The Magi - "... saw the Child with Mary His Mother."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s Gospel (Mt 2: 1-12) describes the Visit of the Magi, and the verse which continually blesses me is verse 11, which tells us they:

… “saw the Child with Mary His Mother”.

God inspired the Scripture and so I believe He wanted us to hear those words and ponder them. The unique relationship between “The Word Made Flesh”, the Child formed in the womb of Mary, by the Holy Spirit is a beautiful and profound Truth Revealed to us in the Scripture.

It is significant in hearing the word “saw”, we are told, they “saw” a child they believed was foretold by the Star they followed, and therefore gave him the homage due to the new born King of the Jews.

Continuing to ponder the scene I rejoice in remembering along with that verse 11 in Mt 2:1-12, the verse from John’s Gospel which records Jesus’ words to John and to us:

“Behold your Mother” (Jn 19:27)

How I thank God for the gift of Supernatural Faith received in Baptism which enables me to believe, and “see” by faith that Mary is Mother of God and also Mother and Model for the Church!

Happy and Holy Feast of the Epiphany to all!

 

[Cjbhoward]

What’s the significance of those words, “saw the child with Mary his mother”?

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for your reply and for asking your question! I realize my explanation may not have been clear enough but I believe God wants us to listen to Sacred Scripture very carefully. In listening to the Gospel for today’s Feast of the Epiphany (Mt 2:1- 12) the words describing the Magi who “saw the Child with Mary His Mother” touched me deeply as words God wants us to hear, especially in a time when Mary is not well -understood even by some Catholics.

The union of Jesus and Mary is unique. No other human person was, or is, so close to Him as Mary is. I believe God wants us to listen to that phrase and appreciate how important it is for all of us to “See” by faith God wants to have a similar relationship between us and Mary that we may also have a closer relationship with Him.

I believe God wants us to connect the words in Matthew’s Gospel on what the Magi “saw” with the words of Jesus from the Cross, “Behold Your Mother”. Mary is both Mother of God and Mother of the Church. Jesus came to us through Mary and those who seek Him can by His Grace, find Him “with His Mother”. I don’t know if this explains any better for you, the significance of those words, the Magi: "saw the Child with Mary His Mother " but perhaps if you keep pondering the phrase as words inspired by God, you’ll hear what I’m trying to share. Scripture is God’s Holy Word and we need to take time to listen to all God says, even as Mary pondered all Jesus said and did in her heart.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, “but as what it really is, the word of God”. “In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.”

Sorry, if this doesn’t help explain why the phrase is significant to me, but I hope you will ponder it further with a prayerful heart.

 

[Cjbhoward]

Sorry, if this doesn’t help explain why the phrase is significant to me, but I hope you will ponder it further with a prayerful heart.

I’ll try. Got a lot of pondering to do. Maybe the Spirit will have me consider these words.

I often say the words, “Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with you.” From those words, it is my understanding wherever Mary is, the Lord is with her. As far as I’m concerned they are inseparable. Like at the moment of the incarnation. They’re inseparable. You see Mary at that moment, you see the Christ. Her body is His body. His spirit is her spirit. The two are one.

Now, no. I don’t believe if we see Mary, we see God. She is not God. But He is most definitely with her.

Earlier, when I first read your post I immediately thought of the EWTN series I watched last year. Mary in scripture or something like that & they did an excellent job explaining the Churches dogmas concerning the virgin Mary.

One of the things they pointed out was that it was the mother that identified Solomon as David’s son… the King. David had a bunch of sons, but it was Bathsheba’s son who would be king.

Likewise, the prophets identify the messiah as one born of a virgin. So the phrase, “saw the child with Mary his mother” identifies the baby as the messiah as Mary is the Virgin.

 

[Dorothy]

The first thought that came to me after the words “saw the child with Mary His Mother” is that perhaps it was revealed to the Magi that Joseph was not his Father, but his foster Father.

And, of course, all that you wrote above about our Blessed Mother explains how special she is, in the role Our Lord gave to her.

I believe it was St. Bernard of Clairvaux who said: " of Mary there is never enough!" I’m not sure if I have the quote correct. She truly is our spiritual Mother.

 

[Dan_Defender]

I believe it was St. Bernard of Clairvaux who said: " of Mary there is never enough!"

Yes that is the right quote. In Latin ‘de Maria numquam satis’. Jesus obtained his humanity from Mary so that alone makes her extraordinary. Our spiritual mother, all generations call you blessed, pray for us!

 

[Dorothy]

Thanks for the response Dan! I hope more people come to realize her special role as our spiritual Mother.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks gain for your reply. We all have a lot of “pondering” to do ! Sometimes we forget to ask the Holy Spirit to help us, however, – at least I do, but I continue to try also to keep my Focus on God’s Truth revealed to us in Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church.I also saw the EWTN series and thought it was a good one.

Please let me clarify something that you said in your response which you may have misunderstood from something I wrote; and that is: We do not “see” Mary AS God. She is not God and I did not say she is. My exact words if you go back were these: "those who seek Him can by His Grace, find Him with Mary His Mother. "

Also in the OP my closing words were thanking God for the “Supernatural faith given at Baptism which enables me to believe, and “see” by faith that Mary is Mother of God and also Mother and Model for the Church!” I put the words “see” in quotes hoping people realize that I’m not referring to the “Beatific Vision” reserved for heaven but rather using the word “see” in another way.

Thanks for again for your reply and your willingness to try, by God’s Grace, to ponder as our Mother Mary pondered.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Dorothy,

Thanks for your reply. Joseph is not mentioned in that scene by Matthew. Which is one of the reasons that phrase, in the visit of the magi stood out for me : “…on entering the house they saw the Child with Mary His Mother.”

To repeat what I mentioned in the OP – Scripture is inspired by God, and so I pondered what God wanted me to hear in that phrase, and I truly believe He wants to show this special union between the Incarnate Son of God and His Mother, especially at a time when many seem not only to misunderstand Mary’s place in God’s Plan but sadly – as Jesus and Mary revealed to Sister Lucia appearing to her in 1925, some even blaspheme:

Lucia was a postulant in the Convent of St. Dorothy in Pontevedra, Spain when she had the apparition of our Blessed Mother. She was standing over a cloud of light with the Child Jesus at her side. The Blessed Virgin put one hand on Lucia’s shoulder, while her other hand sustained her Immaculate Heart that was surrounded with thorns. The Child Jesus said: "Have compassion on the Heart of your Blessed Mother. It is surrounded with thorns that ungrateful men pierce each moment, and there is no one that is willing to offer an act of reparation to take the thorns away. Our Lady immediately said to Lucia: “Look, my daughter. My Heart is surrounded with thorns that ungrateful men pierce unceasingly with their blasphemies and ingratitude.”

Yes, it was St. Bernard who said “of Mary there is never enough” (Latin: “De Maria, numquam satis”) as Dan has already confirmed on this thread. In our day we experience a great lack of solid Faith Formation of adults in their Catholic Faith it seems to me, but that is a whole other side of the story. Thanks again, dear Dorothy, for your love of Jesus through Mary and for your reply to this thread.

 

[Dorothy]

Dear Maria Christi,

There are so many layers of meaning in the bible, and I thank you so much for what you shared.

I’m glad you mentioned about Lucia’s apparition at Pontevedra. It reminds me of the ignorance and malice of many and that I have to pray for them.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Dorothy,

Thanks for your encouragement, dear sister. Yes, there are so many layers of meaning in Sacred Scripture, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Vatican II Document, “Dei Verbum” (Word of God) point out to us.

It has been a blessing for me to have made good retreats on the Gospels under the guidance of a very knowledgeable and holy priest, and by God’s Grace to continue learning from prayerfully reading the works of Saints like St. John of the Cross and St. Louis De Montfort, who were so steeped in Scripture and had such a beautiful appreciation of Mary’s role in God’s Plan for us.

Please let us pray for one another and for all clergy and laity to listen more prayerfully and carefully to God’s Word. May we all learn, by God’s Grace, to ponder in our hearts, all Jesus said and did – as Luke’s Gospel tells us our Mother Mary did.

 

[Dorothy]

Amen! God’s Love is the greatest power in the world. We need to let it flow through us back to God and to our neighbor.

 

[MariaChristi]

Yes, Oh YES! Dorothy,

Listening to the First Reading for Mass today, I was so blessed in that very Truth:

Reading 1 (1 Jn 4:11-18)

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
> and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
> that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

Mary our Mother and Model for the Church shows us so clearly by her example how to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and continually learn from Him All the Truth revealed in Jesus. Mary said “yes” as she did the Truth she heard in love. And we are called to do the same Truth in Love.

Thanks so much again, dear sister for your Love of Jesus and Mary and the Love they have given you for others like me who appreciate your encouragement to remain in Him Who is Love through Mary who continues to bring Him to us through God’s Grace.

 

[Dorothy]

Thank you Maria Christi!