Thursday, September 8, 2016

Thought Log 4: More Mary and Me

As I have pursued a relationship with our Blessed Mother over the past few years I have found myself patiently waiting for her to help me discover her true significance.  I remember at the beginning while I was in Mexico not understanding fully why so much emphasis seemed to be placed on Mary, and the temptation was to leave her on the side while I pursue Jesus.  What could be wrong with that?  I mean I would still be pursuing Jesus so what would the problem be?  I do not mean to discredit her at all, or push her out entirely, but to just leave her comfortably on the side and acknowledge her from time to time and I would be fine.

However, one day I had this thought: "if Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth, as we say in the 5th glorious mystery, would not a queen wield some form of authority?"  It was this thought which would put Mary back in the front right next to Jesus where she ultimately belongs.  I had no idea if this thought was correct or not, but I felt it bore some more thought and research.

I had a conversation with my dear friend, Jonathan, one day, in which he educated me about the history of the queen mother in Jewish history.  You can read all about this in the book of Kings.  You see, in there, they give a litany of the kings of Israel and with each king they list his mother as well.  The point of this was, since polygamy was accepted, it was impossible to decide who the queen was based on the kings spouse.  Therefore, it was settled that his mother would be the queen.  The image then foreshadowed in the old testament is that Jesus as the King would have his mother as the Queen.  This insight really blew me away!

I have heard a response many times by Catholic theologians in response to the question of, "why do Catholics pray to Mary?"  The answers given though always left me a little short handed, like there is more to the answer then is usually told.  I will not judge if this is the intention of the apologist, and will err on the side that it is not, but usually they boil the answer down to we don't pray to Mary, we ask Mary to pray for us to her Son, Jesus.  Much like we do to any of the other saints.  And because she is the mother of God, her petition bears more weight.  I am not denying any of that statement, but wondering if there isn't more to it.

St. Thomas explained that God alone do we adore.  And to man we give honor which he called dulia, but to Mary he said we give "hyper dulia."  She is honored more than any other creature made by God.  And precisely because God has honored her more than any other because she bore His Son, Jesus.  She faithfully followed the will of God everyday of her life as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states.  No other creature can make that same claim.

St. Maximilian Kolbe said that the union between the Holy Spirit was so close that we can't understand it.  The only thing that comes close to an equivalent union is the hypostatic union itself (the mystery that Jesus was both fully God and fully man at the same time).  They are of course two entirely different things, but sheds light on the closeness of the Mary to the Holy Spirit.  It's an incredible statement to be sure!

I picked up this quote the other day while reading the encyclical letter "Ad Caeli Reginam" by Pope Pius XII, "Let all Christians, therefore, rejoice in being subjects of the Virgin Mother of God, who, while wielding royal power, is on fire with a mother's love."  There it was in the letter: "wielding royal power."  She must carry some authority granted to her by God.  Her place is not just a mere petitioner, not meant to be on the sidelines of our faith life, but right up there with Jesus side by side!

Today we celebrate the Blessed Virgin's birthday, and I have never been so joyful to celebrate it as I have been today.  This morning in the liturgy of the hours, during morning prayer, the second antiphon really blew me away. "When the most holy Virgin was born, the whole world was made radiant; blessed is the branch and blessed is the stem that bore such holy fruit."  Again such a strong statement that the whole world was made radiant at Mary's birth!

And finally, when I read the reading today in morning prayer, I read it as if the prophet Isaiah was prophesying the words of Mary herself and found it very profound:

Isaiah 61:10;
"I rejoice heartily in the Lord,
in my God is the joy of my soul.
For He has clothed me with a robe of salvation,
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels."

Happy Birthday to our Blessed Mother Mary!  May she ever guide us to her Son and protect us from all harm.

1 comment:

  1. David, You can't get any closer to our Blessed Mother than to read her own words in the 4 Volume book The Mystical City of God. So great are these books, that I have read them twice and going on a third. Its like being present as a bystander throughout the entirety of Creation. Jim

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