C
Crumpy
Guest
Yeah, it was St. Jerome who said,“To know scripture is to know Christ (or Jesus)”
Theologians Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Hans Urs Von Balthasar" have a book called Mary: Source of the the Church. Ignatius Press.
This is another excellent opus by the Pope and his fellow theologian.
When you read and meditate on this volume, you realize that you haven’t heard everything that you need to know.
They explain why we need to know and keep Mary before us as a model of a disciple and a model of the Church.
My own attitude towards the Immaculate Conception idea is that perhaps it was “nice” and all that. But, so what?
Well, they explain how Mary is the fulfillment of the prophesies of the Old Testament. Whereas Abraham is the Father of all Believers, Mary is the Mother of all Believers.
Just as Abraham was drawn into that moment of faith and response to sacrifice his son Isaac, Mary too was drawn in even further and had to stand by as the sacrifice of Jesus was brought to fulfillment.
They don’t come right out and say it, but in discussing the Immaculate Conception, I get the picture that we needed an being of immaculate conception and faith to undertake the mission that God had in store for her. We needed someone whose faith was going to withstand the “sword” that would pierce her heart. She needed the “grace” and was in fact “full of grace” to be the witness to the Cross and Resurrection and model of discipleship to which we are all called.
They point out something that has totally escaped me in all my 58 years:
Luke2:48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” 2:49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s
house?”*
There is a sort of rejection here of Mary and Joseph, and it is not the only rejection (or seeming rejection) of Mary from Jesus. These several rejections go up to and include the rejection of Mary from the Cross, when Jesus says “Behold your mother” “Behold your son” This is, they say, the insertion of Mary into the apostolic church. (The other ‘rejections’ are the ‘woman’ verses.)
‘On the Cross, Jesus abandons His mother, as His Father abandons him, so that they may be united in their abandonment.’
The theological treatises are preceded by a discussion of the rule of study of scripture, that ‘scripture interprets scripture’ and “scripture interprets itself.”
176 pages of very insightful and life-altering theology of the person of Mary who we meet anew.
Theologians Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Hans Urs Von Balthasar" have a book called Mary: Source of the the Church. Ignatius Press.
This is another excellent opus by the Pope and his fellow theologian.
When you read and meditate on this volume, you realize that you haven’t heard everything that you need to know.
They explain why we need to know and keep Mary before us as a model of a disciple and a model of the Church.
My own attitude towards the Immaculate Conception idea is that perhaps it was “nice” and all that. But, so what?
Well, they explain how Mary is the fulfillment of the prophesies of the Old Testament. Whereas Abraham is the Father of all Believers, Mary is the Mother of all Believers.
Just as Abraham was drawn into that moment of faith and response to sacrifice his son Isaac, Mary too was drawn in even further and had to stand by as the sacrifice of Jesus was brought to fulfillment.
They don’t come right out and say it, but in discussing the Immaculate Conception, I get the picture that we needed an being of immaculate conception and faith to undertake the mission that God had in store for her. We needed someone whose faith was going to withstand the “sword” that would pierce her heart. She needed the “grace” and was in fact “full of grace” to be the witness to the Cross and Resurrection and model of discipleship to which we are all called.
They point out something that has totally escaped me in all my 58 years:
Luke2:48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” 2:49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s
house?”*
There is a sort of rejection here of Mary and Joseph, and it is not the only rejection (or seeming rejection) of Mary from Jesus. These several rejections go up to and include the rejection of Mary from the Cross, when Jesus says “Behold your mother” “Behold your son” This is, they say, the insertion of Mary into the apostolic church. (The other ‘rejections’ are the ‘woman’ verses.)
‘On the Cross, Jesus abandons His mother, as His Father abandons him, so that they may be united in their abandonment.’
The theological treatises are preceded by a discussion of the rule of study of scripture, that ‘scripture interprets scripture’ and “scripture interprets itself.”
176 pages of very insightful and life-altering theology of the person of Mary who we meet anew.