Posted on 11/28/2013 12:33:26 PM PST by annalex
II. MARY, MOTHER OF EVANGELIZATION
284. With the Holy Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people. She joined the disciples in praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14) and thus made possible the missionary outburst which took place at Pentecost. She is the Mother of the Church which evangelizes, and without her we could never truly understand the spirit of the new evangelization.
285. On the cross, when Jesus endured in his own flesh the dramatic encounter of the sin of the world and God’s mercy, he could feel at his feet the consoling presence of his mother and his friend. At that crucial moment, before fully accomplishing the work which his Father had entrusted to him, Jesus said to Mary: “Woman, here is your son”. Then he said to his beloved friend: “Here is your mother” (Jn 19:26-27). These words of the dying Jesus are not chiefly the expression of his devotion and concern for his mother; rather, they are a revelatory formula which manifests the mystery of a special saving mission. Jesus left us his mother to be our mother. Only after doing so did Jesus know that “all was now finished” (Jn 19:28). At the foot of the cross, at the supreme hour of the new creation, Christ led us to Mary. He brought us to her because he did not want us to journey without a mother, and our people read in this maternal image all the mysteries of the Gospel. The Lord did not want to leave the Church without this icon of womanhood. Mary, who brought him into the world with great faith, also accompanies “the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev 12:17). The close connection between Mary, the Church and each member of the faithful, based on the fact that each in his or her own way brings forth Christ, has been beautifully expressed by Blessed Isaac of Stella: “In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense of the virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense of the Virgin Mary... In a way, every Christian is also believed to be a bride of God’s word, a mother of Christ, his daughter and sister, at once virginal and fruitful... Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell forever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul”.[212]
286. Mary was able to turn a stable into a home for Jesus, with poor swaddling clothes and an abundance of love. She is the handmaid of the Father who sings his praises. She is the friend who is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of all, she is a sign of hope for peoples suffering the birth pangs of justice. She is the missionary who draws near to us and accompanies us throughout life, opening our hearts to faith by her maternal love. As a true mother, she walks at our side, she shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love. Through her many titles, often linked to her shrines, Mary shares the history of each people which has received the Gospel and she becomes a part of their historic identity. Many Christian parents ask that their children be baptized in a Marian shrine, as a sign of their faith in her motherhood which brings forth new children for God. There, in these many shrines, we can see how Mary brings together her children who with great effort come as pilgrims to see her and to be seen by her. Here they find strength from God to bear the weariness and the suffering in their lives. As she did with Juan Diego, Mary offers them maternal comfort and love, and whispers in their ear: “Let your heart not be troubled… Am I not here, who am your Mother?”[213]
Star of the new evangelization
287. We ask the Mother of the living Gospel to intercede that this invitation to a new phase of evangelization will be accepted by the entire ecclesial community. Mary is the woman of faith, who lives and advances in faith,[214] and “her exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant point of reference for the Church”.[215] Mary let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit on a journey of faith towards a destiny of service and fruitfulness. Today we look to her and ask her to help us proclaim the message of salvation to all and to enable new disciples to become evangelizers in turn.[216] Along this journey of evangelization we will have our moments of aridity, darkness and even fatigue. Mary herself experienced these things during the years of Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth: “This is the beginning of the Gospel, the joyful good news. However, it is not difficult to see in that beginning a particular heaviness of heart, linked with a sort of night of faith – to use the words of Saint John of the Cross – a kind of ‘veil’ through which one has to draw near to the Invisible One and to live in intimacy with the mystery. And this is the way that Mary, for many years, lived in intimacy with the mystery of her Son, and went forward in her pilgrimage of faith”.[217]
288. There is a Marian “style” to the Church’s work of evangelization. Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves. Contemplating Mary, we realize that she who praised God for “bringing down the mighty from their thrones” and “sending the rich away empty” (Lk 1:52-53) is also the one who brings a homely warmth to our pursuit of justice. She is also the one who carefully keeps “all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Mary is able to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small. She constantly contemplates the mystery of God in our world, in human history and in our daily lives. She is the woman of prayer and work in Nazareth, and she is also Our Lady of Help, who sets out from her town “with haste” (Lk 1:39) to be of service to others. This interplay of justice and tenderness, of contemplation and concern for others, is what makes the ecclesial community look to Mary as a model of evangelization. We implore her maternal intercession that the Church may become a home for many peoples, a mother for all peoples, and that the way may be opened to the birth of a new world. It is the Risen Christ who tells us, with a power that fills us with confidence and unshakeable hope: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5). With Mary we advance confidently towards the fulfilment of this promise, and to her we pray:
Mary, Virgin and Mother,
you who, moved by the Holy Spirit,
welcomed the word of life
in the depths of your humble faith:
as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One,
help us to say our own “yes”
to the urgent call, as pressing as ever,
to proclaim the good news of Jesus.
Filled with Christ’s presence,
you brought joy to John the Baptist,
making him exult in the womb of his mother.
Brimming over with joy,
you sang of the great things done by God.
Standing at the foot of the cross
with unyielding faith,
you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection,
and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit
so that the evangelizing Church might be born.
Obtain for us now a new ardour born of the resurrection,
that we may bring to all the Gospel of life
which triumphs over death.
Give us a holy courage to seek new paths,
that the gift of unfading beauty
may reach every man and woman.
Virgin of listening and contemplation,
Mother of love, Bride of the eternal wedding feast,
pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are,
that she may never be closed in on herself
or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom.
Star of the new evangelisation,
help us to bear radiant witness to communion,
service, ardent and generous faith,
justice and love of the poor,
that the joy of the Gospel
may reach to the ends of the earth,
illuminating even the fringes of our world.
Mother of the living Gospel,
wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones,
pray for us.
Amen. Alleluia!
- - - -
[212] ISAAC OF STELLA, Sermo 51: PL 194, 1863, 1865.
[213] Nican Mopohua, 118-119.
[214] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 52-69.
[215] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987), 6: AAS 79 (1987), 366-367.
[216] Cf. Propositio 58.
[217] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987), 17: AAS 79 (1987), 381.
Interesting. Placing Mary in a mandorla is a bit unorthodox though. Thank you.
Thank you.
Caucus thread: don’t feed the troll.
I don't think there is a definitive teaching either way. Yes, a Catholic artist would probably not choose to show Our Lady in pain, and the director of the movie was not Catholic. You may want to read some of this marathon thread:
'The Nativity Story' Movie Problematic for Catholics, "Unsuitable" for Young Children
Note that the image of Our Lady "being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered" (Apoc. 12) does not have to be taken literally since the chapter contains much allegorical language and none historical.
Thank you for the exhaustive responses, but this is a thread closed to non-Catholics and non-Orthodox; let us not feed the troll further.
In two places in scripture, and famously once in private revelation.
First time in scripture: the Annunciation text - and the reported words of Gabriel - comes to us from Mary.
Of the two humans present at the Annunciation: she is the one who appears to have passed on the events of the Annunciation to others. ("But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart")
Second time in scripture: Mary herself directly speaks of what God has done for her in the Magnificat.
Luke 1.46:And Mary said "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,"
Here, Mary speaks of God as her Savior, but she speaks in the present tense.
She does not say "God, who will be my Savior." She has already been saved.
If we look at one of the Old Testament passages that Mary bases her words upon, we see this more clearly.
Isaiah 51.10:I I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Educated 1st Century Jews would have recognized that in echoing this passage Mary clearly considered that God had already clothed her with the garments of salvation, and covered her with the robe of righteousness. She knew that she was without sin, and thanked God for it.
Finally there is the private revelation to Bernadette Soubirous
... On March 25th, I was roused from sleep by an inner insistence to go to the grotto. It was still dark when I reached Massabielle. The Lady was there and waiting for me.
I apologised for keeping her waiting, for I had caught a cold. She smiled, I knelt down, we said the Rosary together. Then the Lady came very close to me. I told her how I loved her, and how happy I was to see her again.
"Mademoiselle," I said, "would you be so kind as to tell me who you are, if you please?" Instead of replying, she only smiled.
I said again, "Would you be so kind as to tell me who you are?" I said this four times altogether.
The Lady extended her hands towards the ground, swept them upwards to join them on her heart, raised her eyes, but not her head to Heaven, leaned tenderly towards me and said, "Que soy era Immaculada Conceptiou." She smiled at me. She disappeared. I was alone.
I did not understand the words, but I knew the Priest would. I knew also the Lady loved the Priest. Leaving my candle at the grotto, I went straight to Fr. Peyramale, saying the Lady's name to myself along the way. Father was waiting for me. I bowed and said, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Seeing his surprise, I explained, "Aquero said, 'I am the Immaculate Conception'."
The good Priest stood there stunned. Suddenly he stammered, "Do you know what that means?" I shook my head, I said " No."
"Then how can you say the words if you do not understand them?" "I repeated them all along the way," I replied, then added, "She still wants the chapel."
The Priest by now was deathly pale, but he pulled himself together, saying, "Go home now, child. I will see you another day."
Years later I learned that Father wrote to the Bishop that night, and as he wrote, his heart filled up with emotion, and his eyes filled up with tears.
Hope this was helpful.
No problem Annales: I will absent myself.
God bless.
Thank-you very, very much. :)
Your posts are welcome, and I hesitate to prevent your learned posts on the topic. From practice I know that anything at all posted about Our Lady Mother of God invites disruption and I want the Caucus designation to be respected. Anyone wishing to get questions answered is free to post a non-caucus thread and ping you, or me, or any other Catholic Freeper.
This Religion Forum thread is labeled “Cath-Orth Caucus” meaning if you are not currently, actively either Catholic or Orthodox then do not post on this thread.
Well then keep it off the general forum. I didn't go looking for this stuff. Either that or don't start whining when you're losing the argument.
If you do not wish to see Religion Forum posts, do NOT use the “everything” option on the Free Republic browse option list. Instead, browse by “News/Activism.” When you log back in, the browse will reset to “everything” - so be sure to set it back to “News/Activism.”
I did not know he was troll. I thought a mixed up lapsed Catholic. lol.
Besides, the argument was good; I regret it was pulled.
If you have questions about Mary Mother of God, please find an open thread where that would be on topic, or start your own, and ping me or agere_contra; we will be happy to answer your questions.
Troll is anyone who, having been informed of the caucus nature of the thread, continues to abuse the thread. When you posted to him, indeed the abuse was not evident.
10-4 thanks
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