Mother Mary and the Catholic Faith

1.      God is Love (1Jn:4-8); God showed his love by sending his only begotten son to be incarnated as human, suffer and die as human, and be resurrected for the world to know Jesus was God

2.      Jesus is Love; He obeyed His Father and redeemed us all from our sin and those in Sheol, the waiting room to heaven, who were resurrected with Jesus, and those who were left behind slid into Hades / Hell

3.      The Holy Spirit is the Breath, the Gaze, the Love that God the Father and God the Son share with each other

4.      Mother Mary is the Daughter of God the Father; Mother of God the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit – the Trinity – One God Three Persons

5.      Mother Mary is not God; Catholics do not worship Mother Mary; Catholics venerate Mother Mary and have a special devotion to her above all saints – who themselves in their saintly journey needed the intercession of Mother Mary with the Trinitarian God

6.      Mother Mary is Primus Inter Pares – first among equals - among all saints

7.      In Genesis 3:15 called the Proto-Evangelium (or “First-Gospel”), God promises to defeat Satan through the operation of “the woman” and “her seed.”

8.      Tradition identifies the “the woman” as the Blessed Virgin Mary and “the seed” as our Lord Jesus Christ.

9.      “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen 3:15)

10.  Christ crushes the head of Satan absolutely, and Mary crushes the head of Satan by virtue of her role as the Mother of God and New Eve

11.  We erroneously seek and desire for wealth, health, pleasure, honour and power and allied

12.  We need seek only one all-encompassing gift: the “Grace of God” and everything else will follow that we may lack for nothing:

a.      “Seek ye first the kingdom of God all these things will be added on to you” (Mat 6:33)

b.      “My grace is sufficient for you; in your weakness my strength is made perfect” (2 Cor 12:9)

13.  Mother Mary is the only human we know of whom it is said, “Full of Grace” because she was immaculate and born without sin

14.  She was blessed with Honour and the Privilege (as should be our only desire when we seek the Lord’s Grace above everything else):

·         “The Lord is with you”

·         “Blessed are you among women”

·         “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”

It is to “Mother of God” we turn to:

·         “Pray for us sinners”

·         “Now and at the hour of our death”

15.  The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), is probably a prayer that Mother Mary recited in some form from the time she began praying that she had become fluent with it when she recited the Magnificat honouring God the Father, to Elizabeth her cousin, bearing John the Baptist who leaps in Elizabeth’s womb when experiencing Jesus in Mother Mary’s womb:

·         My Soul doth Magnify the Lord

·         And, My Spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour

·         For He hath regarded the Lowliness of His Handmaiden

·         For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed

·         For He that is mighty hath Magnified me

·         And, Holy is His Name

·         And, his mercy is on them that fear Him

·         Throughout all generations He hath showed strength with his arm

·         He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts

·         He hath put down the mighty from their seat

·         And hath exalted the humble and meek

·         He hath filled the hungry with good things

·         And, the rich he hath sent empty away

·         He remembering his mercy hath beholden his servant Israel

·         As he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever

·         Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost

·         As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end

·         Amen

16.  The “Soul” is the ‘transmitter’ God has put in our body to magnify Him; Satan’s one purpose is to corrupt the soul through lust of the flesh (eyes, nose, ears, mouth, touch) to denigrate and defy God

17.  The “Soul” communicates with the Trinitarian God through “Spirit of God” within us the “Holy Spirit” “Third Person of the Trinity” when we are “full of Grace”

18.  Satan forces himself upon us through guile, as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the Holy Spirit’ presents himself only when ‘invited’; He does not impose himself on us like Satan, hence we need to work with prayer, penance and fasting to seek the Holy Spirit though not always; sometimes it is just God’s grace that the Holy Spirit is given to us to fight off the evil spirit i.e. Satan because our heart desires for the Holy Spirit

19.  “Full of Grace” means being ‘humble’ and ‘lowly of heart’ like Jesus was (Matt 11:28); “He must increase; I must decrease” as John the Baptist advocated (John 3:30)

20.  When we are full of Grace, we are all ‘Soul’, like Mother Mary’s Soul, “My (Our) Soul doth Magnify the Lord, And, my (Our) Spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour”

21.  When we are just all ‘Soul’ and the body is the rest

22.  Our soul descends to Sheol awaiting judgement, while our body which is corruptible, decays and becomes one with the earth or fire or water

23.  When our Soul cries out like Mother Mary did in the ‘Magnificat’, our body becomes the ‘Temple of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 6:19); we are empowered not to submit to the desire of the flesh, but to the divine call of our soul

24.  “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12)

25.  It is not our fight, but the fight of the ‘Holy Spirit” when we allow the ‘Holy Spirit’ to reign in every ‘nook and cranny’ of our body and in our heart and mind

26.  To win this fight we need to be full of ‘Grace’ and empty of ‘Sin’

27.  When we sign ourselves, and say the ‘Creed’, the ‘Our Father’, the ‘Hail and Holy Mary’,  the Memorare to our Lady, the Anima Christi and the Protection Prayer (Ps 91) our daily prayer will have a certain completeness to seek the “Grace of God”, “His Almighty’s Protection against all testing and evil”, and us being able to “Pray forward for ‘mercy at the time of our death’"

28.  Mother Mary, the blessed and mighty intercessor, along with all the angels and saints makes our prayer ‘salient’ with the Trinitarian God

29.  People argue why not just pray to God directly instead of involving an intercessor; it is just not us praying as individuals (which we do) but there is merit in having an army of the blessed praying with us; a Catholic tradition that Satan deeply dislikes because it makes him impotent against an army of God arrayed against him instead of just not an individual human being who he can easily manipulate

30.  We too when we ascend to heaven with Jesus will be given the power to intercede with the Trinity directly, for we too will be saints; today we seek the intercession of Mother Mary, the Archangels, Angels and Saints when we are interceding for our brethren

31.  We are not alone in our fight with the ‘principalities and powers of darkness’; we are with the “the woman” as the Blessed Virgin Mary and “the seed” as our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit – the Archangels and an army of saints who died that we may be blessed to know, adore and love Jesus died for them and for us.

Reflections - The Whiplash

The Whiplash

Be guided by the Holy Spirit

The air traffic control radar beacon system (ATCRBS) is a system used in air traffic control (ATC) to enhance surveillance radar monitoring and separation of air traffic. 

It consists of a rotating ground antenna and transponders in aircraft. The ground antenna sweeps a narrow vertical beam of microwaves around the airspace.

When the beam strikes an aircraft, the transponder transmits a return signal back giving information such as altitude and the Squawk Code, a four-digit code assigned to each aircraft that enters a region.

Information about this aircraft is then entered into the system and subsequently added to the controller's screen to display this information when queried. This information can include flight number, designation and altitude of the aircraft.

When we gaze up into the clear night sky what do we see? A glorious sky with twinkling stars and non-twinkling planets, and of course, the moon; you may even spot the strobe lights of an aircraft preparing to land. 

The sight being so magnificent and heavenly that you may be seized by a spiritual fervor to give glory to God.

We spy God and heaven in wonderous sights, in cool feelings, in beauty and in cleanliness. It is a natural response from our mind, spirit and soul.

Is God only in the heavens? Or is God also in "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek – ‘on’ earth (not in its bowels) where we choose not to look?

In the squalor and the stricken (diseased, incapacitated, maimed, naked, imprisoned). Are we able to see God in this inglorious suffering? What did the prophet Isaiah say about Jesus 700 hundred years earlier to Jesus' birth?

“He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:2)

For God is good. ‘Squalor’ and ‘stricken’ is not good. But that’s where God is even if we do not want to accept it. 

God is with the ‘affected and infected’ and with the care givers like the Sisters of Missionaries of Charity devoted to taking care of the ‘sick and dying’.

God is to be found in all acts of love. God is with whoever feels abandoned. God was with Hagar and her son, Ishmael in the wilderness of Beersheba (Gen 21:17). God is with whoever needs mercy and love. 

God is in His instruments, the care givers. God is in those they minister, the ‘dregs of society’. God is in the work of charity. God, who was invisible to them in their abandonment, is made visible to those who are being aided through the work of charity. It is divine intervention through a human act. 

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ (Mt 25:37-40)

If people deny existence of God today the reason are primarily two-fold, one understandable and the other debatable:

1. Understandable: They are self-satisfied, self-contained, self-actualized, self-oriented that they have no need for God  

2. Debatable: They, in fact, do a lot of good for the poor and needy, but believe their humane acts of charity is just that humane / human – no involvement of God or a higher being

Many of us take the first part of Jesus’ word to heart, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37), but skip the second part conveniently, “love your neighbor as yourself” as we too are ‘self-satisfied, self-contained, self-actualized, self-oriented’ and stay far from the “one of the least of these brothers of Mine”.

It calls for a deep transformation of mind and reorientation to the personal purpose that God has called us to.

If I were a priest or a social worker, addressing the needs of the ‘least of the brethren’ would be the purpose of the vocation and so works of charity is a natural outcome of the vocation.

If I were a doctor than addressing the needs of “one of the least” would be par for the course as I would tend to their sickness and wounds as part of my profession. 

Like the young and brilliant doctors who make ‘hell’ heaven on earth by their commitment to serving the poor in government, Christian, and other charitable hospitals.

They are driven by a purpose. They studied hard, cracked the competitive exam, with only one intent: to serve.  They make do with whatever remuneration that is paid by such institutions. When their financial needs increase, they take to private practice without prejudice to their regular job - working long hours to make ends meet.

There are lay people who set aside one day in the week or a fortnight and as a family pay a visit to a home – for aged or sick – and spend time with the residents. Some distribute food to the needy on weekly basis and even daily. Visit prisons with the prison ministry.

I do none of the above and fear the whiplash of Jesus’ admonishment:

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ (Mt 25:41-43)

Jesus is telling me I cannot do anything on my own. I need you to take care of the “least of the brethren”. In whatever way possible.

To physically minister is good. If that is not possible as a fulltime or even as a part-time activity (teaching children who are challenged to study in a regular school), support financially those who serve. That is equally good. Though nothing beats personal interaction with the ‘least’, even occasionally, just to be in touch.

The Holy Spirit is the best guide to neutralize the feeling of condemnation should we be subject to the feeling that we are not doing enough for the ‘least of the brethren’.

When Jesus was on earth, we found Him on earth, and through Jesus we found God the Father in His person, too. 

“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?”. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” (Jn 14:5-7)

During His ministry Jesus often referred to his imminent passion, death and resurrection. The apostle refused to ‘interiorize’ the foreboding message. 

The passion and death occurred and yet the third part, the ‘rising’ still did not come on the apostles’ radar, even after Mary Magdalene and other Mary proclaimed it after returning from the empty tomb. Even John the beloved apostle of Jesus did not believe until he entered the tomb. (Jn 20:8).

While that was the general case, poor Thomas got dubbed for posterity with the moniker ‘doubting Thomas’ when he was simply someone who asked a lot of questions (see above) and would not believe until he was given rock solid proof – Jesus Himself – with the gaping wounds to survey up close. 

Now that Jesus had risen there was another problem. He was going up to His Father and panic among the apostle was reinfused. Jesus calmed the apostles down and assured them that He is not going to leave them orphaned.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. (Jn 14:15).

Ask for the Holy Spirit and you will receive; Seek the Holy Spirit and you will find; Knock on the doors of the Holy Spirit and He will come and sup with you. (Rev 3:20).

Our prayers are taken up to heaven by the Holy Spirit like the ‘beam of microwaves from the ground antenna’ to God’s heart, which is like the aircraft ‘transponder’. 

And, like the aircraft transponder, God too sends signals back with detailed information through the Holy Spirit. But sometimes God does not, like the UFO – Unidentified Flying Objects – sighted by the ATC that does not send back any signal.

At such times we need to heed St Paul’s advice, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Prepare the way for the Holy Spirit in your heart as John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. Read the Word of God and understand God’s will in your life. The Holy Spirit will come and answer all your prayers and will draw you closer to God that you may do His will.

Feel assured and not be worried of the whiplash of not serving the ‘least of the brethren’ as your human mind perceives it. 

Trust in God, in His love and his mercy, and in the wisdom that the Holy Spirit will share with you when you ask.

Reflections - The Fixed Miindset

The Fixed Mindset

Be enlightened by the Holy Spirit

The Catholic Church famously opposed Copernicus and Galileo in the 16th and 17th century when they expounded the theory that the earth revolved around the Sun – and not the other way round – the view held by the Church. 

It was only in 1820 that the Church allowed another astronomer, Joseph Settle, to declare the motion of the Earth, as proposed by Copernicus over 200 years ago, as fact.

Three hundred and fifty years after Galileo's death, Pope John Paul II said in 1992 “that Galileo suffered unjustly at the hands of the Church and praised Galileo's religiousness and his views and behaviors regarding the relationship between science and religion.”

It is to the Church’s credit that when a matter is proved beyond doubt as an indisputable fact it is willing to change its view, as we all should, who have a ‘fixed mindset’ about something.

The Catholic Church is like an aircraft carrier of old. The carrier had to sail close to seven miles, if it had to make an about-turn. The newer ones probably turn faster – and so does the New Church. 

And when the Church does change, turbulent waves are left in its wake – as it must steer one billion faithful, spread across seven continents, of different dispensations and outlook - to its ‘new’ view.

The Catholic Church is slow in changing its outlook, but it does refine it with passing of five to six generations or every three to four centuries. The change is based on generational changes, and not the flavor, trend, or fad of the day, year or decade(s). 

We all have heard people exclaim, “Oh, forget it, he has a fixed mindset.”

A fixed mindset seems to suggest that an individual or organization is restraining himself or itself from not thinking beyond certain self-imposed boundaries related to a particular subject matter in which a level of deep, satisfying comfort has been achieved – the proverbial ‘comfort zone’.

You may also have heard people say, “I have made up my mind. Now, don’t confuse me with facts.” That’s like shutting the door on a person before he can explain himself to clear a misunderstanding and be of genuine assistance or enlightenment.

These restraints or blinders that we put on ourselves could be out of lack of interest in the matter or the apprehension that it might shake, shatter, and alter our fondly held beliefs. These beliefs could be religious (which generally tend to be cast in stone) or more injuriously, how we view other communities, races, orientations and ideologies. Today, in the US and UK, anti-Semitism is rearing its ugly head again. 

Scholars are known to react violently when their pet theories and studies are challenged on which they have literally spent a whole lifetime.

Not so with Nicodemus and Gamaliel, both Jewish scriptural scholars, who stand out for their openness, to accepting Jesus Christ as the messiah, based on Jesus’ miracles and teachings. They were prominent leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the highest religious and administrative body who unilaterally opposed Jesus teaching and had Jesus crucified.

John the Baptist, was palpably excited when he heard, while in prison, about the miracles Jesus was performing. John had baptized Jesus, proclaiming Him to be "the Lamb of God." (John 1:29)

Until Jesus started performing the miracles, John seemed not entirely convinced if Jesus was really the one Isaiah spoke about “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him”? (Mt 3:3).

The doubt turned to pure joy when John heard back from his disciples, the works of Jesus. It was the fulfilment of John’s life’s purpose. 

John too felt, as Simeon did, when he held child Jesus in his arms, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.” Luke 2:29

John the Baptist did die (a martyr) soon enough when Herod’s daughter, Salome, instigated by her mother, Herodias, Herod’s brother Philip’s wife, asked for John’s head on a platter. (Mk 6:14-29)

How do we develop this sense of openness that we may not miss out on the ‘messiah’? For the ‘messiah’ represents liberation, salvation and eternal life.

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-control.” 2 Tim 1:7 

What a powerful promise!

Let’s look at each of the promises God has bestowed on us: courage and daring; power; love; and of self-control.

1. God has not given us a spirit of timidity and of fear, but of courage and daring.

Openness requires courage to rethink deeply held beliefs to attain liberation from all that is holding us back: our slavish adherence to certain beliefs.

There is a tale told of a stray cat who would annoy the head of the household every time he sat down for breakfast which involved a glass of milk among other items. If the table was left unattended, the cat would drink up the milk.

At breakfast time it was the duty of the household matron to tie up the cat. The man died, and over generations, the milk at the table was replaced by coffee, tea and juices. 

Three generations later, the house cat was still tied when the head of the household had his breakfast. It was the tradition in the household and no one dare ask why it was so, and no one dare break it. 

Traditions have a vice-like hold on people like nothing else because it has societal approval. Nobody wants to be the mole who sticks his head out only to be hammered back in as in the game ‘Whack-a-mole’.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

2. God has given us a spirit of power.

Jesus declared, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ John 14:6-7. In John 14:12 Jesus further adds and the assurances are reinforced in John 15:16, 1 John 5:14 -:

“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” 

We all know Mt 7:7 very well, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” 

But, the key to the above verses lie in ‘what we ask, and how we ask?’

In Ephesians 2:18, we read, “It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father.”

Therefore, don’t ask for life-enhancing benefits, but ask for life in Christ that comes with the bestowing of the Holy Spirit. To be able to speak in tongues. Or as in the Hebrews Bible, the Jewish people prayed using Psalms (Lamentations, Ecclesiastes …). 

The intent is the same to bring our petitions through Holy Spirit to Jesus and to God the Father.

The prayer requires deep sincerity and humility of heart; a complete surrender; and a bubbling and fervent faith that our prayers will be answered.

It is the Holy Spirit given to the apostles on Pentecost that gave them ‘power’ to preach boldly.

When Jesus was on earth, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (Luke 10:1). 

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17)

Such is the power, through the Holy Spirit, that is given to the faithful.

3. God has given us a spirit of love.

Love is the qualifier to power. Without love, God’s power is easily corrupted and misused. We know of many who were brought down by hubris – excessive pride and self-confidence – in their own power.

Such was the power that the apostles possessed that Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:9-25 wanted to buy this power. 

Peter admonished Simon. “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin. 

Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

4. God has given us a spirit of self-control.

It is with good reason that self-control comes last in the four-part empowerment that comes from the Holy Spirit. 

We know power corrupts. And, absolute power corrupts absolutely. How do we avoid slipping from grace to disgrace?

We need to remind ourselves what St Paul tell us in Phil 4:8: Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

Pray for the intercession of the Holy Spirit with Jesus and God the Father that we may not be victims of a ‘fixed mindset’. 

Not to be enslaved in traditions that deprive us of life-altering heavenly truths, for us, and for those for whom we exercise this power. 

Power that cannot be bought but is freely given when asked with the heart and eyes of faith.

Saturday, 02 May 2020