Mary, Mother of Jesus: PDF

UNIVERSITY OF SAINT LOUIS TUGUEGARAO Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500 Philippines SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, CRIMINOLOGY, ARTS AND PSYCHOLOGY CHRISTIAN FAITH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MOD...

UNIVERSITY OF SAINT LOUIS TUGUEGARAO Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500 Philippines SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, CRIMINOLOGY, ARTS AND PSYCHOLOGY CHRISTIAN FAITH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE LEARNING MODULE CFED 1013: God’s Journey with His People LESSON: MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS AND A WOMAN OF FAITH TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Identify the qualities or attributes of your mother or anyone who has been a mother to you; 2. Draw insights from Mary’s act of total acceptance of the angel’s message to be the “Mother of Jesus” that can help you appreciate and accept different tasks given to you; and 3. Come up with creative ways of introducing Jesus to other people. INTRODUCTION Of all the gifts life offers, a mother is one of the greatest blessings. Mothers are great gifts from God. Mothers nurture and teach their children how to become good people as the book of Proverbs says, “…do not forsake your mother’s teaching” (Prov. 6:20). Mothers bestow on their children timeless wisdom. Mothers who personify faith in God and prayerful life teach the children the value of God’s word. Moreover, mothers inculcate in their children the value of self-confidence. THE BIRTH OF JESUS FORETOLD 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.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38) In the Gospel of Luke, Mary’s “Behold…may it be done” (1:38) is grounded in her intimate and humble relationship with her God. In the end, it is in her “Behold” moment wherein she turned and rested her future in Greater Mystery that ultimately carries the day. Luke’s story of Mary includes a woman’s spiritual life of prayer and relationship with God. Moreover, it portrays her wisdom to discern deep waters, her need for practical encouragement, and her courage to enter into the ways that God might act in her life, maybe wanting more concrete answers, but still willing to risk that the Spirit will lead and not abandon her. The announcement to Mary of the birth of Jesus is parallel to the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John. In both the angel Gabriel appears to the parent who is troubled by the vision and then told by the angel not to fear. After the announcement is made the parent objects and a sign is given to confirm the announcement. The particular focus of the announcement of the birth of Jesus is on his identity as Son of David and Son of God.  Mary’s questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel’s declaration about the Spirit’s role in the conception of this child. According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the Holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: He is Son of God. The sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel’s announcement to her is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth. If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be doubt about Mary’s pregnancy, for nothing will be impossible for God. CHURCH TEACHING: For Mary, the announcement is almost overwhelming but her faith and purity animated her to God’s truth. She accepted the angel’s message and all its implications for her own life – a radical, unforeseen change in her plans. Mary’s total YES (FIAT) to Go’s plan of salvation makes the incarnation possible. Mary remained faithful to her mission unto the cross-making Jesus available to us. If we love Jesus, then we also love his mother and follow her lead bringing us to Jesus. Luke’s story of Mary encourages you to notice and wonder both with your minds and hearts how God is with you, to be curious and to ask pointed questions, even of God’s great messengers. Luke’s story also calls you to notice and ponder how God is forever stirring up wild possibilities, and how God invites you into the ongoing story of wonder, inclusive of happiness and sorrows, but, according to Luke, into a life where God’s joy ultimately reigns. The “Annunciation” refers to “The visit of the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary to inform her that she was to be the Mother of the Savior. After giving her consent to God’s word, Mary became the Mother of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 484, 494, Glossary, p. 866) The Annunciation of the Lord is a Solemnity, which is a Feast of the highest rank in the Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that: “In the liturgical year the various aspects of the Paschal Mystery unfold. This is also the case with the cycle of the feasts surrounding the mystery of the Incarnation (Annunciation, Christmas, Epiphany). They commemorate the beginning of our salvation and communicate to us the first fruits of the Paschal Mystery” (CCC, 1171). The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily". The divine response to her question, "How can this be, since I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." (CCC, 484) The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son. The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own. (CCC, 485) The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples. Thus, the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."(CCC, 486) What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ. Many Filipino Catholics probably learn more about Faith from their devotion to the Virgin Mary than any other way. This is perfectly grounded in Scripture which portrays Mary as the exemplar of faith. Through her “Yes” at the Annunciation, Mary “becomes the model of faith”. Luke stresses the contrast between Mary’s faith and the disbelief of Zachary by Elizabeth’s greeting. “Blest is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled”. John Paul II writes that “in the expression ‘Blest are you who believed’ we can rightly find a kind of ‘key’ which unlocks for us the innermost reality of Mary, whom the angel hailed as ‘full of grace’”. (CFC, 155) Mary perfectly exemplified the common definitions of faith as “full submission of intellect and will” and the “obedience of faith” (Rom 16:26; 1:5; cf. DV 5). But she did it personally, with all her human and feminine “I”, and this response of faith included both perfect cooperation with the “grace of God that precedes and assists,” and perfect openness to the action of the Holy Spirit, who constantly brings faith to completion by his gifts. Luke carries this theme of Mary’s faith into his second inspired book where he describes her presence among “those who believed” in the apostolic community after the Resurrection. (CFC, 156). Mary is truly an effective inspiration to us because she constantly exercised faith in all the realities of ordinary, daily living, even in family crises. Luke’s account of the “finding in the Temple” offers a perfect example (cf. Lk 2:41-52). There is the first stage of astonishment at seeing Jesus in the temple, in the midst of the teachers. Astonishment is often the beginning of faith, the sign and condition to break beyond our “mind-set” and learn something new. Mary and Joseph learned something from Jesus that day. (CFC, 157) Second, there is distress and worry, real anguish and suffering. As with the prophets, God’s Word brings good and bad fortune. Mary was already “taking up the Cross” of the disciple of Christ. Third, there is often a lack of understanding. Both Mary and Joseph, and later “the Twelve,” could not understand what Jesus meant. Faith is not “clear insight” but “seeing indistinctly, as in a mirror”. Finally, there is the fourth stage of search wherein Mary did not drop the incident from her mind, but rather “kept all these things in her heart.” Faith is a continual search for meaning, for making sense of what is happening by uncovering what links them together. Like the “scribe who is learned in the reign of God” Mary acted like “the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old”. (CFC, 158) The name Mary is almost synonymous with full of grace. One who is full of grace is very humble, recognizing one’s own limitations and incapacities and then simply waiting for the assurance from the Holy Spirit. One who is full of grace magnifies the Lord. This is how significant Mary is as portrayed in the story of the Annunciation. According to his Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, in one of his homilies, the Annunciation was the beginning of the Incarnation: a silent and mysterious event that changed the world because at that moment, “in the fullness of time and fullness of love, heaven and earth would unite in the Womb, in that Son-truly God but also truly human…for God so loved the world He sent us his only Son.” Indeed, Mary, the Mother of God, is an essential part of the Catholic Church. “She is hailed as pre-eminent and as a wholly unique member of the church, and as its exemplar and outstanding model in faith and charity.” (CCC, 967) Since Mary is the mother of Jesus, she is also the mother of the church (CCC, 963.) We have already seen that the church is Jesus carrying on his mission on earth to teach, to heal and to give glory to God. We are the church, we live with the life of Christ, we carry on his mission to the world. Therefore, Mary is our mother also, and that fact alone should serve as a source of great devotion to her. (Knox, Ian 1999) Despite the seeming impossibility of the Angel’s message, Mary demonstrated her faith and trust in God by her acceptance of God’s invitation. The following questions may serve as a guide and a challenge to you as you ponder on your commitment in answering God’s call. 1. Do you say “yes” to God in the small, everyday situations of your life? When the yes is hard, do you ask God for the grace to respond to his call? 2. You are challenged to help “make flesh” the Word of God. How do you respond to that invitation? In what ways do you help birth Jesus into the world? 3. What are the instances you have difficulty saying “yes” to God? How can Mary help you in those moments? MARY IN THE GOSPELS The name “Mary” is derived from “Miriam” in Hebrew, or in Aramaic “Mariam” and is translated “Maria” in Greek or Latin. It is a common name in the first-century Israel/Palestine, and is the most frequently used woman’s name in the New Testament. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPCION OF MARY The Immaculate Concepcion means that from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Mary was graced and thus preserved from all stain of original sin. She was “filled with grace” that is, made holy by God’s presence. This privilege was given to her in view of her role to become the mother of Jesus the Savior of the human race. Thus Jesus was also preserved from the stain of sin. The angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the Annunciation reveals that she was “highly favoured by God with His grace as an unmerited gift”. Mary was given a unique grace, a free and unmerited gift of holiness from God, to prepare her for her special role to be mother of God’s Son-made-man, our Redeemer Jesus Christ (Lk. 1:31-35). This Solemnity is celebrated on December 8. STAGES OF THE COMING OUT OF THE GOSPELS AND THE SUMMARY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS Three Stages of the Formation of the Gospels Same with the process of the coming out of the Old Testament scriptures, the New Testament Books especially the Gospels also have undergone three stages. 1. Historical Jesus Christ The peak of God’s Self-revelation to humanity was the coming of Jesus. He is the agent of renewal of the covenant between God and His people. He established a new covenant through His words and deeds. Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God which is the reign of love, justice, peace, and the well-being of people. The climax of His ministry was the giving of Himself on the Cross and His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. Most of the information about Jesus comes from the New Testament, particularly the four Gospels. However, there are several references to Him in secular literature; for example, the Jewish writer Josephus and the Roman authors Suetonius, Tacitus and Pliny. It is an unchallenged historical fact that Jesus was a real human being, a Jew who lived at a particular time and place in history. 2. Oral Tradition: The Apostolic Preaching After the death of Jesus, His followers continued the mission He entrusted to them. They preached, taught, and exorcised as Jesus did. They travelled around the Roman world preaching the message of Jesus with missionary zeal. 3. The Writing Stage The writing of the New Testament Books especially the Gospels started only after 50 A.D. This was so since the Israelites prefer oral preaching than writing. The Disciples only thought of writing about Jesus and His message after realizing that Jesus did not come back soon to judge the world as they expected. Though, one of the Letters of St. Paul might have been written earlier than the Gospels, let us focus first on the Four Gospels. Note: The writers of the four Gospels are called Evangelists from “Evangelion”, a Greek word for gospel which means good news. The Task of the Evangelists Aside from the oral tradition as their bases, the evangelists gathered their data from materials called pericopes, the small independent units of stories, parables, sayings, etc., of Jesus compiled by the Christians. The evangelists were generally editors of these pericopes. In their tasks as recorders of the Gospel tradition of behalf of the Church, they were especially guided by God’s spirit, and experience called the gift of inspiration. The following is a quick look at the most common information about the four Gospels that most biblical scholars accept:  GOSPEL INFORMATION MARK MATTHEW LUKE JOHN physician & Author (based on John Mark of apostle companion of John tradition) Jerusalem Paul bilingual bilingual (Aramaic & Gentile Christian (Aramaic & the “beloved Implied author Greek) Christian convert; well Greek) early disciple” of the 2nd educated Greek Jewish Christian generation; mixed: mostly better educated wealthier Gentile Jews, some Audience mostly Gentiles, Jews Christians Gentiles, Samaritans, etc. Galilee; or Place of Writing Rome Greece Galilee or Syria; Antioch in Syria Time of Writing 60’s or early 70’s late 70’s or 80’s mid to late 80’s main edition 90’s Jesus, the Jesus, the “Emmanuel,” the Jesus, the savior Jesus, the “Word Image of Christ Suffering servant expected of all humanity of God” Messiah Number of 16 28 24 21 Chapters The Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they present many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording, in contrast to the very different picture of Jesus presented in the Gospel of John. Most scholars believe that these gospels share the same point of view and are clearly linked. In a sense, they view Jesus “with the same eye” thus the term synoptic or synonymous. ** END OF LESSON ** REFERENCES: Catechism of the Catholic Church. (n.d.). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM. Catechism for Filipino Catholics. (n.d.) https://chermercado.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/cfc- cbcp.pdf Dominus Est (2020, March 26). PHYSICAL DISTANCING SHOULD NOT ELIMINATE COMMUNITY CARING - Cardinal Tagle. Dominus Est. https://www.dominusest.ph/post/cardinal-tagle- covid19-homily- annunciation-2020. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (n.d.). Commentary on Luke 1: 26-38. Luke, Chapter 1. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1.