Category Archives: Blessed Virgin Mary

A Very Special Gift by Deacon Marty McIndoe

Blessed Virgin Mary, Church, Evangelism, Holy Spirit, Life in the Spirit, Prayer

Israel 632Looking up to the Upper Room (Cenacle) in Jerusalem

As we approach Pentecost this weekend, it is important for us to see what a precious gift God has given us in the Holy Spirit.  This feast dates back to the first century and finds its beginning in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples nine days after the Ascension of Jesus.  In all actuality, Scripture shows us that this Spirit has been promised to us by God since the earliest times.  The Old Testament is filled with references to the Holy Spirit beginning with the second verse of Genesis where it is said that the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.  When the Church blesses the water to be used for Baptism it says, “At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed upon the waters, making them the wellspring of all holiness”.  The prophets are continually making reference to the Spirit.  The prophet Joel tells us that God will POUR out His Spirit upon us.  The prophet Ezekiel says, “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life”.  There are too many references to the Holy Spirit within the Old Testament to cover in this short article.

The prophet, John the Baptist, when seeing Jesus tells us that He will BAPTIZE us in the Holy Spirit.  Jesus himself promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He tells His disciples, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  Right before His Ascension Jesus tell His disciples, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete, Advocate or Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”  There are so many New Testament references about the promise of the Gift of the Holy Spirit that we could not list them all here.

After the Ascension of Jesus, His Disciples, and His mother Mary all gathered in the Upper Room (Cenacle) to pray.  They were saddened by His leaving and seemed lost as to what to do next.  I think that it is so important to remember that the Blessed Virgin Mary was there praying with the Disciples.  She is the Chosen Spouse of the Holy Spirit and her prayers are so very powerful.  As I grow in my own faith and openness to the Holy Spirit, I grow in my love and adoration of Mary.  The Disciples were so blessed to have her join them in prayer.  We too are so blessed to have Mary join us in prayer.

At his Ascension Jesus told His Disciples to go out to every nation and spread the Good News.  The Disciples were totally unable to do this command and just sat in the Upper Room and prayed.  They prayed for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit for nine days (this is the source of our own nine day novenas) and on the feast of Pentecost it came to them.  Luke, in Acts Chapter 2 tells us, “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.  And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”  This Holy Spirit empowered them to be able to do the command of Jesus and to go out to the entire world to proclaim the Good News.  You only have to look at the Disciples demeanor before and after Pentecost to see how this Holy Spirit can really EMPOWER us. The Church considers Pentecost its birthday, because the Disciples were now empowered to form the Church.

So what does all this mean to us today?  We are given that very same Spirit that the Disciples were given and it should EMPOWER us too.  We are given the Spirit in Baptism and are called to see it released more within us at Confirmation.  The truth is that many people do not know the POWER that is within them.  Do you?  St. Paul tells us that Spirit that is within us is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.  Now that is a powerful Spirit.  So why do we not always see this?  I believe that quite simply it is because we don’t know about it that much and don’t ask to be baptized, or fully immersed, in the Holy Spirit.  It is like someone gives you one million dollars and puts it in your savings account.  Unless you know that it is there, and ask to use it, it just sits there.  We need to learn that not only is the Holy Spirit within us, but we need to learn how to use it.  A good study of the Scriptures and Lives of the Saints can help us with that.  Even better is just learning to call upon the Holy Spirit.  When is the last time you did that, and when is the last time you prayed to the Holy Spirit?  Also, ask your mother Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit to join you in prayer for the Holy Spirit just as she joined the Disciples at Pentecost.  Another great source to opening up to this Spirit is by attending a Life in the Spirit Seminar.  Many parishes offer this, especially through their Charismatic Prayer meeting.  Seek one out; it will change your life.  I know that it changed mine.

 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

 

The Two Most Sacred Places in the World by A.J. Avila

Blessed Virgin Mary, Family, Marriage

402

Goodness, how God loves women!

God loves women so much; I’m tempted to say He’s unfair to men.

What is God’s greatest work of creation? It’s not stars and planets. It’s not plants or animals. It’s sentient beings with immortal souls. And we know of only two kinds of those: angels and humans.

Well, angels don’t reproduce. Cherubim might be portrayed as chubby little babies, but they’re nothing of the sort. Angels don’t have sexual relations with each other. Angels don’t get pregnant, and they don’t give birth.

But women do. God has allowed women the biggest role (next to His own) in the incredible work of bringing new immortal souls into creation.

Oh, men have their part in that, and I don’t mean to downplay it. But it is a fact that if, after a man and women have relations, the man gets hit by a bus, any baby can survive that. If the woman gets hit by a bus, however, both mother and child die. Her role, biologically speaking, is far more crucial.

Twice I’ve been pregnant, and both times I was amazed at what I was doing. Those first little butterfly-like kicks in my body signaled that the life growing inside me was indeed a separate entity. In time the kicks grew stronger, and I could sometimes even tell where an elbow or a knee was. Yes, I had morning sickness, swollen ankles, and of course a painful labor at the end of it. But it was worth it. Oh, how it was worth it! You can never feel as close to another human being as you do to the child growing inside your body.

Sometimes I think the reason God allows only men to become priests is because He had to give them something to make up for denying them all of that.

And when you think about it more deeply you can see that these two roles: mothers and Fathers (as in Catholic priests) are complementary. Mothers, through childbirth, bring the people to God. Fathers, through the Eucharist, bring God to the people. As Dr. Peter Kreeft once put it, the two most sacred places in the world are wombs and altars.

Only once has this role been changed, and it was for a very special occasion. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through childbirth, brought God to the people.

My own mother has been gone almost ten years now. So that means I have two mothers in heaven: my biological mother and the mother Jesus gave me from the cross.

This Mothers’ Day let us pay homage to both of our mothers, for they both co-operated with God’s great work of creation.

Do Catholics Believe Jesus had no Earthly Brothers and Sisters? by David Rummelhoff

Apologetics, Blessed Virgin Mary, Scripture, Uncategorized

Did_jesus_have_brothers

Let’s begin by asking, does anyone believe that Jesus had biological siblings — brothers or sisters born of the same biological mother? Yes. (And that’s probably no revelation to you.) The follow-up question is, why does anyone believe that Jesus had biological siblings? The most prominent answer to that question will be, “Well, the Bible says Jesus had siblings.” And if that’s why you believe that Jesus had biological siblings, born of the womb of Mary, then I understand where you’re coming from. I believed the same thing for a long time.

The task then is to read the Scriptures that lead people to believe that Christ had biological siblings, and to examine them closely enough to determine whether or not that is the most tenable or probable case. And where do we begin? Perhaps the best place would be Matthew 13:55-56 (which has a close parallel in Mark 6:3). In this passage, the people of Nazareth are responding to Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue:

Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

Again, that seems straight-forward enough, so nobody is jumping to any conclusions here by thinking these are biological siblings. That said, we must note that in the language of the New Testament, the terms here are not absolutely indicative of siblings. The Greek term, which is adelphoi, is also indicative of other familial relations. Fine, but that’s merely a possibility, that doesn’t demonstrate that these four men named are other than Mary’s children. So, let’s see if the NT can clarify for us who these men are in relation to Jesus and Mary.

Jump to Matthew 27:55-56 :

There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Here we find another mention of “James and Joseph”, and here their mother is named Mary. However, it is fairly clear that this Mary who was looking on from a distance is not the Mary who bore Jesus. Why? Well, the central character is Jesus, and quite frankly, being the mother of Jesus is a far more important and distinguishing piece of information than being the mother of anyone else. And that this is a different Mary than Jesus’ mother is reinforced a few verses later (v.61) when Matthew writes:

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

“The other Mary”? Yes. Once again, the Mary who was paired with Mary Magdalene just a moment ago is now called “the other Mary”. It’s not easy to justify the idea that Matthew would refer to the mother of Jesus Christ as “the other Mary”, which is probably why there’s almost no Scripture scholar on earth who believes this other Mary is the mother of our Lord.

Maybe you’re not totally convinced; I get it. So, let’s look at another account of the crucifixion to see how another Gospel writer recorded the presence of these people. John 19:25 :

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Alright, John has given us three Marys. One he identifies by her being the mother of Jesus. Another is the famed Mary Magdalene, and the last is, we’re fairly certain, the “other Mary”, the wife of Clopas and the sister of Jesus’ mother. So, Jesus’ mother is named Mary, and his mother’s “sister” is named Mary. Of course, that Jesus’ maternal grandparents gave two daughters the same name is extremely improbable. So, this is probably another one of those instances where that Greek term adelphoi is used to indicate a non-sibling relation. In other words, it’s quite likely that Clopas’ wife is the cousin of Jesus’ mother.

  1. So, that gives us good reason to conclude that the first two “brothers”, James and Joseph, named in Matthew 13 are of some other familial relation to Jesus. In fact, the evidence strongly indicates that they are Jesus’ second cousins. And if the first two adelphoi named are only second cousins of Jesus, it is certainly improbable that the men and sisters mentioned after are of closer relation, certainly not the children of Mary and Joseph.

Does this “prove” that Jesus had no siblings? No, but it tells us that it’s highly improbable. When the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth thought of Jesus’ family members, the first people they named are second cousins

Visit David’s website at www.sperolaus.com

 

David Rummelhoff is a stay-at-home dad whose three little girls have him on a short leash since he finished his MA in theology. He pretends to have time to read and write, but he really spends his days incessantly preparing food for children with insatiable appetites and dangerous minds. He is the founder of Peter’s Mark.

The Annunciation by Deacon Marty

Blessed Virgin Mary, Church, Early Church Fathers, Prayer
The lower church of the Basilica looking in to the house of Mary where the angel appeared for the Annunciation
The lower church of the Basilica looking in to the house of Mary where the angel appeared for the Annunciation
The house of Mary in the lower church
The house of Mary in the lower church

This special Solemnity is usually celebrated on March 25th, exactly nine months before the birth of Jesus.  This date, and its importance, comes down to us from the apostolic age.   St. Irenaeus, a second century Bishop, received the tradition from disciples of the Apostles themselves.    This year we celebrate the Solemnity on April 4th because March 25th of this year was Good Friday.  Think about that, this year March 25th was the date of the conception of Jesus, as well as the date of His death.  Since both of these events show the great Mercy of God, it is quite appropriate that this falls during the Year of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis.  The Church moves celebrating this Solemnity whenever it falls during Holy Week.  It is moved to the Monday following the Octave of Easter.  While this is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is an important Feast that needs to receive special attention.  At the end of this article, I will look at several ways we can do that.

I had the privilege, of visiting the actual place where our tradition holds that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary.  This is in the child hood home that Mary occupied in Nazareth.  Today there is a beautiful large Basilica built over the spot that has within it two previous churches built around the house.  The first church is from the Byzantine era (4th Century) and the second church is from the Crusaders era (12th Century).  The pictures that I took above show ruins from both churches.  The free standing pillars were brought from Rome by St. Helene, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in the early 300’s.  If you look inside the two churches you will see the actual home itself.  Behind the altar are stairs that led up to the street.  Outside of the Basilica you can see excavations down to the street level of Mary’s time.  You can see the entrance to her home.  The Basilica itself was built in 1964 and is quite large with several areas for Mass and prayer.  Around the inside of the Basilica you see mosaics and pictures from all over the world that depict the Annunciation and other Marian devotions.  There are more pictures outside that go around the courtyard.  It is a most beautiful, and holy, place to visit.  It is quite interesting to see how so many various cultures of the world depict Mary.

St. Luke, in his Gospel account (Luke 1: 26-38), tells us that the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin, name Mary, in Nazareth of Galilee.   Gabriel tells Mary of God’s plan and that she was being asked to become the Mother of Jesus.  She certainly had questions about this mind blowing revelation, but she quickly said YES to God.  You cannot help but to think back to the Garden of Eden account where Eve said No to what God had asked.  This new Eve, Mary, now says a big resounding “be it done to me according to thy will”.  Oh how the Devil must have cringed at Mary’s consent!  What a gift this young  woman was to God’s plan of salvation.  The incarnation of the Savior could now happen because of Mary’s yes.  Satan saw the beginning of his defeat by the words of Mary.  The Word became flesh because the word of a young, female human consented.  No wonder the Church has always given Mary such a special place.  No wonder that Satan seems to flee when Mary is brought present.

So how do we celebrate this great Solemnity?  Going to mass is certainly a great start.  Praying the Rosary is another great thing.  Praying the Divine Mercy prayers is another.  Try praying the Angelus prayers and making a habit of it, especially at noon time.  I would certainly recommend that every family read the Gospel account, as listed above, together as a family, and then discuss what God has done through Mary and through the gift of the Incarnation.  Also, you can prepare (or purchase) an Angel food cake for dessert or snack and talk about the gift that God has given us in Angels.  Think about a friend or family member that is pregnant and give them a call.  Lend support to a Pro-Life group by giving prayers, actions or donations.  All of these are great ways to celebrate the YES of Mary.

The Angelus:  The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. (say the Hail Mary).  Behold the handmaid of the Lord, Be it done to me according to Your Word. (say the Hail Mary).  And the Word was made flesh, And dwelt among us. (say the Hail Mary).  Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.  That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  LET US PRAY – Pour forth, we beseech Thee O Lord, Thy Grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.  Through the same Christ Our Lord.   Amen