Waiting... with Mary

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I love the Advent season. As a child, the anticipation of Christmas made me happy – and that was before I began to appreciate Mary’s important role in God’s plan. Today I am more deeply grateful to God for sending His Son, His Word Incarnate, born of a woman. Let us wait with Mary this Advent, for Him to come in new ways into our hearts and minds, that we may be ready for His Final Coming.

Genesis 3:15 gave humanity a glimmer of hope in the darkness of sin. The hymn echoes in my heart: “Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day.” Today’s Mass Readings are all beautiful reminders of God’s faithfulness to His Promises. In the First Reading from Jeremiah we hear:

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will fulfill the promise
I made to the house of Israel and Judah.
In those days, in that time,
I will raise up for David a just shoot ;
he shall do what is right and just in the land.
In those days Judah shall be safe
and Jerusalem shall dwell secure;
this is what they shall call her:
“The LORD our justice.”

I wonder if many will notice the word “her” in reference to Jerusalem. “…Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The LORD our justice”. The Church is the new Jerusalem and Mary is the icon of the Church. The Lord Jesus our Justice shines through Mary and through His Church. Jesus said: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. " Jesus continues to shine through Mary. Does He shine through us?

The words of the prophet Jeremiah also reminded me of a scene in the New Testament, when Jesus was speaking with the woman at the well in Samaria and He said to her: “…the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.” and reminded me also of paragraph 971 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

971 “All generations will call me blessed”: “The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.” The Church rightly honors “the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs… This very special devotion … differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration.” The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an “epitome of the whole Gospel,” express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.

There is much more to be heard in the Mass Readings today, but this is enough for me to post right now. I do want to repeat, however, something I may have said before about the approved apparition to the three schoolgirls in Kibeho. Mary revealed herself to them as “Mother of the Word”. How significant for all the world to hear – especially in this season when we ponder The Word Made Flesh in the womb of Mary, His Mother. We simply cannot do without Mary, since God chose her to be our Mother and Model.

 

[v21337304]

Great Post. Well done.

 

[liturgy96]

Mother of the Word, pray for us! Intercede especially those who are downtrodden, patiently waiting for the Messiah to raise them up!

 

[MariaChristi]

Mother of the Word, pray for us! Intercede especially those who are downtrodden, patiently waiting for the Messiah to raise them up!

Dear liturgy96,

Thanks for your reply and for your prayer. In today’s world there is so much suffering, and as you mentioned in your prayer, “especially those who are downtrodden” – some are severely tried by the attacks of terrorists. Others everywhere are downtrodden by hardships in their daily lives; others are simply confused as they patiently await the coming of Jesus. To all of them, Mary speaks as “Mother of the Word” because it is faith we need:

…faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (Romans 10: 9-18)

 

[MariaChristi]

Great Post. Well done.

Thanks for reading and replying…anything good, of course, comes ultimately from God. Yet He choses to work through and with his creatures. May we be ever grateful to Him truly for His gift of Mary to all of us. If we are continuing to hear and obey Jesus’ words to John (and us) from the Cross, “Behold your Mother” and if we continue taking her into our lives as John did, there is always more to learn.

Come Holy Spirit kindle in us the Fire of Your Love, enable us to learn as Mary learned, the complete Truth of Jesus. (cf John 16:13)