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"The Purpose of the Incarnation and Redemption": On Benedict XVI in Loreto

“Here at Loreto [Italy] fifty years ago, Blessed John XXIII issued an invitation to contemplate the mystery, to ‘reflect on that union of heaven and earth, which is the purpose of the Incarnation and Redemption,’ and he went on to affirm that the aim of the Council itself was to spread ever wider the beneficent impact of the Incarnation and Redemption.”

— Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at Our Lady of Loreto Square, Loreto, Italy (October 4, 2012)

An ancient tradition tells us that the Holy House of Mary and Joseph was transported to Italy where it has been a center of pilgrimage and devotion. Indeed, I once recall that Our Lady of Loreto was the Patroness of airmen because of this particular transportation feat. Pope Benedict XVI went to Loreto on the fourth day in October because Blessed John XXIII had done so at the beginning of Vatican II, which opened on October 11, 1962.

Benedict took the occasion to remind us that Jesus Christ did have a home, a home in which the “greatest event of history took place.” This greatest event is the union of the Word and human flesh in one person, in a child at that. No other event of history actually bridges the gap between the divine and the human in such a concrete manner. And yet there is a whole tradition of mankind that refuses to acknowledge what took place here because of its implications about what man and God are.

"The Shrine [of Loreto], built around her earthly home, preserves the memory of the moment when the angel of the Lord came to Mary with the great announcement of the Incarnation, and she gave her reply.” But Mary, of course, “offered her very body; she placed her entire being at the disposal of God’s will, becoming the ‘place’ of his presence, a place of dwelling for the Son of God.” The real heart of any home is, we might say, in the womb of the mother.

“The will of Mary coincides with the will of the Son in the Father’s unique project of love and, in her, heaven and earth are united. God the Creator is united to his creature. God becomes man, and Mary becomes a ‘living house’ for the Lord, a Temple where the Most High dwells.” The Father’s unique project is precisely to associate other beings—beings who are not gods—with Himself, if they will.

The purpose of the Incarnation and Redemption was to unite in a real fashion heaven and earth. That unity could only take place if there were in the universe beings who were free, who could know and act. We sometimes think of heaven and earth as antagonistic to each other. We know they can be. In the Gospel of John the world is sometimes pictured as what is opposed to God. But this antagonism is caused by the free will of the creatures.

Preparing for the Month of the Rosary and Celebrating the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Preparing for the Month of the Rosary and Celebrating the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Offer ends Tuesday October 2nd, 2012 at 12:00 midnight EST. These prices are available online only through Ignatius.com

October, the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, is fast upon us. We recall that Our Lady of Fatima especially asked us to pray  the Rosary every day for peace and conversion. We have a variety of inspiring Books, CDs, and DVDs on the Rosary all at 20% off. October 1st marks the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, one of the truly great exponents of Catholic doctrine, who was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II. Choose from any of the books or DVDs listed below and be inspired by her "Little Way",  all at 20% off.

"Come, all you faithful, let us hasten to the Virgin..."

for long before her conception in the womb,
the one who was to be born of the stem of Jesse
was destined to be the Mother of God.
The one who is the treasury of virginity,
the flowering Rod of Aaron,
the object of the prophecies,
the child of Joachim and Anne,
is born today and the world is renewed in her.
Through her birth, she floods the church with her splendor.
O holy Temple, Vessel of the Godhead, Model of virgins and Strength of kings:
in you the wondrous union of the two natures of Christ was realized.
We worship Him and glorify your most pure birth,
and we magnify you.

— from the Vespers for the Feast of the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God, Byzantine Book of Prayer.

The Vespers service, in the Byzantine churches, for this great feast is rich with biblical, theological, and mystical language about the mystery and joy of the conception and birth of the Theotokos. Archpriest Lawrence Cross, in the September 2012 issue of Theosis (see sample pages, PDF format), reflects on the history and meaning of this feast:

The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one  of the oldest of the Marian solemnities, was mentioned by the Church Fathers, such as St. Epiphanius and St. John Chrysostom, in the early fifth century.  Like other Marian feasts, it began to be celebrated at local level without any major solemnity. As the feast began to spread throughout the Byzantine world in the sixth and seventh century, it was celebrated with  greater solemnity. The solemnity of the feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, and in following centuries it spread throughout the whole Western Church. In the eighth century, at the time of St Andrew of Crete (+740), the feast of Mary’s nativity was already observed and celebrated in the same way as that of other major liturgical feasts of the Byzantine Church. The feast was established on September 8 because it was on that day that St. Helen, Emperor Constantine’s mother, dedicated the basilica she built in Jerusalem to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  ...

The following liturgical texts of the Feast of the Nativity of the  Mother of God express the spiritual significance of this feast to Orthodox Christians:

"Today Anne the barren one gives birth to the maiden of God who had been chosen from all human generations to become the dwelling place of the Creator, Christ our God and King of all. In her He fulfilled his divine plan through which our human nature was renewed and by which we were to be transferred from corruption to eternal life" (Vespers, Tone 6).

What is this sound of feasting that we hear? Joachim and Ann mystically keep festival. ‘O Adam and Eve,’ they cry, ‘rejoice with us today: for if by your transgression ye closed the gate of Paradise to those of old, we have now been given a glorious fruit, Mary the Child of God, who opens its entrance to us all.’ (Great Vespers, Tone 2).

The Troparion for the feast is a beautiful work of theological poetry (or poetic theology):

Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God,
heralded joy to the Universe;
for from you rose the Sun of Justice,
Christ our God.
He took away the curse,
He gave the blessing,
and by trampling Death,
He gave us everlasting life.

The texts of the Byzantine liturgy for the feast are available in various formats on the Royal Doors Liturgical Texts site. I took the photo last night at the Vespers service at our parish, Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church, in Springfield, Oregon.

For more about Marian devotions in the Byzantine tradition, see:

On Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World

On this, the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a couple of passages from Pope Pius XII's 1954 encyclical, Ad Caeli Reginam, which proclaimed the Queenship of Mary. First, remarks on some of the theological reasons, drawn from Scripture and Tradition, that Mary is recognized as Queen of heaven and earth:

But the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation. "What more joyful, what sweeter thought can we have" - as Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI wrote - "than that Christ is our King not only by natural right, but also by an acquired right: that which He won by the redemption? Would that all men, now forgetful of how much we cost Our Savior, might recall to mind the words, 'You were redeemed, not with gold or silver which perishes, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb spotless and undefiled. We belong not to ourselves now, since Christ has bought us 'at a great price'."

Now, in the accomplishing of this work of redemption, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most closely associated with Christ; and so it is fitting to sing in the sacred liturgy: "Near the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ there stood, sorrowful, the Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World." Hence, as the devout disciple of St. Anselm (Eadmer, ed.) wrote in the Middle Ages: "just as . . . God, by making all through His power, is Father and Lord of all, so the blessed Mary, by repairing all through her merits, is Mother and Queen of all; for God is the Lord of all things, because by His command He establishes each of them in its own nature, and Mary is the Queen of all things, because she restores each to its original dignity through the grace which she merited.

For "just as Christ, because He redeemed us, is our Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin also (is our queen), on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, our salvation." (par. 35-37)

And from the conclusion, remarks about the importance of recognizing and embracing the unique role of Mary in the saving work of her Son:

Fairest Daughter of the Father: On the Solemnity of the Assumption

Fairest Daughter of the Father: On the Solemnity of the Assumption | Rev. Charles M. Mangan

The Solemnity of the Assumption, celebrated annually on August 15, presents a golden opportunity to reconsider the person of the Ever-Virgin Mary and her singular mission in the Church. We often contemplate the relationship between Mary and her Son; this reflection will focus on the relationship which Our Lady enjoys with the First Person of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Mary has been hailed as the "first-born" daughter of the Father. This reality is evident if one remembers that God--and in a specific way the Father--has created Mary, just as He has created us. She is "one of us" because she is fully human. We are children of the Almighty in a similar vein in which she is His daughter. As we rely on God for our very existence, so, too, does our Immaculate Mother.

What do the Father and His sinless daughter share? Venerable Pius IX (1846-1878), in his Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus (December 8, 1854) in which he once-and-for-all defined the truth of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception, wrote: "To her did the Father will to give His only-begotten Son--the Son Whom, equal to the Father and begotten by Him, the Father loves from His Heart--and to give this Son in such a way that He would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

The Father gave many overwhelming spiritual riches to Mary to strengthen her in her inspiring vocation as the Mother of His Son. Yet, He gave no greater gift than that of the Lord Jesus. Mary, in turn, imitated the Father in raising Jesus from before infancy to manhood. Jesus knew well the best of all gifts which His Mother faithfully imparted: the boundless love of His Beloved Father. Now, as the Son of Mary, Christ came to experience the love of His Mother which was patterned after that of His Father.

One may rightly assert that Jesus Christ is the link between the Father and Mary. We often claim that children receive much of their identity from their parents. Eye color, physical build and even disposition are often traced from the child back to its parents. Truly, the offspring rely on their father and mother for multiple and varied things. (And, of course, the Messiah willed to come forth from Mary and be dependent on her and Saint Joseph.) However, the Holy Family of Nazareth is a different case. Mary and her loving husband discovered their purpose in the Divine Child. In Jesus, they found their identity--unto everlasting life!

Msgr Ronald Knox: "For myself, I have never doubted the doctrine of the Assumption..."

The Assumption | Mgr. Ronald Knox | From Pastoral and Occasional Sermons | August 15th | Ignatius Insight

A cave Jeremias found there, in which he set down tabernacle and ark and incense-altar, and stopped up the entrance behind him. There were some that followed; no time they lost in coming up to mark the spot, but find it they could not.—2 Machabees 2:5-6.

After this, God's heavenly temple was thrown open, and the ark of the covenant was plain to view, standing in his temple.—Apocalypse 11:19.

The Son of God came to earth to turn our hearts away from earth, Godwards. The material world in which we live was, by his way of it, something immaterial; it didn't matter. We were not to be always worrying about our clothes being shabby, or wondering where our next meal was to come from; the God who fed the sparrows and clothed the lilies would see to all that. We were not to resent the injuries done to us by our neighbours; the aggressor was welcome to have a slap at the other cheek, and when he took away our greatcoat he was to find that we had left our coat inside it. Life itself, the life we know, was a thing of little value; it was a cheap bargain, if we lost life here to attaIn the life hereafter. There was a supernatural world, interpenetrating, at a higher level, the world of our experience; it has its own laws, the only rule we were to live by, its own prizes, which alone were worth the winning. All that he tried to teach us; and we, intent on our own petty squabbles, our sordid struggle for existence, cold-shouldered him at first, and then silenced his protest with a cross.

His answer was to rise from the dead; and then, for forty days in the world's history, that supernatural life which he had preached to us flourished and functioned under the conditions of earth. A privileged few saw, with mortal eyes, the comings and goings of immortality, touched with their hands the impalpable. For forty days; then, as if earth were too frail a vessel to contain the mystery, the tension was suddenly relaxed. He vanished behind a cloud; the door of the supernatural shut behind him, and we were left to the contemplation of this material world, drab and barren as ever.

What was the first thing the apostles saw when they returned from the mount of the Ascension to the upper room? "Together with Mary"—is it only an accident that the Mother of God is mentioned just here, by name, and nowhere else outside the gospels? The Incarnate Word had left us, as silently as he came to us, leaving no trace behind him of his passage through time. No trace? At least, in the person of his blessed Mother, he had bequeathed to us a keepsake, a memory. She was bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, the new Eve of the new Adam. That body of hers, still part of the material order of things, had housed and suckled God. As long as she lived, there would still be a link, a golden link, between this lower earth and Paradise. As long as she lived; and even if it was God's will that she, Eve's daughter, should undergo the death that was Eve's penalty, the penalty she had never incurred, her mortal remains would still be left with us, an echo from the past, an influence on our lives. We men, since we are body and soul, do honour even to the lifeless bodies which have housed the dead; Napoleon rests in the Invalides, Lenin at Moscow. The day would come when there would be pilgrimages from all over the world to the shrines of Peter and Paul at Rome, of James at Compostela. Was it not reasonable to hope that somewhere, at Jerusalem, perhaps, or at Ephesus, we should be privileged to venerate the mortal remains of her through whom salvation came to us? Or perhaps at Bethlehem, Bethlehem-Ephrata, this new Ark of God would rest, as the ark rested of old; "And now, at Ephrata, we have heard tidings of what we looked for" [1] —the old tag from the Psalms should still ring true.

"Hail, Holy Mother!" by Fr. David Vincent Meconi SJ

The following homily is from Homiletic & Pastoral Review, which is edited by Fr. Meconi. See all of his homilies for the Sundays and feast days of August on the HPR website.

Feast of the Assumption (and Queenship of Mary, August 22)—August 15

Readings: Rev 11:12a; 12:1-6a, 10b • 1 Cor 15:20-27 • Lk 1:39-56
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081512-mass-during-the-day.cfm

The closer any Christian soul is to God, the closer that one will also be to God’s people.  There is an inescapable overlap between how we are with God, and how we are with one another.  No Christian, we are told repeatedly in the scriptures, can truly think he loves God while hating his brother or sister. No Christian can possibly refuse the forgiveness of others, while expecting God to forgive him.  This is our great dignity: God chooses to treat us as we choose to treat ourselves, and one another.  And, so it is with our Lady.  Because she is so intimately close to God, she is inevitably close with every one of God’s children, who are now made to be her children in the perfect sacrifice of her Son.  In this regard, the Holy Father is often quoted on this day, as Benedict once proclaimed, that: “Precisely because Mary is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us.  While she lived on this earth, she could only be close to a few people.  Being in God, who is actually ‘within’ all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God.”  The readings this feast day point us in this direction, in the direction of love.

My mother is suffering from cancer right now. One of my teenaged nephews commented that: “Don’t you think it’s weird that Grammy is in the hospital, so sick, and she is worrying only about us.  She apologized for ‘ruining’ my summer and was worrying that I was spending too much time visiting her.” I listened, struck by his youthful wonder, and replied: “Don’t you see?  Love is always other-directed, always looking out for the other.”

Today’s Feast of the Assumption of Mary is commemorated through her Magnificat, spoken during her visit to Elizabeth.  As the “perfectly beloved,” Mary knows that this feast is not ultimately about her, but about her in union with Jesus.  St. Augustine confessed that, alone, we have only our sins; but in union with Christ, we have everything, everyone!  This is why Mary’s soul reflects not herself, but the Lord.  This is why Mary does not stay home, reveling in this new way of God in the world, but rushes outward into the world, bringing him to all who open their homes and hearts to her.

St. John the Baptist: Called by God and filled with the Spirit to proclaim the Son

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, June 24, 2012, The Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Is 49:1-6
• Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15
• Acts 13:22-26
• Lk 1:57-66, 80

The birth of a child is a momentous occasion, filled with joy, hope, and, yes, some apprehension. It is also a time of transition; it breaks time into “before” and “after,” and brings all sorts of changes into the lives of parents, family, and friends.

The Church, in the course of the liturgical year, celebrates the birth of three people, related by blood, bound together by the work of the Holy Spirit, and united in bringing about the greatest “before” and “after” in the history of the world.

The greatest of these solemnities is, of course, the Nativity of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The second is the Nativity of the Mother of God, the blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived, born, and lived without sin. The third is John the Baptist, whose role in the mystery of God’s plan of salvation is difficult to exaggerate and yet is often taken for granted.

While Mary was chosen to bear and mother the Son of God, John the Baptist was chosen to prepare the way for the Lamb of God and to announce Him to the world. “John surpasses all the prophets,” remarks the Catechism, “of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being ‘the friend of the bridegroom’, whom he points out as ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’” (CCC 523).

But, the Catechism also points out, John was more than a prophet (CCC 719). He was the culmination of a long and illustrious line of prophets who spoke and suffered for the Lord. Today’s reading from Isaiah, in which that Old Testament prophet described how God named him while yet in the womb, finds perfect fulfillment in John. His father, the priest Zechariah, had been told by an angel—as he offering incense in the temple—that he would have a son whose name would be John. “He will be great in the sight of the Lord,” the frightened priest was told, “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Lk 1:13-17).

The birth, life, and martyrdom of John the Baptist are intimately connected with the work of the Holy Spirit. Even before birth he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and from the womb he leapt in recognition of his Lord’s presence (Lk 1:41). He was the “voice of the Consoler” who was yet to come, bearing witness to the light of Christ, just as the Holy Spirit has done since Pentecost (CCC 719).

When the Triune nature of God was revealed at Jesus’ baptism in the river Jordan, it was John who, reluctantly, performed the baptism. That revelatory event marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and John’s declaration, as a self-described “best man” of the Bridegroom, “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).

This feast celebrating John the Baptist’s birth is also a celebration of the prophet’s role in paving the way for the new birth granted to all those baptized into Christ. “Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of ‘the divine likeness,’ prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John's baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth” (CCC 720).

Called by God, John knew who he was because he always saw himself in relation to Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, John poured out his life for the Kingdom, his own death foreshadowing the crucifixion of the King of Kings. Born in the midst of the greatest events of human history, John the Baptist continues to declare, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the June 24, 2007, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

41 recently added e-books, from Ignatius Press

The following Ignatius Press books are now available in electronic book format (prc for kindle; epub for nook, ipad):

• For Greater Glory: The True Story of Christiada by Ruben Quezada
• Holy Men and Women: From the Middle Ages and Beyond by Pope Benedict XVI
• Dogma and Preaching (2nd Edition) by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Benedict XVI's Reform by Nicola Bux
• The Voice of the Church by Fr. Michael Lang

• Exodus (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible) by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch
• Real Love (2nd edition) by Mary Beth Bonacci
• The True Icon by Paul Badde
• Saints Are Not Sad by Frank Sheed
• My Brother the Pope by Georg Ratzinger and Michael Heseman

• To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed
• Christianity and Democracy by Jacques Maritain
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (Ignatius Critical Edition) by Oscar Wilde
• We Have Found Mercy by Christoph Cardinal Schoeborn
• The Joyful Beggar: A Novel of St. Francis of Assisi by Louis de Wohl

• Shadows and Images by Meriol Trevor
• In Memory of Me: Meditations On The Roman Canon by Milton Walsh
• Life Out of Death by Hans Urs von Balthasar
• Father Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book by Fr. Patrick Peyton

• They Followed His Call by Adrienne von Speyr
• Three Women and the Lord by Adrienne von Speyr
• My Early Years by Adrienne von Speyr
• The Mission of the Prophets by Adrienne von Speyr
• The Mystery of Death by Adrienne von Speyr

• Mary in the Redemption by Adrienne von Speyr
• The Passion From Within by Adrienne von Speyr
• Lumina and New Lumina by Adrienne von Speyr
• Light and Images by Adrienne von Speyr
• Man Before God by Adrienne von Speyr

• The Letter to the Ephesians by Adrienne von Speyr
• John, Vol. 1: The Word Becomes Flesh by Adrienne von Speyr
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• The Gates of Eternal Life by Adrienne von Speyr
• The Countenance of the Father by Adrienne von Speyr
• The Cross: Word and Sacrament by Adrienne von Speyr

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When Pregnancy Met Pregnancy | Abp. Fulton J. Sheen on The Visitation

When Pregnancy Met Pregnancy | Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on The Visitation | From The World's First Love | Ignatius Insight

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One of the most beautiful moments in history was that when pregnancy met pregnancy when childbearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings. All pagan religions begin with the teachings of adults, but Christianity begins with the birth of a Child. From that day to this, Christians have ever been the defenders of the family and the love of generation. If we ever sat down to write out what we would expect the Infinite God to do, certainly the last thing we would expect would be to see Him imprisoned in a carnal ciborium for nine months; and the next to last thing we would expect is that the "greatest man ever born of woman" while yet in his mother's womb, would salute the yet imprisoned God-man. But this is precisely what took place in the Visitation.

At the Annunciation the archangel told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, was about to become the mother of John the Baptist. Mary was then a young girl, but her cousin was ''advanced in years," that is, quite beyond the normal age of conceiving. "See, moreover, how it fares with thy cousin Elizabeth; she is old, yet she too has conceived a son; she who was reproached with barrenness is now in her sixth month, to prove that nothing is impossible with God. And Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word.' And with that the angel left her." (Luke 1:36-38)

The birth of Christ is without regard to man; the birth of John the Baptist is without regard to age! "Nothing is impossible with God." The Scripture continues the story: "In the days that followed, Mary rose up and went with all haste to a city of Juda, in the hill country where Zachary dwelt; and entering in she gave Elizabeth greeting. No sooner had Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, than the child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Ghost; so that she cried out with a loud voice, "Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. How have I deserved to be thus visited by the mother of my Lord? Why, as soon as ever the voice of thy greeting sounded in my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed art thou for thy believing; the message that was brought to thee from the Lord shall have fulfillment." (Luke 1:39-45)

Mary "went with all haste"; she is always in a hurry to do good. With deliberate speed she becomes the first nurse of Christian civilization. The woman hastens to meet a woman. They serve best their neighbor who bear the Christ within their hearts and souls. Bearing in herself the Secret of Salvation, Mary journeys five days from Nazareth to the city of Hebron where, according to tradition, rested the ashes of the founders of the people of God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The terraced-fields of Juda
pregnant with seed
called out to her
as she passed, praising the Child
she was yet to bear,
invoking His Blessing
on their expectancy.*

"She gave Elizabeth greeting"; springtime served the autumn. She, who is to bear Him Who will say: "I came not to be ministered unto but to minister" now ministers unto her cousin who bears only His trumpet and His voice in the wilderness. Nothing so provokes the service of the needy as the consciousness of one's own unworthiness when visited by the grace of God, The handmaid of the Lord becomes the handmaid of Elizabeth.

"We must meditate deeply on the mystery of natural human motherhood..."

..., femininity, and childhood in order to develop on that basis the full understanding of how God chose to redeem us. And a major part of that mystery is the manner in which a child–and this Child most especially, since he has no human father!–derives all its being from its mother. Is it not striking indeed that both in Genesis 3:15-16, when God promises a Redeemer who would "bruise" the head of the serpent, and in Revelation 12:9, when the "ancient serpent" is finally thrown down to earth, it is a woman and a mother who plays an essential role alongside the central activity of the male Child, both as his individual Mother and as Mother of the race of his followers?

How could these two towering moments in the history of revelation–immediately after the Fall and immediately after the final victory over Satan–be divorced from the Incarnation, Golgotha, and Pentecost, pivotal events all three where the Woman Mother is likewise indispensably present? How, after contemplating all of this, could anyone say that Mary is in no way different from any of the rest of the redeemed?

Such an assertion would appear to be a grave violation, not only of orthodox Catholic teaching, but of explicitly revealed scriptural truth. Denying Mary a divinely decreed uniqueness in the work of redemption surely must result in a very skewed and prejudiced theology. Often it would seem that persons holding such an opinion are primarily motivated by an implicit but unrelenting anti-Catholic polemic, ingrained in generations of Protestant believers since the sixteenth century; but with a paradoxical result: that the defeat of a paramount Catholic dogma should be more important than accepting the full truth of revelation.

The Child's dependency on his. Mother, of course, does not contradict what is equally true: that a child grows to maturity and becomes in many ways independent of his parents. However, because we are here dealing with the conception of a Child as a result of divine initiative, and with the corresponding response of faith by a Woman, it would seem that the forces radiating from Mary's first act of faith must extend outward, not only to the actual birth and early nurturing of Jesus, but indeed to his whole subsequent existence, including the events of the Resurrection and of the Savior's present reign in glory.

A conception out of pure power and goodness on God's part, and pure faith and sinlessness on the Mother's part, must surely produce a great deal more than simply a nine-month pregnancy and physical birth! Indeed, it is the beginning of the Body of the Church, the dawn of the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. Mary's act of faith and love, as the indispensable condition for the redemption, urgently concerns and involves each of those who have ever or will ever believe and become followers of her Son.

"A voice came out of the cloud, 'This is my beloved Son; listen to him.'" "His Mother said to the servant, 'Do whatever he tells you." Both the heavenly Father and the earthly Mother do one thing only: point to their common Son, Jesus, and command us to obey his word. Thus, the so-called "mediation" of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be properly understood only in terms of her unceasing response to and active cooperation with that coming to her of the Holy Spirit that resulted in the Incarnation. Saint Paul's "until Christ be formed within you" cannot occur without her mediation. For, if she was necessary for the historical Incarnation, the source of all redemption, how is she to be less necessary for Christ's coming to us by the interior grace of regeneration?

From The Way of The Disciple by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis. Read more:

The Hypostatic Union

by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. | Editorial | Homiletic & Pastoral Review

The Hypostatic Union had a profound effect on Jesus’ human nature, as he is both true man and, also, God. Jesus is not a human person like us, but a divine Person.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the founder and object of the Catholic Church.   He is both true God and true man.  Because he is God, we worship him as our Creator and Redeemer; because he is also man, he is our brother and like us in all things, sin alone excepted.  In Catholic theology, the union of the divine nature and the human nature is explained as taking place in the Person of Jesus, who is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God.  This is known as the “Hypostatic Union.”   The word, hypostatis, is a Greek word which means “person.”

The Hypostatic Union had a profound effect on Jesus’ human nature.  Jesus Christ is a true man, but, because he is also God, he is no ordinary man. It is important to remember that Jesus is not a human person like us; he is a divine Person.  Because of the Hypostatic Union, Jesus’ human nature was endowed with an abundance of supernatural gifts; in fact, he has the perfection of all the virtues; St. John says that he is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  This raises questions about his human knowledge, human will, and human power.

There is an ancient tradition in the Church, going back to the early Fathers. The human soul of Jesus is united to the Word of God, possessing the Beatific Vision of God from the first moment of his existence, in the womb of his mother, the Virgin Mary.  The Beatific Vision of God is absolutely supernatural; it is granted to the angels in heaven, and to the saints in heaven.

Continue reading at www.HPRweb.com.

Effects of the Annunciation

From a new essay on the Homiletic & Pastoral Review site:

Mary’s “yes” at the Annunciation achieves the central truths of the Incarnation, as it is here God becomes flesh and thus redeems the fallen children of Adam.  Sections §457-60 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] provides four main consequences of Our Lady’s fiat.

The first is the reasoning from the forfeited goodness brought about by our disobedience: “The Word became flesh for us ‘in order to save us by reconciling us with God’”(1 Jn 4:10), who “loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:14); “the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world,” and he was revealed to take away sins. Then, quoting Gregory of Nyssa: “Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us” (§457).

The second reason (§458) is more epistemological in nature: the Son became human to manifest the otherwise invisible love of God to our senses. “The Word became flesh so that we might know God’s love: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him” (1 Jn 4:9).

Thirdly, the Word became flesh so as to become a model of holiness, a new model for the Beatitudes, and the norm of the new law. “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12).  “This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example” (§459).

Finally, “The Word became flesh to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’” (2 Pet 1:4), to deify us, and elevate our human nature into God’s own life.  Or as St. Athanasius put it most pithily: “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God”(On the Incarnation §52 as at CCC §460).

While these four main reasons are treated so succinctly and systematically here, the effects of our Lady’s “yes” are difficult to extinguish.  Without doubt, the Incarnation is a most extraordinary event.  Yet, given its familiarity, have we forgotten what it accomplished?  St. Paul writes that Our Lord came to “restore all things” (Eph 1:10).  What did Our Lord restore?  Why did God become a man?  What do we celebrate at the Nativity?  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (cf. 1 Jn 3:8).  We wish to enumerate, yet even more, reparative effects wrought by the Divine Physician.

Read the entire essay, which was written by Robert Wenderski.

Are Men to Be Heartless?

From a recently posted essay on Homiletic & Pastoral Review, written by Fr. Stanley Smolenski, SPMA:

A seminary professor, when analyzing the episode of Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35), said that one of the two disciples was most likely a woman.  Our teacher based that judgment on the question, “Did not our hearts burn when he explained the scriptures to us?”, as though the heart were only a feminine concern. Are men, then, to be heartless?  Blessed John Paul II refutes that idea. In his youth, he frequently visited the great Shrine of Holy Calvary near his town. When he made a pilgrimage there as Pope, he said, “Here, the Mother of God nourished my heart.”  John Paul was a man not only of the head but equally of the heart. His heart was not undernourished.

The validity of that last statement can be seen in what Pope Benedict said to a Marian group from Bavaria on May 28, 2011. Speaking of his seminary days, he pointed out: “When we were studying after the war—and I believe that today not very much has changed, I do not think the situation is much improved—the Mariology taught at the German universities was somewhat austere and dull.” It lacks inspiration. Only the head is being taken care of. This brings to mind what St. Therese of Lisieux said about her reading some theological books: they gave her a headache. She emphasized that they did nothing for her heart.  Was she a mere sentimentalist? The recognized Dominican scripture scholar, founder of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, Fr. Marie-Joseph Lagrange, is reported to have said this about her: “Therese has saved me from becoming a dry old bookworm.”

The remedy for this imbalance could very well be the “way of experience” which is becoming more acceptable as a theological source. The Pontifical International Marian Academy, described this in their publication The Mother of the Lord—Memory, Presence, Hope: “It should be noted that ‘the way of experience’ puts forth a knowledge from divine revelation acquired, not through speculation, but through a personal encounter of believers with that which they have welcomed in a deeply personal way into their lives” (p. 26).

Read the entire essay at www.HPRweb.com.

Celebrating the Month of Mary with 20% off

Celebrating the Month of Mary with 20% off

Offer ends Tuesday May 1st 2012 at 12:00 midnight EST. These prices are available online only through Ignatius.com

In celebration of Our Blessed Mother during the month of May, Ignatius Press is offering 20% off on a great selection of Books, Films and Music CDs. With a wide selection of titles, any one of these would be the perfect gift to give your Mother on Mother's Day!

Where does the title, “Mary, Mother of Mercy,” come from?

Fr. James McTavish examines the question in detail in a recent HPR essay, "Mary, Mother of Mercy. Christ the Power of Merciful Love":

We have many popular prayers that speak of Mary as Mother of Mercy. For example, “Hail holy Queen, Mother of mercy” … and, later: “turn, then, your eyes of mercy towards us.”  In another prayer, the Memorare, we hear: “To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful, O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions but in your mercy, hear and answer me.”  Moreover, in the lives of the saints, we hear Mary referred to as “Mother of mercy.” Once, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska had a vision of the Blessed Mother. Mary said to Sr. Faustina: “I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy, and your Mother” (Diary of St. Faustina,330).  Also, Pope John Paul II refers to Mary as Mother of Mercy in his 1980 encyclical, Dives in Misericordia:

Mary is also the one who obtained mercy in a particular and exceptional way … Mary, then, is the one who has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God’s mercy. She knows its price, she knows how great it is. In this sense, we call her the “Mother of mercy” (§9).

Note that the Hebrew word for mercy, rahamim, comes from rehem, a mother’s womb. God’s mercy must have something of a maternal warmth about it—unconditional, intimate, and nurturing love, symbolized by a mother’s womb. God’s mercy is, therefore, tender and affectionate, life-giving and indispensable.  God chose Mary to reveal this merciful love to us. Therefore, we need Mary in our lives as Christians. Many people, many sects, will tell you that you don’t need Mother Mary. Have you heard that? One elderly Jesuit I know told me once that some people were arguing about how we don’t need Mary in order to know Jesus. They told him to go directly to Jesus. He replied that God has given us Mary for a reason, suggesting finally: “Okay, you go directly to Jesus; I will go through Mary. And we will see who gets there first!”

God has given us a mother for a reason.

Read the entire essay at www.HPRweb.com.

"The Mystery of the Annunciation is the Mystery of Grace" by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

The Mystery of the Annunciation is the Mystery of Grace | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) | Ignatius Insight

The mystery of the annunciation to Mary is not just a mystery of silence.It is above and beyond all that a mystery of grace.

We feel compelled to ask ourselves: Why did Christ really want to be born of a virgin? It was certainly possible for him to have been born of a normal marriage. That would not have affected his divine Sonship, which was not dependent on his virgin birth and could equally well have been combined with another kind of birth. There is no question here of a downgrading of marriage or of the marriage relationship; nor is it a question of better safeguarding the divine Sonship. Why then?

We find the answer when we open the Old Testament and see that the mystery of Mary is prepared for at every important stage in salvation history. It begins with Sarah, the mother of Isaac, who had been barren, but when she was well on in years and had lost the power of giving life, became, by the power of God, the mother of Isaac and so of the chosen people.

The process continues with Anna, the mother of Samuel, who was likewise barren, but eventually gave birth; with the mother of Samson, or again with Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer. The meaning of all these events is the same: that salvation comes, not from human beings and their powers, but solely from God—from an act of his grace.

(From Dogma und Verkundigung, pp. 375ff; quoted in Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year [Ignatius Press, 1992], pp. 99-100.)

The annunciation to Mary happens to a woman, in an insignificant town in half-pagan Galilee, known neither to Josephus nor the Talmud. The entire scene was "unusual for Jewish sensibilities. God reveals himself, where and to whom he wishes." Thus begins a new way, at whose center stands no longer the temple, but the simplicity of Jesus Christ. He is now the true temple, the tent of meeting.

The salutation to Mary (Lk 1:28-32) is modeled closely on Zephaniah 3: 14-17: Mary is the daughter Zion addressed there, summoned to " rejoice", in formed that the Lord is coming to her. Her fear is removed, since the Lord is in her midst to save her. Laurentin makes the very beautiful remark on this text: "... As so often, the word of God proves to be a mustard seed.... One understands why Mary was so frightened by this message (Lk 1:29). Her fear comes not from lack of understanding nor from that small-hearted anxiety to which some would like to reduce it. It comes from the trepidation of that encounter with God, that immeasurable joy which can make the most hardened natures quake."

In the address of the angel, the underlying motif the Lucan portrait of Mary surfaces: she is in person the true Zion, toward whom hopes have yearned throughout all the devastations of history. She is the true Israel in whom Old and New Covenant, Israel and Church, are indivisibly one. She is the "people of God" bearing fruit through God's gracious power. ...

Transcending all problems, Marian devotion is the rapture of joy over the true, indestructible Israel; it is a blissful entering into the joy of the Magnificat and thereby it is the praise of him to whom the daughter Zion owes her whole self and whom she bears, the true, incorruptible, indestructible Ark of the Covenant.

(From Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church's Marian Belief [Ignatius Press, 1983], pp. 42-43, 82.)

"The Importance of Knowing St. Joseph" by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.

The Importance of Knowing St. Joseph | Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. | The Introduction to The Mystery of Joseph by Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P. | Ignatius Insight

The publication of this serious, even profound study of a person intimately joined to the life of the Messiah and written by one of the most respected figures in our contemporary Catholic scene should cause serious attention to be paid to the often neglected figure of Saint Joseph.

Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P., an important French theologian who died only in 2006, was a man whose thought was of great influence and depth. He was also a man greatly devoted to the Church who founded the Community of Saint John. This new community is now recognized in several countries as a very successful attempt to restore a vibrant spirituality to the religious life, which in many places has seemed moribund for years.

The Brothers and Sisters of Saint John are a cause of hope to those who look ahead to the restoration of the authentic and powerful traditions of the religious life that have gotten lost in recent times. The Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Renewal have welcomed them with joy.

Father Philippe's book on Saint Joseph is very consistent with the new biblical theology called for by Pope Benedict XVI. The author very impressively examines the sparse facts that we have concerning the life of Saint Joseph, teasing from them material that connects easily and well with a very impressive structure of theological teaching. This then becomes a means of providing a firm foundation for devotion to the Foster Father and Guardian of the Son of God.

Except for Christ and Saint Paul, New Testament figures attract little attention from the secular world and especially the secular media – even when they are in a kindly mood. Occasionally a small amount of attention is shown to the figure of the Blessed Mother but rarely is Saint Joseph or any of the Apostles mentioned. Even in cities named Saint Joseph or San José are the inhabitants really conscious of the fact that their hometown is actually named for a person – a person who played a role of immense importance in God's plan of redemption for humankind. This apparent obscurity finds at its root a kind of Protestantism that is focused intensely on the figure Christ and on the writings of Saint Paul, but which seems barely acquainted with Saint Joseph and even the Mother of God, herself.

Catholic theology, which takes a less constricted view of such things, opened up a world of devotion to Saint Joseph the humble carpenter of Nazareth as well as to the Mother of God. How could it be otherwise? These are the figures who stood at the manger on the first Christmas; they are the ones to whom the care of the Word Incarnate was entrusted by God.

In recent years there has been a gradual but very welcome return to biblical theology and a simultaneous turning away from the overly exclusive use of the historical-critical method. In the wake of such changes there has also come a resurgence of interest in the figure of Saint Joseph. When we place the few facts that we have of him in the context of his personal responsibilities for the Messiah, we begin to move away from the shadowy figure presented in Scripture and discover a multi-dimensional person – one still wrapped in mystery, but one of great importance.

Young Catholics seeking more solid theological food than what is generally being fed to them through the historical-critical school alone will find in Father Philippe's book much to feed their spiritual lives and inspire their devotion.

Learning to Worship From the Magi

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Isa 60:1-6
• Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
• Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
• Mt 2:1-12

“Worship”, observed Fr. Gerald Vann, O.P., “is not a part of the Christian life: it is the Christian life.”

Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, in a sermon given on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, wrote that God, in his epiphany, “has lost nothing of his incomprehensibility. Only now do we begin to suspect how far divine omnipotence reaches into reality. Thus there can be no more profound worship than Christian worship, which is authentic.”

Today’s solemnity is a celebration of the epiphaneia—the revelation and manifestation—of God in the form of a man, Jesus the Christ. Throughout the centuries, beginning in the East and the later in the West, this feast focused on three different but closely related events: the visitation of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana. Each reveals the radical, transforming truth of the Incarnation. And each, in turn, opens up further the mystery of God and calls man to worship and adore him. 

The mystery of the Incarnation and the call to worship are central in today’s Gospel, which recounts the well-known story of the magi from the east seeking “the newborn king of the Jews.” The magi are among the most mysterious figures in the Gospel; we don’t even know how many journeyed to find Jesus, although the total of three has become the popular number. In the ancient Near East a magus could have been one of several things: a magician, a Persian priest, or even a man practicing occultic arts. But these men were most likely Persian astrologers, with a reputation for being skilled at studying and interpreting the movements of the stars and planets.

St. Matthew’s Gospel often refers to Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in and through the coming of Christ (Mt. 2:17, 23; 4:14; 13:14; 27:9). In writing of the magi, he pointed his readers to Isaiah 60, today’s reading from the Old Testament. There the prophet Isaiah wrote of a coming time when the glory of Jerusalem would fill and bless the entire word: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.” The wealth of nations—including gifts of “gold and frankincense—would be brought by foreign kings, who would worship God in the holy city, “proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”

And today’s responsorial Psalm also emphasizes this theme of worship: “May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts. May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him” (Ps. 72:10-11).

This highlights a truth often proclaimed by Jesus: that the Kingdom of God is offered to and will include peoples from all nations. And the magi represent the first of a vast number of Gentiles brought into the family of God through the Christ-child, who is the King of the Jews and the King of kings. Even in his quiet and hidden birth, Jesus began to draw all men to himself.

“In the magi,” the Catechism states, “representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation” (par. 528). In the New Covenant the radiant glory of the Lord will shine upon all people, dispelling the darkness of sin and despair.

The actions and responses of the magi reveal how the divine light destroys the darkness and leads to worship of the true God. First, they saw the star and recognized that is was unique. Secondly, upon having this epiphany (itself a divine gift of grace), they traveled in order “to do him homage”. They had no fear of seeking the newborn king of the Jews because they were filled with joy and anticipation. Third, they into the presence of Jesus and “prostrated themselves and did him homage.” Having worshiped him, they offered gifts. We, too, are called to worship, for worship is the Christian life.

 [This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the January 2, 2011, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.]

Related:

• Wise Men from the East and the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord | Sandra Miesel
• "A strange mingling of light and shadow..." | On the Feast of Epiphany | Carl E. Olson (Jan. 2010)
• “You have revealed Yourself to the world today, and your light, O Lord, has shined upon us" | Carl E. Olson (Jan. 2011)

Wise Men from the East and the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

Wise Men from the East | Sandra Miesel | The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

We Three Kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar. . . .

Who were these gift-bearing kings, these Wise Men of the East? What has their mission meant to Christians across the ages?

The Wise Men—not yet called kings—make only a single appearance in Holy Scripture. St. Matthew's Gospel (Mt 2:1-12) tells of their arrival in Jerusalem shortly after the birth of Jesus. They have come seeking the newborn King of the Jews because they had seen his star rise in the East. Herod, the current ruler, knows nothing of an upstart princeling but learns that prophecies place him in Bethlehem. Herod directs the Wise Men to search there for the Child and keep him informed. Following their star, the Wise Men find Jesus with his Mother. They worship him and bestow gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Warned by an angel, they do not reveal the Child's location to jealous Herod but return secretly to their own land.

In ancient texts of Scripture the Wise Men are Magoi in Greek and Magi in Latin. The singular form, Magos/Magus, is the source of our English word "magician" but had multiple meanings in Biblical times. A magus could be a Zoroastrian priest from Persia, an occultist, a magician, or a charlatan. Because the New Testament Magi study the stars, their mystic wisdom presumably includes astrology. Hence some recent Bible translations call them "astrologers," a less evocative term than the more traditional "Wise Men."

Some early Christians equated the Magi with Chaldean star-readers from Babylon, masters of the occult familiar throughout the Roman Empire. St. Justin Martyr and Tertullian thought they were Arabians but most believers in Patristic times took their Persian origin for granted.

Church Fathers were quick to see deeper symbolism in this curious episode, first through its Old Testament parallels. Origen suggested that the Magi were descendants of the pagan prophet Balaam who had predicted that "a star shall rise out of Jacob" (Num. 24:17). Other Old Testament figures including the priest-king Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20), the generous Queen of Sheba (1 Kgs. 10), and the faithful Three Young Men in the Fiery Furnace (Dan. 3) were also seen as counterparts of the Wise Men from the East.

Strangers who worship the new King of Judah and bring gifts fulfill Messianic prophecies. "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute" (Ps. 72:10). "All they from Sheba shall come, bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord." (Isa. 60:6) Because the Scriptures speak of tributary kings, Tertullian called the Magi kings. Origen specified that they numbered three to match their gifts and their named kingdoms. St. John Chrysostom preached about twelve Wise Men but his interpretation failed to find favor.