Mary’s Role in Man’s Redemption – Part II

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 26 Nov 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Last week, we shared that Mary freely chose to cooperate in God’s eternal plan of salvation, and that she serves Christ in the mystery of redemption by sharing His life and saving mission, which culminates in His sacrifice on the Cross. We stopped at St. Irenaeus’ strict emphasis on the Adam-Christ and Eve-Mary parallels. How does the parallel explain Mary’s role in our salvation?

(Fr. Keyes wrote that) St. Irenaeus started with the analogy itself: i.e., as sin, and then death, entered the world by one man’s disobedience, so the fruitfulness of life in the dead shall be restored by one man’s obedience. The bonds of death could not be broken unless the original process is reversed. Therefore, based on St. Paul’s doctrine that all things will be re-established in Christ, Christ’s obedience can undo Adam’s wrong only if like Adam, Christ is formed as man by God’s own hands. God formed Adam from virgin earth, but to make Christ’s formation a continuation of Adam’s, He could not have done so with Christ. To be Saviour, Christ must resemble Adam in origin. Therefore God formed Christ from the Virgin Mary. That is why Mary is important in this analogy, as St. Irenaeus set out:  

EVE	MARY
still a virgin	the Virgin
the spouse of Adam	already betrothed
was disobedient	through her obedience
She became both for herself and all the human race the cause of death	She became both for herself and all the human race the cause of salvation
Thus, what the virgin Eve  had bound by her unbelief . . .	The Virgin Mary unbound by her faith . . .

 (Deiss, 1972 cited in Keyes)

Fr. Keyes wrote:

“This is where we find the statement that Mary is the "cause of our salvation," and Irenaeus can only make such a bold remark because of the very strict parallel in which it is placed. Mary really is the cause of our salvation. … not … in the same sense that Christ is. …(but) only in the same sense that Eve caused our death. The actions of Mary do nothing to destroy the prerogatives of Christ, who is the Redeemer, just as the actions of Eve do not diminish the responsibility of Adam for sin. Nevertheless, just as Eve played a major role in the first sin, so does Mary play an active part in the salvation of mankind.”

Vatican II states that this is entirely God’s will (LG, #60) and quoted the early Fathers in saying: "death through Eve, life through Mary" and that Mary is the source of life. (LG, #56)

Fr. Neuner summed up Mary’s role in the divine work of redemption in three conclusions:

1.    (Firstly) Everything in salvation is God’s work, what is required of Mary is her faith, her free response and total involvement. (pp.118-119)

2.    (Secondly) The full implication of Mary’s share in the mystery of redemption, as mother of the Saviour, is realised only at the foot of the Cross (p.46, p.119).

3.    (Thirdly) By her union with Jesus in His life, mission and death, Mary sanctifies herself, for although gifted with holiness from her conception, she has to personalise it in faith and obedience throughout her life. (This is because God allows human freedom in His work.) By accepting her vocation as mother of the Saviour, she became a channel of salvation for all. (p.119-120)

How are we to apply these knowledge? Fr. Neuner wrote,

“…God alone saves us through Jesus Christ. (but) It is our task to receive the message of salvation in faith, respond to it in obedience and become involved and committed in its realisation.” (Neuner, 2004, p.118)

In this respect, we can turn to Mary, for in the divine work of salvation, she embodies the human part (Neuner, 2004, p. 118). Fr. Neuner gave good advice in these words:

“So Mary is model of the Church, redeemed and sharing in God’s redemptive work; the Church is the community of the redeemed which, in turn, becomes “sacrament of salvation” for the world. The same mystery is realised in every Christian. All Jesus’ disciples are redeemed to share their life with their brothers and sisters as members of Christ’s body in continuation of Jesus’ mission.” (Neuner, 2004, p.119)

As we enter the season of Advent, let us reflect on this and like Mary, with faith and obedience make present the mystery of Christ to the world. Then, we would have lived our vocation in the mystery of salvation.

References:

John Paul II. (25 March 1987). Redemptoris Mater.

Keyes, J. (n.d.) Mariology in the Fathers of the Second Century. Retrieved from http://www.rc.net/oakland/cpps/mariology.pdf on 19 October 2011

Neuner, J. (2004). Mary – Mother of the Saviour. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India.

Vatican Council II. (21 November 1964). Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium.

Mary’s Role in Man’s Redemption - Part I

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 19 Nov 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Continuing with our theme Mary and the Church, today we shall delve into Mary’s role in man’s redemption. Does Mary play a part in our redemption? While the Church teaches that she does, non-Catholics maintain that man’s salvation is solely the work of Jesus Christ. As Marian devotees, it is good for us to understand better the Church’s teachings on this.

First of all, God’s plan for our salvation is eternal. Quoting St. Paul and Vatican II, Blessed John Paul II highlighted in the encyclical, Redemptoris Mater (RM), that since the fall of Adam and Eve, Mary was “already prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent…” (LG, #55, cf. Gen.3:15) He wrote:

In the mystery of Christ she is present even "before the creation of the world," as the one whom the Father "has chosen" as Mother of his Son in the Incarnation.’ (RM, #8)

‘…from the first moment of her conception … she belonged to Christ, sharing in the salvific and sanctifying grace and in that love which… (originates) in the "Beloved," the Son of the Eternal Father, who through the Incarnation became her own Son. (RM, #10)

The Incarnation thus marks the “fullness of time” when God’s promise to man after original sin was fulfilled (RM, #11). The Son of God came “born of woman, born under the law… so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (RM, #1 cf. Gal. 4:4-5)

Vatican II says: "The Father of mercies willed that the consent of the predestined Mother should precede the Incarnation." (LG, #56) Thus, it was God’s pleasure to give Mary the freedom to choose whether to cooperate in His plan for man’s salvation. This was realised at the Annunciation, when she freely consented to God’s request of her announced by the angel Gabriel. Accordingly, Fr. Neuner (2004) calls this a topic of Mary’s cooperation, where God’s sovereignty meets human freedom. It is the heart of all theology. (p. 114) He directed us to Vatican II, which describes Mary as “freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience.” (LG, #56) Because our salvation is God’s free gift of His love, it must include human dignity and freedom. This inclusion in achieving God’s plans does not diminish His absolute sovereignty, but rather makes it fully effective. We see in the biblical accounts of the covenant how God realises His designs with Israel and all creation not through force, but through free interplay of His creature’s freedom. (Neuner, 2004)

How involved is Mary in our redemption? Is it only by her free consent and giving Jesus the human body? Fr. Neuner (2004) wrote that by God’s design, Mary is drawn into Jesus’ life not only through physical motherhood, but also by sharing His life and saving mission (p. 45). By her fiat, she accepts her own place in His life and mission and consecrates herself “to the person and work of her Son” so that she “serves him in the mystery of redemption.” (Neuner, 2004, pp. 45, 115; cf. LG, #56) Her fiat-"let it be to me"-enabled her Son’s desire to do God’s will (cf. Heb. 10: 5-7) to be granted only on the human level, but the crowning moment of Mary’s motherhood in the salvific economy of grace is Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross (RM, #23), Blessed John Paul II wrote.

To understand Mary’s place in our salvation, Fr. Neuner proposes to re-look into Jesus’ redemptive mission in the light of His whole person and work, His mission and message, death and resurrection. Obeying His Father, Jesus accepts solidarity with us broken humans, sharing our condition, struggle, failure and death. (I quote Fr. Neuner) “Jesus is Saviour by being both with His Father and with us in His life, death and resurrection.” (Neuner, 2004 , p.117) In short, (from Fr. Keyes, citing St. Irenaeus), Jesus is Saviour by being fully divine and fully human (Irenaeus as cited in Keyes). Based on St. Paul, Fr. Keyes wrote: “It was because of the fact that the Redeemer had associated himself so closely with Adam, that he was able, in himself, to re-establish or re-create all things.”

St. Irenaeus explained how the death of mankind is transformed into salvation by emphasising on the Adam-Christ analogy with the paralegal of Eve and Mary (Keyes). He placed great importance on the parallels between Adam and Christ and between Eve and Mary, stressing that this is God’s analogy; God accomplished every detail of His work to preserve the analogy. (Keyes)

How does this analogy explain Mary’s role in man’s redemption? Next week, we will unpack this and also reflect on our own part in the mystery of salvation.

References:

John Paul II. (25 March 1987). Redemptoris Mater.

Keyes, J. (n.d.) Mariology in the Fathers of the Second Century. Retrieved from http://www.rc.net/oakland/cpps/mariology.pdf on 19 October 2011

Neuner, J. (2004). Mary – Mother of the Saviour. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India.

Vatican Council II. (21 November 1964). Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium.

Mary, Eschatological Icon of the Church

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 13 Aug 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Eschatology is the theological study of the “End Times”. In the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word originates from the Greek word eschatos, which means last or farthest. In short, it deals with the “four last things” – death, judgement, hell and heaven.

The title, “Mary, Eschatological Icon of the Church” means Mary being the image of what the Church is to be at the end of time. She is so because she is Type of the Church. In Mary, the Church learns the meaning of her own mission; in the fulfillment of Mary’s life then, the Church sees her own destiny. This fulfillment is celebrated in the feast of Mary’s Assumption. Therefore, as Fr. Neuner wrote, Mary’s Assumption is also the mystery of the Church.  

Since the Assumption is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, there have been questions and protests on the doctrine. Fr. Neuner noted that faith in the Assumption is difficult for those who have not experienced Marian devotion. It should not be forced on them, but if explained in its true meaning and in simplicity, they may understand and recognise its significance more easily. By today’s sharing, we shall try to understand this mystery a little better, so that we may not only give the reason for the hope that we have, but also show that this Christian hope has been realised in Mary, the first of the redeemed. I shall focus on two aspects of the Assumption – firstly its biblical foundation and secondly, a new but biblical understanding of the resurrection of the dead.

The Assumption is linked to the resurrection. Fr. Neuner wrote that all Christian life has the promise of final glory, the fulfillment of the whole person, body and soul. (Neuner, 2004, p. 101) As Blessed John Paul II said, “we will reach the ultimate goal of human life when "God will be all in all" (1 Cor 15: 28)”. Jesus Himself defended the faith in the resurrection before the Sadducees in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt. 12:18-27). But the full meaning of the resurrection is found only in Jesus’ own person. In Jn. 11:25, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection. Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live…” St. Paul says that the Christian faith is in vain if there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12f). He himself prays that he may come to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, share in Christ’s sufferings by imitating Him in His death and striving towards the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3: 10-11) Thus the Bible teaches that those who are united with Jesus Christ in their life and work are sure to share also in His glory (Neuner, 2004, p. 101). The same Bible presents Mary uniquely linked to Jesus, giving Him His earthly life and sharing in His saving mission. So she is with Him also in His resurrection; thus the biblical basis for Mary’s Assumption.

Traditionally, death was understood to be the separation of the spiritual soul from the material body. The soul will be re-united to the body only in the resurrection. Today, theologians realise that this is not biblical. The Bible sees death as the destruction of the whole person, not only of the body, for the human being in his personal wholeness comprises his body, mind and spirit. Likewise the resurrection of the dead receives its full meaning as God’s creative, lifegiving work that gives us our life in its ultimate fulfillment. The glorified body has a different form after the resurrection; it is not a continuation of its earthly form. This erases the question of where Mary’s body might be kept after her death in the traditional understanding. Our faith then becomes simple, as Fr. Neuner wrote: God’s power and love assumes our dying life into his own glory. This finality of human life is revealed in the Risen Lord, it is presented to us in Mary, the icon of redeemed humankind, as the hope and promise for the whole world. (Neuner, 2004, p. 106)

Thus, the dogma of Mary’s Assumption symbolises the fulfillment of God’s saving work through Jesus Christ for all who believe in Him. It tells us that “life is more than what can be seen; it is fulfilled and transformed in the embrace of God’s love.” It is more significant in our time which is in dire need of hope. “God is greater than man; as He was with Mary in the darkness of her life to lead her to glory, so He is with us.” (Neuner, 2004, p. 112).

References:

Neuner, J. (2004). Mary – Mother of the Saviour. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India.

Mary, Model of Hope for the Church

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 25 June 2011)

In this sharing on Mary as model of hope for the Church, we are reminded in the first letter of Peter to “Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have.” (1 Pet 3:15) In listening to the angel's message, the Virgin first directs her hope to the kingdom without end, which Jesus had been sent to establish. (John Paul II, Mary: Model of Faith, Hope and Charity)

Standing at the foot of the Cross, Mary’s Heart was united to the sufferings of the Heart of Jesus. Her Heart was mystically pierced by the same sword that pierced Jesus’ Heart. This was the most painful time for Mary; yet, by standing at the foot of the Cross, Mary revealed the strength and integrity of her Heart, the undivided love for God and hope for humanity, and the faithfulness to her mission. Standing at the foot of the Cross, she showed us that her Heart, being immaculate and never touched by either darkness or sin, could not be touched by evil in the darkest and most painful hour of the Passion and death of her Son. Mary kept her interior freedom as a child of God because she did not allow herself to be overcome by fear, despair or hatred, always the servant of the Lord and His plan. At the side of her Son, she is the most perfect image of freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium; John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater).

Three pillars sustained Mary's Heart at the foot of the Cross: her unshakeable faith, her unfailing hope, and her profound sacrificial love. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1817)

It is on Calvary that we contemplate how far these virtues can move our hearts to be faithful to Christ in the most difficult moments. If we nourish these virtues we will be capable of doing what our Mother did at Calvary: stand at the foot of the Cross. From Mary we learn to live in faith, hope and love at the foot of our own crosses. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

These three virtues are necessary to stem the tide of crises we face in difficult times: a crisis of faith, a crisis of hope and a crisis of love. They come from the direct influence of Satan in the world and in hearts. If there is a denial of the existence of God and His truth, there certainly will be a denial of His promises of eternal life and the eternal consequences for those who live in grace or in sin. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

The greatest manifestation of the crisis of hope is the minimizing or even a forgetting of the realities of eternal life, leading many to live only for the pleasures of this world; to develop a materialistic way of life; to seek self-fulfillment only in the things of this world; and to avoid any kind of suffering which interferes with the idol and obsession of happiness. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

Mary not only teaches us to stand firm in the midst of the storm by the power of the three virtues but she comes to defend us with her maternal presence and leads us through the desert of tribulation. Just as the column of cloud during the day and the column of fire during the night preceded the Israelites in the desert to show them the way and never left its place in front of the people (Ex 13, 21-22), Virgin Mary, as the “New Column” described in the dream of St. John Bosco, goes before us in these times of confusion and battle, leading us safely to the Heart of her Son and to His Church. She is also the Mother of Hope for the Church. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

Our true fulfillment is in loving, which requires our self-denial and the taking up of our cross and following the Lord. The Beatitudes invite us and teach us the way to oppose the invitations of this world and to obtain abundant life now and in eternity. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)

Like Mary at the foot of the cross, let us empty ourselves of all that is passing, and not be afraid to suffer what is needed for our purification. To repair for the crisis of hope and for the materialistic attitude of our contemporary age, we should pray and meditate on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. By contemplating the eternal rewards promised for our fidelity to the will of God, even in the midst of suffering, we are called – and receive the graces – to grow in “hope against all hope.” (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium; 2 Cor 4:16-18).

References:

Catechism of the Catholic Church

John Paul II, Mary: Model of Faith, Hope and Charity: http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm61.htm

John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater

Mother Adela, SCTJM Foundress, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium: http://www.piercedhearts.org/mother_adela/mary_faith_hope_charity.htm