Solemnity of the BVM, Mother of God, Year A
Theme: To Meditate the Mercy of God With Hearts 用心默想天主的慈悲
The more we meditate upon the events happening to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the more we’ll be able to see the mercy of God. Usually, we expect life to become easy once we trust in the Lord. Why not? We’re doing God’s will. Shouldn’t all obstacles and troubles be cleared and wiped away before us? It only proves that we are not hardworking enough studying the gospels and don’t know the Lord’s teachings thoroughly enough so that we harbour such unrealistic misconceptions about the Lord, our God! Doesn’t He say, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10) and “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (16:24) etc.? How can we expect ours to be a bed of roses when the Holy Infant made a manger His crib?
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Catholics believe that the virginity of the BVM is perpetual. That is to say, the BVM was a virgin before, during and after giving birth! Some people find it mind-boggling because a “virgin mother” is a contradiction. How can a mother be forever a virgin? Regrettably, some Christians have given up this ancient dogma. Similarly, some other people find it another contradiction to call the BVM, the Mother of God. They would rather call her the Mother of Christ only, because God is eternal. If God had a mother, thus an origin, thus some person existing before Him, then this deity would not be God as we understand it! Once again, it was an ancient heresy which had been settled. Bishops and Church Fathers at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) saw this as an indirect attack on the unity of the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. This heresy would create two persons, one divine and one human, of Jesus Christ and the BVM could only be the mother of the human part of Jesus Christ because she is only a creature. In fact, those Marian dogmas remind us of the limitations of human reasoning. The mystery of God remains and the BVM has set us an exemplar, “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). So, let us make more use of our hearts than our brains for our meditations.
Among the Judges, there was Deborah the prophetess who delivered the Israelites from the hands of their neighbouring enemies (Judges 4-5). But Deborah was not the enigmatic woman. Judith, a beautiful and rich widow, beheaded the commander of army invading Judah (Judith 13-14) and yet this heroic Judith was not the enigmatic woman. Esther the Jewish Persian queen saved the Jews from the murderous plan of Haman (Esther 5-8) and yet Esther was not the enigmatic woman. Not until the New Testament was the identity of this enigmatic woman revealed and she turned out to be a young virgin betrothed to a carpenter in Nazareth!
The Ancient Serpent would surely take a proactive approach and took the initiative to disqualify many promising candidates previously, men and women alike. Truly, the Devil seems to have gained an upper hand so far. When we go through the lists of liberators in the Bible, none of them were flawless. Either they had questionable personalities or they had made some less than desirable choices in their lives. Not only is God’s mercy beyond our understanding, but is probably also beyond the Devils’ understanding too. In the story of Job, Satan was also allowed an audience with God (Job 1:6)! Remember, Satan knows God better than we do. It has greater confidence in God’s mercy than we do. So, Satan does not suspect what God has been preparing.
With special graces, God prepares a virgin who was conceived without Original Sin. Satan did not bother because it was confident that somehow, this virgin would get married. Her husband would know her and she would give birth to a son to pass on the Origin Sin of the husband etc. Gabriel’s annunciation would not be a secret to Satan. Here, probably Satan has underestimated this “Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father” (Luke 1:32). Well, even David committed adultery and murder while Solomon allowed idols to be erected in the Temple! In its pride, Satan would deem this Son of the Most High just another imperial idiot. Of course, it would not spare Jesus and put Him through tests to weaken His trust in the Father. It never occurs to Satan that the Lord God decides not only to redeem us, but also to adopt us as His children! How would God prefer an inferior creature to angels! Yet, God does! How did God accomplish this finesse? The second reading today tells it. “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption … So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God” (Galatians 4:4-5, 7) God cannot be dishonest. Satan as well as the heretics of subsequent generations are victims of other own pride!
How can the Son of God retain His divinity and eternity when He was born of the BVM, became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14)? Well, allow me to suspend my rationality to quote Gabriel, “for nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37). Furthermore, let’s see how God’s mercy is able to make the Ancient Serpent repent. Amen!
2017 Reflection
Picture Credit: mycatholic.life
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