Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
What is the Immaculate Conception?
Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - a holy day of obligation - so please make it to Mass today!
What is the Immaculate Conception about? Many mistakenly think that this feast is about the miraculous virgin conception of Jesus, but it is actually about the conception of his mother, Mary.
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about this dogma:
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with thee gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immmune from all stain of original sin.
492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son." The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love."
By the grace of God and the merits of her Son, Mary was free of Original Sin and personal sin her whole life long. How can this be? Here is a great explanation from Catholics United for the Faith.
The basic gist though is to prepare a worthy dwelling place for his Son and by the merits of his Son, God gave Mary the grace of being free of Original Sin and all personal sin. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). Remember God is outside of time, so he can apply the graces won for us on the cross by Jesus to his Mother even before Jesus is conceived. The Church Fathers would explain it in the following manner: If I have fallen in a hole and a man comes by and pulls me out then he has saved me from the hole. If I am standing at the edge of the hole and a man comes by and prevents me from falling into it then he has also saved me from the hole. Such is the case here - Mary was about to fall in but Jesus saved her from it before she fell in - so Mary can also sing "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1: 46-47). Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Just as in the Old Covenant God's word, the Ten Commandments, dwelt in the Ark, so in the New Covenant, God's Word, the Word made flesh, dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception. Many misunderstandably think that Catholics worship Mary, but the reality is no, we don't worship her. Worship is due to God alone. However, we do honor Mary as the Mother of our Lord and recognize the indispensable role that she has played in salvation history. She is the Mother of God and our Mother. Just as Jesus gave Mary to John the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross, "Son, behold your Mother", so has he given her to all he has redeemed.
Mary is my mother and I give thanks to God today for the graces he has bestowed on her and the great faith she expressed in saying yes to him - "Be it done unto me according to Thy word!"
Read more about this dogma and its biblical consistency here and here.
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about this dogma:
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with thee gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immmune from all stain of original sin.
492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son." The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love."
By the grace of God and the merits of her Son, Mary was free of Original Sin and personal sin her whole life long. How can this be? Here is a great explanation from Catholics United for the Faith.
The basic gist though is to prepare a worthy dwelling place for his Son and by the merits of his Son, God gave Mary the grace of being free of Original Sin and all personal sin. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). Remember God is outside of time, so he can apply the graces won for us on the cross by Jesus to his Mother even before Jesus is conceived. The Church Fathers would explain it in the following manner: If I have fallen in a hole and a man comes by and pulls me out then he has saved me from the hole. If I am standing at the edge of the hole and a man comes by and prevents me from falling into it then he has also saved me from the hole. Such is the case here - Mary was about to fall in but Jesus saved her from it before she fell in - so Mary can also sing "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1: 46-47). Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Just as in the Old Covenant God's word, the Ten Commandments, dwelt in the Ark, so in the New Covenant, God's Word, the Word made flesh, dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception. Many misunderstandably think that Catholics worship Mary, but the reality is no, we don't worship her. Worship is due to God alone. However, we do honor Mary as the Mother of our Lord and recognize the indispensable role that she has played in salvation history. She is the Mother of God and our Mother. Just as Jesus gave Mary to John the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross, "Son, behold your Mother", so has he given her to all he has redeemed.
Mary is my mother and I give thanks to God today for the graces he has bestowed on her and the great faith she expressed in saying yes to him - "Be it done unto me according to Thy word!"
Read more about this dogma and its biblical consistency here and here.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
All Generations Will Call Me Blessed
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| Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Fra Angelico |
Mary is the greatest of all creatures, being preserved from the stain of all sin by God's grace that she may be the Ark of the New Covenant in bearing the Son of God, Jesus Christ. She alone has this unique role in salvation history to be the Mother of the King. As Dr. Hahn mentions in his book about Our Lady, in ancient times, those who ruled kingdoms were the King and the Queen Mother. The queen was not the wife of the king but rather was his mother. Throughout Scripture there are many instances that foreshadow Mary's queenly role or point directly to it. When we honor Our Lady Jesus is immensely pleased. As St. Louis de Montfort said, "We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor Him all the more perfectly." Jesus loves his Mother who has also become our Mother by grace. Because of her 'yes' to the Holy Spirit, the Lord came into the world to save us from our misery. Mary always points us to her Son - her final words in Scripture even being "Do whatever He tells you." Tota pulchra Maria - you are all beautiful Mary - how appropriate that the Lord would bestow such beauty upon her and crown her as the Queen Mother. Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us.
"...at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir...I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations..." - Psalm 45
"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 will call me blessed..." - Luke 1:46-48
More reading on Mary's Queenship:
Knowing Mary Through the Bible: Mary's Queenship in Revelation 12
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