Feast of Queen of China

This feast is not universally celebrated because of its national tone. Yet, it is also curiously the most catholic because many nations and professions have Our Lady as their patron saint. For example: Argentina has Our Lady of Lujan; Australia and New Zealand have Our Lady Help of Christians; navy of different countries etc. Here in Hong Kong, we have Our Lady of Immaculate Conception as our patron saint. The veneration of Our Lady is so popular in the Catholic Church that she is no doubt one unifying factor in making the Church one and catholic.
There is an article in the May 2006 issue of Shalom, tracing the origin of this feast. In the first Synod of Chinese bishops held in Shanghai in 1924, it was decided that China should be dedicated to Our Lady. From what I could gather, the feastday is not fixed on a particular day, but on the Saturday in the second week of May. That is the day before Mother's Day.
In the readings today, we read of the role played by Mary, the mother of Jesus in the early Church. After the ascension of Jesus, the apostles returned and stayed in Jerusalem to wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit.
and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.
All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers (Acts 1:13-14).
According to the gospels, the brothers of Jesus did not believe in him before his resurrection. Now that they had become witnesses of his resurrection, they took up a more active role in the development of the early Church. Among them, James the brother of the Lord became the head of the Jerusalem Church (Galatians 1:19, 2:9). On the other hand, Mary the mother of Jesus took a contemplative role. She prayed with her children, all the believers whom her son had won over, when they were waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Mary was the first to receive the Holy Spirit decades before Pentecost. Though it is not explicitly stated in Acts, she must be there when the Holy Spirit descended on the 120 believers on the day of Pentecost.
The congregation of the redeemed was the children of Mary. She generously took up the responsibility to take care of these scared and scattered lambs when the Lord was crucified.
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"
Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (John 19:26-27).
Therefore, it is our obligation to honour Mary as our mother. Catholics are not alone in paying respect to Our Lady. Many other orthodox Christians Churches do likewise. Mary delivered the Saviour to this world. Likewise, we Christians should lead a saintly and pious life to reveal Christ to the world.

Dear Mother, pray for us sinners. You are the Helper of Christians. Soften our souls and mould them in the likeness of Your Son. Amen.