “Do whatever He tells you.” Even an event like the Visitation centers on the growing Christ child inside Mary’s womb. “She’s a Eucharistic procession,” Goebel said.

Coraggio meets the second Friday of each month at Holy Trinity parish. It is open to all Catholics in the Evansville area ages 18-35. The next meeting is Jan. 9 and will feature Father Jason Gries speaking about Canon Law. For more information, email coraggioevansville@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page at facebook.com/coraggioevansville