Archive
Week of 07/05/08
Week of 07/05/08
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What is the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
It is difficult in a short space to describe the place this dynamic woman occupies
in the history and teaching of the Church not to mention the critical role she
plays in our individual journey to Jesus and salvation. For presentation of Marian
doctrine concerning the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, Incarnation
and Mary’s role in the economy of salvation in the Church, please refer to the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. For a incredibly insightful meditation on Mary,
the 1987 encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, On the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church is a must read as are all
works of John Paul II.
For us pilgrims, searching for a relationship with the one true God, Mary becomes
indispensable. As anyone will tell you, a mother always knows her child. Scripture
warns us of false prophets that will demand our attention. Only Jesus’ mother
knows exactly who her son is and can direct us to union with him when
contemporary times distract us to false gods.
Mary, born without original sin, believed the word of God as taught to her at a
young age in the scriptures and received the word of God in such complete
obedience that she actually conceived the Word of God in her womb. How
audacious of this God to take the plan of all eternity, to elevate the human
creation to a divine nature through the Incarnation to destroy death and sin; and
to make the entire heavenly plan dependent on the will of a human being. Mary
was not commanded to be the receiver of this plan, Theotokus, but was asked! Her
fiat or yes, “I am the lowly handmaid of the Lord...let it be done to me according
to your word” [Luke 1:38] not only provided the path to God for redemption of
the human race through the birth of his only son but provided the ultimate
example to us of what it means “to be perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect”. Without the stain of original sin Mary’s purity of heart enabled her to
see God as Father who provides for all his children all that is needed for
authentic happiness as a human creation. We need only say yes.
Realizing that holiness is the deepest achievement of what is authentically human,
Mary not only perfectly images her son by receiving God’s gift as Father who
cares for all but also returns that gift to her son and us as a perfect gift of
herself even to the physical sharing of his passion at the foot of the cross to
which she adds to her union with him not just as intercessor and mediatrix in
salvation but also Co-Redemptrix. While the title of “Co-Redemptrix” has not
been officially defined by the Church, Mary has been so-named by many popes
over the years and particularly in the 20th Century. She perfectly reflects her
son in a life of service in loving obedience to the complete and entire will of the
Father for the glory of his name. For this she receives and deserves the title of
Queen of heaven and earth. Our devotion to her and honoring of her name in
praise insures, through her intercession our transformation “to love one another
as I have loved you.” [John 15:12]
We in the Catholic Church are blessed by the “Communion of Saints” of which
Mary is the first fruit. God is Lord and Savior of all through his only begotten
Son but he chose His entire plan of salvation from before time immemorial to be
dependent on a woman’s will. This uniting of all of his creatures into one body,
that of his son Jesus, make of all of us a heavenly family through which we all
partake and express the mystery of grace by the unconditional gift of our self in
service to others as our fiat to the will and love of the Father. For this and so
much more Mary becomes our model, mediator, intercessor and Queen. “My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord” [Luke 1:46] because Mary is my Mother to
whom I can always go to conceive Jesus.
For more reading on the Blessed Virgin Mary, see Catechism of the Catholic
Church: Paragraphs 484-511; 963-975; 2617-2622
It is difficult in a short space to describe the place this dynamic woman occupies
in the history and teaching of the Church not to mention the critical role she
plays in our individual journey to Jesus and salvation. For presentation of Marian
doctrine concerning the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, Incarnation
and Mary’s role in the economy of salvation in the Church, please refer to the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. For a incredibly insightful meditation on Mary,
the 1987 encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, On the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church is a must read as are all
works of John Paul II.
For us pilgrims, searching for a relationship with the one true God, Mary becomes
indispensable. As anyone will tell you, a mother always knows her child. Scripture
warns us of false prophets that will demand our attention. Only Jesus’ mother
knows exactly who her son is and can direct us to union with him when
contemporary times distract us to false gods.
Mary, born without original sin, believed the word of God as taught to her at a
young age in the scriptures and received the word of God in such complete
obedience that she actually conceived the Word of God in her womb. How
audacious of this God to take the plan of all eternity, to elevate the human
creation to a divine nature through the Incarnation to destroy death and sin; and
to make the entire heavenly plan dependent on the will of a human being. Mary
was not commanded to be the receiver of this plan, Theotokus, but was asked! Her
fiat or yes, “I am the lowly handmaid of the Lord...let it be done to me according
to your word” [Luke 1:38] not only provided the path to God for redemption of
the human race through the birth of his only son but provided the ultimate
example to us of what it means “to be perfect as your heavenly Father is
perfect”. Without the stain of original sin Mary’s purity of heart enabled her to
see God as Father who provides for all his children all that is needed for
authentic happiness as a human creation. We need only say yes.
Realizing that holiness is the deepest achievement of what is authentically human,
Mary not only perfectly images her son by receiving God’s gift as Father who
cares for all but also returns that gift to her son and us as a perfect gift of
herself even to the physical sharing of his passion at the foot of the cross to
which she adds to her union with him not just as intercessor and mediatrix in
salvation but also Co-Redemptrix. While the title of “Co-Redemptrix” has not
been officially defined by the Church, Mary has been so-named by many popes
over the years and particularly in the 20th Century. She perfectly reflects her
son in a life of service in loving obedience to the complete and entire will of the
Father for the glory of his name. For this she receives and deserves the title of
Queen of heaven and earth. Our devotion to her and honoring of her name in
praise insures, through her intercession our transformation “to love one another
as I have loved you.” [John 15:12]
We in the Catholic Church are blessed by the “Communion of Saints” of which
Mary is the first fruit. God is Lord and Savior of all through his only begotten
Son but he chose His entire plan of salvation from before time immemorial to be
dependent on a woman’s will. This uniting of all of his creatures into one body,
that of his son Jesus, make of all of us a heavenly family through which we all
partake and express the mystery of grace by the unconditional gift of our self in
service to others as our fiat to the will and love of the Father. For this and so
much more Mary becomes our model, mediator, intercessor and Queen. “My soul
proclaims the greatness of the Lord” [Luke 1:46] because Mary is my Mother to
whom I can always go to conceive Jesus.
For more reading on the Blessed Virgin Mary, see Catechism of the Catholic
Church: Paragraphs 484-511; 963-975; 2617-2622
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