Mary, Model of Virtue – Chastity

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 2 July 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today being the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our sub-theme on Mary, the model of virtues, aptly continues with the virtue of chastity, for chastity leads to purity of heart. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC, it is to restore fallen creation to its original purity that Jesus came (CCC, #2336), and it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to our original unity. (St. Augustine, Confessions, 10, 29, 40 as cited in CCC, #2340)

The CCC states that chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person (CCC, #2337). This integrity of the God-given powers of life and love in man ensures the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. (CCC, #2337 - #2338). “It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.” (CCC, #2338)

The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to fill with reason the passions and appetites of the senses (CCC, #2341). In Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton’s words, temperance regulates the use of food and drink — and sex. His predecessor, Bishop James C. Timlin, drew an analogy between the appetite for these two subjects. The appetite for food and drink must be regulated so that they may accomplish God’s purpose, i.e. bodily health, and not become health threats. Likewise, the sexual appetite, given by God for the continuation of the human race, must be regulated so that it achieves the good it is meant to bring instead of causing suffering to individuals and society. Thus, chastity empowers us to make right use of a great gift from God. (Martino, 8 Dec 2004)

In his book Love and Responsibility, Blessed John Paul II, then Karol Wojtyla, wrote that chastity protects love from falling into selfish, utilitarian attitudes; it enables us to love selflessly our beloved for who he or she is as a person — irrespective of the powerful emotions or sensual delight we may receive from our beloved. Thus, chastity is the guardian of love.

The CCC teaches: he who practices chastity bears witness of God's fidelity and loving kindness. Chastity leads friends, whether of the same or opposite sex, to spiritual communion. (CCC, #2347)

The absence of chastity leads to societal ills, which includes pornography, premarital sex, homosexual relations and unions, adultery, divorce, contraception, abortions, cloning and the destruction of human embryos for stem cell research. (Martino, 8 Dec 2004) In short, the culture of death prevails.

Christians, whether married, engaged to marry, widowed or celibate (as a layperson or religious), are called to lead a chaste life, each according to his particular state of life. (CCC, #2348). Likewise for homosexual persons, who are not to be discriminated. The baptised are enabled to imitate the purity of Christ, the model of chastity, by the help of the Holy Spirit, (CCC, #2345 & #2394) and through an apprenticeship in self-mastery (CCC, #2339), which is a life-long training in human freedom (CCC, #2342). In Bishop Martino’s words, “The Church’s message about chastity is simple: the great good of sex may not be separated from procreation, love, and marriage.” He also wrote, “Chastity, which embraces openness to children and the choice to stay together, is the key to a happy marriage.” (Martino, 8 Dec 2004) Indeed, chastity is ever relevant today.

Chastity has been the most difficult of all virtues to practise (Liguori, 1931) and the most resented (Wojtyla, K. as cited by Sri, n.d.). How to overcome temptations against chastity? Bellarmine and the masters of a spiritual life listed three means, namely fasting (especially mortification of the eyes and of the appetite), avoiding occasions of sin and prayer. Bishop Martino advocated frequently receiving the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Confession.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is our model and guide. She was discreet; St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote that Mary hastened to Elizabeth’s house, that she might be less seen in public. Mary was most moderate in her food – St. Bonaventure added that “grace and gluttony cannot subsist together." (Liguori, 1931) Mary avoided occasions for sin by leaving Elizabeth’s house before John’s birth, to avoid its accompanying conversations and visits. Thirdly, Mary acquired virtue with effort and continual prayer. Quoting Vatican II and Pope Paul VI, Bishop Martino advocated imitating the Blessed Virgin in purity and openness to God’s will, so that like her, we will be spiritually fruitful. He also encouraged devotion to her and asking for her intercession, for her motherly compassion desires “Christ to be born in us individually and as a pilgrim Church”. (Martino, 8 Dec 2004)

With God’s grace and through Mary, chastity is not impossible for us. Then, we shall see God, for Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt. 5:8)

References:

Liguori, A. (1931). The Glories of Mary. Retrieved on 27 June 2011 from http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/chastity-mary.htm

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Martino, J.F. (8 December 2004). Chastity: A Pastoral Letter. Retrieved on 27 June 2011 from http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6263

Sri. E.R. (n.d.). Resenting Chastity in Love and Responsibility by Pope John Paul II: A summary and explanation. Retrieved on 27 June 2011 from http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/marriage/mf0073.html

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

Mary, Model of Faith

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 18 June 2011)

Today my sharing will be on Mary, the model of faith.

All of us are very familiar with the word FAITH, that we use it often in our prayers, in our conversations with our friends, in sharing of our experiences of life and in many other situations. I am sure we all believe in the gift of faith.       

Faith is one of the most fundamental aspects of our Christian life. We believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect model of our faith.

So what is the gift of faith?

Faith involves entrusting oneself, abandoning oneself to God, the willingness to submit to His will and the obedience in faith. Mary as the perfect model reflects this very well. She abandoned herself to God with total trust and in obedience in faith when she responded “Yes” to God.

To better understand what this means in practice, we can look at the life of Mary, whose acceptance of God’s invitation to be the mother of His Son is a great witness for us. By examining the dialogue that took place at the Annunciation, we can gain deeper insight about what it means to have faith.

Mary’s ‘Yes’ to God

Mary’s journey with God was one of deep faith and great trust. She had a grace-filled openness to the mystery of God in her life.

We are familiar with Luke’s account of the Incarnation when the angel appeared to Mary and announced, “The Lord is with you.” ( Lk 1: 28) However, before Mary responded to God, the Scriptures remind us that Mary was confused and frightened, and was deeply disturbed by the angel’s greeting. As Mary was fully human she too experienced fear and doubts, similar to how anyone of us would also encounter in our lives. 

She struggled to say “Yes” to the Lord! And She “pondered” these words in her heart. Pondering is not simply a question of “thinking” or of trying to master the realities of faith or mysteries of life. It is not a question of trying to control these realities or mysteries or reduce them to something our minds can handle. Rather, it is a question of letting the realities of faith be with us, to enter into us and reveal themselves to us. It is allowing ourselves to be molded by them, to allow God’s will to become our will.  It is fostering both an attitude and atmosphere of trust and openness in our lives. 

It was through her dialogue with the angel, where she asks, ”How can this be? I have no knowledge of man” (Lk1:34) And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. And behold, your cousin Elisabeth, she too also conceived a son in her old age, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Lk1:38)With these words Mary was more assured and her fear transcended and she was able to submit herself to the will of God. 

Mary took a leap in faith. She had to let go of her plans and say “Yes” to a life of faith. In spite of her awareness of her own unworthiness and littleness, she had to say “Yes” to become the mother of God and also all that it would entail. She was asked to let go of her plans and let God take over her life. She was totally unaware what was to happen in the future, the struggles or difficulties; however she totally trusted God and that He will take care of all things as she surrendered in faith.

Mary's fiat (“let it be done, as you have said” (Lk 1:38)) demonstrates her complete obedience to God and to His will for her. In fact it was by means of her fiat, her obedient faith, that “the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished” in accordance with God's plan.

Similarly, sometimes in our lives too, when God comes to invite us to make changes in our lives, to explore the inner part of our lives which we have been very comfortable with, we too can feel perplexed or confused just as Mary did. It is in those circumstances that we too can engage in dialogue with God and with others around us. May we too, walk in faith by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us just as he did for Mary.

We may not know what the outcome will be, however we can take the leap of faith and TRUST that God will take care of us just as He did for our Blessed Mother.

Mary, Model of Virtue –Charity towards Neighbour

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 4 June 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today, we shall touch on Mary’s virtue of charity towards neighbour. Mary hastened into the hill country to visit Elizabeth.  (Luke 1:39-45)  Consider how Mary thought nothing of herself; indeed her needs were secondary to those of her cousin Elizabeth. 

We next look at Mary at a wedding feast at Cana. (John 2: 1-9)  When the wine was gone, she said to Jesus, “They have no more wine.”  When Jesus replied that His time has not yet come, His mother proceeded to instruct the servants to do whatever He tells them. At this wedding, Jesus listening to His mother and thereupon changing the water into wine opened the disciples’ hearts to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers.

I would now like to share on the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, who emulated the Virgin Mary’s virtue of charity towards neighbour. He fought for justice, the rights of the poor and the persecuted church against the “powers there be” in San Salvador. 

Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez was born on 15^th August 1917 in Ciudad Barrios. Romero went to a public school for three years after which he was privately tutored until he was thirteen. He grew up being his father’s apprentice in carpentry and excelled; his father had wanted him to be skilled in a trade since studies in San Salvador did not guarantee employment.

Romero was ordained in Rome on 4^th April 1942. He worked at San Miguel for over 20 years. He promoted various apostolic groups, started an Alcoholics Anonymous group, helped in the construction of San Miguel’s cathedral and supported devotion to the Virgin of the Peace. In 1967, he was chosen to be Secretary of the Bishop Conference for El Salvador. He was known as fairly conservative while editing for the archdiocesan newspaper Orientacion, defending the traditional Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

In 1970, he was appointed auxiliary bishop to the San Salvador Archbishop. He became Bishop of the Diocese of Santiago de Maria in December 1975. On 23^rd February 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador, to the surprise, dismay and even incredulity of many priests who were aligned with Marxism. They feared that his conservativeness would negatively affect liberation theology’s commitment to the poor.

On 12^th March, a progressive Jesuit priest and personal friend Rutilio Grande, who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor, was assassinated.  His death profoundly affected Romero who later stated, “…If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path”. Romero urged the government to investigate but was ignored.  Furthermore, the censored press remained silent.

Eventually, Romero revealed a radicalism that had not been evident earlier.  He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture.  Consequently, Romero began to be noticed internationally. In Feb, 1980, he was given an honorary doctorate by the Catholic University of Leuven. On his visit to Europe to receive this honour, he met Pope John Paul II and told him that it was problematic to support the Salvadoran government because it legitimised terror and assassinations.

In 1979, the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government. Romero criticised the United States for giving the government military aid. He warned President Jimmy Carter that the increased US aid would sharpen the injustice and the repression inflicted on the organised people, struggling often for their basic human rights.

In Archbishop Romero’s words: “In less than 3 years, more than 50 priests have been attacked, threatened and slandered. Six of them are martyrs, having been assassinated; various others have been tortured, and others expelled from the country. Religious women have also been the object of persecutions. The archdiocesan radio station, Catholic educational institutions and Christian religious institutions have been constantly attacked, menaced, threatened with bombs. Various parish convents have been sacked.”

Romero was shot on 24^th March 1980 while celebrating Mass at a small chapel located in a hospital, one day after a sermon where he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God’s higher order and to stop carrying out the government’s repression and violations of basic human rights. An audio-recording of the Mass showed him shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic rite.

On 21^st December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly officially recognised the important work and values of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

Mary, Model of Virtue – Charity towards God

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 28 May 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Faith, hope and charity are the three theological virtues which enable us to share in God’s nature (CCC, #1813) or activity (Holy Family School of Faith Institute). God infused them into us at our baptism, so that we can attain union with Him (Holy Family School of Faith Institute). Of these three, St. Paul says that charity is the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:13). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God.” (CCC, #1822) Charity enables us to love the way God does (Holy Family School of Faith Institute). It summarises the two great commandments that contain the whole law of God, (Mark 12:29-31) i.e.

1.  You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and

2.  You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Today, we will ponder on charity towards God. I shall share points and reflexions mainly from the School of Faith website.

Why charity towards God? Does God need our charity or love? Certainly not. God Himself is Love; He does not need us to love Him to be fulfilled in any way. Why then, does He command us to love Him with our whole being? Because only by loving God will we be led to eternal happiness in Him, where we are made to be. As St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” (Augustine of Hippo, p1)

How should we love God? As mentioned, with our entire being, above all things and for His own sake. Jesus commands us to love one another has He has loved us. How does God love? He loves us first, gives us life and all good things; not because He needs us, but as a totally free gift. It is selfless love. When we ungratefully turned away from Him, He sent His only Son to die for us, to save us from sin, while we were still sinners. His love is sacrificial. God continues to seek us out and bring us back to Him throughout the ages. To love God for His own sake, obviously we should love Him with the same selfless and sacrificial love.

What makes us love God and keep His commandments? Is it because we want something from Him? So that He will fulfil our desires? If that is so, it is not charity, but selfish love, for the focus is on what we gain from loving God. Charity motivates us to love for the good and happiness of God and neighbour. We should be willing to sacrifice time and energy for prayer, attending Mass, going for Confession, not to get something out of them, but as acts of love for God, to please Him and make Him happy. Likewise, when we pray, we do not merely ask for favours and help; prayer is also praise and thanksgiving. (Holy Family School of Faith Institute)

The famous Catholic theologian, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange gave three great signs of heroic love of God: perfect conformity to His holy will in trials, love of the cross, and perfect charity towards one’s neighbour. (Garrigou-Lagrange).

Should we love God first, or neighbour first? Modern liberalism advocates may say, “Feeding the poor is more important.” In his classic, Liberalism Is A Sin, Dr. Salvany wrote: “Charity is primarily the love of God, secondarily the love of our neighbor for God's sake. …” And Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange wrote, “Perfect charity toward one's neighbor springs from close union with God…”

After Christ, Mary is the epitome of this heroic love of God, for she submitted to His will entirely, and remained faithful amidst the greatest sufferings. Her total love of God made her love mankind as He loves them.

How can we acquire this virtue to love God as we should? Besides our effort, we must be open to God’s grace through daily prayer, especially meditation of the Holy Rosary, and by frequently receiving the Sacraments, i.e. Confession and the Eucharist. (Holy Family School of Faith Institute) Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Mirae Caritatis (#11), wrote that charity towards God to promote mutual charity among men can be enkindled if we ponder well the charity which Christ has shown in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Mary is our role model, for according to St. Alphonsus Liguori, her humility and self emptiness enabled Divine love to fill her so that, quoting St. Bernardine, “her love towards God surpassed that of all men and Angels”.

By this first and greatest commandment, then, we can hope to attain union with God, like Mary.

References:

Alphonsus Liguori. The Glories of Mary, from Mary's Charity Towards God. Retrieved on 19 May 2011 from http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/charity-mary1.htm.

Augustine of Hippo. Confessions of St. Augustine.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Holy Family School of Faith Institute. Retrieved on 27 May 2011 from http://www.schooloffaith.com/_assets/files/Virtue/NT0602.pdf

Holy Family School of Faith Institute. Retrieved on 25 May 2011 from http://www.schooloffaith.com/_assets/files/Virtue/NT0608.pdf

Leo XIII. (28 May 1902). Mirae Caritatis. Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Holy Eucharist.

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (n.d.). The Three Ages of the Interior Life. Retrieved on 19 May 2011 from http://www.christianperfection.info/tta96.php

Mary, Model of Virtue - The Humility of Mary

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 21 May 2011)

•    "Humility," says St. Bernard, "is the foundation and guardian of virtues;" and with reason, for without it no other virtue can exist in a soul. Should she possess all virtues, all will depart when humility is gone.

St. Francis de Sales wrote to St. Jane Frances de Chantal, "God so loves humility, that whenever He sees it, He is immediately drawn thither." This beautiful and so necessary virtue was unknown in the world; but the Son of God Himself came on earth to teach it by His Own example, and willed that in that virtue in particular we should endeavour to imitate Him: Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart.

•    Mary, being the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in the practice of all virtues, was the first also in that of humility, and by it merited to be exalted above all creatures.

The first effect of humility of heart is a lowly opinion of ourselves. St Teresa: Humility is truth. A humble heart always acknowledges the special favors of the Lord, to humble herself the more. The Divine Mother, by the greater light by which she knew the infinite greatness and goodness of God, also knew her own nothingness, and therefore, more than all others, humbled herself. A soul that is truly humble refuses her own praise; and should praises be bestowed on her, she refers them all to God.

At the Annunciation, Mary is disturbed at hearing herself praised by St. Gabriel; ..and when St. Elizabeth said, Blessed are you among women ... and why has this happened to me, that the Mother of my Lord comes to me? ... and blessed is she who has believed, [Luke 1:42-45], Mary referred all to God, and answered in that humble Canticle, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.” She spoke of the lowliness of His servant to make sure nobody misunderstood what she meant by “servant”.

•    Those who are humble are retiring and choose the last places; and therefore Mary, when her Son was preaching in a house, wishing to speak to Him, would not of her own accord enter, but remained outside, and did not avail herself of her maternal authority to interrupt Him, as it is related by St. Matthew, [12:46]

•    “The Lord scatters the proud and exalts the lowly.” There are two kinds of exaltation: self-exaltation and divine exaltation. The greatest danger for us is self-exaltation, because it opposes the condition for divine exaltation, that is, lowly, Marian humility. She declared that the Lord fills the hungry (those who admit their emptiness) with good things. Hunger in the Bible means emptiness not only of the body, but a symbol of the admitted emptiness of everything. By ourselves, we are emptiness, a vacuum. We must admit that we are a vacuum, or we shall not be filled by the goodness of God. We must admit and constantly confess our emptiness, which is another word for humility.

•    Humility serves. Humility waits on others. Mary did not refuse to go and serve Elizabeth for three months. Elizabeth wondered that Mary should have come to visit her; but what is still more admirable is, Mary came not to be ministered to, but to minister. This is the mother of God, but only because she is also the lowly handmaid of the Lord.

The more gifted a person, the more prone that person is to pride. Possession of anything naturally generates pride. And not only does possession generate pride, but the greater the possession the more pride it generates. Wealth of any kind inflates the human heart. The more a person has of physical or mental or moral or even spiritual riches, the harder it is for that person to be humble, to serve. How are we to be humble? How can we possess without being proud? Only through being in the presence of Jesus Christ.

•    Mary's humility is a paradox. The most gifted creature ever produced by the Creator was also the lowliest in her own eyes. That is the key to humility: seeing everything we are, everything we have, everything we hope to become, everything we hope to achieve or possess – seeing everything as a free, undeserved and totally gratuitous gift from God.

But this is possible only by the grace with which God who became man provides us. The same grace He provided Mary by His Real Presence with her, He provides by His Real Presence with us today. There's no more basic reason for the Real Presence on earth of Jesus Christ than to provide us with the humanly impossible grace of humility.

References:

St Alphonsus Liguori. The Glories of Mary: –: http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/humility-mary.htm

Fr John Hardon, posted by Fr Fernando OMV: http://cloudoffire.blogspot.com/2009/03/mary-perfect-model-of-humility.html

John Hardon S.J. (1914-2000) http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0943.htm

Mary as a Type of the Church - Holiness

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 14 May 2011)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We have shared with you about Mary as a type of the Church as a virgin mother, and how we, members of the Church, can live the life and mission of the Church as both mother and virgin. Today, I would like to share on Mary’s holiness and the Church, again extracting mainly from Fr. Josef Neuner’s “Mary, Mother of the Saviour”, the Lumen Gentium (LG) and other Church documents.

Fr. Neuner wrote: God alone is holy beyond all creation. Christian holiness is based on God’s free invitation to share in His life. This free gift from God must be responded to and realised in the newness of life. All holiness in the Church comes from Jesus Christ, who “loves the Church as his bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her”. (LG, #39). This is realised first in Mary, whose holiness makes her the model of the whole Church.

Mary’s holiness is God’s free gift to her because she is the Virgin-Mother of Jesus Christ, the Saviour. Embodying the mystery of Mary in her life and mission, the Church too, is virgin and mother. Thus the Church also shares in Mary’s holiness. But, Mary, conceived without sin, is holy from the beginning, whereas the Church is called from sin to grace; as St. Chrysostom wrote: a harlot made virgin by Christ the bridegroom (p93). I quote Fr. Neuner: “We are members of the Church not through the natural birth but through baptism, reborn in Jesus Christ. Hence as Eve became the symbol of the unredeemed world, so Mary is the type of the world redeemed and sanctified in Jesus Christ, which is the Church.”

Fr. Neuner concluded: “Christian holiness is embodied in Mary and must be realised in the Church. It is God’s transforming presence which must become fruitful in life and work. …Holiness…is the transparency of God’s presence. …Mary is transparent, filled with the mystery of God. When people pray before her image they enter into God’s presence. Also in the Church holiness is more than moral correctness. The “Holy” Catholic Church must offer to the world the consciousness of God’s presence, elevating and powerful in its silence.”

How do we, as members of the Church, live up to that? Whom shall we turn to if not Mary, the very one who is filled with holiness, and is the figure of the Church? For Vatican II taught: “But while in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues.” Moreover, (LG, #65) “…true devotion … proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to a filial love toward our mother and to the imitation of her virtues.” (LG, #67)

To imitate Mary, we need to know her, constantly be reminded of her virtues, and have the grace and perseverance to live by them against worldly temptations. We get to know Mary by reading about her; there is a vast ocean of literature on Mary – in printed material, on the Internet, and prayers and homilies. We also know her through others’ sharing on their experiences of her love and intercession.

Praying the Rosary will remind us of her virtues. Meditating often on the mysteries of the Rosary, we learn more and more about the life of Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, and will be better disposed to imitate their virtues.

As God alone can make us holy, we must pray for the grace to respond to this invitation of His. We receive grace and strength through the sacraments administered by the Church.  

We should also ask Mary to pray for us to be more like her, so that we will be more like Christ. Mary, being our Mother, is ever ready to help us and intercede for us. Again, the Rosary is the prayer where we invoke our Blessed Mother’s powerful intercession.

In subsequent weeks, we will share on Mary’s virtues. Quoting St. Alphonsus Liguori, “Humility being the foundation of all virtues, as the holy Fathers teach…” we will next share on the great humility of the Mother of God.