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The Couples for Christ is bringing more couples closer and dearer to Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In my parish alone, there is a great transformation. More and more husbands are coming to church with their families and so many are getting married in church during the CLPs. I encourage all Cathjolic couples to join
this movement.
-- Fr. Damaso Argel of St. Joseph Parish, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
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Letters of Aquila and Priscilla
Posted by: CamoteQ on Saturday, May 23, 2009 - 01:47 AM
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Volume 8, Issue 5 Reflections of Jun and Jean Uriarte May 2009
God sent his Son, born of a woman
Gal 4:4
A proper reflection on Mary must start with her relationship with Christ. Thus we choose to begin this series of seven reflections with the truth revealed in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption (Gal 4:4-5). The significance of Mary in human history is derived from the truth revealed in the story of human redemption – that when the time had come, God chose his Son to be born of a woman so that man might gain salvation. That woman is Mary.
Mary was a Jewish woman. She gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem but they lived in Nazareth where Jesus grew up. Both Mary and Jesus were born into Judaism of the first century. Like most young girls of her time, Mary was betrothed to Joseph probably at an early age of around thirteen. Since Joseph died early, Mary was the only person who was with Jesus at the time of his conception, his birth, his active ministry, and his death on the cross. Mary was also with the disciples when the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send descended upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. There is therefore no human contact or relationship with the Son of God more intimate or closer than that of Mary.
Brothers and sisters, many of us have a special devotion to Mary precisely because we are aware of her special relationship with Christ. But this devotion, which is uniquely Catholic, is often misunderstood. One of the causes for this misunderstanding is the overly exaggerated and misdirected devotional practices by some. Fr. Charles E. Miller, C.M. in his book Mother and Disciple writes clearly about this error in devotional practice and puts in proper perspective authentic Catholic devotion to Mary.
“We ask Mary for prayers for the same reason that we ask each other for prayers. We believe that we are united in the mystical body of Christ, and God wishes us to pray together and for each other. He wants to grant his favors in answer to prayer. But we must, quite frankly, avoid a very serious error in prayer which is an insult to God and an affront to Mary. This error is to suggest that there is some virtue in Mary, some form of goodness, which is not found in God.”
“With no little frequency some writers and preachers rely upon an analogy which is based on this error. They refer to the relationship a child has with his mother in contrast to the relationship he has with his father. The preacher or writer says something like this: ‘You know how it is. The teenager wants to use the family car, but he is afraid to ask his father. So he goes to his mother and asks her to soften up dear old dad and talk him into letting him have the car.” The point is then made that we should request Mary, our mother, to intercede for us with God our Father because she can ‘soften him up’.”
“This is an intolerable analogy, not only because it continues a derogatory caricature of a human father, but because it is irreverent and disrespectful toward God. Unfortunately the analogy is not new and it has had its negative effect in the past, even those who are not Catholics.”
As Catholics we ought to be familiar with the four divinely revealed Catholic doctrines about Mary. The first doctrine proclaims that Mary is the Mother of God. This was defined by the Council of Ephesus in 431. The second doctrine asserts the perpetual virginity of Mary. This was defined by the Lateran Council in 649. The third doctrine is the Immaculate Conception of Mary. This was stated infallibly by Pope Pius IX in 1854. The fourth doctrine is the Assumption of Mary, which was infallibly proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
Brothers and sisters, one sure test of a proper devotion to Mary is that it always leads us to Jesus. Several years ago, we went on pilgrimage to Lourdes where in 1858 the Blessed Mother appeared to a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous. We stayed for three days and two nights. Every morning we walked from our hotel to the Grotto of Massabielle and walked back at eleven in the evening. Three times we joined the long line of people to the Grotto to touch the rock where the Blessed Mother appeared. Twice we joined the Eucharistic procession and blessing of the sick in the afternoon and twice we joined the candlelight procession in the evening.
We went to confession at the Chapel of Reconciliation and prayed the Way of the Cross through the 15 large stations placed along a winding road leading up a steep hill. We prayed the rosary countless times, at the Rosary Basilica, at the Church of St. Bernadette, and in front of the Grotto. We joined the long line of people going to the Baths where we prayed and were immersed into the freely flowing water. We attended Mass and received Holy Communion at the Hemicycle of the Church of St. Bernadette. We washed our face and drank water from the taps situated on the left side of the Grotto. We experienced the presence of Mary in Lourdes.
It was evening when we returned to Paris. The following day we still had plenty of time because our flight back was not until seven in the evening. But we did not feel like going out anymore after the Lourdes experience. And yet we felt a continuing urge to visit just one more place. And we were led to Le Sacre-Coeur. We did not know what it was. We found out later when we entered the imposing Romanesque and Byzantine building that Le Sacre-Coeur was the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In this church, the Blessed Sacrament was perpetually exposed at the main altar. We knelt and prayed, and stayed for the rest of the afternoon. As we reflected and gazed at the Blessed Sacrament, this thought came to us – the Blessed Mother would not be content in our having experienced only her loving presence. She would always bring us to her Son. And thus she brought us to Le Sacre-Coeur so that we could be with her Son, in the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Brothers and sisters, we end this reflection with the beautiful words of Bishop Fulton Sheen in his book The World’s First Love: “The two great masterpieces of God are Creation of man and Re-creation or Redemption of man. Creation was made for unfallen men; his Mystical Body, for fallen men. Before making man, God made a garden of delights – as God alone knows how to make a garden beautiful. In that Paradise of Creation there was celebrated the first nuptials of man and woman. But man willed not to have blessings, except according to his lower nature. Not only did he lose his happiness, he even wounded his own mind and will. Then God planned the remaking or redeeming of man. But before doing so, he would make another Garden. This new one would not be of earth, but of flesh; it would be a Garden over whose portals the name of sin would never be written – a Garden in which there would grow no weeds of rebellion to choke the growth of the flowers of grace – a Garden from which there would flow four rivers of redemption to the four corners of the earth – a Garden so pure that the Heavenly Father would not blush at sending his own Son into it – and this ‘flesh-girt Paradise to be gardened by the Adam new’ was our Blessed Mother. As Eden was the Paradise of Creation, Mary is the Paradise of the Incarnation, and in her as a Garden was celebrated the first nuptials of God and man. The closer one gets to the fire, the greater the heat; the closer one is to God, the greater the purity. But since no one was ever closer to God than the woman whose human portals he threw open to walk this earth, then no one could have been more pure than she.” And she leads us to the perfectly pure, her Son.
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