Posted on 05/15/2014 3:24:29 PM PDT by NYer
When I ponder what it means for Mary to be the mother of God incarnate, one of the most astounding aspects is the role she played in shaping Jesus’s human prayer. Yes, in the heights of His soul Jesus beheld the Father as clearly as the angels in heaven; but as a child, “He learns the formulas of prayer from his mother. . .He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people” (CCC 2599). When Jesus entrusted the Church to Mary at the Cross (Jn. 19:26-27; Rev. 12:17), He extended her motherhood to His entire Mystical Body. She became, in an utterly unique way (next to her Son, of course), the Church’s great instructor in prayer. I think we see this most especially in the Rosary, and the way it mirrors the prayer times Mary and Jesus shared as devout Jews.
As faithful Jews, Jesus and Mary stopped three times each day to pray together. They recited Israel’s creed, the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. . . .” (Deut. 6:4–9, 11:13–21; Num. 15:37–41). They also prayed the Eighteen Benedictions, a beautiful, comprehensive tapestry of praise and petition. And between those times of prayer, as Mary went about the business of the day, she pondered the words of the Torah and the Prophets that she had heard in the synagogue and discussed with Jesus and Joseph. Through her meditation the Holy Spirit planted the words of Scripture so deeply in Mary’s heart that they naturally permeated her spontaneous prayer (see 1 Sam. 2:1-8 and Lk. 1:46-55) Most importantly, Mary’s heart was fixed upon her Son’s every word and action, contemplating the divine condescension to which she was exposed on a daily basis and how the covenants with Abraham, Moses and David were all reaching their fulfillment in Jesus. Mary’s prayer, so intimately united to the prayer of her Son, is the most beautiful imaginable – and that is what the Holy Spirit wants to give you and me in the Rosary!
You see, in the New Covenant, the magnificent prayer of God’s people has been brought to new heights. Jesus commanded His disciples to pray the Our Father. Its seven petitions encapsulate all others – the Eighteen Benedictions included (CCC 2767). And when it is prayed slowly, with the proper awe and love expressed in the words, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” it can encapsulate all blessing and thanksgiving as well. Further, the revelation of God’s oneness constantly confessed by the Jewish people in the Shema, has been completed by Jesus’ revelation of the Trinity and our confession of it in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds and our making the Sign of the Cross (the Creed in miniature) each time we prayer. All of this, and more, is present when we pray the Rosary.
We also join Mary’s contemplation of her Son – contemplating Him in the light of Scripture. We invoke her intercession, softly praying the words of Scripture (the Hail Mary – Lk. 1:28, 42-43), as we mediate upon the mysteries of her and Jesus’ lives, narrated in the gospels. As we think and rethink the evangelists’ inspired words, the Holy Spirit blesses us with deeper understanding of their significance and calls us, as He did Mary, to ever more profound discipleship. We complete our meditation on each mystery with the Glory Be – even more Scripture (Lk. 2:14; Matt. 28:19; Rev. 1:8). It’s such an amazing reflection of our Lady’s prayer life!
Pope St. John Paul II called Mary’s meditation, “the ‘rosary’ which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life;” and he invited us to join her: “With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11; 1). Is it any wonder that when our Blessed Mother has been sent to earth – as at Lourdes and Fatima – she beseeches us to pray the Rosary? It is one of the most important ways she nourishes and instructs the children entrusted to her by Jesus, at the Cross. It is one of the main ways she cooperates with the Holy Spirit to mother the Body as she did our Head!
Ping!
Amazing how many falsehoods can be in the opening paragraph alone...
I count 6 in this one paragraph alone.
Do you *read* this stuff *before* you post it?
Christ to John: “Behold your Mother.”
Christ to His mother: “Behold your Son.” Christ gave all of us his mother as his last gift to us.
“And the disciple took her into his house that day.”
Why is it that some people cannot believe the Scripture?
The author doesn’t mention the great Jewish prayers, the Psalms, nor does he mention that the Rosary was intended to connect the lay faithful with the recitation of the 150 psalms in monasteries.
Christ to His mother: “Behold your Son.”
“And the disciple took her into his house that day.”
"Christ gave all of us his mother as his last gift to us."
"Why is it that some people cannot believe the Scripture?"
Why is it that some people can't read what it actually says, without adding extra stuff that isn't there?
Both the writer and Salvation is correct.
That is what Jesus said from the cross, one of His last words.
Thank-you for the wonderful article. God Bless.
Then you should provide a verse that clearly says what you claim.
That is what Jesus said from the cross, one of His last words.
Jesus did not say Mary is our Mother. At best, He place John in the position as son of Mary and Mary as his mother. No more is written.
If it was, post it. Otherwise, you just expressed an opinion. Perhaps devotedly held, but just an opinion.
Mary, by accepting John, became the mother of ALL Christian believers, down to this day, be we Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox Christians.
All that was refered to was this:
“When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”
John 19:26-27 and only this.
It does not say that anywhere in Scripture. I assume you can read this in your native language and see that what you are saying is not there. Not in Greek. Not in English.
Just simply interpted what the scripture is saying, no more, no less.
Let us agree to disagree.
Dear friend,
You wrote... “Just simply interpreted what the scripture is saying, no more, no less.”
Well, no. Scripture doesn’t mean whatever someone wants it to mean - no matter how devotedly held that belief may be.
What you are claiming isn’t interpretation. It is eisogesis. You are importing extra-Scriptural meaning into a passage that simply does not say what you claim. When you claim something without facts, it isn’t interpretation. It is unsupported opinion.
God inspired specific Greek words, with normal Greek sentence structure. In this instance, there is absolutely nothing about Mary being the mother of all believers.
Quote- Is it any wonder that when our Blessed Mother has been sent to earth – as at Lourdes and Fatima – she beseeches us to pray the Rosary?
The 15 Promises of Our Lady to Christians Who Recite the Rosary
1.Whoever shall faithfully SERVE ME (MARY) by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
Deut 6:13-15- 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and SERVE HIM, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deut 10:20- 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you SHALL SERVE HIM, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
1 Samuel 7:3- Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and SERVE HIM ONLY...
Mathew 4:8-10-8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Joshua said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.”
Luke 4:8 And Joshua answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan!For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’
On the witness of scripture and the Messiah of Israel, her supposed son:
her first promise in the 15 promises for praying her rosary shows she is a liar and not to be trusted. And whatever she points you to- it isn’t the Way, the Truth and the Life..
She is satanic..
Flee these lies and this countefeit greco roman latin mother and her counterfeit greco roman latin savior...
That’s an easy question.
If the words “Son, behold your mother” were of no relevance to us, the readers of the gospel, they wouldn’t be in the gospel.
If what is reported in the gospel has no spiritual meaning that applies to us who read the gospel, then it would be idle chatter. And there is no idle chatter in the gospels.
Your statement presumes that the only value you can derive from the Savior’s words must apply to you equally as to John.
With that premise, I can’t wait to see what you do with these inspired words in Matthew...
“So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”
How did all of that information get into the New Testament,could it be that the scripture readings concerning all of that information came from the knowledge that Mary transmitted to the twelve after Jesus had been crucified and left in John's keeping? Could they have(the twelve) visited John and Mary and learned about the beginnings? If not,how did they know I think if you pray about it you may get some answers that may surprise you!
The times when outright fabrications of dogma could be hidden are over. The entire structure of the Roman system is failing, to the degree that the titular head of institutional Christianity can say of sexual deviancy, “Who am I to judge?”. When people leave the Torah they begin to drift....and they end up 180 degrees in opposition to it. This happens unwittingly, automatically. G-d says, “don’t make an image and bow down to it.” Go to Rome and watch what goes on in “Saint Peters” basilica: people bowing down to and kissing statues of the saints. Praying to the saints, thanking the saints. A direct violation of the Torah. This is a warning to you who are hungry for G-d. Get out.
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