Posted on July 10, 2011 by Father Joe
It is impossible for us to know with certainty what Mary appreciated through any infused science or knowledge. I suspect that God wanted to preserve her simplicity and innocence as a Jewish maiden in the particular culture where she found herself. She was filled with faith and may have given herself to the service of God’s temple. The Annunciation is a real awakening of her purpose but it would not change who Mary was all along. She does not say that she “will be” God’s servant, but confesses that she has always been “the handmaid of the Lord.” Everything was prepared for this day when she would become the special vehicle for God. She could not save herself but was preserved from sin by our Lord’s saving power reaching backward from the Cross and touching her in the womb of St. Ann. Despite this singular honor, she is quite aware of the vast gulf between the Creator and his creatures. She may not understand but she accepts what God has planned for her. She does not feel worthy because no creature could be worthy of such a favor. Mary’s yes to the angel Gabriel, really her free assent to God, was enabled by her condition of holiness. Otherwise, she could not speak for all mankind. The wound from the primordial rebellion must be healed. It has already happened for this one special daughter.
The actual work and battle must take place in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
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Posted on July 9, 2011 by Father Joe
Learned Catholics explore the mystery of Mary as the Immaculate Conception by first looking to Jesus. Do we really fully appreciate who he is? Every time we participate at Mass, we acclaim God as “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The All-Holy One, the source of holiness itself, is conceived and born of Mary. It was this fact of the incarnation that caused the high priest Caiaphas to tear his cloak. He could not accept it. It seemed absurd and in dangerous opposition to everything they held as true. He did not recognize the truth about Jesus but he was right that this claim would utterly change the nature and practices of their Jewish religion. The unseen God would be made visible. The core of their religion would switch from the promise and the law to an emphasis upon a person, namely Jesus Christ. The teaching of Mary’s preservation from original sin is all about honoring the dignity of God in Christ. Original sin was passed on through human generation. It would not be fitting that the All-Holy One should be touched by sin in the womb. “Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus is pure. Holiness is his very nature. He would share this sanctity with us. Selfishness and dissent strip away our disposition for holiness. Many play deaf or say no to Christ’s command to take up our crosses and follow him.
But, yesterday and today, there is still the remnant, the nucleus that keeps the flame of faith burning.
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Posted on July 8, 2011 by Father Joe
John Cardinal Newman studied the ancient fathers of the Church and helped the Church recover the understanding of Mary as the new Eve. Eve is a name which simply means “the mother of all the living.” Not by nature but in the order of grace, Mary is the new mother of all the living. Because of the identity and mission of her Son, one might speak of her as both the womb of Christ and the womb of the Church. This title “womb of the Church” is also given the baptismal font.
It is at this font that we become like Mary, free from sin and disciples of her Son. St. Jerome wrote that “Death (entered the world) through Eve, life through Mary.” This helps to give us a sense of where Mary is within the mystical body of Christ. Given this intimate unity with Christ (see Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 4:15), Mary in giving birth to the head also gives birth to the body. Of course, Mary is also part of this mystical body. This is not contradictory because, while she was no priest, she had every right as the Mother of the incarnation to hold Jesus in her arms and say, “This is my body… This is my blood.” Continuing with the analogy of the body, certain theologians have spoken about her as the NECK of the mystical body.
All graces flow from the head and through the neck to the rest of the body.
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Posted on July 7, 2011 by Father Joe
I have often preached upon how Catholicism interprets saving faith as humble obedience or submission to God’s will. Jesus tells John, “Behold your Mother.” Notice that he does not ask a question like, “Please, would you take care of my Mother for me?” Rather, he gives a direct command to John and through him to all mankind who would be redeemed. Further, he attests to her motherhood but leaves the full dynamics of the relationship unspoken. There is a duality in this command. We are being told to cherish Mary as our spiritual Mother, always insuring her rightful place in the lives and hearts of believers. There is also a final summons for Mary. Mary accepted the motherhood of Christ in the annunciation. At Calvary, she embraces her new role as the Mother of Christ’s mystical body, the Church. She cooperates in the redemptive work of her Son and becomes our chief intercessor among the saints.
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Posted on July 6, 2011 by Father Joe
Mary, a few other women and John stand at the center of the great saving mystery. The other women represent the rest of the community that will form Christ’s Church in pilgrimage. Mary, herself, signifies the final end of the Church, attired in glory and holiness. John is one of the apostles and he represents those who would be ministers and priests of Christ’s new people. Their numbers are few but they witness at the Cross for all who are weak and afraid.
Today, the Church counts over a billion followers within the membership. But still, only a small remnant comes to the Mass which is the unbloody re-presentation of Calvary. Many are distracted or weak or afraid to embrace their high calling. If one becomes a real or committed Christian then everything changes. Every aspect of our lives becomes subject to the critique of the Gospel. While we might be Christian in name and because water was poured upon our heads as babies, we have to freely dispose ourselves to God’s presence and commission. Faith is not magic. We must cooperate with the movement of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace. Mary still implores the Church community to follow Christ. We remember what our Lord said when she came looking for him.
He said that all who do the will of his Father are brother, sister and mother to him.
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Posted on July 4, 2011 by Father Joe
Both at Cana and at the Cross, Jesus uses a peculiar form of address for his Mother. When the wine runs out, his Mother lets him know and he curtly tells her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). She simply tells the stewards to do as he says and he turns water into wine. At the Cross, he addresses Mary again as THE WOMAN, saying, “Woman, behold your son,” and next to John, “behold your mother”(John 19:26-27). Everything has come to pass, from his first sign at Cana to the sign of the Cross at Calvary. The hour has finally come. Now he will not change water to wine but offer an oblation that will be renewed in wine and bread transformed into his body and blood. Jesus is offering his life for his bride the Church. He goes to his own marriage banquet, the supper of the Lamb. Mary is not a mere spectator. She is a player in the divine drama with a purpose. There may seem to be some confusion in Christ’s words, but I suspect that our Lord says many things with the few spoken words remaining to him. Certainly, Mary beholds the spectacle and her eyes are steadily upon her beloved Son, Jesus. But our Lord is also directing her eyes away to John, who is our emissary at the Cross.
Mary must be there for the believing community. They will need her. Jesus also directs John’s gaze to Mary. Christ is entrusting his Mother to John and the early Church.
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Posted on July 3, 2011 by Father Joe
Mary always brings us back to her Son. The Eastern churches have such a high appreciation of this truth that all icons of Mary have her holding the child, Jesus. A possible exception to this was brought to my attention with an icon of Mary in an Eastern chapel at the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. However, looking closer we find that Jesus is still present, albeit through a stole she holds emblazoned with the Greek, Alpha and Omega. Jesus is the beginning and end of all things. The stole signifies Christ the High Priest. He is our Mediator. No one comes to the Father except through him.
It has been argued in Catholic circles that just as the titles and history around Mary have insured an orthodox Christology; so too is Mary and our devotion toward her necessary for a full and genuine Christian faith. A priest friend long involved with Lutheran-Catholic dialogue was challenged about this in an ecumenical setting. He said no slight was intended toward our Protestant brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, he insisted that Mary still had to figure in the equation of faith. Catholics would give her direct recognition; but my friend insisted that any good Lutheran who loved Jesus Christ still gave Mary a degree of unspoken or indirect honor. Jesus will always be the Son of Mary.
A genuine love of Jesus makes room for love of Mary.
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Posted on July 2, 2011 by Father Joe
I would go to some lengths to show how Mary is singularly honored by God; in truth, a number of her titles and benefits could be applied to others, even if only analogously or in a lesser and contingent fashion. Mary is rightly called the Mother of God and such a title is strictly reserved to her; but every child reflects the Christ Child and every pregnancy shares “in potency” the promise of a Messiah. Other titles would be more easily shared, like that of the Daughter of the Father and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Our baptism and faith makes us adopted sons and daughters of the heavenly Father. Granted the gift of sanctifying grace, we are also made into temples of the Holy Spirit. Of course, Mary is the great precursor, for both the whole Church and her individual members.
Before the Spirit of God descended upon the apostles in the upper room, the Holy Spirit had already intervened in her life, preserving her from sin and conceiving the Christ. Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. She is also called the Ark of the Covenant. Just as the sacred tablets of stone revealed God’s law, this time around he reveals his loving mercy.
The New Covenant is literally the flesh and blood of Christ. He is the Covenant. Similarly, we are to be bearers of Christ for our world today.
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Posted on July 1, 2011 by Father Joe
We trace the Hail Mary prayer to the singular citation of the angel Gabriel to Mary, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). This greeting puzzled Mary, not because of ignorance of her own character, but because of the depth of her humility. We might also wrongly posit timidity in her stance, but such was an expression of reverence and not fear. Here, before her, was an emissary of the Most High God. All the power behind the throne accompanies her heavenly visitor. Nevertheless, she faces him with courage and an openness of both heart and mind. The angel explains, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son; you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:3). The angel brings with him a divine wisdom. Angels are wholly committed to the will of God. He recognizes in Mary a creature of flesh who utterly shares his disposition toward divine providence. Mary embodies a true freedom that always says YES to God. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary’s consent was part of a celestial symphony, where God is both the composer and conductor and where she plays her part in the orchestral music of salvation.
What the marital act is for a husband and wife in the natural course of things, Mary’s response was to God’s message; the fruit was the incarnation of the Redeemer.
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Posted on June 30, 2011 by Father Joe
Pope Pius IX said of Mary:
“From the beginning and before all ages, God selected and prepared for His only Son the mother from whom, having taken flesh, He would be born in the blessed fullness of time. He loved her by herself more than all creatures and with such a love as to find His delight in a singular way in her” (Ineffabilis Deus).
Mary is given many titles and each speaks to distinctive elements which point to Christ. Against Nestorius, she is called the Mother of God. This acknowledges that Jesus is a divine person. It answers the question, who is Jesus? She is also called the Mother of the Redeemer and the Mother of the Savior. They immediately answer the question, what does Jesus do? He is the sin-offering who buys us back from the devil and offers us the gift of salvation.
The Jews awaited a Messiah from the royal line of King David. They thought this warrior king would restore their political place in the world and vanquish the Romans and any other enemies of God’s people. The genealogy of Joseph was of this line and while he was only the foster father of Jesus, it was typical that couples married within their tribe.
Mary was also of the line of David. Since Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary, he is the new Jewish king.
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