THE ROSARY - A SYNTHESIS AND COMPENDIUM OF THE GOSPELS V THE FIVE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES The GLORIOUS MYSTERIES are events on the triumph of good over evil, life over death, demonstrated primarily by the resurrection of Christ from the death. The crucifixion and death of Jesus which ends the Sorrowful Mysteries is that mystery, that event which brought with it some measure of hopelessness to every heart that saw and believed Jesus as the Messiah. But there He was: His cause seemingly as dead as His corpse. Hopelessness, despair discouragement, and devastation came upon those who were his followers. They wondered why He chose this “senseless strategy”. But in the five glorious mysteries, we see events that confirm the triumph of good over evil, supernatural hope over wanton despondency. The resurrection He spoke about was true after all – He has risen indeed! The faith and brokenness of many on account of His death were straightened and strengthened. Fear and despair gave way to courage and hope. The greatest evil gave birth to the greatest good, by divine arrangements. The work of redemption was complete: He rose , He ascended into Heaven, He sent the promised Holy Spirit upon the disciples and His mother – His very first disciple – was there among them as the Spirit descended. Then Mary (his mother) was ready to be assumed into Heaven (of course no evidence exists in sacred scripture to the contrary, though the Church does not teach that she died or did not die before she was assumed, anyway) At the appropriate time, she was assumed into Heaven. And where you have a King, you surely expect to find a Queen. If Jesus is the Universal King, then Mary is the Universal Queen Mother. She is the crowned Queen Mother of the Angels and Saints (both living and translated), while Jesus remains the Eternal King. That is what the five glorious mysteries are about. They reveal God’s glorious resurrection and ascension into Heaven, His kingship (with the golden, rather than the thorny crown) as well as the queenship of Mary His mother, spoken about in the Revelations of John the beloved, who was the same one to whom Christ gave His mother in trust before He gave up His spirit. It is not any surprise or even a coincidence that this same John was given the revelation of the queenship of his foster mother (his mother-in-trust). In the TWELFTH chapter of the book of Revelation, interestingly, she was also confirmed as the Universal mother, the mother of the TWELVE tribes of Israel, the beloved FIRSTBORN son of God. (Revelation/Apocalypse 12:1-2) The First: the Resurrection This very event, equal to none in significance as far as Christians then and now are concerned, charged the entire Christian family at the time and still empowers Christians today. Without the resurrection, the whole hope of humanity would have been in vain, with Christians the biggest losers, and Christianity would have long given way to Paganism. But God is not a man that He should lie; He rose again on the third day and thus restored the hope of those whose hearts were hitherto shrouded in doubts and despair on account of the death of Jesus - the undying Messiah. The cloud which had enwrapped His disciples as well as His other followers succumbed to the overwhelming hope and courage His resurrection brought. The bible says “the angel spoke, ‘do not be frightened. I know you are looking for Jesus the crucified, but He is not here. He has been raised, exactly as promised.” (Matt. 28:5-6) The Second: the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven Jesus, having reshaped the whole architecture of the hope of all Christians by His death and resurrection, ascended into Heaven in glory for the Overcomers’ Crown. He ascended so that He might send the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples for the arduous work of evangelization for which He had called them (and us) – fishers of men. He went to prepare a place for those who through their words will come to believe in Him. The bible says “He then led them out near Bethany, and with hands upraised, He blessed them. As he blessed them, He left them, and was taken up to Heaven.” (Lk 24:50-51) The Third: the Descent of the Holy Spirit As Jesus had promised the disciples concerning sending them a comforter who would teach them all things and lead them to the know of all truth (Jn 15:26-27), here He makes good His promise and sent the Holy Spirit upon them in a rather dramatic way: “tongues as of fire appeared which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:3-4) It is this same Spirit that teaches us today the truth of God’s word and that truth is not an idea, it is a person, and His name is Jesus. The Fourth: the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven This and the last mysteries anger many non-Catholics and a handful of Catholics too. It is found nowhere in the bible at all. But it adds or subtracts nothing from it at all. If one is familiar with the nature of God and then reads sacred traditions on this matter, one wouldnt find grounds at all on which to dispute this belief and teaching of the Church. This mystery originates from Church’s teachings and traditions concerning the manner of departure of the Blessed Virgin, mother of Jesus, from this material world to Heaven. After a joy-pain-greater joy life, as she gave birth to the Saviour of all of mankind then helplessly watched Him killed – at which point a sword indeed pierced Her soul as was foretold by Simeon at the temple in Jerusalem during the presentation of the child, Mary saw it all and was truly ready to go home to Heaven and reunite with her son whom she saw ascend to sit in glory. No explicit scriptural text(s) to the effect that Mary was taken up to Heaven but no place in sacred scripture either to the contrary. It makes stupendous sense to say that the grace of God which filled her also gave her the honour and singular privilege of being assumed into Heaven body and soul – it is not only a simple thing for God to accomplish, it is also fitting. We are interested in the earthly life of Jesus from start to finish, why shouldnt we be so interested in the life of the privileged woman who gave Him flesh; the first woman who heard the word of God and kept it? Mary was the first human to qualify as Jesus mother and brothers based on Jesus own criterion of Anyone who hears my word and keeps it is my mother, brother, and sister in Luke 8:21 (Read full text in Matt 12:46-50) because when the angel of the Lord visited her, she heard Gods word and kept it - in her case she did not just hear the Word but received the Logos and gave Him flesh in her womb, nurtured Him, raised Him, KEPT Him until He was ready for His public ministry. Whatever word she received of God she KEPT ALL THESE IN HER HEART (Luke 2:19) I believe the Catholic Church’s teaching on ASSUMPTION because I am convinced that Christ is the revealer of it and He neither deceives nor can He be deceived. NOTE: (Catholics and non-Catholics) Although many theologians believe that the Virgin Mary did die, the Church is officially silent on the matter. That Mary was assumed into heaven does not mean that she could not have died, anymore than Jesus Ascension meant that he could not have died. The Assumption means that, after Marys earthly life was over, her body and soul were glorified and raised into heaven. If she died, then her body was not allowed to corrupt in the grave but was reunited to her soul and assumed into heaven by God. This reunion and glorification of body and soul is the resurrection of the body that all of us look forward to at the end of time. The Fifth: the Coronation of Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth Do not lose sight of the inalienable fact that Jesus is the cause of ALL of Mary’s privileges and prerogatives. We acknowledge this truth as Catholics. Failure to acknowledge this on the part of any Catholic is arrogant unfaithfulness to the Church’s teaching on the subject. Listen to Professor Scott Hahn, a protestant convert to Catholicism and a master of Catholic apologetics: “the Blessed Virgin Mary…all of her privileges and her prerogatives are because of her title theotokus, Mother of God, God-bearer. It’s the mystery of Christ within her that establishes her as the Queen of the universe. It is the cause of her immaculate conception; it’s the reason for her bodily assumption; it’s the basis…it’s the ground…for all of our devotion toward her. It is not a substitute for Christ. It is out of our recognition that the mystery of Christ dwelt bodily in her so that the LOGOS, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, received flesh and blood from her. She nursed Him; she bore Him; she taught Him to walk; she fed Him; she burped (playfully created noise with the mouth against His body) Him; she put Him to bed. It’s the mystery of Christ that lies behind the Blessed Virgin Mary.” The book of revelation which by the exclusive and deliberate design of God, the one who gives revelations to men, was written by John the apostle who, incidentally, was the same one to whom Jesus said concerning His (Jesus’) mother while He hung on the cross: “behold your mother”. (Jn. 19:27) In the revelation given Him by God, he saw the crowning of Mary as queen of the twelve tribes of Israel and, of course, of the whole human family – no exception. The bible says “a great sign appear in the sky; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Rev. 12:12) *See you on the morrow for the CONCLUSION. #JESUSorNothing
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 00:09:35 +0000
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