Insights from Pope Emeritus (Benedict XVI) on Mary

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday, I posted a longer excerpt from Pope Benedict’s homily at the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary at Pompeii in the Spirituality Forum (scroll down to original post #1). Today, I have continued to listen to his insights:

…From its beginnings, the Christian community has seen the personification of Israel and Jerusalem in a female figure as an important and prophetic approach to the Virgin Mary, who is recognized precisely as a “daughter of Zion” and the archetype of the people who “found grace” in the eyes of the Lord. This is an interpretation we find again in the Gospel account of the wedding feast at Cana (Jn 2:1-11). The Evangelist John sheds symbolic light on the fact that Jesus is the Bridegroom of Israel, the new Israel that all of us are in faith, the spouse who has come to bring the grace of the new Covenant, represented by the “good wine.” At the same time the Gospel emphasizes Mary’s role, who at the beginning is called “the Mother of Jesus” but the Son himself later addresses her as “woman” and this has a very profound meaning: indeed, it implies that Jesus, to our wonder, before kinship places the spiritual bond according to which Mary herself impersonates the beloved Bride of the Lord, that is, the People he has chosen to shower his blessings upon the whole human family. The symbol of the wine, together with that of the banquet, reproposes the theme of joy and of the feast. In addition, the wine, like the other biblical images of the vineyard and the vine, alludes metaphorically to love: God is the owner of the vineyard, Israel is the vineyard, a vineyard that will find its perfect fulfillment in Christ, of whom we are the branches; and the wine is the fruit, that is, love, because it is exactly love that God expects of his children…

Not only was I blessed to hear again the truth of Mary’s role as an “icon” of the Church, the “New Israel” but I’m beginning to appreciate how God has given us in the Gospel of John this important scene of the Wedding of Cana to help us see more deeply into His Mystery of Love for us. We like Mary are called to be filled with His Life and His Love. The significance of the “wine” as a symbol of the fruit that is love “that God expects of his children” is so profound to me. Let me continue this after a while, but if anyone else is beginning to see what Pope Benedict is sharing here for all of us, please add your comment.

 

[friardchips]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday, I posted a longer excerpt from Pope Benedict’s homily at the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary at Pompeii in the Spirituality Forum (scroll down to original post #1). Today, I have continued to listen to his insights:

Not only was I blessed to hear again the truth of Mary’s role as an “icon” of the Church, the “New Israel” but I’m beginning to appreciate how God has given us in the Gospel of John this important scene of the Wedding of Cana to help us see more deeply into His Mystery of Love for us. We like Mary are called to be filled with His Life and His Love. The significance of the “wine” as a symbol of the fruit that is love “that God expects of his children” is so profound to me. Let me continue this after a while, but if anyone else is beginning to see what Pope Benedict is sharing here for all of us, please add your comment.

Hi. I like Pope Emeritus’ comments to do with “New Israel”, “the vineyard” and the “wine” meaning “love”. It makes a lot of sense seeing as Our Lady is the ‘City of God’; the Pope’s comments tie in further with some of the insights of St. Louis where Our Lady is concerned.

 

[MariaChristi]

Hi. I like Pope Emeritus’ comments to do with “New Israel”, “the vineyard” and the “wine” meaning “love”. It makes a lot of sense seeing as Our Lady is the ‘City of God’; the Pope’s comments tie in further with some of the insights of St. Louis where Our Lady is concerned.

Dear F.C.,

Thanks so much for your comments. Yes, both St. Louis de Montfort and Pope Benedict being prayerful men steeped in the Scriptures, have been given great graces to see God’s Plan for Mary and for the Church.

May the Holy Spirit help us to see more clearly with the eyes of faith, and hear more deeply with the ears of our hearts, all God intends us to know and to do.

Come Holy Spirit fill the Hearts of Your Faithful as you filled the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
Mary, Mother and Model for all, intercede for your children.
Jesus, we trust in You.

 

[Art321]

Thank you so much for sharing and it truly is beautiful! I always admired Pope Benedict XVI in many ways despite the immense hated that many had for me during his time in the papacy. Such a kind man. I do miss him.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thank you so much for sharing and it truly is beautiful! I always admired Pope Benedict XVI in many ways despite the immense hated that many had for me during his time in the papacy. Such a kind man. I do miss him.

Dear Art,

Thanks for your reply. Was it a typo or did you really mean to say: "…the immense hated that many had for me during his time in the papacy. " Why would people hate you? Did you mean to type “hate him” i.e. Benedict? I also continue to admire this kind and prayerful man. Each time I read his work I am blessed by the simple way he can express such profound thoughts. I miss him too.

 

[Art321]

Dear Art,

Thanks for your reply. Was it a typo or did you really mean to say: "…the immense hated that many had for me during his time in the papacy. " Why would people hate you? Did you mean to type “hate him” i.e. Benedict? I also continue to admire this kind and prayerful man. Each time I read his work I am blessed by the simple way he can express such profound thoughts. I miss him too.

Sorry for the late reply. No, I didn’t at all mean that I was hated!! I meant to say Pope Benedict of the immense hated he got during his papacy. I suppose looking back he would get attacked mainly because of the priest sex abuse scandal and how it was handled. It truly blew up in the middle of his papacy and they were looking for someone to blame. He didn’t deserve that. When people compare him to Pope Francis, of course there are some differences. Pope Francis seems to welcome people like a natural and while Pope Benedict always did so as well, he always seemed to be very shy. I suppose that was his nature. May God bless him and keep him with us for years to come.

 

[MariaChristi]

Sorry for the late reply. No, I didn’t at all mean that I was hated!! I meant to say Pope Benedict of the immense hated he got during his papacy. I suppose looking back he would get attacked mainly because of the priest sex abuse scandal and how it was handled. It truly blew up in the middle of his papacy and they were looking for someone to blame. He didn’t deserve that. When people compare him to Pope Francis, of course there are some differences. Pope Francis seems to welcome people like a natural and while Pope Benedict always did so as well, he always seemed to be very shy. I suppose that was his nature. May God bless him and keep him with us for years to come.

Dear Art,

Thanks for the reply – I figured you didn’t really mean you were hated but you were pointing to the lack of appreciation for Pope Benedict. I agree with you that he does seem a bit “shy” but that is more his “reserved” nature than Pope Francis’ “outgoing” nature. Some of the difference may also be due to the cultural backgrounds in which they were raised. European culture can differ from Latin American culture.

Speaking from first hand experience, I grew up an Irish descendent in an Irish “Ghetto” but as an adult worked with the descendent of an Italian family. We were as different as night and day, yet we both loved the Lord and got along like true sisters in Christ. So it is with the Universal Church, we come from varied backgrounds and experiences ; yet in Christ, we become one Family of God. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Of course, the members of the Catholic Church are all on pilgrimage and many of us are imperfect while we journey toward that perfection in Charity to which we are called by God.
If we continue to obey the words of Jesus from the cross: “Behold your Mother” and do as John did, taking her into our lives, then by God’s Grace we can learn to be all we are called to be.