Surpassing Purity

Surpassing Purity

There are two ways that we are going to examine Mary’s Surpassing Purity: 1.)She is pure in the sense that she is free from sin, by way of the Immaculate Conception; 2.) She is pure in the sense that she was a virgin her whole life.  This is taught in the Church’s teaching of her Perpetual Virginity.  Let’s go over the Immaculate Conception, briefly:

The Immaculate Conception is the teaching that refers to MARY’S conception; many people think it refers to the virginal conception.  Yes, Jesus’ conception was special and miraculous, but Mary’s conception is also of importance.  Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin; she is free from sin.  She never sinned.  Now, we need to make the distinction that she was still a creature, subject to emotions and temptations, the difference is she just always chose to follow God perfectly because she was not affected by the stain of original sin, which is what inclines us all toward sin.  And I need to include that she was conceived naturally, by both of her parents, Anne and Joachim.  Whereas Jesus’ conception was miraculously physically, it is what happens with Mary’s soul at her conception is what makes her conception so special. Her soul is pure, beautiful, and free from the stain of sin; free from the stain of selfish motives, half-hearted prayers.

       

How is this possible, you may ask?  Let’s give a bit of background:

Christ’s work of Salvation, the work that he performed through the events of Holy Week, was all a free gift bestowed to the whole human race. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and the possibility of heaven had been closed to humans. Sin brought death; so Christ comes to give us the GIFT of himself so to conquer sin and death, making it possible for us to be united back to the Father.  

If Christ wants to bestow gifts upon us, how much more does he wish to bestow gifts on His Most Blessed Mother?  That is the nature of being a son - to honor your parents and gift them with your love and affection.  

This union between Christ and Mary is similar, but also very different from the average mother/son union.  Christ, being God, dwelling in existence in the Trinity before He became flesh, had the unique ability to CHOOSE his Mother; to choose the woman who would bear Him to the world.  

You see, the Son existed before His mother and he was able to choose the mother that would be best for him.  Further, he was able to bestow on this woman all the gifts he would wish as well; there is no limit to God’s giving power.  

One of the gifts that Christ gave to his Mother was at her conception: it is known as the Immaculate Conception.  Christ chose to give his gift of salvation to His mother at the moment of her conception - she was “conceived without sin”.  When her soul was created, Christ, in union with His Heavenly Father, kept her free from Original Sin (the sin that we inherit from Adam and Eve; all humans are born with this sin on our soul).  

This teaching of the Church, that Mary was conceived without sin, also applies to her whole life.  She was sin-less.  In the gospel account of the Angel appearing to Mary and announcing that she would conceive a son , the Angel first greets Mary as “full of grace.”  “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28) These words refer to an abundance of grace that is apart of Mary’s very nature.  A theologian and professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mark Miravalle, says, “It is true that no person with a fallen nature could possess a fullness of grace, a perfection of grace appropriate only for the woman who was to give God the son an identical, immaculate human nature” (emphasis added).  

So Mary is PURE because there is no stain of sin on her soul ever.  In this way, her purity surpasses ours, right?!  I like to think of Mary as a pure, glass vessel.  In order to for a light to shine through the vessel in the most brightest way possible, there needs to be no dirt on the glass, no smudge spots, no streaks.  In order for Christ, the Light of the World, to enter this world and shine in the darkness, he first needed to come through a pure vessel.  Make sense?

This teaching of the Immaculate Conception is a Dogma of the Church, meaning it is a Church doctrine which has been defined to be revealed truth, directly revealed by God through the Pope or a Ecumenical council (where the Pope together with the bishops declare a teaching).  This dogma of Immaculate Conception was defined in 1854 by Pope Pius IX (Blessed).  

The next dogma we will examine is Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.  This was defined as direct revealed truth by God formally in 553 at the 5th General Council at Constantinople.  BUT there is proof of this teaching and understanding that Mary was a virgin her whole life from the early Church Fathers; men who lived a generation or two after the Apostles.  It is a very strong understanding and teaching from the early church, so much so, that anyone who denied it was labeled a heretic.  And I will even add that Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism really, even held this teaching, that Mary was always a virgin.  

There are three points about Mary’s physical purity and virginity: she was a virgin at the time Jesus was conceived, her virginity remained intact during the actual birth of Jesus (meaning, the hymen was not broken), and lastly that she intended to remain a virgin her whole life, so even after Jesus’ birth, she was a virgin.  

For time’s sake, I think that we can all agree and know that Mary was indeed a virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception.  I will not spend time proving that point.  “Behold, the virgin shall bear be with child, and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.”  Mt. 1:23

But not many people know that the Church holds that Mary did not experience any physical pain and injury at the moment of Christ’s passing from her womb into this world.  The pain of childbirth is a punishment for sin, and, since Mary is free from sin, she is exempt from the pain of childbirth!  How lucky!  

Dr. Mark Miravalle says, “The Father’s of the Church overwhelmingly taught the miraculous birth of Jesus resulted in no injury to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s physical integrity.  St. Augustine stated, ‘It is not right that He who came to heal corruption should by His Advent violate integrity.’ Later, St. Thomas Aquinas would defend the miraculous and painless nature of Christ’s birth.  As light passes through glass without harming it, so too did Jesus pass through the womb of Mary without the opening of Mary’s womb and without any harm to the physical virginal seal of the Virgin, who was pure and the perfect tabernacle of the unborn Christ.”

I love how the Holy Spirit works, because I read that passage about the virginal birth AFTER I had received that image of Mary as a glass vessel in prayer!  So neat!

Ok, finally we will examine how Mary was pure for her entire life.  Again, this is a teaching that is very prominent among the men, bishops, and pope of the early Church. Let’s all turn to Luke 1:34.  The early Church Fathers saw her response of “How can this be since I have no relations with man?”  to refer to a vow that she had made to be a perpetual virgin, giving her whole self in gift to God.  Miravalle says, “Mary’s response of ‘I know not man’ would be comparable to someone today who responds to an invitation to a cigarette with the expression, ‘I do not smoke’.  Not only does the person not desire to smoke now, but he does not smoke as a permanent disposition (inclusive of his intention not to smoke in the future).  In the same way, the Virgin of Nazareth states, ‘I know not man’ referring to a permanent disposition of virginity...certainly such a vow to God would be continued on Mary’s part after the miraculous intervention of God to safeguard her virginity both before the birth of Christ and after…”

So, why should Mary remain a virgin her whole life? Miravalle makes these points:

    -Since Jesus is the “only begotten son” of the Father, he also deserves to be the “only begotten son” of his human mother.  It refers to Jesus’ special diginity as both human and divine.  Because, really, all these teachings about Mary ultimately point us to the greater reality and sacredness of who Jesus is!  If Jesus was not God, then Mary would not need to be from from sin and her womb would not need to remain free from any other creatures.  

    -Mary is able to be a model for not only mothers, but also virgins, those who choose to give a total gift of themselves to God.  CCC 507 says, “At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church…”

    -”Mary did not have marital relations or other children to safeguard the uniqueness of the first Child.”

    -I myself will add that she needed to remain a virgin, pure from any man entering her womb, because she is the Holy of Holies as the First Living Tabernacle.  

    -The CCC in 506 says “Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith “unadultered by any doubt” and of her undivided gift of her self to God’s will.  

Like I mentioned last week, some people will point out that the Bible references Jesus’ “brothers”.  But the original language of the Bible uses the term for “brothers” to not only mean biological sibling, but also cousins, or even “kinsfolk”.  Lastly, people will point out the reference to Jesus as the “first born son” of Mary implies she had other children.  Well, not exactly.  Every only child is the first born child, right?  And the purpose for the author placing this phrase there is to point out the Jewish custom that the first-born son has certain rights and privileges.  He is the “heir” of the throne of David, after all.  

Lastly, people will point out that this must mean that Joseph and Mary’s marriage is not valid.  But, at the heart of the consummation of a marriage, is the free, total, and faithful gift of one’s self to the other, to which the marital act is a physical representation of what is going on spiritually.  Joseph and Mary were still able to fully make a gift of themselves to each other and to have a union of hearts.  Dr. Mark Miravalle points out that there are numerous examples in Scripture where God asks couples to renounce relations, for times sake, I won’t get into detail, but God asks people to refrain from sexual relations especially because of the presence of that which is holy or sacred.  

All of this does not mean that sex is bad; that marriage is a lesser calling by any means.  Really, the beauty of marriage shows us the beauty of virginity and vice-versa.  At the heart of marriage is the full gift of ourselves to another person.  We give our most sacred and treasured gift, the gift of our sexuality, to our spouse.  Mary, knowing how sacred the gift of sexuality was, decided to offer that gift BACK to the Father.  And that is at the heart of every priest, nun and religious vocation, too.  

What does this virtue mean FOR US? We are not free from sin and the majority of us are either married or not virgins, right?

We must STRIVE our hardest to be free from sin.  As I was praying about this topic, I had the image of a glass vessel representing Mary, like I shared earlier.  And I asked the Lord, what about us?  For me, for example, I know that I am so weak and so broken.  I have made so many mistakes that my “glass vessel” is probably cracked and has holes in it, along with dirt and smudges.  The cracks and holes represent our brokenness, our weakness, our past hurts.  The dirt and smudges represent our personal sin.  I am not a perfect vessel for the Lord.  I will always be broken; I will always need the Lord to heal me from my woundedness.  But I need to get rid of sin in my life.  There are hurts and brokenness in our lives that we can’t control.  There are some sins and weaknesses, though, that we do have power over.  In my conversation with Jesus, thinking about all this, he showed me that even though we ALL have cracks and holes, His light is still able to shine through us.  Think about it.  Light still shines through cracks and holes in a glass vase, right?  But not through dirt and mud.  We can do our part to make sure that we are as PURE as possible  from the dirt and ugliness of sin.  This is where confession comes in.  Confession removes that dirt from our hearts so that it doesn’t build up to become mud and eventually clay.  The longer we let sin fester inside of us, without repenting of it in the Sacrament of Confession, the harder it will be for us to overcome that certain sin; the more damage that sin will do; the harder it is for Christ’s light to shine through us.  

And those of us who are married, have been married, are divorced, widowed, single and the virgins are still called to live out the virtue of purity as well.  We must have pure relationships with our spouses, not using them as a means to the end of pleasure.  We must not objectify them in our sexual relationship, only trying to get a certain satisfaction from them.  I raise this issue because I know we are all mature adults here!  Every marital act must be open to life.  We must not lust after other men.  We must be careful about the shows and movies we watch.  We must guard ourselves against pornography or erotic novels.  We must not use sex as a tool to manipulate our spouses.  

“Through chastity we live on earth the life the blessed live in heaven….our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19)...Jesus spouse of virgins, You chose a Virgin for your Mother.  Grant me a tender love for chastity and the greatest possible horror of the vice that is contrary.  The virtue of chastity and purity is beyond the powers of our nature.  I cannot live chastely and purely without a special grace…”

“Put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. “ Eph. 4:22-24

No matter where we are in terms of our past sins, in terms of our virginity, our sexuality, our purity before God, we CAN be made new.  God gives us the gift of becoming a new person in Him.  “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing” 1 John 1:9.  “Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.” Ps. 51:9

I'd like to end with this wonderful passage:

"The most holy Heart of Mary is indeed an excellent image of divine purity and holiness. Not only was her most pure and holy Heart always far removed from every kind of sin, but it was entirely free from attachment to created things, and intimately united to God by its pure and holy love for Him together with the eminent practice of     all the other virtues which Mary's Heart possessed in so high a degree...If you would find a place in the sanctuary of Mary's admirable Heart, which so perfectly mirrors the purity and sanctity of the Most High, you must purify your heart and realize the meaning of the words: "This is the will of God, your sanctification." (1 Thess. 4:3) These words are not meant just for souls specially consecrated and set apart. You must apply them to yourself, you who bear the name and imprint of Christ and membership in His mystical Body. The sanctification of your spirit, heart and body is more than a commandment; it is a privilege, a participation, granted to you through the purity and sanctity of the heart of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and your own Mother."  - St. John Eudes

Divine Wisdom

To begin, let's take a look at James 1:2-8:

“Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.

But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.”

 

Wisdom is “a spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God.”  The NAB Bible footnotes defines it as, “a gift that God readily grants to all who ask in faith and that sustains the Christian in times of trial.  It is a kind of knowledge or understanding not accessible to the unbeliever or those who doubt, which gives the recipient an understanding of the real importance of events.  In this way a Christian can deal with adversity with great calm and hope.”

 

In other words, this virtue of Mary, Divine Wisdom, is a gift which can only be given to us from God.  It is a wisdom which we cannot earn or gain by our own energies.  It is available to us ALL through the Holy Spirit, which we have received at Baptism and Confirmation.  When we submit ourselves in humility and obedience before the Lord, and ask Him to share with us His mysterious ways so that we may KNOW His will, we have all the tools in our hearts, minds, and souls to gain the gift of Divine Wisdom.  

 

In this verse from St. James, he gives us a sequence.  Testing produces perseverance.  What is a “test of faith”?  A “trial” or a suffering; an inconvenience of varying degrees.  It could be small, like encountering a downpour in our commute home from work.  It could be large like an illness or loss of a job.  St. James tells us that in these times we must let our perseverance be perfect, lacking in nothing.  He doesn’t say the WE must be perfect, but that our perseverance, in faith, must be perfect.  WE MUST NOT GIVE UP ON OUR FAITH; MUST NOT GIVE UP ON JESUS.

But then he kind of comes out of left field and says, “But if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God…” What does this mean? I think it means that James, first of all, understands human nature quite well!  If we apply our definition of wisdom from earlier to this verse, then James is saying that if anyone lacks the knowledge and purpose of God’s plan, then we must ask that He grant it to us.  

Last week, Liliana spoke to us about Blind Obedience.  We must be obedient to God the Father and what HE wants for us.  And we must submit to various human authorities placed in our lives.  So we learned that we must echo Mary’s “Fiat” and say, “May it be done unto me according to thy word”.  But before we can say “yes” to God, we must KNOW what it is He is asking of us, and that is where the virtue of Divine Wisdom comes into play.  

When we are enduring “testing” or trials in our lives, James is telling us that we must ask God for the gift of wisdom to KNOW and understand His plan.  Because, like I said, it is part of our human nature to want to KNOW and UNDERSTAND God’s plan for our lives. This is Good News sisters!  God does not desire that we suffer through events in our life while being in darkness.  He wants to give us insight into His mind.  We must not be afraid to ask God ANYTHING.  

Now, does the gift of Divine Wisdom mean that we will get ALL our questions answers and that we will be given full to God’s mind?  Probably not.  But, I really do believe, that we will be given wisdom enough to help get us THROUGH the trial at hand.  

Let’s turn to this verse from St. Paul to the Ephesians:

“In Christ we have redemption by his Blood,

the forgiveness of transgressions,

in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.

In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us

the mystery of his will in accord with his favor

that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times,

to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”

God’s wisdom is his plan for our salvation. This was his own eternal secret that no one else could fathom, but in this new age of salvation he has graciously revealed it to us. For the pattern of God’s secret, hidden to others and now revealed to the Church

The wisdom of God is summed up in Jesus; specifically Jesus on the Cross and His Resurrection.  In fact, a title for Jesus is the “Incarnate Wisdom”.  So, when we are going through trial and temptation, when we feel as if we are sitting in darkness, we must let the Cross be a light of Divine Wisdom for us. If you are ever struggling to understand God’s plan and purpose for you, then I suggest sitting in a Church, before the tabernacle, or even better, in Adoration, and think about Christ’s death.  Think about his VICTORY over death as He rose from the tomb on the the third day.  

God’s wisdom is the Cross.  That blows my mind.  If there is any “secret” He would ever whisper in our ear, it is that.  “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son…”;  “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Cor. 12:9.  

 

We often think that to be “wise” is to have so many wonderful things to say and insight to give; to always offer great advice or make good decisions.  But, ultimately, to be “wise” is to know Christ! And, Mary, certainly KNEW wisdom.  She carried Divine Wisdom inside of her and got to “know” God and His plan in a very intimate way.  

There are a few more points to be made about Divine Wisdom, especially Mary’s Divine Wisdom:

For fourteen years Mary prepared herself by prayer to receive him in her womb. Tradition tells us that Mary was consecrated to the service of the Temple at a young age, probably when she was weaned.  She was similar to Anna, spending day and night in the Temple.  Tradition also tells us it was then that she made the commitment to remain a virgin her whole life.  14 years of prayer and physical preparation for what God in store for her; she had to become ready to receive the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus.  Solomon received Wisdom only after praying most fervently for a long time: "I went to the Lord and besought him, and I said with all my heart... Give me that Wisdom that sits by your throne." (Wis 8.21; 9.4)  Again, if we turn our attention to the verse from James, he tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God, and ir shall be given him, for God gives his gifts to all men abundantly and ungrudgingly." (Jas 1.5) God won’t grant us the gift of knowing His plan until we are ready.

Secondly, we must pray for it with a pure faith, not counting on consolations, visions or special revelations. Although such things may be good and true, as they have been in some saints, it is always dangerous to rely on them. For the more our faith is dependent on these extraordinary graces and feelings, the less pure and meritorious it is.

Lastly, we must not grow tired of asking for Wisdom.  Many people wonder why we must ask God for things when He knows what we already need.  But, in asking Him, we humble ourselves and admit that we need Him. That is why we must be persistent in asking, and asking with faith.  Wisdom is a gift from the Lord and we need Him to bless us with it.  

Nadine Brown in her book, “Bathe 7 Times” describes wisdom as seeing things “from God’s point of view”.  She describes how it is like going up on the wings of an eagle to see the whole panorama that we otherwise could not see from our own little perspective.  She also points out that surrender is at the heart of the gift of Wisdom.  Mary did not receive the Incarnate Wisdom until she surrendered her will to the Father’s.  And once we surrender, we receive Wisdom and have union with Him.  This is what we pray for in the Our Father when we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come”.  We ask for Wisdom to come into us so that we can see His Kingdom at work in our lives!

Blind Obedience

This teaching is brought to us by our team member, Liliana:

 

When I looked at the list of virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary that I could choose from to do a talk, the two that stood out to me were humility and obedience. Mother Mary seemed to be the

personification of those two virtues. I chose obedience because I have always been in awe of Mary’s blind obedience when St. Gabriel the Archangel tells her she has been chosen to be the Mother of God. Her “may it be done to me according to your word”still echoes through the centuries. It is the paragon of obedience for all of us.

So what exactly is obedience? Obedience is defined as compliance with an order, request, or law. It is submission to another’s authority. It is to do what is commanded with a willingness to formally follow the will of the commander. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the obedience of faith. Paragraph 144 states: to obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because truth is guaranteed by God, who is truth itself. An example of this blind obedience of faith is seen in Abraham. The Lord said to Abram: go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land I will show you. Abram went as the Lord directed him. Abram was 75 years old. (Gen 12: 1,4) Imagine what it would be like to pack up and leave the home you’ve known most of your life and to go to an unknown destination at the age of 75. That is blind obedience by Abraham. Later in the book of Genesis, Abraham, as he is now called, demonstrates an even greater act of obedience and faith. (Read Genesis 22:1–18) because of his blind obedience, Abraham received abundant blessings, not only for himself, but also his countless descendents – – which includes you and me by adoption. Holy Scripture tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice: Does the Lord so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. (1 Sam 15:22)

Obedience can be an act of worship. Before Abraham takes his son Isaac to the mountaintop for the sacrifice, he tells his servants, “Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you.” (Gen 22:5) When we obey the will of God we praise, revere, and glorify him. St. Faustino in her Diary tells us that, “Obedience has great power.” By obedience, we draw nearer to God. St. Therese of Lisieux tells us, “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will and being just what he wants us to be.” Leave it to dear St. Therese to put it quite simply. We need only to discern and obey the will of God to be holy.

Mary is the perfect example of blind obedience to the will of God. St.Alphonsus Liguori states, “Mary was the most perfect among the saints because she was always perfectly united with the will of God.” As I stated earlier, I have always been in awe of Mary’s obedience to the will of God at the Annunciation. (Read Lk 1: 26– 38) Mary was a very young teenage girl at this time. She was betrothed, but not married to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel tells her she is to bear a child, but not an ordinary child, she will bear the Son of God. She has only one question, “How can this be since I do not have a husband?” (Lk 1:34) Mary knew full well that for a woman to be pregnant out of wedlock back in those days meant certain death. She would be stoned to death as soon as people realized she was pregnant and unmarried. It must have also flashed through her mind, “What would Joseph, her betrothed, do when he

found out?” Suddenly, her ordinary world was upended, and she knew it would never be the same. There was the uncertainty about what lay ahead. Nevertheless, she courageously, with

blind obedience, said to the Angel Gabriel, “May it be done to me according to your word.” ( Lk 1:38) Her fiat is an act of worship. We see how holy she is—“full of grace”. (Lk 1:28) She

surrenders her will to the will of God. Caryll Houselander tells us that Mary’s “ fiat was for herself and for us, but if we want God’s will to be completed in us as it is in her, we must echo her fiat.”

Throughout her life, Mary continued to perfectly exemplify obedience. She and Joseph obeyed the decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world had to be enrolled in their own

town. In spite of the fact that Mary was due any day, they obediently traveled from Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem, Joseph’s hometown. There she gave birth to the Christ Child. Within eight days, Mary and Joseph, obedient to the Jewish law, had the Child circumcised and named him Jesus just as the angel had instructed. (Lk 2:21) Then, when the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord just as it is written in the law of the Lord. (Lk 2:22-23) Mary, along with her spouse Joseph, was obedient to the law of the Lord. When Joseph told Mary of his dream in which the Angel told him to take mother and Child, flee to Egypt, and stay there until he, the Angel, told him. Mary is obedient to her husband. Joseph rose and took the child and his

mother by night and departed for Egypt. (Mt 2:13-14)

At the wedding at Cana, Mary once again teaches us about obedience. We know that the mother of Jesus was at the wedding as well as Jesus and all of his disciples. (Jn 2: 1-2) when the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”And Jeus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn 2:3–5) We know that Jesus had the servers fill six stone jars with water which he changed into fine wine. When Mary tells the servers “do whatever he tells you”, she is saying it to us also. She is telling us that by obedience to the

will of God, our own sinful, polluted water can be changed into fine wine. We need only to go to confession. With the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are cleansed and absolved of all of our sins.We are restored by the grace of God to fine wine. (Another reason, why I am so grateful that I am Catholic!)

Then, we see Mary at the foot of the Cross. Here, Mary mirrors her son’s obedience to God the Father. She utters not a word, but she stays by her son through his agony on the Cross. We know the sword that St. Simeon had spoken of has pierced her heart. We hear the echo of “may it be done to me according to your word”. Once again, she accepts and obeys God’s Holy Will as she did all of her life. Just as Mary showed blind obedience to the Father’s will, Jesus teaches us the primacy of doing the will of God the Father. Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Mt 7: 21) The Master teaches us by example what it means to be obedient to the will of the Father. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I did not speak on my own, but the Father sent me commanded me what to say and speak... So what I say, I say as the Father told me.” (Jn 12:49-50) “I cannot do anything on my own... Because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (Jn 5:30) But the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father commanded me....(Jn 14:31) At one point in his ministry, the disciples were concerned that Jesus was not eating enough to keep up his strength. Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.” (Jn 4:34) Jesus’ every thought, word, and action are a result of his perfect obedience to the will of the Father. We witness our dear Lord’s blind obedience in his agony in the garden of Gethsemane. He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet, not as I will, but as you will.” Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” (Mt 26:39, 42) This is the complete surrender of the human will of Jesus to the divine will of the Father. Do you hear the echo of “may it be done to me according to your word” in Jesus’ words? St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Hebrew: “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Heb 5:8-9) Jesus was made perfect by making the ultimate sacrifice for us. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8) As Father Bob told us in one of his homilies, by his obedience to death on the cross, Jesus sealed the new and eternal covenant for us. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:19) It is through Jesus’ obedience that we are redeemed of our disobedience. St. Teresa of Avila tells us: And in matters touching on obedience he doesn’t want the soul who truly loves him to take any other path than the one he did: obideins usque ad mortem (obedience unto death).

Now you and I will not be called upon to do a great act of obedience, such as dying on the Cross, but we are called upon to do acts of obedience to the will of God the Father. As Catholic Christians, we are expected to obey the Ten Commandments. When we do an examination of conscience, it is a good idea to go over the Commandments and see if we have been obedient to them. As Catholics, we are also expected to be faithful to the teachings of the Church in such areas as abortion, traditional marriage, euthanasia, human cloning, and embryonic stem cell research because the teachings of the Church are the teachings of Jesus. As members of society, we need to obey laws passed by our government, such as obeying the speed limit on our streets. In our role as wives, we are expected to be obedient to our husbands. Obedience is part of our lives. But above all, we are expected to obey the will of God. Not too long ago, I would have asked, “How in the world do I know what the will of God is in my life?” Well, about four years ago, I attended a deep prayer class led by Deacon Bob Allen here at Most Precious Blood Church. It literally changed my life, and it certainly changed my prayer life. In the class, I learned the St. Ignatius way of spiritual discernment. I learned to do the “Examine of Consciousness” which I still do to this very day. I find this helpful in trying to discern God’s will in my life. Then to my delight, this summer the WOW Leadership Team read and studied, under the guidance of Alycia, the book The Discernment of Spirits, An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Living, by Father Timothy Gallagher.

This book is absolutely wonderful in helping us to discern God’s will. To put it in a nutshell, to discern the will of God in our lives we can ask ourselves the following questions: Does this action, thought, or feeling move me towards God’s peace or away from God’s peace? Does this action, thought, or feeling seem of God or not of God? When our actions, thoughts, feelings are put in that light, it is much easier to discern what is or is not God’s will. When we can discern the will of God in our lives and obey it, we can be more like Christ and more like our Blessed Mother Mary.

Constant Mental Prayer

St. Therese says: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”  St. Paul tells us to “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING” (1 Thess. 5:17).  If we couple those two quotes with the Scripture verse, “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19), we have all the wisdom we need for today’s discussion.

There was a Sunday Mass where Fr. Patrick preached.  I found his homily amazing and heart-wrenching.  He spoke of how often we reject God’s love; how often our actions, or lack thereof, hurt God.  We ALL know what it feels like to be rejected, he implored.  No one wants to feel rejected.  But God Himself is constantly rejected by us.  How do we know this?  Fr. Patrick said because we see rejection itself sprawled across the wood of the Cross.  Christ chose to take on rejection so that we may know his love and love him in return.  Fr. Patrick implored us to not reject God’s love by failing to follow the 10 commandments, by missing Mass on Sundays, and by failing to pray everyday.  I left Mass with a renewed sense of love for God and commitment to “lift my heart” up to Him more often, so as to acknowledge his love more often.

I find myself getting caught up in fear very easily.  Do you?  We look around the world, we turn on the news.  Illnesses run rampant, war is a threat.  I fear for the future and I get overwhelmed very easily, finding anxiety in my heart.  Then we have this verse from the Mass readings this past weekend: “Have no anxiety at all, but in all things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make known your requests to God. Then the peace of God that supasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

St. Paul gives us a formula: if we desire the peace of Christ, we must turn our hearts to prayer.  Why do I forget this!  If you’re anything like me, though, prayer is compartmentalized and often forgotten.  It is usually a quick, “Hey God, help me out here” and I don’t often take the time to CONVERSE with God.  Or, it’s a 15 minute adoration session here, a daily mass there.  But “pray without ceasing?”  Or to model Mary’s virtue of “constant mental prayer”?  I have found that difficult!  I am not a saint or a nun cloistered in a convent all day and I am not Mother Mary, so how the heck can I have “constant mental prayer”?  

Well, if you think about it we all carry an interior life, which we can say is like an intimate conversation with ourselves. Not that we are literally talking to ourselves, but we do consider present problems and think about them often  in our mind, and we recall past events, and look ahead to coming things. This is a normal process.  I am always talking to myself, I am always weighing options in my mind, creating to-do lists and mini-goals to reach throughout the day.

This very natural process can be spiritualized, so that it is turned into a loving awareness of God and of Mary, to whom we often comment on whatever we are doing, even on commonplace, routine things, or on things going on about us. We cannot explicitly think of God or of Mary at every moment, but we can to a considerable extent, and the habit of prayer, aka conversing with God, will grow in time.

I found an article online by Rev. William Most who says, “We will resemble a child who busies himself in the same room as his mother: he does not always explicitly think of her, but he is always conscious of her presence, and he often comments to her on what he is doing or asks her help. In meditation, however, even though we are not at every moment calling on Mary, yet her help is constantly supporting us, for all graces come through her”

To have “constant mental prayer” means to not compartmentalize our life: I will have my prayer time for 30 mins each day.  Then I work for 6 hours, watch TV for 2 hours, etc.  But that OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A PRAYER.  All of our mundane tasks may be offered to God.  Everything we do is offered to God.  In the midst of all we do, we turn our hearts to God, at various moments, and speak with him, talk to him, praise him, adore him.

If we desire to “pray without ceasing” or to “turn our hearts” to God more often throughout the day, we will see the act of washing dishes a chance to exercise mental prayer.  We will offer up the filing at work as an act of love for God, even though we are sick and tired of doing it day in and day out.  We will try our best to turn our thoughts toward God or things of God more often.  For example, I often will find myself daydreaming about some of the most random things!  Maybe, when we catch ourselves daydreaming about the next haircut we want, or our “dream house”, we can turn our thoughts toward a Gospel story, or repeat Hail Mary’s while we actually think about the words we are praying.  

Now, I want to add, this cannot be an excuse to get rid of or omit daily, scheduled prayer time.  Those are very important.  We need time daily and weekly to enter into meditation and contemplation.  I am so guilty of this!  “I pray throughout the day, so I don’t need to schedule prayer time and commit to a structured prayer time.”  We need both: spontaneous, constant mental prayer, and structured prayer time, where we are silent in the presence of the Lord.  This may be a half an hour in a quiet place in your home, or it may be a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  We will see that these structured prayer times will fuel our constant mental prayer habit, and the mental prayer habit will help our structured prayer time.  

Ok, now I would like to stop doing all the talking, and allow for you to pray with and read through these various Scripture passages about Mary.  Keep in mind these two quotes as you read through the Bible: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” St. Therese of Lisieux;

“PRAY WITHOUT CEASING” 1 Thess. 5:17.

Each small group this week is going to read through and contemplate the various instances in Scripture where we see Mary praying.  Here are the steps to follow for your group’s assigned Scripture verse:

1. Begin with prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide this process.
2. Each person individually should read through the Scripture account two times. Read slowly.  As you read, imagine what emotions Mother Mary must be experiencing as the story unfolds.  Let your imagination work; there are no “right” or “wrong” ways to do this.  
3. Re-read the Scripture story out loud as a group.  Discuss what everyone  observed, keeping in mind that we are trying to draw out what we may learn about prayer from Mary.
4. Choose one person to be a representative for our larger group discussion.

Your small group may be assigned one of the following passages:

1. Luke 1:39-56
2. Luke 2: 11-20
3. Luke 2:41-52

1. Acts 1:6-14

I would like to end with some practical tips to foster a constant mental prayer:

“In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”  Rom. 8:26

You can just utter different prayers throughout the day, and you can get into the habit of praying, “Come Holy Spirit, Come Holy Spirit.”.  That is a good way to put yourself in the presence of God throughout the day.  The Holy Spirit will come!  And he will guide you...

Here are some more practical tips:

    -Turn music off in the car.  Play the Rosary on CD or connect your phone.  Listen to a spiritual CD.  

    -Pray while you do various chores.

    -Begin the day with reading the daily Scripture verses for that particular daily mass.  Then, throughout the day, you may refer back to the Gospel story or other passages.  I like to sometimes try to memorize a quick line from one of the Psalms to say throughout the day.

    -Pray the Rosary / Hail Mary’s while waiting in line at stores, or for appointments.

    -Surround yourself with holy images at home / work / car and greet the Lord / Mary or Saints in that image.  Stick Holy Cards in your car, etc.

    -Pray with Holy Cards.  I can be a very visual person.  To have a holy image in front of me helps me to have a focused prayer time, even if for 5-10 mins.

Universal Mortification

"If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24). These are Jesus’ own words.  Today we are going to focus on two things: denying ourselves (aka mortification) and carrying our crosses (aka suffering well).

Mortification is the process by which we deny ourselves material, physical, mental or emotional things in order to defeat sin and weakness.  When we speak of universal mortification, we mean not JUST denying ourselves physical things, but deny ourselves in all areas.  The catechism of the Church states: "The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the... mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:" CCC 2015

Mortification is the deliberate restraint that one places on natural impulses in order to make them increasingly subject to sanctification through obedience to reason illumined by faith." (The New Catholic Encyclopedia).  

When we deny ourselves something, like for instance, fasting from meat on Fridays, we are voluntarily choosing to suffer, right?  Many times, though, we don’t deliberately choose to suffer.  Suffering happens to us.  We are diagnosed with cancer.  A loved one has broken our trust.  That type of suffering is not specifically mortification but it CAN still be “crosses” for us to carry.  Suffering can still bring us closer to the Lord, whether it’s deliberately chosen by us or it happens TO us.  

For Louis de Montfort, Christ is, above all, the one who suffered and died for us on the Cross. The mystery of Christ is the mystery of the Cross. "Never the Cross without Jesus, or Jesus without the cross" (LEW 172). The mystery of the Cross is the mystery of God’s love. The Cross is the soundest proof of divine love. "Among all the motives impelling us to love Jesus Christ, the strongest, in my opinion, is the suffering he chose to endure to prove his love for us" (LEW 154).

For our part, we respond to God’s love by carrying our own crosses. "The cross was the proof God gave of his love for us; and it is also the proof which God requires to show our love for him" (LEW 176).So, what does this look like?  “Jesus, I may not understand WHY I am going through what I am experiencing, but I choose to unite it to you.  I choose to GIVE it to you.”  OR we can say, “Jesus, I love you more than food, so I will deny myself meat on Fridays as a way to show you how much I love you and to remember your suffering that you took on for my sake.”

A relationship with Christ is impossible without denying ourselves and carrying our crosses.

Many sincerely good people living in this world simply do not know the value of the Cross, because they are too fond of sensual pleasures and seek only their own comforts. That is the reason the Cross, or suffering, is not welcomed, why it is even rejected.

But there are many Christians, like myself for instance, who know the value of the Cross in theory because so much is written and spoken about it. But in reality, we lose courage, complain, excuse ourselves, and run away as soon as the possibility of suffering arises. Who can relate?!

St. Louis de Montfort teaches a lot about universal mortification and he is my biggest source for this topic.  He teaches that Its highest point is the giving up of our worldly possessions—expressive of interior poverty—which is the quickest, the best, and the surest means to possess Jesus.  Think of the Gospel story of the young man who approaches Jesus and asks what must he do to inherit eternal life.  He follows the 10 commandments and is wondering if there is anything else he can do.  Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and give it to the poor (Luke 18:18-23).   Montfort recognizes that this may not be easy for all or even within the vocation of all. If you have a family, you need to own worldly possessions like a house, car, furniture, etc.  So he recommends detachment of the heart from material things, possessing them but not being ATTACHED TO THEM. He also suggests not being slave to following the trends of the world and to not allow yourself to spend too much time with worldly people.  

Speaking of bodily mortifications, he says that accepting our life as it is and living it patiently everyday by enduring our bodily ailments, the inconveniences of the weather, and the difficulties arising from other people’s actions is mortification enough. We can also follow the fasts the Church requires of us.

It is also important to note that for Montfort, mortification is not synonymous with a gloomy spirit. Rather, it is a source of joy, for it brings with it the knowledge of obeying the command of the Lord and of imitating him.

Something else that Montfort taught was that the little ways of denying ourselves are often better that grand, extravagant ways.  When we do something major for the sake of the Lord, we are more inclined to be prideful or vain in doing so, right? Small interior acts of mortification made for God, for example, giving up cussing or watching your impure glances, or choosing to not give into an emotion like anger or impatience, etc., could turn out to be great victories. He encourages us to think about how some of our behaviors and habits may annoy others and to cut those out of our lives.  

Another point that I would like to make is that there are three purposes, really, for practicing mortification.  The first would be out of love for Christ and your desire to unite yourself and to remember HIS suffering.  This is really why we fast during Lent and Good Friday.  The second reason could be to overcome a certain sin or weakness in your life.  And by overcoming a sin or weakness, we become more like Christ and Mary, who are without sin.  The third reason, I would say is for “redemptive suffering” - where you are OFFERING your suffering for the sake of a specific intention, whether your own intention or for the sake of someone else.

But the work of mortification, the WORK of denying ourselves so as to overcome our passions and inclinations, is only successful when we also lean on Christ for strength and grace.  The same is true when we are seeking to “carry the crosses” and suffering which has been dealt to us.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”  (Phil. 4:13).  

Lastly, I would like to point out this idea of the “Theology of the Body” that St. John Paul II really brought to the forefront.  It is the teaching about our sexuality.  But at the core of it all is the truth that our bodies and souls are intimately connected.  We CANNOT disconnect the two. When we are UN-disciplined in physical manners, our soul is in chaos, and vice versa.

Personally, I have always struggled with practicing self-control in the area of over-eating.  My journey with food is a long story.  I am an emotional eater.  In college, it really got out of control and I did gain a lot of weight.  After graduation, I was preparing for marriage and a wedding, and I still could not get my eating habits under control.  My self-esteem and self-worth were shot and honestly, I did not like the way I looked even for my own wedding.  After I got married, I knew in my heart that I needed to work on getting things under control.  It was such an interior battle for me.  I knew the work of losing weight was going to be difficult and I was very scared of failing, so I never really tried.  There have been so many nights where I would binge-eat and think to myself, “I just don’t care right now.”  I kept ignoring all the voices in my heart crying out, and I wanted to drown them out with food.  And my reasons for ever wanting to lose weight were pretty vain, too.  I wanted to look a certain way and fit into a certain size.

It wasn’t until I attended a Women of the Word session where the sin of gluttony was discussed.  Never before had I ever once thought that my eating habits were sinful.  For some reason, I had really been blinded by the fact that my struggle with food was a spiritual battle above all else.  That was about two years ago.  I did begin to take the sin into the confessional now, but the knowledge of my eating habits being sinful probably caused me to ignore the problem even more.  And, adding a second pregnancy to it all, too, I had many excuses to not watch my self-control.  

I ended up having quite a healthy pregnancy and not a lot of weight gain.  But again, I was faced with the reality that this was going to be such a difficult interior battle of my will.  I love food so much!  And I was really quite ashamed sometimes that I chose food over Jesus, over facing my own weaknesses, over my health, and over my family, really.  My husband and two children need me to be healthy, spiritually and emotionally.  

I finally got the motivation this past spring to embark on the journey toward self-control and facing the sin of gluttony head on.  Lent was beautiful.  I had decided to only wear skirts and dresses during Lent, and this impacted my heart tremendously.  I learned a lot about femininity, and I think something un-seen happened in my heart.  Christ transformed my self-esteem.  I really began to know in the depth of my soul that my worth as a woman had nothing to do with my physical appearance but everything to do with my heart and my ability to be vulnerable before the Lord.

I started a “program” the day after Easter.  It was focused on self-control and eating good, “clean”, healthy food.  So I followed the regimen.  There were so many nights (because that’s when I tend to eat the most) where there was a huge battle going on in my soul.  I wanted pasta!  I wanted cookies!  Instead, I would choose to practice self-control.  I would pray mentally to the Lord.  I would unite myself to His grace as I really understood the battle I was in in mortifying my flesh and earthly desires.  I really attribute my success to His grace that is available during the Easter season.  He wanted me to have life and not be a slave to food anymore.  I just so happened to say “yes” to grace at the right moment and allowed Christ to walk with me as I learned self-control.

So, here I am, 25 lbs lighter.  I am healthy and feel great.  But it really has nothing to do with how I look.  I can honestly say that I really am no longer a slave to gluttony.  I know this will be a life-long battle, but the victory is Christ’s!  He has set me free.  But I had to put in the work of mortifying myself first.  I had to allow Him to help me carry this cross, I had to undergo the ugly battle of becoming so weak and so dependent on Him.  It was not, and still is not, “easy”.  But it is possible through Christ!