Posted on 05/15/2014 3:24:29 PM PDT by NYer
When I ponder what it means for Mary to be the mother of God incarnate, one of the most astounding aspects is the role she played in shaping Jesus’s human prayer. Yes, in the heights of His soul Jesus beheld the Father as clearly as the angels in heaven; but as a child, “He learns the formulas of prayer from his mother. . .He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people” (CCC 2599). When Jesus entrusted the Church to Mary at the Cross (Jn. 19:26-27; Rev. 12:17), He extended her motherhood to His entire Mystical Body. She became, in an utterly unique way (next to her Son, of course), the Church’s great instructor in prayer. I think we see this most especially in the Rosary, and the way it mirrors the prayer times Mary and Jesus shared as devout Jews.
As faithful Jews, Jesus and Mary stopped three times each day to pray together. They recited Israel’s creed, the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. . . .” (Deut. 6:4–9, 11:13–21; Num. 15:37–41). They also prayed the Eighteen Benedictions, a beautiful, comprehensive tapestry of praise and petition. And between those times of prayer, as Mary went about the business of the day, she pondered the words of the Torah and the Prophets that she had heard in the synagogue and discussed with Jesus and Joseph. Through her meditation the Holy Spirit planted the words of Scripture so deeply in Mary’s heart that they naturally permeated her spontaneous prayer (see 1 Sam. 2:1-8 and Lk. 1:46-55) Most importantly, Mary’s heart was fixed upon her Son’s every word and action, contemplating the divine condescension to which she was exposed on a daily basis and how the covenants with Abraham, Moses and David were all reaching their fulfillment in Jesus. Mary’s prayer, so intimately united to the prayer of her Son, is the most beautiful imaginable – and that is what the Holy Spirit wants to give you and me in the Rosary!
You see, in the New Covenant, the magnificent prayer of God’s people has been brought to new heights. Jesus commanded His disciples to pray the Our Father. Its seven petitions encapsulate all others – the Eighteen Benedictions included (CCC 2767). And when it is prayed slowly, with the proper awe and love expressed in the words, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” it can encapsulate all blessing and thanksgiving as well. Further, the revelation of God’s oneness constantly confessed by the Jewish people in the Shema, has been completed by Jesus’ revelation of the Trinity and our confession of it in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds and our making the Sign of the Cross (the Creed in miniature) each time we prayer. All of this, and more, is present when we pray the Rosary.
We also join Mary’s contemplation of her Son – contemplating Him in the light of Scripture. We invoke her intercession, softly praying the words of Scripture (the Hail Mary – Lk. 1:28, 42-43), as we mediate upon the mysteries of her and Jesus’ lives, narrated in the gospels. As we think and rethink the evangelists’ inspired words, the Holy Spirit blesses us with deeper understanding of their significance and calls us, as He did Mary, to ever more profound discipleship. We complete our meditation on each mystery with the Glory Be – even more Scripture (Lk. 2:14; Matt. 28:19; Rev. 1:8). It’s such an amazing reflection of our Lady’s prayer life!
Pope St. John Paul II called Mary’s meditation, “the ‘rosary’ which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life;” and he invited us to join her: “With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11; 1). Is it any wonder that when our Blessed Mother has been sent to earth – as at Lourdes and Fatima – she beseeches us to pray the Rosary? It is one of the most important ways she nourishes and instructs the children entrusted to her by Jesus, at the Cross. It is one of the main ways she cooperates with the Holy Spirit to mother the Body as she did our Head!
I didn’t say that every word in the gospel is TRUE ABOUT ME.
I said that everything in the gospel has a meaning that is relevant for me.
You are obviously determined to impose a negative, or preposterous meaning on what I said, even to the point of falsely reporting what I said.
thank you NYer for posting
God speaks and still does through, through His inpired word.
Thanks to Mary’s help, Luke was able to devote the first two chapters of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke to the infancy/childhood of Jesus.
Your opinion and your opinon only.
I agree with most of what you posted. That doesn’t make the falsehoods true.
“I said that everything in the gospel has a meaning that is relevant for me.”
So your chosen hermeneutic is not what God wrote, but what you think it means to you.
Actually, the point is that it should have nothing to do with opinion. God said what He said - and no more. When you take away from what He inspired or add to what He inspired, you distort it.
No. Once again, you have taken the opportunity to put the most negative construction on what I said. But deliberately putting a negative construction on another’s words is not rational argument.
By “me” I meant all human beings who read the gospel.
I was not referring to my private interpretation. I was referring to the objective intention of the author of the gospel. HE did not put anything into the gospel that would not be of spiritual significance to every reader of the gospel.
If the reported exchange about Mary and John was only about Mary and John’s relationship, and not about Mary’s relationship to every human being, then it would not be in the gospel.
“I was not referring to my private interpretation. I was referring to the objective intention of the author of the gospel. HE did not put anything into the gospel that would not be of spiritual significance to every reader of the gospel.”
And that is just the point. God, who inspired the writer, objectively used real Greek words and sentences to communicate exactly what He wanted. Not whatever meaning you bring to it.
“If the reported exchange about Mary and John was only about Mary and John’s relationship, and not about Mary’s relationship to every human being, then it would not be in the gospel.”
This is clearly false. It was important to God to communicate what Christ did in regards to Mary and John. What isn’t there is what you claimed. It says absolutely nothing about Mary’s “relationship with every human being.”
well....no. can't speak for everyone. As you said, agree to disagree. Might want to recant that.
The message to me is not: Go hang yourself.
The message is: Don’t betray Jesus, and don’t commit the sin of despair.
How’s that? Reasonable?
....................... It's a good start Arthur.
It is also there because it is the fulfillment of prophecy, concerning the validation of Christ as Messiah.
“The message to me is not: Go hang yourself.”
Now, explain why you think you have the correct message here - that it doesn’t apply to what you are to do? But in the case of Mary and John, you want to make that specific action apply to you. Why? On what basis of Biblical hermeneutics is that rational?
Did Jesus tell Judas to betray Him? Did Jesus tell Judas to hang himself?
“Did Jesus tell Judas to betray Him? Did Jesus tell Judas to hang himself?”
Not in inspired Scripture.
I saw what you did there. :^’)
Not in inspired Scripture.
Well, actually...
Jesus said to him (Judas), “What you are going to do, do quickly.” John 13:27
;->
That was pretty good. He did tell Judas that.
I do not recall the precise apocryphal writing which aMPU was otherwise slyly referring to...but those sort of works were known to have provided some conceptual "leakage" into the wider commentaries, over the centuries. One version has Judas as some crucial figure who was cooperative -- like -- he was just "playing at" or acting as if he was betraying Christ with the story being presented as it all being part of a larger setting of "holy theatre".
Something along those lines was in some false Gospel or another...I forget which one.
Had Judas repented, I believe he would have had a very moving testimony of God’s love and mercy. His experience shows how satan can oppress someone (or even posses someone) to the point they will lose all hope and commit suicide.
Condemnation will kill you if you don’t repent and get cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.
Way off topic. Sorry for the digression.
He did say that, but I believe it was connected to judas’ betrayal, as Christ foretold. But you’re sharp!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.