Forgiveness of sin and traditions of men.
Posted by admin on Sep 6th, 2009
For someone who had never heard of Jesus Christ, if we were to simply give them the Gospels and tell them to come back with any questions they might have, I’m sure there would be a host of questions.
When did this all happen? Continue Reading »
Foolishness of God?
Posted by admin on Sep 5th, 2009
I haven’t posted very much on the subject of Marian devotion because, quite frankly, my understanding is still growing in such a way as I feel I have less mastery to defend the faith from the apologetics standpoint and from the heart my sense of the faith is still incomplete.
It is quite amazing to me how deeply some prejudices and modes of thinking go, and when one is raised in a particular religious environment, it is quite natural to find certain aspects of another religious tradition and hard to grasp, not intellectually, but intuitively. Continue Reading »
Ave Maria at the presentation of the gifts
Posted by admin on Sep 3rd, 2009
Just the other day I was listening to a priest discussing that very central part of our faith, the two natures of Christ, being both fully God and fully man.
In the course of his talk he reminded us that it was Mary who gave her son Jesus his humanity. That was her gift as it was the Holy Spirit in the conception of Christ that provided his divinity, so to speak.
This set me upon meditation on the Incarnation once more, a habit and practice that I have found very useful in understanding and deepening my Catholic faith. There is such wonder in that mystery, there is such depth of beauty and symmetry, there is such awe inspiring power in it yet such humility inspiring love. I shall never cease to meditate upon the Incarnation because I know I will never plomb its depths.
What did strike me the other day however, was a thought of how appropriate it would be, in the light of what the priest mentioned, to sing some form of Ave Maria during the collection and most definitely during the presentation of the gifts. Mary’s fiat was her giving of herself to God. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Thus, as she gave herself to the Holy Spirit to become the mother, the giver of her own flesh and blood to her son Jesus Christ, so too, as we give the gifts of bread and wine that the Holy Spirit will cause to become the body and blood of Christ on the altar, we are joining with her in our own small way, and following her supreme example. Would that we would also join her in our hearts, in giving ourselves over completely to Christ.