Pope Francis incenses the altar during Mass in the Upper Room on May 26, 2014. Credit: EWTN.
Posted on 05/26/2014 12:21:12 PM PDT by NYer
.- At the conclusion of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Pope Francis focused his homily at Mass on the significance of the Upper Room, held to be the site of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' apostles.
“It is a great gift that the Lord has given us by bringing us together here in the Upper Room for the celebration of the Eucharist,” said Pope Francis on May 26 in Jerusalem.
“Here, where Jesus shared the Last Supper with the apostles; where, after his resurrection, he appeared in their midst; where the Holy Spirit descended with power upon Mary and the disciples. Here the Church was born, and was born to go forth,” he recalled.
In recognition of the significance of the holy site, Pope Francis celebrated the mass of the Holy Spirit along with the bishops of the Holy Land, noting that the Spirit’s presence is still with the Church today.
“The Church, in her going forth, preserves the memory of what took place here; the Spirit, the Paraclete, reminds her of every word and every action, and reveals their true meaning.”
Pope Francis also spoke of how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples in the Upper Room at the last supper, offering an example of “welcoming, accepting, loving and serving one another.”
He recounted how Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist with his disciples, and continues to be present in the Eucharist throughout the centuries.
“In every Eucharistic celebration Jesus offers himself for us to the Father, so that we too can be united with him, offering God our lives, our joys, and our sorrows...offering everything as a spiritual sacrifice.”
The Upper Room also offers a reminder of betrayal, the Pope noted, since the traitor Judas had been present with the others there.
Betrayal can happen “whenever we look at our brother and sister with contempt, whenever we judge them, whenever by our sins we betray Jesus,” he cautioned.
Yet the holy site is also a reminder of “sharing, fraternity, harmony and peace.”
“How much love and goodness has flowed from the Upper Room! How much charity has gone forth from here, like a river from its source, beginning as a stream and then expanding and becoming a great torrent,” he remarked.
“All the saints drew from this source; and hence the great river of the Church’s holiness continues to flow: from the Heart of Christ, from the Eucharist and from the Holy Spirit.”
The Pontiff went on to consider how the Church is like a family, “that has a mother, the Virgin Mary.”
“All God’s children, of every people and language, are invited and called to be part of this great family, as brothers and sisters and sons daughters of the one Father in heaven,” he stressed.
Pope Francis concluded his final mass in the Holy Land by praying for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
“Gathered in prayer with the Mother of Jesus, the Church lives in constant expectation of a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and renew the face of the earth!”
Ping!
Before burning me at the stake, please remember that it was Pope Francis who first referred to this verse!
The phrase doesn’t have to be in Acts 1:14. Catholics believe that Jesus was God, and Mary was his mother.
A woman is a man’s mother either if she carried him in her womb or if she was the woman contributing half of his genetic matter or both. Mary was the mother of Jesus in both of these senses; because she not only carried Jesus in her womb but also supplied all of the genetic matter for his human body, since it was through her—not Joseph—that Jesus "was descended from David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3).
Since Mary is Jesus’ mother, it must be concluded that she is also the Mother of God: If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God.
Although Mary is the Mother of God, she is not his mother in the sense that she is older than God or the source of her Son’s divinity, for she is neither. Rather, we say that she is the Mother of God in the sense that she carried in her womb a divine person—Jesus Christ, God "in the flesh" (2 John 7, cf. John 1:14)—and in the sense that she contributed the genetic matter to the human form God took in Jesus Christ.
“if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God”.
Much too hard for protestants to figure out.
Happy Memorial Day to all, nonetheless.
“...Nowhere do I read the mother of God...”
If Jesus was God, and Mary was his mother, then Mary was the mother of God. Quite simple, really, unless one doesn’t believe that Jesus was Divine.
If Jesus has two separate natures, a human nature and a divine nature, it seems logical that Mary is the mother of the human Jesus but not of the eternal God. Can I explain how one person has two natures? No, not anymore than I can explain how one God had three persons! So, I accept it by faith.
Really? We’re going to have yet another thread about whether Mary is the Mother of God?
**“Here, where Jesus shared the Last Supper with the apostles; where, after his resurrection, he appeared in their midst; where the Holy Spirit descended with power upon Mary and the disciples. Here the Church was born, and was born to go forth,” he recalled.
In recognition of the significance of the holy site, Pope Francis celebrated the mass of the Holy Spirit along with the bishops of the Holy Land, noting that the Spirit’s presence is still with the Church today.**
BTTT!
He is mistaken. The apostle Stephen in Acts 7:38 refers to the "church in the wilderness", when Moses received the law.
But that doesn't give her any special super powers, any more so than Sergeant York's mother when he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. (Watched Sergeant York on TCM this morning. Great movie. One of my favorites, Twelve O’Clock High is on tonight. One of my favs starring Gregory Peck)
Please read the Visitiation again.
Elizabeth greets Mary: “And how is this that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Then she goes on to talk about John the Baptist in her womb, leaping for joy.
These things are in the Bible for a reason.
Not really! Christians have been arguing this since the first century without coming to an agreement, so we are not going to solve the issue here. Let’s just agree to respectfully disagree.
Are you forgetting about the descent of the Holy Spirit on all in the Upper Room at Pentecost?
Or did that get taken out of your KJV Bible?
You have just resurrected a 5th century heresy known as Nestorianism. Women do not give birth to human natures; they give birth to persons. Mary thus carried and gave birth to the person of Jesus Christ, and the person she gave birth to was God.
The Nestorian claim that Mary did not give birth to the unified person of Jesus Christ attempts to separate Christ’s human nature from his divine nature, creating two separate and distinct persons—one divine and one human—united in a loose affiliation. It is therefore a Christological heresy, which even the Protestant Reformers recognized. Both Martin Luther and John Calvin insisted on Mary’s divine maternity. In fact, it even appears that Nestorius himself may not have believed the heresy named after him. Further, the "Nestorian" church has now signed a joint declaration on Christology with the Catholic Church and recognizes Mary’s divine maternity, just as other Christians do.
The hypostatic union of Christ’s two natures is the issue here. No one can explain and it and no one expects you to. However, Mary is still the mother of God since Jesus isn’t split into two parts. Mary gave Jesus his human nature and the Holy Spirit gave Jesus His divine nature. Since Jesus is truly man and truly God, and Mary is his mother, Mary is also the mother of God. This does not make her a God herself, and the concept is perfectly benign and not should not cause issues.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
First of all, Stephen was a deacon, not an apostle. The apostles, the first bishops of the Church, appointed deacons to assist them (Acts 6). Stephen, one of these deacons, was executed for his faith and so became the proto-martyr of the Church.
The author of the Book of Acts was Luke. Luke-Acts seamlessly connects the life of Jesus to the lives of the early Apostles after the resurrection. The gospel of Luke is about what Jesus "began to do and teach." (Acts 1:1) But Acts is about what Jesus continued to do and teach through the lives of his followers. Acts highlights the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and illustrates that Christianity is not an offense to Roman law or custom.
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.