December Consecration Week 2

I want to summarize our readings from the first week and provide a groundwork for this next week as we read about Maximillian Kolbe.

St. Louis de Montfort encourages us to give Mary EVERYTHING, especially our merits that we win from our sacrifices and our specific prayers.  At first, we are hesitant to do this, right?  How many of us read this and was taken aback?  I WAS! But I LOVE the analogy St. Louis gives us. He says, “It is as if a peasant, wishing to gain the friendship and benevolence of the king, went to the queen and presented her with a fruit which was his whole revenue, in order that she might present it to the king.  The queen, having accepted the poor little offering from the peasant, would place the fruit on a large and beautiful dish of gold, and so, on the peasant’s behalf, would present it to the king.  Then the fruit, however unworthy in itself to be a king’s present, would become worthy of his majesty because of the dish of gold on which it rested and the person who presented.”

Mary is never outdone in generosity.  When we give her our trust and our whole heart, she is going to take care of us and our loved ones, well beyond anything that we can imagine or pray for!

But I want to focus on this point that Mary is able to take the good things we give them and make them more perfect.  What is it about Mary that makes her able to perfect our offerings? SHE IS FREE FROM SIN.  Her soul is pure, beautiful, and free from the stain of sin; free from the stain of selfish motives, half-hearted prayers.  So, when she presents us and our intentions to God, God is pleased with them because he is pleased by her humility.  She is free from sin because of her Immaculate Conception.  Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin.  Once again, Mary is free from sin.  She never sinned.  But she was still a creature, subject to emotions and temptations, the difference is she just always chose to follow God perfectly.

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.  Many people think this refers to Christ’s conception in the Virginal womb of Mary; but indeed it refers to MARY who was conceived naturally by her parents, Anne and Joachim.  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).  

With the Original sin by Adam and Eve, our human nature tends toward sin. That first sin also lost grace, which was then won for us on the Cross by Jesus.  He opened up the floodgates of grace, which is help from God to be like Him. Sin and grace do not exist with each other; when we sin, we lose grace.  St. Paul says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound? By no means!...For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:1-2, 14). So if Mary is full of grace, then there is no room in her soul for sin. This points to, really, the great mercy of God!  In her Magnificat, Mary’s says, “My soul rejoices in God my Savior”.  “To save men from their sins is a great mercy, but to save one woman from ever sinning is an even greater mercy.  Not only that, sinless as she was...she was still a member of a fallen race, a race to which heaven was closed.  The Savior’ redeeming act opened heaven up for her as well.” (F.J. Sheed).  

Mary was kept sinless so that Christ could dwell in her.  She was the first Tabernacle, destined to hold God-made man.  And the Holy Spirit, also God, would overshadow her and impregnate her.  She was a worthy dwelling for both the Christ and the Spirit as she was free from sin.  

Fr. Gaitley briefly mentions that Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France and proclaimed “I am the Immaculate Conception”.  I want to give you the brief story of St. Bernadette and this apparition. Bernadette Soubirous was a poor 14 year old girl in France when she received visions of a woman dressed in white with a blue sash around her waist.  This woman spoke of the importance of prayer for sinner and penitence of behalf of sinners.  The townspeople thought Bernadette was crazy; even her parish priest had a hard time believing her.  Eventually, this woman appeared to Bernadette and asked her to unearth a very live, powerful spring underneath the Earth.  Still, people thought she was mad. At one apparition in particular, Bernadette asked this woman her name (b/c that’s how poor and uneducated Bernadette was, she didn’t even know to think it was Mary) and that is when the woman said, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. This teaching was declared by the Pope only four years earlier, so there is no way that Bernadette could’ve known the depth and significance of Mary being referred to as the Immaculate Conception.  When she took this to her parish priest, he wept, because he knew, he had no doubt, that it was Mary.

So this is where St. Maximilian is coming from - this is a very new teaching to the Church in his time, and it blows him away to think about it and dwell upon it.  He committed his whole life to meditating on it.  And that's what we'll read about from days 8 through 14!

Angelic Sweetness

To say that Mary exhibits an “angelic sweetness” denotes a “sweetness like the angels”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines an angel as “A spiritual, personal and immortal creature, with intelligence and free will, who glorifies God without ceasing and who serves God as a messenger of his saving plan.” So, angels are spirits.  They have no bodies, and they reside in heaven.  Their sole purpose and job in the Kingdom of God is to glorify God without ceasing and to serve as God’s messenger.  TO GLORIFY GOD WITHOUT CEASING AND TO SERVE AS GOD’S MESSENGER.  Hmmm...remind you of someone?!  Ok, so we have the “angelic” part down a bit.

What is “sweetness”?  When we think of “sweet” we think of cake or cookies that TASTE sweet.  Sweetness then is associated with a feeling of satisfaction or joy.  Or, for me, when I think of sweetness, I think of my beautiful little girl, Clara.  She is just so dang sweet!  Those moments throughout the day when we are interacting together and she just gives a look, or does a certain thing (usually goo-goos and ga-gas) and I just think to myself that she is pure sweetness.  I mean, really, words cannot describe that feeling of DELIGHTING in my daughter’s sweetness.  I think we have all experienced that.  We all have seen a baby, interacted with a baby, and we experience pure sweetness when we do!  They have such an innocence to life.  They seem to marvel at the littlest things.  Going for a walk with a young child proves this point.  They stop so many times.  Every stick is fascinating.  “Oo! A rock Mommy!  Let me throw every little rock and watch how far they can go”.  They are in awe of the details of life.  

Have you seen those pictures and little statues of the babies who are also angels?!  I remember my grandmother loved them, my aunts all loved them.  They’re adorable!  Or the Precious Moments Angels?!  Ah!  I could spend so much time perusing Hallmark when I was a little girl, adoring all those statues!  Talk about Angelic Sweetness!  Putting babies AND angels TOGETHER?!  We love it, don’t we?!  I mean, I googl’ed Precious Moments and I had to fight every bone in my body not to sit on the computer for hours “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” over these adorable things!  I just couldn’t get enough.  
 

What does all this have to teach us about Mary’s Angelic Sweetness?  There is something so beautiful, so attractive, so compelling about innocence.  And Mary was innocent.  We’ve learned already that she’s free from sin, she’s pure in every sense of the word.  She is innocent.  

We can “ooh” and “awe” over Mary.  We can look on her with awe, we can look at her and be filled with satisfaction and delight FOR SHE IS GOD’S MASTERPIECE. People may object and say, “We can’t be in awe of Mary, she is not God.”  But when we are impressed with a piece of art, are we not in awe of the ARTIST who CREATED the masterpiece?  God created her without sin, God made her “full of grace”, God chose to make His dwelling place INSIDE OF HER.  She is the first tabernacle, but better yet, she is the first cathedral!  When we all enter beautiful churches, aren’t our breaths taken away?  When we look upon Mary, when we gaze upon her Angelic Sweetness and contemplate it, we are admiring God’s creation.  We are, ultimately, in awe of Him.  
 

Many, many saints will attribute this.  Mary is a marvelous creature, a beautiful soul.  God delights in her.  Here are two Scripture verses that the church uses in her celebration of her feast days:

Psalm 45:11-12 “Listen my daughter and understand pay me careful heed.  Forget your people and you father’s house, that the king might desire your beauty.”

Song of Songs 2:13-14 “Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come...let me see you, let me hear your voice.  For your voice is sweet and you are lovely.”  

Have you ever imagined Mary walking about her daily life?  Or Jesus for that matter?  If we take all that we’ve learned about Mary, that she’s free from sin and all it’s effects, that she was a perpetual virgin, that she was obedient, humble, patient, etc, what would we imagine her like?  Her mannerisms, her way of walking and talking, speaking to Jesus and Joseph.  I just find it so lovely to sit and imagine these things.  And I imagine she was just SWEET. There was a joy about her, yes, I’m sure.  But a sweetness, too, that made people maybe just want to look upon her, observe her.  Oh gosh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to just observe Our Lady, interacting everyday with Jesus?!  Talk about satisfaction and delight!

I think her virtue of Angelic Sweetness does have to do with how she carried herself, how she interacted with others.  But, every outside action of Mary’s was motivated by her inward beauty.  A beauty that the King desired.
I would like to look at 3 more Scripture verses that can teach us more about Angelic Sweetness, and we can impose what we already know about Mary and see how these verses apply to her.

The first is 1 Samuel 16:6-7, "As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed is here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart."  Samuel has the task of finding God's anointed one to be the next great leader of Israel.  Jesse has many sons, some who are incredibly strong and seem fit for the job.  But it's not outward appearances that matter; it's the heart. 

Keeping that in mind, let's look at the next verse from Psalm 34:2-6, 9 : "I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be always in my mouth. My soul will glory in the LORD; let the poor hear and be glad. Magnify the LORD with me; and let us exalt his name together.  I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my fears. Look to him and be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush for shame. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him."  Do you see how this could be Mary speaking here?  Doesn't it sound quite familiar, like the Magnificat?  God's praises were always in her heart; she glorified him in all things.  You could go line by line and apply it to her.  But I love verse 6, "Look to him that you might be radiant with joy".  I think that "sweetness" and "radiant with joy" could almost be synonymous here. 

Finally, Psalm 105:1-6, "Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the peoples his deeds! Sing praise to him, play music; proclaim all his wondrous deeds! Glory in his holy name;

let hearts that seek the LORD rejoice! Seek out the LORD and his might; constantly seek his face. Recall the wondrous deeds he has done, his wonders and words of judgment, You descendants of Abraham his servant, offspring of Jacob the chosen one!"  Again, this has many similarities to Mary's Magnificat.  I think that her Angelic Sweetness comes from her ability to give thanks to God so often.  But the verse that I want to highlight here is, "constantly seek his face". 

 

For me, what I get from these verses, is that first, our hearts are what will make us “sweet”.  Don’t we desire to be sweet?  There are many times that I long for the days when I was an innocent child.  I desire so much to see myself as a child before the Lord.  Being “sweet” and imitating Mary’s Angelic Sweetness is not about always having a nice, content, sweet look on your face.  Any radiance that might shine forth from our physical appearance will only come through if our hearts are equally radiant.  

 

And what does the Psalms teach us?  LOOK TO GOD that you might be radiant with joy.  The biggest thing I am learning about this virtue is that it only comes from PRAYER.  

 

We’ve been studying Mary for some while (or you’re new to us from the retreat!).  So many, many times I am tempted to think that I CANT be like Mary.  BUT WE CAN.  Right here in our scripture verses it tells us!  We must “constantly” seek his face.  We must look to Him.  We must make the state of our hearts pleasing TO HIM.  It’s possible ladies!  Just this week, I’ve been aware that somehow, out of nowhere, I think I’ve changed.  I’m noticing that I really am growing in virtue.  It’s a little easier to take up my daily crosses of endless, monotonous responsibilities.  I’m not moaning and groaning as much as I used to.  I noticed I’ve changed in the way I interact with my husband.  I really do think I am more patient with him and more sweet with him.  Slowly, over these past 9 weeks, I’ve said yes to grace at probably just a few moments, and Mary has done wonders with the little I’ve given her!  She certainly has been “sweet” with how much grace she has given me!

 

I think in order to grow in this virtue of Angelic Sweetness, we must grow in prayer, we must gaze upon his face.  We must frequent Adoration and Mass more often.  There’s no way around it.  We must.  

 

Second, we must get rid of anger.  We must let go and we must forgive.  We cannot regain innocence in our heart if we are holding onto anger.  This is a rough process, I know, but it is very pivotal for those of us who are new to this journey, or who are starting over in this journey.

 

Last, we must serve the poor.  Psalm 34:2-4 says, “ will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be always in my mouth. My soul will glory in the LORD; let the poor hear and be glad. Magnify the LORD with me; and let us exalt his name together." We must bring glad tidings to the poor.  When I was praying about and thinking about this virtue for the past couple weeks, I instantly thought of Mother Teresa.  Talk about someone who exhibited sweetness.  Other than Mary, Mother Teresa was the first to come to mind about actually living this out.  She often quoted the scripture verse, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).  Mother Teresa was so well known for her relentless, committed, faithful service to the poor and sick.  She showed up every single day to serve God’s people.  Here is a quote of hers that I love:

“Have a deep compassion for people.  To be able to have a heart full of compassion we need to pray.  Especially be kind, be loving to the poor.  We think we do so much for the poor, but it is they who make us rich.  We are in debt to them.  Do you want to do something beautiful for God?  There is a person who needs you.  This is your chance.”

 

How can we serve the poor?  This time of year, there are many "drives" to collect supplies for the poor and sick, and that's always a great place to start.  I, myself, am always so humbled when I see men and women begging on the side of the road.  I don't usually have cash on me so I automatically assume I don't have anything that I can give to them.  So, I just ignore them.  But, a dear friend of mine shared with me her experience of serving homeless veterans.  She is their landlord.  She said that they really are just so hungry for love and attention; someone who will sit and chat with them, smile at them, offer them companionship.  Now, that is something I CAN do.  I can roll down my window and say hi.  I can offer to pray for them, encourage them to have a blessed day, etc.  That is what being "sweet" is all about, I think.

Let us pray to Our Lady, Queen of the Angels, that we may share in her "sweetness" and generosity and bring Christ to all we encounter.

 

 

 

 

 

Heroic Patience

This week, we contemplated this writing from St. Alphonsus di Ligouri from "The Glories of Mary":

"This world being a place of merit, is rightly called a valley of tears; for we are all placed in it to suffer, that we may, by patience, gain our own souls unto life eternal, as our Lord Himself says, In your patience you shall possess your souls. [Luke 21 19] God gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model of all virtues, but more especially as an example of patience. St. Francis de Sales, amongst other things, remarks, that it was precisely for this reason that at the marriage-feast of Cana Jesus Christ gave the Blessed Virgin an answer, by which He seemed to value her prayers but little: Woman, what is that to thee and to Me? [John 2:4] And He did this that He might give us the example of the patience of His most holy Mother. But what need have we to seek for instances of this virtue? Mary's whole life was a continual exercise of her patience; for, as the Angel revealed to St. Bridget, "as a rose grows up amongst thorns, so did the Blessed Virgin grow up amongst tribulations." Compassion alone for the Redeemer's sufferings sufficed to make her a martyr of patience. Hence St. Bonaventure says, "that a crucified Mother conceived a crucified Son." In speaking of her dolors, we have already considered how much she suffered, both in her journey to Egypt, and during her residence there, as also during the time she lived with her Son in the house at Nazareth. What Mary endured when present at the death of Jesus on Calvary is alone sufficient to show us how constant and sublime was her patience: There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother. Then it was that precisely by the merit of her patience, as Blessed Albert the Great says, she brought us forth to the life of grace."

If we, then, wish to be the children of Mary, we must endeavor to imitate her in her patience: "For what," says St. Cyprian, "can enrich us with greater merit in this life, and greater glory in the next, than the patient enduring of sufferings?" God said, by the prophet Osee, I will hedge up thy way with thorns. [2:6] To this St. Gregory adds, that "the way of the elect is hedged with thorns." As a hedge of thorns protects a vineyard, so does God protect His servants from the danger of attaching themselves to the earth, by encompassing them with tribulations. Therefore St. Cyprian concludes that it is patience that delivers us from sin and from Hell.

It is also patience that makes Saints: Patience hath a perfect work, [James 1:4] bearing in peace, not only the crosses which come immediately from God, such as sickness, poverty, but also those which come from men---persecutions, injuries, and the rest. St. John saw all the Saints bearing palm branches---the emblem of martyrdom---in their hands; After this I saw a great multitude, and palms were in their hands; [Apoc. 7:9] thereby denoting that all adults who are saved must be martyrs, either by shedding their blood for Christ or by patience.

 "Rejoice then," exclaims St. Gregory, "we can be martyrs without the executioner's sword, if we only preserve patience." "Provided only," as St. Bernard says, "we endure the afflictions of this life with patience and joy." O what fruit will not every pain borne for God's sake produce for us in Heaven! Hence the Apostle encourages us, saying, That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. [2 Cor. 4:17]

St. Teresa's instructions on this subject are beautiful. She used to say, "Those who embrace the cross do not feel it;" and elsewhere, "that if we resolve to suffer the pain ceases." When our crosses weigh heavily upon us, let us have recourse to Mary, who is called by the Church "the Comfortress of the afflicted;" and by St. John Damascene, "the Remedy for all sorrows of the heart."

Ah, my most sweet Lady, thou who wast innocent didst suffer with so much patience; and shall I, who deserve Hell, refuse to suffer? My Mother, I now ask thee this favor---not, indeed, to be delivered from crosses, but to bear them with patience. For the love of Jesus, I entreat thee to obtain at least this grace for me from God; from thee do I hope for it with confidence."

I find it very interesting that St. Alphonsus points out that it is patience which can make us saints and martyrs!  The patient bearing of our crosses.  Suffering can have a purpose, most specifically, it CAN make us saints.  It is ironic, I know.  Many people struggle with the question of how a good God can allow bad things to happen.  At the end of the day, I really don't have an answer for that that speaks to our hearts.  I can tell you the theological answer, but I know that that does not provide comfort at times when people are in the midst of their darkest times.  But what I do know is that our Lord TOOK ON SUFFERING and from His suffering and death, came new life.  And what Christ suffered physically, Mary suffered emotionally and spiritually.  Both are martyrs who experienced sufferings unimaginable, but they embraced that suffering with patience, with a HEROIC patience.  They embraced these crosses with a sort of ease that we can only implore God to grant us. 

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.