Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God
She consents to God’s invitation conveyed by the angel (Luke 1:26-38).
Elizabeth proclaims: “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is
the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother
of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43, emphasis added). Mary’s
role as mother of God places her in a unique position in God’s
redemptive plan. Without naming Mary, Paul asserts that “God sent his
Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Paul’s
further statement that “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out ‘Abba, Father!’“ helps us realize that Mary is mother to all
the brothers and sisters of Jesus. Some theologians also insist that
Mary’s motherhood of Jesus is an important element in God’s creative
plan. God’s “first” thought in creating was Jesus. Jesus, the incarnate
Word, is the one who could give God perfect love and worship on behalf
of all creation. As Jesus was “first” in God’s mind, Mary was “second”
insofar as she was chosen from all eternity to be his mother. The
precise title “Mother of God” goes back at least to the third or fourth
century. In the Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer), it became the
touchstone of the Church’s teaching about the Incarnation. The Council
of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling
the holy virgin Theotokos. At the end of this particular session,
crowds of people marched through the street shouting: “Praised be the
Theotokos!” The tradition reaches to our own day. In its chapter on
Mary’s role in the Church, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times. (AmericanCatholic.org)
Results! Always looking for 'results'! You ask me for photographs, for facts and figures.
the
flesh, we no longer know him in that way" (2 Cor 5:16). Here the
Apostle does not claim that he knew Jesus during his earthly ministry,
but rather that he once considered Jesus from a merely human
standpoint. Significantly, Paul’s knowledge of Christ came from the
preaching of the early Church. Both his initial rejection of Jesus and
-- after his conversion on the road to Damascus -- his preaching of the
glorified Christ were based on the Gospel as proclaimed by the first
Christian community. In his Letters, Paul refers explicitly to the
facts of Jesus’ earthly life, as well as to his teaching. His Letters
also reflect many central themes and images drawn from the preaching of
Jesus. Paul’s teaching on the Jesus’ identity as the Son of the Father,
in whom we receive redemption and adoptive sonship, is clearly derived
from the Lord’s own experience and teaching. In a word, Paul’s
knowledge of Jesus and his proclamation of the risen Lord as God’s Son
and our Saviour, was grounded in the life and preaching of Jesus
himself.
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Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the most pure heart of Mary, I offer you all the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your divine heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I offer them especially for the Holy Father's intentions:
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Benedict's
Angelus Addresses
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Benedict's Wednesdays on Saint Paul (from July 2008)
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Benedict's addresses and documents