Okay guys, if you havent already, youve got to download this app! “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, ‘Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.’” —Luke 1:26-28 “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” —Luke 1:41-42 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.—John 19:25-27 “To Jesus, through Mary.” —St. Louis de Montfort On the cross, Jesus gave His mother to the Apostle John. And by doing so He also gave Mary to the Church. Mary is the most amazing human to ever exist. Who else can claim to be a daughter of the Father, the mother of the Son, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit? Some people can claim to be some of those things, but only Mary is all of those things. God chose Mary to play an essential role in the story of our salvation. Just as sin came into the world through Eve’s “no” to God, salvation came into the world through Mary’s “yes.” She is “blessed” not just among women but among all of humanity. We see in Mary the perfect disciple, the perfect humility, the perfect obedience. In the entire history of the world God could have chosen anybody to be His earthly mother. And He chose Mary. As one of my friends is fond of saying, “If Mary was good enough for Jesus, then she’s good enough for me!” The heritage of our Catholic faith is rich with devotions to Mary, our Blessed Mother. But true devotion doesn’t end with Mary—it leads us deeper to Christ. When we pray to Mary we ask our mother, who knows Jesus more intimately than anyone else in human history, to bring us to her Son. Mary, like all the saints, prays for us. She doesn’t have the power of God, nor do we adore her like we would God. The best way to call out to her is through the “Hail Mary” prayer. The Hail Mary comes mostly from Scripture. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” was the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary. “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb,” is what her cousin Elizabeth exclaimed when she saw her. So we begin our prayer by addressing Mary in the same way she was addressed in Scripture. “Holy Mary, Mother of God” acknowledges her role in salvation history. “Mother of God” doesn’t mean we think she created God or was there before God was. That phrase came out of a time when some people were denying that Jesus was God, so this prayer made it clear that Mary wasn’t just the mother of a human prophet—she was the mother of God Himself. “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” This is the request we make, the point of the prayer. We ask Mary to pray for us for what we need right now and prepare us for the time when we take our final breath. St. James wrote that, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” (James 5:19) Outside of God, there is no one more righteous than Mary!
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:02:58 +0000
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